Strengthening Nature-based Agriculture in Vanuatu

General

Strengthening Nature-based Agriculture in Vanuatu is a targeted, 30-months development action that aims to enhance food security and improve productive land management. It will deliver benefits to 25,000 people by diversifying and expanding agricultural economies and niche-product value chain development, including the potential for Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES). The action will embed women in the local economy.

The logic behind this intervention is that the empowerment of women in farmer groups focused on agroforestry value chains can help to increase agriculture productivity and diversification, improve dietary diversification and food security and provide an inclusive response to resilience building.

The overall objective of this action is to increase socioeconomic resilience in Shefa and Torba Provinces of Vanuatu. The action will embed women in the local economy. The proposed action has the following expected outcomes:

· Outcome 1. Women in targeted Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and farmer groups are empowered and the operational capacity of farmer groups is enhanced

Farmer groups are an important mechanism for scaling nature-based agriculture and empowering women. Activities implemented under this outcome will provide a mechanism to increase knowledge and skills of both men and women so they can scale up activities, and will improve women¿s role in farmer organisations, ensuring that their needs and interests are adequately addressed.

· Outcome 2.Agroforestry is boosted in targeted area

Agroforestry provides an environmentally sustainable approach to farming that supports climate resilience (e.g., higher carbon storage, shade for crops) while also supporting nutritional diversification for household consumption, and the integration of species for value chains and niche markets (e.g., Canarium nut, peanut, vanilla). Proposed activities entail support to new plot establishment and the acquisition and application of skills in agroforestry and nature-based agriculture. A Payment for Ecosystem Services study will enable the identification of an alternative income stream as part of agricultural income diversification

· Outcome 3. Sharing best practices in agricultural nature-based economies for integration into government, and development partner operations.

Environmentally sustainable agricultural practices that are climate resilient are critical to dietary diversity, food security and agriculture development in Vanuatu will be documented.