Challenges for the Sahel

1. Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration in the SahelA. Kalinganire, M. Larwanou & J. BayalaWorld Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF-WCA/Sahel)African Forest Forum (AFF)

2. Challenges for the Sahel • Rising population implies increasing food demands • Poor farming practices • Overgrazing and excessive tillage leave exposed soils • Soil erosion leading to crusted soil and increased water loss due to runoff • Loss of biodiversity • Land, forests and tree tenure 6

3. Challenges for the Sahel Fragile environment with sparse vegetative cover 70% area is already naturally degraded to different extents Limited arable land resources Recurrent droughts Dryland areas and people are under continuous threat from land degradation, desertification, food insecurity and poverty 5

4. Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration • Systematic regeneration of trees from living tree stumps (underground forest) & soil seedbank. • Management: thinning, pruning of main stems & emerging new stems when necessary. • Scale: about 6 million ha in 20 years (i.e. 150.000 ha/year), up to 300 trees/ha, 15 – 40 new different plant species, new trees: at least 240 million trees (= carbon sequestration).

5. Niger Story: More People, More Trees 1955 2005 1975

7. Million hectares of cereal production in Faidherbia parklands

8. Sahelian successes … • Driving forces' of change, both environmental and socio-economic, are highly complex. • FMNR gave rural communities compelling reasons to organize, negotiate, and set tree resources management rules, and smallholders used “Rule of Law” to uphold rights over trees. • Policy reforms informed by field experiences (clear tree rights & low risks) • Stateas a partner to farmers rather than police role. • FMNR as cash to move out of poverty; increased food security and reduced vulnerability to climate change. 22

9. Sahelian successes … • FMNR was driven by farmers working on their own behalf; not on behalf of a project! • There was never a plan that aimed to reforest more than 5 million hectares of farmland; it was just a process in which ideas and visions kept evolving! BUT: • Policy reforms were critical and often following field experiences. • Low start-up costs for farmers & FMNR’s continuation required no or few recurring costs for governments or partners. 22

10. “We now have many village committees to manage the environment”

11. Gaps for research … • Ecosystem management: What are the sources and conditions of resilience of Sahelian ecosystems and the implications in terms of ecosystem management? • Policy: How to evaluate land and forest/tree management policies (tenure and rights) in order to assess the effects of the enforced management practices on ecological and economic dynamics? • Institution: What kind of design of institutional arrangements are needed to lower the vulnerability of local rural poor to environmental variability and economic change? • Carbon: How can local populations benefit from carbon market for their effort in regenerating trees in their private lands? 22

12. Progress for the way forward… • Address and improve 'household viability' and other structural constraints that lead to poverty alleviation, including income generation, employment access, conflict, equitable sharing of ecosystem goods and services. • Capitalize the value of early work to create opportunities for learning and exchange of experience. • Empower rural communities developing their programmes and action plans for trees on farms management & develop well-defined and concerted initiatives at all levels. • Work with partners for advocacy actions on policy issues regarding tree/land tenure, access to markets of AF products and sustainable management of parklands. 22

13. Conclusion FMNR and other improved technologies can contribute positively in rehabilitating the drylands in a sustainable manner. Diversification (livestock, food crops etc), further intensification and adoption of other SLM technologies in other similar contexts for food security.

14. Thank you