NGO "ANOTHER WAY" (STICHTING BAKENS VERZET), NETHERLANDS, SUSTAINABLE INTEGRATED SELF-FINANCING DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AND ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGIES

It is assumed that many integrated development project areas will incorporate marginal lands, especially in pastoral communities. CDM applications on marginal lands have the advantage that they are not limited to the use of traditional forest species native to the project area. They may also tend to be more extensive.

Horseradish (Moringa Oleifera)

One important species, which is already domesticated (naturalised) in many developing countries, is the Moringa Oleifera or horseradish tree. Some basic information on it can be obtained at the Bakens Verzet file Moringa sand filters for water purification. Plenty of supplementary information on it is available on the internet.

The horseradish is a very special tree. It has deep tap roots which make it suitable for dry areas. It grows very quickly, up to 3 meters within six months of transplanting. It grows to a height between 4 meters and 12 meters, with a biomass increment of 18 tons of biomass per hectare over 3 years, or 6 tons per year. This is 3 tons of carbon per hectare per year, with carbon fixation ratio of 3 x 44/12, or 11 tons of CO2 per hectare per year. At a rate of about € 14 per tonne CO2 (14 November, 2009) the potential CDM income is € 154 per hectare per year over 3 years.

The production of 15000 tons of CO2 allowed under small-scale CDM methodologies would therefore need about 1400 hectares of Moringa plantations, with 600-700 plants per hectare. If used as hedgerows for alley cultivation of crops, the area to be covered in each integrated development project area would be at least 3000 hectares, or an average of 12 hectares in each of the 250 local development unit areas an integrated development project area. Tree coverage must, however, always conform to the national specification for minimum crown coverage for forests, which should lie between 10% and 30%.

Because it sinks its tap-roots quickly, the horseradish tree needs human assistance for watering for a maximum period of 12 months after transplanting, usually less. It adapts to water scarcity by reducing the number of its leaves. This means that cultivation-related labour costs are lower than those in applications 02-04. Once established the horseradish mines fertilisers from the soil. Natural fertilisers should be used at planting time. Manure from animals in pastoralist areas is ideal for this purpose.

All parts of the horseradish tree are consumable. Its leaves are a substitute for spinach, and form prize forage for animals, especially goats. Horseradish leaves grow in the dry season and are available when grasslands are barren. The oil from horseradish seeds is edible, similar to olive oil, and used for cooking. The seeds themselves can be eaten like peanuts. The seed cake after pressing can be used to make Moringa sand filters for water purification. Its bark can be chewed. All parts of the tree are said to have medicinal qualities.

Just 30 grams of fresh Moringa leaves are enough to provide the daily human vitamin A requirement. “The leaves of Moringa Moringa oleifera provide 7564 IU of vitamin A which is 252% of daily vitamin A requirement, per 100 grams of fresh leaves” (No GMO Banana Republic – Stop Banana Piracy, Open Letter, Montasa.org, Jawa Timur, 02 October 2014. Published by (seedfreedom.in)).

The horseradish tree is widely used as a hedgerow for the alley cultivation of various crops, which need shelter from wind and excess of sun. As a hedgerow, it interferes more with the crops grown (allelopathy) than other wind/sun protections. Use with “shade-tolerant leafy vegetables and herbs is best since Moringa hedgerows are highly competitive and can reduce yields of companion plants significantly. For instance .it can reduce the yields of eggplant and sweet maize by up to 50% ”. (Infonet-biovision.org website, accessed 31 December 2010.) The same resource suggests the use of the Moringa plants themselves as supports for crops such as pole beans, once the Moringa trees are mature. From the second year onwards, Moringa can be intercropped with maize, sunflower and other field crops. Where climatic conditions are appropriate, sunflower is particularly recommended s it helps to control weed growth.

Combination of the use of horseradish tree as hedgerow with pull-push (“stimulo-deterrent diversion”) technology for improved maize, sorghum, millet and other crop yields (The Gatsby Charitable Foundation, The Quiet Revolution : Push-pull Technology and the African Farmer. London, April 2005, ISBN 1 901351 53X ) could prove useful in marginal areas. The method uses Napier Grass (pennisetum purpuream) and Greenleaf Desmodium (desmodium intartum), both of which are naturalised in West Africa, to combat crop pests. Both grasses are perennials and provide good fodder for animals in pastoral areas. They can be regularly cropped (by hand) every few months for several years. Napier grass needs some water. Greenleaf Desmodium has taps roots and is reasonably drought resistant. Napier Grass would be planted inside horseradish hedgerow plantations. Inside the rows of Napier Grass, alternate rows of Greenleaf desmodium and the preferred crop are planted. To achieve the required forest crown coverage, multiple rows of horseradish hedgerows would be planted. The horseradish plantations are established and left to form carbon sinks for 3-4 years. The horseradish is then pruned so as to conserve its existing CO2 sinks and the crops planted in the (wide) alleys. Its products can be consumed from then on.

This means that CDM income is calculated on the first 3-4 years of tree growth, when CO2 storage takes place. It is actually received once the horseradish has reached its maximum CO2 sink conditions and alley cropping has started.

Horseradish produces 3 tons of carbon per hectare per year, with carbon fixation ratio of 3 x 44/12, or 11 tons of CO2 per hectare per year. At a rate of about € 14 per tonne CO2 (14 November, 2009) the potential CDM income is € 154 per hectare per year over 3 years or € 462 per hectare over the three years period. The production of 15000 tons of CO2 allowed under small-scale CDM methodologies would therefore need about 1400 hectares actually planted, with 600-700 plants per hectare. 1400 hectares planted x € 462 per hectare provides CDM income of € 646.800 per project over the three years’ accounting period. This is about 17% of the initial investment capital in an integrated development project in a non-pastoralist area and 11,5% of the initial investment costs of an integrated development project in pastoralist areas.

Assuming the execution of up to 2500 integrated development projects for West Africa (excluding Nigeria and Ghana) the scheme would produce a CDM income between € 1.617.000.000. General application of the concepts in Nigeria would deliver roughly the same benefits. The amounts are subject to the deduction of DOE (designated operational entity ) verification costs. It is assumed these can be reduced to a nominal figure within the framework of a widely applicable general convention of the type foreseen.

How the 1400 hectares of horseradish needed for each integrated development project is distributed will vary from project to project according to the nature of the terrain. The populations may choose for just one area. They may break it up, for instance into 45 areas each with about 30 hectares, in each intermediate development unit area. Or they may decide to break it up into 250 areas each with 5-6 hectares, at local development unit level.

As mentioned, the area planted with horseradish would be about 1400 hectares. We have also seen that tree crown coverage must conform to the various national definitions for “forest” to qualify for CDM financing. Subject to these limitation, total cultivation areas including horseradish, Napier Grass, Greenleaf Desmodium and preferred crop (millet, for example) might be up to 4200 hectares and more for each integrated development project area. Assuming there are 250 local development units in a given integrated development project area, this amounts to the creation of a cultivated area of about 17-20 hectares. The proposed solution is of special interest for pastoral communities with animal manure, including liquid manures, available for fertilising and (limited) watering purposes.

Because animals love Moringa leaves, plantations need to be well protected from them. Provided equipment can be safely guarded, electric fences operating on photovoltaic power (PV) may offer an appropriate solution to this problem.

Winter thorn or Ana Tree (Acacia albida Delile)

The French name for it is kad, or cadde. Full information is available at the World Agroforestry Centre’s Agro Forestry Tree database.

The tree is native to Africa (including West Africa), has tap roots, and grows to heights of 6-30 m. in alluvial soils in warm areas with rainfall from 250-1000 mm. Its seeds are edible. Leaves are used for fodder. The tree sheds its leaves in the rainy season; therefore, boosting the nutrient status of the soil for the new season’s crops. The fact that the tree is leafless during the rainy season minimizes competition for sunlight with crops and protects them from birds until harvest time. It is recommended for integration with maize as an alternative to Leucaena leucocephala. Its bark and roots have medical functions.

One limitation to its use is that it flowers for the first time after seven years.

Kiri tree.

Another planting option (subject to full testing) might be the kiri tree (paulownia tomentosa) which is reputed to be one of the world’s fastest growing trees with one of the highest amounts of C02 storage. According to a press article in the Concord Times in Freetown on 29^th March 2010, “Sierra Gold Corporation announced Thursday it has made its first purchase of 1000 kiri trees for its carbon credit program.” Experience with the Sierra Gold project should be followed carefully. In his field report on 2^nd December 2010, the President of Sierra Gold Corporation stated :

“In addition, field work has been undertaken in Sierra Leone to assess the growth potential of Kiri trees imported as cuttings from Australia. Our preliminary results show poor transplant survival rates, presumably owing to a transit period of 10-12 days which we believe is excessive and deleterious to the survival of plants exacerbated by a lack of water. However on a positive note, of those cuttings that have survived qualitative analyses suggests that the growth of Kiri trees in Sierra Leone can resemble published fast growth rates for Australia for Kiri trees.”

As kiri trees are not native to Africa, they are not a preferred species for use in integrated development projects there.

As with applications 02-04, the biggest single problem to the application of AR-AMS-0004 to marginal lands in integrated development project areas is water rather than labour. Water required under this application 05 is additional to the water used for applications 02, 03, and 04. Integrated development projects allow for rainwater harvesting but not for large-scale irrigation. Small-scale hand-operated drip irrigation techniques can be applied where limited amounts of water can be obtained from shallow hand-dug wells, provided this can be shown to be sustainable and free from effects on the water table. This means the assistance offered by early planting of deep-rooted species is of great importance.