combating climate change at the village level1

8/3/2019 Combating Climate Change at the Village Level1

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Combating Climate Change at theVillage Level: The Peace Corps

Approach

Friday, February 25thBy Saikou Njai, ENRM Program Manager and

Casey Donahue, Peace Corps Volunteer


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What is the Peace Corps?

The Peace Corps is an American apoliticalorganization of skilled professionals

working overseas. The Peace Corps placestheir volunteers in villages around theGambia, where they spend 2 years

working with Gambians to build capacityand institute sustainable projects.


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Peace Corps Goals

Provide technical assistance to hostcountries or communities

Promote better understanding foreigncultures by Americans

Promote better understanding of American

culture by foreign countries


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Who Does Peace Corps Work with?

Volunteers work with motivatedcommunity members. They are trained to

seek out positive deviants, individualswilling to try new things. They also workwith already existing groups (NGOs,associations) or form their own. Every

volunteer is placed in a community anddirected to assess its needs beforestarting their work.


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Peace Corps the Gambia Program

AreasPeace Corps the Gambia focuses their work

on three programs areas:

Education Sector

Health Sector

Environment Sector


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Goals of the Environment Program

Goal 1: Food Security

Goal 2: Prevention of Deforestation and

Desertification through the Protection andManagement of Natural Resources

Goal 3: Environmental Education and Awareness

Goal 4: Promotion of Economic Growth throughSmall Business Enterprise Development andLocal Organizational Partnerships


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Food Security

The Environmental and ResourceManagement sector aims to increase food

production by using new techniques forgrowing greater quantities and varieties ofcrops.


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Prevention of Deforestation and Desertificationthrough the Protection and Management of

Natural Resources

The Peace Corps approaches this goal inmany ways, but recently have focused on

agro-forestry. Volunteers strive to teachfarmers agro-forestry practices they canincorporate into their daily life. Thesecombinations of improved agriculture and

forestry work are designed to create moresustainable farming practices and preventdesertification.


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Agro-forestry Practices

Inter-croppingis a way to increasefarmer's yields. It simultaneously enriches

the soil and protects it from harmfulerosion, and provides the farmers withsecondary products such as timber, animalfodder, and fruits.

Windbreaksprotect from wind erosion.This technique is widely used in theWestern world and keeps valuable soil on

fields.


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Agro-forestry Practices

Firebreaksprotect fields from bushfires.

Live fencinghas many long-term agro-

forestry benefits, especially if income-generating trees are used.

Woodlotsabsorb lots of carbon, prevent

deforestation, and can be a renewablesource of fuel wood.


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Cashew Trees

Cashew trees are growing in popularity but still awidely under-utilized resource. If planted

correctly, they can be used as windbreaks,firebreaks, or live fence posts.

When planted on inclines, the cashew's rootsystem can provide stability and prevent soil

erosion. Volunteers are working withassociations and individual farmers to plantmore trees and actively harvest those theyalready have.


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Cashew nuts and fruits can be harvested forincome generation. They can be sold locally

or exported to Senegal. Volunteers work with

community partners on methods ofprocessing the cashew nuts.

From the fruit, cashew butter and jam are

easy to make on the local level, and they canbe dried and sold as well.


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Moringa

Moringa oleiferiais a tree used by manydevelopment workers. Volunteers do many

projects with this tree, including planting it ingarden beds for extensive harvest, live

fencing, and border-planting. It is rich in many

essential vitamins lacking in the populations'diet, especially calcium, protein, vitamin A,

magnesium, iron, and potassium.


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Pigeon Pea


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Leucena


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Gmelina


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Jatropha


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Acaia Albida


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Questions?

Thanks for listening!

Saikou Njai [email protected],

[email protected]

Casey Donahue [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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References

Photographs were taken from various websites

Moringa http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P134_Mori-olei_SAM-UP1_GM_MX.jpg

http://www.transitionfrasercoast.org.au/wp-

content/uploads/2009/11/pigeon-pea.jpg (Pigeon Pea photograph) Leucena http://www.maltawildplants.com/MIMO/Pics/LCNLC/leuco_672.jpg

Gmelina http://b-and-t-world-

seeds.com/images/1257.jpg

Cashew http://livingfree.aubreecherie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cashew-nut-tree.jpg

Acaiahttp://www.ird.fr/var/ird/storage/images/media/ird.fr/images/photographies/champ-sous-un-acacia-albida/73504-1-fre-FR/champ-sous-un-acacia-albida.jpg
http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P134_Mori-olei_SAM-UP1_GM_MX.jpghttp://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P134_Mori-olei_SAM-UP1_GM_MX.jpghttp://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P134_Mori-olei_SAM-UP1_GM_MX.jpghttp://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P134_Mori-olei_SAM-UP1_GM_MX.jpghttp://www.transitionfrasercoast.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/pigeon-pea.jpghttp://www.transitionfrasercoast.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/pigeon-pea.jpghttp://www.maltawildplants.com/MIMO/Pics/LCNLC/leuco_672.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://livingfree.aubreecherie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cashew-nut-tree.jpghttp://livingfree.aubreecherie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cashew-nut-tree.jpghttp://livingfree.aubreecherie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cashew-nut-tree.jpghttp://livingfree.aubreecherie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cashew-nut-tree.jpghttp://livingfree.aubreecherie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cashew-nut-tree.jpghttp://livingfree.aubreecherie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cashew-nut-tree.jpghttp://livingfree.aubreecherie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cashew-nut-tree.jpghttp://livingfree.aubreecherie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cashew-nut-tree.jpghttp://livingfree.aubreecherie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cashew-nut-tree.jpghttp://livingfree.aubreecherie.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/cashew-nut-tree.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://b-and-t-world-seeds.com/images/1257.jpghttp://www.maltawildplants.com/MIMO/Pics/LCNLC/leuco_672.jpghttp://www.transitionfrasercoast.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/pigeon-pea.jpghttp://www.transitionfrasercoast.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/pigeon-pea.jpghttp://www.transitionfrasercoast.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/pigeon-pea.jpghttp://www.transitionfrasercoast.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/pigeon-pea.jpghttp://www.transitionfrasercoast.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/pigeon-pea.jpghttp://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P134_Mori-olei_SAM-UP1_GM_MX.jpghttp://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P134_Mori-olei_SAM-UP1_GM_MX.jpghttp://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P134_Mori-olei_SAM-UP1_GM_MX.jpghttp://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P134_Mori-olei_SAM-UP1_GM_MX.jpghttp://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P134_Mori-olei_SAM-UP1_GM_MX.jpghttp://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P134_Mori-olei_SAM-UP1_GM_MX.jpghttp://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/MM/MX1-4/4P134_Mori-olei_SAM-UP1_GM_MX.jpg

combating climate change at the village level1

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