ALTER - Alternative Carbon Investments in Ecosystems for Poverty Alleviation
Lead Research Organisation:
Uganda Carbon Bureau
Department Name: Research
Abstract
ALTER aims to demonstrate that there are real and lasting benefits for wide scale poverty alleviation, particularly for the rural poor, by tackling soil degradation at a range of spatial scales, from field to landscape, and using opportunities within agricultural as well as severely degraded land. Throughout the world, soil degradation impacts on the health, wealth and well-being of rural people in many different ways. Soils have a key supporting role in maintaining agricultural yields, water availability, water quality, resources for grazing animals and other ecosystem services. Some are perhaps less obvious but still valued such as maintaining habitats to support honey-bees and local wildlife. In Africa, soil degradation is recognised as a major constraint to alleviating poverty in rural communities. We have chosen to work in Ethiopia and Uganda where there are contrasting issues of soil degradation in mineral and organic soils are a result of agricultural land use but similar reliance in rural communities' on a range of benefits from soils.
Solutions to soil degradation are not simple and require a much better understanding of how people benefit from soils, what they stand to gain if they can improve the condition of the soils that they manage whether for crops, livestock, timber production or as semi-natural areas, what they would need to do to accomplish this and what barriers may prevent this. In parallel we need to gain better insight into the likely success of different management options to improve soils. Ultimately these options will require some form of investment whether that be via money, time, resources or other mechanisms. We will investigate the relative pros and cons of these mechanisms from the perspective of local people, organisations involved with markets for Payments for Ecosystem Services and national objectives in alleviating poverty. A broader view of carbon benefits and trading is an opportunity to invest in lasting improvements in degraded ecosystems and the livelihoods of the poor that depend on these.
All of this research and evidence building needs to be placed into the context of climate change. We need to establish that whatever might be suitable, acceptable and viable for tackling soil degradation now will have long-term benefits to local people and that these benefits will not be negated by the on-going changes to local climate.
The ALTER project is an international consortium between The James Hutton Institute (UK), University of Aberdeen (UK), Hawassa University (Ethiopia), The Ethiopian Government's Southern Agricultural Research Institute (SARI, Ethiopia), Carbon Foundation for East Africa (CAFEA, Uganda) and the International Water Management Institute (Nile Basin & Eastern Africa Office, Ethiopia). This team brings together natural scientists, social scientists and economists to work together with rural communities and other local decision-makers and facilitators to improve our capacity to predict how human-environment linked systems respond to incentives and other drivers change. This predictive capacity is needed to be able to explore whether different options for change could result in substantive poverty alleviation.
Solutions to soil degradation are not simple and require a much better understanding of how people benefit from soils, what they stand to gain if they can improve the condition of the soils that they manage whether for crops, livestock, timber production or as semi-natural areas, what they would need to do to accomplish this and what barriers may prevent this. In parallel we need to gain better insight into the likely success of different management options to improve soils. Ultimately these options will require some form of investment whether that be via money, time, resources or other mechanisms. We will investigate the relative pros and cons of these mechanisms from the perspective of local people, organisations involved with markets for Payments for Ecosystem Services and national objectives in alleviating poverty. A broader view of carbon benefits and trading is an opportunity to invest in lasting improvements in degraded ecosystems and the livelihoods of the poor that depend on these.
All of this research and evidence building needs to be placed into the context of climate change. We need to establish that whatever might be suitable, acceptable and viable for tackling soil degradation now will have long-term benefits to local people and that these benefits will not be negated by the on-going changes to local climate.
The ALTER project is an international consortium between The James Hutton Institute (UK), University of Aberdeen (UK), Hawassa University (Ethiopia), The Ethiopian Government's Southern Agricultural Research Institute (SARI, Ethiopia), Carbon Foundation for East Africa (CAFEA, Uganda) and the International Water Management Institute (Nile Basin & Eastern Africa Office, Ethiopia). This team brings together natural scientists, social scientists and economists to work together with rural communities and other local decision-makers and facilitators to improve our capacity to predict how human-environment linked systems respond to incentives and other drivers change. This predictive capacity is needed to be able to explore whether different options for change could result in substantive poverty alleviation.
Planned Impact
ALTER seeks to achieve high impact by developing and implementing a Pathways to Impact (PtI) plan that permeates and frames the expected outcomes of all project activities. This PtI has a statement of desired change, that "the overarching aim of ALTER is to establish whether investment in soil carbon can be used to alleviate poverty (in addition to or as an alternative to aboveground carbon) by restoring, enhancing or protecting the goods and services provided by ecosystems in regions where soils are degraded or under threat of degradation".
practices
The desired change as a consequence of ALTER's outputs is that soil degradation is reversed through management to achieve short- and medium-term benefits for poverty alleviation and enhance resilience of ecosystem services, whilst local, national and international capacity to invest in soil is achieved.
The ALTER project would provide the evidence necessary for this change to be promoted by national and international organisations and to provide local people with sound knowledge of opportunities available to tackle soil degradation. We will seek to influence institutions and governance structures that most relate to poverty alleviation. These include National Development Plans and implementation of existing National Adaptation Plans of Action and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions.
The PtI is developed in collaboration with local partners and structured to utilise the Theory of Change and ESPAs Impact and Knowledge Strategies, whilst building on partners' extensive range of experience in stakeholder engagement and research support for policy. There are many opportunities for developing metrics for measuring impact within the project. These include quantifiable measurements of soil carbon, fertility, primary production and flow of ecosystem services leading to poverty alleviation. ALTER will implement a set of Ideals: Innovation: improving on existing practises and building capacity; Inclusion: harnessing the potential of partners, collaborators and wider stakeholders; Implementation: showing how 'good practice' works; Linkage: linking up with previous and existing projects and programmes and Legacy: creating practises, attitudes and organisational structures that outlast the project. We will utilise the PtI Advisory Working Group (see Pathways document) to develop these metrics as appropriate to each location to ensure appropriate coverage and relevance. Whilst ALTER will report to the Research Outcome System, we will also seek to monitor flow of data and information through relevant organisations and maintenance of networks to ascertain the impact on achievement of the Statement of Desired Change.
By engaging with multiple stakeholders, from local communities, research organisations to regional and national government, we will develop working relationships that facilitate two-way dialogues with those we seek to learn from, inform and influence. We will map out networks of stakeholders to ensure an efficient process of engagement that provides a two-way flow of information between the multiple research disciplines. This enables the identification of key actors and targeting of influence efforts to increase the probability of effective change. Engagement with stakeholders, both within ALTER and wider networks will help ensure that all opportunities to influence the contextual drivers are taken. This presents a logical sequence through which ALTER will achieve the desired impact across multiple scales.
We will develop multi-media approaches designed to suit the needs of the range of stakeholders involved. Effort will be channelled through a range of communication media: Policy engagement; Linking to other projects and initiatives; Social networking and new media; Extension services; Workshops; Master classes; Local internet; Academic; Government, planning and policy. The details of activities for each of these media are provided in the Case for Support WP4.
practices
The desired change as a consequence of ALTER's outputs is that soil degradation is reversed through management to achieve short- and medium-term benefits for poverty alleviation and enhance resilience of ecosystem services, whilst local, national and international capacity to invest in soil is achieved.
The ALTER project would provide the evidence necessary for this change to be promoted by national and international organisations and to provide local people with sound knowledge of opportunities available to tackle soil degradation. We will seek to influence institutions and governance structures that most relate to poverty alleviation. These include National Development Plans and implementation of existing National Adaptation Plans of Action and Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions.
The PtI is developed in collaboration with local partners and structured to utilise the Theory of Change and ESPAs Impact and Knowledge Strategies, whilst building on partners' extensive range of experience in stakeholder engagement and research support for policy. There are many opportunities for developing metrics for measuring impact within the project. These include quantifiable measurements of soil carbon, fertility, primary production and flow of ecosystem services leading to poverty alleviation. ALTER will implement a set of Ideals: Innovation: improving on existing practises and building capacity; Inclusion: harnessing the potential of partners, collaborators and wider stakeholders; Implementation: showing how 'good practice' works; Linkage: linking up with previous and existing projects and programmes and Legacy: creating practises, attitudes and organisational structures that outlast the project. We will utilise the PtI Advisory Working Group (see Pathways document) to develop these metrics as appropriate to each location to ensure appropriate coverage and relevance. Whilst ALTER will report to the Research Outcome System, we will also seek to monitor flow of data and information through relevant organisations and maintenance of networks to ascertain the impact on achievement of the Statement of Desired Change.
By engaging with multiple stakeholders, from local communities, research organisations to regional and national government, we will develop working relationships that facilitate two-way dialogues with those we seek to learn from, inform and influence. We will map out networks of stakeholders to ensure an efficient process of engagement that provides a two-way flow of information between the multiple research disciplines. This enables the identification of key actors and targeting of influence efforts to increase the probability of effective change. Engagement with stakeholders, both within ALTER and wider networks will help ensure that all opportunities to influence the contextual drivers are taken. This presents a logical sequence through which ALTER will achieve the desired impact across multiple scales.
We will develop multi-media approaches designed to suit the needs of the range of stakeholders involved. Effort will be channelled through a range of communication media: Policy engagement; Linking to other projects and initiatives; Social networking and new media; Extension services; Workshops; Master classes; Local internet; Academic; Government, planning and policy. The details of activities for each of these media are provided in the Case for Support WP4.
People |
ORCID iD |
Jenny Farmer (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Langan C
(2018)
Tropical wetland ecosystem service assessments in East Africa; A review of approaches and challenges
in Environmental Modelling & Software
Langan C
(2014)
Kabale district and field site overview- CAFEA report
Langan C
(2017)
ALTER CAFEA Wetland Ecosystem Services protocol
Langan C
(2014)
Introduction to wetlands in Uganda- CAFEA video
Langan C
(2016)
Wetland inventory review and recommendations
Langan C
(2016)
Peatlands for Poverty: Analysis of Uganda's wetland sector
Langan C
(2014)
Introduction to wetlands in Uganda- Briefing note
Langan C
(2013)
ALTER project brief
Description | We have collected first-of its kind data for wetlands in Uganda. Land use change in these ecosystems has been completely neglected as a field of research in this country. As a result, we had to develop methods for measuring wetland soil properties, and also wetland ecosystem services in Uganda. These tools can be used and further developed by practitioners in the country, by both Government agencies and researchers, enabling improved understanding of wetland dynamics and future sustainable use. |
Exploitation Route | Use of our wetlands inventory tool by the Ministry of Water and Environment for future monitoring of wetland ecosystem services Use of our organic wetland soils protocol by the National Soils Laboratory to include wetland soils in future national soil surveys (previously excluded) Use of our data in Uganda's National GHG Accounting to the UNFCCC |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Environment Government Democracy and Justice |
Description | At National level within Uganda CAFEA has been working with the Wetlands Management Department to improve their capacity for wetland ecosystems service measurement and monitoring. Understanding wetland ecosystem service provision and the impacts that management can have on these is important for local livelihoods which are dependent on these services, especially for the poorer members of society. And working with the National Agricultural Research Organisation laboratories to improve their capacity to work on analysis of organic wetland soils in-country. |
First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
Sector | Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
Impact Types | Economic Policy & public services |
Description | Hosted the Commissioner for Wetlands at the Ecosystem Services Partnership conference in Nairobi, Kenya.In particular to attend session T18b on Key messages to policy makers to help deliver the sustainable development goals. |
Geographic Reach | Africa |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Title | Organic soil sampling protocols- Uganda |
Description | Organic soil sampling protocol developed for the sampling and analysis of organic soils in Uganda based on local field conditions and laboratory capacity. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2015 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Developed in partnership with the National Agricultural Research Organisation laboratories over 2015. Provides Uganda with the capacity to be able to study and research organic soils- an entirely under researched resource in the country. The first full version of the Protocol is available as a pdf. |
Title | Spatial calculations of CO2 emissions from potato fields on soils |
Description | Simple Excel spreadsheet that calculates CO2 emissions from potato fields taking micro-topographical variability into account |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Working on it! |
Title | Wetland Ecosystem Service Survey Assessment |
Description | The ALTER Wetland Ecosystem Service (WES) survey assessment was developed to provide a biophysical baseline for wetland characteristics and properties, and a framework for monitoring and evaluation of the processes of wetland ecological change. The assessment is designed to capture localised, spatially located wetland condition data suitable for modelling wetland ecosystem services under land use, land management and climate change. The assessment draws upon a number of existing methods and tools, notably the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF) (Vågen et al. 2013), Wetland ecosystem service assessment (WET Eco services) (Kotze et al. 2008), National Soil Inventory of Scotland (Lilly et al. 2010), Ugandan National Wetland Inventory system (NWIS)(Henninger and Landsberg 2009) and Toolkit for Ecosystem Service Site-based Assessment (TESSA) (Peh et al. 2013). The WES assessment survey identifies soil, water and vegetation characteristics in geo-located sampled sites to estimate ecosystem service provision. Collected data is processed for appraising the current provision of wetland services due to wetland management and land uses, particularly C stocks, while establishing a baseline from which to monitor changes in ecosystem properties, functions and services. The ALTER WES survey was developed during field trials and implementation in wetland sites in Kabale District, Uganda in 2016. Wetland systems in Kabale are characterised by valley bottom, fluvial fed wetlands under a gradient of wetland land use change, including papyrus wetlands and wetland potato cultivation. This survey data was collected on smartphones using the open data kit (ODK) application. The objective of this work was to evaluate the anthropogenic influence on organic soil carbon stocks and ecosystem services across the wetland systems, and provide data for modelling land use and climate change scenarios. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Discussion with Wetlands Management Department in Ministry of Water and Environment to adopt this methodology for future measurements of wetland condition. POtential nationwide application of methodology across Uganda by MSc student to validate and improve methodology beyond the area it was originally implemented in. |
Title | Wetlands inventory Android data collection tool |
Description | Updated the historical National Wetlands Inventory Survey for Uganda to an Android based platform using Online Data Kit- creating a form that digitally records data and can be uploaded instantly online and into Excel. |
Type Of Material | Improvements to research infrastructure |
Year Produced | 2014 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Discussing with Uganda's Wetland Management Department about implementation of a new wetlands inventory |
Title | ALTER CAFEA Focus Group Discussion summaries |
Description | Data set contains 2 word documents containing the tabulated summarised discussion reports of 12 Focus Groups Discussion (FGDs) conducted to elicit information on two themes: Land use and livelihoods changes, and Soil perceptions, degradation and management. FGD were carried out between November 19th and November 21st, 2015. FGDs where conducted in 3 villages with separate groups of males and females for the two separate themes. Audio was taped for each FGD, which was later transcribed directly into tabular format to generate these summary reports. Field reports and FDG manual available as ALTER methodolgy report. CAFEA_2015_FOCUS_GROUP_DISCUSSION_SUMMARY_REPORTS_LU_KABALE: Contains 6 reports (3 villages, Male and Female) of discussions of land use and ecosystem changes. CAFEA_2015_FOCUS_GROUP_DISCUSSION_SUMMARY_REPORTS_SOIL_KABALE: Contains 6 reports (3 villages, Male and Female) of discussions of perception of soil and soil management. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2015 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Focus group discussions used to inform fieldwork and analysis under the ALTER project |
Title | ALTER CAFEA Household Survey Database |
Description | This is an excel file with the results of a quantitative questionnaire aimed at households in 21 villages with two wetland systems in Muko and Kashambya sub county, Kabale district, Uganda. Muko is a degraded systems, where as Kashambya contains both degraded and intact wetlands. Topics covered include household infrastructure and assets, food security and shocks, land use and management and the use of ecosystem services. The survey also collected GPS coordinates. A total of 427 interviews were completed through an android application: Open Data Kit (ODK). The survey was developed in English in paper form. The survey was then transcribed into excel and converted into xml format which could then be mounted onto the android phones. The data was downloaded off the phones and aggregated through ODK briefcase. The phone allowed either text box or multiple choice entries. Where multiple choice answers were used, these were either coded in lower-case English or directly into codes. A supplementary translation of these codes is attached, as well as the original XML code used. Where enumerators were able to write freely in text boxes, as opposed to multiple-choice, any Rukiga has been translated to English and remain in square brackets after the text. There is a summary tab to give an overview of the villages and numbers of surveys. During the period of 2/03/2015 to 20/03/2015 household surveys were conducted as part of the ESPA-ALTER project. • The survey design is broken down into the four following parts: o Part A: Household survey and capitals o Part B: Food security and shocks o Part C: Land use and management practices o Part D. Cultural identity and contributing value of wetlands • The design of questions and structure contained within the survey draw upon the following existing poverty-soils analysis and surveys: ? ALTER WP1 Ethiopian HH survey ? Uganda National Household Survey (UNHHS) ? Africa Soil Information Service (AfSIS) ? Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) • Key Informant Interviews conducted by WP1 Uganda in June 2014 were used to supplement material relevant to the field sites, and develop suitable option lists for multiple choice answers. • Questions were also checked to make sure that the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) survey was sufficiently replicated to allow both forward and backward mapping and analysis from previous HH surveys through key questions. • Enumerators were recent graduates from Kabale university and three days of training enabled a familiarity with the hh survey and further consensus in phrasing the question in Rukiga to elicit the information required. The training was also an opportunity to learn and develop interview techniques, and practise being both the respondent and the interviewer. • The training was also used to explore any technical issues arising with conducting the hh survey via phones. • Villages (n=21) over two sub counties of Muko and Kashambya had been identified as those with a close proximity to the two wetland systems the ALTER project is focusing upon. • Household lists had been previously collected within these villages. Households were then assigned random selected. • At each interview the project was introduced and permission sought to conduct the interview. Between 9 and 37 interviews were conducted in each village and working with five enumerators about 22 surveys were conducted each day. Interviews lasted between 40 minutes and 1.5 hours. ERROR CODES All questions had to be answered for the questionnaire to proceed on the phone Blank cells are the result of skip codes, to ensure only relevant questions were asked. 777 - means that the question wasn't asked/answered, usually because a number of questions were added late in the survey. 888 - means a value of greater than zero, but unsure of value. i.e. they harvest a product but don't know how much. 999 - means data entry error. e.g. for land size questions data value reported didn't make sense. • Coding structure included "sectionname_variablegroup" within the excel output. A supplementary translation of these codes is attached, as well as the original XML code used. • All Rukiga has been translated and remain in square brackets after the text. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Used in CAFEA analysis to determine household capitals and links between poverty and soils |
Title | ALTER CAFEA key informant interview notes dataset |
Description | This is an excel file with the results of 35 themed qualitative questions asked to key informants (n=29) in 14 villages over two wetland field sites, Kabale, Uganda. The interviews were conducted in Rukiga (local language) and transcribed into English. The first key questions allowed respondents to describe poverty-soil relationships in their community, with the next sections covering natural, social, financial and physical capitals, soil management practices and also some basic farm economic questions. Each individual occupies a row, with each of the questions occupying the columns. Where a question was not asked the cell was left blank. There is a summary tab to give an overview of the key villages and date of interviews. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Used to inform CAFEA ALTER household survey development |
Title | ALTER CAFEA national stakeholders semi structured interviews dataset |
Description | Word file containing notes from 32 interviews with Ugandan national level stakeholders for wetland management. Stakeholders were selected through a snowballing technique based on recommendation of previous interviewees. Interviews were largely wide ranging conservations last approximately 1 hr, with the same basic structure; Interviewees were askes about their personal and organisational role in respect to wetland management, largely answered in respect to past projects on wetland management, and then the challenges that are faced for wetland management at the personal and organisational level. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Used to inform CAFEA ALTER research and feed into journal paper (in preparation) on national wetland demand |
Description | Memorandum of Understanding with Wetlands Management Department |
Organisation | Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda |
Department | Wetlands Management Department |
Country | Uganda |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Agreement for collaboration, sharing of data, incorporation of ALTER project outputs into WMD strategic plan objectives |
Collaborator Contribution | Sharing of data |
Impact | Working to deliver ALTER outputs which are useful and useable by the WMD at national level |
Start Year | 2015 |
Description | Conference presentation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Contributed to symposium on modelling and mapping ES capacity, flow and demand with data of varying quantity and quality and Ignite Ecosystem Services and poverty alleviation with new approaches Increased research network, with interest in the work from a number of international scientists. Wrote a blog post based on experiences at the conference and links to natural capital, which has received over 50 hits. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | https://drfarmerjen.wordpress.com/2015/11/26/finally-realising-the-value-of-natural-capital/ |
Description | Conference presentation IALE |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Discussion with other presenters on spatial mapping of ecosystem services. In depth discussion with individual researchers during poster session. Improved research network |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
Description | Conference presentation at Ecosystem Services Partnership meeting in Nairobi, session on Key Messages for implementing the SDG for Policy Makers |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | Audience was made up of policy makers and researchers, as well as some industry players. Objective was to bring together these groups of stakeholders to bridge the divide between research and policy. As well as the presentation, a policy brief was presented and a discussion held with policy makers afterwards. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
URL | https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0BzhWq2qX30qQQXpIZk1EYzJWejA |
Description | Lecture at Kabale University |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
Results and Impact | Discussion after the talk. Students keen to undertake internships in our work Students came to work with us as interns. Heads of Department came to visit our field sites. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://www.espa-alter.org/news/2014 |
Description | Participation and presentation at regional meeting |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Attended the 2 day workshop and became a member of this network. Made regional and international contacts. Shared CAFEA's work and experiences, and ability to collaborate in an oral presentation. Partnership with network coordinator for future soil sampling, University of York. Sampling will provide additional insight into ALTER project field sites. Partnership with research fellow for future soil sampling, University of York. Sampling will provide additional insight into ALTER project field sites. Listed as project partner on postdoctoral research fellow application, University of Copenhagen |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://www.pages-igbp.org/ini/wg/landcover6k/intro |
Description | Presentation at ESPA meeting on social survey event |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Discussion related to our own research , learning from others about their methods Has influenced the way we are going about our own research |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |