Integrated landscape management

Landscapes are interconnected: what happens in one part of the landscape affects what happens elsewhere.

The importance of ecosystems and their many essential services, such as water supplies and pollination, are usually not considered in economic development plans.

Farm Africa brings farmers, governments and other stakeholders together to make agreements on managing the landscapes they live in holistically, so progress in one region is not cancelled out by losses in another.

Reconciling food security, livelihoods, climate and conservation objectives, Farm Africa strives to bring a triple win of poverty reduction, environmental conservation and tackling the climate crisis.

Our integrated approach focuses on diversifying livelihood options, building climate resilience, and reducing deforestation and loss of biodiversity.

We help unlock the potential to make conservation profitable. We help local people earn an income from ecosystem goods, such as timber, honey and frankincense.

And we help them to get paid for the ecosystem services they deliver, such as reducing carbon emissions in Ethiopia and in Kenya by preventing deforestation or conserving biodiversity.

Forests

Forests in eastern Africa are at risk, with large swathes of forest territories being axed for firewood or converted into agricultural land every year. Deforestation destroys wildlife, dehydrates soil, endangers food security and contributes to global warming.

Farm Africa develops economic incentives for communities to sustainably manage and protect forests. We help them replace traditional tree-cutting and wood and charcoal selling with earning a living from forest-friendly businesses, like wild coffee harvesting, beekeeping and the sale of carbon credits.

We also support farmers to practise climate-smart agriculture, which increases the productivity of crops on existing plots of land and reduces the need to cut down forests for agricultural expansion.

Grazing lands

Eastern Africa’s drylands are home to millions of pastoralists who migrate with their herds seeking water and pasture for their livestock.

However, overgrazing, environmental degradation and climate change have reduced the availability of water and grass for livestock.

Farm Africa works with local communities and other stakeholders to rehabilitate and sustainably manage degraded rangelands.

Our integrated approach encompasses increasing access to water, markets, animal health services, fodder and breeding services, as well as introducing rotational grazing systems that reduce pressure on overburdened grazing lands.  

By supporting agropastoralists to grow animal fodder, which can be sold, we help to increase cooperative members’ incomes as well as ensuring there is a source of fodder for their own livestock.