UNEP INITIATIVE ON
SUCCESS STORIES IN LAND DEGRADATION/ DESERTIFICATION CONTROL
 The
Background
The
Criteria used in Evaluating and Submitting Success Stories to UNEP
SUCCESS STORIES IN AFRICA
Mossi
Plateau in Burkina Faso
Project
in SãoJoão Baptista Valley, Cape Verde
Agropastoral
Development in Mauritania
Sonnleiten
Ranch Project,Namibia
Project
in Kano and Jigawa States, Nigeria
Restoration
in the Louga Region of Northern Senegal
Mr.
Serigne Samb’s Farm,Thiambène Till, Senegal
SOS
Sahel Community ForestryProject in Ed Debba, Sudan
SUCCESS STORIES IN ASIA
Project
on Desertification Control in Naiman Banner County in China
Controlling
Drifting Sand in Cele County -Western China
Afforestation
and Salinity Control Using Tamarix; in Western China
The
Integrated Watershed Development Programme, Jhabua District, Madhya Pradesh,
India
Jhanwar
Watershed Project, India
Joint
Participatory Forest Management; Shiwalik Hills Haryana Province, India
The
Barefoot College Project,Tilonia,Rajasthan,India
Desert
Reclamation Using Shelterbelts in Thal, Pakistan
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The project location
-
In Boulgou, Zoundweogo and Yatenga
provinces in BurkinaFaso, including Zabré district, a broad crusted
plateau of eroded and very poor soils
The Problem
- Variable rainfall
concentrated in summer months, with frequent droughts
- Poor crusted
soils with low water-retention capacity
- Deforestation,
overgrazing and frequent bush fires
- High, rapidly-increasing
population totals
- Exhausted
land with no fallow periods, and little organic manuring or provision
of inputs
- Decreasing
yields
- Little
land available for grazing
- Lack of
status of women and little return on their socio-economic activities
- Increasing
water shortages
The Solution
-
Controlling land degradation through
anti soil erosion measures and organic improvement techniques
-
Promoting training in making and
utilising compost, control watering and erosion control
-
Improving the status of women and
their conditions of living
-
Encouraging women’s participation
in development
-
Promoting traditional income-generating
activities
-
Developing cooperative action
The project achievements:
-
Community land reclamation through
intensive use of composting
-
Significant reduction of soil erosion
through control measures and strip cropping
-
Improved yields resultant on manuring,
planting tree/crop associations and land rehabilitation
-
Diversification of activities including
agricultural processing and small-scale manufacturing
-
Saving and credit facilities available
for development activities
-
Increased and regular incomes from
crop sales and other activities
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Job generation in services, processing
plants, training etc
-
Improved capacity technical and
literacy levels
-
Sound organisation and developed
sense of responsibility among group members
-
Improved health facilities and standards
-
Energy savings through use of solar
power
-
New infrastructure e.g. schools
The overall achievements
-
Increasing acknowledgment of women’s
association at regional government level
-
Increasing membership of women’s
associations
-
Empowerment of women at political,
financial and socio-cultural levels
This
project was implemented by Centre Ecologique Albert Schweitzer, Switzerland,
and Zabré women groups, with funds from private Swiss foundations
and New Planet.
Success Stories: Africa
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