Programme Cooperation Agreement 2012 – 2013

20 June 1984 – 27 June 1989

01 July 2011 – 23 July 2011

Reduced Water body of Lake Mweru Wantipa

 Africa environment information network (2012 and 2013)

to Environmental Information and to Support Africa’s Devel- opment Planning Processes . 81

The Africa Environment Information Network (Afri- caEIN) has been revived in order to tap into other information networks, including the Global Network of Networks and UNEPLive. 79 The AfricaEIN is a net- work of information and data centres, institutions and experts across Africa, which aims to avail informa- tion and data for environmental assessments such as the Africa Environment Outlook. A range of activi- ties has been proposed including community involve- ment to solicit citizen observations as input for the indicators-based country environment profiles, which are being piloted in four countries - Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Cameroon. 80 The pilot profiles are be- ing used as templates for regular, country-led, easy- to-update environmental reporting. A core set of indi- cators for environmental reporting in Africa was also compiled although these are yet to be agreed upon by countries. The indicators should ensure that environ- mental profiles are comparable. AfricaEIN members had also planned a publication on Land and Oceans Con- nections but this did not materialize, due to insufficient funding. The AfricaEIN project will continue into 2014, and a fund- ing proposal has been submitted to the GEF for a medi- um-sized project. Plans for the future AfricaEIN are set out in a booklet entitled Strengthening the Africa Environ- ment Information Network: A Framework to Increase Access 79. As part of the revival process, the AfricaEIN drew lessons from the European Information Network and undertook a detailed survey with UNEP to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the earlier phase of the Africa network. 80. See http://aein.aspen.grida.no

 Raise awareness on Africa’s environmental hotspots, promote resource efficiency and empower governments and local communities with decision-making tools (only 2012) In 2012 a quick study was undertaken on the efficient use of Africa’s resources, focusing on energy, land and water. The study on land focused on changing land use patterns, especially the transformation of smallholder farming with large-scale commercial farming practices. It looked espe- cially at palm farming in Cameroon and cereals produc- tion in Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda. Based on the study findings, a narrowly focused project on large-scale land ac- quisitions was conceived, and a detailed project proposal was developed and presented to various potential funders during the Rio+20 conference. The large-scale land acqui- sition project is discussed in 5 below. The study on energy focused on the potential for hydro- power generation in Africa. While the region has significant potential for hydropower, much of this has not yet been tapped. However, given the current land use and owner- ship arrangements, any investments in hydropower infra- structure will have significant impacts on local livelihoods. This observation led to discussions with WWF-Norway and WWF-Uganda leading to the Uganda hydropower mapping project discussed in 6 below, including deliverables such as interactive Geo-IQ mapping and training of local users.

81. http://www.grida.no/publications/africa%2Dein/

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