ONE Planet DTP - Multiple benefits and opportunities from tree planting in the Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania (OP20203)

Sub-Saharan Africa faces tough climate change challenges and high rates of deforestation. It is the only region where human population growth will still be rising by 2080, and rising with it will be demands on land for resources and food production. These challenges are emblematic for the Anthropocene. Sustainable intensification of agricultural production and food security interventions aim to produce more food by optimizing resource use and management looking at whole landscapes, territories and ecosystems. It has synergies and trade-offs with tree planting, which draws on nature’s contribution to crop growth and soil fertility and can help societies to adapt to climate variability, shocks and change.

This PhD will link system modelling and ecosystem service evaluation with social data collection in the field to investigate forest restoration potential for people and climate change mitigation in multi-functional landscapes. Focusing on Tanzania, this PhD will investigate how a systems lens approach can address key questions: (1) ‘What is the rural community capacity for restoration in the landscape’? = feasibility analysis. (2) ‘How do benefits (e.g. nitrogen fixing, non-timber & timber forest products, carbon sequestration, beneficial species) and costs (loss of land, pests) impact decision-making in social groups and networks in the landscape? = vulnerability analysis. (3) ‘How does inclusion of additional benefits or costs into the system change outcomes sensu decision-making on and implementation of tree restoration’? = sensitivity analysis. This PhD will complement ongoing research on economic feasibility of restoration and natural capital benefits in the study landscape. This allows access to data, cross-sectoral training and well-established links with local communities, government stakeholders and in – country academic partners. The candidate will be trained in key quantitative and qualitative skills relevant for conservation and management in changing human-modified tropical landscapes.