By Peter Veit, Darryl Vhugen (Landesa), Jonathan Miner (Landesa) on January 13, 2012
This piece originally appeared in Lessons About Land Tenure, Forest Governance and REDD+: Case Studies from Africa, Asia and Latin America.[^1] The full text of the article is available here.
The World Resources Institute is partnering with the University of Maryland and the Global Partnership on Forest Landscape Restoration to map where forest and landscape restoration is possible, to understand the conditions necessary for success and to evaluate the magnitude of potential benefits.
Challenging climatic conditions, limited arable land, intense population
pressures and a history of political upheaval have undermined Niger’s
development prospects – 60% of its people live on less than $1 per day.
Over the past twenty years, however, Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR), in combination with other improved soil and water conservation practices, has helped improve the plight of Nigerien farmers. Local communities are moving from vulnerability towards greater resilience as FMNR brings increased crop production, income and food security to impoverished rural communities.
Climate change vulnerability and food insecurity often have common root
causes. Accordingly, measures that address these causes can reduce both
problems at once. This is especially important for the many countries in sub-Saharan Africa that face truly daunting agricultural challenge.
This paper suggests greenhouse gas accounting and reporting procedures for the agricultural sector, based on the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard.
We are on a collision course between ecosystems and food. How we resolve this issue over the coming years will be a key to preserving biodiversity and human well-being.
