This easy-to-use App shows you data on the distribution of indigenous tree species in different natural vegetation types, combined with information on the products and services that the tree species can provide. It arms you – local community members, government agencies, private sector owners, and other land managers – with the information you need to select the best tree species for your landscape restoration or agroforestry effort.
Tag: access to information
Applying Human-centered Design Methods in User Co-design of Decision Dashboards in IFAD ASAP Projects
This project has tailored a method of co-design from its initiation, lead by project staff and linked stakeholders in each country. The project facilitates stakeholder- and user-centered design of a ‘decision dashboard’ as a central location to view and interact with key information and data. The aim of the dashboard is to allow for the integration of evidence into decision-making processes at several scales, to assist in baseline assessments, targeting of interventions and monitoring of changes over time.
An assessment of mobile phone-based dissemination of weather and market information in the Upper West Region of Ghana
Background: The rapid growth of mobile phones in Ghana has opened up the possibility of delivering timely and useful weather and market information to farmers at costs lower than traditional agricultural extension services. In this paper, we assess the usefulness, constraints, and factors likely to influence farmers’ decisions to patronize mobile phone-based weather and market information. Methods: We rely on primary data from 310 farmers in the Upper West Region, an understudied part of Ghana. We subject the data to three types of analysis. First, we model farmers’ decision to patronize mobile phone-based weather and market information by estimating a binary logit model. Second, we use descriptive statistics and hypothesis testing to analyse the level of usefulness of mobile phone-based weather and market information. We disaggregate the analysis by sex, income status, and age group. Finally, we use qualitative analysis to summarize the constraints associated with the utilization of mobile phone-based weather and market information. Results: We find that contact with agricultural extension agents and farmer-to-farmer extension services significantly influences farmers’ decision to patronize mobile phone-based weather and market information. Regardless of sex, income status, and age group, farmers generally rate mobile phone-based weather and market information as very useful. We identify inexact information, complex text messages, information that are too costly to implement, and poor infrastructure as the constraints to the utilization of mobile phone-based weather and market information. Conclusion: In order to improve the utilization of mobile phone-based weather and market information, disseminators of mobile phone-based information such as Esoko should constantly update and provide client-specific information. Improvements in mobile phone networks and related services will enhance the utilization of mobile phone-based weather and market information. © 2017 The Author(s).
Mapping the information landscape of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration Strategy
The strategy of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration identifies three pathways for action for overcoming six global barriers thought to hamper upscaling. We evaluated 6,023 peer-reviewed and gray literature papers published over the last two decades to map the information landscape underlying the barriers and associated pathways for action across world regions, terrestrial ecosystem types, restorative interventions and their outcomes. Overall, the literature addressed more the financial and legislative barriers than the technical and research-related ones, supporting the view that social, economic and political factors hamper scaling up ecosystem restoration. Latin America, Africa, and North America were the most prominent regions in the literature, yet differed in the number of publications addressing each barrier. An overwhelming number of publications focused on forests (78%), while grasslands (6%), drylands (3%), and mangroves (2%) received less attention. Across the three pathways for action, the action lines on (1) promoting long-term ecosystem restoration actions and monitoring and (2) education on restoration were the most underrepresented in the literature. In general, restorative interventions assessed rendered positive outcomes except those of a political, legislative or financial nature which reported negative or inconclusive outcomes. Our indicative assessment reveals critical information gaps on barriers, pathways, and types of restorative interventions across world regions, particularly related to specific social issues such as education for ecosystem restoration. Finally, we call for refining “strength of evidence” assessment frameworks that can systematically appraise, synthesize and integrate information on traditional and practitioner knowledge as two essential components for improving decision-making in ecosystem restoration.
Co-producing theory of change to operationalize integrated landscape approaches
Integrated landscape approaches that engage diverse stakeholder groups in landscape governance are increasingly promoted to address linked social–ecological challenges in tropical landscapes. Recent research suggests that a transdisciplinary approach to landscape management can help identify common research needs, enhance knowledge co-production, guide evidence-based policy development, and harmonize cross-sectorial integration. Meanwhile, guiding principles for landscape approaches suggest that identifying common concerns and negotiating a process of change are fundamental to implementation and evaluation efforts. As such, the use of decision support tools such as theory of change models that build ordered sequences of actions towards a desired, and agreed, future state are increasingly advocated. However, the application of the theory of change concept to integrated landscape approaches is limited thus far, particularly within the scientific literature. Here, we address this gap by applying the principles of landscape approaches and knowledge co-production to co-produce a theory of change to address current unsustainable landscape management and associated conflicts in the Kalomo Hills Local Forest Reserve No. P.13 (KFR13) of Zambia. The participatory process engaged a diverse range of stakeholders including village head people, local and international researchers, district councillors, and civil society representatives amongst others. Several pathways, actions, and interventions were developed around the themes of deforestation, biodiversity and wildlife conservation, socio-economic development, access rights, and law enforcement. To make the theory of change actionable, participants identified a need for enhanced cross-sector and multi-level communication, capacity development, and improved governance, while a lack of commitment towards coordinated knowledge exchange and access to information along with poor policy formulation and weak enforcement of rules were among potential impediments to action. Use of theory of change can both inform evidence-based policy design (by revealing place-based challenges and proposing solutions) and support policy mechanisms that promote integration between state and non-state actors (by clarifying actor rights, roles and responsibilities). Co-developing a theory of change for integrated landscape management is inherently context specific, but the process and outcomes of this study should hold relevance across a range of contexts faced with sustainability challenges related to reconciling both conservation and development objectives.
Examining support for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the context of REDD+ in Indonesia
Summary
- This flyer presents findings on research examining ten criteria regarding the level of support for Indigenous People and local community (IPLC) rights in the context of REDD+ in Indonesia.
- Indonesia has been involved in REDD+ from the outset and has developed various instruments to support its implementation, including a safeguards information system (SIS) that includes social safeguards recognizing the rights of IPLCs.
- IPLC rights are mentioned in different implementing regulations in piecemeal fashion, e.g., aspects of free, prior and informed consent in regulations on access to information or protection of human rights. In contrast, rights to land and forest tenure are much more comprehensive, e.g., through schemes under the Social Forestry programme.
- The implementation of safeguards for REDD+ and other forest-based initiatives must engage customary (adat) communities and respect their rights, knowledge and participation, as highlighted in Indonesia’s updated nationally determined contribution (NDC).
Digital sequence information is changing the way genetic resources are used in agricultural research and development: implications for new benefit-sharing norms
This paper analyses the ways in which CGIAR Centers use digital sequence information (DSI) in their efforts to conserve and sustainably utilize the world’s most important crop and livestock genetic diversity. The paper then reflects on which of the benefit-sharing options currently under consideration by the Contracting Parties to the CBD (and the versions of those options that must be considered by the Governing Body of the Plant Treaty and the UN FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture) would provide effective policy support for the continued use of DSI in agricultural research and development in the future.
Payments for Forest Environmental Services in Viet Nam: Strengthening effectiveness through monitoring and evaluation
Key messages
- Through participatory research, engagement and capacity-building activities, CIFOR has supported the development of a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mechanism for Viet Nam’s nationwide Payments for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) scheme.
- At national level, CIFOR research informed a benefit-sharing mechanism, the financial management of PFES, a new Forestry Law adopted in 2017, and other decrees and decisions related to PFES implementation. In Son La Province, CIFOR research informed a decision on its benefit-sharing mechanism. CIFOR has also supported government agencies in their applications for additional funding.
- In collaboration with the Vietnam Forest Protection and Development Fund, CIFOR helped to normalize the concept of M&E, meaning central and provincial government stakeholders are now more aware of the need to carry out rigorous PFES impact assessments, have the methods to do, and have access to information on the effectiveness of their PFES program.
- Civil society organisations are now monitoring PFES activities in Dak Lak and Thua Thien Hue provinces, based on CIFOR research and training.
- In 2016, CIFOR received a government award for its outstanding contribution to the forestry sector, notably for its work on PFES.
Effect of rural farmers’ access to information on price and profits in Cameroon
In rural land-locked areas of Africa, access to information about market prices can have a fundamental effect on the prices and profits of farmers. However, it is not clear how farmers organise to have better access to market and what role telephones can play in reducing access to information. A semi-structured questionnaire which served as a tool for data collection was administered to 225 farmers in Pinyin Clan of the North-West region. Descriptive statistics and the Analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to evaluate price and profit gap between farmers with access to information, farmers who sell through middlemen, farmers who sell through group sales and farmers who did not use any of the above options. The results revealed that there was a significant price and profit gap between farmers who have access to information through mobile phones, who organised and sell through group sales. There was equally a significant price and profit gap between vegetable farmers who sell directly to the market and those who sell through middlemen. Access to information in rural areas can significantly increase farmers’ incomes and livelihoods, thus the use of mobile phones and group sales can facilitate farmers bargaining power. © 2020 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.