Mainstreaming sustainable land management
to facilitate access to financing opportunities
that lead to improved livelihoods
In our ideal world, land tops the day-to-day agendas of policy makers, governments, donors, civil society and investors, and is thoroughly considered in everything they do. The sustainable land practices they adopt and promote lead to food security and economic prosperity, ultimately improving the livelihoods of present and future generations. For when land is factored into all decisions and discussions on important sectors such as agriculture, biodiversity, climate change, energy and water, the effects are far-reaching and long-lasting.
Sustainable land management (SLM) remains at the periphery of national political priorities and, as a result, does not receive the attention and funding its value warrants. To increase investments in land:
- SLM must become a part of the day-to-day business in all sectors related to land;
- The role of land must be integrated at the core national development frameworks;
- Countries must develop a comprehensive response to the challenges of land degradation.
Mainstreaming
This process of integration of SLM into broader development frameworks, which we call "mainstreaming", is central to increasing investments, because without political support at the highest level, SLM will remain marginalized.
The UNCCD Conference of the Parties (COP) has identified the mainstreaming approach - long advocated and practised by the GM - as the main instrument for enhancing the implementation of the UNCCD.
The GM promotes and uses mainstreaming to mobilize financial resources, bringing into play instrumental resources (strategic frameworks and policy instruments), human resources (stakeholders, organizations and institutions), and knowledge and information resources (capacity-building).
Country Ownership, Harmonization and Results
The process of leveraging financial resources for SLM, must be controlled and owned by the countries themselves and implemented under their leadership.
Central to this is the implementation of the principles of the Aid Effectiveness Agenda, i.e. the Paris Declaration (2005), the Accra Agenda for Action (2008) and the Busan Partnership (2011). The Paris Declaration underscored the following:
- Ownership: Partner countries exercise effective leadership over their development policies and strategies, and coordinate development actions.
- Alignment: Donors base their overall support on partner countries' national development strategies, institutions and procedures.
- Harmonization: Donors' actions are more harmonized, transparent and collectively effective.
- Managing for results: Managing resources and improving decision-making for development results.
- Mutual accountability: Donors and partners are accountable for development results.
