Cameroon is committed to the AFR100 initiative, a movement to restore 100 million hectares of degraded landscapes in Africa by 2030. This commitment reflects the country’s recognition of the crucial importance of landscape restoration for food security, climate resilience and sustainable development.
To achieve this goal, the country must take into account the participation of all people – men, women and minorities. This is especially relevant given women’s leading role in the management of natural resources and food security across the African continent: they account for around 43% of the agricultural workforce in low- and middle-income countries, and up to 71.6% of workers in the informal sector in Cameroon.
Rural women’s in-depth knowledge of local landscapes, coupled with their involvement in agricultural and forestry activities, make them key players in restoration efforts. As such, a gender-sensitive approach to restoration is not only equitable, it is also essential to the sustainable success of these initiatives.
To enhance the likelihood of gender-sensitive restoration success, the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) implemented the Land Restoration for Rural and Indigenous Women’s Empowerment and Poverty Reduction in Cameroon (LRIWEP) project over a period of two years. It sought to encourage the participation of women and minority groups in land restoration initiatives through new tools, approaches and policies.
One key outcome of this research was a manual dedicated to the identification of gender-sensitive restoration options. Landscape restoration options vary considerably from one country to another, depending on various factors such as climate, soils, topography, socio-economic conditions and cultural practices; it is also crucial to consider the context-specific gender dimensions of a site when planning and implementing restoration initiatives.
As such, the handbook advises on the identification of priority interventions in a given area, such as a commune or village. It proposes a participatory and inclusive approach to inventory and prioritise gender-sensitive forest land and landscape restoration options, adapted to local Cameroonian contexts. Based on pilot experiments carried out over a 30-month period in the North, Centre and West regions of the country, the guide offers communes and field facilitators step-by-step support in working with key stakeholders, including women and minority groups. The aim is to identify promising restoration options that will enable people to combat land degradation, generate income and adapt to climate change.
The manual identifies four main stages of such a process (although each can be further broken down into several phases and stages):
- Contextual analysis: It is critical to carry out a thorough analysis of the local context, taking into account biophysical, socio-economic and cultural factors; identifying the differentiated roles and responsibilities of men and women in the management of land and natural resources; and assessing the potential impacts of land degradation on men and women, particularly on vulnerable groups.
- Stakeholder engagement: Project facilitators must actively involve men, women and marginalized groups in the restoration process from the outset; create inclusive and safe spaces for dialogue to express the needs and perspectives of all; and foster collaboration and shared decision-making between different stakeholders.
- Selection of restoration options: At this level, the aim is to identify a range of restoration options adapted to local conditions and the needs of the communities; evaluate these options in terms of their technical, economic, social and environmental feasibility, taking into account the potential impacts on gender; and prioritize options that promote the empowerment of women and equitable access to resources and food security.
- Implementation and monitoring: This final element involves developing detailed and inclusive implementation plans; taking into account the roles and responsibilities of men and women; putting in place monitoring and evaluation mechanisms to measure the progress of the restoration and its impact on the various stakeholders; and adapting and refining the restoration interventions according to the lessons learned and changes in context.
By adopting a gender-sensitive approach to landscape restoration, it is possible to create more resilient and equitable environments that benefit everyone. The use of this methodological guide, coupled with a thorough contextual analysis and inclusive stakeholder participation, can contribute to bringing forth successful, sustainable and transformative restoration initiatives.
Find the manual here.
Acknowledgements
This research was implemented in Cameroon by CIFOR-ICRAF and supported by the International Development Research Centre.
We want you to share Forests News content, which is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). This means you are free to redistribute our material for non-commercial purposes. All we ask is that you give Forests News appropriate credit and link to the original Forests News content, indicate if changes were made, and distribute your contributions under the same Creative Commons license. You must notify Forests News if you repost, reprint or reuse our materials by contacting forestsnews@cifor-icraf.org.
