National | PANORAMA

Inclusive business approach

Our solution is exploring the potential opportunity for the rural unemployed youth in protecting their natural forest. On one hand the youth are unemployed and on the other hand there is a huge potential in the forest. This needs systematic intervention to show the possibility to solve their unemployment problem in keeping the biodiversity. Business is our main tool for this intervention - It is making money from honey. Honey production fits best into conserving the forest in the area concerning solving the economic and social problems. The business approach is our building block since other many intervention such as NGO approach didn’t bring continuous change in the area. The growing demand for organic honey supports our system.

The market for organic honey
The suitability of the area for honey production
The simplicity of the production system
The interest of the society to accept changes

It is possible to make money (profit) in contributing to rural development
Everybody has the capacity to develop, if someone helps in how to do this practically.
The developing story behind a product is a powerful tool to get good market demand.
Spending more time in the project area helps the youth to develop confidence in the intervention

Implementation

National

Upscaling of implementation of Dynamic Agroforestry Systems

The producer family with their garden is always linked with a broader sphere, such as the relationships between gender and generations, the social organisation, community, local and international markets, the cultures, and – something often overlooked as important – religion and/or spirituality. These aspects, however, should be considered within the concept of training.

The proposed methodology is based on a period of intensive theoretical and practical training of local trainers (facilitators) and lead farmers. In addition, the participants must "rebuild" their knowledge on their own plots of land. Individual practice must be supervised and accompanied by a senior trainer experienced in Dynamic Agroforestry.

Lead farmers present their practical know-how and document the processes experienced in the following installation period. In this way, a practical implementation of the concepts worked on can be achieved within a concrete context for the production level of a rural family.

Upscaling is achieved as followed:

- 1 local trained facilitator trains 10 lead farmers

- 10 lead farmers accompany 5 to 10 farmers each in implementing DAF

- 10 trainers accompany 100 lead farmers

- 100 lead farmers = 500 to 1000 followers

- A long term concept of developing programs for at least 5 years

- Participitory institutional framework

- Commited and open-minded staff

- Budget for training, follow up, equipment, and monitoring

- Accurate selection of local trainers and lead farmers

- Practically skilled SAF senior trainers

- Access to market for cash crops

- Short term benefits for farmers (anual crops, less labour, no expenses for external inputs)

The most important experience is the benefit of land preparation without fire. The advantage of SAF can be seen already after a couple of months, which helps to encourage farmers to extend learning plots step by step to the whole plantation. Short-term economic needs foster monocultures with expensive external inputs, creating more short-term economic needs. Also, agriculture is not a desirable future for many, and the young migrate to cities (generational conflict). National mega-projects such as dams threaten local initiatives. Other adverse conditions are unfulfilled basic needs, bad infrastructure and extreme climate conditions that impede dedication to long-term SAFS initiatives. However, we note an increasing awareness of the importance to preserve trees and biodiversity, and interest in SAF because of the need to restore soil fertility, and because families see that those who implement the mode are being less affected by climate change impacts, have better working conditions, healthier and more diverse food, and better markets (e.g. for organic cacao, coffee, coconut or coca).

Planning phase

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

National

Building Sustainable Value Chains Based In Local Biodiversity

Runa works to build sustainable value chains for innovative products based in local biodiversity. Runa focuses on products that are emblematic of local culture and have a history of use and sustainable production among the indigenous communities we work with. Runa supports local producers to access a variety of market opportunities that balance value-added activities, stable market access, and the ability to sell any excess production locally. Runa works with communities to create spaces for smallholder farmers to turn traditional productive systems into sustainable livelihood opportunities.

Runa’s success in developing sustainable value chains can be attributed to collaboration with locals to utilize their vast knowledge of agricultural and non-timber forest products and production techniques and the existing demand in international markets for novel and exotic products. Though new value chains require investments of time and resources, Runa has been able to provide financial and capacity building support and assume risks that otherwise might incur to farmers and impede their participation or the success of the project.

In order to create sustainable value chains based in biodiversity, Runa recognizes the importance of working directly with producers to develop strategies and formalize best practices for small holder farmers. Our analysis shows that in the beginning years of market development for a new crop, it is unlikely that market forces alone will be able to incentivize ecological and socially sustainable production, especially as dictated by the Fair Trade and USDA organic standards. Additional support is necessary to cover the costs required to achieve social and ecological impacts while economic sustainability develops. We have also learned that high demand and stable prices are necessary for farmers to invest in adopting new management practices to improve production. A farmer’s access to a stable market and confidence that they will be able to sell their crop makes them more likely to take the risk of experimenting with new techniques without the fear of economic loss from an income generating activity.

Implementation

Monitoring

National

Strengthening Farmer Associations

Runa Foundation’s strategy for community development is to create strong community-based organizations and associations that can invest money and resources into their own development to improve livelihoods. Over the past 3 years, there has been a great deal of organizational advancement among the guayusa producer associations. Unlike other parts of Latin America, there is not a strong history of agricultural cooperatives in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Given this context, we prioritized Fair Trade Certification and strengthening farmer’s capacity for organization and resource management, in order to ensure that indigenous producers are able to connect with markets in a way that is just and equitable. One of the main components of success in establishing producer associations has been to mimic the functioning of current governance structures that are used locally to manage communities, land, or resources. Instead of imposing a structure that has worked successfully in other parts of Latin America, producers determine the structure and function of their associations, and we work with them to build a governance system that is efficient and legitimate in the eyes of producers.

The advancement of associations can in part be attributed to the participation and buy-in from local actors, which creates and defines a work structure for planning, coordination, and monitors the progress of the associations. A structure that is flexible and able to adapt to the needs of individual associations is essential. This often requires investing more time and resources to have additional meetings or workshops to ensure that the associations are building capacity to advance in a sustainable way.

It is sometimes difficult to motivate associations to participate in the many activities required for the certification of their product. For established crops such as coffee and cacao, the anticipated purchase volumes, higher prices, and established markets for certified products help to ensure that sales and the social premium contribution from their Fair Trade certification act as a sufficient incentive. However, as a novel product, the lack of market stability jeopardizes continued and quality participation of producers and associations. We have also learned the importance of creating mechanisms for collaboration among all stakeholders involved in the value chain and establishing clear guidelines to lead our work. Over several years we have been collaborating directly with the associations as well as private- and public-sector actors and analyzing and revising the different activities involved in the guayusa value chain utilizing an adaptive management approach that has been highly successful for this collaborative work.

Implementation

Monitoring

National

East and South Africa

Self-help business model in harmony with nature

Jony

Girma

Inclusive business approach

Sustainability as a tool for change

East and South Africa

Self-help business model in harmony with nature

Jony

Girma

Inclusive business approach

Sustainability as a tool for change

Advocacy for EbA/Eco-DRR in marine protected areas

Map of protected areas in the South Department of Haiti

UNEP

Designing Marine protected areas help protect ecosystems so that they can provide their multiple services such as coastal protection and food sources.

The project supported the case for the declaration of Port Salut as one of the MPAs, by making baseline data available on the diversity and status of coastal and marine ecosystems in the area and emphasizing the multiple benefits of protecting these ecosystems, in particular for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. The protected area of managed resources of Port Salut/Aquin now covers 87,422 hectares of the coastal zone of Port Salut Municipality.

Having field activities serve as an entry point to promote ecosystem-based activities within the framework of marine protected areas and coastal governance at the national level and raise national awareness of coastal and marine issues.

Before 2013, Haiti was the only Caribbean country without Marine Protected Areas (MPA). UNEP leveraged on initial governmental discussions that had taken place while the project was being conceptualised and supported the Government of Haiti to finalize the designation of marine protected areas in Haiti, and provided technical assistance to the Government to draft the MPA declaration. In 2013 the Government of Haiti declared the country’s first nine marine protected areas including the coastal zone of Port Salut - with the objective to “maintain biodiversity, while responding to the needs of the communities that depend on these natural systems”.

Entirety

National

Capacity building for improved coastal management

National training on ICZM and Eco-DRR

UNEP

Capacity building activities included:

Awareness raising
Trainings and workshops
Hands-on learning activities at the field sites
Supporting improved municipal coordination
field visits and study tours with government and other partners

The project focused on re-enforcing the capacities of actors on the ground (local community-based organizations as well as capacities of the Municipal Government), to implement ecosystem-based interventions and therefore much was "learning-by-doing".

The project also aimed to strengthen coastal governance at the municipal level and capacity for sustainable coastal zone management through the creation of a Municipal Coordination Roundtable, trainings and support.

At the national level capacity building efforts were directed at raising national awareness of the importance of the ridge-to-reef approach to disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation and need for sustainable coastal zone management.

Working with community-based organizations cements on the ground training in these practical field interventions and their maintenance.

Furthermore, having field activities serve as an entry point to promote ecosystem-based activities within the framework coastal governance at the national level and raise national awareness of coastal and marine issues.

The limited technical capacities and resources at the municipal level was a challenge. Introducing participatory dialogue through the Municipal Coordination Roundtable, was helpful, especially for civil society organizations, which gained a more direct access and involvement in municipal planning and decision-making. It also enabled the Municipal Government to take on a more visible role in coastal zone management. However, absences and turnovers in Municipal Government also made it difficult to anchor training efforts and build long-lasting capacity within local government institutions. One lesson learned from the project was to work closely with the more permanent, technical Municipal Government staff and strengthen their capacities and ownership of the project. In addition, UNEP built partnerships and agreements with different Government entities to manage local political instability and lack of continuity.

Entirety

Local

National

Local and national capacity building

Eco-DRR workshop in El Fasher

UNEP

The project invested significantly in capacity building at the local and nation level through awareness raising on EbA/Eco-DRR, hands on field learning activities and training workshops. The project ensured that women were among those trained in all activities.

Local capacity building targeted mainly the five villages where the interventions took place but also involved representatives from villages who were involved in up-scaling the project interventions to a larger area of the wadi in the upstream section. Awareness raising promote dialogue on dryland ecosystems and disaster risk management issues.

Farm extension agents (2 in each village) were trained due to limited presence of the Government in the villages to provide agricultural extension support services. Moreover, eight community animal health workers also referred to as “paravets”, were trained on animal husbandry, treatment, animal drugs, feeding, and vaccination, through theoretical and practical sessions. The "paravets" also monitored the re-seeded pasture areas.

A national and a state-level training on Eco-DRR were also undertaken.

The major portion of capacity building took place in the field, as part of “learning by doing” through implementation of field interventions such as nursery establishment and management, rangeland re-seeding, and reforestation.

Local capacity-building trainings provided to communities improve the chances of continuity in the management of field interventions.

The State-level workshop initiated a series of dialogues in North Darfur on the importance of establishing a forum that serves as a platform for natural resource management that is both inclusive and conscious of water-related hazards. Undertaking such trainings at the national and state-level, help mainstream ecosystem-based measures in national policies and programmes. Indeed IWRM was identified as a key measure to reducing disaster risks and adapting to climate change and weather extremes, which was reflected in the National Agenda for Action which was the main output of the national training.

Entirety

Local

National

Building partnerships and community engagement

Consensus building

UNEP

Building strong partnerships at the local and national level and working with the local community is essential for the implementation and overall success and sustainability of the project.

Furthermore it was essential to connect the local communities to government bodies and ensure the state takes joint ownership of the activities so that any future support that is needed can be sought from the government.

UNEP had strong longstanding partnerships (with local stakeholders and local and national implementing partners) in place in the project area.

In a fragile context like in Sudan, having long standing partnerships are vital for the success of the project.

During implementation of community based activities it was learned that community level projects must make it least demanding of time and energy from community members, and ensure the right timing of activities to match communities’ schedule, as project activities generally require voluntary work.

Moreover, when communities see clear evidence of the benefits of the interventions, they then become more willing to implement and continue with similar activities on their own in the future. Interventions that show less direct livelihood benefits require good dialogue and awareness raising campaigns.