ASB Impact Cases

ASB's impact comes from a sustained commitment to 'crossing boundaries' - regardless of scale. ASB has had its major impacts where staff and partners link integrated natural resource management science with policy formulation, development initiatives by governments and civil society organisations, and decision making by farmers and other natural resource managers.

Two well studied examples are of ASB's impacts on the ground are the Negotiation Support Initiative in Indonesia and the Sustainable Tree Crops Program.

Negotiation Support Initiative in Indonesia

In response to a request from the Krui ethnic community in Sumatra's Lampung Province, ASB formed a partnership in 1994 that eventually benefited more than 7,000 rural families working in the Damar (Shorea javanica) agroforestry systems of Sumatra.

The request set into motion a process that led to the signing of a Ministerial Decree creating an unprecedented forest-use classification in Indonesia. Specifically, the decree recognized the rights of community-based agro-foresters to control, maintain and develop their forest management systems within state forest areas. The decree also proved to be a powerful instrument that would support social justice and promote sustainable development. As these activities have spread, they have been referred to collectively as the Negotiation Support Initiative.

Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP)

Based on ASB science, the Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP) is a unique collaborative effort aimed at improving both the environment and the social and economic well-being of smallholder tree crop farmers in West and Central Africa.
Through STCP the international cocoa industry has joined forces with farmer organizations and researchers to create a ground-breaking public-private partnership.

Farmer Field Schools and farmer-to-farmer knowledge sharing have improved management skills of over 39,000 farmers in three years.
In fields of trained farmers, cocoa yields average 15-40% higher, while requiring 10-20% less pesticide.
The increase in household cocoa income in 2004, a combined result of production and marketing interventions, averaged 23?55% higher than in non-programme households.

STCP is implemented by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), a leading ASB partner.