In Sudan, forests are considered among the most important natural resources. Their environmental role in making the first and last defence line against desert creeping southwards, protecting the Nile watershed system and contributing to carbon sequestration in these barren zones of the world give their importance a regional and a global dimension. To protect the country’s natural wealth and at the same time fulfil various national and international commitments, Sudan is taking significant steps to implement activities to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) supports the country in the development...

Agroforestry is gaining new ground in the quest for climate-smart agriculture practices, due to its ability to sequester carbon and mitigate climate change while increasing the socio-economic and environmental sustainability of rural development. However, insecure land and resource tenure is still representing a major obstacle to its promotion and upscaling. Considerable research has established that the likelihood of farmers being able to adopt and reap benefits from agroforestry increases if they have long-term, secure tenure to a sufficiently large area of land and what grows on it. Clarifying land-use policies and regulations, and securing farmers’ access to land is therefore...

Forests as a leading front in nature-based climate solutions, was the key message of the United Nations Climate Action Summit Side Event “Catalysing forest solutions to the climate emergency” organized by the UN-REDD Programme. The event took place as a part of the four-day Nature4Climate Hub, focusing on showcasing climate solutions for forests, soils, food and agriculture, freshwater, ocean and marine ecosystems and wildlife. At the 2008 UN Climate Change Summit, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Prime Minister of Norway Jens Stoltenberg launched the UN-REDD Programme. Precisely eleven years later, the UN-REDD Side Events marks the eve of the 2019...

Promoting zero deforestation agriculture, the case of cocoa farming (agroforestry)

A one-day Steering Committee Meeting took place in Dakar, Senegal on 25 September to discuss the activities under the project “Global transformation of forests for people and climate: A focus on West Africa”. Supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the five-year project aims at protecting West Africa's forests and safeguarding the livelihoods of millions of people who depend on them.   Held on the premises of FAO Subregional Office for West Africa, the meeting gathered the representatives from the three organization...