Growing greener: Restoration and sustainable use of agro-pastoralist systems in open arid landscapes across Southern Africa
The project locations are characterised by a vicious cycle of degrading resources driven by unsustainable agro-pastoral land uses to compensate for deteriorating incomes and livelihoods. The major transformation this project seeks to achieve is to catalyse nature-based land use and market supported systems that align socio-economic development with restoration of semi-arid landscapes and biodiversity thereby combatting desertification at community, national and regional level. It builds on proven good agro-pastoralist practices and traditional knoweldge systems to implement innovative, community-based conservation approaches that drive systemic behavioural change towards resilience and sustainable use of natural resources. Key to transformation is a phased rollout approach to embed learning and ensure effective scale up as it fosters cross-country learning.
- Countries
- Botswana, Madagascar, South Africa, Zambia
- IKI funding
- 20,000,000.00 €
- Duration
- 06/2022 till 09/2029
- Status
- open
- Implementing organisation
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
- Political Partner
-
- Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) - South Africa
- Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food Security - Botswana
- Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development - Madagascar
- Ministry of Green Economy and Environment - Zambia
- Southern African Development Community (SADC) - Botswana
- Implementing Partner
-
- Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development (CCARDESA)
- Conservation International (CI)
- Peace Parks Foundation
State of implementation/results
The project entered the implementation phase on 1st October 2023.
- Implementation and communication structures at regional and national levels were successfully set up, including hiring and onboarding of technical staff, operational planning and reaching out to political partners and other key stakeholders.
- Political partners in all IKI partner countries confirmed that the Growing Greener project is highly relevant for achieving national as well as international targets, e.g., contributing to NAPAs and NDCs or supporting important action targets under the new 2022 Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Agreement.
- H4H is a relevant and quickly growing concept in the Southern African region. The CEO of the Peace Parks Foundation highlighted its importance at the first Africa Climate Week in September 2023 in Nairobi, Kenya: “Today, Herding for Health is operational across 2.5 million hectares in 16 locations and six countries throughout Southern Africa.”
- Within the next five years an alliance of national governments, international partners, indigenous pastoralists, civil society organisations as well as private sector partners will commit more than USD 150 million to restore at least 20 million hectares across the African grasslands, savannahs and bushlands.
Latest Update:
01/2025
Project relations
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