Humbo Assisted Natural Regeneration Project

Start & End Date: 2006-2009

Country/Countries: Ethiopia

Multilateral Institution(s) Involved: World Bank

Case Study: Available

Estimates show that Ethiopia has less than 2.7 percent of its original high forests, with about 40,000 hectares (or 0.8 percent) of total forest cover lost between 1995–2000. The loss of forest cover has had an adverse effect on both biodiversity and the livelihoods of local communities.

The Ethiopia Humbo Assisted Natural Regeneration project has taken a community-based approach to land restoration. In less than four years, the project near the town of Humbo in the mountainous region of southwestern Ethiopia has engaged local farmers in seven community cooperatives to manage a land regeneration initiative. The carbon payments to community forest cooperatives have been invested in nine flour mills, with an average net annual income of 28,320 Ethiopian birr for each mill over six months, and nine warehouses used to store grain during harvest and for selling when prices are high.

The project, supported by the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund, has restored 2,700 hectares of previously degraded soil and boosted crop yields. An IEG case study further showed that the project was able to deliver the full contracted amount of 165,000 tons of CO2e certified emission reductions—during 2007–18 under the World Bank’s BioCarbon purchase agreement. It is a model for farmer-managed natural regeneration efforts in Niger, Chad, and Burkina Faso.