The Paris Agreement was a historic turning point in climate negotiations. As a global commitment toward changing the development trajectories of countries around the world, it acknowledged the reality of climate change and the imperative to mitigate the rise of global temperatures by reducing national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Signatories agreed to a 2-degree Celsius maximum acceptable increase in global temperatures and made pledges to reduce their GHG emissions by 2030.

While this was a critical step in slowing the global pace of rising emissions, many remain skeptical about whether these climate targets are going to be meaningfully set in place.   Furthermore, scientific evidence indicates that 2 degrees Celsius is not going to be enough to stop climate change impacts.

The specifics on each signatory’s pledge and plans to lower emissions are contained in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Countries have adopted a wide range of strategies to do so, from policies to increase renewable energy to reducing forest degradation and loss. One high-profile global strategy is to increase forest cover, given that trees pull and store carbon from the atmosphere. NDC  pledges to increase forest cover are often linked with other international pledges to expand Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) efforts, including the Bonn Challenge and the New York Declaration of Forests.

Yet under these restoration commitments, countries pledge a total restoration area – not targeted greenhouse gas reductions linked to the NDC. Many countries struggle to reliably estimate how much carbon their forest landscape restoration efforts store and therefore accounting is poor or even absent when tracking progress toward meeting NDC goals.

FLR activities are diverse and a range of factors like species, environmental conditions and management practices affect how much carbon is stored. The main resource for estimating carbon stored in forests are the IPCC Guidelines, yet only a few types of forest restoration activities, such as plantations and natural regeneration, are included — and no confidence range for results is offered. So countries that want to include their FLR activities in national greenhouse gas accounting often must rely on experts to do in-country assessments, which are costly and time consuming.

Recognizing the wealth of research and data available around the world on the carbon storage from forest landscape restoration activities, Winrock worked to meet this need cost-effectively and reliably. Data on carbon sequestration (a.k.a. removals or storage) from agroforestry, planted forests and woodlots, natural regeneration and mangrove restoration activities around the world were collected, grouped and modeled to produce a global database of standard annual rates of carbon removals. To make this data even more accessible, Winrock created an easy-to-use online FLR Carbon Storage Calculator that produces custom estimates and visualizes the benefits of different FLR activities over time in specific locations worldwide.

We all recognize that decisions and policies about natural resources, including climate change, should be based on scientific evidence. Yet many cannot access the data. While information may be available, it is often not in a format that non-experts can use. By collecting, organizing and synthesizing data (backed up by published methods and results) and then presenting it in a user-friendly tool, Winrock has bridged this gap.

Practitioners, policymakers, analysts and academics worldwide can now use the FLR Carbon Storage Calculator to understand and easily compare scientifically robust estimates of the impact forest landscape restorations have. This can help stakeholders evaluate benefits and track progress toward NDC commitments — a critically important step to ensuring that the Paris Agreement can be realized.

Just as water pumps are a ubiquitous symbol of international development, a broken one is the symbol of the sector’s need for oversight and quality assurance.

Enter Badri Baral, director of Winrock International’s Renewable Energy Project Support Office in Nepal. He oversees Winrock’s latest project with USAID Nepal, Safaa Pani, providing oversight and quality control and assurance to the system of pipes, tanks and tap stands known as water schemes.

“These projects are capital-intensive, have a long life and contribute to wider economic livelihood. Quality assurance and control is the most important. Otherwise, such a huge investment is in vain. It poses a huge danger and risk of loss of life and property if it fails,” Baral says.

Badri Baral describing the work of the Renewable Energy Project Support Office to Winrock’s Board of Directors in Kathmandu, Nepal, last year. Photo: Robic Upadhayay

Winrock is working with the Social Empowerment and Building Accessibility Center (SEBAC), a local NGO endeavoring to construct more than 200 water schemes in the Sindhupalchowk and Dolakha districts, which were devasted by the 2015 earthquake. While some of these drinking water systems have surviving parts that are being incorporated into their rehabilitation, other systems are being constructed of entirely new parts.

The goal of Winrock’s work is ensuring that both new and rehabilitated schemes address the water, sanitation and hygiene issues that most affected these communities even before the earthquake. Due to a lack of sanitation infrastructure throughout the country, the risks of cross-contamination are high, resulting in increased risks of water-borne diseases at the drinking source. Diarrheal illness from waterborne disease is the leading cause of death for children in Nepal.

When assessing these schemes, Baral and his team (including team leader Hari Prasad Dhakal, top left, pictured with Chhumane Kolmarpha WUSC Chairman Gyalbo Shrepa) look for construction risks, environmental risks and operational risks. They examine not just the quality of the construction, but the storage of the materials and the scheme layout as well. Water schemes vary in complexity and size but they are all designed to convey water from its source to communities in need of it as safely and reliably as possible.

Nepal’s water system still suffers from the 2015 earthquake that shook the country. Photo: Pramin Manandhar

The team assesses whether the schemes are being built according to design and if there is any exposure from the water source to the tap stands where people retrieve their water. The last component, operational risks, refers to the sustainability of the drinking water infrastructure. While SEBAC is responsible for constructing the schemes, it’s the community’s Water User and Sanitation Committee (WUSC) that maintains, operates and facilitates any repairs. Construction quality is crucial, but an inactive WUSC could sabotage the long-term sustainability of the scheme.

In addition to providing quality assurance and control, Winrock is providing capacity-building training to SEBAC and other local implementing partners. “The project’s goal is to strengthen the management and implementation capability of local implementers,” Baral says. “Improving the the quality of domestic water scheme construction and management provides clean drinking water to rural communities and ensures meaningful high impact from USAID’s investment in Nepal.”

At its best, mentorship is an essential component of growth and development for both mentors and mentees. This is certainly true for participants in the Community Food Systems Mentorship Program, a national initiative led by Winrock’s Wallace Center that builds mentoring relationships among food systems leaders across the U.S.

“While it is extremely important that we have systematic ways of passing down the knowledge and cultural memory and life experiences of people who are more experienced to those who are perhaps less experienced, [we need] to be careful not to create a hierarchy when we talk about mentorship,” cautions Malik Yakini in a Visionary Voices interview about his leadership journey. “What I have found is that everybody is bringing something to the table.” [Listen to the full interview here.]

Unlike the application of technical assistance, where an outside expert tells a client how something should be done, the Community Food Systems Mentorship Program challenges mentees to discover their own solutions. As they get to know their mentees and ask the right questions, mentors draw on the mentee’s experiences, resources and creativity to think critically, develop solutions and envision the future. As one mentee explains, “My mentor asked thought-provoking questions that helped me discover my values, beliefs and priorities without ever pushing ideas on me. This program has been incredibly instrumental in helping me shift to the next stage of my career.”

Having someone they admire recognize their work, validate their experience and encourage them to make time for self-care and reflection gives mentees the boost they need to take the next step in their leadership journey. Mentors are offered new perspectives, unique and complex challenges, and a renewed sense of confidence in the good food movement. Several Community Food Systems mentors have reflected on this reciprocal nature of mentorship:

“Being an FSLN Mentor has reaffirmed my belief in the individual strength, intelligence and passion of community food systems leaders throughout the country. However, those attributes can get stalled and dulled without a consistent space for self-reflection, confidential support and personal growth that the mentorship aptly provides.” — Miles Gordon

“I have grown tremendously as a result of serving as a ‘mentor’ through the Community Food Systems Mentoring program. The reality is that my interactions with ‘mentees’ have been a two-way street. As I share experiences and advice, it helps me to sum up and solidify my own learnings.” — Malik Yakini

Relationships of mutual reflection and knowledge sharing have deep roots in cultures around the world, highlighting their timeless value. Among the most notable benefits are the changes mentees make to their daily practices and the increased confidence both mentees and mentors feel in their own capacities as food systems leaders.

The Community Food Systems Mentorship Program is one of the few formal pathways for community-based practitioners to connect with profoundly accomplished food systems leaders in a mentoring relationship. In 2019, the Mentorship Program expanded to include nine, nationally-renowned food movement leaders that bring with them a wide range of expertise and experience. Learn more about the program here: https://foodsystemsleadershipnetwork.goentrepid.com/pages/mentors

The Spring 2019 mentors are (pictured from top left):

• A-dae Romero-Briones, JD, LLM (Cochiti/Kiowa), Director of Programs – Native Food and Agriculture Initiative, First Nations Development Institute
• Amy Kincaid, Vice President for Programs, Business Alliance for Local Living Economies
• Angel Mendez, Interim Director, Red Tomato
• Anupama Joshi, Executive Director, Blue Sky Funders Forum
• Karen A. Spiller, Principal, KAS Consulting
• Neelam Sharma, Executive Director, Community Services Unlimited Inc.
• Malik Yakini, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Detroit Black Community Food Security Network
• Miles Gordon, Founder, the Gardens Project, and Principal, Kitchen Table Consulting
• Paula Daniels, Co-Founder, Center for Good Food Purchasing

The Mentorship Program is a core service available to members of the FSLN, a national community of practice that strengthens the leadership, management and organizational effectiveness of nonprofit, community-based organizations using food systems as a platform for social change in their communities.

To become a member of FSLN or learn more, contact FSLNinfo@winrock.org or visit http://wallacecenter.org/fsln.

The Wallace Center develops partnerships, pilots new ideas, and advances solutions to strengthen communities through resilient farming and food systems. Learn more at: http://www.wallacecenter.org.