An Opportunity to Switch Energy Sources in Institutions in the Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania and Benefit from Carbon Finance under the Sustainable Land Management Project

The paper contributes on understanding gender considerations into Sustainable Land Management (SLM) project activities on the Highlands of Kilimanjaro Region. Specifically, it documents gender profile and assesses the project activities along with gender considerations, where critical issues, risks and opportunities in relation to gender mainstreaming in SLM project activities are highlighted. It evaluates also the capacity for mainstreaming gender issues into the institutions involved in project implementation. The study employed structured interview and consultative meetings methods with key actors identified. A total of 500 respondents were interviewed in the project catchment areas in the region. Data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS). The paper winds up by consolidating key strategic areas for intervention as future outlook and lessons which manifests benchmarks for the Kilimanjaro region to adopt a more programmatic approach to sustainable land management and elsewhere of the same in other cities with the same context in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The adoption of Sustainable Land Management (SLM) practices among smallholder farmers remains low, particularly among women farmers. Understanding the relationship between assets, gender, and SLM adoption and how their interaction impinges on household food self-sufficiency and livelihoods is essential for developing gender-responsive SLM programmes that effectively promote sustainable livelihoods and address household food insecurity. This study examines the effects of asset type on SLM practices adoption, women farmers, and their implications on household incomes and food self-sufficiency. Data was collected through a cross-sectional survey of 761 households selected from 11 chiefdoms across six districts in Eastern Zambia. Analysis involved Structural Equation System framework and Propensity Score Matching techniques to examine relationships between SLM adoption, food self-sufficiency, and household incomes, considering various socio-economic factors. Results showed marital status and household size as significant demographics, with education positively correlating with household income and SLM participation (p < 0.05). Gender disparities persisted, with male-headed households having higher incomes. Labour allocation analysis revealed women’s involvement in labour-intensive tasks, while smaller farms showed higher income probabilities, supporting sustainable agricultural intensification. Social capital significantly influenced SLM participation, and access to financial capital. Livestock assets, land size, and crop diversity predicted food security, while male decision-making influenced food security and income. Incomes were higher for women participating in SLM projects. This study underscores the importance of SLM practices in influencing household incomes and food security, especially for women. Addressing gender disparities and promoting women’s empowerment in agriculture are crucial for achieving equitable and sustainable rural development. Policymakers can foster sustainable livelihoods in rural communities by prioritizing SLM and empowering women.

This paper focuses on participatory testing of decision making tools (DMTs) at village level to assist in development of land use plans (LUPs) for sustainable land management (SLM) in Kilimanjaro Region, Tanzania. Data were collected using conditional surveys through key informant interviews with the project’s district stakeholders in each district, focused group discussions with selected villagers and participatory mapping of natural resources. Soil health, land degradation, carbon stock, and hydrological conditions were assessed in the seven pilot villages in all seven districts using DMTs as part of testing and validation. Results indicated soils of poor to medium health, and land degradation as portrayed by gullies and wind erosion in lowlands and better in uplands. Carbon and forest disturbance status could not be assessed using one-year data but hydrological analysis revealed that water resources were relatively good in uplands and poor in the lowlands. Challenges with regard to land use include increased gully erosion, decreased stream flow, reduced vegetation cover due to shifting from coffee with tree sheds to annual crops farming, cultivation near water sources, and overgrazing. Empowering the community with decision making tools at village level is essential to ensure that village land uses are planned in a participatory manner for sustainable land and natural resources management in Kilimanjaro and other regions in Tanzania.

Land restoration and sustainable land management projects have now been proposed for up to a billion hectares globally, responding to continuous land degradation processes. But, a lack of reliable cost estimates hinders implementation, which results in a high perceived risk of restoration investments. This study addresses this gap, using cost data from 243 restoration projects from multiple sources to estimate the cost ranges for different types of restoration more precisely. The analysis shows median restoration costs vary from 185 $US/ha to 3012 $US/ha depending on the restoration measure, implying current global land restoration commitment cost 0.04%–0.27% of annual global GDP to implement. Since the majority of these commitments are made by developing countries, international cost‐sharing mechanisms, through climate or private finance, are required to move from goal setting to implementation.

This report presents findings from the third round of a longitudinal study tracking climate resilience among 1,964 rural households across 40 woredas in Ethiopia from 2021 to 2025. A collaboration between Ethiopia's Policy Studies Institute (PSI), University of Copenhagen Development Economics Research Group (UCPH-DERG) and Oxford Policy Management (OPM), this report provides critical evidence for policy-making by documenting how households adapt to climate shocks over time and describing the outcomes of three flagship government programs: the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP), Sustainable Land Management Project (SLMP), and Agricultural Growth Programme (AGP).

Financing Agreement (Sustainable Land Management Project) between the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the International Development Association (with schedules, appendix and International Development Association General Conditions for Credits and Grants, dated 1 July 2005, as amended through 15 October 2006). Addis Ababa, 13 June 2008

Development grant agreement (agricultural rehabilitation and sustainable land management project) between the republic of burundi and the international development association. Washington, 3 august 2004 [united nations, treaty series, vol. 2298, i-40935.]

BackgroundSoil and water conservation (SWC) has been implemented in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia since 1985. Besides this, the agricultural development strategy of the region which was derived from the national agricultural development led industrialization strategy formulated in 1993 was focused on natural resources rehabilitation and conservations. Accordingly, each year a 20-days free labor work on SWC activities were contributed by the rural communities. Other programmes such as productive safety net programmes, and sustainable land management project were deploying their resources aiming to reverse the degraded landscape in the region.MethodMulti-temporal remote sensing data of landsat imageries were used for estimating the normalized difference vegetation index, soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) and land surface temperature (LST) for the years 1985, 2000 and 2015. Long-term station based data on daily precipitation started from 1973 was aggregated to derive average annual precipitation (AAP) into three sections to correspond with the processed image data. The precipitation data then converted into raster format using the inverse distance weight interpolation method. The analysis was done using ENVI 5.3 software and results were mapped in ArcGIS 10.3 package. The correlation between AAP and SAVI; LST and SAVI was evaluated on village polygon based as well as pixel-by-pixel.ResultsThe results based on village polygons show that there is statistical significant inverse relationship between SAVI and LST in all the study periods. The correlations between AAP and SAVI pixel-by-pixel were r = − 0.14 in 2015 and r = 0.06, r = 0.25 for 2000 and 1985 respectively. In 1985, the total area with SAVI ≥ 0.2 was 23.57 km2. After 15 years (from 1985 to 2000), the total area with SAVI ≥ 0.2 increased to 64.94 km2. In 2015, the total area of SAVI with values ≥ 0.2 reached 67.11 km2, which is a 3.3% increment from year 2000.ConclusionBased on the field observation and the remote sensing analysis results, noticeable gain in vegetation cover improvement have been observed in the 30 years period. These improvements are attributable to the implementation of integrated SWC measures particularly in areas where exclosure areas were defined and protected by the local community. Therefore, this study concludes by providing a theoretical bases and an indicator data support for further research on vegetation restoration for the entire region.

Soil organic matter (SOM) is one of the most complex components of terrestrial ecosystems and serves many vital functions in terms of regulating the flow and supply of nutrients to plants, regulating water flow and water retention in soils and determining the physical attributes of soils. Hence, the maintenance and management of SOM is vital for the sustainability of croplands, grasslands, forests and wetlands. More recently, increased attention has been focused on the role of soils in the global carbon cycle, where the world’s soils contain more than 1.5 trillion tonnes of carbon or roughly three times the carbon contained in all the world’s vegetation and twice the amount of carbon (as CO2) in the earth’s atmosphere. Hence, relatively small changes in the global storage of carbon in SOM can have large effects on greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations—either positively or negatively. If soils are managed to increase their organic matter content (which also contributes to increased soil fertility), CO2 levels in the atmosphere can be reduced. Currently there is a growing interest in promoting soil carbon sequestration as a GHG mitigation option, particularly in many developing countries. Incorporating carbon sequestration objectives in sustainable land management projects (both via the growing voluntary GHG offset markets and evolving national and international GHG mitigation policies) opens the possibility to radically improve the prospects for improved livelihoods and more sustainable land use practices in developing countries. Research directed at improving our understanding of, and ability to accurately predict, changes in SOM, across the range of managed ecosystems—from croplands, grazing lands, forests and wetlands—is moving very rapidly. Increasingly the science community is being called upon to provide the information and tools needed to support policies directed towards sustainable land use and GHG mitigation, involving SOM. With the overall aim to present the state-of-the-art on SOM studies across the world and highlight future research directions, the International Symposium on Soil Organic Matter Dynamics: Land Use, Management and Global Change was held in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA, on July 6–9, 2009 (http:// www.nrel.colostate.edu/som-home.html). At the symposium, SOM dynamics were discussed in the context Plant Soil (2011) 338:1–3 DOI 10.1007/s11104-010-0617-6

In rural areas of the Ethiopian highlands, tree planting on communal land has been increasing because of active implementation of various sustainable land management projects. Tree planting requires negotiation or coordination among the users of communal land because it may exclude other activities, namely grazing of livestock. This study empirically shows that the transaction costs to reach agreement among land users deter the expansion of tree planting.In other words, tree-planting projects tend to be placed in communities with lower transaction costs. The result implies that tree planting will expand if public policy is directed toward coordinating diversified opinions among community members.

Global Environment Facility Trust Fund Grant Agreement (Agricultural Rehabilitation and Sustainable Land Management Project) between the Republic of Burundi and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development acting as an Implementing Agency of the Global Environment Facility (with schedules and General Conditions Applicable to Loan and Guarantee Agreements for Single Currency Loans dated 30 May 1995, as amended through 6 October 1999). Washington, 3 August 2004

In 2012, governments across the world adopted “The Future We Want” outcome document in Rio De Janeiro as a commitment to achieve a land-degradation-neutral world. This document reasserts the importance of sustainable land management in the top of the debates on sustainable development. This paper provides an overview of Tanzania’s preparedness towards achieving these global objectives. The paper is based on a keynote address which was presented in the conference on reducing land degradation on the highlands of Kilimanjaro Region in Tanzania. Using a biogeographical perspective, the paper assesses challenges of adopting programmatic approach to sustainable land management in Tanzania. It also presents some opportunities that exist through Global Mechanism of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which promote actions leading to coordination, mobilization and channeling of financial resources to assist member countries to coordinate and sustain sustainable land management projects.

This study was conducted with the objective of determining the returns to sustainable land management (SLM) at the national level in Bhutan. The study first uses satellite data on land change (Landsat) to examine land use change in 1990–2010 and its impact on sediment loading in hydroelectric power plants. The study then uses the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model to analyze the impact of land use change and land management on sediment loading. The results from the land use change and SWAT analyses are used to assess the economic benefits of SLM. We estimate the benefits and costs of SLM practices and compare them with the land-degrading practices that are most prevalent in Bhutan—that is, business as usual. An analysis of the drivers of adoption of SLM practices is also done to draw conclusions about strategies that Bhutan could use to enhance adoption of SLM practices. The land cover change results show that the vast majority of forested areas remained as such between 1994 and 2010. SWAT results show that with long-term SLM practices such as contouring, increased forested cover and density, terracing, and other SLM practices, soil erosion from forested area could be reduced by 50 %. Analysis of returns to SLM practices showed that citrus orchards are the most profitable enterprises in 13 of the 20 districts (dzongkhag), but they require farmers to wait for at least six years before the first harvest. Improved pasture management is the second most profitable enterprise—underscoring the potential role it can play to meet the growing demand for livestock products as household incomes increase. Returns to community forest management are low but profitable at a 10 % discount rate. Considering the drivers of SLM adoption, our research shows an inverse relationship between returns to land management and their corresponding adoption rates. The factors that increase adoption of SLM were land security, access to extension services, and roads. In summary, Bhutan’s policies and its cultural and historical background have set the country on the path to becoming a global green growth success story. Results of this study vindicate the country’s efforts to invest in sustainable land and forest management and highlight the additional policies and strategies that will enhance achievement of Bhutan’s SLM objectives.

The development of bioenergy markets is beneficial from a climate perspective and helps ensure sustainable forest management both locally and globally. This study aimed to provide an overview of the current state of Lithuanian forest biomass resources with a particular focus on the legal, economic and ecological aspects of forest biomass use for energy and to identify the lessons that should be learned from the history of biomass introduction in the country’s energy sector. These experiences and lessons are valuable both nationally and internationally, where good practices and challenges for the introduction and development of forest biomass for energy production are revealed. We examined the question of whether regulatory drivers in the energy sector can increase forest biomass use for energy production and contribute to sustainable development of Lithuania. To answer this question, we described the legal and market instruments regulating forest biomass use for energy production, the forestry sector and renewable energy policy in Lithuania, the current and potential amount of forest biomass available for energy production and ecological considerations relating to forest biomass use for energy. In Lithuania, forest biomass resources are strategically important for the renewable energy sector. The National Energy Strategy of Lithuania aims to increase the share of renewable energy sources, including forest biomass, within the total energy consumption, with targets of 30% in 2020, 45% in 2030 and 80% in 2050. Lithuania successfully achieved the target of EU legislation on renewables in 2015 ahead of the obligation to achieve it in 2020. Renewable energy is mainly used in heating, as well as in the electricity and transport sectors. This has resulted in a significant price reduction for end users due to the increased use of biomass, mainly local forest biomass, for heat energy production and in the emergence of a biofuel exchange, which acts as a system of biomass auctions that to some extent prevent unjustified price increases. Legislation developed for the energy biomass market in Lithuania allows efficient restructuring of the energy sector, especially for heat production. The Lithuanian energy sector has already successfully replaced imported and relatively expensive natural gas with locally available cheaper renewable energy sources (RES). Compliance with formal environmental regulations is required to protect the soil, ground vegetation, understory and biodiversity during commercial tree harvesting. Lithuania has basic guidelines for the use of wood ash as a compensatory fertiliser, with strict requirements for the chemical quality of wood ash.

Biomass energy is an important component of household energy consumption in rural areas of China. However, under current exploitation levels, the energy source is beset with both theoretical and practical challenges, and its sustainable utilization is seriously restricted. One key to solving this problem is the establishment of a theoretical framework for the sustainable use of biomass energy by rural households. Based on the new viewpoint that biomass energy is a type of ‘weakly’ renewable energy, this paper provides the first theoretical basis outlining the sustainable use of biomass energy in rural households, including systems theory, the theory of ecological carrying capacity, the utility theory, the theory of ecological economics and the theory of natural resource values. The relationships among these theories are also discussed. In addition, four conditions governing the theoretical sustainable use of biomass energy by rural households are analyzed: the sustainability of the resource supply, the sustainability of biomass energy production, the sustainability of consumer acceptance, and the sustainability of ecological environmental effects.