Cascading the national drylands restoration strategy to the regional level in Ethiopia

From the outset, PENHA facilitated a detailed and highly inclusive process, involving extensive community-level consultations and workshops across six regions. These efforts led to participation by diverse stakeholders, including forest user groups, pastoralists and traditional leaders. This bottom-up approach fostered broad support and local acceptance, which were essential to the strategy’s success.

In 2023, PENHA continued this important work. It convened a four-day workshop in Addis Ababa to tailor the strategy to the specific environmental and social contexts of three regions: Amhara, Benishangul Gumuz and Tigray. The workshop highlighted the importance of addressing specific regional challenges, such as severe land degradation, deforestation and the socioeconomic impacts of conflict. Since the workshop Amhar and Tigray have prepared regional strategies, and an official from the national government has been appointed to support their implementation.

In its work PENHA always emphasizes the necessity of integrating livelihood options with restoration efforts. This holistic approach ensures that poverty reduction and sustainable resource management go hand in hand. Amhara’s regional strategy focuses on redefining dryland areas based on moisture indices, while Tigray’s aims to restore war-damaged forests and incorporate water valuation into its restoration measures.

PENHA has been vital to this process. By fostering collaboration among national and regional stakeholders, PENHA ensures that efforts are coordinated and cohesive. Its work, supported by TBI and CIFOR-ICRAF, provides a successful model for developing and implementing sustainable development policies that are locally led and locally owned.