Browsing by Author "Njenga, Mary"

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    Social and environmental transformation of refugee and hosting community landscapes in Central and Eastern Africa.
    (Center for International Forestry Research, 2022) Laird, Sarah; Awono, Abdon; Okia, Clement Akais; Anaya, Gabriela Alvarez; Ingram, Verina; Sola, Phosiso; Watson, Catharine; Muthuri, Catherine; Gilruth, Peter; Mendum, Ruth; Njenga, Mary
    Sub-Saharan Africa hosts more than 26% of the world’s refugee population, with 6.3 million refugees – which represents a 186% increase in the last decade, from 2.2 million. There has been an increase in internally displaced persons (IDPs) following conflicts and violence in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR), and the Lake Chad basin. The population of refugee settlements disproportionately comprises women and children, and is characterized by highly diverse cultural backgrounds, with some settlements having people from approximately 10 nationalities. In many areas, refugees and IDPs add pressure to already vulnerable ecosystems and existing social tensions, leading to land use and resource conflicts among displaced people and host communities. Overharvesting of natural resources, competition over resources, and entering host communities’ common or private lands without consent are the main drivers of conflict between host communities and refugees. These conflict situations are aggravated by the impact of climate change, deforestation, and environmental degradation, which are recognized by humanitarian organizations and are placed at the centre of their agendas. This document synthesises the challenges in environmental sustainability facing refugee-hosting landscapes, on-going initiatives, and gaps. It also presents transformative science plans by CIFORICRAF to address exiting gaps towards resilient landscapes and livelihoods. CIFOR-ICRAF is a research institution in forestry and landscape management, which has evolved out of an effective merger between CIFOR and ICRAF. Resilience, sustainability, and environmental health in host landscapes are multi-faceted and complex, with cultural, ecological, economic, social, and political dimensions. Therefore, despite various organisations working in refugee-hosting landscapes, there are still challenges in achieving holistic, long-term and sustainable solutions [...]
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    Tree-based intervention typologies and improvements in refugee displacement regions
    (AccScience Publishing, 2025-11-10) Juster, Sarah H.; Munsell, John F.; Njenga, Mary; Okia, Clement A.
    Concern about deforestation in contexts of refugee displacement is substantial. Tree-based interventions (TBIs) are efforts to plant trees, conserve trees, and/or facilitate tree regrowth. TBIs are implemented by non-governmental organizations in refugee displacement contexts to address landscape-level deforestation, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss while providing livelihood opportunities to participants. Although humanitarian stakeholders recommend TBIs in refugee-hosting regions, the diversity of TBI models and associated strengths and weaknesses are not well understood. This research focuses on five TBIs implemented in a northwest Uganda refugee settlement that include large-acre woodlot planting, household-level planting of trees yielding short-term products, and conservation site establishment to protect indigenous tree species. Interviews and focus-group discussions with TBI staff revealed that each intervention makes trade-offs in navigating five key challenges associated with TBI implementation in a refugee context: Obtaining access to land, providing short-term livelihood benefits to participants, gaining equitable involvement by gender, achieving environmental conservation goals, and successfully engaging community members. Significant differences were found between the strategies of TBIs implemented at home sites when compared to TBIs implemented at community sites. While TBIs implemented at home sites are intended to provide participants long-term access to tree products with clear user rights and enable women to grow trees alongside ongoing domestic activities, TBIs implemented at community sites can achieve large-scale environmental goals and provide cash-based employment opportunities to participants. An applied integrated landscape approach is recommended to maximize inter-program collaboration and collective benefits across programs, while realizing sustainable TBI impacts within complex socioecological refugee displacement context