-
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF ANDO KPOMEY, Togo
1/11
Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities
Togo
VILLAGE DEVELOPMENTCOMMITTEE OF ANDOKPOMEY
Empowered live
Resilient nation
-
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF ANDO KPOMEY, Togo
2/11
UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES
Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo
or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth
their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition
themselves guiding the narrative.
To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser
that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmen
conservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succto scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models
replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power o Local Action: Lessons rom 10 Years
the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.
Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.
EditorsEditor-in-Chie: Joseph Corcoran
Managing Editor: Oliver HughesContributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding
Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Sean Cox, Larissa Currado, David Godrey, Sarah Gordon,
Oliver Hughes, Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma
Mary McGraw, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding
DesignSean Cox, Oliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Loren
de la Parra, Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.
AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the Village Development Committee o Ando Kpomey and theAssociation Togola
pour la Promotion Humaine (ATPH), and in particular the guidance and inputs o Mr. Koto Koku Agbee o Ando Kpomey, and Mr. Ko
Mawuko Modzi, Executive Secretary o ATPH. All photo credits courtesy o the Village Development Committee o Ando Kpomey. Ma
courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.
Suggested Citation
United Nations Development Programme. 2013. Village Development Committee o Ando Kpomey, Togo. Equator Initiative Case StuSeries. New York, NY.
http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-eventshttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=747:10years&catid=189:2012-events -
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF ANDO KPOMEY, Togo
3/11
PROJECT SUMMARYAter a devastating bush re in 1973, the village o AndoKpomey created a green belt buer around its communitythat has grown into a 100-hectare orest. A participatorymanagement committee has been established to monitorthe orest and its resources and to regulate its use. Thecommunity authorizes limited resource extraction tomeet livelihood needs and manages revenues generatedrom the sale o orest-based products. Local womenare authorized entry to the community orest to accessrewood, signicantly reducing the average time neededto orage or cooking uel. Various crops are grown in theorest, including a range o medicinal plants which haveserved to meet local healthcare needs.
Neighbouring communities have been enlisted to protectthe orest, and have beneted rom knowledge sharing onnatural resource management, participatory planning andorest conservation. The village hosts peer-to-peer learningexchanges to share lessons learned, and has done so withcommunities and organization across Togo and Burkina Faso.
KEY FACTS
EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2012
FOUNDED: 1973
LOCATION: Maritime Region, south-western Togo
BENEFICIARIES: 1,000 residents of Ando Kpomey
BIODIVERSITY: Community forest
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background and Context 4
Key Activities and Innovations 6
Biodiversity Impacts 7
Socioeconomic Impacts 7
Policy Impacts 8
Sustainability 9
Replication 9
Partners 10
VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEEOF ANDO KPOMEYTogo
-
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF ANDO KPOMEY, Togo
4/11
4
Persistent threats to orest cover and biodiversity
he total orested area in Togo is around 287,000 hectares. That
umber, however, is rapidly shrinking. The annual deorestation
ate is 5.75 per cent and rising. Decades o socio-political crises
nd poor resource governance have resulted in severe degradation
protected areas. Between 2005 and 2010 alone, Togo lost an
verage o 20,000 ha o orest cover each year. The combination o
eorestation, bush res, and hunting has resulted in the widespread
oss o orests and the biodiversity they support. Deorestation has
ed to land degradation, which has in turn let towns and villages
ulnerable to ooding, bush res and other extreme weather events.
A green belt to buer against bush fres
Ando Kpomey is a small town in the Maritime Region o south-
western Togo, located 70 kilometers northwest o the capital, Lom.
he community which has a modest population o 1,000 residents
was ormerly surrounded by dry shrub savannah; bush res would
ten break out, devastating housing, local inrastructure, crops and
ood stores. On two occasions, the entire town was burned to the
round.
When one particularly devastating re occurred in 1973, a group o
own elders proposed a solution: establish a green belt o orested
rea around the perimeter o the community that would eectivelyuer against bush res. It was proposed that, in addition to
rotecting the town rom bush res and, by extension, mitigating
ll o the social, economic and environmental costs associated with
ecovery a green belt would allow the community to diversiy the
rops under cultivation and would harbour biodiversity. The proposal
was accepted and since 1973 Ando Kpomey has maintained and
xpanded a community orest that surrounds the village and now
overs an area o more than 100 hectares.
The genesis o a community orest
The initial creation o the green belt was based solely on
initiative and voluntary eorts. Family heads and community e
agreed on the proposal and devised a plan or how to move orw
As the rainy season drew to a close, community members c
together to clear a re break, a 14-meter strip o bush around
town. Beyond the re break, they planted a 10-meter strip o t
Every year since, the community has planted an additional 10-m
strip to expand the green belt. Little by little, the green belt
grown to become a community orest, which now surrounds
town to a depth o between 350 and 850 meters and is a great so
o pride or Ando Kpomeys residents. For 18 years ater the prbegan, the community maintained and expanded the orest wit
Background and Context
-
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF ANDO KPOMEY, Togo
5/11
55
utside help. In 1991, the community initiative came to the attention
the Togolese NGO Association Togolaise pour la Promotion
Humaine (ATPH), which, in 1992, began providing support. Several
ears later in 2000, the community orest came to the attention o
nother NGO, Inades-Formation Togo, which also began providing
upport and technical guidance shortly thereater. With the support
both partners, Ando Kpomey developed ormal regulations or
management o the community orest in 2003.
Management, participation and fnancing
While management o the orest is entirely community-based,
ssociation Togolaise pour la Promotion Humaine provides occasional
echnical support and helped to establish management and
watchdog committees in the hopes o ensuring accountability,
transparency and good governance. The management appr
taken is largely participatory in nature, and the regulations that
been put in place concerning the use o and access to the ores
widely respected by local residents. The community orest in A
Kpomey is nothing short o a regional anomaly. The majori
surrounding towns have entirely cleared their orests. As such, A
Kpomey has reached out to neighbouring villages in an eo
engage a larger population in the protection o its orest and
biodiversity. The community orest has become an attractiovisitors to the region and rom adjacent municipalities. A visito
is collected or entry to the orest, which has provided a valu
source o revenue to nance local inrastructure needs and ong
conservation and tree-planting eorts. The management comm
provides the wider community with regular updates and repor
how this revenue is being spent.
-
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF ANDO KPOMEY, Togo
6/11
6
Key Activities and Innovations
he primary activity o the Village Development Committee o Ando
Kpomey has been the establishment and ongoing maintenance o
ts community orest. Thanks to the eorts o volunteers every year,
he orest now covers an area o more than 100 ha. Rather than
ocusing on continued expansion, however, the organization is now
oncentrating its eorts on orest maintenance and monitoring to
nsure that existing tree cover stays intact and is not deorested or
egraded.
o eed community tree-planting and reorestation eorts, village
urseries were established in which tree saplings were cultivated
nd nurtured to maturity beore being planted in the annual orest
xpansion. With the support o its partner organizations, the VillageDevelopment Committee o Ando Kpomey has developed a simple
management plan. The plan was drawn up in open consultations
with community members. Both the Department o Environment
nd Forest Resources and the UNDP-implemented GEF Small
Grants Programme (SGP) have provided the village with resources
nd support to help establish ormal rules or community orest
management. Support with this resource governance ramework has
been complemented by training in sustainable orest management
echniques.
he management committee is composed entirely o elected
ommunity members. It holds responsibility or ensuring that
ommunity orest regulations are complied with, and or regulatingnd authorizing the elling o trees and other orms o resource
xtraction within the orest. When a member o the community
eeds timber or a construction project, they must submit a request
o the management committee which authorizes the type and
uality o wood that should be used as well as the location in the
orest where the tree(s) can be harvested. Through this process, the
orest is able to meet the needs o the community without risking
overharvesting. Women are also permitted entry to the orest
o collect allen branches or rewood. The rules governing the
orest are strictly enorced. Because pressures on orest resources
are not limited to inside the community, the Village Developm
Committee o Ando Kpomey has also made eorts to inv
neighbouring communities in the protection o the orest. Resid
o adjacent communities are invited to participate in tradit
hunts and sustainable resource extraction events, with the inten
o demonstrating the value o the orest, the ecosystem goods
services it provides, and to discourage people rom degradin
setting re to the orest.
In recent years, the Village Development Committee o A
Kpomey has expanded into alternative livelihood activities tha
to both raise local incomes and reduce pressure on orest resou
The project again unded by the UNDP-implemented GEF SGrants Programme has trained 25 women in snail arming an
men in apiculture and the marketing o honey. Project benec
were provided with hives, brood snails, construction materia
snaileries, and honey harvesting and storage equipment.
-
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF ANDO KPOMEY, Togo
7/11
7
Impacts
BIODIVERSITY IMPACTSBush res and deorestation have resulted in the clearance o tree
over rom the vast majority o neighbouring towns. The community
o Ando Kpomey, however, has created a community orest that is
ocally managed and conserved in a participatory manner. Resource
extraction rom the 100-hectare orest is regulated by a local
management committee, thereby regulating and limiting the extent
o orest degradation. A orest surveillance committee has also been
established and operates year-round, though it is activated more
egularly during the dry season. These eorts have had positive
pill-over eects or the environmental health and biodiversity o
he area.
ncreased orest cover has improved biological diversity around
he village. Many o the trees and vegetation that now thrive in
he community orest are endangered or threatened in the larger
egion. The orest is also home to various species o vines, medicinal
plants, edible mushrooms, and wildlie, including many species o
birds, rodents and deer. The livelihoods projects that are now being
dvanced by the Village Development Committee o Ando Kpomey
provide the local population with income-generating alternatives to
unsustainable extraction o orest resources and illegal logging.
mportantly, and in addition to its biodiversity benets, the
ommunity orest contributes to healthy ecosystem unctioningnd, by extension, the provision o ecosystem goods and services.
Among the more important services that have been restored
hrough the planting and expansion o the community orest has
been the regulation o water cycles. Other towns that have cleared
heir orests suer rom irregular rainall and constant ooding, as
he lack o tree roots compromises soil integrity and subsequent
and degradation. Anecdotal reports rom villagers claim that the
ommunity orest has also improved air quality in and around
he village, and that the trees planted around Ando Kpomey have
reated a microclimate that produces regular rainall, which has
benets or local reshwater access and agriculture.
SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTSThe primary socioeconomic impact rom the Village Develop
Committee o Ando Kpomey initiative has been ullment o
original motivating objective: protecting the village rom bush
By creating a re break and green belt around the perimeter o
village, the community has eectively made bush res a thin
the past. No bush res have occurred in the town since 1973
year the initiative began. Previously, these incidences would c
a great deal o damage to local homes and village inrastruc
which had detrimental eects on the local economy and requ
large investments o time and resources to rebuild.
Regulating and provisioning services
The role o the community orest in creating a local micro-clim
and thereore potentially increased rainall, has beneted
agricultural production and, by extension, local ood sec
Water or irrigation is a precious commodity in the region, w
is characterized by arid land and water shortages. These clim
and geographic realities have been exacerbated by deoresta
land degradation and climate change. In the early 1970s, when
decision was made to establish the green belt, there was suf
tree cover in the surrounding region to maintain regular
seasons and sufcient rainall. Since then, however, due to al
complete deorestation, rainall is now rare in the surrounding Ando Kpomey has been somewhat protected rom this, owin
large part to the community orest. Although harvesting wood
the orest is restricted and tightly regulated, community mem
no longer have a difcult time obtaining wood or constru
projects and inrastructure needs. Another socioeconomic be
o the community orest has been improvements in both
diversity and abundance o the natural resources that are avai
or community use. The orest contains edible mushrooms, ani
that are sustainably hunted (during organised and regu
traditional hunts), and medicinal plants that help to meet s
basic community healthcare needs.
-
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF ANDO KPOMEY, Togo
8/11
Associated benefts o the community orest
One perhaps unanticipated benet o the community orest has
been in respect to land tenure securitization. The orest which now
encircles the village is actively monitored and maintained in a way
hat the surrounding bush and scrubland never was previously. The
ree line created by the orest boundaries provides a clear marker
and delineation o Ando Kpomey land. This has been benecial in
trengthening community identity as it relates to the stewardshipand ownership o communal land, as a way o grounding the villages
collective spatial sense o territory, and protecting the village rom
land grabs, which are not uncommon in the region.
The Village Development Committee o Ando Kpomey collects
entrance ees rom visitors to the community orest. This revenue
tream has been eectively directed towards village development
projects. The majority o the unds have been used to construct and
hen operate a local school. The school has been recognized by the
Togolese government and was allocated teachers, beginning in the
2010-2011 school year.
Notably, the community orest has given the women o AndoKpomey a stronger voice in community lie through representation
n all decision-making processes and in the management o the
orest. The participatory management approach employed by Ando
Kpomey gives men and women equal roles and equal representation
n orest governance. Community members have reported that
women are increasingly inclined to voice their opinions at t
meetings, especially during exchange visits when other commun
come to visit the orest. Women also benet rom being given ac
to the orest to gather rewood, reducing the distance they w
otherwise have been orced to travel to collect uel or house
consumption.
POLICY IMPACTSThe success o the community orest stems in large part rom
choice to prioritize community leadership in resource govern
planning and orest management. This success has not g
unnoticed. The Togolese Government has been inuenced by
community-based stewardship and management model
importantly, revised legislation text on orest management t
less top-heavy and more amenable to participatory, commu
based action. As one example, the Ministry o the Environm
and Forest Resources adopted a more participatory approac
orest management that directly involves and integrates local t
associations in the management o protected areas. The A
Kpomey community orest provided proo o what local communcan achieve when empowered, and can be credited with inuen
this change in policy. The Ando Kpomey community has opene
the community orest to workshops and events that engage
and national policymakers, giving them a rst-hand experien
the community approach.
8
-
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF ANDO KPOMEY, Togo
9/11
9
Sustainability and Replication
SUSTAINABILITY
While the project benets rom partner support and receives some
nternational unding it is worth noting that establishment o the
ommunity orest was initiated by the community o Ando Kpomey
tsel. The community maintained and expended the orest without
ny external support or unding or 18 years, rom 1973 to 1991. The
ongevity o the project is testament to the determination and will o
he community to conront the social, environmental and economic
hallenges associated with bush res, land degradation and water
hortages.
he Ando Kpomey community orest remains very much a locallyriven project. All segments o the local populations men, women
nd youth are represented in each o the committees that oversee
he orest. The orest is managed in such a way that all community
members eel involved and have a stake in its stewardship. The
orest remains communally owned and management rules are well
espected. The community members recognize the benets the
orest brings and are happy to continue to invest their time and
nergy in maintaining it. Every year, towards the end o the rainy
eason, residents clear the re break and carry out any necessary
lanting to maintain the quality o the orest. Throughout the year,
ut especially during the dry season, community members monitor
he orest to prevent orest res and deorestation. All o this work
s carried out voluntarily the involvement o the entire village haselped to strengthen the solidarity and cohesion o the community.
he community collects a tax rom all visitors to the orest, which
onstitutes a source o revenue or local development projects.
he majority o the money collected to date has been directed
owards the construction o a local school. A grant rom the UNDP-
mplemented Small Grants Programme (SGP) unds alternative
velihoods projects, which have subsequently reduced pressure on
he orest. Additional unding or reorestation eorts is collected
rom local businesses: any business which extracts resources
the orest must pay a contribution to the Village Developm
Committee, which then goes towards maintenance o the ores
other village development activities.
REPLICATION
The community orest has served as a best practice mod
the region and has a high level o potential or replication.
overwhelming majority o villages in the region have cleared
orests, and now suer water shortages, irregular rainall and
degradation as a result. The Ando Kpomey orest has to a large dehelped the village address these issues, although certain prob
are endemic to the region and persist. Ando Kpomey has t
steps to ensure that other villages respect the rules and regula
o the community orest and undertaken outreach to demons
the benets that come rom reorestation and environme
stewardship. Residents o neighbouring communities have
invited to tradition hunts in the Ando Kpomey orest as a wa
sharing benets across villages, or instance.
The Ando Kpomey orest management model has
promoted through educational visits, peer-to-peer learning
knowledge exchanges, and awareness-raising workshops. Vis
have included a range o arming organizations rom the neighbouring preectures, and researchers rom the Universi
Lom, government agencies, and NGOs. These exchanges
paid dividends, as the community orest project model has b
replicated in the communities o Nyamssiva, Kpenyuie, Z
Setekp Klgbkop and Akpuive to date.
The community has also employed awareness-raising works
and mass media to disseminate inormation about the ores
2011, representatives rom Ando Kpomey held a workshop
-
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF ANDO KPOMEY, Togo
10/11
1010
orest management in the neighbouring village o Akpuive. Over
00 people attended, including members o seven neighbouring
illages, while the event was promoted on local radio stations. Inades-
ormation Togo, an important partner to the village committees
work, published a booklet in 2006 titled Creating and managing a
ommunity orest: the Ando Kpomey project.
PARTNERS
ssociation Togolaise pour la Promotion Humaine (ATPH) was the
rst NGO to become involved in the project. Since 1991, ATPH has
rovided technical assistance to help the community establish
watchdog committee and a management committee: the
ntroduction o these bodies has helped to ensure transparency and
ccountability in the management o local unds.
Inades (Institut Aricain pour le Dveloppement Economique et So
- Formation Togo has worked with the Ando Kpomey commu
since 2000, advising on the development o orest managem
methods, and promoting the community orest as a model
could be replicated elsewhere. This NGO also published a boo
highlighting the Ando Kpomey model or use in replication.
In 2009, Ando Kpomey successully submitted a project to the UN
implemented GEF Small Grants Programme (GEF-SGP) or undThis project involved the development o alternative livelih
activities in the village and capacity development or the Vi
Development Committee to improve management o the ores
date, community members have been trained in snail arming
bee keeping, and a simple management plan or the commu
orest has been drated with GEF-SGP support.
-
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: VILLAGE DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE OF ANDO KPOMEY, Togo
11/11
Equator Initiative
Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10017
Tel: +1 646 781-4023
www.equatorinitiative.org
UNDP partners with people at all levels o society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain
kind o growth that improves the quality o lie or everyone. On the ground in 177 countries and territories, we oer glo
perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.
The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati
o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.
2013 by Equator Initiative
All rights reserved
FURTHER REFERENCE
Presentation on the work o the Village Development Committee o Ando Kpomey (PowerPoint) http://www.equatorinitiative.org
ages/stories/Community_Aldeia/Day_4/Togo_PRESENTATION_MODZI_A_RIO_togo.pd
Click the thumbnails below to read more case studies like this:
http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348261639.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348164253.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/com_winners/casestudy/case_1348258301.pdf