Small scale community-based afforestation program in Ethiopia – Konea

The small-scale VPA presented here is the first VPA under the GS Programme of Activites (PoA) ‘Small scale community-based afforestation program in Ethiopia’. It lies in the Konea micro-catchment which belongs to the Kebele (community) of Tungi, and is situated in the south of Yeshum River, an affluent of the Blue Nile (Abay River) in the Woreda (district) Wogdi, South Wollo Zone, Regional State of Amhara, located some 170 kilometers in linear distance north of Addis Ababa. In Ethiopia, a series of droughts, overgrazing, erosion as well as deforestation due to the need for construction and firewood have resulted in eroded and depleted soils. Therefore, the livelihood of the population, which predominantly lives from agriculture, is severely threatened. MfM has set up an array of integrated measures to counter the vicious circle for the smallholder population living in rural Ethiopia. The VPA aims at rehabilitating land through physical and biological natural resource management practices and by considering crucial livelihood enhancement measures. While various afforestation measures are being taken, at the same time, the project will improve the livelihood of the community living in the contemplable catchments. The participation of the community is considered crucial for the sustainability of all conducted activities. Trees will be planted on a total area of 60 hectare, which will result in an expected annual verifiable CO2 fixation of some 450 tCO2e – in line with the SDG 13 (among other positive impacts on SGDs). After a project period of 30 years, 13,410 tCO2 have been sequestered by the small-scale afforestation project.