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Trainers Manual: Smallholder Agricultural Carbon Projects in Eastern Africa

Farmers of Ecotrust's Plan Vivo project. They plant indigenous trees, and international buyers pay them for the stored carbon. Photo: V. Meadu

This trainers manual is building the capacities of actors implementing agricultural carbon projects in East Africa.

The manual builds on the experiences that the Environmental Conservation Trust of Uganda (ECOTRUST), ENR Africa Associates, and EcoAgriculture Partners gained while undertaking a participatory action research project focusing on the institutional arrangements of smallholder agricultural carbon projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. This work was supported by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS).

It is divided into four parts:

  1. Getting Started: Introduction for learners to the key concepts of the training, such as climate change, climate change mitigation, and the need to undertake climate change mitigation actions commonly referred to as carbon projects.

  2. Carbon Project Development and Implementation Cycle: Provides hands-on experience to learners on the modalities of designing and implementing a carbon project. The specific approach that is described in the module is for a Plan Vivo afforestation/reforestation project, although the information provided in the manual can be used for training on other carbon projects in agricultural landscapes.

  3. Implementing the Carbon Project: Focuses on afforestation/reforestation activities and the implementation plan for farmers. This module is targeted toward farmers and extension staff who will conduct farmer trainings.

  4. Stakeholders and their Roles: Beneficial for farmers, extension workers and carbon project managers. For farmers, the most important stakeholders to consider are those clearly linked to farmer activities. In a similar way, extension staff may be interested in the project stakeholders or partners that help farmers supply inputs and manage benefits. For the project developers, the main focus should be on the carbon value chain, from farmer activities to the carbon market.

Read the entire post on Ecoagriculture Partners

Download the manual

 

Louis Wertz is the Outreach & Communications Manager at EcoAgriculture Partners.