Mid-term evaluation of “Participatory assessment of land degradation and sustainable land management in grassland and pastoral systems”

Grasslands and rangelands make an important contribution to the maintenance of an ecosystem’s function and biodiversity. Degradation is one of the main problems faced by these resources globally. In 2017, FAO began implementing the project in pastoral areas of Burkina Faso, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Niger, and Uruguay with the aim to strengthen the capacity of local and national stakeholders in assessing land degradation and promoting sustainable land management. The “Participatory Assessment of Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management in Grassland and Pastoral Systems’ (PRAGA) methodology was used.

National stakeholders and local pastoral communities have been engaged successfully in the implementation of project activities, including site selection, indicator selection and testing, trainings and workshops, and the actual conducting of the assessment. A one-year no cost extension is recommended, to allow the project to improve its performance and to increase the prospects for completing all activities.