Incentives for Ecosystem Services

East Africa Regional Policy Dialogue

The East African IES Regional Dialogue was held in Nairobi, Kenya on the 25-26 May 2016. The two-day event was organised by FAO-Kenya in collaboration with the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) on the role of ecosystem services and biodiversity in agricultural production.

The workshop was organized under the "Capacity Building related to Multilateral Environmental Agreements in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Countries Phase 2 (ACP/MEAs 2)" and the IES programme. This focused discussions around a recently released technical guidance document by FAO and the CBD which aims to mainstream biodiversity and ecosystem services into country National Biodiversity Action Plans (NBSAPs), towards achieving Aichi Biodiversity Targets. This was prepared as part of the MAW-ESB work to demonstrate the importance of integrated landscape management in the protection and enhancement of ecosystem services and biodiversity for sustainable food and agriculture. 

Examples of IES initiatives across the region that assist farmers to overcome adoption barriers to implement best practices for sustainable agriculture and conservation, by linking them with public and private initiatives were shared. These included case studies from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania illustrated how improved coordination between agriculture, environment, research, development and private sectors can draw on abundant existing resources that can offer farmers an integrated package of incentives to support their transition to sustainable agriculture.