Climatelinks Photo Gallery

It was a relatively simple shift, but required a big leap of faith on the part of thousands of smallholder coffee farmers growing Arabica trees in southern Shan State. Specialty coffee experts partnering with USAID's Value Chains for Rural Development project in Myanmar suggested that farmers experiment with a new way to add value to their coffee by "sun-drying" it atop easy-to-build, ventilated tables that could be built cheaply with bamboo and mesh. By doing so, they could tap into the growing global specialty market for sundried natural Arabica, harness the sun's energy and avoid the need to use large volumes of water required to produce "washed" coffees. It worked, and, combined with new market linkages fostered by the project and partners, Shan coffee farmers are now earning 2-4 times more for their sustainably produced, sundried natural Arabica than they previously earned. What's more, producers and processors in the region have formed new businesses, are attracting bank financing and are now selling directly to high-end domestic and global specialty coffee buyers.

In Myanmar, thousands of small, backyard coffee plantations dot the landscape in mountainous Shan State. In places like Hopong Township, they provide extra income and an alternative to poppy production. Most of the small coffee farms are tended and harvested by women, because they are planted close to home. New production practices introduced by USAID's Value Chains for Rural Development project, implemented by Winrock International, over the past four years have been widely adopted by women growers, who have become champions of a new way of coffee cultivation that is generating increased incomes through quality premiums. New, community-managed coffee processing stations in Hopong and other areas around the country are making use of raised drying tables that use the sun's power to dry coffee cherries, reducing the need to use water for washed or "wet" processed coffee. The new methods have resulted in award-winning coffees that are now available in Myanmar's finest specialty cafes and, increasingly coveted by importers willing to pay good prices directly to farmers for a sustainably farmed product.

Ganesh Rokaya (Left) and Deepa Poudel (Right) are Community Business Facilitators (CBFs) and Plant Doctors in Surkhet District Nepal. Together they are conducting a Plant Clinic diagnosing samples to recommend safe Integrated Pest Management (IPM) bio solutions for disease and pest problems that are made worse by climate change. CBFs earn commissions on agro sales and provide training to smallholder customers. Ganesh and Deepa each earn about $1,100/year working part time as CBFs, providing services respectively to 750 and 800 mainly women smallholder customers respectively. On average they help their customers earn over $450/year selling vegetables. Ganesh and Deepa were trained to be CBFs by the USAID IPM Innovation Lab (IPM-IL, 2015-19) led Globally by Virginia Tech and in Nepal by partner iDE. They use IPM-based recommendations developed by the IPM-IL working with Government. The IPM-IL in partnership with the global CABI Plant Wise program trained 44 CBFs to become Plant Doctors. Plant Doctors receive intensive training, have access to online databases, and are backstopped by Nepal’s plant protection services. Ganesh and Deepa have extended safe technologies to successfully control the devastating exotic Tuta Absoluta Tomato pest that arrived in 2016. (Photo by Bimala Rai Colavito, iDE Volunteer, 12/31/18)

Water debit and quality of Ake Gaale spring’s retention pond have increased after the infiltration ponds were built. The infiltration ponds construction is one of the key recommendations of the Spring Vulnerability Assessment and Action Plan (KKMA) that Ternate city government and USAID IUWASH PLUS has conducted since early 2017. Based on the assessment result, Ternate city government expects to build 1,000 infiltration ponds to restore Ake Gaale water quantity and quality.

In Malawi, volunteer members of the community watershed committee are helping maintain a stony wall in the watershed area of Kublang in March 2017. The USAID-funded UBALE (United in Building and Advancing Life Expectations) project trains farmers in watershed management methods to ensure the sustainable use of resources and preserve the watershed. Watershed functions are threatened in this area by poor farming systems, erosion, deforestation, and drought. The goal of UBALE is to sustainably reduce food insecurity and build resilience among 250,000 vulnerable households in the Blantyre Rural, Chikwawa, and Nsanje districts of southern Malawi.

A model family farmer in Mozambique is learning about conservation agriculture and sharing this knowledge with her community of fellow farmers. With better practices, she is seeing improved yields. With improved yields, her and her community able to sell more maize to generate income to support their families.

Feed the Future Resilient Agricultural Markets Activity Beira Corridor (RAMA-BC).

August 2019.

Image taken in Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic. This image reflects the work done by a group of 5 young people who were introduced to coral restoration as a method of adaptation to climate change in coastal areas. The works were carried out under the Climate Risk Reduction Program.

In this photo, a stream nourishes a diverse array of water lilies and vines in the Barconnie Community Forest, Grand Bassa County, Liberia. Despite wide-spread pressure by private logging companies to harvest timber from Liberia's community forests, the Barconnie Community Forest Management Body recognized the potential of the forest to support scientific research, given its close proximity to Liberia's capital city, Monrovia, and the presence of native forest buffalo and other wildlife and plants of conservation value. The 600 hectare forest, largely made up of carbon-rich mangrove swamp, was conserved in perpetuity by the local CFMB after they conducted a forest and biodiversity inventory supported by the USAID Forest Incomes for Environmental Sustainability Activity in March 2019.

Mirarisoa village, Haute Matsiatra Region in Central Madagascar. April 9, 2019.

The acacia tree is highly recommended for reforestation because of its rapid growth. It is possible to obtain an acacia forest within five years after planting. The ASOTRY project chose this type of tree for its reforestation activity because it nourishes the soil by fixing nitrogen and restoring fertility benefits, and because it retains water. Marie, a nursery agent, planted 5,500 seedlings of acacia on her family's land.

The members of a local Disaster and Risk Management committee in Belamboa bas Village, South-West region of Madagascar, in April 02, 2019, planting cactus seedlings.

This region is Madagascar is hit by a chronic drought, that causes severe food insecurity among the community and their cattle. When the local Disaster and Risk Management Committee received support from ASOTRY project, funded by USAID/FFP, to implement a disaster management plan, they decided to plant cactus on a 4 hectares field, as a coping measure to food shortage for the cattle. Cactus is known to be resilient to hot and dry climates.

USAID Adaptasi Perubahan Iklim dan Ketangguhan (USAID APIK) conducted a participatory climate vulnerability and risk assessment in 2017, noting that tidal wave has occurred repeatedly in Segoro Tambak Village, Sidoarjo District, East Java Province, Indonesia and affected a community that is 80% dependent on fisheries. The wave gushed over embankments and flooded houses and roads in the village, causing livelihood and infrastructure damage.
USAID APIK and community members pursued a collaboration with the Marine and Fisheries Polytechnic of Sidoarjo to apply a silvofishery method. Silvofishery is a sustainable fishery technique that promotes conservation through mangroves cultivation alongside embankments.
"I never realized that mangrove has many advantages. I realized that it will take a couple of years before the tree is fully-grown, but I am sure it will be worth it,” said Kodro, a fish farmer in Segoro Tambak. Mangroves are renowned as an important component of climate adaptation and mitigation due to its carbon storage capacities and ability to protect terrain from sea-level rises. Therefore, silvofishery is a suitable adaptation strategy for Segoro Tambak, as it will help strengthen the community’s resilience by ensuring the sustainability of the village’s livelihood source and environment.

Photo Date: June 6, 2018

In Sumberbrantas Village, Batu City, East Java Province, Indonesia, a group of women farmers organized themselves and named them as Berkah Mandiri Women Farmer Group. Recognizing the group’s potential in improving economic resilience, USAID Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience (Adaptasi Perubahan Iklim dan Ketangguhan - APIK) project collaborates with food security office of Batu City in conducting a series of training on organic farming. The topic of organic farming was selected because the group realizes the health benefits of organic food and also the increasing demand in the local market along with the development of tourism in Batu city.

To Mrs Arik and Mrs Anik, joining the group is beneficial to them. “Our knowledge has definitely improved. We are also very happy to be able to share with other women, to hone our skills in making snacks, as well as to meet household’s demand. For example, we used to buy shallots, now we produce them in the garden. From the group’s business we generate additional income,” they said. By supporting the women farmers group, USAID APIK hopes to strengthen the economic resilience of the community in facing uncertainty.

Photo date: June 5, 2018.

A young girl from Parsa Rural Municipality in Sarlahi pumps water from a tube well at her house in June 2019. Young girls in Nepal such as this one often hold the familial responsibility of procuring water for their household. As climate change increasingly threatens water supplies in Nepal this responsibility is becoming more and more burdensome, reinforcing unequal gender divisions of labour and marginalizing girls from economic activities. IWMI’s work to combat such discords is completed in partnership with the DFAT Water for Women Fund.

An International Water Management Institute (IWMI) colleague inspects a rural village water tank built in Shikharpur, Baitadi, Nepal in 2017. Climate change is drying out many of the mountain springs in Western Nepal, forcing rural villages to adapt and find new water sources. Water tanks ensure a stable water supply for entire villages even as spring flow depletes. Building Climate Resilience of Watersheds in Mountain Eco-Regions (BCRWME) is the first component of Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR) of Nepal. The project is carried out by IWMI, along with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Nordic Development Fund, and the Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management.

Bataraza, Palawan, Philippines, June 18, 2019.
By Jessie Cereno, Talakatha Creatives

A woman farmer sows rice seeds in what used to be a slash-and-burn area of Mount Mantalingahan in southern Palawan, Philippines. Slash-and-burn farming has become rampant in the mountain, aggravating occasional timber poaching and hunting of threatened species like the talking mynah and blue-naped parrot, which are popular pets even among the locals.

To establish and strengthen financing support for sustainable agricultural production in target communities within the Mount Mantalingahan Protected Landscape, the USAID-funded Protect Wildlife Project holds capacity-building workshops for local farmers in project sites. These farmers are now learning how to make their ancestral land more productive.

Protecting the forest and stopping illegal wildlife trade is a livelihood issue. One cannot just tell the person to stop hunting birds without offering alternative livelihood. By introducing a better source of income or livelihood, controlling the spread of slash-and-burn areas, the project hopes to reduce the human pressure on Mount Mantalingahan, so that the protected area can perform its natural functions in helping mitigate climate change.

The U.S. Forest Service International Programs, through USAID’s Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment, is working in Central Africa to train communities on improved fire management. Uncontrolled fires pose a huge threat to Central African forests and can cause large releases of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere when burned, further exacerbating the effects of climate change. However, fire within forest-savannah mosaic landscapes in the Congo Basin can be both a management tool as well as a threat. If used in a sustainable manner, fire can help maintain pastureland and protect forests, farms, plantations, and villages. If used haphazardly, intentional and accidental fires can burn out of control, impacting large areas and threatening villages, farms, and forests. Here, during a trailing in May 2017, a local “fire brigade” is trained in how to control and suppress fire so that they can better deal with uncontrolled fires in their communities.