IFAD and FAO Learning Event on GEF Rome, Italy - December 10-12, 2014

1. Multi-focal Area Programming in the GEF
- Opportunities and Challenges
Case of Sustainable Land Management Financing
in the Context of Climate Change

2. Overview
• Recap of Land Degradation Focal Area as GEF
window for financing SLM
• Cross-focal area linkages for SLM - specifically
Climate Change Mitigation
• Emerging Priorities and Implications

3. Land Degradation Focal Area
Mandate – Finance efforts to arrest and reverse
current global trends in land degradation,
specifically desertification and deforestation
Focus – Sustainable Land Management (SLM)
in production landscapes
Impacts:
•Flow of ecosystem services increased or maintained
•Sustained crop, livestock, and forest production
•Sustainable livelihoods (development benefit)

4. Multiple Benefits through SLM
Ecosystem Services in Production Systems
– Soil health improvement
– Land and water conservation
– Biodiversity conservation - above and below ground
– Reduced GHG emissions and carbon sequestration
Development
– Climate-resilient production systems
– Options for household food security and income

5. Multi-focal Area Projects
• LAND DEGRADATION: Flow of ecosystem services in
production systems; Integrated approaches to reduce
pressure from competing uses
Deliver multiple environmental and social benefits,
seeking synergy with –
• BIODIVERSITY: Integrated Landscape approaches and
Sustainable use of biodiversity
• CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION: LULUCF component
for reducing GHG emissions and carbon sequestration
• CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION (LDCF/SCCF):
Adaptation and resilience in the agriculture, livestock,
and food security sectors

6. SFM/REDD-plus Program
Goal: Achieve multiple environmental
benefits from improved management of all
types of forests
 Funding derives from three GEF Focal Areas -
Biodiversity, Climate Change and Land Degradation
 Separate funding envelope created to provide
incentive funding for interested countries

7. Typology of LDFA investments
LD-stand alone Multifocal area SFM/REDD+
Focus: Agriculture and
Focus: Integrated
Rangeland Management
Landscape Management
Focus: Carbon benefits in
forests Landscapes
China: Sustainable and
Climate-Resilient Land
Management in Western
PRC
Ecuador: Promotion of
Climate-Smart Livestock
Management
Azerbaijan: Sustainable
Land and Forest
Management in the Greater
Caucasus Landscape
Pakistan: Sustainable Land
Management Program to
Combat Desertification
Kazakhstan: Improving
Sustainability of PA System
in Desert Ecosystems
Kenya: Development of SFM
and Support to REDD for
Drylands Forests
Uzbekistan: Reducing
Pressures on Natural
Resources from
Competing Land Use
Turkey: Sustainable Land
Management and Climate
Friendly Agriculture
Mongolia: Securing Forest
Ecosystems through
Participatory Management
and Benefit Sharing

8. Profit per ton of CO2 sequestered (US$) Carbon dioxide sequestered (ton per hectare per year)
Include trees Afforestation
Tree crop farming
0 2 4 6 8 10
1000
100
10
0
No-tillage
Inorganic fertilizer
Intercropping
Alley farming
Manure
Cover crops
Crop residues
Rotation
intensification
Soil amendments
Terracing
Rotation diversification
Rainwater
harvesting Cross slope barriers
Improved
fallow
Source: World Bank, 2012

9. Scenarios for SOC in GEF Projects
SLM+SFM+LULUCF for CC-M
“Normal” or sustainable level of SOC
BAU GEF Project with
LDFA Resources
GEF Project with
LD + MFA Resources
SOC
SLM for food security

10. Emerging Global Priorities for SLM
• Agriculture (crop, trees, livestock) and Environment 
GEF positioning in the context of SDGs
– specifically GEF role in aligning the environmental agenda in
agriculture to address the challenges facing global
sustainability.
• Food Security, especially in Drylands – improving
food crop production through SLM  LD positioning
• maintaining the land resources and ecosystem services
needed to support crop and livestock production

11. Climate-smart agriculture
Increased carbon in
soils
Decrease GHG
emissions
Mitigation
How low carbon
options contribute
to agriculture
productivity and
food security
Value to farmers,
communities,
society
Agriculture
production and
productivity
More biomass,
more residue,
more production
More employment
Better land
management
Adaptation
Climate change
Reduce poverty
and food security

12. Implications
• Focus on transformational change at scale
• Stronger link to global development aspirations –
agriculture and food security, “Nexus” approach
• Demonstrate and harness effective cross-focal
area linkages – synergies for conventions
• Non-traditional Partnerships – sectors,
institutions
• More resources, effectively targeted

13. Challenges
• Resource allocation – justifying focal area
priorities
• Global Environmental Benefits – from single to
multiple focal areas
• Monitoring and reporting – Focal Area
Tracking Tools