July 2015: The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) has published a chapter, titled ‘Integrated landscape initiatives in practice: assessing experiences from 191 landscapes in Africa and Latin America,’ in a book addressing ‘Climate-Smart Landscapes: Multifunctionality In Practice.’ The chapter explains that landscape approaches are being undertaken more frequently in order to realize positive outcomes related to agricultural production, ecosystem conservation, rural livelihoods and multi-stakeholder coordination.

A systematic survey and assessment process was used to characterize the context, motivations, investments, outcomes and participants of 191 initiatives using landscape approaches in Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The initiatives focused on agriculture, livelihoods and conservation issues, with most of them investing in institutional coordination and capacity building to support cross-sector synergies.

The chapter highlights that the most common motivations for undertaking initiatives in Africa and Latin America included conservation objectives, such as conserving biodiversity, reducing land degradation and improving sustainable land management, occurring in approximately 78% and 95% of initiatives, respectively. However, the participation of international conservation organizations was weaker in African initiatives (39%) than in LAC (56%). In addition, African initiatives tended to place more emphasis on objectives related to agricultural intensification, food security and producer groups. LAC initiatives had stronger multi-stakeholder representation compared to Africa, with local stakeholder groups, such as producer associations, and local governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and research institutions, comprising the core of the initiatives. However, such initiatives have struggled to include other more marginalized groups, such as women and landless peoples. International NGOs and donors participated in 74% and 87% of initiatives in Africa and LAC, respectively, particularly during the design phase, providing technical guidance and funding, while private sector actors were the least frequently involved group.

The chapter also identifies key challenges to effective and scalable landscape approaches, which include unsupportive policy frameworks, insufficient stakeholder engagement, lack of sustainable financing and poor market access. The chapter notes that landscape approaches, while challenging, are considered necessary to solve problems where traditional sector-based approaches and scales of intervention have been inadequate. It reports that the number of new initiatives each year has accelerated over the past decade, and in the case of Africa, over the last five years in particular. Many LAC initiatives were undertaken earlier than in Africa, and, thus, have achieved more conservation-related outcomes than in Africa, in general.

With regard to achievements, the chapter notes that African initiatives often reported more tangible outcomes, such as the designation of a new protected area, soil or water conservation, the establishment of a new coordinating body, or the adoption of new tools and practices. LAC initiatives were more likely to report successes related to capacity improvements for implementing integrated management, for example. [Publication: Integrated landscape initiatives in practice: assessing experiences from 191 landscapes in Africa and Latin America] [IISD Climate Policy & Practice Story on Publication]