Integrated landscape management to reduce, reverse and avoid further degradation and support the sustainable use of natural resources in the Mopane-Miombo belt of Northern Namibia 1 COVER PAGE: FAO-GEF PROJECT DOCUMENT Project Title: Integrated landscape management to reduce, reverse and avoid further degradation and support the sustainable use of natural resources in the Mopane- Miombo belt of Northern Namibia GEF ID: 10251 FAO Entity Number: 692102 FAO Project Symbol: GCP/NAM/021/GFF Country(ies): Namibia EOD (Implementation start): 1 May 2021 NTE (Implementation end): 30 April 2026 Environmental and low risk moderate risk high risk Social Risk Classification: Gender Marker: G0 G1 G2a [X] G2b Contribution to FAO’s FAO Strategic Objective/Organizational Outcome: Strategic Framework: Objective #2: Make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable. Outcome 2.1: Countries adopted practices to increase productivity sustainably while addressing (Indicate as climate change and environmental degradation in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. appropriate) Country Outcome(s) UNDAF: Namibia’s UNDAF (2019-2023) . Country Outcome Indicator: Achieve inclusive, sustainable and equitable economic growth (NDP5 goal 1); Promote good governance through effective institutions (NDP5 goal 4) Related UNDAF Outcomes: By 2023, Institutions implement policies for inclusive development and poverty reduction for vulnerable groups By 2023, vulnerable populations in disaster-prone areas and biodiversity sensitive areas are resilient to shocks and climate changes effects and benefit from natural resources management Regional Priority (Regional Initiative 2): Sustainable production intensification and value chain development in Africa/Building resilience in Africa’s drylands Outcome 3.1: Inclusive Growth, Economic Diversification, Production and Job Creation Outcome 3.2: Environmental Sustainability, Climatic Change and reduction of Risks Disasters. Project Budget (GEF Trust Fund): US $ 6,130,275 Co-financing: US $ 172,300,000 Total Project Budget: US $ 178,430,275 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Namibia’s unique Miombo-Mopane Woodland Ecoregion in the Okavango and Kunene basins is of capital importance for the country’s development, especially in the regions of Kavango East and Omusati where these dry forests prevail. At least 600,000 people live in the rural parts of Kavango East, Omusati and Oshikoto provinces that are dominated by Baikiaea, Miombo and Mopane forest. Rural communities rely on naturally resilient ecosystems for food, nutrition, shelter, medicine, fiber and the availability of water – highly valued and vital ecosystem services. These woodlands are threatened throughout their entire distribution, within a sub-region of Southern Africa that includes Namibia. Deforestation, uncontrolled wildfires and unsustainable use of natural resources are increasingly fragmenting and destroying Miombo-Mopane woodlands across the Kunene-Cuvelai and Okavango river basins, all of which originate in Angola, are internationally shared and sustain populations on both sides of the Angola-Namibia border. In northern Namibia, resettlement programs contributed to population movements, increasing pressures on natural resources. Such pressures, coupled with poverty, unsustainable land use and production practices, and exacerbated by climate change impacts have resulted in extensive land degradation. This has been observed in areas around Etosha National Park (Oshikoto), Ruacana Village in Omusati and close to the Namibia-Angola border in Kavango East: all selected as project sites and thoroughly studied during the project’s preparatory phase to confirm current patterns of land use and status of land degradation. Subsistence farming systems and unsustainable range management are observed to be the main culprits of land degradation in northern Namibia, while mining activity and tourism are likely to accelerate land-use changes in future years unless land use can be adequately planned, sustainably managed and regulations enforced. 2 The project seeks to transform the management of production systems within Namibia’s Miombo-Mopane Woodlands using an ‘integrated landscape approach’ (i.e. multi-sector and, in the interests of ecosystem integrity, large-scale) that is focused on avoiding, reducing and reversing land degradation in alignment with Namibia’s commitment to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) by 2030-2040. This GEF-7 funded project will demonstrate how LDN can be achieved through the adoption of sustainable, integrated management of multi- use Miombo-Mopane dryland landscapes in parts of the Kunene-Cuvelai, Etosha and Okavango river basins and, additionally, applying a transboundary focus whenever relevant. Fundamental to the success of the landscape approach is the opportunity to engage with stakeholders across all sectors and levels of governance having vested interests in the target landscapes. Thus, the project’s objective to sustainably manage these multi-use dryland landscapes will be achieved by addressing land-use management challenges at different scales through a collaborative, gender-sensitive and multi- sectoral approach, which by default is integrated. Importantly, achievement of LDN will also deliver huge national and global benefits in reduced carbon emissions and increased carbon storage (1,301,476 tonnes of CO2e over 20-year period), thereby also contributing to the delivery of Namibia’s commitments to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. The project design comprises three components: The first addresses the enabling environment in terms of policy, regulatory, planning and participatory frameworks, including the preparation of Integrated Land-Use Plans (ILUPs) for each of the target landscapes. The second focuses on the practical application of such frameworks, notably implementing the ILUPs in their respective landscapes, using sustainable land and forest management practices to ‘avoid, reduce and reverse’ land degradation across a mosaic of land-use systems. Uptake of sustainable practices will be supported by significant investments in training, capacity development and rural extension services, heralded by the introduction of Farmer Field Schools and Agro-Pastoral Field Schools networked across landscapes; as well as in Forest-Farm Facilities, such as Community Seed Banks, and support to Forest Farm Producer Organizations. Sustainable land and forest practices will also be incentivized through the strengthening or creation of green value chains, with improved markets and access to them as appropriate. Component 3 strengthens knowledge, learning and collaboration on LDN-related matters, as well as monitoring and reporting. Mainstreaming knowledge gained, best practices and lessons learned will be supported within and between landscapes as well as nationally, including technical expertise in monitoring and reporting on LDN, and both regionally and globally through provision of a Regional Exchange Mechanism that feeds into the Impact Program’s Global Exchange Mechanism. Gender equity, innovation and partnerships will be fostered across the suite of interventions introduced by the project; and well-designed and facilitated engagement processes will generate consensus and ownership among stakeholders. Combined, the three components will demonstrate how a paradigm shift towards LDN can be achieved by integrating the management of production systems at landscapes scales, while prioritizing the conservation of Miombo-Mopane woodlands alongside the sustainable improvement of local livelihoods. By targeting Miombo-Mopane landscapes, the project will directly contribute to Namibia’s efforts to achieve its LDN targets, as well as other correlated targets at national level that are currently embedded in thematic and sectoral policies of the National Development Plan (NPD5 2011/18-2021/22), including climate change, resilience, agricultural production, forest management and rural value chain development at decentralized levels. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS SIGNATURE PAGE _________________________________________________________________ 1 COVER PAGE: FAO-GEF PROJECT DOCUMENT __________________________________________ 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS ______________________________________________________________ 4 TABLES, FIGURES & BOXES __________________________________________________________ 6 ACRONYMS ______________________________________________________________________ 8 PART I: PROJECT INFORMATION ____________________________________________________ 10 A. Focal/Non-Focal Area Elements .............................................................................................................. 10 B. Project description summary .................................................................................................................. 11 C. Confirmed sources of Co-financing for the project by name and by type .................................................. 13 D. Trust Fund Resources Requested by Agency(ies), Country(ies), Focal Area and Programming of Funds .... 14 E. Does the project include a “non-grant” instrument? ............................................................................... 14 F. Project’s Target Contributions to GEF 7 Core Indicators ........................................................................... 14 PART II: PROJECT JUSTIFICATION ____________________________________________________ 15 1.a Project Description ..............................................................................................................................