Global-Mechanism

As part of its three-year Country Support Programme to the Government of Cameroon, the GM is assisting in the integration of sustainable land management (SLM) within policy processes such as macroeconomic reform, budgetary allocation and the engagement of the international community in the context of sectoral processes such as agriculture, forestry and rural development. Cooperating closely with the Ministry of Environment and Nature Protection (MINEP) – the focal point ministry for the UNCCD - the GM is currently providing support for the formulation and implementation of an integrated financing strategy (IFS) for SLM.

The IFS is seen as a welcome development because its framework is one opportunity to enhance coordination for increased investments between the various institutions and organizations that are engaged in UNCCD-related initiatives in Cameroon, including national ministries and research institutes, the private sector and development partners such as the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Netherlands Development Organization (SNV) and German development organizations.

In this context, on 10 and 11 March 2010, MINEP called a workshop to discuss the IFS that had been drafted following capacity-building of some 50 representatives of governmental ministries and institutions, civil society organizations, the private sector and development partners in developing IFS, held in September 2009, with the technical and financial support of UNDP and the GM.

This workshop to review the IFS of Cameroon was purposely held in Maroua, Northern Cameroon, so that stakeholders from the three regions in Cameroon most affected by desertification and land degradation could have easy access to share their views and provide their input to this process that will shape the financing of the SLM for years ahead.

The workshop was also an opportunity for the GM to hold bilateral meetings with key stakeholders to discuss, inter alia, opportunities for and constraints in resource mobilization for SLM in Northern Cameroon.

The draft strategy was discussed focusing on the legal, institutional and policy context; internal resources; external and private sector resources; and innovative resources.

General comments on the strategy included the need to ensure that outputs are realistic and reachable; to strengthen collaboration between MINEP and other SLM key Ministries such as those in charge of Finance, Planning and Agriculture; to review of the legal framework to make it more conducive to SLM practices; and to link IFS implementation to the operationalization of Cameroon's Rural Development Strategy.

The draft IFS document was endorsed by the workshop participants. Their comments will now be incorporated into the revised IFS document. It is hoped that the IFS will receive national validation within the coming months.

For more information:

Mr Sven Walter, Programme Officer, West and Central Africa
Tel. +39 06 5459 2150
s.walter (at) global-mechanism.org

Mr Évariste Nicolétis, Programme Officer, West and Central Africa and South-to-South Cooperation
Tel. +39 06 5459 2647
e.nicoletis (at) global-mechanism.org