Strengthening local institutions is key to ensuring the involvement of smallholder farmers in payments for environmental service (PES) deals. PRESA worked with Nature Harness Initiatives (NAHI) in Uganda to prepare local stakeholders for participation in carbon PES along River Wambabya in the Albertine Rift, and watershed PES at the Rushebeya-Kanyabaha wetland.

A wetland in Uganda. PHOTO: NAHI

The work involved cataloguing the potential sellers, intermediaries and private-sector buyers of environmental services in the two landscapes. Awareness creation was conducted among potential sellers at community level. These included existing groups and networks of land owners, forest owners, people engaged in forest and wetland-based enterprises, parish wetland management committees and other users of forest and wetland resources.

The potential buyers included Kisiizi Hospital Power Company (at Rushebeya-Kanyabaha) and British American Tobacco and McLeod Russel Uganda( at Wambabya). Dialogue on PES was initiated among the potential buyers and government institutions. At the Wambabya riverine forest system, the two private sector companies have contributed greatly to ecosystem conservation in their areas of operation.
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Trees growing on farms will be essential to future development. As the number of trees in forests is declining every year, the number of trees on farms is increasing.

Trees grown on homestead farms, in woodlots and on communal lands are an important source of wood and other products. PHOTO: PRESA

Marking the launch of the International Year of Forest by the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF9) in New York, Dennis Garrity, the Director General of the World Agroforestry Centre, highlighted the importance of mixing trees with agriculture, the practice known as agroforestry.

“Over a billion hectares of agricultural land, almost half of the world’s farmland, have more than 10 percent of their area occupied by trees,” said Garrity, “and 160 million hectares have more than 50 percent tree cover.”

Growing trees on farms can provide farmers with food, income, fodder and medicines, as well as enriching the soil and conserving water. As natural vegetation and forests are cleared for agriculture and other types of development, the benefits that trees provide are best sustained by integrating them into agriculturally productive landscapes.
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Cheque presentation. Left to right: Mr Benson Jambo (Ecobank), Mr. Vilipo Munthali (Financial Controller, Ecobank), Mr Henry Kwavale (ICRAF) and Mr. Mdowoka (District Commissioner and Guest of Honour)

Ecobank Malawi, a pan African Bank present in 31 countries, has pledged continued support to over 170 small holder farmers to plant trees in Ntchisi District, central region of Malawi. The project, where farmers will be receiving cash in exchange for investing land and labor, is aimed at promoting the planting of the indigenous M’bawa trees – one of Malawi’s flagship species – on half an acre of their land.

The program will capture and store harmful carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. Together with similar programs all over Africa, this initiative will help slow down the rate of climate change across the globe. The trees will eventually serve as a source of fuelwood and timber for these rural families.

Ecobank has pledged $2,500 a year for the first three years of the project. The first Ecobank-supported payment to farmers was made in December 2009. The small incentive payments are based on the number of surviving trees and will encourage farmers to invest the necessary energy into protecting and nurturing the trees while they are young.
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Part of the highlands of western Uganda. PHOTO/V. Meadu

Carbon offsetting in south western and western parts of Uganda is a relatively new approach to mitigate climate change in the region. It is implemented by the Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda (ECOTRUST) under the Trees for Global Benefit Program, but has received additional support from ICRAF through the Pro-poor Rewards for Environmental Services in Africa (PRESA) project.

PRESA’s overall goal is to have “hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers and residents living in the highlands of East and West Africa benefiting from fair and effective agreements between stewards and beneficiaries of ecosystem services.”

The carbon offsetting scheme implemented by ECOTRUST is unique in that it targets small scale farmers who, by virtue of their holdings, are poor. In Africa, such initiatives are not common. It should be noted that prior to initiation of the project, scoping studies ensured that the project was designed to fit and address community needs and challenges.

In Uganda, the carbon offset scheme is operational and it involves rural communities planting trees on their land for carbon sequestration but with a management objective based on their land holdings and needs. The benefits accruing from this initiative are both direct and indirect.
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Three PRESA partners are currently in Finland, attending a course titled, “Environmental Services in Forest Management.” By the end of the course on 20th August, the three will have acquired new skills in managing environmental services.

Gerald Kairu from Ecotrust Uganda, Ndeshi Munisi from the Horticultural Research Institute -Tengeru, Tanzania and Miika Mäkelä from the PRESA office in Nairobi are at the University of Helsinki Summer School with other students from 50 countries worldwide. The Environmental Services Forest Management Course which the PRESA partners are taking has about 20 participants, majority of whom are from Africa.

There’s not much opportunity to enjoy the rather pleasant Finnish summer, but it hasn’t been all work and no play either! The course organizers have planned several field trips to enliven the educational experience.

Gerald, Ndeshi and Miika will be updating the larger PRESA community on their experiences in Finland, and will be sharing learned lessons through this blog posting. (more…)