Etongo, Daniel

Fobissie Blese, Kalame

Kanninen, Markku Tapani

English

Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto

https://helda.helsinki.fiA Systematic Approach to Strengthening Capacities on ClimateChange and Natural Resource Management in West AfricaFobissie Blese, KalameViikki Tropical Resource Institute, University of Helsinki2016Fobissie Blese , K , Kanninen , M T & Etongo , D 2016 , A Systematic Approach toStrengthening Capacities on Climate Change and Natural Resource Management in WestAfrica . VITRI Brief , no. 2 , vol. 1 , Viikki Tropical Resource Institute, University of Helsinki ,Helsinki .http://hdl.handle.net/10138/240371unspecifiedpublishedVersionDownloaded from Helda, University of Helsinki institutional repository.This is an electronic reprint of the original article.This reprint may differ from the original in pagination and typographic detail.Please cite the original version.VITRI Brief Number 2 2016 A	Systema*c	Approach	to	Strengthening	Capaci*es	on	Climate	Change	and	Natural	Resource	Management	in	West	Africa	 Key	Messages	ü  Capacity	development	is	a	process	that	focuses	on	developing	new	and	improving	exis8ng	skills	and	knowledge.	The	target	groups	for	capacity	development	must	be	clear	from	the	beginning	and	the	ac8vi8es	can	be	short	term	or	long	term	in-country	or	abroad.	ü  The	 iden8fica8on,	 engagement	 and	 consulta8on	 of	 stakeholders	 on	 natural	 resource	management	and	climate	change	provide	opportuni8es	to	design	and	implement	training	ac8vi8es	that	respond	to	the	needs	of	the	beneficiaries	and	target	groups.	ü  The	capacity	needs	assessment	process	enables	key	stakeholders	to	iden8fy	and	priori8ze	their	training	needs	on	climate	change.	The	content	of	training	ac8vi8es	should	therefore	be	largely	defined	by	key	stakeholders	and	not	solely	by	the	projects	or	funders.	ü  The	BIODEV	project	trained	more	than1400	people.	The	percentage	of	women	trained	was	higher	when	invita8ons	were	sent	directly	to	individuals	and	not	through	their	ins8tu8ons.	ü  The	success	of	the	BIODEV	capacity	development	program	was	due	to:		i.  Effec8ve	coordina8on	and	planning	amongst	trainers.	ii.  Diverse	and	complementary	exper8se	of	the	core	training	team.	iii.  Consulta8on	 and	 careful	 selec8on	 of	 par8cipants	 and	 ins8tu8ons	 for	 each	training.	iv.  Content,	 format,	 depth	 and	dura8on	of	 the	 trainings	 vis-à-vis	 the	needs	of	 the	trainees.	v.  Immediate	linkage	of	the	training	content	to	BIODEV	project	ac8vi8es	vi.  Dissemina8on	of	BIODEV	results	and	seeking	feedback	from	par8cipants.	2	Introduction Climate change is already impacting the natural resource-dependent communities and economies of West Africa. Agriculture, forest, livestock, water and other natural resources are affected by frequent occurrence of droughts, floods, dust and sand storms, heatwaves, forest fires, etc. Improved capacities - through technical assistance and organizational support - are therefore critical for effectively addressing climate change, managing natural resources, alleviating poverty, and promoting climate-resilient economic and social development. Moreover, there is a need to develop new skills and provide much more complex, integrated and comprehensive knowledge that is required for different stakeholders in West Africa to respond more effectively to climate change challenges and support communities to promote biocarbon development options (refers to increasing biological or natural carbon through improved agroforestry and forestry management and tree planting). The urgency to build capacities is further supported at the international level, under the Paris Climate Agreement, where increasing attention is given to the development of capacities of developing countries.    It is in this context that the Building of Biocarbon and Rural Development in West Africa (BIODEV) project provided different training and conducted capacity building activities to build new skills and enhance existing skills of diverse actors and institutions on climate change adaptation and mitigation, agriculture, agroforestry and forestry in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Mali and Guinea. BIODEV is a four-year (2012-2016) project funded by the Government of Finland. It is implemented by a consortium composed of the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), the Centre for International Forest Research (CIFOR), the University of Helsinki (UH), and the University of Eastern Finland (UEF), along with national partners in Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Sierra Leone. The goal of BIODEV is to achieve sustainable development with long-term livelihood and environmental benefits for rural .   populations and the global community. BIODEV activities contribute to the increase of both carbon and non-carbon benefits through improved agroforestry, forestry management and tree planting.  This brief draws on the outcomes of the BIODEV project activities in West Africa to demonstrate the systematic approach to capacity building that was used for managing natural resources and combating climate change.   Target Groups Three categories of beneficiaries were targeted. They included management and technical staff from policy-planning, implementing and research organizations. 1.  Policy and planning organizations: These are the climate focal points, National REDD+ coordinators / advisors, staff of ministries and governmental divisions working on climate change, forestry, agriculture, and agroforestry. These actors drive the process of capacity development and will take over from BIODEV to further develop capacity of their institutions and organizations. 2.  Implementation actors: These are actors that carry out extension services, agriculture, agroforestry and forestry activities, and diverse natural resource interventions at the plot, landscape and community levels. 3.  Research organizations: These are research institutions and university departments, faculties and schools of agroforestry, agriculture and forestry that are engaged in understanding adaptation and mitigation actions and the different roles of trees within agricultural and forest landscapes.  3	Approach BIODEV used a five-step systematic approach for capacity building that comprised of:  i.  Stakeholders’ engagement on capacity development. ii.  Capacity needs assessment (CNA). iii.  Formulation of a capacity development plan. iv.  Implementation of the capacity development plan. v.  Evaluation of capacity development activities.   1. Engagement of Stakeholders   Stakeholders in the target countries were identified during the design, elaboration and implementation of the project. Initial consultations with national implementation partners, inception workshops and project activities provided platforms for identification of, and engagement with, a range of key stakeholders at the national and local levels. The stakeholders were mainly project partners or project beneficiaries and came from policy and planning organizations, research institutions and universities, and community-based actors (including farmers). With limited resources and time, the goal and specific objectives of the project were used as important guiding factors in engaging specific stakeholders for capacity building activities.    2. Assessment of Capacity Development Needs  Capacity development needs were assessed and prioritised through the organisation of national workshops with representatives from the institutions of the identified target groups from the four BIODEV countries. SWOT analysis was used to identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats affecting the implementation of natural resources and climate change activities.   Different actors and institutions had different priorities and needs for capacity building. For example, trainings on adaptation and forestry interventions were envisaged as being priorities for extension services, NGOs and farmers, while research and university institutions considered training courses on climate change as their priority.  													4											3. Formulation of Capacity Development Plan   The identified capacity development needs and priorities were used to elaborate a robust and responsive capacity development programme. The programme consisted of two categories: Organizational development and Technical assistance. It was implemented by a team of diverse experts from CIFOR, ICRAF, the University of Helsinki, and the University of Eastern Finland, as well as local institutions in the project countries. Each training depended on the thematic area that focused on precise target groups and was conducted by specialised experts.    Organizational development: This category of capacity building was a more dynamic process, and not a one-time training. Identified activities included, for example: ü  Developing new teaching materials for university courses in climate change, bioenergy, agroforestry, etc. ü  Supporting the formation or strengthening of national climate change committees and policies. ü  Sensitization and advocacy on climate change, adaptation and mitigation.    Technical assistance: This category proposed diverse but interrelated training activities grouped under different areas such as long-term trainings abroad, short-term trainings abroad, and short 2-5 day in-country trainings.   4. Implementation of the Capacity Development Plan   Trainings were organised in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Switzerland and Finland with participants from Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Guinea and Mali. Examples of trainings conducted are highlighted in the Box. 5											5. Evaluation of Capacity Development Activities   After each short-term training, participants evaluated the effectiveness of the trainings. In some evaluations, the participants discussed openly about what they had learnt, what needed to be improved in the trainings, and how they planned to use the new knowledge acquired in their work plans and daily professional activities. In other cases, participants filled out short questionnaires on specific aspects of the training ranging from technical content and logistic to expertise of the trainers. Long-term trainings, such as PhDs, are ongoing and their effectiveness and impact may only be known in the future.    In total, BIODEV trained more than 1400 people from Burkina Faso, Mali, Sierra Leone and Guinea. One major challenge of the training was the difficulties in getting equitable representation of women among the trainees,  6	especially at the national level. This can be partly explained by the nomination of trainees by the invited institutions. However, where and when the individual participants are directly invited by BIODEV, especially at the local level, the percentages of women was equal or more than men in some cases. For example, the trainings related to: Rural Resource Center (RCC) in Burkina Faso (women 72%, men 28%), participation in Helsinki Summer School course on sustainable forest landscape management (women 50%, men 50%) as well as the training on manufacturing and effective utilization of improved stoves in Burkina Faso (women 100%, men 0%).   Future Perspective   The approach used in the training by BIODEV is systematic, with clear steps to follow. The training team used the training-of-trainers concept, where individuals were chosen on the basis of their capacity to further train others. The scope and depth of the individual training modules are defined to widen the array of skills of stakeholders to support climate change adaptation and mitigation. Individuals were therefore trained on different topics, sometimes even topics that were considered ‘outside’ or ‘beyond’ their expertise, mandate or previously acquired knowledge. To ease the replication of the training modules in different locations, context or countries, it is crucial to document the different training modules for dissemination first to the trainees and their respective institutions, and then to the wider public in West Africa and beyond.   Core	team	of	BIODEV	trainers	and	their	areas	of	exper*se	Dr.	Ann	Degrande	(ICRAF):	Socio-economy	and	natural	resources	governance	Dr.	Antoine	Kalinganire	(ICRAF):	Tree	domes8ca8on	Dr.	Catherine	Dembele	(ICRAF):	Tree	domes8ca8on	Dr.	Coulibaly	Pascaline-Lingani	(INERA):	Socio-economy	and	forest	governance	Adj.	Prof.	Cheikh	Mbow	(ICRAF):	Adapta8on,	mi8ga8on	and	development	Dr.	Djalal	Arinloye	(ICRAF):	Value	chain,	marke8ng	and	enterprise	development	Dr.	Ermias	Betemariam	(ICRAF):	Carbon	inventory	Dr.	Henry	Neufeldt	(ICRAF):	Agroforestry,	adapta8on	and	mi8ga8on	Dr.	Issa	Ouedraogo	(ICRAF):	Carbon,	GIS	and	remote	sensing	Dr.	Janne	Heiskanen	(University	of	Helsinki);	Mapping	land	cover	and	forest	biomass	Dr.	Jules	Bayala	(ICRAF):	Ecophysiology	and	climate	smart	agriculture	Ass.	Prof.	Jerome	Tondoh	(ICRAF):	Land	management	and	climate	change	Adj.	Prof.	Kalame	Fobissie	(University	of	Helsinki):	Adapta8on,	mi8ga8on,	policy,	UNFCCC	Prof.	Markku	Kanninen	(University	of	Helsinki):	Adapta8on,	mi8ga8on	and	forest	management	Dr.	Markus	Melin	(University	of	Eastern	Finland):	Remote	sensing	and	GIS	Dr.	Mathurin	Zida	(CIFOR):	Forest	management	and	climate	change	adapta8on	Dr.	Machew	Gboku	(SLARI):	Forest	and	agricultural	extension	Mr.	Michael	Balinga	(CIFOR):	Forest	management	and	biodiversity	conserva8on	Prof.	Petri	Pellikka	(University	of	Helsinki):	Mapping	land	cover	and	forest	biomass	Dr.	Sari	Pitkänen	(University	of	Eastern	Finland):	Sustainable	fuel	wood	produc8on	7	Authors: Kalame Fobissie, Markku Kanninen, Daniel Etongo Reviewers: Ann Degrande, Jules Bayala, Nicholas Hogarth Contact: Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI), University of Helsinki, Finland (fobissie.kalame@helsinki.fi)  Acknowledgement: This work was done under the BIODEV project funded by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs  View publication stats

A Systematic Approach to Strengthening Capacities on Climate Change and Natural Resource Management in West Africa

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A Systematic Approach to Strengthening Capacities on Climate Change and Natural Resource Management in West Africa

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