This subcomponent will support large-scale integrated watershed management planning. Plans will be prepared for up to 20 watersheds, covering all of northern Nigeria. Rapid initial versions will be prepared in less than a year, with refined updates to be prepared throughout the project lifetime. The planning will be carried out using analytical approaches and through development of a modern knowledge base (including collation of existing data from in situ and earth observation and biophysical surveys). Extensive participatory stakeholder consultations will be fundamental. ACReSAL will strengthen multisectorality at the institutional and policy level but the project’s design additionally emphasizes the importance of multisectoral SLWM planning. The multisectoral planning process will prioritize project investments, expected to include those related to information, institutions, and those required for desertification control, SLWM in drylands, and improved natural resource-based livelihoods. The strategic watershed plans will also provide a framework and guidance to the micro-watershed-level planning in Component B and will be a foundation for the longerterm dryland management framework of Nigeria supported under Subcomponent C1.