Multi-sectoral Programme in Bas-Uélé, Tshopo and Ituri Provinces - DRCongo (Oriental)

Expected impact

• Reduce emissions by about 10.8 million tCO2eq, or between 10.4 and 11.1 percent in the target areas, and a 10 percent reduction in the rate of forest loss.
• Increase the target populations’ income by 10 percent.

Objectives 

The programme’s two main objectives are to improve forest and land governance and reduce the impact of economic activities and population dynamics on forests. 

• Agriculture: 160,000 ha of food crops under sustainable agricultural models will be established. Staple crop yields will be increased by 9,000 ha and, in agroforestry, by 6,000 ha. 
• Energy: Unsustainable energy consumption will be reduced through firewood plantations, assisted natural regeneration and 30,000 ha of savanna set aside for natural regeneration by Local Development Committees (LDCs), and the distribution of 5,000 improved cookstoves.
• Land use planning (LUP): the three provinces will have a provincial LUP plan, and 8 villages (terroirs) will have LUP plans. 75% of decentralised territorial entities (160 at the local level) will have validated development plans. 240 village areas will have local green development plans. 
• Forestry: 150,000 ha of community forestry will be created. 1,200 vulnerable people (including 500 indigenous people and 700 women and youth) will benefit from the programme activities through 80 micro-projects. 12,200 households will receive support to integrate sustainable resource use practices.
• Land: 240 collective and individual titles will be registered in 50 percent of the terroirs.
• Governance: 280 multi-stakeholder platforms will be set up in eight territories and 35 sectors/chiefdoms. The capacities of 294 agents will be strengthened in sustainable management of natural resources.
• Demography: 13 health zones in priority deforestation and degradation areas will receive support to help improve rights-based family planning. A study will offer a better understanding of migration flows in Ituri and provide sustainable, strategic and operational recommendations to decision makers. 

Results as of 30 June 2023

Beneficiaries

• 28,702 individuals have been reported as direct beneficiaries.
• Since the beginning of the programme, 16,078 direct beneficiaries have been supported in improving agricultural practices for perennial and food crops (5,554 women, 951 youth, 10,524 men). 
• REDD+ awareness campaigns carried out by the programme have reached 275,000 people (27.5% of the target of 1 million).

Governance

• Multi-stakeholder platforms have been set up in 36 sectors, 8 territories and the 3 target provinces (Tshopo, Bas-Uélé and Ituri), and have been strengthened.  
• A total of 134 Local Development Committees (LDCs) are operational (61 LDCs in Tshopo, 36 LDCs in Ituri and 31 LDCs in Bas-Uélé) out of the 240 planned by the project.
• Studies on the drivers of deforestation have been launched in 4 provinces: Tshopo, Bas-Uélé, Ituri and Haut-Uélé, and will continue during the second phase.

Agriculture

• 13,519 ha of low-impact food crops in forest and savannah zones have been planted.
• 7,060 ha of new perennial crops (oil palm, coffee, cocoa) have been planted (55% of the 13,000 ha target) in the programme's intervention zones (1,049 ha in Ituri, 3,157 ha in Bas-Uélé, 2,854 ha in Tshopi). These perennial crops are more productive, diversified, economically viable and have a reduced impact on the forest.

Land use planning

• 3 Provincial Land Use Plans, 8 Local Land Use Plans and 91 Simple Land Use Plans (PSAT) have been created and validated, corresponding to 38% of targets.
• 21 village territories ("terroirs") have been supported in the process of creating community and communal forest concessions, and their management processes have begun. 

Forestry

• A total of 15,721 ha of degraded forests have been mapped and set aside for natural regeneration (52% of the 30,000 ha target), including 4,500 ha in Ituri; 8,791 ha in Bas-Uélé; 1,980 ha in Tshopo).

Land Tenure

• 3 provincial orders in Bas-Uélé and Tshopo and 1 decree on securing land tenure for REDD+ investments have been created, and 127 individual and 22 collective land titles have been registered. These orders clarify and register the land rights of local communities, including individuals benefiting from REDD+ investments.

Capacity development

• 48 technical administrative services and territorial governance/development entities have strengthened capacity thanks to this programme (80% of the 60-entity target).
• 175 technical administrative agents have benefitted from strengthened capacity (59% of the target of 296 agents).

Earlier progress of this programme have also been described in the 2021 semestrial publication of the DRC National REDD+ Fund – read it here (in French).  

Areas of intervention

Three provinces: Bas-Uélé (6.3 percent of the national territory, 943,653 inhabitants); Ituri (2.8 percent of the territory, 3.6 million inhabitants) and Tshopo (8.5 percent of the territory, 5 million inhabitants).

Synergies

This programme benefits from specialised methodological and technical support from sector-based programmes of the National REDD+ Fund (FONAREDD) financed by CAFI, particularly for national reform of land use planning, land tenure and family planning.

This PIREDD contributes to the milestones related to agriculture (2018 C and 2020 B), land use planning (2018 B), land (2018 B, C), energy (2018 B), forestry (2018 B), demographics (2018 A) and governance (2018 B, D) of the Letter of Intent between the DRC and CAFI. Two independent verifications of these milestones were undertaken (please read the report available here).