Throughout the project, consultations and participatory approaches and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) were applied. In particular, local community associations were created and strengthened in close coordination with formal organisational structures (community councils for development). New employment opportunities were generated, especially for Q'eqchi' Maya youth and women, covering the value chain of production. An Institutional Technical Team was established at national level, which was responsible for coordinating and promoting actions in accordance with the National Strategy for the Cocoa Value Chain. The technical team involved the government of Guatemala, local NGOs and actors involved in the cocoa value chain. A total of 898 producers and technicians developed technical skills for sustainable agricultural and manufacturing practices (20 per cent women).

While the Nature-based Solution intervention focussed on changing land-uses towards good agricultural and manufacturing practices for cocoa agroforestry systems in the Lachuá Ecoregion, the project placed emphasis on developing strategies that cover the full cocoa value chain. This included production, processing, marketing, organisational capacities of local farmers and associations, support and involvement of technical assistance and services from key organisations as well as increased access to public and private funding mechanisms and investments. A financial and economic analysis was carried out as part of the project to develop a comprehensive business model for cocoa cultivation by community associations and Fundalachuá. The innovative business model relied on the creation of capacities and human capital for good agricultural and manufacturing practices, without large capital investments, infrastructure, equipment or supplies. Good governance and access to financing was ensured through producer associations, including first level organisations for storage and transport of products and second level organisations for marketing and technical assistance services to producers, including supporting the negotiation with international markets interested in high quality product.

The design of the intervention recognised the challenges across the Mekong Delta, which were also captured in the 2013 Mekong Delta Plan. The Nature-based Solution intervention strategically addressed knowledge gaps, capacity needs of farmers and regional planning challenges, working collaboratively with other similar initiatives. The intervention responded to interactions between the environment and society in terms of improving livelihoods through flood-based agriculture. While initial IUCN pilot interventions remained limited and small-scale, collaboration across similar projects and recent policy developments currently support the development of a large-scale intervention across the 1.4 million ha of the Upper Mekong Delta floodplain.

The Nature-based Solution intervention built on the 2013 Mekong Delta Plan, which recommended high-value double rice cropping in combination with seasonal flood-based agriculture/aquaculture to manage flood risks. This influenced the promulgation of National Resolution 120, entitled “For a sustainable and climate resilient Mekong Delta”. The resolution was adopted in November 2017 and stipulates that nature-based adaptation models should be selected that are environmentally sound and achieve sustainable development based on ‘actively living with the floods’. In addition, the annual Mekong Delta Forums bring together governments and development partners. They provide a space for knowledge exchange on lessons learned and endorsement of a common vision for the Upper Mekong Delta, including a move to more natural land and water uses.

The PODD Platform is the disease surveillance software powering PODD including a mobile app, outbreak manager, and API.

Disease data is collected into decentralized repositories owned and managed by local health and government officials via the PODD Manager. They are able to run reports and analyze the real-time data coming in from farms. When enough cases of sick animals with similar characteristics are reported within a defined radius, PODD Manager triggers the following actions:

1. Automated alerts are sent to local health authorities who manage the reported area.

2. Preliminary guidance is automatically delivered to the volunteer, instructing them to quarantine the animal and disinfect the surrounding areas. 

3. The local officials will then communicate directly with the livestock owner via a chat feature within PODD Manager and dispatch a local response team, if necessary. 

4. Local responders collect lab samples and work with community members on preventative or outbreak control measures.

5. All activity tracking and case outcomes are recorded in PODD Manager for historical case reporting.

The participation of “disease detectives” powers digital disease surveillance systems for local governments by better equipping them with relevant and timely data. Local health authorities can monitor the status of sick animals in real-time from their offices as farmers take pictures and upload them to the PODD system.

Since 2014, PODD has been actively detecting abnormal health events and preventing outbreaks in Thailand with incredible support from both local governments and local communities. While PODD relies on software, the success of the project largely depends on the real-time data coming from our disease detectives in the field. These livestock owners are incentivized to provide health officials with direct disease data, since their own livelihood depends on the health of their animals.