Investing in Drought Resilience: Case Study Competition Winners
Investing in Drought Resilience: Case Study Competition Winners
We are happy to congratulate the winners of the Investing in Drought Resilience Case Study Competition! This competition highlighted real-world actions that deliver strong economic and business cases or leverage innovative financing mechanisms to strengthen drought resilience.
We applaud the winners for their outstanding contributions in:
- demonstrating how proactive and well-financed investments in drought-resilient land and water management pay off;
- unlocking replicable solutions that bridge science, policy and practice;
- raising the bar on what is possible when communities, governments, finance and innovation combine to turn drought risk into opportunity.
Their case studies will be showcased at the upcoming UNCCD CRIC 23 side-event. Congratulations to the winners, and heartfelt thanks to every participant for sharing their case studies on Investing in drought resilience!
From Local Workforce to Resilient Landscapes: EIIP Strategy and Cooperatives against Desertification
By ILBOUDO Dieudonné
Faced with accelerating land degradation in Burkina Faso, the EIIP (Employment Intensive Investment Programme) initiative helped mobilize local labor through cooperatives to restore degraded land, build stone barriers, half-moons, basins, and reforest with a local financing model laying the foundations for financial sustainability beyond the initial funding. The project created a participatory management model and a sustainable local financing mechanism, strengthening capacities, the inclusion of women and youth, and climate resilience. Experience shows that local governance, backed by endogenous financing, is effective and reproducible against desertification.
Agroecology in the Brazilian Semi-Arid Region: Innovative Strategies to Regenerate Territories, Ecosystems, and Income, Strengthening Climate Resilience and Sustainability
By Cunha Leite de Brito, John Elton Borges Pequeno José Ricson Oliveira Diniz, Paulo César Galvão, Afonso Gilberto
The Brazilian Semi-Arid region faces desertification, biodiversity loss and social vulnerability. This study mapped 50 family agroecosystems using the LUME method and ecological-economic indicators. It shows that diversified agroecosystems, in complex and well-managed landscapes, with water, food and fodder storage, are more resilient to climate change and desertification. Agroecological systems achieved a benefit-cost ratio of 2–3:1. Conserving and restoring the Caatinga can generate US$ 1,000–1,600/ha/year in climate assets. Ecological diversity and social cohesion sustain resilience to drought.