After years of working in environmental protection in Togo, Brigitte Acakpo-Addra identified a problem in need of an innovative solution. While the country was making encouraging strides to reduce its emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), women weren’t adequately integrated into REDD+ activities and decision making. They didn’t feel that they had proper access to capacity-building to help them deal with climate change, land tenure and the negative impacts of deforestation.
Given Togolese women’s significant role in forestry and natural resource management, and their dependence on forest resources for food, fuel and medicines, Acakpo-Addra knew something had to change. In 2016, she founded Le Consortium Femmes REDD+ Togo (CF-REDD+) – a national platform that brings together members from women's organizations in forest governance. CF-REDD+ is composed of 62 members, ranging in age from 30 to 60 years old, who come from the five administrative regions of the country.
Acakpo-Addra soon realized it would be difficult to bring this geographically-dispersed group together on a regular basis. That’s when she got the idea to start using the mobile application WhatsApp. CF-REDD+ now uses the social media tool to host weekly meetings on activities, capacity-building trainings, and urgent information related to forest conservation in Togo. These remote meetings are guided via text by either Acakpo-Addra or CF-REDD+’s support staff, and are now well-attended, with an average of 64% of the group’s participants engaging in each meeting.
The weekly WhatsApp meetings have helped improve CF-REDD+ member’s knowledge of climate change and the status of forest emission reductions in Togo. This communications solution has increased women’s involvement, enabling them to integrate forest conservation activities into their grassroots women’s organizations.
“My participation in the WhatsApp group meetings allow me to better understand climate change and the validity of the REDD+ process in Togo. And I can share this knowledge in other community meetings and with my organization,” says Kokoe Mawulolo Logosu-Teko, CF-REDD+ member.
The weekly WhatsApp meetings have also helped to coordinate CF-REDD+ initiatives over the past year. In May of 2017, the consortium went on a national awareness tour in 60 communities (reaching close to 7,000 women and 300 men) to promote forest-friendly practices, including improved cookstoves, to limit charcoal use.
“These events gave women confidence to believe they are change-makers who have the power to help reduce greenhouse gases, and increase women’s representation in REDD+ efforts,” says Acakpo-Addra.
Acakpo-Addra was recently appointed to represent women in Togo’s National REDD+ Committee, which is the highest decision-making body for REDD+ in the country. Moving forward, she hopes to continue forest-friendly demonstrations in more communities, as well as setting up monitoring committees in villages, and assist countries, including Burkina Faso and Madagascar, in developing women’s platforms for sustainable forest management.
World Bank’s work on gender and forest conservation
CF-REDD+ should be proud for taking steps to fight deforestation in Togo, and recognize women’s socioeconomic role in the process. The experience of CF-REDD+ provides a great example for other countries seeking to further engage women in forest conservation.
The World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) continues to align its work with the Bank’s Gender Equality Strategy (FY16–23), to ensure women are treated as partners in the design and implementation of forest conservation initiatives. The Bank’s Gender Strategy and its associated Action Plan are helping the FCPF work with participating countries to find new entry points to mainstream and track gender considerations in REDD+ and larger emission reductions programs.
This initiative in Togo is providing good lessons for the FCPF’s future gender work. It’s a real-world example of how REDD+ is not just a commitment to reduce the carbon footprint from forests, but also a gateway to embed social inclusion and gender equality in sustainable development.
