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In August 2009 Meridian Institute—along with several partner organizations—organized a two-week field trip to Kenya and Ghana where they facilitated conversations among local cassava, dairy, and maize farmers and processors, local value chain experts, and a team of 11 respected scientists from around the world. The purpose of the trip was to generate ideas for new technologies and technology enhancements that could reduce inefficiencies in the cassava, dairy, and maize value chains in Africa.
The trip was part of a Meridian project called Innovations for Agricultural Value Chains in Africa, which is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The goal of the project is to increase the income of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. A central premise of the project is that leading scientists from important scientific disciplines have not been adequately engaged as sources of information and innovations for smallholder farmers in Africa.
The science team generated almost 200 ideas and has been working to develop 23 of these ideas into innovation concepts. Project participants are now working on strategies to support the commercialization of the most promising concepts for the benefit of smallholder farmers with support from Arthur D. Little’s Technology and Innovation Group. Another project partner—New Growth International—has already written a report that captures lessons learned from previous technology introductions (both successes and failures) to address value chain constraints.
For more information on this project, visit http://www.merid.org/value-chain-innovations/index.html.
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In September 2009, the Council on Sustainable Biomass Production (CSBP) released its first draft standard for sustainable production of biomass for bioenergy for a 60-day comment period (September 11 – November 9). The CSBP intends for its standard to serve as the foundation for sustainable production of biomass for bioenergy and for an independent third-party certification program. The draft standard as well as a review and comment tool are available on the CSBP website at: www.csbp.org.
The CSBP is a 22-member, multi-stakeholder organization established in 2007 by Meridian Institute, in partnership with Heissenbuttel Natural Resource Consulting. The CSBP is made up of growers, environmental and social interests, and all sectors of the industry, including refineries.
The CSBP standard will apply to biomass produced from non-food sources, including dedicated fuel crops, crop residues, purpose-grown wood, forestry residues, and native vegetation. The standard addresses sustainability issues such as climate change, biological diversity, water quality and quantity, soil quality, and socio-economic well-being.
To support adoption of the standard, the CSBP is developing a comprehensive program that will include education and training components as well as support for the auditing and compliance process. With the draft biomass production standard now out for public comment, the Council will begin to develop a standard for the conversion of biomass into biofuel and bioenergy. The CSBP also is designing a multi-stakeholder, consensus-based, long-term governance structure for the implementation and management of the program.
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With support from a the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and others, Meridian is providing process design, convening, facilitation and other implementation support for the ClimateWorks Tropical Forest Carbon Grantmaking Strategy, which has the goal of reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation by 2 GT CO2e per year by 2030. The strategy can be found here: http://www.packard.org/categoryDetails.aspx?RootCatID=3&CategoryID=262
As part of our work to support implementation of the ClimateWorks Forest Carbon Grantmaking Strategy, Meridian was integral to the design, convening, and recent successful report launch for the Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests. The Commission is a bi-partisan group of leaders from business, politics, science, and non-profit institutions who developed principles and recommendations related to meaningful incorporation of tropical "Climate Forests" into U.S. climate policy and diplomacy. For more information on the Commission and a copy of the report, please see: www.climateforestscommission.org
With funding provided by the Government of Norway, Meridian facilitated development of the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) Options Assessment Report in early 2009 and the REDD+ Institutional Options Assessment report in September 2009. Both of which were reviewed by delegations and others at IPCCC talks during the year and are available in several languages. For more information and copies of both reports, please see: www.redd-oar.org
Meridian Institute also provides process design and facilitation support to the Forum on Readiness for REDD in collaboration with the Forum’s international secretariat, The Woods Hole Research Center. The Forum is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on practical approaches for building REDD-readiness through dialogue among stakeholders, South-South collaboration, and linking local expertise with regional readiness efforts. For more information on the Forum, please see: http://www.whrc.org/policy/REDD
For more information on Meridian’s policy work related to tropical forest carbon and climate, contact John Ehrmann or Michael Lesnick, senior partners at Meridian.
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