Impact case study database

Promotion of agroecological approaches using the options by context (OxC) approach, developed through Bangor’s research, has been adopted internationally by the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) in the context of food security and nutrition in 2019 [5.1] and by the Global Commission on Adaptation (GCA) with respect to climate resilience of agricultural and food systems in 2019 [5.2]. Both bodies recommend promotion of agroecological practices, citing Bangor’s underpinning research. The HLPE report forms the basis of an international policy convergence process initiated at the 46th Session of CFS at the UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in Rome in October 2019. The GCA report launched in September 2019 sets out a programme for governments and businesses to take urgent action to advance climate adaptation solutions in the light of Bangor’s research findings, including a commitment to improve access for at least 60,000,000 small-scale producers to agroecological practices. By adopting the OxC principles, enhanced policy and practice has occurred at an international scale for securing poverty alleviation, increasing food security and enhancing environmental restoration.

Application of the OxC approach directly associated with Bangor’s underpinning research has led to development of new national and sub-national policies and incentives to promote agroecological options in Vietnam [5.3], Peru in [5.4] and Rwanda [5.5]. In the private sector, Barry Callebaut, one of the largest buyers of cocoa in the world, has adopted the OxC approach for cocoa agroforestry, explicitly derived from Bangor’s underpinning research [5.6]. In Vietnam, OxC trials of agroforestry options to increase farm income and control soil erosion on slopes, have led to implementation of new provincial level policies to promote agroecological transitions [5.3]. In 2015, Yen Bai provincial Resolution (15/2015/NQ-HDND) and Decisions (27/2015/QD-UBND and 2412/QD-UBND) provided financial support for households to establish fruit tree agroforestry practices and agroecological soil and water conservation measures to sustain maize production on sloping land. The Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development (MARD) Decision (2477/QD-BNN-HTQT) created MARD’s Agroforestry Working Group set up to review, improve, and propose agroforestry-related policies in Vietnam [5.3]. In Peru, regional implementation of a national agroforestry concession policy incorporates the OxC approach explicitly based on Bangor’s underpinning research [5.4]. This policy grants formal land-title to farmers, provided that they commit to maintain, or establish agroforestry on 20% or more of the land. With the OxC approach thus adopted in national policies, it is estimated that up to 120,000 households in the Peruvian Amazon are benefiting from the OxC rollout affecting over 1,000,000ha [5.4].

Several major development initiatives have adopted the OxC approach as a direct outcome of the underpinning Bangor research. The Global Climate Fund, together with the Government of Sri Lanka, have invested approximately USD49,000,000 (03-2020) [5.7]. The development work aims to strengthen the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers to address climate-induced irrigation and drinking water shortages by improving the resilience of farm- and land-management practices using the OxC approach, targeting at least 1,343,216 beneficiaries and protecting approximately 346,000ha of land [5.8]. The Netherlands invested USD49,461,485 (06-2015) in the Dryland Development project (2014 to 2019) [5.9] in Kenya, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso(DryDev), which had the OxC approach at its core. Success was validated by associated planned comparisons funded through the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) Dryland Restoration project EUR3,845,630 (04-2015) and USD1,500,000 (04-2015) [5.10] with key impacts for individual farmers being realised at the project delivery and evaluation stages. They showed DryDev reached 219,694 farmers who rehabilitated 122,850ha of common land, practiced improved soil and water conservation on 90,058ha and other climate smart practices on 52,994ha; household resilience was higher in all 5 countries as a result, with dietary diversity of women in Kenyan project sites increased by 15% [5.9]. External mid-term evaluation of this IFAD development project stated that “upscaling of best options by voluntary farmers on their farms and by other farmers (especially neighbours) is very impressive…. the project is currently reaching the impressive number of about 10,000 households, or more than 50,000 beneficiaries in the four action countries which are directly benefiting for their livelihoods from the land restoration project”. Main findings report that “the project may significantly contribute to the achievement of [United Nations Development Goals] SDGs, especially ‘no poverty’ and ‘zero hunger’” [5.10]. The EU and partners have invested EUR21,379,310 (09-2017) in the Regreening Africa project (2017 to 2022), which operates the OxC approach developed from Bangor research across 8 African countries, including Ghana, Rwanda and Senegal in addition to those in DryDev. It targets at least 500,000 households and restoration of at least 1,000,000ha with 145,274 households already actively engaged in restoring 162,697ha by 2019 [5.11]. The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) have invested AUD10,390,000 (01-2017) in two phases of the Trees4FoodSecurity (T4FS) project (2012 to 2020) in Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda and Uganda that uses OxC to scale-up agroforestry. A 2019 evaluation of the impacts of the ACIAR projects identified the first phase (FSC/2012/014) as 1 of only 3 projects out of 15 evaluated that had contributed to transformational development impacting over 30,000 farmers in 2019 reaching over 48,000 in phase 2 [5.12].