By Gmasonah Togba Aboah, Land Tenure Specialist
Everlyne Nairesiae (left) speaking before the CSA training for Diagmah Clan
Year after year, following the cassava harvest, Beatrice Sumo would cut down the remaining stalks and burn her field to clear it for the next planting season.
This agricultural method—sometimes known as “slash-and-burn”—is prevalent where Beatrice lives in rural Bong County, Liberia. It is also common for farmers to use synthetic fertilizers and cut down trees to clear land and produce charcoal. As climate change degrades their land, it has become increasingly difficult for members of Beatrice’s community to produce enough food to last through the year. Farmers are stuck in a vicious cycle: the agricultural methods they rely on to survive are the very ones that destroy soil fertility and reduce climate mitigation potential.
Security through land rights
Beatrice’s community, Diagmah Clan, is one of many in Liberia that recently formalized their customarily held land. As part of the formalization process, Diagmah Clan developed a land use plan in collaboration with local government stakeholders—and with the support of Landesa, integrating sustainable land management practices so they can be more resilient to the impacts of climate change.
The land use plan was one of the final steps Diagmah Clan completed to gain a legal title to the land they have stewarded for generations. With formal land rights in hand, the community has stronger agency to make decisions related to their land, including investing in their land for the long-term.
Growing resilience with climate-smart agriculture
Deforestation in Bong County, Liberia
Last year, Landesa partnered with the national Forestry Development Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, and Liberia Land Authority to conduct climate-smart agriculture (CSA) trainings for Diagmah Clan and another community in a neighboring county. Community members gained tools and information around CSA practices and drafted CSA action plans, integrating their local knowledge with new tools and concepts. Local leaders, who play a key role in enforcing laws and facilitating collaboration with government entities around shared goals, joined in attendance.
Training participants—more than half of whom were women, whose meaningful inclusion in land governance is vital for climate resilience—committed to mitigating and adapting to climate change using methods like creating compost, avoiding burning of bushes, protecting water sources from pollution, and forest conservation. Members of Diagmah Clan acknowledged that trees and forests are the “lungs of the community” and hence must be protected and conserved.
Months later, community members discussed how they have been implementing the climate mitigation and adaptation measures identified from the trainings, including sustainable farming techniques, environmental monitoring, and local law enforcement to secure their forests, wetlands, river catchments, and other ecosystems.
New agricultural methods find root
A woman in her field in Bong County, Liberia
Following the training, Beatrice decided not to burn the vegetation left over from her farm. Instead, she allowed it to decompose and created compost to fertilize her cassava. A few months later, her cassava sprouted and grew roots.
“I feel good about it, because it’s coming up well,” says Beatrice as she shows off her cassava, already as tall as her. “Now that I have plenty of cassava, I will sell some and eat some.”
Beatrice has committed to using organic fertilizers for her crops moving forward, recognizing they are inexpensive to make herself and healthier for both the environment and her food. She is eager to share this knowledge with women and others in her community who did not attend the training, in hopes that they too can reap the benefits of CSA.
Planning for the future
Diagmah Clan’s sustainable land use plan is designed to be both gender-responsive and climate conscious, promoting CSA that increases yields, improves livelihoods, and builds climate-resilient communities. The plan contributes to stronger community agency; with knowledge and tools from the workshops, community members know projected climate conditions and which impacts are within their control, and with the land use plan, they can implement a range of response options.
For farmers like Beatrice, CSA offers an alternative to costly fertilizers and degraded soils. With secure land rights as a foundation, CSA can be a powerful tool for communities to grow their resilience to climate change.
Gmasonah Togba Aboah is a Landesa Land Tenure Specialist based in Monrovia, Liberia.