Project Detail

Application of Biocultural Protocols (BCPs) to mainstream sustainable land mangement practices in arid and semi-arid (ASAL) Environments of Kenya

In the proposed project, Kivulini Trust with the help of LIFE Africa Trust and Natural Justice, aims to strengthen the indigenous resource governance system of the Borana (Isiolo) and Samburu (Samburu) pastoralists by developing Bio-cultural Community Protocols (BCP) as resource governance tools. We propose to develop and apply the BCP principles to improve governance including negotiated access to strategic resources shared by communities. Through this process, the project will strengthen the capacity of the pastoralists to better manage and protect their resources. The project will contribute to protection of about 30,000ha of key resources in the project area. Furthermore, the project will build the capacities of the target communities on the bio-cultural rights and facilitate their engagement with ongoing national policy processes including implementation of the Land Registration Act of 2012 and formulation of Community Land Bill. To achieve these objectives, the project proposes to conduct a series of training and capacity building workshops with pastoralists? communities in the project areas, information generation through relevant research and create forum for community dialogue and cooperation for resource governance. At a broader scale, it is envisaged that improved resource governance will enable communities to participate in environmental conservation and livelihood diversification initiatives, such as the Payment for Ecosystem Service program.

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Kivulini Trust

Country:

Kenya

Area Of Work:

Land Degradation

Operational Phase:

OP5 - Y2 (Jul 12 – Jun 13)

Grant Amount:

US$ 150,000.00

Co-Financing Cash:

Co-Financing in-Kind:

Project Number:

KEN/SGP/OP5/FSP/LD/12/016

Start Date:

12/2012

End Date:

11/2014

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

It is anticipated that the BCPS developed under the proposed project will strengthen communities? ability to participate in Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) agreements with investors interested in using their bio-cultural resources for any commercial gains. The BCPs will also support development of alternative livelihood including the Payment of Ecosystem Services (PES) that will enable pastoralist to get benefits from their natural resources.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

It is envisaged that with improved management and a clear governance plan, pastoralist communities in the two counties can participate in global mechanism for environmental governance such as Payment for Ecosystem Services through REDD++ program.

Notable Community Participation

The project plans to build on the already established relationship with the various target communities and stakeholders. The project will employ participatory approaches throughout its implementation. The entry point to the respective communities and stakeholders will be existing local community structures such as CBOs and community groups. The implementation process will be preceded by awareness raising on the project activities among the target communities and stakeholders. The target communities and stakeholders will then be encouraged and facilitated to form project implementation groups with clear responsibilities and leadership. Through these groups, the target community will be involved in the community level planning, implementation and monitoring of the project activities.

Gender Focus

The project will ensure equitable participation of all categories of the community (men, women and youth) in all the project activities. The project understands that impact of land degradation affects all members of household. For example, scarcity of pasture often leaders to men and youth moving for long distance far from the main households in search of pasture and water leaving women at home to fend for themselves. In addition, women are most affected in case of lack of water as they are the ones responsible for ensuring sufficient household water. Women also are responsible for ensuring availability of household energy in terms firewood, which becomes scarce with dwindling tree cover. However, in most cases, women and youth rarely participate in decision-making process regarding land use. The project will encourage the participation of women and youth indigenous institutions responsible for managing landscapes and engaging with national and international policies, laws and agreements that promote sustainable land use at the local scale in the ASAL. Thus in all planned activities, extra efforts will be made to ensure participation of women and youth. In all the sites, BCP committee members will have a good representation of women and youth.

Capacity - Building Component

The project?s institutional capacity building component will ensure that the target communities and stakeholders will at the end of the project have adequate capacity to continual with implementation of the project activities even after the project has ended. The use of participatory approach will ensure that the beneficiaries develop a sense of ownership of the project and hence they will be more encouraged to seek support elsewhere even when project funds run out. As part of capacity building activities, the project will facilitate the establishment of linkages with other organizations working on similar issues.

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