Turning the Threat of Climate Change into an Opportunity to Build a More Sustainable Future

By Janeen Madan - Nourishing the Planet

A recent article in Time Magazine discusses how small-scale farmers are finding ways to turn the threat of climate change into an opportunity to build a more sustainable future for themselves and for communities around the world.

In Africa’s Sahel region, innovative initiatives led by small-scale farmers are re-greening the once barren and dry land. (Photo credit: Bernard Pollack)

The innovative efforts of these farmers are re-greeningthe once barren and dry land of Africa’s Sahel region. Dr. Chris Reij, natural resource specialist with theCenter for International Cooperation (and an author in the upcoming State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet), who has worked extensively in the region, told Time Magazine, “In areas that used to be completely barren, where you could see villages miles away, suddenly the view was blocked with green.”

Beginning in the late 1980s, farmers started sowing their crops in ditches called zaï, a traditional practice used to retain water and enable plants to survive dry periods. They also started erecting fences to prevent soil erosion. Satellite images of Niger, taken by theU.S. Geological Survey in 2005, show that farmers have successfully “re-greened” up to 5 million hectares of land. “That’s 200 million new trees — 20 times the number that had been there before— producing 200 million Euros ($US270 million) of value that feeds an extra 2.5 million people.  It was the biggest environmental transformation in Africa,” said Reij. Following two poor harvests between 2009 and 2010 in Niger, an international emergency effort was mobilized to feed some 4.3 million food insecure people. But farmers engaged in re-greening initiatives were unaffected. Reij noted, “Their trees have become like something we keep in the freezer. A lifeline to prune and sell for money to buy food in the bad years.”

While farmer-led innovations are working on the ground, international agreements are also being promoted, highlighting farmers’ roles in mitigating the negative impacts of climate change. The UN Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation programme (UN-REDD), launched in 2008, for example, allows polluters to pay small-scale farmers for the carbon stored in their trees and soil.

International schemes represent a growing focus on the important link between climate change, food security and hunger alleviation. But we must look to the millions of small-scale farmers, who are finding sustainable solutions and becoming better stewards of the land.

In Kareygorou village, outside Niamey, Niger’s capital, farmers are participating in re-greening initiatives. By diversifying the crops they plant their yields have increased. And those who had abandoned the land to seek work in neighboring countries are returning home to their now thriving village.

To learn more about the role that farmers play in mitigating climate change and innovations in re-greening the Sahel, see the forthcoming State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet, as well as: Innovation of the Week: “Re-Greening” the Sahel Through Farmer-Managed Natural Regeneration, The Man Who Stopped the Desert, Meet the Nourishing the Planet Advisory Group: Chris Reij, Innovation of the Week: Putting a Stop to the Spreading Sands, Nourishing the Planet at the Agriculture and Rural Development Day 2010, and Partnering for Food Security in Dry Land Areas.

Janeen Madan is a research intern with the Nourishing the Planet project.