Land is being degraded rapidly worldwide, largely due to climate change, unsustainable agriculture practices, and deforestation. Our current agricultural practices are causing soils to erode up to 100 times faster than natural processes can replenish them. Land degradation also leads to biodiversity and ecosystem services loss, and ultimately to decreased agriculture production and food insecurity.

It affects the livelihoods of up to 3.2 billion people around the planet, particularly vulnerable populations in developing countries.

Using locally adapted solutions, local communities – including Indigenous Peoples, women, and youth – play a pivotal role in reversing this trend through sustainable land management, agroecology, sustainable agriculture and sustainable forest management practices, which provide both environmental and socio-economic benefits.

The Small Grants Programme (SGP), a corporate programme of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) that is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has been supporting community-led sustainable land management initiatives that promote climate resilient agriculture and food practices that improve productivity and increase ecological services. As of 2021, SGP has awarded over 3,800 small grants to sustainable land management projects in over 125 countries. SGP’s portfolio in this area has shown multiple benefits on the ground, not only on sustainable land management, but also on improved biodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and hazardous chemical management. In many instances, these good practices have been scaled up and replicated nationally and globally with partners.