The Tenure and Global Climate Change (TGCC) program provides USAID with the opportunity to explore the relationship between the governance of agriculture, forests, and fisheries landscapes and achieving sustainable land use and resilient communities through technical analysis, field work, and policy engagement. During this quarter, major activities included:
Zambia: The Petauke District Land Alliance (PDLA) undertook training on household land demarcation and launched efforts to systematically document household rights across Sandwe Chiefdom. The Chipata District Land Alliance (CDLA) continued supporting chiefs to sign and distribute customary land certificates and supported communities through the process of requesting changes to certificates, including division of parcels and documenting new parcels. TGCC completed research with four Zambian civil society organizations (CSOs) and researchers on customary land issues. TGCC started preparations for long-term sustainability of the program through increased coordination with the Ministry of Lands and the anticipated World Bank Integrated Sustainable Forest Landscape (IFSL) program, as well as through convening workshops with other customary land documentation organizations. TGCC also continued coordination with the government on national land governance priorities, including national land-titling program, community forestry statutory instruments and the draft national land policy.
Burma: TGCC mobilized a new country coordinator in this quarter, following the unexpected passing of Nick Thomas in late 2016. With USAID/Washington’s visit to Burma, TGCC established new relations and a work plan with the new Economic Growth team at USAID/Burma. The Resource Law Specialist (RLS) continued work with the Agricultural Policy Unit and supported analysis of revisions to a range of land-related laws. TGCC launched efforts with four new CSO partners to pilot participatory mapping approaches and undertook new analysis to identify appropriate partners for an additional pilot site in the dry zone of Sagaing Region. The program launched efforts to establish a work plan for continued support to use participatory maps in the first and second pilot sites, and also began to consolidate communication and outreach materials for use over the coming year and post-program implementation.
Vietnam, Mangroves, and Marine Tenure: Activities started in full in Tien Lang District during this quarter through a partnership with the Winrock International-implemented Vietnam Forests and Deltas (VFD) program. A launching ceremony and initial participatory coastal resources assessment were undertaken in the district. Modalities for collaboration with district government were further clarified. The global and Tanzania mangrove reports (full report and briefs) produced with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) were finalized; TGCC is awaiting responses from USAID on the Indonesia report. TGCC completed an Indonesia marine tenure assessment and received positive feedback on previous assessments alongside a Global Oceans Summit in February. The results are being consolidated into a public summary.
TFA 2020: This quarter saw the completion of the Ghana implementation plan and the launching of activities with ECOM and Hershey’s on land tenure strengthening and financing models for cocoa rehabilitation. USAID also gave TGCC a green light to support development of a civil society platform for geospatial documentation of community land claims in Paraguay as part of an engagement with the beef sector.
World Bank Conference: TGCC played a prominent role at the Annual World Bank Land and Poverty Conference in March 2017 with eight presentations, including four from Burma, three from Zambia, and one on mangroves. Additionally, TGCC made two presentations to USAID on TFA 2020 and Zambia. For the conference, TGCC developed a series of infographics and a video on the land documentation process in Burma. The participation of Chieftainess Mkanda from Zambia also demonstrated USAID’s commitment to ensuring that voices of beneficiaries are heard at the global level.
Challenges: TGCC worked through the mobilization of the new Country Coordinator in Burma, Emiko Guthe, during this quarter, as well as revisions to the Year 5 work plan for all countries. TGCC is in the position of both scaling up activities (particularly in Ghana, Paraguay, and Vietnam), while also keeping an eye on project close-out, with in-country activities ending in December 2017.
Priorities: In the coming quarter, TGCC will finalize the Year 5 work plan, inclusive of sustainability plans for key activities. The program will further consolidate project communications and outreach activities, particularly around reporting impacts and lessons learned. Key written deliverables will be produced and shared with USAID, particularly around field methods and assessments.