Landscape approaches
Change and adaptation in African drylands: Reversing deforestation while contributing to food security

A joint event sponsored by the organisers of Forest Day and Agricultural and Rural Development Day

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Cohosts
FAO, World Bank, IUCN

The combined effects of deforestation, land degradation and soil exhaustion are particularly severe in the Africa drylands, leading to desertification and threatening livelihoods of millions of people. These factors, exacerbated by climate change, are driven by overexploitation of forests, trees, bush and grazing land, inadequate management of water and soil resources as well as poverty and limited development opportunities. Climate change in particular is demanding a renewed response to address the environmental and development challenges African countries with significant dryland areas. Dryland people have developed resilient and adaptive livelihood systems and practices that enable their survival in difficult conditions. Various promising approaches, at times based on traditional practices, have emerged to reverse deforestation, approaches that at the same time contribute to improving livelihoods and enhanced adaptive capacity. There are growing market opportunities as well for bringing extensive areas of dry woodland under better management, by tapping in to significant market demands for woodland products. This learning event explored the degree to which such approaches have been, or could be, scaled up; policy measures that could support this process; and how both could contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Key questions

• How do climate and land use changes affect African dryland forest functions and people? What effect are these changes having on food security?
• What are the existing solutions and initiatives for reversing trends in deforestation and forest degradation while contributing to food security?
• What are the national, subregional and regional level actions that could help scale up adaptation and mitigation results in African dryland forests?

Moderator
Constance Neely, Consultant for the Food and Agricultural Organization of the UN

Keynote speaker
Andrew Steer, Special Envoy for Climate Change, World Bank

Panellists

• Ben Chikamai, Director, Kenya Forest Research Institute. General Secretary, Network for Gum Arabic and Resins in Africa (NGARA)
• Moctar Toure, Soil Scientist and Agricultural Policy Specialist
• Robert Zougmore, Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) Regional Program Leader, West Africa

Contacts
FAO: Nora Berrahmouni, Nora.Berrahmouni@fao.org
World Bank: Flore de Préneuf, fdepreneuf@worldbank.org