Implementation | PANORAMA

Rangeland ecosystem (grazing land) restoration

Invasive or harmful shrub species slashed and used to build enclosure fences for degraded areas to regenerate

VSF Germany

Years of overgrazing and poor grazing land management has resulted in the degradation of significant parts of the rangeland ecosystem around Mt. Kulal, a critical resource for the local communities depending largely on pastoralism for livelihood.

This project applied community-based ecosystem restoration techniques and approaches to help revive grazing fields. This is the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged or destroyed through a combination of different techniques. In this project the following techniques were employed:

Pasture enclosures to enable portions of grazing land recover without disturbance and for local grasses to mature and deposit their seed for natural regeneration.
Reseeding of heavily degraded pasture lands with local grass species to aid recovery after rains.
Customary community-managed wet-season dry-season grazing patterns to enable sustainable exploitation of pasture and seasonal recovery.

Functional traditional or customary resource management systems.
Material and labour for construction of enclosures.
Availability of the right type of pasture seeds and technical support from ecological experts in rangeland management.
Community buy-in and collaboration.

There exists deep customary knowledge and skills on pastureland management that needs to be tapped into for sustainable management and it needs to be packaged and integrated with modern techniques.

Implementation

Local

Table banking and group with a difference

The table banking aspect of the project was responding to the needs of the community to access affordable loans for businessess and farming activities.

We supported the group in training on financial management and accountability.

The table banking aspects has attracted the younger people who are interested in doing farming as a business. This has helped in improving livelihod food security

Increased production has enabled the emergence of small businesses with table banking enabling access to affordable loans.

Farmers have also been able to take their children to schools thus increasing knowledge and skills within the community

Access to cheap and affordable loans to engage in business and farming activities is fundamental in improving community livelihoods.

It is vital to include capacity building in leadership and financial accountability skills to enhance governance on the resources.

Training was also done to increase the repayment period from one month to at least 6-12 months. This is what is referred to as group with a difference where the loans do not become a burden to the community members who have adequate tim to repay and get returns on investments.

Implementation

Local

Subnational

Benefit Sharing for Ecosystems Conservation

Communities in two counties formed a Community Forest Association (CFA), which was empowered through training and the sustainable use of non-timber forest products.

They were also trained in surveilance and reporting, while ensuring government officers work in close collaboration with these groups with timely action on any reporting.

Mutual trust among community members
Government agencies partneships with local communities
Paradigm change in forest management that allowed nearby commnunities have user rights, and partcicpate in decision making process

Building mutual trust between communities and government agencies is key in sustainable ecosystems management (forests and riperaian zones included)
Community capacity building can better monitor natural resources just as well as other institutions due to sense of ownership

Implementation

Subnational

Re-discovering Land Productivity

Famers are assisted in prevention, and restoration of degraded lands and ecosystems leading to more land production, increased family income and improved standards of living.

Land avalilability
Community cohesion
Institutional capacity
Technical expertise

Improving farmer capacity through knowledge and financing for better land management has huge potential in improving family income, food security and livelihood.
Targeting primary school students for environmental education leads to behavioral change not only among the students but also entire society. Students are voices of change.

Implementation

Subnational

The revival of local and traditional seeds

The Seed Sovereignty Project has been able to work with women farmers to restore beneficial and traditional seed varieties that had been lost like sorghum, millet, legumes and other grain crops.

The community faced food insecurity mainly due to climate change related challenges and overdependence on maize. Tharaka Nithi County is generally an arid and dry area where maize does not do well. the farmers were encouraged to focus on climate resilient crops like millet, sorghum and green grams.

The willingness of the community to engage in participatory planning and embrace the proposed strategies to revive local and indigenous crop varieties.

Diversification of grain and legume varieties increased food security and enhanced their nutrition status.

The seed and traditional food fairs revived and enhanced cultural values and practices with the young people being thus contributing to intergenerational learning.

Collaboration with others like the National Museums of Kenya was important in ensuring the continuity of the annual Meru Cultural and Food Festival to date.

Implementation

Local

Subnational

Road Map for Sand dam implementation

Community members carrying stones for sand dam construction

Utooni Development Organization

Practical implementation steps include:

Site selection and community involvement;
Engineering and design;
Water use assessment;
Excavation and construction;
Operation and maintenance (establishment of water management process, including: Water committee, care takers and provision of trainings)
Monitoring and evaluation

The presence of communities (nomads or permanently during dry period)
The slope of the river beds: the most suitable locations have a slope between 2 to 4 percent)
Average width of the river, which should not exceed 25-50 meter
The rivers should be underlain by bedrock
Strong raised river banks

The sand dam construction process is always unique for each site since it depends on topography, availability of local materials and community participation.

Inception phase

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Strengthening PELUM Kenya Zonal Networking

Following the Devolvement of Kenya in 2010, PELUM Kenya devolved itself in to six networking zones namely: Central Rift Valley Zone, Lower Eastern and Coastal Zone, Nairobi/Central Zone, Upper Eatern and Northern Kenya Zone, Western Zone and Nyanza Zone.

PELUM Kenya has therefore been focusing on a zone during implementation of the Green Action Week campaigns as a way of promoting horizontal networking. The members of a zone are involved in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the campaigns with one of the member organizations being the lead member organisation and in close coordination by PELUM Kenya secretariat and zonal staff. This provides a platform for learning and sharing among Member Organizations

Joint planning and implementation of the campaign activities
Coordination by a lead member organization
Cross learning and sharing among the Zonal Member Organizations
Creation of synergies to enhance achievement of results

There is need to engage in early planning for all the activities that include a number of member organizations working together
There is need to undertake effective joint planning including levelling of expectations and capapcity building on the intended results from the inititive to foster joint learning and understanding on the campaign results

Multi-Stakeholder Approach

The campaign employs a multi-stakeholder approach by ensuring that relevant stakeholders including the relevant Government Ministries, Schools, Private Sector, Farmers, Media, PELUM Kenya member organizations and othe CSOs are involved in the campaigns as a strategy of enhancing sustainability of the project beyond the project period.

The project targets the wider public through mass awareness creation so as to raise awareness on the need to grow and eat organic foods.

Media is embraced to reach to the wider public through both electric and print media methods. This includes continuous update of PELUM Kenya’s social media sites with organic food and farming messages. The media practioners are also invited to cover and air the various activities.

It also targets to build capacity of small scale farmers to further embrace organic foods and farming for healthy environments and people. This is done through exchange visits to successful organic enterprises and organic exhibitions.

As a way of enhancing the spirit of networking within PELUM Kenya network, all the member organizations of PELUM Kenya in the focus areas are involved in all aspects of this project.

Various stakeholders have different roles to play in enhancing the plight of organic food and farming. Relationship building, partnerships and networking is also key for ensuring that anticipated results are achieved.
Our mission as a network is to promote Ecological Land Use Management (elum) practices, which include organic farming and foods. A majority of PELUM Kenya member organizations promote organic farming as well. Green Action Week therefore compliments well with our mission as an organization

The global campaign gives added value to national activities as it exposes the efforts of other stakeholders in promoting sustainable production and consumption of organic products; it also helps in creating awareness to the public beyond what the national team would do.
Undertaking joint activities with all the implementing partners and stakeholders in activities yields results faster than when a single organization does it and also provides a learning and sharing forum
There is need for early planning and engagement to reach a broader scope of stakeholders- schools, tertiary colleges, government departments, business people, and farmer organizations
Target and organize special meetings with decision makers in efforts to popularize the idea among relevant authorities and to bring them on board using advocacy strategies that are friendly and not activitism

Planning phase

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Entirety

Local

National

Promotion of a mechanism for the retribution of ecosystem services

Steering committee meeting

care Perú

The mechanism for the retribution of ecosystem services (MRSE) seeks to ensure the sustainability of the adaptation measures designed. To identify the contributors (who provide the ecosystem service) and retributors (users of the service who contribute resources), a rapid hydrological diagnosis was prepared, which also characterized the sub-basin and identified the priority ecosystem service and water demand. In order to reach agreements, both parties had to be made aware of the benefits and their responsibilities. The contributors are: the authorities, users of the Huancayo water and sanitation service provider (SEDAM Huancayo), individual farmers and organizations in the sub-basin, and the contributor is the Acopalca Community.

The MRSE steering committee was then formed with the participation of the institutions involved. Within this framework, an agreement was signed whereby the urban population (Huancayo) reimburses the Acopalca community for ecosystem conservation by creating a fund to develop sustainable ecosystem management projects. In addition, SEDAM Huancayo, in updating its Optimized Master Plan, incorporates the MRSE, including investment projects for recovery, conservation, and sustainable use.

The current legal framework of the law on mechanisms for the retribution of ecosystem services and its regulations.
Political decision for the implementation of ESRM in water and sanitation based on successful experiences in this system.
Approved technical tools that make it possible to execute the steps to implement the mechanism, such as the rapid hydrological diagnosis.
State institutions with functions that promote the SRM initiative.

It is important to have national standards in relation to the ESMR, as they facilitate the feasibility of the necessary inputs such as the rapid water diagnosis and the project profile, as well as identifying who would be the contributor within the ESMR.
All sub-basin stakeholders (civil society, state agencies, private enterprise, etc.) must participate in the design and implementation of the mechanism.
It is necessary to build and maintain a common vision among the various stakeholders, contributing to the sense of joint work and benefit for the different interests (agricultural irrigation, livestock, drinking water, etc.).
It is important to insert a monitoring component in the MRSE projects to determine how much water is gained and also to readjust the implementation.
A good governance platform is required to be responsible for the monitoring system in the medium and long term.
Effective communication strategies and communication tools are needed to leverage resources and effectively convey the objectives of the mechanism.

Improved water use practices in urban areas

The purpose of this component was to raise awareness among the urban population in order to promote water-saving practices to meet pending social demand. A call was made to the population to save water and avoid, for example, watering gardens, washing cars, the so-called portable pools that require 7,000 liters of water to be filled, an amount equivalent to 15 days of family consumption, according to figures provided by the National Superintendence of Sanitation Services - Sunass.

Simple and key messages were transmitted, some of which were: a family (of six members) in the cities should consume between 15 and 18 cubic meters per month, however, the real consumption is between 20 and 25, "so families are wasting the liquid".

The adoption of changes in household consumption habits was promoted, for example, introducing a bottle of water in the toilet tank, which would save up to two liters of liquid per flush. Consider taking five-minute showers and turning off the faucet while soaping up. This could save up to 40 liters of water.

The support of the regional government is important because guidance and political backing is needed, but also the participation of business associations, consumer associations, trade unions, among others.
A communication campaign designed for the specific type of audience (social, cultural, etc.) is required to be effective. For example, problems were highlighted, but practical and immediate solutions were also provided.
Inter-institutional alliances, such as EPS Sedam, Sunass, etc.

Campaigns must be appropriate to the context and target audience. While it is important to draw attention to the problems, it is equally important to provide practicable solutions.
To achieve attitudinal changes about water use, collaboration between public, private and civil society actors is required.

Implementation

Monitoring

Local