Enhancing farmer resilience in Benin: Terra preta as sustainable and more effective alternative to expensive mineral fertilisers

A 2016 study found 90% of Benin’s soils, notably in Borgou, Alibori and Zou, have low to very low fertility, cutting yields and threatening food security. Volatile mineral fertilizer prices make inputs unaffordable without subsidies. Locally made biochar amendments such as Terra preta increase farmers’ resilience and cost less than half of subsidized fertilizer. Biochar, produced by pyrolysis of organic matter, corrects soil acidity and, when mixed with compost or fertilizer, forms Terra preta, which improves yields and carbon storage. GIZ’s ProSoil programme promotes Terra preta by turning corn cobs and cotton stalks into biochar using Kon-Tiki kilns, which burn pyrolysis gases to cut toxic emissions. Using local residues maintains soil organic carbon for 100 years and yields a positive emission balance. ProSoil backs LTA graduate startups and the women’s NGO AFVA, trains 2,226 gardeners and 30 startups in Terra preta production, but scaling is limited by low investment capacity and costly MRV for carbon markets.

Visit page

Related content

Evidence for Nature-based Solutions: How Five Countries Built a Regionally Owned Environmental Database for Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria, shared by five East African countries, supports over 45 million people through fisheries, water supply, and agriculture. Declining water quality, rising pollution, and the absence of a shared evidence base made coordinated basin management difficult. To address this, the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), with GIZ support under the EAC4Nature project, developed the first-ever State of the Basin Report (SoBR).

The approach combines joint water quality sampling at 44 stations across three countries, consultations with all five Partner States – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, and integration of findings into the Lake Victoria Basin Water Information System (LVB-WIS).

The SoBR follows a five-year cycle as a shared baseline for planning, policy, and investment. It identifies Nature-based Solutions – wetland rehabilitation, reforestation, and catchment restoration – as the most cost-effective pathway to improve water quality and build climate resilience. All five Partner States endorsed the report.

Restoring Lake Hawassa: How Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships and Nature-Based Solutions reverse Catchment Degradation

In Ethiopia’s Rift Valley, Lake Hawassa faces accelerating degradation from deforestation, pollution, erosion and rapid urbanisation – pressures no single actor can address alone. This solution establishes an inclusive multi-stakeholder partnership uniting public authorities, private companies and civil society to protect the lake through coordinated catchment stewardship.

Guided by the Natural Resources Risk and Action Framework (NRAF) developed between 2015 and 2020, partners jointly assessed risks, planned actions and implemented nature-based solutions (NbS).

Key building blocks included:

Creating a multi-stakeholder platform,
Applying the NRAF,
Joint planning,
Ecohydrological restoration,
Waste management,
Public and private financing; and
Monitoring.

The partnership is now fully government-managed, and the approach upscaled to federal guidelines for restoring, rehabilitating and protecting surface water bodies all over the country.

URUGUAY. Strengthening biodiversity and land conservation policies as pillars of sustainable development.

In Uruguay, against a backdrop of the loss of habitat critical to biodiversity, the degradation of vulnerable ecosystems and soils due to the intensification and expansion of livestock and agricultural activities, poor grassland management practices, and pollution of water bodies and wetlands, the project aimed to implement actions to strengthen systemic, financial, and institutional capacities for biodiversity conservation and sustainable land management, thereby improving the effectiveness and sustainability of the management of protected areas, associated productive lands, and human well-being. This was achieved through: the establishment of a regulatory, financial, and institutional framework for biodiversity conservation and land degradation neutrality; Implementation of biodiversity and land conservation measures at pilot sites; and Knowledge management, monitoring and evaluation, and learning, to promote dialogue between public and private stakeholders.

URUGUAY. Financial Incentives for Sustainable Production

The Uruguayan Ministry of the Environment, with support from UNDP and the GEF through the project “Biodiversity and Land Conservation,” issued a call for proposals on sustainable production to organizations of producers of goods and services. An open competition was held for non-reimbursable grants aimed at groups of producers with proposals that incorporate improvements in environmental sustainability based on the sustainable use of natural resources. The call for proposals included an affirmative action strategy, reserving 30% of the awarded grants for women-led groups, as well as giving preference to groups that include young people. A total of 7 groups were selected, divided into 3 priority areas: i) sustainable livestock production on pastures; ii) nature tourism on livestock ranches; and iii) sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation.

Climate-resilient Fodder Storage Infrastructure for Disaster Risk Reduction and Pastoral Adaptation in Mongolia

Mongolia’s pastoral communities are increasingly exposed to climate-related hazards, particularly recurrent droughts and dzud that cause severe livestock losses and threaten rural livelihoods. To strengthen climate resilience and disaster preparedness, the UNDP ADAPT Project implemented a climate-resilient fodder storage solution in Khovd, Zavkhan, Dornod and Sukhbaatar provinces.

The solution established and rehabilitated hay and feed storage facilities in climate-vulnerable areas identified through risk assessments using climate, vegetation and livestock mortality data. In total, 48 storage facilities were developed to improve emergency fodder reserves and ensure timely access to feed during harsh winter and spring conditions.

The intervention combines risk-informed planning, resilient infrastructure, local participation and institutional collaboration. It has improved herders’ adaptive capacity, reduced vulnerability to climate shocks, strengthened food security for livestock, and enhanced local disaster risk reduction.

Improving farm sustainable land management practices through direct farmer assistance, Ridge to Reef approach

In Seychelles, increasing developmental pressures are degrading land, forests and soils leading to a loss of ecosystem services carbon sequestration and the ability to combat climate change. In an effort to reverse these pressures and restore degraded land, the project: ‘A Ridge to Reef Approach for the Integrated Management of Marine, Coastal and Terrestrial Ecosystems’ (Ridge to Reef) has been working with farmers to improve their sustainable land management practices.

Funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and implemented in partnership with UNDP, the ‘Ridge to Reef’ approach is an integrated management strategy for marine, coastal, and terrestrial ecosystems, focusing on the connection between land and sea to address environmental degradation.

In particular, the project has been working directly with farmers to improve their sustainable land management practices (SLM). Through direct farmer assistance these farmers have begun to shift their practices to improve ecosystem health and resiliency.

From Blanket to Precision: A Data-Driven Decision Support Tool for Site-Specific Fertilizer Recommendations in Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s smallholder farmers continue to face large yield gaps despite decades of fertiliser use and agricultural research investment. A key constraint has been blanket fertiliser recommendations: uniform rates applied nationwide without accounting for local soils, agro‑ecological conditions, or crop diversity. This one‑size‑fits‑all approach leads to systematic misapplication, with over‑use in some areas and under‑use in others. As a result, Ethiopian wheat farmers achieve only 35-45% of potential yields, while more than 60 years of agronomic research data remained fragmented. The Supporting Soil Health Interventions in Ethiopia (SSHI) project, co‑funded by BMZ and the Gates Foundation and implemented by GIZ with the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, EIAR, and the Ministry of Agriculture, addressed this gap by developing Ethiopia’s first Site‑Specific Fertiliser Decision Support Tool. Using machine learning, the tool delivers localised fertiliser recommendations, validated across hundreds of farms.

Strengthen Resilience of Coastal Communities through Local Early Action Plan-Climate Change Adaptation

Strengthening Resilience of Coastal Communities through the Local Early Action Plan-Climate Change Adaptation (LEAP-CCA) is a community-driven initiative in Mabul Island, Sabah, aimed at reducing climate change vulnerabilities through practical adaptation measures.

Located within the Coral Triangle, Mabul Island is rich in marine biodiversity but highly vulnerable to sea level rise, coastal erosion, wave levels during monsoon and typhoon. These threats affect critical ecosystems, fisheries, tourism, and local livelihoods.

Through collaboration between local communities, government agencies, NGOs, and tourism operators, vulnerable resources were identified and targeted adaptation actions developed. These include rainwater harvesting systems, coral restoration, and improved tourism management. The initiative has strengthened community awareness, improved local participation in climate action, and enhanced the resilience of ecosystems and livelihoods.

Para el MAR: Strengthening MPAs Through Localized Approach to Achieving Philippines’ 30×30 Target

The MPA Support Network (MSN) is a multi-sectoral alliance established to strengthen and sustain the management of MPAs in the Philippines. In 2007, MSN launched the Para el MAR (PEM), a biennial national incentive mechanism that recognizes effectively-managed MPAs.

PEM has 4 categories: Outstanding Locally-Managed MPA, Outstanding Network, Outstanding NIPAS, and Best Mangrove Awards.

Contingents submit their assessment tools such as the MPA Management Effectiveness Assessment Tool, Network Effectiveness Assessment Tool, Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool, and means of verification for screening. Finalists present assessment findings and expert recommendations during the culminating activity which also serves as an avenue for benchmarking of best practices among MPA management bodies.

Since its establishment, PEM addressed challenges on effective MPA management and sustainable funding for long-term protection. MSN has witnessed an upward trend in effective MPA management in the country especially among repeat contenders.

ecOcamp

The ecOcamp, developed by ecOceanica since 2021, is an immersive training program in marine research and conservation, implemented in collaboration with fishing communities in northern Peru. Through a field-based theoretical and practical experience, participants engage directly in marine megafauna monitoring, including aquatic censuses, sea turtle nesting surveys, whale shark registration and photo-identification, and fisheries assessments.

The program combines applied scientific training, participation in real research processes, and collaboration with artisanal fishers, fostering understanding of both ecological and social dimensions of marine conservation. It also integrates a citizen science approach, enabling participants to contribute to long-term scientific data collection.

Beyond capacity building, the model supports the financial sustainability of research activities and generates direct economic benefits for local communities, strengthening the link between science, community, and marine biodiversity conservation.

Calamianes Island Group MPA Network: Towards a Resilient MPA Network

The Calamianes Island Group Marine Protected Area Network (CMN) is an inter-LGU alliance of Busuanga, Coron, Culion, and Linapacan in northern Palawan, established in 2017 to jointly manage and conserve shared marine resources. Covering 44 Marine Protected Areas with a total of 44, 213 hectares, the network safeguards vital ecosystems such as coral reefs, seagrass beds, and mangroves.

The CMN was created to address pressing issues including Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, climate change, habitat degradation, and overfishing. Through coordinated governance, strong advocacy, community engagement, and multi-sector partnerships, it strengthens marine protection, sustainable fisheries, and enforcement efforts. As a result, the network has improved ecological conditions, increased fish biomass, enhanced climate resilience, and generated socio-economic benefits through ecotourism and community-based initiatives, while promoting inclusive participation among local stakeholders.

From Reef Builders to Conservation Leaders: Empowering Coastal Communities for Coral Reef Restoration in Tun Mustapha Park

Tun Mustapha Park (TMP), Malaysia’s largest multiple-use marine protected area (MPA), faces challenges in restoring and monitoring degraded coral reefs due to its remote location and limited technical capacity. Through the Coral Restoration Project, Sabah Parks and WWF-Malaysia partnered with coastal communities, equipping them with the skills to co-lead coral reef restoration and monitoring. Community members were trained in reef restoration techniques, maintenance of project site, ecological monitoring, and data analysis through the Mars Assisted Reef Restoration System (MARRS). Through continuous mentoring and hands-on experience, they progressed from restoration volunteers to citizen scientists, reef builders, trainers, and conservation leaders. Today, these communities independently manage restoration sites, secure external funding, educate visitors, and support the replication of coral restoration in other seascapes, demonstrating a scalable model for community-led marine conservation.