Sharing knowledge and building capacity to mitigate climate change through irrigation-free indigenous tree establishment

• Dryland Northern Nigeria is subject to land degradation and desertification, driven by both climate change and unsustainable land use practices
• Almost 70% of the population is involved in agriculture, which is the backbone of the regional economy, making this a key barrier to sustainable development
• Poverty in the region is the highest in Nigeria, with land degradation exacerbated by migration, conflict and low recognition of the rights and roles of women
• Women are disproportionately impacted by poverty and land degradation given their prominent roles in farming households, and engage largely in unskilled, labour-intensive agricultural work, lacking access to finance, training, and decision-making
• State and national government ministries have identified improved uptake of FMNR and IFITR as key priorities for climate change mitigation and sustainable development

To achieve its multiple objectives of enhanced emissions reductions, livelihood diversification, gender equality and a green recovery, the project engaged with stakeholders and built capacity through:

• Stakeholder mapping to identify the barriers, leverage points and opportunities for upscaling IFITR
• Policy recommendations to improve the uptake of best practices, formalised in signed voluntary commitments to support the changes to policy and practice in their areas of influence
• Training and capacity building activities on IFITR, including the development of context-specific training manuals for each state and its institutional landscape
• Establishing two demonstration plots in each state, alongside training on silvicultural and technical skills to identify, protect and manage the growth of trees and shrubs
• Production of media outputs and art exhibitions to raise regional awareness about benefits from indigenous tree species, focusing on gender perspectives and implementation
• Building capacity for policymakers and NGOs to better understand the economic importance of promoting IFITR in their organisations, policies and documents

This project integrated GESI perspectives and benefits throughout all the activities delivered. Tangible impact was generated by including women and smallholder farmers in field-based trainings, workshops, media outputs and wider capacity building activities. 

Training has mapped strategies and priorities for women to be major counterparts of future livelihood diversification, and created new capabilities and opportunities for women and smallholder farmers. For example, the fact that innovative tree restoration practices engender increased availability of value products creates opportunities for furthering female empowerment in the sector as well as food security benefits.  

During the implementation of multiple project activities, efforts were made to better understand how differences within groups might pose different barriers that need to be overcome to adequately represent and maximise empowerment opportunities. Additionally, actions were taken to ensure that women's voices were heard in the workshops. Priority has been given to women's perspectives in project outputs, including in the literature review and production of manuals, where their perspectives are prominently presented. 

Finally, recommendations were produced to advocate for increased commitments among the political stakeholders in Nigeria to address GESI dimensions in their approaches. In-depth focus, analysis and discussion on a range of GESI-focused issues have driven the attention of the policymakers towards the opportunities for indigenous tree restoration to foster gender empowerment.

By underpinning the creation of new and diversified livelihoods for those living in dryland northern Nigeria, this project has paved the way for sustainable economic growth that is inclusive of women and marginalised groups. Project impacts will continue beyond the project duration, as tree establishment, growth and associated improvements to soil health and product availability is a long-term process.

The impact could be scaled up and sustained by:

• Replicating the interventions across other states in Northern Nigeria, the Sahel, and all dryland countries
• Promoting cross-sectoral harmonisation of tree restoration and climate change into sectoral policies
• Creating an enabling financing environment and leveraging resources to support tree restoration and value chain development
• Better mainstreaming GESI into sectoral policies and programmes to address the impacts of climate change on women and vulnerable groups
• Establishing gender-responsive monitoring and evaluation systems to collect and disseminate gender-related data on climate