Trees, Water & People

Fort Collins, CO, USA

An Overview Of Our Solution

Trees, Water & People, and partners at the Center for Education in Sustainable Agriculture (Centro de Enseñanza Apredinzaje de Agricultura Sostenible; CEASO), are leading a long-term natural resource management program that trains Honduran farmers in sustainable agriculture and fuel-efficient cookstoves near a biodiverse, cloud forest protected area. This community-based project is an effort to reverse the consequences of recent environmental degradation and recent economic crises through sustainable alternatives to existing farming and forestry practices that improve biodiversity, human, and forest health. We believe 1) natural resources are best protected when local people play an active role in their care and management; and 2) preserving local ecosystems is essential for the ongoing social, economic, and environmental health of communities everywhere.

Who is this solution impacting?

Community Type

Rural

Organization type

Sin fines de lucro/No Gubernamental

Ecosystem (select all that apply)

Forests

Population impacted

1100

Size of agricultural area

350 ha; 220 farms with an average farm size of 1.5 ha

Production quantity

300,000 kilos; 220 farms with an average production of 1350 kilos per farm

People employed

Describe your solution

Trees, Water & People (TWP), and partners at the Center for Teaching and Learning in Sustainable Agriculture (CEASO), are leading a long-term natural resource management program that trains Honduran farmers in farm diversification (i.e. agroforestry) and appropriate technologies (i.e. clean cookstoves) near a biodiverse, mountainous, protected area. This multi-dimensional project is an effort to reverse the negative consequences of recent environmental crises, while providing sustainable alternatives to existing farming and forestry practices that benefit human and wildlife communities. TWP and CEASO have already begun to work with 12 communities bordering the Montecillos Biological Reserve, installing 220 fuel-efficient cookstoves that reduce local fuelwood consumption by an average of 50%, as well as planting 70,000 native tree seedlings in seven community tree nurseries that have diversified coffee farms with overstory fruit and nut trees. These efforts reduce pressure on threatened pine forests, diversify income streams when coffee is less successful, and increase the conservation value of farmland to birds. Our community-based development model utilizes local involvement and expertise, making it affordable and replicable in other communities. In 2018, we aim to double our capacity in this region to build another 500 stoves, combined with farmer-to-farmer training in coffee agroforestry to diversify farms with an additional 100,000 trees.

Describe your implementation

Central Honduras is an ideal location to promote win-win strategies for people and the planet because it is known as a biodiversity-poverty hotspot whereby smallholder farmers are struggling to meet their very basic needs while rare and endangered wildlife species exists in the same areas and use the same natural resources as farmers. The success of any program like this one depends upon working with local communities to address their specific needs and capacities to farm for biodiversity. As such, TWP and CEASO have put their nearly 40 years of experience together to work with twelve communities in Honduras to install culturally-appropriate clean cookstoves as well as diversify farms using agroforestry with trees sourced from community nurseries. TWP is guided by a community-based development strategy that ensures community engagement is the driving force in all projects. Working with a local NGO, such as CEASO, ensured that the perspectives and needs of local communities were considered, and thus, behavior changes followed. Clean cookstoves, for example, cost about $75 per stove and allow families to use an average of 50% less forest fuel while reducing indoor air pollution by up to 80%; a win-win for human and forest health. Supplying trees and agroforestry training allows farmers to improve the diversity of their food and income streams instead of solely relying upon coffee, and it also creates high-quality habitat for species of conservation concern such as the Baltimore Oriole (migratory bird) and the Bushy-Crested Jay (endemic bird). However, due to the recent coffee rust, some farmers were less likely to take risks and adopt new agricultural and forestry strategies (i.e. agroforestry, cookstoves) because of the financial stress they incurred from 50-60% reduced coffee yields. Our approach here has simply been to encourage their participation in 2018 once they have had a chance to see their neighbors benefit from their new stoves and diversified farms.

External connections

This multidisciplinary project integrates the fields of international development, sustainable agriculture, public health, and wildlife conservation and, at the same time, it crosses the lines of academic institutions and non-governmental organizations. Lead organizations: 1. Trees, Water & People; TWP (Colorado, USA) and the Centro de Enseñanza Apredinzaje de Agricultura Sostenible; CEASO (Siguatepeque, Honduras) External connections: 1. El Fondo Centroamericano para el Acceso a la Energía y Reducción de la Pobreza; FOCAEP FOCAEP provides local oversight to community stove projects. 2. Colorado State University: Department of Environmental Health CSU and TWP are partnering on a multi-year study (2015-2017) that examines the respiratory benefits of clean cookstoves in women before and after their clean cookstoves are installed. 3. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras; UNAH In 2016, UNAH and CEASO partnered on the regions first study of the Montecillos Biological Reserve’s biological diversity, with findings of rare and endangered wildlife threatened by local deforestation, illegal logging, and an encroaching agricultural frontier. 4. Gemara Gifford, TWP staff member and former scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology In 2016, Gemara completed a study in Guatemala that examined the features of polyculture agroecosystems (i.e. canopy cover, tree density) that best promoted habitat use by avian species of conservation concern.

What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?

Trees, Water & People, in partnership with CEASO are working with 12 coffee farming communities in the Honduran Highlands to help mitigate a severe coffee blight that has reduced coffee production by up to 50%, and a destructive pine beetle that has destroyed over 25% of the country’s pine forests. These disasters have effected both farmers’ livelihoods and the biodiversity in the region. The Honduran Highlands, in particular, are home to an impressive amount of avian diversity, especially threatened Neotropical migratory birds that rely upon pine forests and coffee agroecosystems as habitat. As such, there is urgent need to develop community-based alternatives to coffee farming and local forestry practices that will improve farmers’ resilience and reduce their dependency on local forests while also creating high-quality habitat for wildlife species of conservation concern. Our solution combines clean cookstove technology, and farm diversification to benefit humans and wildlife.

Describe the context in which you are operating

The 220 families we work with come from 12 coffee farming communities that also use the traditional corn and bean “milpas” which are often found at the perimeter of the Montecillos Cloud Forest Reserve. Families use local forest fuels for their everyday cooking needs over traditional open fire stoves which have been compared to smoking three packs of cigarettes per day. These stoves also require a significant amount of fuelwood and time to upkeep. Recent ecological and agricultural plagues have put the country in a state of emergency as pine forests and coffee farms struggle to recover, and farmers are unable to continue their usual agricultural and forestry practices.

Meanwhile, the area is home to hundreds of migratory birds and endemic species that are found nowhere else on earth, but are known to benefit from, and benefit coffee agroecosystems via pest control services, and seed dispersal. Although this area is a hotspot for biodiversity, it is incredibly data-deficient.

How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?

Our reforestation efforts in coffee agroecosystems, as well as the installation of 220 clean cookstoves have directly improved farmland with 70,000 trees, and indirectly, have reduced local fuelwood consumption by an average of 50% per household, or by about 400 tons per year across all target communities. In 2018, we plan to double this impact with an additional 500 stoves, and 100,000 trees. Moreover, a long-term behavior change is expected as families continue to enjoy the benefits of their new stoves (i.e. health, time, money), and reduce their dependence on local forests. Similarly, as agroforestry trees grow older, they will offer ecological services such as slope stability, improved soil health via natural leaf litter fertilizer, and shade cover for coffee bushes. While we do not have quantitative wildlife biodiversity metrics to report so far, we expect to see improved use of coffee agroforests by migratory birds, and endemic species that require at least 40% canopy cover.

Language(s)

Spanish

Water

Local watersheds benefit from the reforestation of 70,000 trees

Food Security/Nutrition

220 families have a higher chance of consuming more diverse diets with fruit and nut trees (i.e. agroforestry)

Economic/Sustainable Development

12 coffee farming communities have become more resilient to fluctuations in the climate by diversifying their farms with overstory crops (i.e. fruit and nut trees); 220 families have more diverse income streams (i.e. crop diversity) and no longer solely rely upon coffee for their livelihoods.

Climate

220 families will utilize an average of 50% less fuelwood per day, for an average savings of 2 tons CO2 per stove per year; 70,000 trees planted in 2016, and 100,000 in 2017 expected to reduce an average of 1 ton of CO2 emissions per tree for a total of 170,000 tons of CO2

Sustainability

This project has an incredibly high impact for a realistic cost and flexible funding streams. For example, one clean cookstove costs an average of $75 (all materials and training included) and enables a household to breathe cleaner air, and utilize significantly less fuelwood and time for their cooking needs. Funding can come from individual donors, foundations, or even governmental subsidies. Establishing community tree nurseries costs an average of $0.10 per tree (seeds only) with additional material and labor costs (approximately $500/month), which varies by country. Funding here is flexible. Please feel welcome to contact Trees, Water & People about our affordable community nursery designs.

Return on investment

Since 1998, Trees, Water & People has been leading the way in affordable and effective community-based development projects such as community tree nurseries and clean cookstove technology. For the 2016 project year in Central Honduras, we planted 70,000 trees of 28 species, and installed 220 clean cookstoves complete with farmer training and local manufacturing. In total, the project cost us $26,000, with generous funding from World Centric. Given the results outlined above, the cost is incredibly low compared to the lifelong health impacts human, forest, and wildlife communities will see.

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How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?

Trees, Water & People (TWP) has replicated this solution in five countries: Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Haiti, at even larger scales. There is no secret to our success, other than we are committed to a community-based model that includes the cultural preferences and needs, specific to each community context. Once the community needs and preferences are established, identifying a partnering organization that can lead on-the-ground implementation and training, where trust from the community is key. Technical aspects to clean cookstove manufacturing and construction, as well as tree nursery design can be easily shared by TWP staff via email, Skype, or in-person meetings. Tree species selection should be catered to each locality with an emphasis on trees that produce nutritious and lucrative food crops for people, and habitat that benefits biodiversity. We are a highly skilled staff, with international experience across five continents, so please reach out to us!

Overview