The TerrAfrica Partnership was launched in 2005 and was designed to be an important support of the implementation of the objectives of the United Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). It is a platform for action to implement CAADP Pillar 1 on SLWM, NEPAD’s Environment Action Program (EAP). The partnership represents concerted efforts on the part of sub-Saharan country governments, bilateral and multilateral donors, civil society and the scientific community to strengthen the enabling environment around Sustainable Land and Water Management (SLWM) and to increase the financing available for SLM-related priorities in participating countries.

The TerrAfrica Partnership was born out of a realization that, despite the urgent priority of addressing land degradation, insufficient resources were being made available at country level, or the available resources were not achieving the intended impacts. Work of the TerrAfrica partnership was therefore organized along three interconnected lines of focus, including Coalition Building, Knowledge Management, and Investments. The first two activity lines include the facilitation of actions that strengthen national, sub-regional and regional cooperation, the identification of barriers and bottlenecks to increased investment and impact in SLWM and the harmonization of policies. The third activity line seeks to develop, mobilize, channel and harmonize SLWM investments at local and national level.  

As a key instrument to operationalize the TerrAfrica objectives, the TerrAfrica Leveraging Fund (TLF) was created in 2006 to provide seed funding and resources towards activities that can unlock larger-scale investment and finance for SLWM.

TerrAfrica members include the following:

• African member countries;
• Bilateral development partners: Norway, France, Netherlands, European Union;
• Multilateral development partners: World Bank (WB), African Union (AU), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), African Development Bank (AfDB), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and United Nations Environment (UNEP);
• Others: UN Convention to Combat Desertification (Secretariat and Global Mechanism), Global Environment Facility (GEF);
• Civil Society.

Since 2009 the TerrAfrica Secretariat has been housed within the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).