GEO-6 Regional Assessment for Africa
Table 2.2.1: Sustainable land management practices Agronomic measures
Measures that improve soil cover (e.g. green cover, mulch); measures that enhance organic matter or solid fertility (e.g. manuring); soil surface treatment (e.g. conservation tillage); subsurface treatment (e.g. deep ripping)
Vegetative measures
Plantation, reseeding of tree and shrub species (e.g. live fences, tree rows), grasses and perennial herbaceous plants (e.g. grass strips)
Structural measures
Terraces (e.g. bench, forward/ backward sloping); bunds, banks (level/graded); dams, pans; ditches; walls and barriers
Management measures
Change of land use (e.g. enclosure); change of management/intensity level (e.g. from grazing to cut- and-carry); major change in timing of activities/control and species composition
Source: FAO 2011
2.2.7 Meeting global goals on land management Land is the main base for other environmental and natural resources. In Africa, the sustainable use and management of land is particularly important because the majority of people, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, rely on agriculture for food security, and therefore health and poverty reduction. The selected land-related GEGs, are contained in (More...11):
• Agenda 21; General Assembly Resolution 62–98 of 31 January 2008;
• the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); • the Ramsar Convention on wetlands; and • the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
The land GEGs are complemented by SDG 15 adopted along with 16 other SDGs at the end of 2015. SDG 15 highlights both the importance of land to development and the enduring concern that unless remedial action is urgently taken, the resource faces the risk of irreversible degradation. The Goal, which seeks to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss,” is further broken down into 10 Targets. Commendably, the Targets provide a roadmap for implementation of SDG 15 by stipulating that the Goal should be incorporated into national policies through local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts by 2020.
According to the latest national accounts global forests assessment of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the rate of deforestation has slowed around the world over the last five years, including in Africa (FAO 2015), a development that augurs well for the achievement of SDG 15. Moreover, Africa reported the highest annual increase in the area of conserved forest over the same period. This has been attributed to improved measuring and monitoring of forest resources and greater involvement of local communities in formulating policies (FAO 2015). However, forest degradation remains a challenge because forest erosion is gradual and more difficult to detect (Laurance et al. 2011), necessitating a combination of data sets to highlight its extent.
Both deforestation and forest degradation are largely driven by accelerated urbanization and industrialization, agricultural expansion, commercial logging, and increased fuelwood collection (Rudel 2013). The latter is a reflection of the region’s growing energy deficit, where two thirds of the population – around 620 million people – have no access to electricity (OECD and IEA 2014) (Figure 2.2.8) which is at odds with SDG 7 which aims to “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.”
In line with MDG 1, the proportion of undernourished people in the developing regions has fallen by almost half since
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