Seven Ways USAID is Investing in People and the Planet
From conserving key species to empowering communities who depend on natural resources, the Agency and its partners are working across the globe to safeguard nature. This Earth Day, we’re highlighting that work in action with these seven stories.
1. Sustainably harvesting marine food sources
Sea cucumbers post-harvest staying fresh on a bed of salt. (Photo credit: Zack Taylor for USAID/Madagascar)
As demand for some marine species has increased, their populations have plummeted. USAID projects are bringing sustainable harvesting techniques to fisheries to benefit both humans and other creatures. This blog, “Celebrate an Unlikely Conservation Hero,” describes how USAID and its partners are leading efforts to develop sea cucumber and seaweed fisheries in Madagascar.
2. Conserving key species
Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly drinking nectar from zinnia flower. (Photo credit: Susanna Jolly, USAID)
Did you know that animals pollinate more than three quarters of major food crops? Without their services, your meals would look very different. USAID activities support the cultivation of healthy environments in which pollinators like insects and birds can thrive. This blog, “Pollinators: A Key Piece of the Development Puzzle,” describes the vital role of pollinators in food security, and USAID’s efforts to protect them.
3. Tapping into agroforestry to improve community resilience
Portrait of Emile Gatson, a cacao farmer, in forest in Madagascar. (Photo credit: Fenohenintsoa Jerry Andrianaivoarivony for USAID/Madagascar)
Some days it seems that chocolate consumption is a requirement for many of us, but the people responsible for producing this chocolate—the farmers—are struggling as they face the pervasive threat of climate change. This blog, “How Chocolate Stimulates Taste Buds, Forests, and Communities,” describes several of USAID’s activities that support cacao farmers to better manage and restore key landscapes such as forests, grasslands, and peatland.
4. Eliminating illegal logging and improving livelihoods
Teobaldo Vásquez smiling and carrying a backpack in the Peruvian Amazon. (Photo credit: Liliana Lizárraga for USFS)
One-quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation and land use. Illegal logging is a major contributor to deforestation—and, in turn, a threat to the lives and livelihoods of communities in the Amazon. A USAID project in Peru is giving Indigenous communities the tools to combat illegal logging and to receive a fair price for those trees they choose to harvest.
5. Mobilizing Finance for Nature
Farmers tending to plants in a nursery. (Photo credit: USAID Green Invest Asia)
Looking for something to listen to on your way home from work? Check out the Green Invest Asia podcast for an inside look at how USAID is partnering with agriculture and forestry businesses in Southeast Asia to adopt low-emissions practices and connect with green investors. Shifting public and private finance toward natural climate solutions is critical given that addressing the climate and biodiversity crises will require investments in nature to triple by 2030 and increase four-fold by 2050 from the current $130 billion spent annually.
6. Increasing opportunities for women’s leadership on conservation
A women warden for Lower Zambezi National Park in Zambia looks off into the forest. (Photo credit: David Nangwenya for USAID ILRG)
Traditionally, wildlife officers and community scouts in Zambia have been almost exclusively men. But in order for a whole community to see the benefits of wildlife and conservation, everyone must be allowed and encouraged to participate. This blog, “Breaking Down Employment Barriers in Zambia: Increasing Opportunities for Female Community Scouts,” describes USAID efforts to expand employment opportunities to women and demonstrates how rural women in these leadership roles can be changemakers for effective natural resource management.
7. Equipping women to increase their families’ resilience
Women farming potatoes in West Bengal, India. (Photo credit: Subarna Maitra for USAID ILRG)
Women produce as much as 80 percent of global food supplies, yet they are much less likely to control resources or receive technical training than men. As the Medium blog “Climate Change is not Gender Neutral” explains, a USAID partnership with PepsiCo in India is empowering women farmers with new skills to adapt to the effects of climate change.
On this Earth Day, these are just a few examples of the breadth of USAID’s work investing in the planet to conserve nature and biodiversity, and to increase the resilience of local communities whose wellbeing and livelihoods depend on a sustainable, healthy environment.
About the Author: Christine Chumbler is a biodiversity communications consultant supporting USAID’s Sharing Environment and Energy Knowledge project.
This story was originally posted on Medium.com.
