An Overview Of Our Solution
AGROFORESTRY RESOURCES UNLIMITED (ARU)
Year of establishment: 2013
Number of members: 15 including 5 women
Number of projects implemented: 01
Postal Address: Physical Address: Taouyah quarter, opposite the Youth House of RATOMA, Conakry, Guinea
Phone: 00224 622 31 31 41
Fax: E-mail: aru.president@gmail.com or arutranslator@gmail.com
Principal Officer:
Project Contact / Director: Onipogui Joseph, contact: 00224 622 31 31 41. Email: arutranslator@gmail.com
PROJECT: Classification PPS FEM
Who is this solution impacting?
Community Type
Rural
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: Africa
General Information
Organization type
À but non lucratif
Ecosystem (select all that apply)
Forests
Freshwater
Grasslands
Oceans/Coasts
Population impacted
3000
Challenge
Size of agricultural area
20 hectares
Production quantity
500 Kgs of vegetables
People employed
40 women x three groups
Solution
Describe your solution
Changes in human activities are promoted through Strengthen the forest management systems of 20 hectares of community forests in Lower Guinea to make them more resilient to the effects of climate change.
Improve existing forest management systems through community capacity building based on good practices.
Promote food and non-agricultural sources of food and income related to Forest Resources to sustainably manage existing ecosystems to make them more resilient to the effects of climate change.
Existing community forests of 4 hectares each are reforested and / or replanted and under improved co-management in the project intervention sites after 12 months;
Forestry groups are formed and take over the management of established or existing community forests in 12 months;
Groups constituted for the most part by women are supported in the conduct of income-generating activities (gardening and gardening) that are conservative of existing ecosystems in 12 months;
Bush Fire Prevention and Management Committees are established and support their communities in the prevention and management of bush fires after 12 months.
Implementation
Describe your implementation
The project will use several activities as a means of achieving the expected results:
1. Community Awareness and Integration of Partners
Similarly, in order to ensure a wise choice of the communities, consultations with the technical services of the two prefectures were conducted to target the communities most vulnerable to climate change in the area using the NAPA.
The establishment of village or community forests requires that all the community stakeholder’s involvement in the project because the resources to be managed are those from which they derive their daily lives but in an unsustainable way. The first two months of the project will be devoted to this activity and 5 communities will be affected.
The project will begin with exchanges between local authorities and local elected representatives as well as community leaders with the groups. This step will involve meeting local elected officials to explain the project's goals and the reasons for the choice of their communities in relation to the climatic conditions that threaten them and the mitigation measures proposed by the project.
It will also be a matter of explaining the roles & responsibilities of each actor (Communities, initiating NGO, and Lessor) in order to ensure that each stakeholder participates in the process, and does so in full knowledge of the facts. Similarly, the NGO will establish with each community commitment documents with respect to land to ensure that the land needed for reforestation and agroforestry demonstrations exist and especially that the labor force exists on the site to carry out activities.
Reforestation / reforestation of community forests: These activities will be carried out on the ground by the project leaders with periodic supervision by the project managers. Targeted community forests are owned by each village and the land release documents for reforestation will be provided to the NGO & accompany this project to certify land status
External connections
The major stakeholders are: Directorate of Water and Forest Resources, Ministry of Water, Forest and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture at local level. The solution is linked to the forest policy in Guinea which foster community forest implementation to alleviate climate change effects on fragile ecosystems. Putting in place community forests and/or reforesting existing community forest are the best practices in terms of forestry.
Results
What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?
The project to support the resilience of communities to climate change is at the forefront of climate risks projected by Guinea's National Action Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change (PANA), which indexes the coastal areas of the country As being very fragile and vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
The communities targeted by the project have for decades used mangrove resources in a relatively unsustainable manner and the area is still heavily dominated by subsistence agriculture and the intensive use of charcoal and firewood to meet the energy deficit of the main cities, including Conakry. This current scheme has forest resources in many ways without any compensation for losses to vegetation.
Similarly, existing public policies do not effectively bridge the gap between capacity building and the use of alternative energies. The Mangrove is severely damaged by destructive cultivation practices and carbonization in the area that the project targets. Given the important role
Describe the context in which you are operating
The situational diagnosis of target forests in these communities shows unsustainable use of forest and marine resources. This is increasingly threatening not only for biological diversity but also for community food security. It also exposes the area in terms of risks related to climate change: fish smoking, carbonization, frequent seasonal bush fires, extensive slash and mangrove agriculture not only reduce vegetation cover but also increase Vulnerability of the mangrove. The increase in the agricultural population from year to year, the lack of energy which increasingly pushes the use of wood and charcoal has considerably reduced the areas covered by the forest and thus reached the Conserved areas (community forests). The threat is serious because no measures are envisaged to restore the conserved areas thus degraded, which makes these communities increasingly vulnerable. The project's actions are therefore part of a logic of capacity-building (training) to help reverse this trend by carrying out actions to restore these forests and agricultural techniques that are more profitable and respectful of the environment. This project will cover a period of 12 months from its start date.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
The sustainability of the results of this project is ensured at first by the involvement since the beginning of communities and technical services of the Environment, Water and Forests, Agriculture but above all local elected officials and local authorities. Secondly, the activities initiated relate to the main activity which is agriculture by improving practices, the project recognizes capacity building so that beneficiaries perceive the results of support as quickly as possible, thus ensuring that these beneficiaries will continue Activity even beyond the project. This is even more plausible for women who, when supported in profitable activities, will be inclined to pursue them when they perceive the increased benefits of the activities supported.
Capacity building through theoretical and practical training will be used to ensure the sustainability of the results.
Language(s)
French, Susu
Water
Forest areas that are conserved and protected by forestry groups protect rivers and springs from the village soils, thus increasing the protection and sustainability of water sources for future generations.
Food Security/Nutrition
By providing groups with improved production techniques, this enables them to supply food and market gardening products on the markets that they will sell and generate income in order to feed their respective households. The products provided also contribute to the nutrition of children in supported households as well as the product income allows to buy on the markets nutritious foods. By producing with sustainable land management practices, food security is ensured with land that produces bette
Economic/Sustainable Development
The project responds to economic sustainability and sustainable development: By conserving natural resources, populations derive wood and energy resources with sustainable management of the products that will result from the sustainable management of forests and soils, and through improved gardening and market gardening practices, Access to a healthy soil that produces continuously with natural organic inputs.
Climate
By conserving these forest areas and water sources, communities contribute to the mitigation of the effects of climate change, a phenomenon to which the area in question is vulnerable. The resilience of forest ecosystems is ensured by this conservation of sensitive natural resources and vulnerable ecosystems.
Sustainability
The sustainability of this solution rests on several pillars. First of all, the communities, producing foodstuffs for sale on local markets or demand are very strong, they provide sustainable sources of income and avoid damage to forests. The area is characterized by an abundant production of charcoal which has become a main source of income, this proposed solution makes it possible to attenuate this practice and to change the practices towards a production while preserving the sensitive spaces.
Return on investment
ARU is requesting for this solution, $ 25,000.
Replication and Scale
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
To ensure the replication and multiplier effect of this solution, the project will ensure that the neighboring communities learn lessons from the supported groups. Thus, exchange visits with other neighboring communities will be organized and this will require transport costs (up to $ 2,000) between villages to facilitate exchanges and visits to the sites and agroforestry practices in execution.