Sustainable Management of Miombo Woodlands
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Sustainable management of Miombo woodlands Food security, nutrition and wood energy Sustainable management of Miombo woodlands Food security, nutrition and wood energy This paper was prepared by Davison J. Gumbo from CIFOR Zambia and Marc Dumas-Johansen, Giulia Muir, Fritjof Boerstler and Zuzhang Xia from FAO. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 2018 Recommended citation: Gumbo, D.J., Dumas-Johansen, M., Muir, G., Boerstler, F., Xia, Z. 2018. Sustainable management of Miombo woodlands – Food security, nutrition and wood energy. Rome, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether or not these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned. The views expressed in this information product are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of FAO. ISBN 978-92-5-130423-5 © FAO, 2018 FAO encourages the use, reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product. Except where otherwise indicated, material may be copied, downloaded and printed for private study, research and teaching purposes, or for use in non-commercial products or services, provided that appropriate acknowledgement of FAO as the source and copyright holder is given and that FAO’s endorsement of users’ views, products or services is not implied in any way. All requests for translation and adaptation rights, and for resale and other commercial use rights should be made via www.fao.org/contact-us/licence-request or addressed to [email protected]. FAO information products are available on the FAO website (www.fao.org/publications) and can be purchased through [email protected]. ii | SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF MIOMBO WOODLANDS CONTENTS Acknowledgements iv Acronyms v Executive summary vii 1. Introduction 1 2. Background 3 2.1 General introduction to the Miombo ecoregion 3 2.2 Importance of Miombo woodlands to rural communities 7 2.3 Sustainable forest management and Miombo woodlands 10 2.4 Farming systems in Miombo woodlands 12 2.5 Forest and tree-based food systems – food security and nutrition in Miombo woodlands 13 2.6 Wood energy in Miombo woodlands 17 2.7 Forest biodiversity and environmental values of the Miombo woodlands 20 3. Environmental degradation in Miombo woodlands 21 3.1 Environmental degradation and its causes 21 3.2 Climate change impacts and variability 25 3.3 Responses in NDCs and Rio conventions 26 4. Interventions to reduce environmental degradation in Miombo woodlands 33 4.1 Key considerations 33 4.2 An example of a value chain analysis of woodfuels from Miombo woodlands 35 5. Challenges to sustainable management of the Miombo woodlands 39 5.1 Existing barriers to the sustainable management of the Miombo woodlands 39 5.2 Knowledge and information gaps 41 6. Conclusions and key messages 43 References 47 Figures Figure 1. Main land cover types in the Miombo ecoregion 4 Tables Table 1. Overview of type and quantity of non-wood forest products 5 Table 2. Total land area, forest area and forest loss between 1990 and 2015 22 Table 3. Nationally determined threats to Miombo woodlands 22 Table 4. Population growth trends across selected countries in the Miombo ecoregion 23 Table 5. References to Miombo woodlands across national reports to the UNFCCC, UNCCD and CBD Conventions 28 Table 6. Key references to food security from the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) 30 Table 7. Resilience in the NDCs 30 Table 8. References to wood energy and restoration in the NDCs 31 CONTENTS | iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS FAO and the authors are grateful to workshop participants from Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, facilitator Yemi Katerere, who provided valuable input into the workshop and into this document, and the NGO BIOHUB for workshop preparations and management. The following FAO colleagues provided valuable support and feedback to the authors in the development of the paper: Anna Tjarvar, Daowei Zhang, Mats Nordberg, Nora Berrahmouni and Patricia Tendi. Mitzi Du Plessis and Elke Momberg of Malachite Marketing and Media edited and managed the design and layout of this paper. Maria Guardia for the cover design. iv | SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF MIOMBO WOODLANDS ACRONYMS CBD Convention on Biodiversity CBFM Community-based forest management CFS Committee on World Food Security CIFOR Center for International Forestry Research CO2 Carbon dioxide CSA Climate Smart Agriculture DRC Democratic Republic of the Congo ES Ecosystem services FAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations GACC Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves GEA Global Energy Assessment GHG Greenhouse gas IEA International Energy Agency IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change JFM Joint forest management NAPA National Adaption Programmes of Action NBSAPs National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans NDCs Nationally Determined Contributions NTFPs Non-timber forest products NWFPs Non-wood forest products SDG Sustainable development goal SFM Sustainable forest management SLF Sustainable Livelihood Framework SSA Sub-Saharan Africa UNCCD United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UN DESA United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNEP/WCMC United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre UNFCC United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFI United Nations Forest Instrument ACRONYMS | v ©FAO/R. Faidutti ©FAO/R. ©FAO/S. Maina ©FAO/S. vi | SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF MIOMBO WOODLANDS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Miombo woodland is a vast African dryland forest ecosystem covering close to 2.7 million km2 across southern Africa (Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe). The woodlands are characterized by the dominance of Brachystegia species, either alone or in association with Julbernardia and Isoberlinia species. It is estimated that the woodlands – through their numerous goods and services which include various non-wood forest products (NWFPs) (e.g. insects, mushrooms, fruits, tubers, medicine, fodder, honey, seeds) and woodfuels, which, for simplicity, will be referred to as non-timber forest products, or NTFPs, throughout the publication – sustain the livelihoods of more than 100 million rural poor and 50 million urban people. The charcoal sector alone employs vast numbers of rural people and offers additional income to many poor rural families. Communities moreover rely directly on the woodlands for food and nutrition. NWFPs add vital micro- and macronutrients to local diets and contribute to diversified food systems, while woodfuel is essential for cooking and sterilizing, thus ensuring proper nutrient absorption and providing clean water for drinking. Forests and trees, if managed sustainably, are an important source of resilience for rural people in the Miombo woodlands, supporting households to absorb and recover from climatic or economic calamities and contributing to resolving the underlying causes of food insecurity, undernutrition and poverty by providing nutritious edible products and woodfuel for cooking in addition to conserving biodiversity and water resources, buffering extreme weather conditions and preventing land degradation and desertification. Generally speaking, it is now accepted that forests managed for both timber and NTFPs retain more biodiversity and resilience than forests managed solely for one aspect, e.g. timber and exotic timber plantations. However, a growing population in high need of agricultural land and unsustainable use and overharvesting of natural resources in parts of the Miombo woodlands, combined with climate change impacts (e.g. drought, fires), leave insufficient time for many trees and associated species to regenerate naturally, posing a serious threat to the products and services of the woodlands, and to the livelihoods depending on them. Compounding the problem and hindering development of the Miombo ecosystem, are: i) lack of an enabling policy environment; ii) unsustainable management; iii) limited willingness and ability to pay for and access to energy-efficiency technologies; iv) inadequate awareness and information, including technical capacity; v) high poverty levels; and vi) limited access to microcredit facilities. With the Committee on World Food Security’s endorsement of the recommendations presented in the High Level Panel of Experts Report on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition in late 2017 – which include promoting multifunctional landscapes, integrated food-forestry systems, and research on associated linkages, among other things – forests and trees are expected to play a greater role in future land-use decisions and related policies. This paper provides an overview of these linkages in the context of the Miombo woodlands, in the hope that future land use, policy decisions and financial investments are shaped to support the contributions of forests and trees to the health and