By Gmasonah Togba Aboah, Land Tenure Specialist; Dr. Tatiana Gumucio, Sr. Research & Evaluation Specialist; and Dr. Jessica Hernandez, Climate Change & Land Tenure Specialist
Deforestation in Bong County, Liberia
Year after year, following the cassava harvest, Beatrice Sumo would cut down the remaining stalks and burn her field to clear it for the next planting season.
This agricultural method—sometimes known as “slash-and-burn”—is prevalent where Beatrice lives in rural Bong County, Liberia. It is also common for farmers to use synthetic fertilizers and cut down trees to clear land and produce charcoal. As climate change degrades their land, it has become increasingly difficult for members of Beatrice’s community to produce enough food to last through the year. Farmers are stuck in a vicious cycle: the agricultural methods they rely on to survive are the very ones that destroy soil fertility and reduce climate mitigation potential.
Security through land rights
Beatrice’s community, Diagmah Clan, is one of many communities in Liberia currently undergoing a process to formalize their customarily held land. As part of this process, Diagmah Clan is developing a land use plan in collaboration with local government stakeholders—and with the support of Landesa, integrating sustainable land management practices so they can be more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
The land use plan is one of the final steps Diagmah Clan must complete to gain a legal title to the land they have stewarded for generations. With formal land rights in hand, the community has stronger agency to make decisions related to their land, including investing in their land for the long-term.
Growing resilience with climate-smart agriculture
Everlyne Nairesiae (left) speaking before the CSA training for Diagmah Clan
Earlier this year, Landesa partnered with the national Forestry Development Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, and Liberia Land Authority to conduct climate-smart agriculture (CSA) trainings for Diagmah Clan and another community in neighboring Lofa County, Gbarlin Clan. The trainings offered tools and education around CSA practices and were also an opportunity for community members to draft CSA action plans, integrating their local knowledge with new tools and concepts. Local leaders, who play a key role in not only enforcing laws but also ensuring communities collaborate with government entities for shared goals, joined in attendance.
Training participants—more than half of the 276 people trained across the two clans were women, whose meaningful inclusion in land governance is vital for climate resilience—committed to mitigating and adapting to climate change using methods like creating compost, avoiding burning of bushes, protecting water sources from pollution, and forest conservation. Upon training and sensitization on why CSA is key for sustainable agriculture in the wake of climate change, community members from Diagmah Clan acknowledged that trees and forests are the “lungs of the community” and hence must be protected and conserved.
A woman in her field in Bong County, Liberia
At sustainable land use planning workshops held a few months later, community members discussed how they have been implementing the climate mitigation and adaptation measures identified from the trainings, including sustainable farming techniques, environmental monitoring, and local law enforcement to secure their forests, wetlands, river catchments, and other ecosystems.
New agricultural methods find root
Following the training, Beatrice decided not to burn the vegetation left over from her farm. Instead, she allowed it to decompose and created compost to fertilize her cassava. A few months later, her cassava sprouted and grew roots.
“I feel good about it, because it’s coming up well,” says Beatrice as she shows off her cassava, already as tall as her. “Now that I have plenty of cassava, I will sell some and eat some.”
Beatrice has committed to using organic fertilizers for her crops moving forward, recognizing they are inexpensive to make herself and healthier for both the environment and her food. She is eager to share this knowledge with women and others in her community who did not attend the training, in hopes that they too can reap the benefits of CSA.
Planning for the future
The sustainable land use plans Diagmah and Gbarlin Clans are developing are designed to be both gender-responsive and climate conscious, promoting CSA that increases yields, improves livelihoods, and builds climate-resilient communities. The plans contribute to stronger community agency; with knowledge and tools from the workshops, community members know projected climate conditions and which impacts are within their control, and with the land use plans, they can implement a range of response options.
For farmers like Beatrice, CSA offers an alternative to costly fertilizers and degraded soils. With secure land rights as a foundation, CSA can be a powerful tool for communities to grow their resilience to climate change.