General

In order to engage the private sector to constructively contribute to some of Asia#s most urgent sustainable development and justice issues, CSR Asia and Oxfam will focus on areas where we have common interests, mutually reinforcing skills and knowledge,and whereour contributions can make the biggest impact. Areas with the greatest potential to reduce poverty and injustice In terms of sectors, agriculture and extractives have the highest impacts on communities and poor people in Asia, for a varietyof reasons. These include displacement of communities, depletion of common resources, lack of respect for human rights and labour rights, lack of access to value chains and employment opportunities, and many others. But these sectors also offer a potential path out of poverty if current practices could be changed and more of the population could benefit from the economic opportunities they bring in the short and long terms. Asia is the most disaster prone region of the world, and the private sector has an important stake in reducing impacts, improving the quality of response, and speeding recovery both to protect its assets through a disaster, and to ensure the vitality ofthe communities upon which it relies. The private sector has an important role to play in building resilience in vulnerable communities, as well as skills and knowledge it can transfer to accelerate this in Asia. Pervasive issues in Asia such as land rights, access to value chains, human rights, equality, and climate change resilience cross cut these sectors and are the key common themes thatwill be addressed through our work to share knowledge, build capacity, and convince leaders to take action. A series of international and sectoral CSR instruments, developed through multi-stakeholder processes, are available for voluntary use by companies to address key sustainability issues. These, generally, have low traction and uptake among Asian companies, but could help provide a framework for corporate commitment and action towardssustainable development. Maximizing Oxfam#s opportunities with the private sector Oxfam has historically utilized a variety of avenues to engage with the private sector, from advocacy to philanthropy to project-based partnerships. To advance and deepen economic opportunities for the communities in which Oxfam works, and to advance fairness and justice for those adversely impacted by private sector practices, Oxfam seeks to engage in direct dialogue and activities with companies. A recent survey of Oxfamstaff by CSR Asia found an overall willingness to directly engage with the private sector, but capacityand confidence to do so varied widely in the country offices. Oxfam and CSR Asia will work together in various ways to help prepare, equip and maximize the influence Oxfam staff can have on companies. This will mainly be done via training and ongoing support forOxfam staff in direct contact with companies. CSR Asia will also help with the development of engagement strategies and their implementation over the longer term to help advance Oxfam positions and change corporate behavior. Building knowledge and fostering action for impact in the private sector Oxfam brings a depth of knowledge about what works for sustainable development and povertyreduction. CSR Asia will harness this knowledge and experience, and combine it with its own experience with the private sector, to influence private sector leaders toward more sustainable business practices. Main avenues will be via thought leadership campaigns, identification of champions and peer learning groups, training and capacity building, and demonstration of successful cases. Overall, there is a need for a professionalization and integration of CSR practice into the private sector in Asia, which will be a key focus for CSR Asia#s capacity building and training work with the private sector and beyond. CSR Asia and Oxfam in Asia have agreed on a three-year plan to advance their stated aim with the private sector that harness the experience,knowledge and skills of both organizations. The logical framework below outlines the intended activities and outcomes.

General

The former 'arc of deforestation' of peripheral Amazonia is dominated by extensive pastures and slash-and-burn shifting cultivation. These land management interventions have resulted in severe environmental degradation, restricted agricultural productivity and caused rural poverty. As populations continue to rise, there is a clear need for a more ecologically sustainable intensification of smallholder agriculture with high eco-efficiency and low external inputs. This project aims to create a new research partnership to tackle biodiversity and ecosystems resilience and assess the impacts of ecological intensification (more productive, reduced input sustainable systems) on smallholder farming at the eastern fringe of Amazonia. We will focus on four key priority areas namely: i) landscape ecology; ii) soil carbon and nutrient management; iii) global change biology and iv) conservation and biodiversity. i) Landscape ecology: Ecological intensification of agriculture requires an appreciation of how ecosystem processes at the landscape-scale can be integrated with existing smallholder farming systems, priorities and constraints. Key questions that need to be addressed include: 1) how should forests be managed to deliver optimal livelihood and environmental benefits? and 2) how can we ensure that forest management at the interface with neighbouring farming systems is sustainable and not over-exploited by farming communities? ii) Carbon and nutrients Traditional smallholder farming relies on low input strategies and future efforts must strive to increase resilience to minimize external risks. Sustainable low-input agriculture is difficult to achieve in the humid tropics, due to a combination of factors that reduce nutrient-efficiencies of crops. Key questions to be considered include: 1) how does smallholder land management impact on soil quality and 2) how can soils best be restored? iii) Global change biology Global changes at field, regional and global scales are transforming agriculture and socio-economics and we urgently require a better understanding of the processes and patterns involved. The key questions to be addressed here are: 1) to what extent can crop management mitigate against environment change-related stresses such as droughts, flooding? and 2) what is the short- and long-term effect of salinity intrusions into freshwater wetlands? iv) Conservation and use of biodiversity Biodiversity is essential to the sustainable management of ecosystems. Key questions to include: 1) how might forest wastes benefit farming systems; and 4) how does biodiversity provide more resilience to agricultural landscapes to cope with extreme events?

Objectives

The Newton Fund builds research and innovation partnerships with developing countries across the world to promote the economic development and social welfare of the partner countries.

General

Stärkung der zivilgesellschaftlichen Beteiligung bei der Förderung von Landrechten in Kambodscha

Objectives

Stärkung der zivilgesellschaftlichen Beteiligung bei der Förderung von Landrechten in Kambodscha

General

Objective 2: National-level duty bearers take action for appropriate resourcing and implementation of laws and policies which support Land Rights (particularly issues related to water, seed and land, including 'The Succession Amendment Bill, Customary Land Tenure and water for production )

Objectives

To promote land degradation neutrality, restore and improve the use of land and water resources in Turkmenistan’s Amudarya watershed to enhance the sustainability and resilience of livelihoods and globally significant ecosystems.

Other

Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency.

Target Groups

The envisaged benefits to local and national stakeholders will be interconnected with the aggregated environmental benefits enabled by the project’s features: (i) embedded integrated benefits and synergies across focal areas, (ii) mechanisms for integrated decision making and (iii) landscape-scale designed interventions. The project incentivizes local actors away from destructive behaviour through engaging them in biodiversity friendly livelihoods around protected areas. Adequate awareness, technical knowledge and access to funding are key to ensuring that stakeholders will be able to adopt innovative, environmental-friendly practices. The project therefore aims at increasing capacity of 100 public sector employees and 200 PAs staff who will be participating in training activities. Approximately 10,150 people stand to benefit directly from the project’s interventions. About 100 local farmers and pastoralists will benefit from the project’s Micro-scheme support for livelihoods ( under Output 2.3) and it is estimated that their income will register at least 20% increase as a result of the implemented SLM measures. This is a conservative percentage, as income generation from recommended SLM measures will likely provide more benefits: e.g. according to past donor-supported projects[1], application of rotational grazing alone can provide an estimated net profit of up to $16 per sheep ( after subtracting the costs per sheep of about $8). The repair of the irrigation network (Output 1.3) has proven economically profitable, for example: repair of dams and reservoirs will increase water availability and can support expansion of cultivation areas (that previously were not suitable); the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is 227% and the payback period is 1 year; the repair and lining of water storage basin will reduce water losses and leads to increased water supply. The IRR is 15% and payback period is 8 years; construction of drip irrigation systems will increase with approximately 40-50% the fruit and vegetable yields and the IRR is 29% and payback period approximately 5 years. Approximately 9,750 farmers will benefit from the improved refurbishment of irrigation systems on demonstration plots, demonstrative drip irrigation systems, construction of water wells, rainwater harvesting facilities and pasture management regimes and restored degraded land. The generated experience is replicable first to approximately 100,000 people (employed in agriculture) in Dashoguz and Lebap priority districts first, then at the province level, particularly through: the project supported policy (i.e. National Action Plan to Combat Desertification), different Guidelines on LDN compatible land use, manuals, land use planning tools, demonstrated experiences at local level that work, and with the support of the awareness events and radio/TV talk shows. Improved livelihoods resilience is likely to result in reduced economic losses associated with water scarcity, and in greater agricultural productivity, increased revenues and employment prospects and diversification of income sources. The project’s gender-sensitive micro-grant scheme will prioritise mid and small farmers located in the selected areas (and identified LDN hot spots) including women, youth and vulnerable people thus prioritising support to the most vulnerable among the farming communities, affected by climate vulnerability but also from a social perspective. Greater resilience will result in reduction in economic losses associated with climate shocks. At national level, these losses are estimated at $ 2.5 billion per year by 2030. Cost benefit analysis will be undertaken for individual investments to be made on demonstration plots. Due to the awareness and education events and due to the National LDN Target and enabling policies the potential for scaling up sustainable land management measures and integrated LDN compliant land use planning will increase the replication potential. The mechanisms for integrated decision making that the project will promote under GEF/UNDP Projects Output 1.1 (regarding participative integrated land use planning and regional LDN target setting) and Output 2.1 ( regarding the Local Councils and consultative committees to provide for local consultations on the designation of new protected areas and improved protection regimes around KBAs/IBAs and sanctuaries) will provide opportunities to reduce conflicts among resource users or overlaps in institutional mandates. General agreements on potential trade-offs promoted through an integrated and participatory manner, provide the platform for improved environmental and socio-economic benefits. In addition to agricultural activities, as it has been demonstrated by many other projects, during participatory mechanisms, farmers use these opportunities to talk about water, climate, sanitation and social issues and by so doing they are able to engage local authorities as partners in different other proposals for rural development. Finally, the project’s focus at landscape-level in the Amudarya Basin landscape and on the implementation of multiple interventions within a spatial unit, allows for generating more synergistic benefits. Healthy ecosystems will ensure resilience of the region to climate and human threats, and the maintenance of ecosystem services for local communities. [1] Examples recorded in UNCCD/WOCAT database