Within the UN-REDD Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is working with various stakeholders and institutions in the Lower Mekong Region (LMR) to enhance forest governance, sustainability and legality of forest trade as well as data monitoring. In this context, FAO has worked with Viet Nam and other LMR countries to enhance capacities on an innovative forest monitoring system, making use of the recently added near-real-time monitoring capabilities on FAO’s SEPAL platform (sepal.io). This article reflects on the experience of Viet Nam in testing this innovative tool by generating and verifying forest disturbance alerts from medium resolution satellite data. Viet...

Kumasi, Ghana: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in collaboration with the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), is hosting a Regional West Africa Workshop on Forest Data and Drivers of Deforestation from June 24 to June 29, 2024, in Kumasi, Ghana. Funded by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), this six-day intensive training event brings together more than 60forestry experts from across the ECOWAS region to enhance their capabilities in conducting forest inventories and utilizing geospatial tools for improved forest policies for climate action.  This hands-on workshop is a key component of the project "Global...

In the Lower Mekong region, contrasting agricultural practices across the borders of Lao PDR and Viet Nam encapsulate the nuanced challenges and achievements of REDD+ after fifteen years of implementation.   Let's start with the story of imaginary farmer families living on each side of a green border between Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and Viet Nam. In Lao PDR, the farmer family is struggling with rising cost of living – inflation doubled with the plummeting value of the currency. The family does not need to think long before turning to the lowest hanging cash generating fruit - cassava. It takes next...

Banjul, The Gambia - May 7, 2024. The annual Steering Committee Meeting on the Global Forest Transformation for People and Climate project, Tuesday convened in Banjul as part of collaborative effortsbetween the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to promote forest conservation initiatives and climate resilience in the subregion. This event holds significant importance given the urgent need to address the escalating challenges facing West Africa's forests. With deforestation rates rising and climate change impacts worsening, the collaborative efforts of Sida, FAO,...

N’Guessan Amlan Monique is a 64-year-old widow and mother of 4 children. She is a cocoa producer in Ebikro-N’Dakro in the South Comoé region. Her husband's death nearly 20 years ago left her emotionally empty and she struggled with financial difficulties that she has to face alone. As a widow, she now has the responsibility of feeding and taking care of her children. For the sixty-year-old, a day's work starts at 7:30 am and ends at 12:30 pm. Every day, she struggles by working for the future of her children through her 1-hectare cocoa plantation, even though she lacks the labor...