Together with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Serejeka sub-zone regional administration and representatives from UNDP, the Embassy visited five villages and met with involved local partners. The project is co-financed by Norway, UNDP and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) through UNDP.
The Sustainable Land Management programme in the sub-zone is a pilot project in that it addresses several measures to improve sustainability in Eritrean agriculture at the same time. Through terracing of new land and irrigation, it increases the available land for food production and forestry. A crucial element is the piloting of a land reform giving permanent user rights to individual farmers in place of the current system of 7 year usage contracts. Committees of farmers have been established in 11 villages to secure local ownership to the distribution of farm and forest land as well as water resources.
The project is on track to make important improvements before the rainy season. Initiated in 20 villages, the project involves 4.000 farmers and has created 124,6 km of terraces so far. Plans are in place to expand the project to terrace further 100 km and to involve all the 28 villages in the sub-zone. The project has the potential of learning important lessons for the implementation of land reform and sustainable land management across the country, thereby improving food security for future generations of Eritreans.
The Norwegian delegation was satisfied by the progress being made so far, thanks to the commendable efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Serejeka administration, the UNDP and the local communities and farmers in the sub-zone.