ICRISAT’s expertise in sustainable land management highlighted by the Commonwealth Secretariat
Screenshot of participants discussing SLM practices organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Photo: A Whitbread, ICRISAT
A recent event conducted by The Commonwealth Secretariat highlighted ICRISAT’s achievements in sustainable land management (SLM): using land resources to produce goods to meet changing human needs, while simultaneously ensuring the long-term productive potential of these resources.
At the webinar held on 9 September 2021 to enhance coordinated action towards SLM, Dr Birhanu Zemadim Birhanu, Cluster Leader, Landscape, Soil Fertility and Water Management, ICRISAT, shared ICRISAT’s deep knowhow on SLM in the area of capacity building, technical assistance, generation of evidence-based analysis and knowledge sharing.
SLM, which includes management of soil, water, animals and plants, requires tackling multiple issues such as addressing water, food and energy nexus, as well as sensitive issues regarding rights over and accesses to lands and other natural resources. To tackle this complex situation, ICRISAT, over a long period of time, has developed and promoted networks and alliances at levels from community to landscape scale and addressed pertinent issues on rural livelihoods, community resilience and environmental management.
Evidence generation and participatory implementation of technologies and practices constitute the main agenda of ICRISAT’s SLM. This is followed by scaling and impact creation at different agroecologies and new geographies. Effective documentation and an in-house capacity on monitoring and evaluation played a crucial role in the success of ICRISAT’s SLM work. Dr Birhanu elaborated on how SLM is an integral part of ICRISAT’s research agenda, and said that its success is dependent upon strategic partnerships at global, regional, national and local levels.
Finally, Dr Birhanu concluded that implementing SLM can be a vehicle to demonstrate the synergies at national and global levels to achieve the targets of the three Rio Conventions and help accrue gains towards improved livelihoods, resilience building and environmental management. The three Rio conventions are: The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Apart from this, participants discussed the need for greater awareness and advocacy for country-driven climate finance access for Commonwealth member countries. The Commonwealth Secretariat is supporting collaborative partnerships with national, regional and international organizations to unite in taking multi-level adaptations and mitigation actions, including SLM and wider nature-based solutions.
The full recording of the event is available in the link: Event: Enhancing Coordination on Sustainable Land Management for Increased Climate Resilience in Africa | The Commonwealth
Reported by Dr Birhanu Zemadim, Cluster Leader, Landscape, Soil Fertility and Water Management, ICRISAT.
For more on our work in SLM, click here: Natural Resource Management | EXPLOREit@ICRISAT
