About ILDP

Background

The HoA-REC&N, upon the request made by GPNRS initiated to develop an integrated land use and development plan (ILDP) for Gambella People National Regional State (GPNRS) in collaboration with relevant sector offices and Ministries. Since 2013 serious of activities have been undertaken in a stepwise fashion in which activities were arranged in such a way that there is integration, compatibility and synergies   that eventually merges to bring the comprehensive and integrated land use and development master plan in full participation of facilitators, drivers, and deployment of competent guiding experts.

To this end, with a fund obtained from the Sida, the first phase of the second cycle is completed and a comprehensive synthesis ILDP documents and plan maps generated. Nevertheless, having the final ILDP alone is not an end by itself and cannot grant success. Therefore, building the capacity of stakeholder institutions to be involved in the implementation, facilitation and monitoring and evaluation of the plan is very necessary to realize the intended objectives of the ILDP.  During the second phase, the capacity development activities will be done in more focused and tailored-made approach to ensure the effective appraisal of 18 prefeasibility level livelihood projects that will be developed in to a full proposal in the next 3^rd cycle of the ILDP process.

 Obviously, both in the ongoing and the subsequent 3^rd cycle phases, the overall activities including the implementation of development projects in the region need efficient assistance and facilitation. However, with the existing capacity of the ILDP project alone, it is unlikely that HoAREC&N-AAU would be able to adequately contribute to the process. A concerted and well organized effort need to be done in close collaboration with relevant sector offices/ bureaus etc. An improved coordination and facilitation function of HoAREC&N-AAU therefore, is very much needed.

 To this end, the ILDP project will need to extend its scope and capacity in influencing the environmental policy and governance in general and the land use and policy planning initiatives in the rest regions in particular.

 

Integrated Land use and Development Plan (ILDP)

The ILDP is participatory, integrated, community-driven, and expert-guided and institution- facilitated planning process. With its full capacity, the HoAREC&N-AAU has been coordinating and facilitating the ILDP process right from the inception up to the final delivery of the plan. The involvement of HoAREC&N-AAU in this complex process is such a remarkable journey through which knowledge and understanding has been shared among experts, facilitators, and community that drive the planning process while the associated challenges were translated into opportunities to extend the scope of experience in land use and policy plan development.

 

The ILDP project focused not only on the production of development and policy plans but also on enhancing the capacity to realize the ILDP in the ground. Since the achievements depend on set of factors such as organizational management capacity, availability of resource (time, budget, and human power), and the full participation of relevant stakeholders and beneficiaries, it is therefore, plausible to assert that HoAREC&N-AAU become a very relevant and competent organization now and unto the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the key stakeholders and beneficiaries still lack adequate capacity to implement that ILDP  as per the required quality and standard. This calls to design strategy for providing the capacity to implement the ILDP and updating the plan subsequently.

 I. Development objective

The ILDP plan includes development project ideas proposed based on the resource available and potential environmental and socio-economic benefits. To this end, it is mandatory that a comprehensive road map document be generated to help the facilitation of the third cycle of ILDP process. The road map will indicate the modalities, procedures, and steps to be followed during the preparation of implementation of the proposed development projects. The modality of facilitation for project proposal preparation, the preparation of bankable projects, the facilitation of fund solicitation and disbursement, need a well framed approach at a programme level.

II. Policy objectives

HoAREC&N-AAU will need to make a a strategic move in terms of  improving  its function in facilitating  and coordinating programmes/projects that mainly focus on crafting policies from theoretical and practical experience in the ground. This is possible for HoAREC&N-AAU as it has been  practically involved in the development of the ILDP enforcement mechanism for the GPNRS. This practical experience will positively impact the national land use policy development or revision of relevant policies, legislative and regulatory instruments in areas of environmental governance and development.

III. Capacity building objective

In the ILDP planning process, formal establishments of institutions and building their capacity has been critical to engage them in the overall planning process. Thus, Technical and Steering committees and CCGS organized, capacitated, Knowledge and skill transfer facilitated and maintained to empower facilitators, driers, the local experts and stakeholders participate in the planning process with full participation and capacity. As the result, at the regional level, commitment to meet and discharge the defined roles in the ILDP planning process is improving. Knowledge and experience has been shared and common understanding created in the need to enhance the capacity further at different levels, i,e. from CCGs and community level, the private sector to the sector office experts and the higher decision makers.