© Reidar Johannessen/Adobe Stock Developed for the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Sector Project “Soil Conservation, Combatting Desertification, Sustainable Land Management” (SV BoDeN) in cooperation with the GIZ Global Project “ProSoil”, this project delivers practical guidance to enhance the impact of SLM through tailored incentive schemes.
Sustainable Land Management is essential for achieving key Sustainable Development Goals, including Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Climate Action (SDG 13), and Life on Land (SDG 15). Yet farmers operate under complex pressures—from global market forces to environmental degradation and climate stress—making long-term soil stewardship a challenging endeavor. Development cooperation actors face the critical task of designing incentive systems that align short-term farmer needs with long-term sustainability goals.
HFFA Research supported GIZ by developing a practical guide to help project managers design and implement context-specific incentive strategies for SLM. The “Guide to Identify Context-Specific Sets of Incentives for Scaling Up Sustainable Land Management” was built on a comprehensive review of existing literature and was refined through stakeholder workshops with GIZ project staff.
The guide organizes incentives into five key fields of action:
Land Governance
Trade Regulations, Tax, and Subsidy Systems
Market Structure and Development
Finance and Risk Management
SLM Technologies and Methodologies
Accompanied by practical working materials, the guide equips GIZ teams to navigate diverse project environments and motivate stakeholders to adopt sustainable practices—despite delayed productivity gains.
The project culminated in a discussion paper offering strategic recommendations and opened space within GIZ for expanded dialogue and future initiatives on scaling SLM. The tools developed are now part of GIZ’s internal resources for promoting land and soil sustainability in development cooperation.