The Eastern and Anglophone Western Africa Regional Assessment meeting was organized by a task force consisting of FAO, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, African Land Policy Initiative, the United Nations World Food Programme, United Nations Development Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme officials in Ethiopia.

This document is the first part of a two part manual on local level assessment of land degradation and sustainable land management:
? Part 1 ? Planning and Methodological Approach, Analysis and Reporting
? Part 2 ? Field Methodology and Tools

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit) and other development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private sector, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure.

This document is the second part of a two part manual on local level assessment of land degradation and sustainable land management:

? Part 1 ? Planning and Methodological Approach, Analysis and Reporting

? Part 2 ? Field Methodology and Tools

The two parts should be used together as Part 1 provides the background information for the conduct of the methods and tools that are provided in Part 2.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) and other development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private sector, donors and development specialists on the responsible governance of tenure. By setting out principles and internationally accepted standards for responsible practices, the Voluntary Guidelines will provide a framework and point of reference that stakeholders can use when developing their own policies and actions.

Concentration of land ownership, lack of access, insecurity of tenure and lack of efficiency and transparency in land administration services, are among the obstacles towards responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources in Latin America. These issues have been the subject of discussions and policy recommendations during many international forums, such as the International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD) held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in March 2006.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), Germany, IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), Finland, GTZ (Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit), UN-Habitat, World Bank and UNDP, and IPC (International NGO/CSO Planning Committee for Food Sovereignty), Food First International Action Network (FIAN), ILC (International Land Coalition), FIG (International Federation of Surveyors) and other development partners are working together with countries to prepare Voluntary Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to states, civil society, the private se

Land degradation is a serious problem that crosses national borders, ecological zones and

socio-economic levels. It can be especially devastating for the world’s poorest people living

in dryland areas. The Land Degradation Assessment in Drylands (LADA) project, executed

by FAO with funding from UNEP, GEF and others, assesses the causes and impacts of

land degradation at global, national and local levels in order to detect hot spots and identify

remedial measures. LADA approaches land degradation as a biophysical, social, economic

The Crop Yield Simulation and Land Assessment Model for Botswana (CYSLAMB) has been developed to serve thd needs of land evaluation in a semi-arid environment. By modelling the interaction of environmental variables, physiological responses, inputs and management, CYSLAMB predicts the yield of a particular crop production system on a specified land unit. The use of actual rainfall data for individual years enables evaluation of interannual yield variability and quantification of risk in the specification of land suitability.

Seasonal changes and ambiguity in property rights over land and natural resources create conflicts in rural communities in eastern Zambia. This study describes how rural households have minimized such conflicts and protect the economic interests of the poor members of the community through collective agreements on how to manage access to land and natural resources. Specifically, this study describes and evaluates the formulation and implementation of bylaws governing the grazing of animals and the setting of bush fires.

Mexico’s Programa Nacional de Educación, Salud y Alimentación (PROGRESA) is a major government program aimed at developing the human capital of poor households. Targeting its benefits directly to the population in extreme poverty in rural areas, it seeks to alleviate current poverty through monetary and in-kind benefits, as well as to reduce future levels of poverty by encouraging investments in education, health, and nutrition.

The diversity of urban areas presents substantial challenges to the validity of information from rapid assessments, yet CARE’s experiences in Bangladesh and Tanzania suggest a number of ways that rapid assessment procedures can be strengthened to address these concerns.