General

An estimated 80% of the global population lack secure water resources. Many also lack ready access to fuel wood and other tree derived benefits. However, the current scientific paradigm says that we must choose which problem to solve as increasing tree cover always reduces water availability. Consider the costs if this thinking is wrong. In Africa, 175 M ha of degraded lands are judged suitable for tree planting which could significantly enhance people’s livelihoods. Our previous research in the seasonally dry tropics indicates that an intermediate tree cover can often improve groundwater recharge. This need testing on a larger scale, but if confirmed will upend the prevailing view in hydrology and have profound implications for policies affecting millions of livelihoods and the environment.  Thus, the aim of this project is to provide evidence for better policies and management that will benefit poor people in drylands by evaluating the novel “optimum tree cover theory” for groundwater recharge across African drylands. The project involves four leading institutions; SLU, ICRAF, WU and NMBU. We will use the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework; a unique dataset that is available across Africa. It consists of multiple variables, including tree cover and key soil variables. We will do complementary strategic measurements of soil water flow and tree water use to model groundwater recharge as a function of tree cover under common conditions of the seasonally dry tropics.

General

An estimated 80% of the global population lack secure water resources. Many also lack ready access to fuel wood and other tree derived benefits. However, the current scientific paradigm says that we must choose which problem to solve as increasing tree cover always reduces water availability. Consider the costs if this thinking is wrong. In Africa, 175 M ha of degraded lands are judged suitable for tree planting which could significantly enhance people’s livelihoods. Our previous research in the seasonally dry tropics indicates that an intermediate tree cover can often improve groundwater recharge. This need testing on a larger scale, but if confirmed will upend the prevailing view in hydrology and have profound implications for policies affecting millions of livelihoods and the environment.  Thus, the aim of this project is to provide evidence for better policies and management that will benefit poor people in drylands by evaluating the novel “optimum tree cover theory” for groundwater recharge across African drylands. The project involves four leading institutions; SLU, ICRAF, WU and NMBU. We will use the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework; a unique dataset that is available across Africa. It consists of multiple variables, including tree cover and key soil variables. We will do complementary strategic measurements of soil water flow and tree water use to model groundwater recharge as a function of tree cover under common conditions of the seasonally dry tropics.

General

The Swedish Mapping, Cadastral and Land Registration Authority (Lantmäteriet) and Rwanda Natural Resources Authority (RNRA) Department of Lands and Mapping and Office of the Registrar (DLM) - now Rwanda Land Management and Use Authority (RLMUA) have submitted a request for support for collaboration between the two government agencies during 2017-2021. The overall purpose of the collaboration is to contribute to strengthened capacity of RLMUA to deliver efficient land administration services in accordance with the Rwanda Land Sub Sector Strategic Plan (LSSSP) 2013/14 – 2017/18. The intervention will contribute to overall enhanced environmental management by providing improved and more accessible and reliable information on land use, land rights and land use planning. This information is used for enhanced planning and policy development in order to improve environmental conditions and readiness to handle natural disasters, as well as sustainable management of natural resources. A well-developed and efficient public land administration authority and is a requirement to be able to protect the environment and natural resources, and is a key component in delivering environmental sustainability and address issues such as deforestation, erosion and other forms of land degradation. The collaboration between RLMUA and Lantmäteriet will constitute a broad government agency collaboration focused on capacity development of the staff within RLMUA. Lantmäteriets expertise will be used for counselling, studies, training, curriculum development and professional development on policy, legislation, technical methods in land administration and management, organizational development, management of human resources, financial system and leadership. The activities will also include efforts to collaborate with the organisations responsible for higher education in land management in Rwanda, namely Ruhengeri Institute of Higher Education, INES Ruhengeri and the University of Rwanda, for continuous competence development of the land management sector. Lantmäteriet and RLMUA will develop the full results framework jointly during the inception phase, including a workplan and method for monitoring and evaluation of results during the project. This will be part of a broader inception report. Continued support after the inception phase is conditioned on the Embassy's approval of the report. The total budget amounts to 37 726 112 SEK distributed over five years (2017-2021).

Objectives

Strengthened capacity of Rwanda Land Management and Use Authority (RLMUA) to deliver efficient land administration services in accordance to the Rwanda Land Sub Sector Strategic Plan.