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“Tenure-Scape” Approach to Analyze the Agrarian and Environmental Transition in the Mekong Region and Its Impacts on Sustainability

Titled “Improving Governance of Tenure in Policy and Practice: Agrarian and Environment Transition in the Mekong Region and Its Impacts on Sustainability Analyzed through the ‘tenure-scape’ Approach”, the contribution was published (January 2023) in the peer-reviewed academic journal “Sustainability” together with fellow FAO colleague Louisa Jansen (lead-author).

Access Fully article here

Why is this article relevant?

1.Analytical deep dive into the impact the Green Revolution and global commodity boom (rubber and coffee) on sustainability of the agrarian and environmental transition in the Mekong region (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Viet Nam) with transferable lessons learned for other geographic regions;

2.Introducing the “tenure-scape” approach as a new, qualitative analysis that combines integrated landscape management, transformative governance and rights-based approaches placing legitimate tenure rights at the centre (including legal and customary rights);

3.Analytically challenges the “concession model of land-based investments” model with a suggested alternative to apply the “tenure-scape” approach to:

  • re-evaluate the potential contribution of small-scale producers within the wider physical and societal landscape;
  • move towards a more secure and equitable future for those at risk of being excluded from effective access to use of and control over land, fishers, forests and water resources that are forming the basis for their livelihoods;

4.Illustrates how this approach is incorporated in large-scale development programs such as the “Dryland Sustainable Landscape Impact Program (DSL-IP and Food Systems, Land Use and restoration (FOLUR-IP) financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to accelerate action and reach impacts at scale.

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Analysing Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Multi-Stakeholder Transformative Governance of Tenure: The Case of South Africa

Titled “Improving the Governance of Tenure in Policy and Practice: A Conceptual Basis to Analyse Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Multi-Stakeholder Transformative Governance Illustrated with an Example from South Africa”, the contribution was recently published in the peer-reviewed academic journal “Sustainability” together with fellow FAO Louisa Jansen (lead-author).

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Why is this article relevant?

  1. The United Nations system strongly advocates to work through multi-stakeholder partnerships, platforms and processes (MSPs) to address complex and multi-dimensional issues including governance of tenure, natural resources management, climate change, biodiversity conservation and sustainable use, land degradation neutrality, and ultimately to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The article explores opportunities, risks and good practices to work through MSPs.

2. The article adopts a “business-as-unusual” approach to MSPs through: 

  • providing a conceptual basis to rigorously analyse multi-stakeholder partnerships, processes and platforms and 
  • establishing the direct and missing link between MSPs to polycentric, multi-stakeholder governance arrangements critical to achieve more transformative and sustainable impacts at scale for, and beyond, tenure governance.

3. The article is based on qualitative research and data collected from events across Africa and Asia to implement the ‘Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security’ (VGGT) and applied to the ongoing South African National Multi-Stakeholder Platform process.

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Improving Governance of Tenure in Policy and Practice: The Case of Myanmar

Published in the academic Land Use Policy Journal together with fellow FAO colleagues Louisa Jansen (Lead-Author) and Marianna Bicchieri, the article captures how a systemic, bottom-up and country-driven capacity enhancement process tangibly contributed to improve the responsible governance of tenure in Myanmar. Substantial and methodological lessons learned are directly applicable to work across climate change, biodiversity and environment to help achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.104906

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System-wide Capacity Enhancement for Sustainable Food and Agriculture

How can the transition and transformation towards more sustainable food and agriculture (SFA) materialize at country-level? Who will own, drive and be committed to this process? How can the process be sustainable and reach scale?

The “how-to” contribution titled “System-Wide Capacity Development for SFA” attempts to answer these question and more. It illustrates how the desired SFA transition and transformation can be achieved, namely through applying a system-wide capacity development approach that empowers people, strengthens organizations, institutions and the enabling policy environment. This is underscored with a practical and encouraging example in Rwanda with transferable, methodological lessons learned applicable across different continents and contexts.

The contribution is part of the FAO-Elsevier publication “Sustainable Food and Agriculture (SFA)” edited by Clayton Campanhola and Shivaji Pandey with contributions from 78 experienced scientists, teachers, policy experts and leaders from 30 organizations including universities, public, private and international institutions.

Open https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780128121344/sustainable-food-and-agriculture to access the chapter (See Section 41.3, pages 458-463) and entire publication.

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Achieving Impact at Scale Through an Integrated Landscape Approach

This article was co-written with fellow FAO colleagues Fritjof Boerstler and Marcelo Rezende and published in the Journal “Unasylva” No. 253, Vol. 73 edition titled “Forestry For a Better World” on January 2022.

Access full article here (pages 28-32)

Why is this article relevant?

1.Introduces the Dryland Sustainable Landscapes Impact Program (DSL-IP) financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and how, substantially and operationally, integration will materialise to reach the intended impact at scale.

2.Highlights that integration starts at the landscape level unpacking integrated landscapes management (ILM) as a means to offer “win-win” synergies to deliver sustainable production systems and livelihoods at the local level alongside global environmental benefits.

3. Introduces the “Integrated Landscape Assessment Methodology (ILAM) as an innovative and inclusive process to capture complex baseline information on land degradation, green value-chains, social, institutional and governance structures as well as land use management systems. The ultimate aim is for more evidenced-based integrated land-use planning, decision-taking and transformative governance at landscape level.

4.Illustrates on internal governance structure to operationalize (and embrace) programatic complexity

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GEF-7 DRYLAND SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES IMPACT PROGRAM: Local action for impact at scale

Introduces the GEF-7 Dryland Sustainable Landscapes Program (DSL-IP), which takes a catalytic, country-driven approach to accelerating transformational and durable changes at scale.

This will be applied across dryland communities in 11 countries in three geographical clusters to avoid, reduce, and reverse further degradation, desertification, and deforestation of land and ecosystems in drylands.

The programmatic approach of the DSL IP will take account of the similar and transboundary nature of many of the challenges facing drylands.

The program aims to reach close to 1 million direct beneficiaries and bring 12 million hectares of drylands under sustainable land management, including 1.1 million hectares primarily benefitting biodiversity and preventing deforestation of 10,000 hectares of high conservation value forests. In addition, the program will improve the management effectiveness in 1.6 million hectares of protected areas and restore 0.9 million hectares of degraded land in the drylands. All these activities will result in total greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions of 34.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent (tCO2e).

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“Udržitelné zemědělství a biodiverzita” – Interview (in Czech) for “Zemědělec” magazine – October 2019 on Sustainable Agriculture and Transforming Food Systems for Czech Republic and beyond

The interview with FAO-ADG Rene Castro Salazar supported by Patrick P. Kalaš illustrates the pressing need to transform currently unsustainable food and agriculture systems nationally, regionally and globally to address the nexus between environmental challenges (i.e. climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation) as well as food and nutrition insecurity (including hunger and obesity) with relevance for the developed and developing world.

Issues highlighted: Agro-ecological, “biodiversity-and-climate change -friendly” approaches; conducive agricultural policies, incentives such as investments and subsidies; food loss and waste during production and consumption; potential for “green and healthy” procurement of school feeding programs to incentivise local, small-scale producers and more.

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Institutional Capacity Assessment Approach for National Climate Change Adaptation Planning in the Agriculture Sector

The briefing note highlights the need to apply a country-driven institutional capacity development approach for the formulation, implementation and monitoring of National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) for more impactful and sustainable climate adaptation action.

More specifically, this brief provides guidance on how to identify country strengths and needs for NAP through a participatory institutional capacity needs assessment process to improve cross-sectoral collaboration and coordination mechanisms between ministries and relevant stakeholders. Illustrated with case examples and practical tools that focus on the agriculture sectors, the brief introduces an institutional capacity assessment approach outlined according to key capacities for initiating and operationalizing NAP, in particular to address agricultural sector challenges. The rapid institutional capacity assessment approach is in line with and complements the “Addressing Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in National Adaptation Plans-Supplementary Guidelines”aiming to inform, enable and inspire country stakeholders to apply a more effective capacity development approach for integrating the agriculture sectors in NAPs. Institutional capacity assessment approach for national adaptation planning in the agriculture sectors.

Download the publication on https://www.fao.org/3/I8900EN/i8900en.pdf

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Country-Level Implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of land, fisheries and forests in the context of national food security (VGGT) in South Africa

What are the capacities of people, organisations and institutions needed to achieve lasting progress for more responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forest in the context of national food security? What role can multi-stakeholder processes, platforms and partnerships play?

This contribution consist of a text box example with transferable lessons learned on multi-stakeholder processes and platforms to implement the the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the context of National Food Security (VGGT) in South Africa. Co-authored with Dr. Louisa J. M. Jansen, the text was published in the Committee on World Food Security report of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition on “Multi-stakeholder partnerships to finance and improve food security and nutrition in the framework of the 2030 Agenda”.

See page 91 in http://www.fao.org/3/CA0156EN/CA0156en.pdf.

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Climate Smart Agriculture: Enhancing capacities for a country-owned transition towards CSA

Climate-smart transformation of food and agricultural systems is a knowledge-intensive and innovative process. It is also a multi-sector, multi-actor and multi-level process that addresses complexities across biophysical, technical and socio-economic levels. How will this gradual and complex transformation be achieved? Who will own and drive this transition process at country level? How can the transformation become country-owned, sustainable, scaled up and scaled out? What are the national and subnational capacities across people, organizations, institutions, networks and policies that need to be enhanced and how will countries be supported in this process?

Open http://www.fao.org/climate-smart-agriculture-sourcebook/enabling-frameworks/module-c1-capacity-development/c1-overview/en/ to find out more.