As the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29) convenes this week ‘in solidarity for a green world’, delegates will be seeking ways to control temperatures while leaving no one behind. The COP29 Presidency has commendably shared its commitment to ensure everyone’s voices are heard in order to deliver inclusive outcomes based on shared solutions.
In that spirit, I would like to share a story from Ethiopia showcasing the transformative power of using an inclusive approach to tackle climate change. People living near Abijatta-Shalla National Park in Ethiopia’s Central Rift Valley are one of many rural communities heavily bearing the brunt of climate extremes such as severe droughts and flooding.
The instability has unbalanced land use practices as people are forced to compete for dwindling resources, leading to overgrazing and land degradation. Challenging? Yes. Insurmountable? No.
Thanks to an inclusive and innovative approach, at Abijatta-Shalla great progress has been made in restoring the ecosystem people and wildlife depend on, even in the face of climate change.
Conflict and crisis
Historically, in an effort to protect park biodiversity, grazing within the park was prohibited. Unfortunately, this gave rise to long-standing conflict between park management and local pastoralists and agro-pastoralists who rely on these lands to sustain their livestock.
Severe droughts intensified the problem, causing widespread flouting of grazing restrictions to save livestock. As a result, the park suffered from extensive land degradation and dwindling biodiversity. Some areas were barren for over 20 years.
It was time for things to change.
Rangeland restoration through partnership
As discussed in Farm Africa’s recent publication Reviving nature’s symphony: the triumph of participatory rangeland management in transforming a degraded landscape, the key to overcoming these issues was involving the local community in the management of degraded rangelands within park boundaries.
In 2022, Farm Africa began working with the community and park management to improve livelihood opportunities while restoring and protecting the deteriorating rangelands. After a period of negotiation, in April 2022, the Mansa Participatory Rangeland Management Cooperative, with members from 462 local households, was established and given a mandate from park management to restore and sustainably manage a 558-hectare area of degraded land within the park.
The speed of transformation has been astonishing. In just 18 months, 95 per cent of the barren lands within the Mansa boundary have been restored. The re-greening of barren lands has significantly reduced soil and wind erosion, which has reduced siltation in the adjacent Abijatta Lake. With the improved water quality, fish populations and bird species have rebounded.
The long-standing conflict between the local community and the park has also resolved; the two are now working in partnership to protect the park’s vital resources.
“The lake, which was almost dry, has now recovered; fishes that had disappeared for 30 years are now back. To our surprise, bird species have returned. These birds had been gone for many years,” Ato Aschalew Tsegaye, Chief Warden of Abijatta-Shalla National Park, said in reaction to the progress made.
The secret to success
How did the Mansa cooperative do it? By adapting their livelihood strategies, as people in these lands have been doing for thousands of years.
With guidance from Farm Africa, cooperative members have implemented a new system for feeding livestock. The community now respects the grazing restrictions set out by the Mansa cooperative because, in exchange, coop members sustainably harvest the lush regrowth of wild grass to provide an abundant local source of fodder feed for livestock.
These grass bundles can be stored and also sold to generate capital for other coop livelihood enterprises. In their first harvest, the cooperative harvested 7,400 grass bundles from just 40 hectares, with an estimated value of 18,667 USD. Upon completing the harvesting of the remaining 396 hectares, revenue from sales could increase to approximately 136,000 USD.
With this new income stream, the coop has been able to invest in bull fattening (buying animals, increasing their weight and selling for a profit), securing a net profit of approximately 23,000 USD within a year. Profits from coop activities are being reinvested to develop diversified livelihood enterprises, with members receiving annual dividends.
The local community is also benefitting from the rebounding fish stocks, which has brought increased food security for local people and new economic opportunities in fishing.
“Previously, I didn’t engage in fishing due to the prolonged decline in fish resources. I now fish seven days a week. Additionally, the use of boats benefits around eight to ten jobless youth groups per day,” said Obbo Dita Akawak, a member of the community.
A high return on investment in rangeland restoration
Perhaps most astonishing of all is the price tag for this restoration. The Mansa coop has required minimal start-up investment and has become self-sustaining within 18 months.
With the local community now respecting and enforcing grazing restrictions, the ecosystem has rebounded naturally and rapidly with little additional intervention.
The success at Abijatta-Shalla showcases what can be achieved by acknowledging and channelling the powerful relationship between human beings and their ecosystems.
We can’t protect our ecosystems without considering the livelihood needs of the people that rely on them. We can’t improve human livelihoods without protecting the ecosystems they rely on. When these are jointly planned and jointly executed, we unlock a powerful force for change.
The Abijatta-Shalla restoration project is part of Farm Africa’s Nature-based Solutions for Sustainable and Inclusive Development programme, funded by Sida. Read more about the Abijatta-Shalla restoration project, and hear the story as told by Mansa cooperative members, in Farm Africa’s latest project report: Reviving nature’s symphony: the triumph of participatory rangeland management in transforming a degraded landscape.