Malawi Watershed Services Improvement Project

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The objective of the Watershed Services Improvement Project for Malawi is to increase adoption of sustainable landscape management practices and improve watershed services in targeted watersheds. The Project has three components. 1. Scaling up Landscape Restoration component will scale up landscape restoration interventions in the middle and upper Shire River Basin. The component will finance (i) performance-based grants for restoration of approximately 95,000 ha of degraded landscapes in the middle and upper Shire; (ii) matching grants for 200 farmer groups and 60 agri-enterprises to enhance agricultural-based livelihoods and boost household incomes; (iii) advisory services and capacity building on Sustainable Landscape Management (SLM) practices; (iv) a social marketing campaign to influence farmer behavior concerning adoption of SLM practices; (v) support to undertake local-level participatory land-use planning, land demarcation, adjudication and registration. 2. Improving Watershed Services component will maximize the benefits people and communities obtain from managing watersheds sustainably. More specifically, the component will finance (i) performance-based grants to selected watershed management institutions (ii) technical assistance and the initial capital required to establish a pilot market-based mechanism for the provision and maintenance of selected watershed services; and (iii) a package of enabling infrastructure and climate information services. 3. Technical and Project Management Support component will finance (i) technical assistance for preparation of future phases of the project; (ii) technical assistance and capacity building on biophysical and ecological monitoring; (iii) impact evaluations; (iv) project management support and (v) incremental operating costs.