Conservation agriculture: Benefiting nature and man
HOLDING his three-year-old son Marvel, a smiling Mr Cloud Adam of Nyamakate Village in Hurungwe, Mashonaland West province, joyfully inspected his crop.
In tow were agricultural extension officers, fellow villagers and officials from Carbon Green Africa — a private entity that runs wildlife and forest conservation programme in the province.
Mr Adam has, in the past two seasons, been adjudged to have been the best farmer practicing conservation agriculture in the village.
On his 0,5 acres plot, Mr Adam is expecting more than 20 bags of maize.
“The yields have been good since I started conservation agriculture. Mulching helps avoid moisture stress. In terms of yield per hectare, I am miles ahead of my neighbours,” Mr Adam said.
Mr Adam is one of the several hundred farmers that are benefiting from the Kariba Redd+ project which incentivise people in rural areas to preserve forests and conserve wildlife through instituting alternative ways of living that do not disturb the forests and animals.
The forest conservation projects are aimed at providing sustainable livelihood opportunities in areas that are often stalked by deforestation, poverty and drought.
REDD is an acronym for Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation and is a United Nations initiative.
The programme is part of the collective global response to climate change and it seeks to cut the emission of harmful gases that accelerate climate change.
Carbon Green Africa is facilitating the projects that are being run in Binga, Mbire, Hurungwe and Kariba. The projects were initiated in 2013. As part of efforts to discourage communities from destroying forests and poaching, a number of programmes were initiated, among them bee-keeping, environmental education, conservation agriculture, nutritional gardening and wood lots.
Communities work with Agritex officers, the Environmental Management Authority and the Forestry Commission to implement the projects.
Carbon Green Africa chief executive officer, Mr Charles Ndondo, explained the concept, “We are working with four rural district councils in managing approximately 1,4 million hectares with a target to reach the two million-hectare mark within the next five years. The more trees we preserve, the more carbon credits we get,” Mr Ndondo.
According to Mr Ndondo, the carbon credits can be bought on the market as part of social responsibility programmes by corporates.
He, however, said they are struggling to find the market for the over three million carbon credits they currently have.
“We are hopeful that buyers will come. We engaged some potential buyers and it is my hope that they will soon purchase the credits,” Mr Ndondo said.
Environmentalists maintain that Zimbabwe loses a lot of trees annually. Most of the trees are lost to tobacco curing. Community outreach programmes are being made. Tobacco curing alone is estimated to be destroying an estimated 7,5 million trees annually.
Mrs Media Chiyangwa, the chairperson of the Tashinga nutritional garden project in Hurungwe, said the project brought with it many positive changes.
“We used to do our gardening on stream banks, causing siltation. The gardens are a source of nutrition and we are now able to realise money from the sale of the produce. The REDD+ project made life easier for us,” Mrs Chiyangwa says.
Several schools were also given resources to start nutrition gardens. Community gardens can help alleviate the global decline in agricultural output — a direct effect of climate change.
The concept also increases both availability and consumption of fruits and vegetables in households.
According to Mr Ndondo, bee-keeping is one sure way of discouraging deforestation.
“Bee-keeping has already showed success in small pilot areas within the communities as it provides both a strong income and incentive not to cut into the vegetation and forest areas as the bees require as much vegetation as possible in order to yield the required honey,” Mr Ndondo said.
“Once educated on how the hives are built and provided with the necessary materials, one hive can produce 20kgs of honey with a market value of $10 per kg. Each hive when running correctly can be harvested every 3-4 months. This alternative vocation can provide both a healthy income and strong incentive to stop the deforestation.”
At Chitindira Primary School, another REDD+ beneficiary, a tree nursery comprising 900 mahogany and 600 moringa trees was thriving. The mahogany is one of the many indigenous trees that are facing extinction.
An orchard and a school garden was also established under the project. The school recently harvested beans, maize and butter nuts.
Forest fires are a major driver behind decreasing biomass density and deforestation.
According to Green Carbon Africa, feasibility studies have shown that forests are under great pressure from the local communities in three main forms.
Agricultural encroachment on forests, forest fires and wood poaching were, according to the studies, the major drivers of the destruction of forests.
Some farmers clear land for agricultural purposes, destroying forests in the process, whilst poachers deliberately start forest fires as they chase animals.
Mr Jeremiah Matiza, the REDD+ area manager for Hurungwe district, said forest fires were rampant in most forested areas.
“To reduce forest fires, we engage in anti-poaching patrols and also provide the poachers with an alternative source of income. Fire guards, fire detection systems, extinction and prevention systems are in place to mitigate fire damage. We also educate the communities on fire management,” Mr Matiza said.
According to Mr Matiza, much of the destroyed trees are used as firewood for cooking and heating purposes.
It is estimated that an average household can burn the equivalent of one small tree a day to cater for their cooking and heating needs.
Mr Matiza said there is need for communities to use wood stoves that use between 40 and 60 percent less wood.
Such stoves, which have always been on the market, cost between $10 and $15 each and can be used for more than three years.