FRAME in Focus: West Africa

Expand your knowledge on natural resource management in West Africa with these diverse resources.

Uncovering the Underground Forest - A Short History and Description of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration.
This paper discusses the history of conventional Western forestry methods applied Sahelian countries and the lessons learned from these practices. Click here to read this paper.

Investing in Tomorrow's Forests: Toward an Action Agenda for Revitalizing Forestry in West Africa
Investing in Tomorrow's Forests describes these forests and the benefits to be expected from investing in them. Benefits include the provision of environmental goods and services; economic returns, as well as the promotion of good governance by increasing participation, accountability and transparency. Investing in Tomorrow's Forests is the result of a collaborative CILSS/USAID assessment of the state of the art of forestry in West Africa. Click here to read this paper.

The impact of NRM investments on Food crisis prevention and management

Photo credit: Michael Kamber for The New York Times

This paper looks at the lessons learned from the famine in Niger. It informs about the food problems in Niger, the adaptation strategies of the populations, the follow-up indicators taken into account and the NRM role in food crisis prevention and management. Click here to read this paper.

Climate Connections: Niger's Trees May Be Insurance Against Drought
This NPR audio story originally aired July 2007. Scientists studying vegetation patterns in the broad arid region just south of the Sahara desert have discovered that trees are growing like crazy there. And while it's a big unknown whether global warming will bring further drought to this impoverished region, these trees will be one of the things that help people in countries like Niger cope. Click here to hear this story.

Case Study on regreening movement in Niger
The World Resources Report 2008: Roots of Resilience - Growing the Wealth of the Poor highlights Niger's farmer managed natural regeneration (FMNR). In an in-depth 16-page case study, the report examines how farmers have transformed Niger's landscapes and livelihoods to build environmental, economic, and social capital. Click here to read this report.

Resource Feature: Liberia Environmental Threats and Opportunties Assessment (ETOA)

Extension workers training, Liberia LCP II Program

An ETOA describes the range of environmental impacts from human activities across the spectrum of sectors: green (forests, agricultural systems), brown (urban, industrial systems) and blue (marine and freshwater systems). Although the ETOA's primary purpose is to contribute to the development of USAID Mission strategy, USAID/Liberia saw the ETOA as more than a simple, standalone product, and chose to make it a proactive mechanism to build the capacity of Liberian institutions to undertake environmental monitoring, as well as raise awareness of the importance of monitoring and adaptive management within the Government of Liberia, USAID and other key stakeholders. The assessment has been broken up into three standalone resources:

Threats to ecosystems, including terrestrial, coastal, wetlands and marine areas. Liberia is situated in the fragmented band of forest known as the 'Upper Guinean Forest'. It is one of the two most significant forest blocks in Africa, the other being the 'Congolese Forest'.
Capacity of government of Liberia institutions to address threats. Liberia has four key policies and several international commitments which have the potential to address threats to tropical forests and biodiversity.
Strategic options for addressing underlying threats to biodiversity, forests and ecosystems. Drawing on the threats, policy and institutional analyses from the preceding sections, this section examines underlying threats to biodiversity, forests and ecosystems and proposes strategic options for addressing these threats.