The National Drylands Development Programme, 2003

Table of Contents

1 THE NATIONAL DRYLAND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME 

1.1 INTRODUCTION
1.1.1 Critical Challenges in Drylands Development 
1.1.2 UNDP Support to Dryland Development
1.1.3 What and where are Swaziland's drylands?
1.1.4 Land tenure and use
1.1.5 Land holding size and crop yields in the moist semi-arid zone
1.1.6 Impact of large dams and irrigation schemes on dryland livelihoods
1.1.7 Global environmental linkages

1.2 BACKGROUND
1.2.1 The Convention to Combat Desertification
1.2.2 Functions of the environment
1.2.3 The Swaziland NAP
1.2.4 Support to community efforts to combat desertification
1.2.5 Good Practice in Drylands Management
1.2.6 Drought 9 1.2.7 Poverty in Swaziland
1.2.8 Swaziland's policy for poverty eradication
1.2.9 Swaziland's Poverty Reduction Strategy
1.2.10 Environment and poverty
1.2.11 Governance and poverty
1.2.12 Water and poverty
1.2.13 Energy and poverty
1.2.14 Potential for irrigated agriculture

1.3 ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM
1.3.1 The national development problems that are being addressed
1.3.2 Measurable indicators of the problems
1.3.3 The population group affected
1.3.4 Gender and environmental aspects of the problem
1.3.5 Previous experiences and lessons learned

1.4 OUTLINE OF THE NATIONAL PROGRAMME FRAMEWORK
1.4.1 National programmes that support drylands development
1.4.2 Best practice identified 25 1.4.3 NEPAD Environment Initiative
1.4.4 The development objective of the Drylands Development Programme
1.4.5 The National Drylands Development Programme Strategy
1.4.6 Beneficiaries
1.4.7 Institutional arrangements
1.4.8 Capacity requirements and assessment

2 STRATEGY AND OBJECTIVES FOR UNDP SUPPORT

2.1 POLICY FRAMEWORK
2.1.1 United Nations Policy Framework
2.1.2 Relationship with UNDP mandate and Areas of Intervention

2.2 APPROVED UNDP CCF

2.3 STRATEGY FOR USE OF UNDP RESOURCES

2.4 PROGRAMME SUPPORT OBJECTIVES
2.4.1 Country Cooperation Framework
2.4.2 The National Drylands Development Programme logical framework

2.5 PROGRAMME BUDGET

2.6 MANAGEMENT

2.7 MONITORING AND EVALUATION

2.8 RISKS AND PRIOR OBLIGATIONS 

2.9 LEGAL CONTEXT

3 LITERATURE CONSULTED

Acronyms

1 The National Dryland Development Programme

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 Critical Challenges in Drylands Development

Thirty years after the Stockholm Conference, twenty-five years after the adoption of the Nairobi Plan of Action to Combat Desertification, ten years after the adoption of Chapter 12 of Agenda 21, eight years after the signature in Paris of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, four years after the adoption of the Swaziland Environmental Action Plan (SEAP) and three years after approval and adoption of the Swaziland National Action Programme to Combat Desertification, the challenges faced by people living in Swaziland’s dryland areas are as acute as they have ever been.

Climatic variability, increasing rural populations and poverty and the scourge of HIV/AIDS has placed tremendous strains on the livelihoods inhabitants living in the drylands of Swaziland.

Environmental degradation including land, water and biological diversity, has rapidly reduced the quality and quantity of these primary natural resources. The major threat to dryland biodiversity appears to be the degradation of ecosystems and habitats caused by new and powerful forces of environmental degradation: urbanization and other forms of human settlements, commercial ranching and monocultures, industrialization, wide-scale irrigation of agricultural land, poverty-induced overexploitation of natural resources, and underlying them all, disincentives and distortions in the enabling environment. These new forms of disturbances often overpower the legendary resilience of dryland ecosystems and constitute potentially serious threats to dryland biodiversity.

While significant external resources have been committed to tackle or study the issues relating to land degradation (mostly soil erosion related in areas outside the drylands) little has gone towards strategic planning for development of the dryland areas. Often only during times of droughts and other environmental shocks are the problems of the drylands recognised and resources provided to mitigate the humanitarian emergency that usually results.

1.1.2 UNDP Support to Dryland Development

The UNDP provides a wide range of support for dryland development through its various programmes and specialized units. It is difficult to quantify UNDP’s support in monetary terms because a large part of it is spread across a wide variety of activities and includes technical assistance. However a significant part of UNDP’s regular support to programme countries affected by desertification and drought contributes to dryland development. It is worth noting that the support of UNDP is targeted towards improving the livelihoods of the poor, and the most vulnerable of them who live in the drylands.

1.1.3 What and where are Swaziland’s drylands?

Drylands, as defined by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) comprise land within the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid aridity zones of the world. The aridity zones are delineated based on an Aridity Index, which is determined by the ratio of the precipitation (P) to the potential evapotranspiration (PE). In dryland areas the ratio of P to PE ranges from 0,05 to 0,65, which two values are the boundaries with the hyper-arid and humid zones respectively. However, these boundaries are neither static nor abrupt, and precise delimitation of Dryland areas remains elusive.

Estimates of the dryland area in Swaziland differ widely, e.g. according to a World Bank review, Swaziland has about 39% of drylands but according to UNSO the proportion is 78%. Following the CCD definition the drylands in Swaziland cover 54% of total land area and encompass all of the Lower Middleveld, Eastern Lowveld and Western Lowveld, and also cover parts of the Lubombo Range and Upper Middleveld (see Maps 1 - 3).

The concept of drylands is related to Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZ) as defined by FAO. The AEZ methodology has been applied to Swaziland, including the concept of the length of growing period (LGP), which was classified following the FAO 'Climate Classification for Rainfed Agriculture'.

Table 1 - Moisture zones of Swaziland with Length of Growing Period

When comparing the dryland definition of the CCD and FAO, it appears that the moist semi-arid zone as defined by FAO corresponds with the dry sub-humid zone as defined by CCD.

The CCD defines the subdivision of drylands into the three zones of dry sub-humid, semi-arid and arid at the P/PE ratio values of 0,50 and 0,20. The three shortest LGP classes (less than 180 days) as defined for the AEZ of Swaziland correspond with the dry sub-humid and moister part of the semi-arid zone of the CCD classification. The table below shows the correlation of the CCD Dryland zone nomenclature with the FAO length of growing period (LGP).

Table 2 - Dryland Zones of Swaziland according to CCD definition

The spatial distribution of the three dryland zones that form the drylands of Swaziland is represented on Map 1. In total, the drylands cover 9442.1 km² or 54% of the total land area. The driest part is the moist semi-arid zone, which is found in the southern half of the Eastern and Western Lowveld and covers an area of 1918.8 km² . The next driest zone is the dry sub-humid II zone, which covers mainly the northern part of the Lowveld covers an area of 2706.5 km². The third zone is the dry sub-humid I zone, which is the most humid part of the Drylands, and is found in the Lower Middleveld and in parts of the Upper Middleveld and the Lubombo Range, covers an area of 4817.1 km².

Map 2 shows the distribution of communal land within the three Dryland zones. The pattern shows the semi-arid communal lands broken up in four different pieces. Also the dry sub-humid II zone shows an occurrence of four clusters. The communal part of the dry sub-humid zone I is found in an irregular pattern on both sides of the other two zones.

The current use of the communal land in terms of arable use or extensive communal grazing is another important factor with respect to development planning. Map 3 shows the subdivision of the communal land according to arable (dark, hatched) or grazing use (remainder). Included in the arable part is all land that has more than 25 percent arable fields. On average this means that over 70% of SNL land is arable and around 25% of the SNL in the dryland zones is used for grazing (Table 3).

Table 3 - Summary of land area covered by dryland

Total land area for Swaziland is 17 364 km²

Table 3 illustrates that arable land use represents the majority land use in all the dryland zones (over 70%) which in an area where annual rainfall is low (540- 830 mm) and unreliable should raise concern among communities in these areas and the Ministry of Agriculture who continue to promote dryland farming for subsistence farmers.

Map 1

Map 2

Map 3

1.1.4 Land tenure and use

The dryland areas of Swaziland cover two distinct tenure systems: (a) Title Deed Land (TDL), which is land that the owner has a formal legal right to use, sell or lease; and (b) Swazi Nation Land (SNL), which is land held and administered under customary law.

Swazi Nation Land is divided into various chiefdoms, which are administered by chiefs on behalf of the King. The chief is the sole authority for land allocation on SNL; the person or homestead allocated the land has usufruct rights only and does not own it. Nevertheless, SNL tenure is considered reasonably secure: once land has been allocated for arable cropping, the user may retain it permanently, or subsequently divide it for use by his sons. The chief may in theory only take the land away after compensating the user with alternative land of comparable size and quality. This unwritten ‘law’ applies both to irrigated land and rainfed land. However, the situation is less clear on land that has been allocated to farmer groups: individual members of such groups in effect have no rights because these are apparently vested in the group as a whole.

In the strict sense, women generally cannot obtain land from a chief in their own name. However, while the customary right to a parcel of land is usually attached to a male head of a homestead, women hold effective rights to individual fields and are apparently able to defend these rights against anyone wishing to take them away. Chiefs also recognise that of unmarried women with children need to have land to enable them to support their families and will allocate land to such women, although the application to the chief (or his inner council) is often done through a male.

Existing land use is dominated by extensive communal grazing, with large areas covered by dense or open bush vegetation. The latter consists of various Acacia types that are closely related to soils and geomorphology. Although boundaries in these areas of natural vegetation are not formally marked, livestock grazing and other usage is de facto restricted by chiefdom allegiance.

Although deeply ingrained, traditional attitudes to and practices for livestock are under increasing pressure. Evidence suggests a growing recognition among livestock owners of the need to make adjustments. Government has embarked upon a continual education programme for livestock farmers on the disadvantages of keeping large herds and old animals with the ultimate aim being to encourage a more commercial approach to livestock farming that would see a reduction in numbers and reduced stocking rates and improved environmental conditions. Additionally, land availability for livestock grazing is rapidly declining due to population increases, increases in arable land and land degradation that is rapidly taking former grazing areas out of production. Recurrent drought in the dryland areas has accelerated land degradation increasing pressure on remaining areas and unsustainable stocking rates.

1.1.5 Land holding size and crop yields in the moist semi-arid zone

Figures obtained from the resettlement plan for the LUSIP project, which is in the moist semi-arid zone and perhaps typical of the general dryland area, reveal that 48% of land holdings are less than 1 ha, while 67% of holdings are less than 2 ha per household. Maize is grown on 60% of the cropped area despite the risk of inadequate and irregular rainfall, with cotton (the only crop grown specifically for sale) planted on about 40% of the cropped area. Up to 40% of all households are, either de jure or de facto, headed by women and current average household income is approximately US$100 per capita, based an average household size of 5.9.

The AEZ data shows that the driest areas can get an acceptable yield of maize in only 4 out of 10 years. This ratio increases to about 5 out of 10 years in the dry sub-humid II zone and to about 6 out of 10 years in the dry sub-humid I zone.

1.1.6 Impact of large dams and irrigation schemes on dryland livelihoods

The development of large scale irrigated agriculture, in particular the cultivation of sugarcane, has had a significant impact on the development of the Lowveld drylands of Swaziland and the livelihood of its population. The main part of the irrigation development has taken place in the second half of the 20th century, and is expected to further increase in the first part of the 21st century, with the implementation of the Komati Downstream Development Project and the Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project (LUSIP) – both aimed at improving the living standards of the rural farming communities by providing water and technical assistance to farmers to enter the sugarcane growing market.

The employment in the sugar industry has provided a positive alternative to the limited prospects of dryland farming in the Lowveld. The employment and subsequent participation as small growers in the irrigation schemes has improved livelihoods of the population of the Lowveld Drylands. The development of the agro-industry has also improved general living conditions in the areas, including the provision of infrastructure, water, energy, communications and other important elements.

The improved livelihoods has reduced the vulnerability of a proportion of the total population with respect to drought and desertification. The planned irrigation expansion will further decrease the vulnerability, especially because all new irrigation developments are focusing on small grower involvement. However, there is still a large group of the dryland population, which will hardly or not benefit in a direct way from the irrigation development. This population group also deserves the attention and the support to be included in sustainable dryland development.

1.1.7 Global environmental linkages

Dryland degradation is closely linked with other global environmental issues, notably biodiversity degradation and climate change. Swaziland’s drylands contain a fairly significant variety of plant and animal species diversity. The tables on the following page illustrate how diverse the savanna biome (which covers most of the Swaziland dryland area) is with a significant national percentage of vertebrates and plants occurring in the dryland areas.

Table 4 - Distribution of Vertebrates in Swaziland by Biome (%)

Table 5 - Distribution of Plants in Swaziland by Biome (%)

Continual land use and land cover conversions has resulted in loss of biodiversity, loss of habitat and loss of ecosystem function through environmental degradation.

Where land use conversions and land degradation have occurred, the organic matter content of the soil is decreased increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. Drylands globally are thus a source of carbon in the atmosphere and with revegetation, they could become a carbon sink. Changes in land use and land cover are also believed to have long-term effects on local and regional climate through changes in the hydrological cycle and in surface albedo - if changes in climate results in an increased frequency of drought conditions, desertification processes may actually accelerate.

In Swaziland’s First National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change the country’s potential vulnerability to climate change and approaches for adapting to such change was assessed.

In determining future climate scenarios for Swaziland, a simple climate model called MAGICC combined with a regional climate database called SCENGEN was used. A choice of some three General Circulation Models (GCMs) were employed in running the simulations based on how well they represent the current climate, their age and their resolution.

The projections from all the models up to 2075 point to temperature increases in future years though with varying magnitudes. Precipitation projections on the other hand give mixed results. In general, the models project total annual rainfall amounts by 2075 falling below those received under current climate by single digit percentages. The monthly situation projects amounts that are higher than those under current climate in the late spring to mid summer period (October to January) For the rest of the months of the year projections give future rainfall amounts that are lower than under current climate.

The assessment of climate change on forest and woodland resources in Swaziland indicates that country is will gradually see the introduction of a tropical very dry forest type of ecosystem in the eastern flanks (i.e. the dryland areas) taking as much as up to one fifth of the total land area. Regarding species composition, the results imply that xerophytes such as the Acacia species are likely to flourish in the country with changing climate. This will have implications on the availability of medicinal plants. Secondly, the conversion of ecosystems is likely to have implications on the overall structure of nutrient cycles within the ecosystem. Such would therefore require changes in lifestyles and resource use in the affected areas.

An impact assessment on water resources predicts that stream flows are likely to be higher than those under current climate conditions in the late spring to mid summer period (October to January). For the rest of the months of the year projections give future flows that are substantially lower than those of corresponding months under the current climate. Projections depict an overall reduction in annual runoff and drought conditions are expected to be more pronounced and frequent features.

The general observation for maize cultivation is that most of the country could be unsuitable for its growth since yields are estimated to decrease considerably. In the other regions yields could be improved by changing the planting season from the traditional second week of October to the second week of August. For sorghum and beans, yields are also projected to decrease in general with the exception of the western parts where these are currently not grown extensively.

1.2 Background

1.2.1 The Convention to Combat Desertification

The Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD) provides an excellent framework for supporting dryland development (as do other international conventions and agreements including the Millennium Development Goals). It is a direct response to the objectives set at UNCED and aims at attacking poverty while improving the environment and has been ratified or acceded to by 167 countries. UNDP has contributed in many ways to advancing its goals and objectives. UNDP has been a strong advocate on dryland issues and has consistently supported the negotiation and implementation of the CCD. UNDP has provided a wide range of support for dryland development through its various programmes and specialized units, particularly UNSO.

The objective of the CCD is to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought in countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa, through effective action at all levels, supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements, in the framework of an integrated approach which is consistent with Agenda 21, with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development in affected areas.

Achieving this objective will involve long-term integrated strategies that focus simultaneously, in affected areas, on improved productivity of land, and the rehabilitation, conservation and sustainable management of land and water resources, leading to improved living conditions, in particular at the community level.

The CCD recognises the physical, biological and socio-economic aspects of desertification; the importance of redirecting technology transfer so that it is demand driven; and the involvement of local populations. The core of the CCD is the development of national and sub-regional/regional action programmes by national governments in cooperation with donors, local populations and NGOs. The purpose of using an innovative "bottom-up" approach, by involving people who are affected by desertification in decision-making, is to facilitate effective implementation of the Convention.

The CCD offers new and exciting opportunities for collective action, as well as a fertile field for testing and nurturing innovative partnerships in development cooperation for local level action. It is the first International Treaty to squarely address poverty and environmental degradation in rural areas. Unlike the other Conventions associated with Rio, the direct beneficiaries of CCD are the hundreds of millions of predominantly poor and food-insecure people who populate the drylands of the world. It is the first Convention that casts resource users and their communities as central to the solution rather than part of the problem. At the very heart of the CCD is the concept of "Partnership". Partnership embodies the new thrust in development assistance, in which it is finally recognized that interdependence rather than dependence is the way forward. But partnerships won't work unless all partners stand to benefit. CCD tries to translate this attractive concept into more or less concrete terms.

The CCD therefore encourages devolution of decision-making from the centre to local populations and resource users. The most important reasons for this are compellingly obvious:

• Local Ownership in Decision-making - Local structures are more likely to make decisions that are relevant and suitable to local circumstances.
• Removing Bottlenecks in Information Flow and Decision-making - Decision-making for natural resource management requires prompt and relevant information.
• Improved Ability to Involve Marginalized Groups - Decentralization might allow better targeting of services and better identification of needy groups.
• Better Tailoring of Approaches to Local Conditions - Local appreciation of constraints and opportunities can only improve the quality of solutions.

The Convention establishes the following principles to guide its implementation:

• A holistic and integrated approach to achieving sustainable development: The primary goal of the CCD is to overcome the conditions that result in land degradation. The Convention explicitly recognizes the need to address the underlying causes of desertification and to pay special attention to the socio-economic factors contributing to the desertification process (Article 4). While other international environmental conventions may address specific programmatic measures to introduce improved, benign technologies, the CCD recognizes that resource degradation in drylands cannot be tackled in that way alone. Efforts to tackle desertification must be linked to measures fostering broader economic and social change, designed to overcome the conditions which led to the degradation. Therefore, the thrust of the CCD is to stress that efforts towards this objective should be seen as an element in country’s overall development plans and not be seen as initiating a separate program to counter desertification. Besides, the CCD recognizes the intimate linkages between desertification processes and three major global environmental issues: climate change and global warming, conservation and utilization of biodiversity, and international waters. The CCD encourages coordination of actions carried out under its auspices and other international agreements, and notes the trend in the commitments of the international community to deal with problems of environment and development in an integrated manner.
• A grassroots Convention: Stakeholder participation at all levels is one of the three principles guiding the CCD (Article 3). The CCD’s bottom-up approach is reflected in emphasis on participation of local communities in the design and implementation of programs to combat desertification and the growing recognition of the importance of grassroots groups, local communities and non-governmental organizations in reaching and mobilizing people who work the land. Local and indigenous knowledge also have an increased recognition in the CCD.
• Partnerships: A central aspect of the CCD and its implementation is developing and fostering partnerships as a means of making improved use of existing channels and resources rather than creating new ones in an already crowded landscape. Partnerships are the core of the Global Mechanism (GM), the financial mechanism of the CCD. The GM addresses the need for improved management, mobilization and coordination of existing initiatives.

This shift from a top-down technological approach to a bottom-up, holistic resource management approach, building on local and traditional knowledge and lessons learned from previous and ongoing activities, and recognizing that desertification must be addressed in the context of an overall development effort, is considered as the CCD’s most remarkable conceptual improvement over the 1977 Plan of Action to Combat Desertification.

1.2.2 Functions of the environment

The environment performs several important functions and provides numerous services which are general applicable to dryland conditions:

1.2.2.1 Biophysical functions

• Protection of water resources (maintenance of hydrological cycles, regulation and stabilising water runoff and underground water tables, acting as a buffer against extreme events such as flood and drought)
• Purification of water (e.g. by wetlands and forests)
• Soils formation and protection (maintenance of soil structure and retention of moisture and nutrient levels helping to preserve soil's productive capacity)
• Nutrient storage and recycling (of atmospheric as well as soil-borne nutrients both necessary for the maintenance of life)
• Pollution breakdown and absorption (by components of ecosystems ranging from bacteria to higher life forms, and ecological processes)
• Contribution to climate stability (vegetation influences the climate at the macro and micro level)
• Maintenance of ecosystems (maintaining a balance between living things and the resources - such as food and shelter - they need to survive)
• Recovery from unpredictable events (such as fire, flood, cyclones and disasters initiated by humans);

1.2.2.2 Biological functions

• Food (animals, fish, plants)
• Genes (a huge resource which is being used for example to improve the quality and quantity of food supplies and the range and depth of medicines)
• Medicinal resources (one of the oldest uses of biological resources, the current supplier of many current medicines, such as antibiotics and the potential supplier of many future medicines, such as cancer treatment drugs)
• Biological control agents (natural pesticides and herbicides)
• Materials (fibres, coatings such as Shellac, keratins, adhesives, biopolymers, oils, enzymes)
• Wood products (including wood for fuel, construction and paper producing)
• Breeding stocks, population reservoirs (providing support systems for commercially valuable environmental benefits and resources)
• Future resources (a huge "bank" for discovered and not-yet discovered resources developed to increase human welfare);

1.2.2.3 Social functions

• Research, education and monitoring facilities (living laboratories for studies on how to get better use from biological resources, how to maintain the genetic base of harvested biological resources and how to rehabilitate degraded resources)
• Recreation and tourism facilities
• Cultural values (since human cultures co-evolve with their environment, the natural environment provides for many of the inspirational, aesthetic, spiritual and educational needs of people)
• Warning signs (biological resources provide "indicators" of, for example, environmental degradation which can help humans mitigate against shortages, disasters)

1.2.3 The Swaziland NAP

Swaziland is one of the countries, which were supported by UNDP/UNSO in the formulation, and preparation of a National Action Programme to Combat Desertification. The National Action Programme (NAP) was developed through a consultative process and was approved by Cabinet in 1999 and is currently a working document.

At present, the main focus of Government is to get financial and technical support for the implementation of the NAP. The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives (MOAC) is the National Focal Point for the CCD and has made great strides in mobilising human and financial resources to implement elements of the NAP.

1.2.4 Support to community efforts to combat desertification

The consultations of the NAP has raised expectations at the local level. Swaziland has made a strong effort to support local level initiatives to combat desertification, responding to the needs of the communities. However, facilitating a bottom-up planning approach and channelling resources to the local level for implementation of small scale projects has been difficult. The main constraints include:

• lack of practical experience in working at the grassroots level, which slows down the process of putting in place practical modalities for working with communities;
• an absence of technically competent local community structures or organizations to effectively manage local level projects;

Local experience so far demonstrates that where a real effort has been made to support truly participatory community projects linked to the NAP process, there has been a tremendous release of enthusiasm and capabilities at the community level. This has resulted in some impressive project successes being achieved with modest resources. The communities have been able to identify their own priorities, putting in place modalities for managing project implementation, including handling the financial resources allocated. These successes have encouraged other communities to also initiate activities, often with assistance of local CBO and NGO networks.

Left unchecked land degradation impedes the important efforts by our governments towards achieving the objectives of sustainable development and food security. Unless immediate effective action to address desertification in arid and semi arid regions in Africa is taken, desertification will continue to impede the implementation of the Millennium Development Goal to reduce poverty by half by the year 2015.

The African Ministerial Declaration for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, requested the World Summit "to acknowledge the UNCCD as a sustainable development convention and to proclaim it as a prime tool in the eradication of poverty in Africa and in other dry and arid lands."

1.2.5 Good Practice in Drylands Management

According to international sources (e.g. the World Bank and United Nations), the keys to good practice in drylands include: dynamic rangeland resources management, improved dryland farming practices, community-based resource management, drought preparedness and risk mitigation, harnessing and up-scaling of improved proven technologies, and utilization of indigenous knowledge.

The technological keys for improved drylands management are:

a) improved water management (including at the farm field level through improved soil moisture retention techniques and more efficient irrigation, as well as at catchment level through responsible management of available water resources, water storage and irrigation),

b) enhancing soil fertility through use of both organic and inorganic fertilizers,

c) new cultivars better suited to environmental conditions and agronomic practices.

More importantly though, a way forward for the sustainable development of drylands must acknowledge that the drylands are not homogenous and must be based on several strategic considerations:

a) Do not attempt to "fight" the drylands in order to make them function as non-drylands - this strategy will desertify the drylands and perpetuate the poverty of dryland inhabitants.

b) Identify those dryland attributes that can be harnessed to provide dryland inhabitants with an economic competitive advantage, compared to inhabitants of non-dryland regions.

c) Though highly sophisticated and expensive research is often required for developing technologies and practices for dryland sustainable development, the resulting technology need not necessarily be expensive or requiring sophisticated expertise to operate.

d) Where the socio-political environment is not conducive, indigenous knowledge and local practices should be researched and further elaborated and developed, such that they can be improved or adapted for exchanges between regional cooperating parties; the exchange of local experience and expertise between neighbours may be more effective than adoption of imported technologies.

e) Exploit the global concern of the detrimental effects of climate change and of loss of biodiversity by implementing and demonstrating such practices for combating desertification and technologies for dryland sustainable development that also mitigate climate change and conserve biodiversity, and hence benefit local population as well as regional and global interests;

f) Match specific options for development with the dryland type for which these options are most likely to result in sustainability.

1.2.6 Drought

Dryland areas are characteristically prone to recurrent droughts. Therefore the populations inhabiting these areas and those directly dependent on the land for their livelihoods, are exceedingly vulnerable to climatic shocks and change. These episodes of drought not only affect their resource base in the present but also impede them from accumulating assets to cope in the future. Global average temperatures are rising, and this phenomenon will lead to increased rates of evaporation that in turn will create drier conditions. This will increase the frequency and severity (in human livelihood terms) of droughts.

Rural populations involved in agriculture already experience economic vulnerability, with reduced value of their commodities, increased costs of inputs and limited access to markets. For rural farmers living in dryland areas the scenario worsens because their ability to deal with the difficult years will diminish as the difficult years become more frequent and severe. Climate change in the drylands will not affect a few - it is a phenomenon that will affect the livelihoods of many.

Drought is not merely a food security issue, it is a macroeconomic issue and until it is dealt with in a precautionary and integrated manner populations will continue to be vulnerable to climatic shocks. Supporting strategies that lead to real development, instead of strategies just targeted at survival, are critical to decreasing the vulnerabilities of dryland populations to climatic shocks. Unless concerted efforts are made to build capacities to deal with current climatic variability it will be extremely difficult to see how dryland populations would be able to cope with the adverse effects of climate change predicted by many climate forecast models.

1.2.7 Poverty in Swaziland

Poverty in Swaziland is predominantly a rural phenomenon with over 80% of the national incidence of poverty accounted for in the rural areas. According to the Swaziland Household Income and Expenditure Survey 1995, about 66 percent of the Swazi population live under abject poverty or continuing vulnerability to it. The 1997 population census reveals that 76.9% of the total population live in rural areas (the de facto population being 929,718).

At a regional level, the Shiselweni region has the highest incidence of poverty at 79% which is 13 percent higher than the national average. The Lubombo region comes a close second to the Shiselweni region. Both these regions have a significant amount of land area classified as dryland.

Food price increases have the most serious impact on rural poverty where the affected population spend a higher proportion of their expenditure on food. Food price inflation stands at 28.2% (August 2002) whilst overall inflation for the low income group is 13.7%. The historical trend over the past two years shows a gradual increase in the inflation rate thus making the poor poorer increasing their vulnerability to malnutrition and disease.

Improved rural agricultural production constitutes the cornerstone for poverty reduction in dryland areas. The poor are heavily reliant on their own agricultural production for food and cash to supplement their food requirements. They also rely on cash from agriculture to acquire other basic needs such as clothing, health care and education. To them agriculture is survival. However, poor households do not have enough land, own few or no cattle, are less educated, and mostly female-headed with large families and do not achieve good yields from their limited land (average 1.8ha).

1.2.8 Swaziland’s policy for poverty eradication

The Government has initiated various strategy and policy discussions and proposed legislation aimed at enhancing access to water, land and capital, and creating a conducive environment for agricultural and irrigation development. Among such policy and strategy initiatives are:

(a) the National Development Strategy, which highlights food security and commercialisation of agriculture on SNL as important elements explicitly dependent to a large degree on irrigation development;

(b) the draft National Land Policy with a view, inter alia, to improving access to land and security of tenure on SNL (including tenure on irrigation schemes);

(c) the draft Rural Resettlement Policy which aims to improve land use in rural areas and correct existing land use problems through participatory planning and relocation of sub-optimal land uses;

(d) the Livestock Development Policy, which recognizes the increasing pressure being placed on the vegetation and natural rangeland by traditional livestock management practices, and the need for livestock owners to become more market-oriented;

(e) the Swaziland Environmental Action Plan (SEAP), which requires conservation measures to be integrated into all productive systems and the active involvement and participation of all stakeholders, particularly local communities, in decisions on land use and environmental management; and

(f) the draft Water Bill which, when adopted, will update the Water Act (1967) as the main legal instrument for irrigation development, especially relating to the control and use of public and private water, and the legal establishment of water institutions.

(g) The draft National Forest Policy and the draft National Forestry Programme aims to achieve sustainable management and utilisation of forest resources for the benefit of the entire society and to improve income and living conditions and alleviate poverty. The rehabilitation of degraded land and the enhancement of the national capacity to manage and develop the forestry sector are relevant objectives.

(h) The draft Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (BSAP) places a significant emphasis on the NAP for implementing some of its proposed activities. The BSAP suggests that the CCD is "probably the most important convention affecting the implementation of BSAP. Many of the goals and identified projects of the CCD support the conservation of biodiversity in general, and the implementation of BSAP, specifically". The BSAP aims to conserve the biodiversity of Swaziland, encourage the sustainable use of biodiversity in Swaziland and ensure that benefits accrued from the utilisation of Swaziland’s biodiversity are shared equitably.

(i) The National Disaster Management Policy, formulated in 1999, targets drought relief strategies and other natural disasters. The policy proposes the preparation of a Sustainable Disaster Management Programme and a National Disaster Management Plan to implement the policy. Neither of these documents are available for comment but it would appear that both would be highly relevant to the DDP.

While the above initiatives constitute important opportunities for accelerated development of agriculture, nature conservation and forestry by enhancing access and management of land and water resources, their finalization and operationalisation are constrained by slow legislative and administrative processes and procedures.

1.2.9 Swaziland’s Poverty Reduction Strategy

To address issues on poverty, the Swaziland Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) has identified the importance of identifying the poor in terms of where they live, how they earn, how they derive their livelihood, their gender patterns etc. The Government intends to focus poverty reduction efforts in the areas where the poor live, and empower them to increase their earnings while at the same time obtaining the means to access their basic needs. The poor should be provided with an environment that will empower them to participate actively in the rehabilitation of their lives by taking advantage of existing and future opportunities. In addition, they should produce adequate food for themselves and sell any surplus. They should also generate enough income from other activities so that they can meet their basic needs.

Despite the obvious linkages possible between the PRS, the CCD and rural poverty, dryland issues do not figure prominently in the PRS nor other top level national development strategies except the SEAP.

The fact that the PRS is a major tool for development planning, particularly in rural areas, the exclusion of drylands issues could discourage budgetary allocations for drylands development. This oversight will minimize the effectiveness of the PRS as the drylands are inhabited by a large populations of the poor people.

1.2.10 Environment and poverty

Environmental conservation and natural resource management are critical to poverty alleviation and economic growth in the drylands of Swaziland. The fragility of the environment, which is largely caused by rising demands placed on limited water resources, unsustainable agricultural practices leading to the depletion of the soils and the over exploitation of the natural and indigenous forests for fuelwood harvesting to meet the growing urban demand, poses a major threat to the sustainability of agricultural production and growth in the dryland areas.

In tackling poverty issues, poverty alleviation should not damage the environment of the poor, which would only undercut gains in one area with losses in another. Another important facet of poverty alleviation is that improving environmental conditions can help to reduce poverty.

Environmental conditions have major effects on the health, opportunity, and security of poor people. Environmental activities can also provide effective ways to empower the poor. The many links between environmental management and poverty alleviation provide the rationale for systematic mainstreaming of environment in poverty reduction strategies and their associated processes.

Rural dryland populations are dependent on their physical environment and natural resource base for food, water, fuel and shelter. For centuries the coping mechanisms for poor rural populations have been dependent on these natural resources/assets. Over time, degradation of these resources make it increasingly difficult for these populations to obtain basic needs. As environmental degradation worsens, poverty often increases, particularly in the drylands, where water is scarce and agricultural productivity is poor.

The condition of poverty in the drylands is not absolute, and there are many examples that demonstrate the potential of people in the drylands to pursue good livelihoods. The secrets are not in welfare and crisis management, but in establishing the right systems of governance and markets that will provide incentives for people to invest and work.

Markets and trade are of great importance to drylands farmers. The most important helping action for any of them will be for policy makers to understand the productive capacities of those peoples, and the benefits to be derived through full integration of the drylands into national and regional economic policy.

Some aspects of the broader environmental agenda - conservation of natural areas, biodiversity, preserving the global commons - may not be primarily targeted at poverty reduction, but positive poverty side benefits are possible, e.g., several programs in Southern Africa give local communities a stake in conserving wildlife by sharing tourist revenues. The clearing of alien invading species in South Africa provides both environmental benefits and poverty alleviation at the same time.

Many environmental interventions aimed at poverty outcomes will also yield benefits for the natural environment. Cleaner water, cleaner air, and better sanitation will not only reduce the burden of disease for the poor but will also produce a more enjoyable environment. Community-based forest management may serve both to increase incomes for the poor and to provide environmental services.

Actions to reduce the likelihood of natural disasters, such as institutional arrangements to preserve upland forest, also conserve natural areas. tradeoffs between the environment and livelihoods for the poor may be inevitable - for example, where natural areas are converted to agricultural production. The most difficult tradeoffs concern long-term versus short-term benefits. In many instances, exploiting a natural resource may have short-run poverty benefits, but these actions may entail long-run costs in terms of loss of biodiversity or accumulation of greenhouse gases.

UNCED's Agenda 21, the global action programme for sustainable development, is perhaps the first expression of international commitment to addressing the poverty-environment nexus. Chapter 3 on "combating poverty" called for specific long-term strategies that integrate poverty eradication and sustainable management of the environment. Agenda 21 devoted two chapters to the special needs of fragile ecosystems, namely Chapter 12 on "Combating Desertification and Drought" and Chapter 13 on "Sustainable Mountain Development". In the follow-up to UNCED, promising initiatives have emerged for these thematic areas. For drylands, the UNCCD provides a framework for concrete action at the local level.

1.2.11 Governance and poverty

"Good governance" in the form of public institutions and policies that enforce property rights and contracts, while restraining corruption, is now widely viewed to be a necessary condition for long-term economic growth .

There is some evidence that democratic institutions have a positive impact on poverty, as measured by infant mortality rates, literacy rates, and other objectively measurable outcome indicators. Democracy can make a positive contribution to development by creating political incentives for rulers to respond positively to the needs and demands of their citizens. There is reason to assume that the architecture of the state, including the relationships between the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches and other institutional arrangements for the transfer of power between governments, including voting arrangements and electoral laws, affect the performance of the public sector in responding to poverty. There is also some evidence that participating in local and national decisions helps to improve the quality of projects and the welfare of vulnerable groups such as women and their children.

The problems of poverty and governance are, therefore, inextricably linked. If power is abused, or exercised in weak or improper ways, those with least power, i.e. the poor, are those most likely to suffer.

Weak governance compromises the delivery of services and benefits to those who need them most; the influence of powerful interest groups biases policies, programmes and spending away from the poor; and lack of property rights, police protection and legal services disadvantages the poor and inhibits them from securing their homes and other assets and operating businesses. Thus poor governance generates and reinforces poverty – and also subverts efforts to reduce it. Strengthening governance is an essential precondition to improving the lives of the poor.

1.2.11.1 Empowering the poor

By participating in formal political and administrative processes, the poor can potentially debate and influence broad policy directives, budget priorities, and programme design. Poor people can give valuable feedback on failures in service delivery and obstacles to access. To be sustainable, participation needs to be embedded in and supported by formal structures at the national and sub-national level.

1.2.12 Water and poverty

Inadequate water and sanitation services to the poor increase their living costs, lower their income earning potential, damage their well-being and make life riskier. The continuing, nearly universal, deterioration of the surface and underground water sources on which people survive means that water and sanitation pressures will simply become worse in the future.

Traditional poverty measures focus on income, but the rural poor may not only have lower incomes, they probably face higher costs for water than the better off.

The lack of convenient and affordable access to water reduces a poor household’s consumption of other commodities and services, leaves it consuming less than the optimum amount of water for good hygiene, and impacts health and labour productivity of the household members. It may also reduce income-generating opportunities of the household, thereby further reducing income and consumption.

Threats to water sustainability arise in both quality and quantity dimensions, driven by pollution and competing demands from many sectors, including industry, agriculture and energy. Environmental degradation reduces labour productivity by contributing to the increased burden of diseases and by limiting income potentials (especially in aquaculture).

Nationally, dwindling availability of clean water per capita will increase the economic cost of water and, in a situation of scarcity, limit the potential for economic development. Locally, communities that fail to protect their surface and ground waters from pathogens have fewer options for drinking water and require more expensive technologies for extracting water from aquifers or for treating surface water to drinkable levels. In the urban context, where water may be supplied from a utility, increasing costs of extraction or treatment are passed on to consumers in terms of higher prices. The poor have fewer resources, hence they disproportionately suffer the consequences.

A policy framework for improving water and sanitation services for the poor rests on a number of pillars: (i) sustainable management of water resources; (ii) efficient delivery of public and private services; (iii) better access to those services; (iv) research, development and implementation of low-cost technologies; and (v) functioning pro-poor financial mechanisms.

Rural water supply and sanitation development in Swaziland is the responsibility of the Rural Water Supply Branch (RWSB) under the MNRE and embraces the provision of potable water for domestic consumption and the improvement of sanitation at the individual and community levels. Water supply interventions aim at providing safe water at convenient distances to meet the basic human needs of drinking, washing and cooking. Sanitation interventions targets the safe disposal of human waste.

The Government of Swaziland has received substantial technical assistance in this sector over the years with JICA and DFID providing the bulk of that assistance. JICA are currently assisting the RWSB in formulating a Rural Water Supply Master Plan, standardised design manuals and establishing a RWSB database to better coordinate and plan existing and future water supplies.

Governments strategy for rural water supply is based upon achieving 100% access to safe water by 2020 (requiring the connection of 50 000 people per year) through the implementation of efficient (in terms of cost, design and construction) macro and micro systems. By June 2002 there were 239 functional macro schemes serving over 256 000 people and 321 functional micro schemes serving over 122 000 people.

The planning and implementation of rural water supply is coordinated by a Sector Coordinating Committee (under the MNRE). Communities are organised through Water and Sanitation Committees (WSC) who are responsible for initial planning, construction and maintenance of the installed systems and are required to provide up to 50% of construction and labour costs with government of donors covering the balance.

Technical support to the WSC is offered through a variety of institutions including the RWSB and various NGOs. Training in a range of issues relating to the safe use and management of a water supply (e.g. O&M, bookkeeping, health and hygiene and community organisation) is provided to all WSC though experience is showing that such training has not been very effective as various schemes not met their intended outcomes.

Rural water supply to communities and individuals is commonly through the provision of an installed hand pump, well or protected spring. The standardisation of design and equipment is easing maintenance bottle necks that typified earlier systems.

1.2.13 Energy and poverty

The energy linkages to poverty reduction have become clearer as a more comprehensive understanding of poverty has emerged that argues for an approach to poverty reduction that directly addresses the needs of poor people in three priority areas: opportunity (income and capabilities), empowerment and security. The role of the energy sector in supporting economic growth has been reaffirmed but a broader concept of its role in development has now emerged that embraces cross-sectoral interventions that combine delivery of a range of infrastructure (inter alia energy services) and social services.

Electrification profoundly affects rural life, bringing a strong sense of ‘modernity’ and connection to the world beyond the village and expectations for a better future.

Rural electrification that allows some traditional activities to be mechanized leads to process and productivity improvements, causing employment in the traditional activities to decline.

An overwhelming majority of the poor in the dryland areas depend on biomass for their energy needs. Their health is damaged from burning biomass - wood and charcoal being the most common - owing to high levels of exposure to the combustion by-products, particularly particulates and carbon monoxide. These pollutants directly affect the health, life expectancy, and quality of life of anyone who is exposed to them at moderate or high levels.

Electrification is often not possible where people are so poor that they cannot afford the cost of electricity use even if a supply is close at hand.

The draft National Energy Policy attempts to address rural electrification though innovative and collaborative means to bring energy to households. Governments general objectives for rural electrification are: (i) promotion of the productive use of electricity in rural areas in order to facilitate economic development, (ii) improving the living conditions by satisfying the basic need of electricity supply, (iii) providing electricity to as many homesteads as possible, in order to slow down the rate of fuel wood consumption and subsequent degradation of the environment and (iv) reducing the social gap between rural and urban communities in order to reduce migration.

Under the MNRE Rural Electrification Programme a Select Committee for Rural Electrification (SCORE) was established to develop selection criteria to identify priority areas that would benefit from extending the national grid to the rural areas. As a result, the SCORE determined that such extensions will only be installed to rural areas that have government (public) institutions (e.g. schools, clinics and Tinkhundla Centres). By providing the initial feeder to these institutions, communities are then able to request their own connections and pay only for the connection to the passing feeder line. At the time of preparing this programme no overall map of rural areas currently served or planned for was available, but on an individual feeder level, the Rural Electrification Programme has made significant inroads to rural areas though uptake of electricity remains lower than expected due to the socio-economic circumstances of the rural population (it costs around E3000 – 4000 to connect a homestead to the grid within 1 km of the main feeder but this excludes the cost of house wiring). However, the connection of public institutions to the national grid has had a tremendous impact upon their effectiveness and security.

1.2.14 Potential for irrigated agriculture

The potential for irrigated agriculture has been recognised in Swaziland since the mid 20th century. Large irrigation schemes have been developed, almost entirely situated in the dryland areas of the Lowveld. Irrigation development in the Highveld and Middleveld zones of Swaziland has been limited due to slope restriction and also because of generally higher rainfall. However, a recent development is the conversion of pineapple cultivation to irrigated sugarcane in the Malkerns area (Upper Middleveld). The dominant irrigated crop in the Lowveld is sugarcane, which in recent years has reached monoculture status, as the cultivation of other irrigated crops, in particular citrus, is gradually being phased out due to poor market prices for the product.

According to studies by the EU and IFAD (2001), it is estimated that there are now 67 000 ha under irrigation in Swaziland, most of which is concentrated on TDL under large-scale commercial farming operations. Smallholder irrigation schemes exist on an estimated 3 400 ha, most of which is on SNL. There are also outgrower schemes associated with the large commercial estates. There has been significant growth in the smallholder irrigation sub-sector in the last ten years, mainly for commercial sugar cane production. About 1 200 ha of new smallholder irrigation has been developed in the Lower Usuthu area alone, facilitated by the nearby Ubombo sugar estate.

According to a recent IFAD study, an additional potential of about 66 000 ha of irrigable land has been identified. Of this about 53 000 ha are in the Usuthu and Ngwavuma Basins, while about 8 000 ha are in the Komati Basin.

According to the Swaziland Sugar Association (SSA) the total net area under irrigated sugarcane is approximately 45 000 ha. Of this total 27 000 ha is found in the northern Lowveld, around the sugar mills of Mhlume and Simunye. The irrigation water in the northern part is derived from the Komati and the Mbuluzi rivers, and is stored in the Maguga dam, the Sand River dam and the Mnjoli dam. As a result of the recently built Maguga dam, the area irrigated by the Komati Downstream Development Project will increase by some 5 500 ha until the irrigation scheme is fully implemented at the end of 2004.

Some 14 000 ha of irrigated sugarcane occurs around the sugar mill at Big Bend in the central eastern part of the Lowveld, which uses water from the Usutu river. After implementation of Lower Usuthu Smallholder Irrigation Project (LUSIP) the area under sugarcane is expected to increase by a net area of 11 500 ha in two phases (phase I of the project would develop a net area of 6 500 ha; phase II would develop a further 5 000 ha).

A smaller area of approximately 3 000 ha under irrigated sugarcane is located around Nsoko, using water from the Ngwavuma river and less than 1 000 ha smallholder irrigation near Lavumisa using water from the Jozini Dam. The sugarcane from this area is also processed at Big Bend.

Although all the currently readily available water is fully committed, increase of the storage capacity and water saving through improvements of management and methods of irrigation can allow for additional areas to be irrigated.

Water has always been the limiting factor in the development of irrigated agriculture in the dryland areas of Swaziland. With the development of storage capacity and the introduction of water efficient irrigation methods, additional land in the Lowveld can be irrigated. Established methods of land evaluation have facilitated the identification of suitable land for irrigation in the dryland areas of Swaziland, in both the Komati Downstream Development Project and the LUSIP. A potential scheme has been identified near the sugar town of Nsoko though the damming of the Ngwavuma River and the construction of a canal to approximately 2 000 - 3 000 ha of land 20 kms from the dam (called the Nsoko Irrigation Project).

The information available through the agro-ecological analysis of Swaziland indicates that substantial areas of currently non-irrigated land in the drylands of Swaziland would be suitable for irrigated agriculture. However, soil patterns and the overall physiography of the dryland areas of Swaziland show that it will become increasingly difficult to identify additional suitable land in large enough proportions for efficient lay-outs, and also within economic distance from the existing sugar mills.

1.3 Analysis of the problem

1.3.1 The national development problems that are being addressed

The Swaziland dryland areas have historically been subjected to drought and economic marginalisation and the resulting socio-economic hardships have contributed to increased poverty, land degradation and loss of biodiversity.

The low and unreliable of rainfall in the dryland areas and the constant threat of drought are the overriding cause of the challenges faced in the dryland areas. As a result of these conditions specific issues arise:

1.3.1.1 Inherent low agricultural productivity

The low agricultural productivity is primarily caused by the low and unreliable rainfall but is compounded by improper farming systems (low mechanisation, low levels of inputs (e.g. fertiliser, herbicides, etc.), poor selection and diversification of crops suited to the climatic conditions and long distances to markets. The low level of penetration of new technologies and research findings further contributes to low agricultural productivity.

1.3.1.2 Limited water resources

The low and unreliable rainfall patterns result in unreliable and irregular volumes of surface water available for agricultural use and other purposes.

Ground water resources are often restricted by limited availability, poor quality and low levels of natural recharge. As result, where water quality is acceptable, the ground water should only be used for domestic consumption and not irrigation.

1.3.1.3 Ineffective property rights and institutions for managing natural resources

Farmers need assured long-term access to land if they are to pursue sustainable farming practices and the sustainable management of common property resources such as the rangelands, woodlands and savannas with their natural biological diversity.

The lack of property rights to common natural resources has resulted in the degeneration of these resources. There is now increased acceptance that the most successful institutions for managing common properties are likely to be local organizations, run by the resource users themselves. Government policy needs to support local management by such groups.

1.3.1.4 Low level of government attention to the drylands

The dryland areas have historically been ignored by government institutions for investment and development support. For example, limited consideration is given by government to the development of industry and other high employment activities. There are no specific economic investor incentives to promote dryland development that would contribute to the alleviation of poverty in these areas.

Agricultural extension advice given to farmers is traditionally based on higher rainfall areas and maize cultivation continues to be promoted in dryland areas.

Governments attention is only focused on irrigated sugarcane and very little research is carried out by the various research institutions on suitable crops for these areas. Even cotton production in the drylands, a suitable crop for the drylands, faces an uncertain future through lack of government intervention and support.

National policies and strategies developed over the years by government to promote sustainable development have often neglected the specific constraints and challenges of the drylands and have failed to provide direction in addressing some if not all the challenges.

1.3.1.5 High level of dependence on farm income

Arable cropping and grazing dominate the dryland agricultural sector and rural Swazis in the dryland areas depend heavily on on-farm income for their survival. Any collapse in this farm income though natural disasters like drought, renders the affected families vulnerable.

There is little diversification of off-farm sources of income and options to develop alternative livelihoods remain illusive. Opportunities for off-farm income in the drylands have not been sufficiently explored and promoted but could include activities such as bee-keeping, aquaculture, non-timber forest product processing, dressmaking, handicrafts, etc. provided there is an adequate marketing infrastructure and credit facilities.

1.3.1.6 Inadequate land administration

Inadequate land administration and a lack of rational land use planning has resulted in the inappropriate use of the land in many parts of the drylands and has caused considerable degradation of the land resources.

The degradation of the land resource has direct implications for land productivity and maintenance of important dryland ecosystems. Lower crop yields and a diminishing natural resource base compounds the already high levels of poverty in the dryland areas.

The traditional practice of land administration, which is linked to chiefs and chiefdoms, is not functioning effectively in many areas due to the lack of a precise definition of chiefdom boundaries and a lack of clear authority in certain areas. The existence of these problems prohibits rational planning and management of the land as well as the rehabilitation of degraded land.

1.3.2 Measurable indicators of the problems

Solutions to the problems experienced by communities living in the drylands requires an integrated approach to poverty alleviation. No one activity can improve either the social or physical characteristics of the dryland areas, rather the combination of coordinated intervention strategies is required. The proposed drylands programme integrates well with many of the targets set in two important UN declarations - the Millennium Development Goals and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

Monitoring mechanisms have or are being developed to measure the rate of progress in meeting the targets set in these two programmes. Monitoring of the drylands programme outcomes and activities will be in accordance with the indicators used in these programmes.

1.3.2.1 The Millennium Development Goals

Through the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) the world is addressing the many dimensions of human development. The MDG are global targets that the world's leaders set at the Millennium Summit in September 2000 and are an ambitious agenda for reducing poverty and its causes and manifestations.

1.3.2.2 The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation

Following the conclusion of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in September 2002, commitments and targets were set for sustainable development. Swaziland as a signatory to this plan has to fulfil the following commitments:

1.3.3 The population group affected

The drylands of Swaziland cover 54.1% of Swaziland and encompass all of the Lower Middleveld, Eastern Lowveld and Western Lowveld, and also cover parts of the Lubombo Range and Upper Middleveld.

Within these areas live approximately 200,000 to 300,000 people. The large majority of these people reside in rural areas and rely to a large extent on the land and natural resources for their livelihood and survival.

1.3.4 Gender and environmental aspects of the problem

1.3.4.1 Drylands and gender

Dryland areas pose different challenges to men and women due to their differentiated gender roles and responsibilities, uneven access and control of resources and different opportunities and constraints. The programme recognizes the important role that women play in the sustainable use and management of dryland resources and has placed emphasis on gender equity in many of the outputs proposed. The programme intends to ensure a gender-balanced approach by identifying strategies and activities that will enable both men and women to participate and benefit from it. There will be equal participation in decision-making processes, gender sensitive capacity building and partnerships.

1.3.4.2 Drylands and the environment

The Swaziland dryland areas provide a habitat for major wildlife populations and unique species, and harbour biodiversity of great importance to both drylands peoples and to those elsewhere. Furthermore, the dryland areas have potentials that have yet to be fully recognized (e.g. drought adapted species, pastoral and oasis systems that remain viable, underestimated carbon sequestration, and ecotourism potential). Although species diversity is quantitatively lower in drylands than other ecosystems, drylands biodiversity is marked by its tremendous qualitative value and within-species diversity. Drylands cause species to become resilient, tolerant to drought and salinity, able to grow rapidly and set seed within a very short time frame. Such genetic traits are of global importance, but are particularly important to populations living in the drylands.

The dryland biotic community that has thrived for thousands of years must now compete for the natural resources with the interests of heavy industry, agriculture and the pressures of an increasing population. Although conservation of the natural resources is vital to the survival of all interested parties, the absence of such policy leads to a free-for-all race for water and land that results in the depletion of the water supply and degradation of the topsoil.

It is widely recognized that biodiversity underpins human welfare and economic development and that many sectors of national and local economies depend on biological diversity, natural ecosystems, productive landscapes and the environmental services they provide. Moreover the poorest of the poor, especially the rural poor, tend to be the most dependent on biological resources for food, shelter, fuel, medicines, employment, income, cultural heritage, and to protect clean water supplies and reduce their vulnerability to natural hazards.

Degradation of dryland habitats due to changes in land use is the immediate most serious threat to dryland biodiversity. This first and foremost affects wild biodiversity, but as populations increase, and the urban and industrial sectors are not able to absorb this increase, there will be pressure on agricultural land, leading to agro-habitat degradation as well.

1.3.5 Previous experiences and lessons learned

For the last thirty years concerns have been raised over issues of poverty and environmental degradation. Although progress has been made in Swaziland with poverty alleviation, there is still much to be done to change the livelihoods of rural communities, as is show by the high rural poverty of 66 percent and the continuing environmental degradation, caused by heavy reliance on natural resources.

In recent years some progress has been made in implementing programmes targeting poverty and environmental management simultaneously. These efforts have been largely related to commitments made in connection with international interventions initiated by UN agencies or other international donors.

Programmes that have addressed broadly dryland problems included the UNDP Sustainable Livelihoods Programme, the DFID Poverty Alleviation Programme followed by the Small Grant Scheme and the EU Micro-projects Programme. These programmes sought to promote sustainable livelihoods by addressing strategic issues covering economic, human and natural resources management, food security, informal sector development and infrastructure development, as well as providing direct support to community-level projects.

The lessons learnt from previous programmes is that the linkages between sustainable management of the natural resources and poverty alleviation have not been sufficiently recognised or emphasised.

Government has identified poverty alleviation as a priority area of intervention and while this has been partially addressed in previous programmes, it has become necessary to formulate direct strategies that are to be prioritised in a coherent framework, addressing concurrently poverty and environmental issues.

1.4 Outline of the national programme framework

Although Swaziland does not have a documented national programme framework for dryland development, there have been relevant national initiatives as described below. As previously explained, the developmental challenges faced by communities living in Swaziland’s drylands are substantial and are often life threatening and as such a programme of action to reduce these challenges and in turn create opportunities, has been identified by stakeholders as a high priority for the country.

1.4.1 National programmes that support drylands development

National programmes that are supportive of drylands development have been formulated over the years and implemented with mixed success. The overriding impetus for a rational approach to dryland development was originally enshrined during the formulation of the NAP following the ratification of the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD) in 1996.

The Swaziland Environment Authority (SEA) were designated as national coordinating unit for the CCD. In turn the SEA designated the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives as the CCD focal point and Coordinating Assemblies of NGOs (CANGO) as coordinator of NGOs. CANGO designated Yonge Nawe as the NGO focal point for CCD. A National Steering Committee for Desertification (NSCD) established to better coordinate government and NGO efforts in CCD activities.

In October 1998 the NGO CCD National Task Force was formed which was composed of six NGOs, coordinated by Yonge Nawe. Also in 1998, the Swaziland National Action Programme (NAP) formulated and in 2000 was officially adopted by Cabinet.

In addition to ratifying the CCD, other international agreements that deal with land degradation, environmental management and poverty reduction have been signed and commitments within those agreements are still being evaluated and programmes formulated for implementation.

In an effort to uphold commitments to these agreements, the Government of Swaziland has been formulating policies and strategies at several levels, towards a more pro-active approach to address the considerable opportunities and difficulties that lie ahead. The long-term plan to 2022 is contained within the National Development Strategy (NDS). All other sectoral policies and strategies are to facilitate the vision of the NDS and are to be coordinated by the Public Policy Coordination Unit.

Initiatives and strategies that have addressed desertification and/or drought mitigation include the UNDP Sustainable Livelihood Programme, the Poverty Reduction Strategy and Action Plan, the National Disaster Management Policy, the National Early Warning Unit within MOAC, the Climate Change Project, the Swaziland Environment Action Plan, the National Physical Development Plan and the Millennium Action Programme.

Policies and related action plans at the formulation stage or awaiting Cabinet approval include the Population Policy, the National Land Policy, the National Environment Policy, the National Forest Policy and the National Forestry Programme, the National Energy Policy, the Tourism Policy, the NGO Policy and the Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan.

Legislation at the formulation stage that supports drylands objectives include the Environmental Management Bill, the Disaster Management Bill and the Water Bill.

Other forthcoming government initiatives that may assist in addressing dryland issues include the Agriculture Policy, the NGO Policy, the Minerals Exploitation Policy, the Development Policy, the Media Policy, the Education Policy, the Physical Planning and Development Control Bill and the Sustainable Management Bill.

The greatest constraint faced by authorities to date in addressing and implementing commitments has been the lack of sufficient financial resources to do so as well the lack of a coherent holistic approach to poverty reduction and environmental management.

1.4.2 Best practice identified

As a side study to the development of the DDP, an investigation was carried out to identify successful activities that were or are being carried out in the country that can be broadly considered to be activities that contribute to the overall goals of the DDP.

The study was carried out using the UNDP Best Practice Guidelines.

The initiatives that were found to be successful or had potential for success were:

• Backyard Permaculture gardens
• The Biodiversity Conservation & Participatory Development Project (BCPD)
• Community Gardens project
• Improving food security and increasing household income through vegetable gardening
• Lavumisa Piggery Association
• Lubombo Orphan Care Catering project
• Lower Usutu Smallholder Irrigation Project (LUSIP)
• Maguga Dam downstream irrigation projects
• Shewula Community Development Initiative
• Shewula Community Nature Reserve and Camp Project
• Water Harvesting Project

1.4.2.1 Replicability of Initiatives

1.4.2.1.1 Dams, Catchment Management and Community Vegetable Gardens

The work of constructing small earth dams, maintaining them and protecting their catchments, has been beneficial to those communities that received technical and financial support to construct the dams. It was noted that these dams are often not utilized to their fullest potential. Project planning needs to ensure this changes and water use is maximized. Gardening, cattle drinking troughs, washing bays, cattle dips and domestic water must all be standard accessories of dam projects. A lot of work has been done by MOAC, SFDF, World Vision and LDS in this area and a lot useful experience has been gained which can be put to good use in replication.

1.4.2.1.2 Piggery and Poultry

Pork and chicken are in great demand these days and a reliable supply can secure a rural community a niche in the market. Training of operators, market research and adequate financing are a must for the success of such projects. These are termed "large capital projects" and unfortunately in a number of cases the investment has not been enough to give the project the required impetus.

1.4.2.1.3 Game farming and Ecotourism

The dryland areas of Swaziland are a very rich biodiversity. The savannah biome which covers most of the country’s drylands has a higher variety of animal species than the grassland, forest or aquatic biomes. It also has a greater percentage of trees and plant resource species than the other habitats.

This is the main reason why many of the country’s protected areas are found in this region. What this means is that the potential for nature conservation and ecotourism is good. The Shewula route can indeed be replicated elsewhere through appropriate adaptation in the respective local context.

1.4.2.1.4 Kunanisa and Conservation Agriculture

The Kunanisa programme is about developing a seedbank (with farmers) of indigenous and local seed varieties as well as reviving their dominance in the area. The idea being that the local varieties are better adapted to the dryland conditions. When this approach is combined with conservation agriculture, the synergy between the two approaches yields significant results. Again, with appropriate adaptations in local context, this initiative can be replicated elsewhere in the drylands of Swaziland.

An initiative closely related to this one is the Backyard permaculture gardens. Permaculture is a system of agriculture that mimics nature. That means the garden design is greatly influenced by the natural conditions prevailing in that particular area and hence it can be replicated anywhere accordingly.

These initiatives occur at the farmer/household level and their impacts are felt first at that same level. The initiatives are very self-help oriented and make full use of indigenous knowledge systems. They are about working harmoniously with the dryland conditions as opposed to fighting the drylands. It must be noted that the permaculture gardens incorporate the water harvesting techniques.

1.4.2.1.5 Orphan Care Initiatives

Bantfwana ngumliba loya embili (Children are the future). The idea of looking after orphans is part and parcel of Swazi culture. In fact a few communities are already making means to do this as a community. The Lomahasha Community gardens Project and the Lubombo Development Area project Lubombo Orphan Care (Catering Project) are good examples.

The Lubombo Orphan Care Project (Catering Project) owes its success mainly to three factors: commitment by the community, marketing and maintenance of high standards. This project is not constrained by the dryland conditions and represents a good alternative to farming. Because of the probable availability of organically produced vegetables from the garden projects, it can fashion itself as a provider of specialized meals (using organically grown ingredients). There is a growing market for this naturally produced food and Shewula is moving to supply this markets.

1.4.2.2 Technical and financial support required for replication

The ultimate objective of dryland interventions is rural poverty alleviation. This can be achieved through means that will improve the poor's food security, productivity, livelihood and well-being. In trying to do this it is important to bear in mind the fact that rural poverty is both a cause and effect of environmental degradation. This makes environmental degradation and poverty interlinked problems whose interventions must address both issues if they are to be a success.

The Shewula initiative is addressing environmental degradation through nature conservation and conservation agriculture. Issues of poverty alleviation are being tackled through the operation of Shewula Mountain Camp, the Microcredit Scheme and the Kunanisa programme.

Projects or initiatives in the drylands should seek to establish frameworks at the local level that will allow the people most affected to take a lead role in identifying and implementing ways to solve the problems. In most of the projects that showed some measure of success, the local people use the centre focus of the planning and implementing activities. The Lavumisa Piggery Project and Shewula project are good examples of this practice.

Funding. A lot of donors still operate mainly in the short term and yet experience has shown that in the drylands things rarely happen quickly. An example is one where Mbuluzi Game Reserve /Tambankulu Estates pledged E150 000 for the tourism development at Shewula Nature Reserve. Because the community was not ''ready'' to undertake such a project and yet the pledge was only good for one financial year after which it would be forfeited if not used. An opportunity was lost as the funds were withdrawn as the time elapsed. Even the funds that eventually built the structure were almost lost for the same reason. In the latter case DFID was accommodating and a project that has changed the face of Shewula was successfully undertaken.

Often the financial and technical capacity for planning and operating a project is very limited in the rural drylands. This necessitates that until and unless ''training and coaching'' has been successfully administered, the funding should go via an NGO or some other institution.

Technical support. Many of the projects that have shown successes have had consistent and readily accessible technical support. In many cases this has been in form of field officers such is the case with LDS, ACAT, SFDF, and World Vision. This has proved very important to the success of projects. This is because some projects entail a deviation from the normal community activities and this ''change'' will not be championed by someone who visits once a month.

Training. Training to provide locals with necessary technical skills to operate the project is critical as it empowers community members to really take charge of the project. In Lavumisa Piggery Project this was valued as a very important point. The same is true for the Shewula Project.

Assistance must focus on increasing the capacity of the local people to manage the resources on which they depend.

Short and long term conflicts. The common conflict between the short term need for immediate food production and use of fragile resources, against long term requirements of conserving natural resources to maintain production levels, needs to be built into the planning of projects. For instance at the Shewula Project, while putting on controls on natural resource utilization, an indigenous medicinal plant nursery which will ensure that needed harvesting continues in the short term. This point is also applicable on the Piggery Project. A point that was stressed again and again is that the financial planning should include dividends to members of the association. A concern that comes from the need to satisfy short term needs.

Participation. Real participation must be engendered into dryland project if they are to succeed. Efforts to cultivate the participation into the project may take time and be seen as delaying the project. Short cuts must not be taken here.

Chieftaincy and Chiefdom boundary disputes. These are commonplace in Swaziland and have hindered many a development project. Again taking the necessary time to understand the issues and players cannot be overemphasized. The backyard Permaculture Garden project and the LDA catering projects both suffered from this phenomenon. It helped greatly that the implementing agencies had community field officers stationed there so they can deal with issues they understand because they live there on daily basis.

In some areas, agricultural development may not provide an economically viable basis for improving incomes and welfare, and solutions will have to be sought through encouraging the rural non-farming economy, and out migration. The catering project at Mbadlane is a good example through, opportunities to diversify into productive on farm sources of income are limited in many dryland areas, proper planning and catering project is doing very well despite its location and nature project is project is heavily marketed and as a result many organization and groups needing catering services like them.

Conservation agriculture and permaculture principles are well suited for producing results without degrading the environment in the drylands. Wherever possible these principles must used. They are pro less till, intercropping, combining crops planted and animals reared. They support a broad base approach to agriculture.

1.4.3 NEPAD Environment Initiative

The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) recognises that a healthy and productive environment is a prerequisite for implementation. It is further recognised that the range of issues necessary to nurture this environmental base is vast and complex, and that a systematic combination of initiatives is necessary to develop a coherent environmental programme. This will necessitate that choices be made and particular issues be prioritised for initial intervention.

The NEPAD Environment Initiative has targeted eight sub-themes for priority interventions:

Combating Desertification. Initial interventions are envisaged to rehabilitate degraded land and to address the factors that led to such degradation. Many of these steps will need to be labour intensive, along the lines of "public works programmes", thereby contributing to the social development needs of the continent. The initial interventions will serve as best practices or prototypes for future interventions in this area;

Wetland Conservation. This involves the implementation of African best practices on wetland conservation, where social and ecological benefits are derived from private sector investment in this area;

Invasive Alien Species. Partnerships are sought to prevent and control invasive alien species. These partnerships are critical for both the preservation of the ecosystems and for economic well-being. Major labour-intensive initiatives are possible;

Coastal Management. In protecting and utilising coastal resources to optimal effect, best practices are again suggested from which a broader programme can be drawn up;

Global Warming. The initial focus will be on monitoring and regulating the impact of climate change. Labour-intensive work is essential and critical to integrated fire management projects;

Cross-border Conservation Areas. This subtheme seeks to build on the emerging initiatives, seeking partnerships across countries to boost conservation and tourism and thus create jobs;

Environmental Governance. This relates to securing institutional, legal, planning, training and capacity-building requirements that underpin all of the above;

Financing. A carefully structured and fair system for financing is required.

1.4.4 The development objective of the Drylands Development Programme

In order to effectively confront the substantial environmental and social challenges in the drylands, the national programme on drylands development is intended to combine a variety of national and international initiatives into one overriding programme.

The low and unreliable of rainfall in the dryland areas and the constant threat of drought are the overriding cause of the challenges faced in the dryland areas. As a result of these conditions the critical issues to be addressed by this national programme are:

• increasing the availability of water
• improving agricultural productivity
• improving property rights and institutions for managing natural resources
• increasing the level of government attention to the drylands
• decreasing the high level of dependence on farm income
• improving land administration
• increasing the technical capacity of affected stakeholders to manage their environment

The development objective of the DDP is therefore:

to contribute to poverty reduction through the sustainable development of drylands leading to reduced vulnerability and improved livelihoods

1.4.5 The National Drylands Development Programme Strategy

The overall strategy for the drylands development programme is to build on or support existing national initiatives to combat poverty and environmental degradation specifically the NAP, PRS, SEAP and as the main guiding strategy the NDS.

The elimination of poverty and improved environmental management remains an objective of all government policy and planning but the means to do so is often lacking due to allocating insufficient financial resources combined with a change in emphasis by donors who are taking a more regional approach to support and interventions.

The DDP offers a very relevant and proactive initiative to support communities living in the drylands of Swaziland. The programme with three proposed outcomes, integrates well into other national initiatives. The three DDP outcomes proposed are:

1. national policy and planning frameworks reflect drylands and environmental issues;

2. vulnerability of poor populations in drylands reduced; and

3. dryland populations benefit from systems of good local governance for natural resource management.

1.4.5.1 Mainstreaming dryland issues into policy and planning frameworks

The mainstreaming of dryland specific issues into overall government planning remains a priority of government through the implementation of the NAP, SEAP and the more recently the PRS.

The PRS, a national strategy to reduce poverty, is particularly relevant to the dryland areas where a high proportion of affected people live. The PRS proposes a three-pronged strategy: rapid acceleration of economic growth based on broad based participation, empowering the poor to generate own income, and equitable distribution of the benefits of growth through public spending.

Improvements in agricultural production and food security feature high in the strategy with the intention of government to improve nutrition, boost rural incomes, boost exports, create employment, commercialise of the livestock sector, ensure sustainable management of the range resource, and improve livestock disease surveillance and control.

The PRS cites various obstacles to meeting the above objectives including affordability of agriculture inputs, limited access to financial credit, limited resources to make improvements on their holdings, limited access to water for irrigation and historically eroded mechanisms to cope with natural disasters.

The SEAP has incorporated essential dryland issues into its action plan, though funding for the implementation of the SEAP is so far lacking. A Programme Support Document (PSD) has been prepared to chart the implementation of the SEAP over the next five years, with five priority projects identified:

(a) Management and use of biodiversity

(b) Waste management, pollution control and environmental health

(c) Environmental education, public awareness and participation

(d) Resource management for increased productivity and

(e) Capacity building for effective environmental management

Projects (a), (c), (d) and (e) are all highly relevant and supportive of the drylands programme.

Other recent policy initiatives where dryland-type issues have been successfully incorporated include the National Forest Policy and National Forestry Programme (community based natural resource management committees), the Energy Policy (emphasis on renewable energy, rural electrification), the National Water Policy (catchment management), the Rural Resettlement Policy (optimal and sustainable management of land), the Environmental Health Policy (improved rural health care) and the National Environment Policy (environmental responsibility, buntfu and sustainable use, environmental rights, public awareness and participation).

As each of the above policy and strategy initiatives remains under the stewardship of the motivating ministry, an holistic strategy to specifically combat poverty and environmental degradation in the drylands is lacking. Without a Rural Development Policy that integrates relevant rural issues into an integrated rural development programme and tackles, among other things, poverty, community participation and environmental management, very little can be achieved to resolve the complex constraints in the dryland areas.

1.4.5.2 Decreasing vulnerability of poor populations in drylands

Dryland inhabitants face various challenges related to their geographic and climatic location in the country. The constant threat of drought, limited availability of water, inappropriate cropping patterns and socio-economic challenges related to their livelihoods render many rural people vulnerable to poverty, disease and food insecurity.

The programme envisages an integrated approach to provide tried and tested interventions that reduce the vulnerability of affected populations through a variety of interventions aimed at uplifting their ability to manage their resources and cope with the conditions in which they live.

1.4.5.3 Improved local governance for natural resource management

As a result of the high dependence by communities in the drylands on natural resources, improvement in their management is seen as essential for sustainable development and poverty reduction.

The management of the natural resources in the drylands, though taking place in an ad hoc manner, needs to be institutionalised and the management principles shared among all stakeholders. Improvements in resource management is urgently needed in national and local government, local administration structures, committees and NGOs.

The perceived ineffectiveness of many of the Tinkhundla as local government centres has resulted from a lack of adequate funding from central government, lack of administrative capacity and limitations in the required infrastructure for servicing the many developmental demands placed upon the centres by their constituents. Conflicts in developmental interests between the Chiefdoms and unresolved chieftancy and boundary disputes have added to the problems. The roles of the local government structures have remained unclear since the 1978 Regional Council Order, as a result the functioning of local government is impaired.

The role played by Chiefs in developmental efforts within their chiefdoms has been constrained by their limited capacity to make informed decisions on land use, administration, physical planning and harnessing resource mobilisation. However, the essential role communities play in promoting their own socio-economic advancement needs to be utilised and strengthened so such communities can make their own informed decisions about how to manage and utilise their natural resources for their long-term benefit.

Developing trainer capacity for sustainable community training is essential, as is the need to acknowledge that there will be a lead time before capacity building and on the ground actions take place. Moreover, understanding gender relationships and natural resource management will require specific planning priorities and support training.

1.4.6 Beneficiaries

The beneficiaries of the drylands development programme will be the communities living in the dryland areas, relevant national and local government officers and relevant NGO project officers.

1.4.7 Institutional arrangements

The drylands development programme recognises the crucial roles of the Government, the civil society, the private sector and the donor community in efforts to eradicate poverty.

The execution and management of the national drylands development programme will require that the already existing National Steering Committee for Desertification (NSCD) comprising both government and non-governmental institutions, be re-mobilised and resourced.

In addition to better integrate dryland issues and solutions in as wide an area as possible, various other institutions need to be mobilised. Key institutions of relevance to the implementation of Swaziland’s drylands development programme include:

(a) government ministries: Natural Resources and Energy, Agriculture and Cooperatives, Health and Social Welfare, Enterprise and Employment Economic Planning and Development, Finance and Tourism, Environment and Communication;

(b) NGOs: Yonge Nawe, Lutheran Development Service, African Cooperative Action Trust - Lilima, Baphalali Swaziland Red Cross, Caritas Swaziland, the Swaziland Council of Churches, Swaziland Farmer Development Foundation, Save the Children Fund, Women’s Resource Centre and World Vision; and

(c) agricultural credit institutions: Swaziland Development and Savings Bank (SDSB), Enterprise Trust Fund and commercial banks.

1.4.8 Capacity requirements and assessment

Many of the partners in the fight against poverty and environmental degradation in the drylands are weak and require capacity building. Key actors in this national programme will be the Government ministries and departments, communities and community based organisations as well as the various intermediaries through which support to target groups will be channelled. Based on a comprehensive capacity needs assessment, the capacity of the beneficiary organisations will be enhanced in areas of policy formulation and co-ordination, skill development, resource mobilisation, information gathering and analysis, networking and institutional governance.

The National Steering Committee for Desertification, which is a consortium of NGOs and government ministries (MOAC and MNRE) tasked with implementing Agenda 21 and CCD programmes, currently fulfils a supervisory or advisory role. This institution would need to become more proactive or an additional DDP institution established to manage the range of programmes described here after.

2 Strategy and objectives for UNDP support

2.1 Policy framework

The General Assembly Resolutions 44/211 and 47/199, which lay emphasis on national capacity building, self-reliance and sustainability are also relevant to this PSD. The policy framework emphasis assistance based on national priorities and goals, integration of women in the development process, and the participation of concerned populations in the development process.

The policy framework is founded on Agenda 21 of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development and is heavily dependent on the readiness and ability of various actors in the development process to rethink and reorganise the way they view and undertake development programmes. In this context the framework, under resolution 44/211, advocates for a shift from project to programme approach.

In submitting the second Country Co-operation Framework (CCF) to the UNDP Executive Board, the Government of Swaziland requested for support in the following broad areas: good governance and poverty eradication; employment creation and sustainable livelihoods; environment and natural resources management; and cross-cutting issues such as gender; HIV/AIDS; and disaster preparedness and management.

Other notable UN mandates that support the drylands programme include:

Agreements leading to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, including:

"Our Common Future," The Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development Report (Abstracts)

A/Res/42/186 of 11 December 1987 (Abstract 1)

A/Res/42/187 of 11 December 1987 (Abstract 2)

The Decision of the General Assembly to convene the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development

A/RES/44/228-85 of 22 December 1989

Agreements taken by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, including:

The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development

Agenda 21 - Global Programme of Action on Sustainable Development

Statement of principles for the Sustainable Management of Forests

Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (1972)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage

2.1.1 United Nations Policy Framework

The drylands development programme supports the General Assembly Resolution 44/228 of 22 December 1989 which called for the acceptance of the need to take a "balanced and integrated approach to environment and development" questions and resolution 46/219 of 20 December 1991 (Operational activities of the United Nations system), both of which stress:

• that national plans and priorities constitute the only viable frame of reference for national programming and operational activities for development within the United Nations system;
• that government/national execution and full utilisation of national capacities would contribute to ensuring that programmes and projects are managed in an integrated manner to promote their long-term sustainability and wider impact in the national development process, and
• that the need to increase and strengthen the promotion and implementation of technical cooperation and the need to promote the full integration of women in all aspects of the development process.

The national drylands programme supports commitments made at the two World Summit’s on Sustainable Development (Agenda 21) both of which urge greater recognition of land degradation and poverty reduction.

2.1.2 Relationship with UNDP mandate and Areas of Intervention

The Swaziland Country Office has focused on the following areas in the process of building and strengthening national capacity: poverty eradication and grass-roots participation in development; environmental and natural resources management; and employment and sustainable livelihoods.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro mandated UNDP to build capacity for sustainable development. This has been confirmed in the General Assembly resolution 47/194 and Governing Council decision 93/2. In addition, in its June 1994 meeting in Geneva, the newly constituted executive board of UNDP reconfirmed both concepts by combining them into sustainable human development.

Taken together, the mandates UNDP has received from the Governing Council and from the General Assembly indicates that within the Sustainable Human Development framework, UNDP should concentrate on promoting development that gives priority to the poor, to the creation of jobs, to the advancement of women, and to the protection and regeneration of the environment.

2.2 Approved UNDP CCF

In June 2001 Swaziland agreed to and signed the second Country Co-operation Framework (CCF) with the UNDP Executive Board.

The UNDP corporate business plan (2000-2003) provides the context within which a focused and streamlined programme of assistance is proposed in the CCF for the period 2001-2005. At a United Nations Country Team (UNCT)/government retreat in March 2000 and as part of the UNDAF process, areas of focus for future United Nations assistance were identified. These were HIV/AIDS, the increasing incidence of poverty, good governance and human rights, environment and disaster management, and communication for development. Cross-cutting issues that were identified within UNCT/government priorities related to gender and the empowerment of women and child rights and development. Human and financial resource mobilization were seen as critical.

The Government's overall goal is to reduce poverty through strengthened good governance and improved economic growth and social development, with emphasis on equity, supported by active participation.

In support of the Government's efforts to operationalise its National Development Strategy, and in line with the UNDP corporate business plan, interventions will be mainly through advocacy, policy dialogue and advice, strategic partnerships and resource mobilization.

Capacity-building activities will focus on critical areas of governance; macroeconomic management; design, formulation, implementation and monitoring of policies, strategies and programmes essential for sustainable growth and equity; and mitigation of HIV / AIDS impact, while ensuring adequate environmental management.

The UNDP Executive Board emphasized the commitment of UNDP to work with all partners including NGOs and CBOs. The Country Office is encouraged to seek partnerships with the private sector and other development agencies in its bid to mobilize resources for the proposed interventions under the national programme. Thus, the thrust of this programme is within the UN strategy in Swaziland as jointly developed and agreed within the framework of the UNDAF process of March 2000.

2.3 Strategy for use of UNDP resources

The determination of the areas of focus for this UNDP funded programme was based on:

(a) a review of the Poverty Reduction Strategy and identification of the elements that relate to natural resource management and sustainable livelihoods;

(b) review of other government policies and strategy documents and in particular the NAP, NDS and SEAP;

(c) examination of on-going initiatives and the experiences thereof;

(d) a consultative process spanning over two months during which stakeholders were consulted and which culminated in a stakeholders forum in October 2002 during which the DDP objectives were endorsed; and

(e) consideration of the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the UNDAF initiative as well as the CCF itself.

Given UNDP’s and the DDC’s mandate, resource limitations, its universality and neutrality, and considering that there are many other donors, its inputs are aimed at providing a strategic synergy and to serve as a point of entry for other donors in the agreed domains.

UNDP/DDC resources will be primarily used for capacity building and will be utilized through partner institutions such as service providers, training institutions, civil society organisations, private sector firms and individuals, and in the procurement of equipment, group and individual training etc. In addition, UNDP and other UN agencies will be expected to provide, through technical support services, relevant know-how in the fields covered by this programme.

2.4 Programme support objectives

2.4.1 Country Cooperation Framework

The second Country Cooperation Framework (CCF) has the following thematic areas:

• HIV/AIDS
• the increasing incidence of poverty
• good governance and human rights
• environment and disaster management
• communication for development.

In addressing these thematic areas the focus of the Dryland Development Programme (DDP) will be put on eradication of poverty and environmental management. This will be addressed through a participatory approach which heavily depends on grassroot mobilization and participation.

The highest national priority area within the DDP for support and intervention has been identified as capacity building in natural resource management at community, NGO and government level.

The two medium priority areas identified are mainstreaming national policy and planning frameworks to reflect drylands and environment issues and decreasing the vulnerability of poor populations in drylands (see Figure 1).

2.4.2 The National Drylands Development Programme logical framework

The logical framework presented in Table 6 describes the National Drylands Development Programme. The structure incorporates the recommended overall goal and intended outcomes of the UNDP/DDC drylands development programme.

The intended outcome 3, namely ‘Local communities in drylands benefit from participatory systems of local governance for natural resources management’, is the outcome with the highest national priority. The programme acknowledges the important linkages between capacity building (intended outcome 3) and interventions aimed at decreasing vulnerability among the target beneficiaries (intended outcome 2).

Table 6 - The Framework of the National Drylands Development Programme