In Zambia’s Eastern Province, Wilson Banda, a lead farmer, is teaching other farmers at a field school in Katete how planting shade trees can help nutrients in the soil and lead to better harvests.
Training teams of farmers in such practices has helped turn a negative cycle in the region into a positive one. Previously, poor farming practices caused soil degradation, leading to the clearing of forests for more agriculture, further disrupting the ecosystem. Farmers are now shifting to climate-smart agriculture practices such as precision farming, agroforestry, crop rotation, crop diversification, and efficient irrigation to optimize resource use, minimize emissions, and store carbon in the soil. As a result, the soil is improving, agricultural yields are up, and there is room for reforestation. Additionally, the local community will soon begin to receive payments for the carbon they have prevented from entering the atmosphere.
“We care deeply about our forests and the animals that call them home,” said His Royal Highness Chief Zingalume of Zingalume Chiefdom in Chadiza District of Eastern Province. “It’s a great thing to be able to preserve the trees and land while still making a living. The trees improve the health of the soil, which helps increase our yields. This lets us help our families and our community. It’s nice to think we will be getting paid for this. We plan to use the money for developmental projects of our chiefdom to improve access to clean drinking water, local area economic growth, and natural resource management.”
Elsewhere in Zambia's Banki Community Forest, a Community Forest Management Group (CFMG) is tending 1,000 beehives. Honey production is one alternative livelihood that community groups are pursuing in the area. The CFMG was awarded a grant to begin this enterprise. Tackling climate change is central to this project with group members building honey processing facilities and a solar-powered water reticulation system.
The group developed a business plan and received technical training from Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO), a local private sector company supporting small-scale farmers. Last season, they harvested 845 kilograms of honey sold under COMACO's brand name "It’s Wild!"
These activities took place under the Zambia Integrated Forest Landscape Program (ZIFL-P), which supported farming communities' transition to sustainable practices and alternative production methods. The program was part of the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) emission reductions program. Zambia signed an Emission Reductions Purchase Agreement in June unlocking up to $30 million in results-based payments for carbon credits generated from climate-smart agricultural practices.
ISFL promotes reducing emissions from land sectors beyond deforestation reduction (REDD+) by including sustainable agriculture and smarter land use policies. The work in Zambia exemplifies how better actions for climate resilience can also lead to improved agriculture and livelihoods.
The program has already increased yields of selected crops by over 32% using climate-smart agriculture methods while creating jobs in rural communities and improving sustainable management across more than 72,000 hectares of forestland.
The initiative extends beyond businesses and forest groups by involving community members like Naomi Miti who uses an energy-efficient fixed mud stove running on twigs gathered from forest floors instead of cutting down trees.
Under Zambia's new emissions reduction agreement, Naomi and others involved will share carbon credit payments through a benefit-sharing plan.
Moreover, ZIFL-P supports programs leveraging indigenous knowledge for mapping animal corridors reducing human-wildlife conflicts while promoting biodiversity protection within Lukusuzi and Luambe National Parks' adjacent areas.
Both Chief Zingalume and His Royal Highness Chief Kapatamoyo expressed optimism: "We weren't really sure how this was going to work out at first because it required changing things we've done for a long time. But now we are seeing our incomes rise; more food available for the community; we are optimistic about what we will be able to do with income from our agreement with World Bank."