Ethiopia

Community-Based Integrated National Resources Management: Improving Ecosystem Integrity and Rural Livelihoods

Context: The highlands occupy approximately 45 per cent of the total land area of Ethiopia and are the centre of the country’s economic activity, with more than 85 per cent of its population and 75 per cent of its livestock. They are also the source of many of the country’s major rivers, including the Blue Nile.

Land degradation is widespread and has become a crucial impediment to the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in the region, increasing the vulnerability of the rural population to recurrent drought and famine.

Global benefits: Restoration of ecological balance in fragile ecosystems of global significance; conservation of endemic plant species, birds and cattle breeds; maintenance of ancient cultural and archaeological heritage sites.

Strategy: Arrest degradation of natural resources while broadening the livelihood base of the farming population through the restoration and sustainable management of the two largest and most densely populated watersheds in the Amhara Region (Lake Tana and Borkena-Robi).

IFAD-GEF synergies: IFAD and GEF financing will be blended to address interrelated threats to the watersheds, on the basis of lessons learned from several completed and ongoing IFAD projects in the country.

IFAD funds will promote integrated natural resource management at community and watershed levels, disseminating best practices in improved soil and land management and enhancing food security.

GEF funding will complement ongoing activities by bringing urgently needed resources to finance ecosystem management activities and conservation of biodiversity of global significance.

Source: IFAD