By JIM MAINA
Forests and agroforestry systems are coming under growing pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss, changing land use and wider socio-economic changes.
In response, researchers from Africa and Europe are exploring ways to protect forests and biodiversity without undermining the livelihoods of communities that depend on the same landscapes for food, livestock and income.
The research is at the heart of a five-day Summer School hosted by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) from September 28 to October 2, bringing together more than 20 doctoral and postdoctoral researchers from Africa, Germany and Asia.
The researchers are examining how forests and agroforestry systems can provide environmental and livelihood benefits simultaneously, while addressing competing demands that emerge when communities, conservation and natural resources intersect.
At the centre of the discussions is a question facing many communities across Africa: How can forests and other natural resources be protected without undermining the livelihoods of farmers and livestock keepers who depend on them?
Dr Robert Mbeche, Principal Investigator of the project at JKUAT’s Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, said conservation efforts must go hand in hand with protecting the livelihoods of communities that depend on forests and their resources.
“Conservation cannot be viewed only through the condition of the forest. We also have to understand the people who depend on that forest, how they use the resources and what happens to their livelihoods when management decisions change,” he said.
The Summer School notes that efforts to address environmental pressures through approaches such as participatory forest management and incentives for conservation have produced varying results across communities and landscapes.
Participants are examining these outcomes together rather than treating environmental and social concerns as separate issues.
The researchers are drawing on evidence from communities and landscapes to assess how management decisions affect biodiversity, livelihoods and environmental justice. They are also developing indicators to measure whether different approaches to forest and agroforestry management are delivering sustainable outcomes.
Through fieldwork and data analysis, they are examining forest conditions, household dependence on natural resources, livestock-forest interactions, governance arrangements and the factors driving changes in land use.
Prof Dr Anja Faße of TUM Campus Straubing in Germany said efforts to protect forests must take into account the people who depend on them, particularly where conservation measures affect access to land and natural resources.
The question, she said, is not only how forests can be conserved, but also how decisions are made, who participates in them and how the resulting benefits and costs are shared.
Prof Honorat Edja of the University of Parakou in Benin said understanding the different interests surrounding natural resources is essential to designing interventions that address the causes of environmental pressure while improving the livelihoods of communities that depend on these landscapes.
The five-day Summer School is supported by Germany’s Volkswagen Foundation and brings together researchers from JKUAT, the University of Parakou, Joseph Ki-Zerbo University in Burkina Faso, Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and the universities of Göttingen and Kassel in Germany.
The researchers will use the training and field experience to strengthen their studies and develop research and policy outputs that can inform decisions on forest and agroforestry management.
The broader aim is to generate evidence on where conservation and livelihoods can reinforce each other, while identifying tensions that must be addressed where competing demands on natural resources cannot easily be reconciled.
