Building Resilience to Climate Change and Increase Food Security Through Scaling up Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration. Presentation from Agriculture and Rural Development Day (ARDD) 2011. Learning Event number 11, Session 2, Room C. Presented by Abasse , How the Niger Republic is building resilience of farmers to climate change and increasing food security.

1. BUILDING RESILIENCE TO CLIMATE CHANGE
AND INCREASE FOOD SECURITY THROUGH
SCALING UP FARMER MANAGED NATURAL
REGENERATION

2. • CONTEXT:
• A
«
PERFECT
STORM
IS
BREWING
»
• >
Temperatures
will
increase
(2-­‐3°
C?)
Ø Rainfall
will
become
more
erraMc
Ø Soil
ferMlity
is
depleMng
Ø Crop
yields
will
decline
(
-­‐
20%?)
Ø PopulaMon
will
double
in
20
years

3. Drought in the 1970s
and 1980s …

4. • SOME
CHALLENGES:
• HOW
TO
REDUCE
TEMPERATURES
?
• HOW
TO
INCREASE
THE
QUANTITY
OF
WATER
AVAILABLE
TO
PEOPLE,
CROPS
AND
LIVESTOCK?
• HOW
TO
FEED
A
GROWING
POPULATION?

5. Vegetation reduces soil Vegetation reduces sand blast
temperatures and protects crops

6. REHABILITATION OF BARREN LAND
Techniques simples
Zaï Demi lunes 1990
Impacts importants
2004
Piliostigma reticulatum
Combretum glutinosum

7.
Contour stone bunds increase water available
to plants and induce rainfall and runoff to
infiltrate

8. In Batodi water levels in wells increased about 14 m
in 10 years enabling women to start vegetable
garden

9. Half moons used to rehabilitate degraded
land are becoming increasingly popular

10.
REACTIONS IN THE 1980s TO THE CRISIS
Niger Story: More People,
More TREES
5 MILLION HA

11. WHERE ARE THE RE-GREENING
SUCCESSES?

12. Farmer-­‐managed
natural
regenera.on
in
Niger
• 5,000,000
ha
re-­‐greened
in
20
years
(only
labour
for
protec.on,
investment
in
extension,
no
recurrent
costs
to
governments)
• 200
million
new
trees
• addi.onal
cereal
produc.on/year:
500,000
ton
• 2.5
million
people
fed
• 1.25
million
rural
households
involved

13. New agroforestry parklands in Zinder
(about 1 million ha) dominated by
Faidherbia Albida

14. IMPROVED SOIL FERTILITY AND INCREASE
IN FODDER PRODUCTION

15. What induced farmers to protect and manage
on-farm natural regeneration?
Rehabilitated field in 1988 The same field in 2008; this farm
family has been food secure since
they began rehabilitation

16. TREES PERMIT LOW COST
AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION

17. LIVESTOCK IS INCREASINGLY CONTROLLED
AND DEPENDS SIX MONTHS/YEAR ON TREE
FODDER

18. THE RURAL POOR SURVIVE
ON TREES AND HAVE HIGHER
TREE DENSITIES

19. Impact on biodiversity:
this was barren
land in 1985

20. More fodder, more water : reduction
in conflicts between herders and
farmers

21. Strong reduction in time required for collection
of firewood

22. NEW VILLAGE INSTITUTION FOR TREE
MANAGEMENT
New village committees
were established to
ensure that:
Action plans are developed collectively;
• Rules for management of FMNR are shared
and respected by all villagers (+ sanctions
enforced in case of non respect)

23. OTHER REASONS FOR THE SUCCESS OF
FMNR
• Inclusion of youth in village committee activities
• Technical simplicity and cost effectiveness
• Replicability
• Low cost agricultural intensification
• Increased drought resilience
• Establishment of wood markets requiring
membership and adherence to community
endorsed regulations for wood harvesting

24. CONCLUSION:
• FARMERS
IN
PARTS
OF
THE
SAHEL
HAVE
• ADAPTED
TO
CLIMATE
CHANGE
AND
HAVE
• BUILT
MORE
COMPLEX
AND
• DROUGHT-­‐RESILIENT
FARMING
SYSTEMS
• HOW
TO
SCALE
UP
EXISTING
SUCCESSES?
• HOW
TO
DEVELOP
AGROFORESTRY
VALUE
• CHAINS?