Water bunds or “earth smiles” capture rainwater that would otherwise runoff over dry, barren soil. By allowing the water to seep into the ground, rapid regreening of large areas is possible in a short timeframe. As vegetation thrives and biodiversity flourishes, plants absorb carbon dioxide, effectively acting as a natural carbon sink. This helps offset greenhouse gas emissions, thus contributing to climate stabilization. The restoration also enhances soil health, reducing erosion and enhancing water retention capacity. This supports agricultural productivity and strengthens local communities' resilience against climate-related challenges. Over 315,000 earth smiles have been implemented across project sites in Kenya and Tanzania and they have been instrumental in regreening 39,060,000 square meters of arid land. This collective effort showcases the significant role of partnerships and community engagement in fostering a more sustainable future for both nature and the climate.
Climatelinks Photo Gallery
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Welcome to the Climatelinks photo gallery. Here you can find a range of climate change and development photos from our photo contest, our blogs, and USAID’s Flickr sites. Submit your photos to the photo gallery here.
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MI-S trained medical laboratory scientists read test results of a malaria rapid diagnostic test. Accurate diagnosis ensures that only people confirmed with malaria infections receive antimalarial treatment, which helps prevent unnecessary use of antimalaria medications, reducing healthcare demands and minimizing the carbon emissions associated with pharmaceutical production, transportation, and disposal.
USAID's Water Engineering Services Activity (WES) aims to upgrade and expand the South Amman Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is currently under strain. By enhancing effluent quality and improving the local reuse system, the treated effluent will be fully utilized for irrigation, which will promote greenery while reducing the demand for freshwater resources. This will enable water diversification for other purposes, like expanding access to clean water. WES’s Local Reuse Network project fosters collaboration between farmers and promotes the use of treated effluent for expanded farming activities. This innovative approach enhances water utilization, contributing to climate-resilient farming practices.
The South Amman Wastewater Treatment Plant discharges excess effluent to an old carbonate pond. USAID's Water Engineering Services Activity (WES) aims to upgrade and expand the plant to address potential adverse environmental and social consequences. Through WES's Local Reuse Network project, local farmers are being actively encouraged to utilize the plant’s treated effluent for expanded farming activities. This initiative is expected to significantly boost the utilization of the treated effluent.
USAID's Water Engineering Services Activity (WES) is committed to upgrading and expanding the overloaded Fuhais and Maheis Wastewater Treatment Plant. The existing treatment plant has two maturation ponds, one of which will be utilized for the new treatment plant upgrade and expansion. This project aims to boost the plant's efficiency and enhance the quality of its effluent. By doing so, it will enable the utilization of Jordan’s limited water resources for other purposes, leading to increased access to clean water and enhanced living conditions for the surrounding community.
Most disaster management interventions rely on services to people who can see, hear, and respond to instructions. Often, critical information is presented in languages and formats not accessible to the Deaf. These practices contribute to the escalating disparity encountered by the Deaf in accessing social protection programs, particularly in climate disaster preparedness and resilience.
Rommel Agravante, a sign language researcher and a member of the Filipino Deaf community, interviewed Deaf residents of Cavite City about the challenges they faced during calamities to document the signs used for climate-related concepts. Using signs and climate-related images posted on the wall, Marites, Merlinda, and Rosario shared how they were unable to evacuate in time during typhoons and detailed the difficulties they endured. Signs, including variations, employed in their narration will aid Rommel and other researchers in establishing the lexicon for effectively communicating weather- and climate-related concepts to Deaf communities.
The Oscar M. Lopez Center, with the support of USAID through its project entitled Signs for Inclusive Governance and Development or Project SIGND, works with Deaf organizations to create a lexicon for Filipino Sign Language to improve their preparedness and adaptive capacities to climate-related risks and disasters.
Female workers and farmers handle crops in the Bekaa valley in Lebanon to produce high quality sustainable pepper paste, rose jam, and other indigenous products. All of the farmers are either women at risk or part of the LGBTQIA+ community in a country where both communities face oppression.
Chanthy Sari, a young indigenous Bunong student, is reading out aloud to other students in the Jahoo Conservation Club. Chanty participates in one of the afterschool educational initiatives programs implemented by World Hope International’s USAID Morodok Baitang key partner. The programs promote pride in the indigenous culture, and support other efforts within the community aimed to support conservation and management of natural resources inside the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary (KSWS) where the community lives. Bunong communities and biodiversity in KSWS are under increasing threat from forest loss and fragmentation driven by illegal logging, land conversion, hunting, and wildlife trade, exacerbating the poverty and marginalization of the Bunong.
The text on the board reads, “It is important to cease the practice of hunting or killing animals for food and to refrain from cutting down forests as they serve as a home to various wildlife. The male Red Muntjac's horn grows from the bones on its head and it is considered the smallest deer species in the world.”
A young volunteer from the Center for Higher Secondary Education participating in a beach cleanup organized by the U.S. Mission to Maldives and the American Center. Volunteers from this school collected 66.1KG of plastic, 9.7KG of metal, and 15.4KG of miscellaneous waste, demonstrating the need to tackle plastic pollution.
The cleanup set the stage for the launch of the five-year USAID Ocean Plastics Reduction Activity in the Maldives under the 'Save Our Seas Initiative'. Focused on diminishing environmental plastics and enhancing integrated solid waste management in Sri Lanka and Maldives, the initiative addresses climate change through mitigation of ocean plastics pollution. Implementing a systems-strengthening approach, the project consortium aims to reduce dependence on virgin plastics, improve waste management, and prevent countless tons of plastic from polluting our oceans.
Habiba is the president of a sheep breeding cooperative in a small village in Morocco. This women-owned cooperative has been hit with shock after shock, including high feed prices caused by the worst drought in over a decade and sheep dying from illnesses. However, with USAID’s support through the Cooperative Financing Program, these women and the other members of their cooperative are developing resilience to these storms. By providing capital funding to 1,400 cooperatives, they were able to purchase enough feed for six months. In the future, they hope to build a well and cultivate land for the sheep to graze.
Habiba is the president of a sheep breeding cooperative in a small village in Morocco. This women-owned cooperative has been hit with shock after shock, including high feed prices caused by the worst drought in over a decade and sheep dying from illnesses. However, with USAID’s support through the Cooperative Financing Program, these women and the other members of their cooperative are developing resilience to these storms. By providing capital funding to 1,400 cooperatives, they were able to purchase enough feed for six months. In the future, they hope to build a well and cultivate land for the sheep to graze.
Moroccan farmers and agricultural cooperatives have been hit with shock after shock due to the effects of climate change. Sheep have died en masse from disease, and the worst drought in more than a decade has contributed to exponential spikes in feed prices. Through the Cooperative Financing Program, USAID and partner GiveDirectly are providing working capital funding of 90,000 Dirhams equivalent to approximately $9,000 to over 1,400 farming cooperatives in Morocco in order to strengthen resilience to shocks such as climate change through economic growth activities. Cooperative Fallahat Ahmar is now weathering these storms and making strategic investments in equipment and resources to reduce costs, expand their production, and adapt to the realities of climate change. The cooperative purchased two additional cows, 1,200 olive trees, and solar panels to replace the gas used each day to pump water.
An employee of Viridis (PVT) Ltd, one of the leading service providers in mixed plastic waste management in Sri Lanka, is weighing collected plastic waste from local women, identified through the Sobakantha Women's Organization. This forms part of an innovative 'waste to wealth' concept, enabled by the partnership between USAID Ocean Plastics Reduction Activity, Ceylon Cold Stores, Viridis PVT Ltd, and the Sobakantha Women’s Organization.
The project uses a systems-strengthening approach, working alongside local partners to target system inefficiencies and areas of reliance on virgin plastics. The aim is to increase participation in Reduce, Reuse, Recycle programs and prevent thousands of tons of plastic from entering the environment. Simultaneously, it also enhances livelihoods by monetizing plastic waste collection. This initiative highlights the power of collective effort in combating climate change, supporting sustainable waste management and fostering economic empowerment.
Hanatu Ahmadu is a direct sales agent making income from the sale of solar-powered products. Ahmadu is advocating for the adoption of solar-powered products at Nipost Plaze, Gombe town, Gombe State, Nigeria. The Rural Resilience Activity partnered with Solar Sister to provide an alternative source of power to rural communities in Nigeria Northeast, who are off the national grid due to the erratic power supply and high cost of electricity. The generation of electricity from solar panels does not generate any greenhouse gasses, and thus has the potential to mitigate the adverse environmental impacts of utilizing a carbon-generating, fossil fuel-powered electricity generator.
Deforestation rates in Nigeria are among the highest anywhere in the world. These forests function as essential watersheds, provide a habitat for rare and endangered species such as the Cross River gorilla, and help mitigate the impact of climate change. The impacts of deforestation are significant: destroying local watersheds disrupting water supplies; worsening the impact of climate change; and reducing levels of biodiversity.
One of the main causes of deforestation in the landscape is the expansion of unsustainable cocoa farming. With the support from USAID, the Wildlife Conservation Society is working with cocoa farmers around Cross River National Park to grow more environmentally friendly cocoa that reduces levels of deforestation, protects local watersheds, the national park and biodiversity.
USAID's Ocean Plastics Reduction Activity was part of a consultation process about waste management at Dhigurah in Alif Dhaal Atoll, Maldives. The project met with the local island council and Women and Development Council to discuss their plans, challenges, and needs in managing solid waste. These interactions are critical in shaping the strategy of the USAID Ocean Plastics Reduction Activity in Maldives. Effective climate action and sustainable waste management are not only possible but achievable through collaboration.
The USAID Ocean Plastics Reduction Activity, part of the broader 'Save Our Seas Initiative', is a five-year project that aims to reduce environmental plastic pollution. The initiative targets system inefficiencies and areas of reliance on virgin plastics in Sri Lanka and Maldives, working to decrease plastic inputs and improve integrated solid waste management (SWM) practices. It seeks to mobilize funding for SWM and 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle) programs, thereby preventing thousands of tons of plastic from leaking into the environment.