Zimbabwe

Stakeholder involvement

Zimbabwe made the commitment to make its contribution to the attainment of LDN by 2030 by participating in the Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Programme (LDN TSP) and its further implementation. As part of the process, the country identified, mobilized and engaged key stakeholders for the programme. The stakeholders mobilized to participate in the programme include senior government officials, legislators, farmers and land users, private sector, civil society organizations, research institutions, academia and international development partners. These are members of LDN working group who advise on relevant policies and activities supportive of LDN and proceed to integrate LDN recommendation in ongoing policy related initiatives.

A coordinating mechanism/platform

LDN has been integrated in national and sector legal and policy frameworks, national development programmes and in the national planning systems at national, provincial and district levels. Institutional arrangements for implementing LDN are now in place. Implementation of the programme is coordinated by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Climate (MEWC). Environmental Management Agency (EMA) is the implementing institution for the LDN target setting process. Synergies have been drawn among the LDN and action plans for climate change, UNCCD and biodiversity. The National Focal Points of the three conventions are housed in the same ministry and are now sharing their action plans with the objective of having joint programming and implementation of their action plans. 

Capacity building

Land degradation and drought are key drivers of forests and biodiversity loss while climate change leads to increased rainfall variability and in the case of Zimbabwe this often results in severe droughts. Unsustainable land management practices have been identified as one of the major threats to biodiversity and need to be eliminated so that land maintains its productivity and ecosystem breakdown and species loss is avoided in the long term. Further synergies have been explored in areas of advocacy, public awareness and education, as well as in science, research and technology and capacity development, and in policy formulation and implementation. This approach focuses on sustainable utilization of land and forest resources as well as biodiversity conservation and this benefits the LDN. Mainstreaming LDN in the action plans and programmes helps to speed up achievement of the LDN objectives.

Partnership

Partnerships in LDN, is a sustainable pillar to achieve commitment and to move forward together and reach a higher common objective in land restoration. Private sector and Non-Government Organizations or non-state actors have the advantage of being more independent in decision making and this marks them comfortable to advise government in land restoration and LDN implementation.