The Butana Integrated Rural Development Project (BIRDP) in Sudan has enabled local communities to establish natural resources governance and management arrangements by networks of communities. Through the inclusive organizational structures of the networks, including women and youth committees and their representation in governing bodies as well as representatives of mobile communities, these networks of communities are now able to manage broad landscapes and increase the sustainability of and production and revenues derived from their natural resources. With the resulting empowerment and awareness on their opportunities provided in national regulations, local communities have also decided to take on the complex process of registering their range and forest reserves as a measure to secure their land tenure. Further, they are now able to speak with one common and stronger voice, requesting and achieving access to public and private services. Building on the empowerment and natural resources governance capacities of the networks, BIRDP facilitated a series of fora in a bottom-up approach with the objective to put the different natural resources governance and tenure issues encountered by the networks at the right level of governance and resolution. This process started with NR fora between the Localities and the community networks dealing with issues the networks cannot solve on their own. Subsequently, issues also out of the capacities of the Localities were brought to NR fora at the state level with participation of the different sector administrations. This NR fora process has been an attempt to push the government administrations at the different levels to play their role in creating integrated solutions for NR governance that work for local communities and vulnerable groups.
The Western Sudan Resources Management Programme (WSRMP) in Sudan demonstrated how violent conflicts may be avoided by establishing co-governance and management arrangements of stock routes between various communities and ethnic groups in an area where pressure on resources is driven by climate change and by the displacement of people due to armed conflicts. In addition to demarcation of the routes, providing social and economic services along the routes and improving pastoralists value addition and access to markets, one key element in the project has been the establishment of conflict resolution centers. These centers are managed by the communities and backed by the Localities and have been able to solve more than 80% of the disputes along the routes and increased the peaceful co-existence of the different communities using the same landscapes.
The GLTN Tenure Security Learning Initiative developed tools like the Social Tenure Domain Model. The application of this instrument, together with the registration of land-use and tenure in a database, in the development of the Mwea Irrigation Scheme in Kenya demonstrated the importance of community participation in mainstreaming land and water tenure aspects in water infrastructure planning. By building communities' capacities in using models for managing optimal crop water requirements and building these requirements into water allocations as part of the water tenure governance, it has been possible to minimizes water waste.
The Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) were endorsed in 2012 and represent a major stepping stone. However, water governance was left out of the VGGT. FAO initiated a project together with the Governments of Senegal, Sri Lanka and Rwanda to establish national water tenure governance frameworks. Since water is a resource with varying availability, the project has started with building capacities for establishing water balances and auditing. This allows for establishing the amount of water resources available for allocation between the different sectors and users through tenure arrangements. These tools also facilitate decision making on water infrastructures to increase the access to water resources.
The Western Sudan Resources Management Programme (WSRMP) in Sudan demonstrated how violent conflicts may be avoided by establishing co-governance and management arrangements of stock routes between various communities and ethnic groups in an area where pressure on resources is driven by climate change and by the displacement of people due to armed conflicts. In addition to demarcation of the routes, providing social and economic services along the routes and improving pastoralists value addition and access to markets, one key element in the project has been the establishment of conflict resolution centers. These centers are managed by the communities and backed by the Localities and have been able to solve more than 80% of the disputes along the routes and increased the peaceful co-existence of the different communities using the same landscapes.
The GLTN Tenure Security Learning Initiative developed tools like the Social Tenure Domain Model. The application of this instrument, together with the registration of land-use and tenure in a database, in the development of the Mwea Irrigation Scheme in Kenya demonstrated the importance of community participation in mainstreaming land and water tenure aspects in water infrastructure planning. By building communities' capacities in using models for managing optimal crop water requirements and building these requirements into water allocations as part of the water tenure governance, it has been possible to minimizes water waste.
The Voluntary Guidelines for Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests (VGGT) were endorsed in 2012 and represent a major stepping stone. However, water governance was left out of the VGGT. FAO initiated a project together with the Governments of Senegal, Sri Lanka and Rwanda to establish national water tenure governance frameworks. Since water is a resource with varying availability, the project has started with building capacities for establishing water balances and auditing. This allows for establishing the amount of water resources available for allocation between the different sectors and users through tenure arrangements. These tools also facilitate decision making on water infrastructures to increase the access to water resources.