Stephen Syampungani

Advancing climate compatible development: lessons from southern Africa

Abstract Climate compatible development (CCD) has emerged as a new concept that bridges climate change adaptation, mitigation and community-based development. Progress towards CCD requires multi-stakeholder, multi-sector working and the development of partnerships between actors who may not otherwise have worked together. This creates challenges and opportunities that require careful examination at project and institutional levels and necessitates the sharing of experiences between different settings. In this paper, we draw on the outcomes from a multi-stakeholder workshop held in Mozambique in 2012, the final in a series of activities in a regional project assessing emerging CCD partnerships across southern Africa. The workshop involved policymakers, researchers and representatives from NGOs and the private sector. We employ a content analysis of workshop notes and presentations to identify the progress and challenges in moving four case study countries (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe) towards CCD pathways, by exploring experiences from both project and policy levels. To advance institutional support for the development of successful CCD policies, practices and partnerships, we conclude that there is a need for: (a) institutional development at the national level to strengthen coordination and more clearly define roles and responsibilities across sectors, based on the identification of capacity and knowledge gaps; (b) partnership development, drawing on key strengths and competences of different stakeholders and emphasising the roles of the private sector and traditional authorities; (c) learning and knowledge-sharing through national and regional fora; and (d) development of mechanisms that permit more equitable and transparent distribution of costs and benefits. These factors can facilitate development of multi-stakeholder, multi-level partnerships that are grounded in community engagement from the outset, helping to translate CCD policy statements into on-the-ground action.

Contribution of agroforestry to biodiversity and livelihoods improvement in rural communities of Southern African regions

It has been widely documented that the traditional farming system of shifting cultivation contributes to huge annual losses of forest cover, altering the structure and distribution of species resulting in loss of biodiversity. On the other hand, formal institutional approaches to natural forest biodiversity conservation focused on protecting the tree species in parks and reserves while neglecting their conservation in farming systems. Improved agroforestry systems (AFS) such as improved fallows that mimic shifting cultivation and other AFS provide benefits that contribute to rural livelihoods, improved socioeconomic status and ecosystem functioning of land use systems. Recently, there is an increasing recognition of the contribution of agroforestry to improve ecosystem services and livelihoods especially in rural areas. Compared with subsistence agriculture, AFS provides added benefit by generating cash income from the marketing of diverse products. In southern Africa, research that aims to addressed biodiversity and socio-economic issues includes domestication of diverse priority indigenous fruit tree species; and the evaluation of soil fertility replenishing Agroforestry technologies. This paper discusses the contribution of the natural forest resource and AFS to the improvement of the socio-economic livelihoods of smallholder farmers and the promotion of the conservation of biodiversity drawing on evidence from research conducted in southern Africa over the last two decades.

Local community perception of joint forest management and its implications for forest condition: the case of Dambwa Forest Reserve in southern Zambia

This study conducted at Dambwa Forest Reserve in Livingstone, Zambia, evaluated the perception of local people about joint management of the forest reserve in the area and if there had been improvements to the livelihoods of the community and the ecological condition of the forest following joint forest management (JFM). Generally, more people (68%) participated in joint forestry management meetings than in forestry activities, such as forest patrol and prescribed early burning, and the size of the household significantly influenced the involvement of community members in JFM activities. The results also showed that the social status of the local community members played a significant role in their participation in JFM activities, with the forest committee member group being the most involved (57–61%). The perception of most members of the community was that there were neither monetary benefits derived from JFM nor any significant improvement in their livelihood following JFM. Although there were high regeneration levels (10 000 saplings ha−1) for all of the species, among the selected commercial trees Pterocarpus angolensis, Baikiaea plurijuga and Colophospermum mopane had natural regeneration consisting of 118, 72 and 67 saplings ha−1, respectively. Overall, 89% of the stems for the selected commercial species were less than 30 cm DBH, rendering them unsuitable for harvesting. It can be concluded that although the promotion of community involvement in forest protection and management contributes to regeneration of forest tree species, the communities did not perceive JFM as having improved their livelihood.

Opportunity for conserving and utilizing agrobiodiversity through agroforestry in Southern Africa

Abstract Traditional approaches to biodiversity conservation focused on protection of natural habitats in parks and reserves while neglecting the potential to conserve agrobiodiversity in farming systems that could provide other direct and indirect benefits necessary for livelihoods and ecosystem functioning. Quantitative assessments of tree biodiversity have mostly focused on traditional production systems such as shifting cultivation in the miombo ecozone, home gardens and the parkland systems; and to a lesser extent the below ground biodiversity with respect to micro flora and fauna as a function of soil fertility improvement. Agroforestry systems, in contrast to intensive monocultures, may provide high quality habitats for biodiversity conservation. In the case of trees on the landscape, the use of non-timber forest products as a livelihood strategy, particularly for food, nutrition, medicine and ‘safety net’ during lean periods, has been one of the drivers of biodiversity conservation. In southern Africa, research that has addressed biodiversity albeit indirectly include indigenous fruit tree domestication and the screening of multi-purpose tree germplasm for improved agroforestry systems and/or technologies. This paper highlights the state of knowledge on the contribution of agroforestry to agrobiodiversity in southern Africa. It draws on the huge body of data on the genetic diversity of agroforestry trees used to meet diverse livelihood needs including those used for soil fertility replenishment, provision of animal fodder, fruits, medicinal products and, fuelwood and timber.

The use of species-stem curves in sampling the development of the Zambian miombo woodland species in charcoal production and slash-and-burn regrowth stands

The use of fixed-area plot methods was considered unsuitable to compare the responses and recovery over time of different miombo woodland species to different land-use practices (i.e. charcoal production and slash-and-burn agriculture). Young regrowth stages have many stems and the older more advanced stages have fewer stems. Different land-use practices in miombo woodland impact on the recovery potential of the woodlands. Timber harvesting does not result in significant change in stocking of the woodland compared to changes in regrowth after vegetation clearing for either charcoal production or slash-and-burn agriculture. After such clearing the woodland regrowth changes from an initial high stocking to a much lower stocking over time. This study in Zambian Copperbelt miombo woodland assessed the feasibility to use species–stem curves to determine the optimum number of stems or plants to record at a sampling point in order to compare species recovery over time in regrowth stands 2–15 years after ending the slash-and-burn and charcoal production activities. The results show that 34 and 31 stems or plants for slash-and-burn and charcoal production regrowth stands, respectively, would adequately capture the representative number of species to describe the plant community of these regrowth stands. The research has also revealed that the use of fixed-area methods would result in the measuring of too many plants in one category (younger stands) with too few in the other category (advanced stands). Therefore, the study explains why, and concludes that, variable plot size is an appropriate method for sampling species recovery in regrowth stands.

Miombo Woodlands Research Towards the Sustainable Use of Ecosystem Services in Southern Africa

The Miombo woodlands are the most extensive warm dry forest type in southern Africa [1], covering ca. 2.7 million km2 across seven countries: Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the north, Angola and Zambia in the east, and Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique in the south [2-4] (Figure 1). It is one of the most important ecosystems in the world, playing an important role at the social, economic and environmental levels. Being an important center of plant biodiversity Miombo is a key provider of goods and services, supporting the livelihoods of more than 65 million of people in the region [4]. The woodlands are also very important to the national economies as they provide timber for exportation. From the environmental point of view Miombo is determinant to energy, carbon and water balance [3,5].

Managing Southern African Woodlands for Biomass Production: The Potential Challenges and Opportunities

This chapter defines what extensively managed woodlands are and presents the general distribution of southern African woodlands highlighting the important forest types and species. Potential productivity is presented with available data from both long term permanent sample plots and space-for-time experiments; highlighting the paucity of data due to limited research in biomass estimates and therefore productivity; and problems associated with the estimation of biomass due to lack of standard methods for assessment in extensively managed woodlands. The chapter therefore points to the importance of using modeling to develop methods for whole woody biomass estimates in extensively managed woodlands. In addition, the increased demand for biomass energy may impact negatively on the environment due to over-harvesting; and so this chapter further highlights the link to the sustainable management of the biomass especially with respect to non-timber forest products in extensively managed woodlands.

Exploring the potential of host-environment relationship in the control of schistosomiasis in Africa

A number of human disease prevalences are supported by host-parasite-environment interactions. One such disease is schistosomiasis. Schistosoma parasites are transmitted between the snail intermediate hosts and mammalian definitive hosts in an aquatic environment. This host-environment link determines the parasite transmission dynamics and is a route through which control of transmission can be achieved. Transmission control methods based on manipulating the host-environment link were reviewed, the limitations of each method were highlighted and conditions in which they may be used in small-scale control programmes in sub-Saharan Africa were suggested. Chemical control may be ideal in poor rural communities, where health education strategies have little impact and where fishing is not an important livelihood strategy, because human contact with contaminated water is necessary for parasite survival. In aquaculture and other water development project areas, biocontrol may yield positive results due to reduced predation on snail predators and competitors as a result of restricted access. Environmental modification may be ideal in man-made systems, where the planning phase includes appropriate engineering works. Control strategies must be based as much on the ecology of host snails as on social aspects of the affected community, and be implemented on a case-by-case basis.

Miombo Woodland Utilization and Management, and Impact Perception among Stakeholders in Zambia: A Call for Policy Change in Southern Africa

Abstract Miombo woodland is important for both wood and non-timber forest products (NTFPs). The most commonly harvested products are timber, firewood, charcoal, fencing materials and materials for making farm tools and household items. The non-timber forest products harvested include mushrooms, fruits, medicines etc. A range of user groups such as timber producers, farmers and charcoal producers are involved in the exploitation of different types of woodland resources. Differences in priority of wood products and poor understanding of the Miombo ecosystem often result in each group attributing the negative impacts on the woodland to the other groups. In particular, timber producers accuse the charcoal producers of causing the depletion/decline of the timber species population which are cut as a by-product of charcoal production. However, there is clear evidence suggesting that timber species tend to do better in charcoal production and areas opened up due to slash and burn. This suggests that charcoal production, slash and burn agriculture and timber production may be integrated in forest management. As a result, there is need to formulate policies that provide for the integration of these different land use types into forest management.

A review of carbon dynamics and assessment methods in the miombo woodlands

Provision of accurate carbon (C) measurements and analysis are critical components in quantification of C stocks. The objectives of this review were to (1) compile and synthesise current knowledge of available methods for C stock estimation, (2) examine socio-economic drivers of land-use and land-cover change and their influence on woodland C stocks and (3) identify gaps of knowledge and methodological inadequacies in understanding factors affecting C stocks of major C pools for miombo woodlands of southern Africa. The review shows that quantification of forest C is a challenging task, mainly associated with knowledge gaps and methodological challenges. This has brought about a high level of uncertainty and inconsistencies, mainly due to the accounting methods applied. Furthermore, it is necessary to consider the inherent spatial heterogeneity of the landscape and stand density in order to ensure development of accurate C estimation methodologies when developing C models. Ultimately, developing widely applicable biomass models for southern Africa will require detailed assessments, including different aspects of wood C fractions. It is evident from the review that a comprehensive understanding of socio-economic drivers of land-use and land-cover change is necessary to ensure better-informed sustainable forest management policy direction, strategy and practice to deliver C and livelihood options.