Smallholding farmers in Asia are prone to shocks and pressures from climate change and external socio-political conditions. Their vulnerability is particularly due to their weak capacity and limited access to capital (financial, physical, social, human and natural) that can improve their livelihoods.
Climate-smart, Tree-Based, Co-investment in Adaptation and Mitigation in Asia (Smart Tree-Invest) is a new action-research project coordinated by the World Agroforestry Centre Southeast Asia Regional Program, supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development and the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry’s component on Landscape Management of Forested Areas for Environmental Services, Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihoods.
Smart Tree-Invest aims to improve smallholders’ resilience to climate change through the development of environmental co-investment schemes.
In Indonesia, the project takes place in Buol district, Central Sulawesi. Located in the northern part of Sulawesi Island, the coastal part of Buol is directly exposed to the Celebes Sea while the agroforested area in the upstream of its main watershed is threatened with oil-palm conversion.
Following initial observation and discussions with the District Development Planning Agency (Bappeda), an inception workshop was held in Buol on 24 June 2014. The workshop was an official introduction of the Smart Tree-Invest to stakeholders and provided an arena to confirm the initial findings prior to the research activities and development of co-investment schemes. In addition to the local stakeholders, participants also joined from the national and district management units of the Rural Empowerment and Agricultural Development (READ) project (also supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture) and the University of Tadulako (state university in Central Sulawesi).
Dr Amiruddin Rauf, district head of Buol, opened the workshop and explained the development plan being implemented by the district government from 2013 to 2017. The high value of Buol’s natural resources provided many opportunities for agriculture, however, farmers were mostly poor. Considering the situation, the district development plan was mainly aimed at improving agricultural and natural resources management.
L to R: Dr Amiruddin Rauf, district head of Buol; Dr Betha Lusiana, Smart Tree-Invest Indonesia project coordinator; Dr Beria Leimona, Smart Tree-Invest project coordinator. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Dienda Citasyari
Dr Beria Leimona, project coordinator of Smart Tree-Invest, introduced the concept of agroforestry, smallholders’ vulnerability, ecosystem services, payments for ecosystem services and co-investment in ecosystem services. Special emphasize was put on the concept of co-investment in provision of ecosystem services so it wouldn’t be mistaken with profit-oriented investment. Dr Leimona also shared the lessons learned from the Rewarding Upland Poor for Environmental Services project, which the World Agroforestry Centre led in several countries in Southeast Asia from 2002 to 2012.
The workshop continued with a presentation about detailed project activities from Dr Betha Lusiana, Smart Tree-Invest coordinator for Indonesia. Dr Lusiana noted that the Smart Tree-Invest will be carried out from 2014 to 2017 and in the first year will focus on assessing the gender-based vulnerability of smallholders and the role of landscapes in providing multiple ecosystem services. In the second and third years, the research results will be used to engage stakeholders in developing co-investment schemes in provision of ecosystem services. The research and co-investment in Buol district will be developed in two landscape clusters: coastal and watershed.
After lunch, the workshop continued with focus-group discussions to gather information about the cluster sites. The participants were divided into two discussion groups: coastal and watershed. The research officers from the World Agroforestry Centre facilitated the discussions to reveal the issues in each cluster.
Under Indonesia’s decentralized political system, local governments are required to have the capacity to plan and implement programs. However, it is not unusual for local governments to develop their plans without scientific evidence.
In the workshop, the head of Buol district conveyed his appreciation that the World Agroforestry Centre had selected Buol for Smart Tree-Invest activities. He expected that scientific evidence from research by Smart Tree-Invest can be linked with the existing program and provide the basis for district planning in the period 2017–2022.
For the World Agroforestry Centre, working in this particular landscape of Sulawesi is a new experience. However, the Agroforestry and Forestry in Sulawesi: Knowledge to Action project, with support from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Canada, had been operating in other provinces of Sulawesi Island for several years and there were clear opportunities for shared learning between the two projects and the READ project.
With the warm welcome from the district government and its commitment to support the project, the Smart Tree-Invest Indonesia team were confident they could deliver the research results that will provide reliable scientific evidence for development programs and co-investment schemes to help farmers improve their resilience and livelihoods.
The workshop participants. Photo: World Agroforestry Centre/Dienda Citasyari
This work is supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry’s component on Landscape Management of Forested Areas for Environmental Services, Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihoods
