Trial sites | Biochar trials |
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The Biochar Fund is in the process of conducting trials with farming communities in two selected regions: South-West Cameroon and the Equateur Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
These sites were chosen because they present two very different situations. Our farming communities in Cameroon are located near secondary, fragmented forests, relatively close to large urban agglomerations. Even though they belong to the ultra-poor and face chronic hunger, they have ready access to markets. The situation in the Equateur is very different: the isolated communities here are the poorest of the world and barely survive as subsistence farmers. They face a hunger season each year and are permanently malnourished. Their access to markets is far more limited. Our Congolese communities practise slash-and-burn farming at the frontier of the intact rainforest and near an extremely biodiverse conservation area. (More about the different key drivers leading to deforestation, here ). The trials at the two contrasting sites provide us with invaluable information about the feasibility of the biochar based development system in different environments. The economics, social effects and environmental impacts of the intervention are analysed and the implementation process is continuously improved with the help of our communities. Scientific results are gathered and shared with agronomists, conservationists, climate researchers and with the international aid community. It is the Biochar Fund's ambition to expand the system to as many farming communities at the forest margins in the Congo Basin. Seven additional sites have been selected and will become pilot projects in 2009. Because the biochar system is self-sustaining, profitable and relatively easy to implement, it can be taken up quickly by even the poorest rural communities. |
