Improving Agricultural productivity and natural resource management in the Great Lakes region of East and Central Africa : enhancing poverty reduction and guewth prospects in East Africa

Abstract

This paper examines managing the nexus between poverty, declining agricultural productivity and natural resources requires an approach that integrates appropriate technologies, institutional innovation, and an enabling policy environment. For the GLR, this is anchored on 5 pillars: Demonstrate and disseminate a range of options for improving soil fertility and water harvesting that increase land productivity on a sustainable basis Stimulate food production and diversify income-generation options for low-income farmers through improved linkages with commercial markets; Develop viable input delivery systems for fertilizers and essential production inputs that can serve smallholder farmers; Empower vulnerable farm families in marginal areas groups to reclaim seriously degraded environments through 'food-based safety net" social investment programs in natural resource reclamation and conservation; Facilitate policy and institutional arrangements at national and regional levels that will stimulate increased smallholder investments in sustainable food production and natural resource management.