Subnational | PANORAMA

Institutional strengthening & sustainability

The ACReSAL project collaborates with three key ministries: Environment, Agriculture, and Water Resources. It operates across multiple institutional levels, including state, national, local, and community levels. This approach ensures that project implementers at all ministerial levels have their capacities strengthened, thereby sustaining the project's investments and efficient landscapes management.

Effective collaboration across the three Ministries and the Institutions that are implementing the project through regular stakeholder engagements.
Technical support from the World Bank, the team provide support across project activities and ensure impactful project implementation

The synergy between the Ministries and institutions is key to producing results, because for impactful results for the project it is key that all Ministries must work closely together. The synergy has provided more innovative and collaborative ideas for effective project delivery.

Sustainable Agriculture and Landscapes Management

The integration of sustainable agriculture and landscape management practices in land restoration efforts is crucial in conserving soil and water, promoting biodiversity, and mitigating climate change. This approach also improves livelihoods, enhances ecosystem services, and builds resilience. To achieve this, we conducted thorough assessments, engaged local farmers and other stakeholders, developed context-specific plans, provided training, monitored progress, and foster policy support. This ensures a holistic and sustainable restoration of degraded lands, benefiting both people and the environment, including water resources. It's important for the community to collaborate, contribute, and learn effective environmental management approaches to ensure the project's long-term sustainability and unsustainable agricultural practices.

Building block 1 – Enabling Factors

Prioritizing alternative livelihood options in land restoration.
Sensitizing the community to environmental issues and methods to prevent land degradation.
Integrating climate smart agriculture in soil restoration.
Community Ownership and government support

Building block 1 – Lessons learned *

Emphasizing the importance of community participation to identify their top priority issues.
Raising community awareness of all interventions, including gully restoration and reforestation, through comprehensive awareness campaigns.
Establishing an interim engagement point, such as collaborating with traditional leaders, to secure community support.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Implementation and Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning

Effective policy lobbying and advocacy must address the implementation of both existing and newly finalized policies to ensure they meet their intended goals. This involves continuous monitoring to track progress and assess the effectiveness of policy implementation. All partners involved in a program or policy must participate in this ongoing process to ensure alignment with objectives and adapt strategies as needed.

Regularly assess and compare the goals and objectives to evaluate progress and identify gaps. Research and analysis support this comparative review
Working through coalitions enhances policy advocacy efforts by uniting diverse voices, amplifying impact, and strengthening influence

Policy implementation is a lengthy process involving diverse stakeholders with varying priorities. Patience and persistence are crucial
Initially, we overlooked sectors like tourism that have significant stakes in natural resource management. Including all relevant sectors can reveal important interests and enhance advocacy
Engaging a wide range of stakeholders is essential. Excluding key players can hinder progress and make achieving objectives more challenging

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

National

Capacity building and awareness creation

The natural resource sector in Kenya is governed by a complex web of laws and policies that directly impact community lifestyles and livelihoods. However, many community members lack knowledge of these laws, leading to confusion, especially when different government departments enforce contradictory regulations.

NACOFA has taken on the responsibility of informing and educating communities about the relevant laws that affect them. By doing so, NACOFA helps protect communities from unwarranted actions by government officers. An example is the development and implementation of Participatory Forest Management Plans (PFMPs) and Forest Management Agreements (FMAs). Despite these agreements being signed between KFS and various CFAs, there are instances where KFS fails to honor the commitments, making community awareness critical for accountability.

CFAs trust NACOFA, and the strong relationships NACOFA has with KFS and the Ministry are crucial
Strong connections with civil society organizations help build broader relationships and ensure grassroots support for policy advocacy
Empowering communities to lead the policy process from a bottom-up approach is essential, ensuring continued pressure at the local level

Capacity building and awareness creation are continuous as new strategies emerge, new officers assume roles, and leadership changes occur within community groups like CFAs
When communities understand the benefits of the issues, they are more likely to support and engage in policy advocacy
Policy advocacy is long-term, requiring flexibility to adapt goals in response to changing government priorities while keeping the community's interests at the forefront
Successful advocacy requires engaging with the political climate effectively, with proper timing being crucial
Advocacy is time-consuming and expensive, needing significant financial support, expertise, and champions to push the agenda at all levels
The organization must foster trust among all stakeholders to achieve positive outcomes

Review current laws & policies and stakeholder mapping

Stakeholder mapping involves reviewing the diverse interests of stakeholders across various sectors at both local and national levels. This process should be as comprehensive as possible, mapping out existing influence and power structures to determine who to engage directly or indirectly. Prior to stakeholder mapping, a thorough analysis of existing policies is conducted to fully understand the issues and why they matter to the community. This understanding then informs the stakeholder mapping activity, making it clearer who to engage with.

A clear understanding of relevant laws and policies related to the issue
Identification of specific policy gaps that need addressing
Accurate identification of target government organizations and officers
Proper selection of partners and civil society organizations
Ensuring community support and representation in the process

Understanding stakeholder interests and the impact of legal changes on those interests is crucial for effective engagement
It’s important to identify ongoing processes related to specific laws and policies to ensure inclusive and thorough mapping
Consolidating efforts through coalitions is essential to avoid parallel efforts and enhance impact
National coalitions can align efforts for greater policy influence
Building and strengthening networks should be prioritized over individual program objectives to achieve broader policy goals

Participatory research to identify local environmental challenges

The first step involves identifying local environmental challenges at the community level, such as water shortages, diminishing grazing areas, food scarcity, soil erosion, landslides, or flooding. NACOFA gathers community input on possible solutions and explores the links between these challenges and forest or environmental degradation.

Next, NACOFA studies the existing laws and policies that could address these issues, identifying any gaps, or determining if enhanced implementation or enforcement is needed. This process allows NACOFA to pinpoint the responsible government institutions, key officials, CSOs, partners, and community groups to collaborate with.

Clear understanding of the local or national issue and its impact on people and the environment.
Centering community and environmental well-being in the research approach.
Engaging with local leaders to ensure full community participation.
Collaborating with research organizations to align with current research policies.

This approach fosters informed policy development that centers on community needs.
Broad stakeholder engagement is crucial for policy advocacy success and enhances government accountability in service delivery.
Community ownership of the process is vital, leading to higher participation and long-term success.

Capacity building through workshops

Biodiversity training completion

Fundacao Tartaruga

During the project we have implemented several workshops including:

Use of drones in sea turtle conservation
Biodiversity Survey Training
Communication in Conservation Training
Laws and best practices when working with sea turtles for protected areas rangers
Best practices in sea turtle watching activities for tour operators

Encouraging young national Cabo Verdeans to lead workshops

Selecting a biodiversity consultant who had extensive knowledge of the country including the local language (Cabo Verdean Criole)

Cooperation with the local PA management authority for them to lead workshops related to laws and law enforcement

Trust and confidence in the trainer is very important.

Communication is the key to a successful workshop.

Implementation

Local

Subnational

Enterprise development through value chain enhancement to sustain tree cultivation and improve livelihoods

The tree farmers are encouraged to participate in different value chains/enterprises developed for alternative income sources rather than depending on tree and land sale cutting for income.

Access to arable land on farmers' private properties and within the central forest reserve enables farmers to cultivate various crops, raise poultry, and rear small ruminants, all of which are in high demand and have readily available markets.
Technical support from FAO on value chains development and the accelerator programs to support with making the farmers business ready and youth upskilling. In partnership with Rural Communities in Development(RUCID) designed skilling program for girls and women in the following enterprises; Bakery, Juice, wine, roots and cereal processing, Banana, coffee and organic input production and briquattes making for fuel energy all aimed at income generation for the women and girls.

Agribusiness practices that integrate mixed farming with tree growing offer a sustainable approach to restoration. This method enhances plant, crop, and soil health by leveraging the natural benefits that different species provide to each other. In turn, crops can support tree health by preventing soil erosion and enhancing soil structure. This complementary relationship promotes a more resilient and productive agricultural system, fostering long-term ecological balance and sustainability.
Farmers practicing mixed agriculture within an agribusiness framework benefit from diversified sources of income and food. This approach mitigates the risks associated with climate change, such as prolonged droughts or floods, by not relying on a single crop or enterprise. Diversified farming systems ensure that if one crop fails due to adverse weather conditions, other crops or agricultural activities can provide income and sustenance. This reduces vulnerability and enhances food security, allowing farmers to sustain their livelihoods despite environmental challenges.
For long-term sustainability, farmers must align their expenditures with various income sources. It is crucial to have a daily income source to cover ongoing expenses and manage financial risks effectively. Diversified income streams from mixed farming, including crops, livestock, and tree products, provide a steady cash flow that can support daily needs and unexpected expenses. This financial resilience enables farmers to invest in their land and resources continuously, promoting sustainable agricultural practices and improving overall economic stability.

Local

Subnational

National

Restoration of degraded land in both forest reserve and on individual private land

The communities living adjacent to the degraded Atigo and Angutawele Central Forest reserves were mobilized to participate in the restoration of parts of the forest under Collaborative Forestry Management approach in partnership with the National Forestry Authority and the community.

Degraded forests and privately owned lands that urgently require restoration to mitigate severe climate change impacts.
Farmers' enthusiasm to participate in tree planting and management as part of the restoration efforts.
Supportive government policies that encourage community involvement in restoration activities, backed by technical leaders from Alwa and Kaberamaido Sub-Counties in Kaberamaido District.
Technical assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization through the Saw Log Production Grant III, which facilitated the creation of a 5-hectare community demonstration woodlot.

The community needed extensive sensitization and education to understand the importance of restoration.
We established a tree nursery to supply seedlings to farmers locally, reducing the costs associated with sourcing seedlings from distant locations.
Initially, we planted exotic species like pine and eucalyptus, but have now shifted our focus to promoting indigenous trees and avoiding monoculture.
When we integrated crops that provided short-term income and demonstrated cash flow for farmers, our pitch decks attracted significantly more attention, as evidenced by projects like the NSSF Hi Innovator Project and Land Accelerator.

Local

Subnational

National