Building a sustainable future on the Jali Ardhi legacy
Dr Claire Kelly (SoGEES; PI), Professor Will Blake (SoGEES), Professor Patrick Ndakidemi (NM-AIST), Professor Geoff Wilson (SoGEES).
Emaraete community members using a University of Plymouth-produced drone survey map to design a planting plan for soil erosion mitigation and rehabilitation.
This project draws on evidence and experience of soil erosion causes, processes and impacts in Maasai communities in northern Tanzania that are in a fragile state of transition from pastoralism to sedentary and agri-pastoral livelihoods. The project is delivering interdisciplinary capacity building and skills training for the next generation of in-country researchers, agronomists and policy makers. The work builds on successfully delivered participatory research (Jali Ardhi research projects I and II), to deliver training which has already started to achieve credible change in land management practices. The actions in this project are rooted in three foundational aspects of the Jali Ardhi research project (GCRF 2016-2018) approach to support sustainable land management change: Capacity building; knowledge exchange; and legacy development.
Project actions are grouped into four core activities:
1. Capacity-building to support social science training and skills development by bringing NM-AIST masters students to Plymouth for one month. Students receive a dedicated programme of study to provide a basic grounding in social science theory, methods and practice.
2. Laboratory training for NM-AIST technical staff in Plymouth (one month). The programme includes sample preparation and analysis under the supervision of the dedicated ARF Technical Specialist to enable NM-AIST staff to be able to operate their own instrumentation to produce high quality data and for them to train other NM-AIST staff in the principles and practices taught by the ARF.
3. Development and expansion of existing Jali Ardhi project demonstration plots, creating a long-term and more diverse basis for community learning activities.
4. Use of the demonstration plots as a new learning opportunity for Plymouth masters students to undertake field-based project work in Tanzania.
