Page 1 PROJECT INFORMATION DOCUMENT (PID) CONCEPT STAGE Report No.: AB1676 Project Name Sustainable Land Management Project (FY08) Region AFRICA Sector General agriculture, fishing and forestry sector (100%) Project ID P090789 GEF Focal Area Land degradation Borrower(s) Implementing Agency Environment Category [ ] A [X] B [] C [ ] FI [ ] TBD (to be determined) Date PID Prepared September 8, 2006 Estimated Date of Appraisal Authorization May 20, 2007 Estimated Date of Board Approval December 10, 2007 1. Key development issues and rationale for Bank involvement Overview of land degradation: Ethiopia is one of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa most seriously threatened by land degradation, and addressing this problem has been consistently identified as a major priority for Ethiopia in national strategies and policy documents such as the Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction Program I (SDPRP I), SPDRP II (i.e. Plan for Accelerated and Sustained Development to End Poverty (2005/06-2009/10), Conservation Strategy of Ethiopia, National Food Security Strategy, Policy on Pastoral Development, and the State of the Environment Report. At the international level, Ethiopia ratified the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in June 1997 and it has finalized its National Action Programme to Combat Desertification. These measures signal Ethiopia’s commitment to work with other nations to address the issue of land degradation, particularly in drylands. Rationale for a sustainable land management program : The need for a comprehensive sustainable land management program in Ethiopia is urgent because of the following reasons: (a) Conserving the soil in a difficult topography : The intrinsic nature of most soils in Ethiopia, such as steep topography and the volcanic nature of the soils in much of the highlands make them vulnerable to high rates of erosion. It is estimated that about 1.5 - 1.9 billion tons/annum of soil is lost because of water and wind erosion, particularly on about 70% of the land, which is relatively fragile and vulnerable to desertification. Therefore, sound land management practices have to be an integral part of land use in Ethiopia. (b) Improving and sustaining agricultural growth : Agriculture is the main driver of economic growth in Ethiopia, accounting for about 40% of GDP. Improvements in land management are critical to improve and maintain agricultural productivity because land degradation hinders agricultural productivity and rural livelihoods, particularly for 85 percent of the population who depend on subsistence agriculture and livestock husbandry. Estimates indicate that on average, 2-3% percent of agriculture GDP is lost annually because of land degradation. This negative trend must be reversed. In fact, there are extensive data indicating that crop yields in Ethiopia can double in food secure and increase by 50% in food insecure areas if the existing extension package (improved seed and inorganic fertilizer) is combined with better soil and water Page 2 management. Moreover, efforts to improve agricultural productivity such as the promotion of improved seed and fertilizers cannot be sustained if the resource base continues to degrade. (c) Reducing vulnerability : Sustainable land management is necessary to prevent expansion in the number of food insecure population, now estimated at 5-8 million. West Gojam, for example, is in the “high potential area” of Ethiopia and was considered a bread basket. However, it has now become a food insecure area because of severe land degradation. Soil erosion in West Gojam is estimated to be about 110-170 tons/ha/year, the highest in Ethiopia. Flooding is an increasing problem in various locations; effective, large-scale sustainable land management would over time reduce it. (d) Preserving ecological integrity : From a global, regional, and national environment perspective, land degradation threatens the integrity and function of ecological systems that support life such as soil formation and the carbon, hydrological, and nutrient cycles, as well as Ethiopia’s unique biological diversity. (e) Scaling up of best practices : National and international research institutions have developed best management practices and technologies for sustainable land management, but these require institutional mechanisms, capacity building, and financing to promote adoption. In addition, many of Ethiopia’s development partners, including WFP, USAID, GTZ, SIDA, NORAD, CIDA, Development Cooperation Ireland, Austrian Cooperation, the Dutch government, the Italian government, AfDB, IFAD, FAO, and UNDP are supporting sustainable land management interventions. Donor support has led to useful models for improving sustainable land management, focusing largely on the food insecure areas. However, these projects have had mostly localized impacts. It is important that best practices are disseminated more widely, especially in the so-called “high potential areas”, where long-term food security is under threat from land degradation.. Rationale for World Bank/GEF Involvement The World Bank has a number of advantages in leading the proposed Sustainable Land Management Program: (a) The Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) (FY2003-2005), which reflected Ethiopia’s priorities outlined in the SDPRP, highlighted “increased attention to land and natural resource degradation” as one of the means to reduce vulnerability in Ethiopia. (b) The proposed project is fully consistent with the strategy of the Africa Action Plan to make agriculture more productive and sustainable, and to take advantage of opportunities for natural resource conservation to promote growth and poverty reduction. It is also consistent with the Bank’s new Global Partnership Program, the TerraAfrica Multi-partner Initiative, which is aimed at addressing land degradation in Africa in a systematic and coordinated way. (c) Successful interventions to prevent or control land degradation require integrated and cross-sectoral approaches to sustainable land management. The Bank is in a unique position to catalyze the adoption of such approaches in Ethiopia because of its strong policy dialogue with the Government and development partners, and its engagement across several sectors. (d) A sustainable land management operation would complement and optimize the results of the Bank’s policy-level support to Ethiopia on land tenure security through the Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSCs) and capacity building assistance for agricultural services through the proposed Rural Capacity Page 3 Building project (FY2006) as well as the Productive Safety Net, Emergency Drought Recovery, Food Security, and Pastoral Areas projects under implementation. (e) Finally, both the Bank and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) are involved in protecting critical ecological systems. Their involvement in the proposed project would help to focus not only on promoting sustainable land management to improve agricultural productivity, but also on protecting ecologically sensitive landscapes. 2. Proposed objective(s) Objective: The objectives of the proposed Sustainable Land Management Project are to: (a) facilitate investment in sustainable land management through strengthened land tenure security; (b) increase and sustain agricultural productivity through improved integrated land and water management practices; and (c) protect or restore ecosystem functions in agricultural landscapes. These objectives would be achieved through operationally-oriented knowledge generation, management, and dissemination of innovations in sustainable land management. The project would be implemented through a cooperative arrangement involving an applied research institution (to be selected), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD), and the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). The indicative cost for this five-year investment project (SIL) is a $15-20 million. It would be financed with $10 million grant from the GEF and co-financing from the government and other development partners, preferably through pooled funds aligned with the government’s financial system. Expected Outcomes: The expected outcomes of the project are: (a) improved security of tenure for land holders; (b) integration of sustainable land and water management practices into agriculture and other land uses in local, regional, and federal government planning frameworks; (c) sustained increases in agricultural productivity; and (d) restoration and/or protection of ecosystem functions in agricultural landscapes. 3. Preliminary project description The following five initial project components are proposed based on dialogue with the Government and potential donor partners. The final design and components would be guided by past and on-going analytical work by the Bank and others; lessons from past and on-going land management projects; and a number of studies that will be undertaken as part of project preparation. Project Component 1: Support to integrated development planning The objective of this component is to enhance existing Woreda planning frameworks to ensure integration and linkages between sustainable land management/watershed management activities and other enabling and/or supporting development activities such as development of alternative energy and improved market access because of their direct or indirect impacts on the integrity of land. Where more than one Woreda are found in a selected micro-watershed, their development planning processes would be coordinated to ensure consistency in the implementation of SLM activities. Page 4 The program would identify the entities that would be responsible for the implementation of this component and describe current roles and responsibilities, current capacity; capacity enhancements required training or other capacity enhancement details, follow-on activities, and implementation and impact monitoring and evaluation. Project Component 2: Strengthening the enabling environment Investment in sustainable land management requires a supportive policy environment, especially secure land tenure. There is considerable evidence that land tenure insecurity has slowed down investment in sustainable land management practices in Ethiopia. Therefore, the overall objective of this component addresses structural constraints in the enabling environment, which limit adoption and scaling-up of SLM best practices. It comprises three sub-components -- strengthening land tenure security, strengthening institutional networks, and creating a clearinghouse for best management practices in sustainable land management. Sub-component 2.1: Strengthening land tenure security The objective of this component is to strengthen the capacity of regional and woreda governments in land use planning, land certification, and land administration to provide long- term tenure security to land holders. The design team will assess the on-going land certification programs in the participating regions and woredas and develop interventions to enhance the cadastral system and conflict resolution mechanisms. The design would build on existing pilots such as the SIDA-financed project in Amhara Region, which focused, among other things, on cadastral registration, with physical measurement, location, and fixing of boundaries of plots. Sub-component 2.2: Strengthening institutional networks The objective of this sub-component is to develop formal institutional linkages to assist farmers and other intended beneficiaries of this program to access important information, technical assistance, services, etc. that can directly or indirectly facilitate the adoption and replication of sustainable land management practices. The indirect support may include assistance beyond the scope of this program such as access to credit, markets, price information, and efficient energy sources. Sub-component 2.3: Creating a clearing house for best practices in SLM The objective of this sub-component is to provide financial and technical support for knowledge management. It would focus specifically on systematically synthesizing knowledge on demonstrated good practices and technologies, including indigenous knowledge on land and water management from Ethiopia and other countries, and make them available in a user-friendly form (e.g. manuals, websites, searchable databases, etc) to planners, Development Agents, and farmers. Page 5 Project Component 3: Establishment of mechanisms to scale-up of best practice This component is aimed at developing mechanisms/protocols for local community groups, in partnership with regional government research institutions (through cooperative research agreements) at selected micro-watersheds. The planning unit for the SLM program is the micro- watershed. In situations where more than one woreda are found in a selected micro-watershed, the woredas will undertake joint micro-watershed planning and management. In each of the watersheds, systematic and rigorous evaluation, under local ecological, economic, and social conditions and constraints, of a menu of recommended best management practices and technologies from the clearinghouse and other sources will take place to support subsequent widespread adoption. This objective would be achieved through the following specific interventions: (a) establishment of participatory watershed planning and management regime; (b) mechanisms for adaptation and evaluation of best management practices; (c) outreach programs to raise awareness and facilitate replication of best practices; and (d) development of sustainable livelihood options. The focus of the best practices and technologies would include, where applicable, those aimed at increasing agricultural productivity, reduction of soil erosion in vertisols and acid soils, which are widespread in Ethiopia, and sustainable livelihood development. It will not be the role of the project/program preparation team to design in detail every aspect of interventions in each of the demonstration areas. Its role is to develop process or methodology by which community based project designs can be approached in each of these areas while, at the same time, allowing for the adaptive research proposed. The final design will be undertaken by the communities involved, supported by the implementing institutions. Project Component 4: Land monitoring system This component would focus on integrating various existing GIS and other data systems into a more coordinated system to produce reports to guide policy makers, resource managers, local communities, and other decision makers. Information from such a system could also be used for regional/national environmental monitoring and reporting to monitor land use and land use changes, identify ecological hot spots, etc. Project Component 5: Program coordination and management This component would focus on providing the organizational framework to support coordination and implementation of the sustainable land management programs, including for results-based monitoring and evaluating. 4. Safeguard policies that might apply Borrower’s Institutional Capacity for Safeguard Policies TBD but generally weak. Page 6 Safeguard Policies Triggered Yes No TBD Environmental Assessment (OP/BP 4.01) X Natural Habitats (OP/BP 4.04) X Forests (OP/BP 4.36) X Pest Management (OP 4.09) X Cultural Property (OPN 11.03) X Indigenous Peoples (OD 4.20) X Involuntary Resettlement (OP/BP 4.12) X Safety of Dams (OP/BP 4.37) X Water harvesting structures may involve small dams. Projects on International Waterways (OP/BP 7.50) X Projects in Disputed Areas (OP/BP 7.60) X Environmental Category: B – Partial Assessment Required Safeguard Preparation Plan Target date for the Quality Enhancement Review (QER), at which time the PAD-stage ISDS would be prepared: 01/15/2007. Time frame for launching and completing the safeguard-related studies, which may be needed: The specific studies, if any, and their timing 1 will be specified in the PAD-stage ISDS. 5. Tentative financing Source: ($m.) BORROWER/RECIPIENT .3 GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY 10 Total 10.3 6. Contact point Contact: Jeeva Perumalpillai-Essex Title: Lead Operations Officer Tel: 251-11-517-60-22 Fax: 251-1-62-77-17 Email: Jperumalpillaies@worldbank.org 1 Reminder: The Bank's Disclosure Policy requires that safeguard-related documents be disclosed before appraisal (i) at the InfoShop and (ii) in-country, at publicly accessible locations and in a form and language that are accessible to potentially affected persons. Page 7