Latin & America & The Caribbean Programme
The setting
It is estimated that the economic cost of desertification-related problems in the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries amounts to some USD 1,000 million per year. The figure soars to USD 4,800 million if drought-related losses are included.
The social costs of desertification are even greater, since one of the direct consequences of the desertification process is the dismantling of agricultural production systems which inevitably leads to a radical change in the country’s social fabric and aggravated the cycle of rural poverty.
The LAC countries have been generally receptive to innovation and novel approaches to rural development. A variety of policies and development models have been experimented at both the macro and micro levels, which could provide the institutional and programmatic frameworks for addressing UNCCD issues in a more coordinated and effective manner.
The approach
Given the region’s technical and institutional capacities and the significant progress already made in terms of National Action Programme (NAP) elaboration and implementation, the GM seeks to engage the countries and organizations of the region in the medium and longer-term in a more strategic and systematic manner, along the following three main axes:
- Fostering enabling environments for UNCCD investment
The GM provides specialized services to country partners to support the development of strategies and approaches to effectively integrate sustainable land management (SLM) into the national and sub-regional rural development agendas. Forging and strengthening mutually-beneficial partnerships with regional institutions, sub-regional banks, technical agencies, civil society organizations and the members of the GM’s Facilitation Committee, is core to this process. Through such partnerships the GM aims to enhance national, sub-regional and regional policy dialogue on sustainable rural development and articulate SLM issues within the ongoing debate, and by so doing, generate the conceptual arguments and knowledge needed to inform development processes on a sustainable basis, thereby ultimately fostering more efficient and targeted use of financial resources. Initiatives are currently being supported in Hispaniola, Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Honduras, and through sub-regional platforms in Central America and the English-speaking Caribbean.
- Capacity-building
Furthering national and sub-regional partners’ understanding of the current and emerging development financial modalities and procedures is a fundamental part of the work of the GM and its partners, with a view to supporting mainstreaming SLM concerns into national and sub-regional processes and developing conducive financing strategies for UNCCD implementation in the region. Activities include facilitating analytical work and capacity-building in public financial management and emerging financial modalities, as a component of country and sub-regional dialogues. The GM purposefully engages decision-making bodies such as Ministries of Finance and Planning in such activities, in order to engender a better understanding of budgeting processes, thus effectively mainstreaming SLM and UNCCD into programmatic and budgetary cycles.
- South-to-south collaboration
The GM promotes south-to-south collaboration, drawing on the experiences and capacities of countries such as Argentina, Costa Rica, Brazil, Mexico and Cuba, to support UNCCD implementation in countries which are initiating and/or consolidating their own processes – both in the LAC region and potentially, in other regions. The GM and its partners – GTZ, IICA, UNDP and UNEP - have signed an agreement with the Ministry of Environment of Brazil on supporting UNCD implementation in Brazil and elsewhere. Activities are already underway for the development of a programme between Brazil on Haiti on sustainable land management practices and bio energy. Other co-operation agreements are being prepared, inter alia, with Costa Rica. The GM has recently received a proposal from the Governments of Brazil, Portugal and the Portuguese-speaking African countries, for support in promoting inter-regional co-operation for UNCCD implementation.
Strategic initiatives
Partnership Initiative on Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management in Caribbean SIDS (PISLM)
The major long-term land management issue for the Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is degradation of the limited land area, stemming from human action such as deforestation and unsustainable agricultural practices; natural phenomena such as severe weather conditions; and episodic events, such as fire. The GM-supported Partnership Initiative aims to mainstream cross-sector land degradation issues into ongoing sub-regional activities and create a conducive environment for new activities, thereby increasing the impact of single partner’s actions by drawing on synergies and complementarities and generating a significant multiplier effect on the catalytic resources invested.
Ecosystems Services in Ecuador
Under its Strategic Programme on Compensation of Ecosystem Services (CES), the GM is initiating specific activities in Ecuador as part of a comprehensive approach to combating land degradation at landscape level. The GM is focusing initially on the development of financing mechanisms for the conservation of forest remnants, which are key to the provision of forest services in degraded areas, and in collaboration with EcoSecurities, on supporting the design of carbon offsets projects for reforestation initiatives linked to environmental services schemes for the provision of water.
For more information, please contact:
Mr Alejandro Kilpatrick, Programme Coordinator, Latin America and the Caribbean
Tel. +39 06 5459 2524
a.kilpatrick(at) ifad.org
Related Links
Read more about the PISLM