“Landscape governance must include processes that reconcile the needs of a variety of actors connected to a landscape and build an equitable system of decision-making among them,” says a post on the blog of the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature initiative.

The blog is part of a series of posts in the lead up to a conference that LPFN is hosting in Nairobi in July 2014 that hopes to develop an agenda to enhance and scale effective integrated landscape management in Africa.

In the blog, Constance Neely, from the World Agroforestry Centre together with Louise Buck and Raffaela Kozar from EcoAgriculture Partners discuss how power imbalances between stakeholders pose a serious threat to effective governance systems.

The private sector, higher level government and international NGO actors may have greater access to information and influence over others and therefore dominating decision-making over local land users. Governance must consider the desired outcomes of different stakeholders and how they can contribute and benefit.

In Uganda, the local Landcare program is providing a platform for smallholders to manage natural resources in the foothills of Mt. Elgon. This framework enables anyone who has a stake in the landscape to participate in its management.

In other areas, legal frameworks are used to protect the rights of smaller groups or ‘bridging organizations’ monitor the capacities of different actors and help to honor location-specific or traditional forms of decision-making.

The upcoming conference will generate a set of policy and program recommendations for national, regional and international action, drawing on experience from many years of local and national landscape research across Africa

Read the full story: Landscape Governance in Africa: Navigating Power Imbalances to Foster Cooperation

See also: Toward Viable Landscape Governance Systems: What Works?