ENVIRONMENT AND GENDER | Wednesday,April 8th 2020

GENDER, ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES

With the financing of IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development) through the Indigenous Peoples Assistance Mechanism currently managed by Samburu Women Trust, PIFEVA has been carrying out since 2019 a project to support the restoration of biodiversity in community forests by the planting and rational management of edible caterpillar trees by indigenous young people and women in Mwenga territory in South Kivu. This project is a resilient response to the problem of deforestation and climate change caused by uncontrolled logging which contributes to the significant destruction of forest biodiversity, in particular the scarcity of edible caterpillars on which indigenous populations depend, in particular indigenous young people and women. In terms of adaptability and self-sufficiency. This project helps restore biodiversity in community forests by planting edible caterpillar trees. The use of caterpillars as a food product, on the one hand to alleviate food insecurity, and on the other hand to create a source of income for indigenous girls and women in Mwenga.

PIFEVA is currently working on a project to document and promote indigenous knowledge on the management of forest biodiversity and strengthen the resilience of small indigenous agricultural producers to climate change in Mwenga territory in South Kivu. This project consists of documenting, revitalizing and revitalizing knowledge and practices for small agricultural producers (young people and indigenous women gathered in a cooperative) for the production and dissemination of traditional and modern techniques and seeds resilient to climate change as well as the enhancement of crops and indigenous food through open markets and indigenous agricultural fairs and documentation materials, with the aim of improving the livelihoods of indigenous peoples, promoting the sharing of valuable indigenous knowledge resilient to climate change for women, young people and future generations in Mwenga territory in DR Congo.

PIFEVA has been carrying out since 2015, an environmental protection project and Reinforcement of the resilient capacities of women and girls to climate change in the province of South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This project contributes to strengthening the participation of women and girls in local and endogenous actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change (reforestation, introduction and dissemination of improved stoves as well as support for climate resilience agricultural production systems by rural women in South Kivu in the DRC).