Ya’axché Conservation Trust

Punta Gorda, 伯利兹

An Overview Of Our Solution

In southern Belize, the indigenous farmers’ traditional agricultural practice of slash and burn is becoming unsustainable due to an increasing population growth rate and decreasing land availability. This is resulting in the advancement of the agricultural frontier into previously untouched forests, causing degradation to the soils and waterways of these ecosystems. As part of a sustainable land use management approach for the benefit of local communities, Ya’axche teaches and assists farmers in the adoption of more sustainable agriculture techniques, such as cacao and coffee based agroforestry, inga alley cropping, and beekeeping, which provide both social and environmental benefits to key biological areas and rural indigenous communities in southern Belize.

Who is this solution impacting?

Community Type

Rural

Organization type

非盈利

Ecosystem (select all that apply)

Forests

Freshwater

Oceans/Coasts

Population impacted

1,000 people

Size of agricultural area

125 ha

Production quantity

5,000 kilos

People employed

Describe your solution

In place of the current unsustainable agricultural practices, Ya’axche is promoting agroforestry techniques that maximize land-use efficiency through the mixing of short-, medium-, and long-term crops. Rather than depleting the soil of nutrients, these organic methods allow farmers to utilize the same piece of land for decades, which reduces deforestation. Research has shown that these practices maintain ecosystem services, instead of degrading lands, while simultaneously improving livelihoods by providing crop and income diversity for farmers and increasing their economic and food security. Ya’axché promotes and assists farmers in adopting these innovative and sustainable techniques by providing trainings to improve their knowledge and capacity, materials for the initial start-up of a project, and continued technical support and advice through regular field visits. One of the biggest barriers for farmers to feel comfortable in adopting these practices is the knowledge they have. Agroforestry is a completely different practice than that of the traditional slash-and-burn practice, which is primarily used to grow subsistence crops. Through trainings, field visits, and workshops, Ya’axché helps farmers improve their own knowledge and capacity so that they feel comfortable enough to implement and maintain the new practice independently.

Describe your implementation

Ya’axché works directly in training and preparing farmers to adopt agroforestry practices, such as cacao/coffee agroforestry, inga alley cropping (a practice that allows a farmer to sustainably continue the cultivation of traditional crops), and beekeeping. These techniques can contribute directly to poverty alleviation, food security, and climate change resilience, if adopted and managed properly. Training topics include, but are not limited to, nursery management, plot establishment, planting and maintenance, and later trainings are given on how to harvest crops and keep plots healthy and fertile for long-term success. To ensure the farmers are successful, skilled Ya’axché extension staff continue to visit farmers’ plots until the farmers feel comfortable enough to be independent. One of Ya’axché’s most notable achievements is successfully lobbying the government for 30 landless farmers to have regulated access to the Maya Mountain North Forest Reserve in the form of Belize’s first agroforestry concession. This particular reserve is under serious threat from illegal agriculture activities and dereservation. Between 2004 and 2016, approximately 1,440 acres of forest were illegally cleared for agriculture and 5,248 acres have been dereserved. The implementation of this agroforestry concession will protect the integrity of the entire reserve, while providing economic benefits to a group of indigenous farmers. The differences between the traditional farming practices and agroforestry techniques has been the biggest challenge for farmers to overcome. Farmers traditionally relied on farming for subsistence. When discussing these agroforestry practices with farmers, Ya’axché emphasizes the social and ecological benefits, and the loss of cultural traditions is not the aim. The introduction of inga alley cropping is a way for farmers who are not ready to adopt agroforestry to sustainably grow their traditional crops.

External connections

Our biggest partnership lies with the 75 farmers that are currently working with us in implementing these agroforestry practices.These farmers are seeing results, and some have reached an advanced level and now offer their farms to be used as demonstration plots to teach other farmers of their success. Ya’axché also works closely with Belize’s Forest Department as co-managers of two protected areas that border MGL communities , as well as Department of Agriculture in the delivery of meetings, trainings, and future planning of the implementation of these practices throughout Belize. Additionally, Ya’axche has played a key role in influencing policies such as the National Protected Areas System Act and frequently participates in workshops for national strategies and thematic working groups. By reaching out to various stakeholders and sectors and working at different levels, Ya’axche aims to address the root causes of unsustainable land use.

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

Indigenous farmers in southern Belize have practiced traditional slash-and-burn agriculture, a practice in which an area is clear cut, burned, and planted with subsistence crops, such as corn and beans. After a few years, the soil fertility decreases, and the farmer moves to a new area and repeats the process, leaving the previous field to fallow for a period of 15-20 years. In recent times, rising population has led to a decrease in available land, which causes farmers to expand their practices into forest and return to fallow plots after only 3-5 years when the soil has not fully regained its fertility. Not only has this practice led to deforestation and soil degradation, but escaped fires have become a threat to communities and surrounding forests. This landscape is essential in the provision of life-sustaining ecosystem services for local communities. If these trends continue, the resulting environmental degradation will impact both the ecosystems and the communities.

Describe the context in which you are operating

Ya’axché Conservation Trust is a Belizean conservation organization whose mission is to maintain a healthy environment with empowered communities by fostering sustainable livelihoods, protected area management, biodiversity conservation and environmental education within the Maya Golden Landscape (MGL) of southern Belize. The MGL is a 770,000 acre mosaic landscape covering a diverse range of ecosystems and supports 3,000 plant species, 110 mammals, 400 birds, 92 reptiles and amphibians and includes 18 endemic and 37 globally threatened species (IUCN Redlist). The MGL is home to a majority of the nation’s indigenous Maya population and supports a wide range of land uses. The landscape provides environmental goods and services in an area characterized by rapid population growth and where 46% of the population is living below the poverty line. Agriculture provides 46% of the population with employment, remaining the predominant economic driver of the Toledo District in southern Belize.

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

Through GIS and remote sensing, annual rates of agricultural clearing have been recorded. Between 2013 and 2015, there was a decrease in the advance of the agricultural frontier (areas not used for agriculture in the past) from 2,897.27 acres in 2013 to 1,879.59 acres in 2015. The recent piloting of farm biodiversity monitoring has shown that forest animal species that do not inhabit disturbed areas are present on agroforestry farms. Additionally, the recent establishment of an agroforestry concession in a protected area allows Ya’axché to closely monitor and mitigate any impacts agroforestry practices might have on the biodiversity within the area, while also protecting the reserve from further illegal encroachment of the agriculture frontier from buffering communities.

Language(s)

English

Water

The major threat to waterways in southern Belize is from runoff of agricultural chemicals used in the highlands. This is one of the reasons why Ya’axché only promotes organic practices, and this is emphasized by partnerships formed with cacao markets, who only buy organic cacao. Farmers’ plots are tested on an annual basis by the buyers to ensure they are complying with their organic certification. Organic certification also adds value to cacao, which is a big incentive to stop using chemicals.

Food Security/Nutrition

Agroforestry techniques increase crop diversity, maximize efficiency of an area and improve soil fertility. Not only does this have many ecological benefits, but it also improves a family’s nutritional needs and decreases dependency on processed products, which can lead to health problems such as diabetes. For example, a cacao agroforestry field can grow cacao, bananas, plantains, and annual root crops and vegetables within a single system.

Economic/Sustainable Development

Traditionally, small-scale farmers grew for subsistence and traded amongst each other to accommodate for gaps in their diets. In recent decades, Belize has grown into a market-based economy, leaving small-scale farmers in poverty, unable to adapt to the new way of life. The adoption of these agroforestry practices helps farmers transition to a market-based economy by teaching them how to produce cash crops, such as honey, cacao, or coffee, while still growing their traditional subsistence crops.

Climate

Farmers in southern Belize are already experiencing the impacts of climate change. When they would normally plant corn in the first two weeks of May after the first major rain, farmers are left waiting until the end of May. These practices alleviate some of these impacts felt by farmers by increasing crop diversity and also having long-term crops mixed with annual crops, thus increasing their resilience to unpredictable changes in climate.

Sustainability

The initial investment of tools and seedlings can be costly, which is why Ya’axché focuses on assisting farmers in this step. After the initial investment, farmers need to continue management, but can begin to see income within the year. For farmers, the biggest market-based revenue is from organic cacao, which is sold to a local company, that sells the product on the international market. This connection has allowed small-scale farmers to access the international organic cacao market, which increases the value for their product. Other niche markets are being created, such as a local market for yellow ginger, and these will increase a farmer’s economic returns and improve the long-term sustainability of agroforestry in southern Belize.

Return on investment

For a single farmer to implement an acre of cacao it would cost approximately $657.50 USD, if the farmer has no tools or supplies already. Similarly, for a single farmer to begin one beehive, it would cost approximately $535 USD. All trainings are provided by Ya’axché at no cost to the farmer. If the farmer has implemented a diversity of crops, such as root crops, bananas, plantains, as well as the major cash crops such as cacao or coffee, it would take a farmer approximately 3-4 years to see a return on the initial investment. This time would decrease if more than one acre or beehive are established, as this would create more opportunities for diversification and higher yields.

How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?

In Péten, Guatemala, there is a community group that has also adopted a forestry concession model that promotes sustainable land use management, while creating financial opportunities for the local community. The concession model is one way to increase community involvement in conservation, while increasing poverty alleviation in the most rural areas. This would involve partnerships with communities and strong government support. Trainings would have to be done with the community groups to ensure they understand the strict rules and regulations required to successfully protect the ecosystems within the protected areas while also adopting new and innovative agricultural practices. Outside of communities buffering protected areas, any of these practices could be adopted on an individual, community, or even regional level. Organizations that are assisting farmers in the adoption of these practices should focus on funding for the initial investment of materials to provide for farmers.

Overview