National Action Programme for Eritrea to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought (NAP).

The National Action Programme for Eritrea to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought (NAP) is divided into four parts: Part A provides an overview of land degradation in Eritrea. It also presents the national vision and philosophy on land degradation and the measures to be taken to combat it. Part B presents a comprehensive list of factors or issues contributing to desertification and land degradation in general. That list includes both physical and socio-economic factors. Adequate recognition is given here to the underlying socio-economic reasons for land degradation. Part C presents the National Action Programme (NAP), describing the practical measures proposed to address land degradation. These include policy measures as well as field-oriented measures, projects, and programmes. The particular focus of this Part is on measures that build institutional, financial, and human-resources capacity. Part D presents the plan for implementing the National Action Programme (NAP) presented in the prior Part. Presented here are the financial, institutional, and human-resources requirements to implement NAP. It also provides information on the sequence envisaged for implementing NAP. Appendix 1 contains all of the proposed Project Profiles (PPs) to be undertaken within the framework of NAP, 23 in number. Appendix 2 lists the publications referred to in the text. Appendix 3 provides four glossaries to define and explain the arcane terms and symbols found in the text: ‘Acronyms and other initials’; ‘Standard International (SI) units of measure’; ‘Eritrean (Tigrigna) terms’; and ‘Technical terms’. Appendix 4 lists the tables, figures, maps, and fact sheets found in the text. Appendix 5 presents the members of the NAP Technical Committee.
The NAP recognises five important steps to be taken. These steps should be taken sequentially, although in some cases two or more steps could be taken simultaneously: i. Improving knowledge; ii. Empowering people and institutions; iii. Addressing the concerns of vulnerable groups (women and pastoralists); iv. Reducing poverty through income-generation; and v. Arresting land degradation and controlling desertification.