The Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project (KACP), developed by the Vi Agroforestry programme, receives mitigation funding from the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund for soil carbon sequestration and above-ground sequestration in trees. Apart from providing farmers with a small sum of extra cash, the switch to climate-smart agricultural practices has had the additional benefits of increasing crop yields as well as improving farmer’s resilience to climate change. According to a recent World Bank commissioned study, the crop yield increases alone are worth US$ 200-400/ha/year. In KACP, Vi Agroforestry and the BioCarbon Fund has developed the Sustainable Agricultural Land Management (SALM) methodology. A model approach to measuring soil carbon sequestration is being used, which has been approved by the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) agency. SALM is a public good, free for any organization to use. However, concerns have been raised, notably by the International Agricultural Trade Policy Institute (IATP), about the adequacy of a carbon market approach to financing a shift to sustainable agriculture. This event will also discuss these concerns.

1. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban
Kenya Agricultural Carbon
Project (KACP)
Features and lessons learned
By Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry

2. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban
Win-Win-Win scenario
In KACP it is evident
that mitigation finance
provide significant
incentives to leverage
agricultural investments
that generate:
1) productivity
increases,
2) reduction/removal
of greenhouse
gases and
3) increased climate
resilience.

3. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban
Area characteristics
Western Kenya (Kitale &
Kisumu)
3% population growth
80% of population are farmers
25% of children below 5yrs are
underweight
Average land size owned is
around 1ha
90% of populations use
firewood or charcoal for
cooking food every day
Around 50% of smallholders
live on less than 1USD/day

4. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban
Implementation status 2011
and key features
30field officers providing
advisory services
20,262 farmers adopting
SALM (target 60,000)
9,656 hectare under SALM
(target 45,000)
1,122 groups recruited (target
3,000)
598 groups contracted

5. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban
KACP and Climate Smart Agriculture
• For mitigation of land degradation
and greenhouse gases
• For adaptation to climate variability
- Terraces
- Water retention ditches
- Residue management
- Mulch
- Composting
- Controlled grazing
- Crop rotation
- Cover crops
- Improved fallows
- Nitrogen fixing trees
intercropped

6. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban
KACP – save space and secure food
>80% smallholders (Farmsize:
0.7 ha in Kisumu; 1.1 ha in
Kitale)
Multi-functionality of
agroforestry
• Ecosystem services
• Hign productivity
• Food security
• Sustainability
• Resilient landscape
For every hectare put into
agroforestry alternatives, five to
ten hectares can be saved
(ICRAF).
Diversification of a farming
system is very important in case
weather or market is unreliable
or if pests attack the products.
Agroforestry diversifies the
timing of production so that
farmers do not receive their
entire year’s income at one time.

7. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban
Holistic approach in KACP
FED
VS&LASALM
SALM=Sustainable
Agricultural and Land
use Management
FED: Farm
Enterprise
Development
VS&LA: Village
Savings and Loan
Associations

8. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban
Key methodology features:
Generic and can be scaled up
Model approach with activity-based
monitoring
The model is 4-5 cheaper than soil
sampling, minimizing transaction costs
and helps farmers to reach their
objectives
Long-term research in Kenya confirms
model applicability
Non-soil modules (using approved
CDM AR methodologies for tree carbon)
Methodology submitted to Verified
Carbon Standard (VCS):
Methodology development

9. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban
KML files
Database
GIS
Farm polygon
KACP – precision in MRV

10. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban
KACP and food security
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2009 2010 2011
Percent of household s
experiencing increased food
security due to SALM
KACP shows yields increased
by 15 – 30 %

11. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban
Trees on agricultural land is increasing
Source: Vi Agroforestry (2011)
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
2009 2010 2011
Avg no of trees on cropland

12. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban
Conclusion/Recommendations
KACP show that carbon payments can be well
integrated into projects promoting sustainable
agricultural development
Extension and advisory services prerequisite
for successful implementation and needs more
attention and funding
Bottom up and participatory approaches gives
best results
Carbon finance should leverage climate smart
agriculture
Training and capacity building for project
entities is essential
Merge adaptation and mitigation funding
Combine financing from public and private
sources

13. Amos Wekesa, Vi Agroforestry COP17, Durban