Carbon credit
challenges & opportunities
for
African farmers
Richard Fowler
Conservation Agriculture Capacitator
South Africa
FAO/CTIC
Conservation Agriculture Carbon Offset Consultation
October 2008
West Lafayette, USA
rmfowler@iafrica.com
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
Presentation
• Who / why & what!
• The African farmer
• Past
• Present
• Future
• CA & C-related
• Challenges
• Opportunities
• A way forward
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
Who is Richard Fowler?
Swaziland
1964 - 1984
South Africa
ARC – GCI
1984 - 2006
No till research
1984 - 1990
CT for SSF
1988 - 2006
ACT
1998 TCP & national CA consultant 2002 - 5
CA capacitator
2006CAT (UFH & ECDA) 2007Misc SE Africa consultancies
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
Why this presentation?
Our Continent is bleeding …….
bleeding
literally
to death!
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
Why this presentation (2)?
The vast majority of farmers in Africa are
small scale landowners trying
desperately to survive
Inter alia by deliberately but often inadvertently exploiting or
degrading natural resources (including Carbon & OM) at the
expense of their fellow citizens and future generations.
Conservation Agriculture is the way to go, but needs promotion
by independent Conservation-driven groupings.
Groups owing predominant allegiance to (and therefore being
funded in the main by) only the farmers and future they serve.
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
What do we hope to achieve in this
presentation?
Develop & present for discussion
ways in which Carbon offsets or credits could
generate funding for the promotion of the
accelerated adoption of Conservation
Agriculture in Africa.
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The African farmer
•
•
•
•
•
Hunter / gatherer
Slash & burn
Wooden plough
Steel plough (mouldboard)
Colonial
•
•
•
•
Provider
Competitor
Displacee
Labourer
• Aid
• Recipient
• Exploiter
• Dependant
-
past
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The African farmer
• Urban migrant
• Landholder
• Aid
• Recipient
• Exploiter
• Dependant
-
present
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The African farmer
-
present
CAT RRA:
“whatever you do, NO handouts. Handouts
have turned our people into beggars”
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
Labour
Finance
Little
Little
Some
Plenty
lf
Lf
Lf
Some
lF
LF
LF
Plenty
lF
LF
LF
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The African farmer
• Sub-subsistence
• Subsistence
• Emerging
• Commercial
-
present
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The African farmer
-
present
• Sub-subsistence
• live (or have the right to occupy) land in the rural areas
• depend on outside sources (employment, remittances, aid)
• do nothing with the land or just scratch around to show they exist
• frequently will not allow others even to hire their land for fear they will
be disowned by authorities
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The African farmer
-
present
• Subsistence
• produce primarily food sufficient for family needs
• no room for expansion
• holdings decrease and fragment with succession
• too small to become viable economic units, esp for successors
• farmers often old women trapped in rural areas
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The African farmer
-
present
• Emerging
• rural entrepreneurs
• often induced by aid (many of whom with no real desire to farm)
• true entrepreneurs frequently frustrated by lack of capital and/or
problems associated with accessing and/or servicing loan finance
• younger men & women, often with little or no agricultural background,
esp in commercial agriculture
Zimbabwe Tobacco Growers initiative
University of Fort Hare Agri-Trust Dairy farm
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The African farmer
• Commercial
•
•
•
•
inherited
large scale
viable
community and government discrimination
-
present
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The African farmer
-
present
We too often forget the % in our own
* countries
* communities
who are in any way involved in farming!
And the percentage of those who are farmers!!
And the percentage of those who are GOOD farmers!!!
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The African farmer
-
future
It has been forecast that the area least effected
by climate change on the Continent will be
East Africa, where millions of hectares of
rangeland will be ploughed to take advantage
of better cropping potentials!!
Millions of hectares?
Millions of tonnes of C!!!
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The African farmer
-
future
The HIGH road
Conservation Agriculture
•
•
•
•
•
•
increasing yields
re-establishing & benefiting from natural systems
reducing dependence on external inputs
increasing prosperity
increasing national, community & family sufficiency, well-being &
unity
decreasing C emissions
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The African farmer
-
future
The low road
Conventional Agriculture
•
•
•
•
•
increasing C emissions
decreasing yields
increasing food dependence on external sources
increasing urban drift
increasing
> Unemployment
> Poverty
> Conflict
> Crime
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
The
Time to choose!
The
Time to act!!
is
NOW !!!
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
CA-related challenges
CA adoption
-
paradigm shift, shattering compaction
tertiary teaching & ‘teacher tell’
insufficient & poorly prepared EO’s
politicians’ handouts
international donors’ top-down
aid ‘rescue’ packages
mulch establishment & maintenance
‘wild fires’ etc
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
C-related challenges
‘back-sliding’
wild fires
measurement
monitoring
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
CA-related opportunities
- starting from where farmers are
- multi-cropping
> security
> cash generation
> increasing utilisation & regeneration of natural resources
- ‘blocking’ under management units
> better management
> more opportunity for, and increasing pest management by,
natural systems such as engendered by crop rotation
- increased opportunities for community
members to exploit their skills & abilities
- more stable, self-reliant, contented
rural communities, areas & nations
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
C-related opportunities
- ICRAF/Earth Institute/Michigan
State measurement initiative
- ‘block farming’
- including revenue from ‘wildfire’
reduction
- researching & introducing
alternative C-sequestering strategies
e.g. high lignin;
underground biomass
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
C-related opportunities (2)
Although larger commercial CA farmers could benefit from direct dealings with
professional C-traders, they could benefit even more by the
- establishment of CA Associations
* farmer-owned
* function inter alia
>
>
>
>
>
identifying
measuring
monitoring
selling & disbursing proceeds from C-offsets
retaining and utilising a service fee (viz. that portion
which would normally be retained by a
professional agent) & using it i.a. to
* promote the adoption of CA
* establish & maintain a CA-advisory service.
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
A way forward
CA is technically sound
environmentally friendly
cost-effective.
It’s rapid immediate adoption is essential
for the survival of the peoples and
Continent of Africa.
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
A way forward (cont)
CA’s principles
are in many instances in direct conflict with
vested interests, esp. of politicians,
academics, bureaucrats, etc.
as well as
multi-nationals & other commercial interests
etc.
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
A way forward (cont)
An alternative promotional
system whose sole interest is
the sustained adoption of CA is
therefore urgently required.
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
A way forward (cont)
Such a system would preferably
be organised & owned
or at least controlled
by farmers
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
A way forward (cont)
By setting up & maintaining a Ccredit marketing scheme,
and utilising ‘profits’ generated to
stimulate the adoption of CA, a win-win
situation could result, with i.a.
initiator’s ‘service’ charges decreasing
as adoption increased.
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
A way forward (cont)
Such a system could
provide a feasible method by
which SSF could benefit from
C-sequestration.
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
A way forward (cont)
However
1.
Income generated by such a C-marketing scheme could be
insignificant to farmers with very small holdings;
2.
The establishment of such a scheme might require the
assistance and advice of a professional group already
involved in C-trading;
3.
Initiation and possibly ongoing operations and/or income
distributed might benefit from ‘Triple Bottom Line’ assistance
from a commercial company or companies.
Carbon credit challenges & opportunities for African farmers
FAO/CTIC, Purdue USA. October 2008
Thank you!
rmfowler@iafrca.com