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  • Publication | 2021

Responsible Land Governance in LDN Programmes – Kenya Case Study

Global Food and Nutrition Security

Forest-adjacent communities have a key role to play in international aspirations for Land Degradation Neutrality. Yet, for these communities to become the drivers and beneficiaries of sustainable land use, it is essential to support responsible land governance and tenure security.

The key messages emerging from this study include:

  • Forest adjacent communities are highly dependent on secure access to forest resources for household food security and income. LDN forest protection measures affect forest-adjacent communities’ tenure rights and, in turn, household food security and income.

  • Co-management mechanisms provide for community tenure rights, but enforcement is hindered by restricted capacities of community organisations and lack of access to impartial grievance mechanisms.

  • National restoration directives overrule decentralized co-management mechanisms and risk violating communities’ tenure rights and threaten their food security.

Recommendations

  • Strengthening CFA capacity to increase outputs of different forest user rights.

  • Establishing feedback mechanisms to allow for targeted decision-making based on issues affecting respective forest stations.

  • Including reference to tenure issues in national LDN targets and other conservation and restoration initiatives.