Local Livelihoods

Mitigation of Climate Change through Sustainable Forest Management and Capacity Building in the Southern States of Mexico

Background

In 2007/8 the Government of Mexican and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) developed a proposal for a forestry value chain project. The Community-based Forestry Development Project in the Southern States of Campeche, Chiapas, and Oaxaca, otherwise known as DECOFOS, was the project that emerged from this proposal. 

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CarbonBrake: Nayakla, Burkina Faso

BACKGROUND

CarbonBrake works with Nayakla, Burkina Faso on the reforestation of unproductive land. Villagers actively engage in the program, both planting and maintaining the new forests, which will serve as a source of regular income and enable them to plan and sustain the village. 

Open access copy available

A Landscape Management Model for Conserving Biodiversity in the Comoros Islands

Background

The Comoros Islands have experienced one of the worst rates of deforestation in the world, which has threatened the livelihoods of both communities and the existence of critical flora and fauna. This is particularly common on Anjuan Island due to the regions the high population density. This GEF-Satoyama Project seeks to address these trends. 

Open access copy available

Kayonza Irrigation and Integrated Watershed Management Project - Phase I

Background

In 2016, the Eastern Province of Rwanda was dramatically hit by a drought, which brough additional burdens to already existing systematic challenges that farmers in the region faced. More thatn 45,000 individuals became food insecure in the region, forcing the government to provide food and water. To mitigate future water-related calamities, the government proposes the Kayonza Irrigation and Integrated Watershed Management Project (KIIWMP). 

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Community Action for Biodiversity and Forest Conservation and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Wild Coffee Forests (CAFA)

Background

Located in southwest Ethiopia, the Kafa Biosphere Reserve is an important area for water quality, carbon storage, and a range of endangered and endemic species. Moreover, around 65,000 people live in the reserve, most of whom depend on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods. Coffee also grows wild in the region, which locals often harvest for sale. Still, poverty and population growth is common within these communities, causing increasing strain on natural resources. To address these needs, Nabu began a community action project.

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Tea Landscapes Adaptation Project

Background

In Malawi, tea plays a critical role in livelihoods yet climate change is increasingly challenging the longterm viability of the crop, which are then compounded by deforestation and soil erosion. 

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Uganda Carbon Neutral Project 2017

Background

Previous programs have demonstrated that carbon payment programs can greatly benefit local livelihoods while also promoting ecosystem services. Thus, the Embassy of Ireland in Kampala began a carbon neutral program with the Ndangara-Nyakiyanja Tutuguke Group in Rubirizi Distract, Uganda to pursue these outcomes 

Goals & Approach

The goal of the program is to reduce degradation and relieve pressure on existing forests. This is achieved through paying small-scale farmers to plant trees. Many of these trees provide other economic benefits, such as fruit or medicinal trees. 

Open access copy available

WeForest: Luanshya, Zambia

Background

WeForest works with local farmers in the Luanshya distric of the Zambian Copperbelt to provide training and tools that will help with the diversification of income while they plant and protect local forests. 

Goals & Approach

The goals of the project is to restore native Miombo woodlots on smallhold farms, promote sustainable use of Miombo woodland and sustainable forest management, promote economic development, and build livelihood resilience. This is achieve through working closely with hundreds of farmers and promoting assisted natural regeneration (ANR) as a restoration approach.

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Fallow to Forest: Applying Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge of Swidden Cultivation to Tropical Forest Restoration

Background

This study analyzed vegetation at two sites of shifting cultivation by Lawa and Karen indigenous people in the Mae Chaem watershed in 1-year, 3-year and 6-year fallow fields, with an area of natural forest as a control comparison.

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Carbon Footprint: Great Rift Valley, Kenya

BACKGROUND

This project takes place in the Kikuyu Escarpment, Western Kenya. The Kikuyu escarpment forest has a high biodiversity and the services the ecosystem provides, particular water, is a key source for neighboring communities' livelihoods. Environmental degradation through charcoal burning, logging for timber and fuel wood, ring-debarking for medicinal trees and overgrazing are negatively affecting these services and depleting the area of important vegetation cover. 

Open access copy available
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