GCRF TRADE, Development and the Environment Hub
The Congo Basin Institute has partnered with the Global Challenges Research Fund’s TRADE, Development and the Environment Hub in an effort to make trade in developing countries more sustainable.
Our Work
The Congo Basin Institute leverages science and indigenous knowledge to advance conservation and human development.
CBI projects address issues of food security, climate change, conservation, and OneHealth with a cross-cutting focus on capacity building.
Themes in our work include:
Research: From assessing where species have the genetic diversity to withstand climate change to exploring new integrated pest management approaches for key agricultural crops, we seek to be evidence-based in everything we do.
Conservation: Based in the world’s second largest rainforest, CBI works to protect the immense biodiversity and critical carbon stocks of the Congo Basin. We work on everything from individual species to habitat conservation and restoration.
Livelihoods: Conservation strategies that do not take into account the needs, wants, and habits of local communities are bound to fail. That’s why agriculture and food security are a core competency at CBI.
Capacity building: CBI seeks to develop the next generation of African scientists and policy makers. We do this through trainings and workshops, embedding capacity development opportunities in our projects, and providing resources for young researchers from Central Africa.
CBI projects seek to answer:
- How can we support biodiversity while also improving quality of life for local communities?
- What impact is climate change having in Central Africa, and how will that influence conservation and livelihoods?
- How can local and indigenous knowledge be preserved and combined with Western science to improve conservation and food security?
- How can complex interactions between species be understood and conserved?
Key Projects
Ebony Project
The Ebony Project is a partnership where business, communities, and researchers work together to protect a valuable timber species, reforest degraded land, address local food security issues, and improve rural livelihoods.
School for Indigenous and Local Knowledge (SILK)
Preserving indigenous and local knowledge of the Congo Basin Rainforest.
Positioning Shade Grown Cocoa to Improve Conservation and Rural Livelihoods
The project seeks to protect the forests and biodiversity of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by offering economic opportunities that provide sufficient income for farmers without the loss of primary forests.
Understanding Seed Disperser Movements in a Tropical Rainforest
The rainforests of the Congo Basin are being lost at an accelerating rate, causing habitat degradation, biodiversity loss, and ecosystem service declines. Sustaining these forests depends on the presence and movement of animals responsible for dispersing seeds of trees.
Agriculture Projects
IITA brings a deep expertise in improving nutrition and livelihoods in Africa
Youth Engagement in Agribusiness
Despite the growing concern about the lack of interest in agriculture among African youths, engaging them in agriculture has become a prominent topic. According to Larissa Nawo, a young researcher with the IITA–CARE project, agriculture—the developing world’s single most significant source of employment—plays a pivotal role in Africa’s economic development, and Cameroon, in particular.
African Agriculture Under Climate Change
PlantVillage NuruAI app among key innovations supporting poor farmers to cope with climate change
Using technologies for food security and rural livelihoods
IITA, in partnership with two other CGIAR centers, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and Bioversity International, had been implementing the Consortium for Improving Agriculture-based Livelihoods in Central Africa (CIALCA). CIALCA aimed to reduce poverty among smallholder farmers through increased farm productivity, household income, and improved nutrition.
