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Topics and Regions
Land Portal Foundation administrative account
Details
Location
Strengthening land rights and human rights of indigenous people in Acre and southern Amazonia
General
Stärkung der indigenen Völker im Bundesstaat Acre und im Süden des Bundesstaates Amazonas
Objectives
Stärkung der indigenen Völker im Bundesstaat Acre und im Süden des Bundesstaates Amazonas
GLA Viet Nam: Srepok River Basin in Central Highlands Landscape
General
The Green Livelihoods Program in Viet Nam works in the Srepok River Basin in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam. The Central Highlands straddle five provinces and represent a distinct agro-ecological region in Viet Nam. The Srepok river flows through four of these provinces in Viet Nam before it continues into neighbouring Cambodia. The area was chosen for several reasons. First, the Central Highlands are one of the 7 key agro-ecological regions of Viet Nam, with a wide variety of land-use types such as agricultural production (especially agro-commodities such as coffee, rubber, tea, cacao, pepper, cashew, etc.), forestry plantations, animal husbandry, irrigation systems, hydro-power plants, protected areas, watershed protection forest, production forest, and residential areas. Secondly, the region faces major challenges in natural resources governance as a result of rapid expansion of intensive agriculture that contributes to the destruction of natural forests and pressure on other ecosystems: the Central Highlands are rich in biodiversity but many animal and plant species are threatened. Thirdly, the Vietnamese Government has selected the Central Highlands as one of two key regions (besides North-West region) in Vietnam in need for intensive investments toward sustainable development.
Objectives
The Green Livelihoods Program strives to change policies and practices, thus contributing to (1) proper conservation and management of existing natural forests; (2) sustainable production practices in coffee, pepper, cassava and other agro-forestry commodities that don’t lead to further deforestation and depletion of water resources; and (3) the implementation of integrated landscape approaches to natural resources management that involve the voices and interests of civil society, local communities and of men and women. To achieve this, partners will develop a “landscape agenda” for the Srepok River basin to engage donors, financiers, NGOs/CSOs, private actors and local communities. The aim is to bring these actors together to collaborate in the transition to sustainable production and landscape management practices. Successful examples of good practices will be monitored, documented and publicised. Community and Civil Society organizations will be empowered to participate meaningfully in these dialogues, collaboration and decision making processes, and links with the media will be strengthened to highlight issues and best practices. Gender sensitive and inclusive approaches are prioritised. The Theory of Change shows three distinct pathways that lead to the realisation of these objectives. The GLA will capacitate partner CSOs to generate and use evidence; and facilitate engagement and collaboration between government, private sector and civil actors in inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogues. The development of effective and inclusive advocacy and lobby actions is prioritised in order to change policies and practice.
Other
For 2017, Tropenbos Viet Nam will focus on two main areas, capacity building for local CSOs, CBOs including the GLA’s partners, and support L&A process for better participation/involvement of local CSOs, local community to forest law revising and policies under forest law development process as well as natural forest protection from high pressure from cash crops encroachment. We are working in Central Highland Landscape, but in the year 2017 the GLA will concentrate only two provinces (Lam Dong and Dak Lak). Tropenbos Viet Nam will cooperate with IDH/ISLA program to apply “Landscape Approach” to participatory land use planning at Gung Re commune, Di Linh district, Lam Dong Province. Through this activity, Tropenbos will provide training to local CSOs, including farmer union, women union, and private sector who are acting in the area. The guidelines of Landscape Approach at local level will be developed accordingly. We will cooperate with university, research institute and local CSO (provincial VUSTA) to establish “regional forum for natural forest protection” which promote information sharing, and facilitate L&A for better forest governance in Central Highland landscape. Several training courses on “conflict resolution”, “L&A and communication skils”, and “Gender in natural resources management” will be provided to local CSOs. Tropenbos will cooperate with provincial VUSTA, WASI, University, and mass organizations (Women, Youth, Farmer, Veterance…) in Lam Dong and Dak Lak province to carry out the GLA activities in the year 2017 and the following years.
Supporting urban poor grass root organisations in their struggle for land rights, justice and a dignified life
General
Unterstützung von Basisbewegungen aus städtischen Armenvierteln Südafrikas in ihren Kämpfen für Land, Gerechtigkeit und ein Leben in Würde
Objectives
Unterstützung von Basisbewegungen aus städtischen Armenvierteln Südafrikas in ihren Kämpfen für Land, Gerechtigkeit und ein Leben in Würde
Building Resilience in Ethiopia's Awassa region to Drought (BREAD)
General
Droughts in Sub-Saharan Africa have been exacerbated by the current El Niño event, resulting in well publicised risks of famine in the worst affected regions and food shortages elsewhere. This project will combine data collected in the Awassa region of Ethiopia before, during and after the current El Niño to quantify the impacts to locally produced food and farmer livelihoods. Our primary aim will be to assess biophysical interventions that promoted resilient food production during this El Niño event, with a strong social sciences input so that societal acceptance and impacts of beneficial interventions can be assessed. We have assembled a UK-Ethiopia project team with long-standing expertise working in the region. It involves experts in all aspects of natural, economic and social sciences. We will test two over-arching hypotheses: (1) the short term extreme drought associated with the current El Niño will have a long term impact on communities, their farming systems and their soils; and (2) resilience to this drought can only be built through interventions that consider both biophysical and socio-economic factors. A major intervention that we will explore is sustainable soil management through organic residue incorporation, taking into account resource conflicts with animal feed and household fuel use that worsen during times of extreme drought. We explore the knock-on impacts of land management to the availability of green water (stored in soil) and blue water (abstracted from ground and surface water sources). Further data on soil fertility will be measured across a range of 36 case-study farms located within two districts that are different distances from water supplies. The project will allow for crop and soil data collected for two years before the current El Niño to be supplemented with continued measurements of post-drought resilience. Previous data were collected in the ESPA funded project 'Alternative Carbon Investments in Ecosystems for Poverty Alleviation'. Modelling of crop and soil responses will allow us to upscale the impacts of land management interventions. Our outputs will be translated into outcomes through engagement with farmers, local and regional government and other stakeholders, both throughout the research and once the research is complete. As recently as December 2015, we met directly with these stakeholders, using well-established networks developed by our Ethiopian partners. Awassa is not the region in Sub-Saharan Africa that is worst affected by El Niño, but we argue that its relatively high population density, supported by food availability during good growing seasons, makes it particularly important. Moreover, land in the worst affected regions is so infertile that interventions may have limited impact, whereas in Awassa and similar more fertile regions of Ethiopia, interventions could promote greater agricultural productivity to supply national food demands during extreme events. We have already observed that Awassa houeholds spend more time collecting water and have been able to collect less due to pump breakdowns as groundwater levels get deeper during this drought. Yields have plummeted, affecting the earnings of subsistence farmer. Interviews conducted in December 2015 showed that farmers attempt to cope with the situation through short term strategies such as selling off livestock which will have long term consequences for the farming system in the area. The outcomes of this research will contribute towards increasing awareness of the impacts of drought in the region, and improving resilience of farming systems to drought. This will help farmers to employ better coping strategies for drought and to cope for longer, requiring less interventions and avoiding catastrophic harvest failures. In the long term, this will contribute towards better food security and nutrition, improved resilience and reduced risks associated with extreme droughts from future El Niño events.
Objectives
The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) supports cutting-edge research to address challenges faced by developing countries. The fund addresses the UN sustainable development goals. It aims to maximise the impact of research and innovation to improve lives and opportunity in the developing world.