Co-Chairs’ Summary: Land Use Dialogue (LUD) in Tanzania

In order to identify the major challenges and possible solutions, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) SUSTAIN Initiative, the SAGCOT Green Reference Group (GRG), the Ihemi Green Reference Group (IGRG), The Forests Dialogue (TFD) and EcoAgriculture Partners convened a Land Use Dialogue (LUD) in the Ihemi Cluster in Tanzania with the following objectives:

•Create a platform for land users and decision makers to explore land use plans and policies;

•Bring together diverse stakeholders to explore the on-the-ground challenges between different land-use options, utilization of natural resources and sustainable development; and

•Seek tangible and scalable actions to achieve sustainable land use, food security and improved livelihoods in the Ihemi Cluster.

The partners worked through The Land Use Dialogue (LUD) Initiative which is a multi-country engagement platform coordinated by TFD along with a variety of local and global partners that seek to gather knowledge and lead processes enabling responsible business and investment, improved governance and inclusive development in landscapes. The LUD aims to understand and improve the practical implementation of the‘landscape approach’ in order to address the often-competing interests of different stakeholders in a landscape, which is central to sustainable land management and key for broader economic and social development.

The dialogue covered four days of field and plenary sessions supported by breakout sessions and groupwork. It drew a total of 47 participants representing the government, civil society organizations, privatesector, smallholder farmers and national and international NGOs and organizations. The dialoguewas co-chaired by Dr. Stephen Nindi (National Land Use Planning Commission), Mary Ndaro (CareInternational), John Nakei (SAGCOT), and Chris Buss (IUCN). This co-chairs’ summary highlights the key activities of the dialogue and report the findings