General

This contribution is a capacity building programme within environment and climate. The aim of this contribution is to enable and support smallholders/local communities to sustainably restore degraded forest landscapes. Forest degradation and deforestation have severe negative effects on livelihoods for rural and urban societies, biodiversity, climate and ecosystem services such as sustainable access to clean water. There is a urgent need to halt deforestation, restore degraded forest land and manage remaining forests sustainably. There are several international initiatives, processes and agreements that have ambitions to address the challenges through forest and landscape restoration programs and there is an urgent need to provide capacity building to key stakeholders, not least forest smallholders and other groups living nearby and using the forest. In response to these developments the Swedish Forest Agency submitted a proposal tor an international capacity building programme to Sida titled "Locally controlled Forest Restoration - A Governance and Market oriented approach to Resilient Landscapes". This contribution is a support to the Swedish Forest Agency to implement the capacity building programme with start in 2020.

General

Kenya's population is becoming increasingly urban. In Nairobi, over half the population lives in slums or informal settlements, which are plagued by cramped living conditions and poor access to basic services. Women face additional burdens, particularly in the area of personal security. In Nairobi's Mukuru settlement, the "poverty penalty" means that residents pay three to four times more for the available poor services than in wealthier neighbourhoods nearby. Behind the scenes is a complex informal and highly commercialized web of power and governance, where landlords and criminal organizations thrive, often through violence or extortion. In part, these conditions result from both gaps in existing laws and policies and from failures to apply them; however, Kenya's 2010 Constitution has provided some hope in confronting decades of exclusion and lack of access to justice by the poor. This project, implemented by local partner Muungano Wa Wanavijiji Akiba Mashinani Registered Trustees, will build on previous research efforts that have developed legal, financial and planning models that provide a first approach on how to unlock the poverty penalty. The solutions address both technical and governance obstacles to upgrading, improving service delivery and the security of land tenure that ensure basic rights and living conditions for Mukuru residents. Once living conditions are improved, residents can tap into their economic potential and escape the current cycle of exclusion and poverty. In Nairobi, new research and continued engagement with the county and with local residents will feed into the development of further tools to support upgrading programs and policies. Implementation of pilot projects, such as a special housing fund for the Mukuru settlement, will generate new legal, planning, and financial knowledge that can feed into scaling-up efforts across the county. In Kiambu County, research will focus on settlements in Thika, a fast-expanding peri-urban centre. Drawing on experiences from Mukuru, the research will support proactive efforts by the county to address informal settlement challenges, which are only now emerging, and not yet at a scale seen in large centres like Nairobi. The research in this case could then guide policies and practices in other peri-urban centres across the country.

General

Despite their critical role in promoting food security on the African continent, women continue to be marginalized in the distribution and allocation of land. The implications for both family survival and national food security are far-reaching. This project will support research to examine the conditions needed to allow women to become empowered to participate in large-scale land acquisition (LSLAs) processes. The objective is to help ensure that sub-Saharan Africa puts the legal and policy frameworks in place to foster better accountability and legitimacy on issues of land governance. African women must continue to engage in food crop farming to ensure food security for their families and for the continent at large. This is only possible if their right to land is protected, respected, and fulfilled. Previous studies have shown that African women's right to land is seriously under threat. Traditionally, African women have not had equal access to land and weak land laws and governance processes related to LSLAs are further eroding their access. We are now learning more about the impact of LSLAs on livelihoods in affected communities but little evidence exists on gender differences. Little is also known about how African women have developed strategies to foster more equitable land governance policies and practices to ensure greater accountability and transparency around LSLAs. This research seeks to fill these knowledge gaps. The ultimate goal of the project is to promote land governance policies that treat both genders more equally and that contribute to greater accountability and transparency around LSLAs. The research will be implemented in six communities in three African countries: Ghana, Cameroon, and Uganda. All three have experienced LSLAs. The research team will explore the following: -land acquisition processes; -winners and losers in these transactions; -ways in which the losers (specifically, rural African women) respond to their situation; and, -extent to which these responses are successful. The project will create gender-sensitive evidence-based knowledge that can be used by women, local communities, non-state actors, and public authorities to enhance accountability and legitimacy in LSLAs processes. It will also propose gender inclusive strategies for formal and informal institutions that will respect, promote, and protect women's rights in LSLAs processes.