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Forest Reserve Nigeria: REDD+ | NTFP | Climate Smart Agroforestry

Afi Forest Reserve & Wildlife Sanctuary, Nigeria
Bridget Nkor (Nigeria), Jason Yapp (Malaysia/UK) & Donatella Fregonese (Italy/UK) began developing a project in January with the indigenous Buanchor community who are the custodians of–and who live in three villages that are surrounded by the Afi Forest Reserve and Wildlife Sanctuary a habitat for gorilla and a biodiversity hotspot.

Afi Forest Reserve Map

A participatory needs assessment was conducted with 280 community members who were representative of the 2000 people living in the forest reserve.

Based upon the needs assessment we concede that the Buanchor are suffering from high unemployment, a loss of environmental services that had been provided by the forests due to forest encroachment and poaching, and a reduction in their agricultural livelihoods due to climate change induced periods of drought.

A village in the center of a forest reserve

Bridget, Jason, and Donatella have developed a project designed which includes the development of nontraditional forest products, market development for these products, a REDD+ forest stewardship program, and a climate smart agroforestry program.

[Problem 1]. High unemployment rate
NTFP Skills and Microenterprise Program [Solution to underlying cause: lack of micro-enterprise skills and market opportunities]:
[Activity 1]. Participatory community NTFP committee/association formation
[Activity 2]. Non-timber forest products and markets assessment
[Activity 3]. Association sales and marketing strategy
[Activity 4]. Participatory vocational skill needs analysis
[Activity 5]. Non-timber forest products skills development training program
[Activity 6]. Microenterprise skills development workshops

Download their report and project outline here:
Needs assessment with photos
Solution Oriented Project Outline

Would you like to learn how to develop Community Based Adaptation Projects?

What’s happening in the region where you live?
Please write us with your stories, thoughts and comments through Online.Learning@csd-i.org
 
 
I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Sincerely,
 
Tim Magee, Executive Director
 
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The Center for Sustainable Development specializes in providing sound, evidence-based information, tools and training for humanitarian development professionals worldwide. CSDi is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
 
 

Forest & People Centered Adaptation Case Study Compilation

September
Bangladesh | Perú | Malawi | Nigeria
Riparian Forest Management | Mangrove Restoration | Agroforestry | REDD+ | NTFPs
Center for Sustainable Development
 
September Case Studies:
 
Forests can provide tremendous environmental services to adjacent communities who suffer from challenges with water: too much water and too little water. Forests help rainwater percolate into soil and into groundwater systems reducing flooding and erosion, and charging village springs. Forests provide protection, livelihoods, food and fuel.
 
Communities don’t always understand the importance of forests, but it is essential for community members to be at the center of any restoration or conservation effort. They need to be involved in the assessment of forest health, the determination of risks and challenges caused by deforestation, and the design of restoration and conservation projects—and in their co-management. This community based approach builds ownership and the long-term stewardship that is necessary for positive impact and sustainability.
 

Forest-focused projects developed by CSDi field partners have included:

  • watershed reforestation/restoration
  • developing community forest conservation groups
  • village spring protection through tree planting
  • introduction of agroforestry techniques for small scale farmers
  • REDD+ projects
  • forest conservation for ecotourism
  • natural resources management and conservation
  • non-traditional forest products for income generation
  • community based riparian forest management for flood mitigation
  • participatory mangrove restoration for storm protection and income generation
  • climate smart agroforestry
  • community afforestation

1.  Forest Reserve Nigeria: REDD+ | NTFPs | Climate Smart Agroforestry
Bridget Nkor (Nigeria), Jason Yapp (Malaysia/UK) & Donatella Fregonese (Italy/UK) began developing a project with the indigenous Buanchor community who are the custodians of the Afi Forest Reserve—a habitat for gorilla—and biodiversity hotspot.
The community is suffering from a loss of environmental services provided by the forest due to forest encroachment and poaching.

The adaptation project includes the development of Non-Traditional Forest Products, a REDD+ forest stewardship program, and a climate smart agroforestry program.
2.  Perú: Participatory restoration & conservation of a fragile mangrove ecosystem
Sylviane Bilgischer (Belgium/ Perú), Roberta Colombano (Italy/Netherlands), and Carolina Quiroz (Mexico) began developing a project to restore and conserve a fragile Mangrove ecosystem in a village in Perú in January.
 
 
The members of El Bendito are finding it difficult to maintain productive livelihoods due to an increasingly stressed mangrove ecosystem linked to climate change challenges.

Theirs is a protected area for the conservation of mangroves and the community lives through the extraction of hydro biological products—so it is in their interest to restore and conserve the mangrove forest.
 
3.  Agroforestry and Conservation Agriculture for Malawi Food Security
Jo Thomas (UK/Malawi) and Marina France (US) began developing a food insecurity project in May in the Phalula Village in Malawi.
 
 
 
 

770 families face food insecurity as a result of land degradation and soil erosion (largely from deforestation) as well as climate change linked rainfall patterns.

 Our partners developed an agroforestry income generation program that looks first at identifying markets before choosing agricultural products to plant.

4.  Bangladesh: Participatory Riparian Forest Management Program
3,100 community members of Koliapara village are suffering from the loss of livelihoods, cattle and land for cultivation due to increased flooding.
 
Kanika Chakraborty (Bangladesh), Susan Wasubire (Uganda), Lauriane Cayet (Reunion) and Doris Kaberia (Kenya) began developing a project with a disaster risk reduction component in Bangladesh in July.

A participatory riparian forest management program is included in the project design to build the resilience of the community and enhance their capacity to deal with the challenges of recurring disasters.
In July partners Michael Chew (Australia/Bangladesh), Sabrin Sultana (Bangladesh), and Elijah Mujuri (Kenya) began developing a project with 1,245 people of the village of Putiajani, Bangladesh who are frequently affected by flooding and river erosion caused by the cutting  down of trees.
After thoroughly researching potential project activities our Bangladesh partners developed a project which includes a Participatory Community Afforestation Program.
 
6. September Resource 50 Solution-Oriented Program Templates for Challenges in Relief, Development & Adaptation
Here are a range of solutions in the form of programs and activities that past students have used successfully in addressing project challenges. Feel free to use them, modify them, or develop your own solutions instead. Many of the programs are highly specific to one student’s project and will need to be adapted to fit yours. Many of the programs have multiple activities; these are to give you options for customizing your own programs: edit the activities down as you see fit for your project.

Also, be sure to visit: 153 Student Countries and 270 Project Challenges.

Would you like to learn how to develop Community Based Adaptation Projects?

What’s happening in the region where you live?
Please write us with your stories, thoughts and comments through Online.Learning@csd-i.org
 
 
I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Sincerely,
 
Tim Magee, Executive Director
 
Would you like to subscribe to this newsletter?
 
The Center for Sustainable Development specializes in providing sound, evidence-based information, tools and training for humanitarian development professionals worldwide. CSDi is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
 
 

Africa SD News: Tanzania | Zambia | Kenya | Nigeria | Indigenous Knowledge | Food Security

Africa SD News: Tanzania | Zambia | Kenya | Nigeria | Indigenous Knowledge | Food Security
August
Center for Sustainable Development
 
THIS MONTH’S NEWS
August Resource 50 Solution-Oriented Program Templates for Challenges in Relief, Development & Adaptation
Here are a range of solutions in the form of programs and activities that past students have used successfully in addressing project challenges. Feel free to use them, modify them, or develop your own solutions instead. Many of the programs are highly specific to one student’s project and will need to be adapted to fit yours. Many of the programs have multiple activities; these are to give you options for customizing your own programs: edit the activities down as you see fit for your project.

Also, be sure to visit: Student Countries and Project Challenges.
 
Risk & Vulnerability in a Remote Tanzanian Village
Chris Enns & Catalina Gheorghe are doing a community-based adaptation to climate change project in Wagete village, Tanzania, impacting 4,000 villagers. Their project is a ‘mainstreamed’ project—they are incorporating adaptation to climate change activities into a traditional rural development project. 
They have a healthcare & education component— and for adaptation—a soil and water conservation program, and a farmer extension program. Detailed project outline & great photos at link. They’ve been determining their risks and vulnerabilities to climate change by combining scientific data with local community knowledge. Chris and the community developed a list of local resources, hazard maps, a seasonal calendar & a historical timeline.
 
CC Study in Injustice: 10 Million Additional African Children Malnourished by 2050
The World Food Program estimate that globally, 10-20 percent more people will be at risk of hunger by 2050 than would be without climate change. Of these, almost all will be in developing countries, with 65 percent expected to be in Africa. This has severe implications for nutrition, particularly for children.
In sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that 10 million more children will be malnourished as a result of climate change.
 
 
August Field Guide Agricultural Soil and Water Management for Sloping Land.

Subsistence farmers suffer not only from depleted soils but from challenges with water: too little water, too much water, and erosion from water. This field guide looks at different ways of developing barriers on farm fields for stopping the flow of water so that it can percolate into the soil and build up soil moisture.

 
These barriers reduce soil erosion by catching topsoil carried by water and offer the added benefit of creating level planting areas behind the barriers as the soil accumulates. Barriers can be terraces, stone and earth walls called bunds, or living barriers such as hedges and grass strips. Follow the link to download the field guide, workshop lesson plan and how-to card.
 
Do you think that local/indigenous knowledge should be incorporated into adaptation to climate change projects?
Stephen Oluoch, Kenya, met again with his target community to gain a better understanding of their knowledge of climate change, challenges that they are experiencing attributable to climate change, and activities that they have begun on their own using indigenous knowledge to adapt to their changing situation. 

Here is one list that resulted from this participatory exercise:

Vulnerability Matrix 1: What is a prioritization of the community’s greatest hazards they face?

  • Unpredictable rainfall during the rainy season makes it difficult for farmers to plan cropping
  • Drought has caused livestock deaths and crop failures or low crop yields
  • Intense sunshine coupled with decreased rainfall causes crops to wilt or ripen early (coconut, banana, and cashew nut)
  • High temperatures causes people to sleep out in the open or with windows opened which increases malaria incidences
  • Unusually heavy rainfall causes pit latrines to overflow and contaminate drinking water increasing diarrhea
  • Shortage of household water
 
Student Grant Award CSDi student Martin Sishekanu wins grant award for course project
Martin Sishekanu (Zambia) and course partner Ursula Flossmann-Kraus (Germany/Philippines) have just completed the third course of the four course diploma program on Community-Based Adaptation To Climate Change. Students develop documents in the courses which are suitable for presentation to donors—and Martin just got the good news that he has received a grant award for an agricultural income generation component of their project. Congratulations Martin!
 
This project in Zambia has four agricultural components:

  • An Agricultural Income Generation Program
  • An Animal Husbandry Program
  • A Land-Use Management Plan
  • A Climate Smart Agricultural Practices Program

 
Family Gardens Food Security and Nutrition

For many people living in the cycle of poverty, the idea of starting a kitchen garden might seem overwhelming. It could be the time investment, it might be perceived costs. It might be a lack of know-how: what to plant, how to plant and how to care for a garden. However, the positive benefits make it worthwhile enabling community members in gardening for nutrition.

 
Start small, think simple. The purpose of the first year’s garden is to give the participants a win—so that they will be encouraged to plant again the following year. Even if they plant only one bed, 1 meter by 4 meters, they should be able to get positive, delicious, nutritious results. Follow the link to download the field guide and how-to card.
 
Project of the Month Martha Njoroge’s home garden program for HIV+ children in Kenya
Martha works with the Wamumbi Orphan Care as a Project Manager organizing events for the orphaned children they  support. Martha has partnered with Kathy Tate-Bradish (US) and Genevieve Lamond (UK). Follow the link to see field reports and photos.Martha, Kathy and Genevieve have developed a project which includes these programs:

  • HIV/AIDS an Sexual Health Education Program
  • Advocacy Program with Guardians and Health Care Providers
  • Family Garden and Nutrition Program
  • Farmer Soil and Water Conservation and Management Program
 
 News from the Field
 CSDi students face critical danger in the communities where they work
Suleiman Barau Kadana works for People Oriented Development of ECWA as a facilitator and training officer in northern Nigeria. Sule is just finishing his second course at CSDi—he has one more assignment to turn in and he has just written:
 
“Regarding my week 6 assignment—due to tension in Northern Nigeria I am unable to get it done.” The Boko Haram bombed 3 Christian churches in his town on the 17th—50 people died.
 
 
I’m impressed that field staff working under dangerous conditions and taking our courses continue to develop their projects, send in reports & assignments—and sign up for new courses.
 

Would you like to learn how to develop Community Based Adaptation Projects?

What’s happening in the region where you live?
Please write us with your stories, thoughts and comments through Online.Learning@csd-i.org
 
 
I look forward to hearing from you.
 
Sincerely,
 
Tim Magee, Executive Director
 
Would you like to subscribe to this newsletter?
 
The Center for Sustainable Development specializes in providing sound, evidence-based information, tools and training for humanitarian development professionals worldwide. CSDi is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.