At the global level, the GEF’s land degradation focal area is closely aligned with the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and its Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) targets. The GEF supports sustainable land management practices that restore degraded landscapes, enhance soil fertility, and improve the productivity of dryland ecosystems. By investing in agroforestry, sustainable agriculture, and forest landscape restoration, the GEF helps developing countries combat desertification, sequester carbon, and secure the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on healthy land for their survival.
Land degradation is a critical challenge in Zimbabwe, where unsustainable agricultural practices, deforestation, and overgrazing have depleted soil fertility and undermined rural livelihoods across vast dryland areas. The GEF directly confronts this through the Drylands Sustainable Landscapes Impact Programme (DSL-IP), a GEF-7 initiative implemented by the FAO with a total GEF grant of US$10.43 million. Operating across the Save and Runde river basins, this ambitious project aims to restore 2,150 hectares of degraded land, bring 172,540 hectares under improved sustainable land and forest management practices, and mitigate 1.26 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent greenhouse gas emissions. The programme supports 600 Farmer Field Schools and has already distributed nearly 2,000 pieces of small-scale agricultural equipment, including two-wheel tractors, planters, and threshers benefiting 15,000 direct beneficiaries, of whom at least 52 percent are women.
Beyond the DSL-IP, the GEF supports community-led land restoration through the Small Grants Programme, which finances assisted natural regeneration, gully restoration, tree planting, and the eradication of invasive alien species. The Environmental Management Agency (EMA) is a key implementing partner, working across 44 wards to address land degradation and food insecurity through community-led solutions. These interventions represent a strategic shift from environmentally destructive coping practices toward productive, climate-smart, and land-positive livelihoods. By promoting sustainable land management and mechanisation that limits agricultural expansion into fragile ecosystems, the GEF is helping Zimbabwe meet its Land Degradation Neutrality commitments under the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.
