USAID/Guinea: Communities Trained To Manage Forest, Agricultural Resources

JUNE 8, 2006

Communities Trained To Manage Forest, Agricultural Resources

A forest co-management project promises richer harvests for farmers through crop development and agricultural training. In exchange, the communities near Nyalama forest promise to protect forest resources.

LÉLOUMA PREFECTURE - Villagers farming near Nyalama forest in northern Guinea are realizing benefits from a co-management project that aims to protect natural resources by teaching improved, sustainable agriculture practices.

Co-management committees of local farmers and government officials collaborate to manage forest resources, with technical assistance provided by ICRAF, Guinea's Direction Nationale des Eaux et Forêts (DNEF), the U.S. Forest Service, USAID and others.

Shared management of forest resources is a key step toward insuring that biodiverse habitats such as Nyalama are protected from traditional slash-and-burn agriculture practices that predominate in Guinea, said Frank Beernaert, country director for the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), which is implementing the USAID-funded Landscape Management for Improved Livelihood (LAMIL) project.

Farmers in a co-management committee near Nyalama forest meet to discuss techniques for the cultivation of new varieties of cassava.

A 10,000-hectare forest northwest of Labé in Guinea's Fouta region, Nyalama provides a rich source of food and fuel for nearby communities. The Nyalama forest management plan calls for local involvement in forest protection -- fire management, protection of wildlife and its habitat, and protection of sensitive ecological areas, such as watersheds -- in exchange for limited use of forest resources for sustainable commercial cultivation and harvesting of timber, firewood, bamboo, and other non-timber products.

The LAMIL project seeks three outcomes, according to Beernaert:

Stimulation of market chains and networks for agricultural products, from crops such as rice and cassava to vegetable produce such as hot peppers and eggplants to tree crops such as cashews and citrus fruits.

Development of innovative but appropriate farming technologies. For example, forestry (cultivation followed by natural forest regeneration); cultivation of improved varieties of cash crops, such as cassava; creation of community-based seed banks, and expansion of local, private nurseries.

Improved governance on the local and national level, including development of forest management policies responsive to the needs of local communities.

Ancillary to the outcomes are educational opportunities, including introduction of forestry in Guinea's educational system and the provision of course materials, study tours and training courses in fields such as biotechnology, Beernaert said. In addition, LAMIL is supporting IRAG (Institut de Recherche Agronomique de Guinée) in the creation of a biotech laboratory that will assist farmers with new crop varieties and farming techniques.

Djibril Cissé stands in his nursery in the village of Linsan Saran. Seedlings he grows are used by farmers to develop sustainable community forests.

On a recent tour of Nyalama forest and environs, USAID Mission Director Jack Winn joined Beernaert and technical support staff to discuss the progress of the LAMIL project with a forest committee in Linsan Saran village.

The farmers, who were participating in a two-day training session in advance of spring cassava planting, said the project has changed the attitude of producers and helped their livelihoods by teaching them better farming techniques, improving habitats for livestock and protecting local water supplies.

For example, farmers have been educated not to plant within 10 meters of each side of waterways and to protect trees that provide fruits favored by chimpanzees.

The 20-member forest steering committee, with five representatives from each of four villages, has increased credibility as well, they said. In December the committee's former president was elected to the CRD (Conseil Rurale de Development), the local governing body in rural Guinea.

Elsewhere in Linsan Saran, Djibril Cissé showed off his small nursery of fruit, nut and spice plants. Among the seedlings Cissé supplies to community farmers are varieties of lemon, orange, tamarind, cassia, coffee and cashew trees.

Story and photos by Richard Stirba