Transformed LandscapesWhat lies beneath?

Constance Neely

Niger: A transformed agricultural landscape –

5 million hectares of farmer managed natural regeneration

Wet season millet production

What lies beneath?• Recognition of the multiple

benefits of the Faidherbia albida and other multi-purpose species

• Research perfecting propogation methods, density, adaptation to farming systems

• Grassroots village level institutional strengthening – access new knowledge on management systems

• Policies - Niger government reform of forestry laws

• National Agroforestry food security program (Malawi)

• Partnerships and Donor Support

Tanzania - Shinyanga Ngitili System 500,000 hectares regenerated

Ngitili System - Shinyanga

What lies beneath?

• Severely degraded lands – due to deforestation (tse-tse fly)

• Shinyanga Soil Conservation project; National Agroforestry Research Centre

• Grass roots leadership - close collaboration between farmers, scientists and local government

• Implementation rooted in government structures allowing efforts to continue beyond project funding cycle

Zimbabwe

Photo credits: A. Savory

• Planned and controlled grazing

• Timing not numbers of animals

• Deep rooted diverse perennial species

• Full soil cover

• Prohibit burning

• Plan for drought in time and not spacePhoto credits: A. Savory

What lies beneath?

• A visionary prepared to challenge paradigms

• Addressing root causes• Understanding among

livestock and wildlife stakeholders

• Relevance to sustainable community development

• Enhancing the value chain• Capacity development• Influence on future policies

What lies beneath?

• Access to productive inputs• Agro-ecological approaches• Investments in capacity

development – farmer leaders

• Farmer cooperation (mingas)

• Passing on the gift• Strong linkages with local

and national government• Productivity

Photos: C. Leggett

Ecosystem Processes – managing the beneath…

Photos: C. Leggett

Solar Energy Flow

Biological Community DynamicsWater Cycle

Nutrient Dynamics

AfricaSoils.net

Sentinel Site locations stratified by climate

Globally Integrated African Soil Information Service (AfSIS)

• randomization to minimize local biases that might arise from convenience sampling

Sentinel site surveillance a spatially stratified,

hierarchical, randomized sampling framework

Sentinel site (100 km2)

16 Clusters (1 km2)

10 Plots (1000 m2)

4 Sub-Plots (100 m2)

Carbon Sequestration Potential of Four Land Use Systems

(Adapted from IPCC, 2000, Swaminathan, 2nd WAC, 2009)

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Agroforestry Grazingmanagement

Forestmanagement

Croplandmanagement

Po

ten

tial C

arb

on

Seq

uestr

ati

on

by 2

040

(Mt

C y

-1)

Improved Integrated Farming System

Cows/

goat

s

Poor M

aize

Degra

ded

Grass

land

unim

prov

ed a

rea

tota

l em

ission

s

Good

Feed

%50

Bre

ed M

gt

Conse

rvat

ion M

aize

Impr

oved

Gra

sslan

dTre

es

Total

mitig

ation

Net S

ink

-20000

-15000

-10000

-5000

0

5000

10000

CO2-e Mg

Estimates Using Ex-ACT tool~4.5 Mg CO2-e/Ha/Yr

What lies ahead?• National Investment Strategies –

Cross-sectoral coordination and multi-stakeholder processes

• Bridging UN Conventions

• Stronger linkages among research, practice, knowledge sharing and policy

• Urban rural linkages – sustainable food and energy producing landscapes with Local government driving – (home grown…)

• Assessments - Life cycle analysis, farming system and landscape level assessments - mitigation and adaptation potentials