Resilient communities

WithOneSeed's innovative approach to climate change supports people in rural Timor Leste adapt to climate variability, adopt sustainable farming practices, build the local economy and grow stronger more resilient communities.

How are we building resilient communities?

WithOneSeed supports local tree farmers to form Community Tree Cooperatives, which operate as self-sufficient, sustainable mini-businesses that grow and maintain reforestation plantations.

It’s an initiative that has the potential to achieve big things – both locally and regional. Here are just some of the wide-reaching benefits and opportunities: 

Enhanced livelihood security for subsistence farming communities through adaptation to climate variability 
Improved living standards, employment and family wellbeing 
Greater education and training opportunities 
Access to technological advances including broadband and solar energy for lighting and power 
Improved water and soil conservation 
A model for other communities vulnerable to the effects of climate variability in the Asia Pacific  Region
Opportunities for individuals and organisations from all over the world to minimise their carbon footprint

Why build local economies?

A viable local economy empowers a community providing opportunity, options, and choice about how they live.
It assists individuals, families and communities to make decisions and provides the scope to plan for a future.
It provides opportunities for training, education and employment, options to plan and prioritise and the choice to develop local infrastructure, public amenities, educational facilities and industry
A local economy enables a community to grow and develop without having to rely on funding from external sources such as international aid.

This approach empowers members of the WithOneSeed Community Tree Cooperatives to independently move beyond subsistence living and control their own futures.

Communities in Timor Leste are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate variability

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change predicts that over the next decades, ‘billions of people, particularly those in developing countries, face shortages of water and food and greater risks to health and life as a result of climate change.

Concerted global action is needed to enable developing countries to adapt to the effects of climate change that are happening now and will worsen in the future … small island developing states in particular need special consideration due to their extreme vulnerability’. 

Timor Leste will be potentially more susceptible to natural disasters, reduced agricultural productivity and higher infrastructure costs. In addition, poorer regions such as Timor Leste are least equipped to tackle the challenge of adapting to climate variability.

With One Seed is assisting communities in Timor Leste adapt to climate variability and improve their local environment

WithOneSeed equips subsistence farmers with the knowledge and technological tools to form self-sufficient Community Tree Cooperatives. The Tree Cooperatives are taught how to use sustainable agriculture practices to propagate seedlings, improve soil and water quality, and maintain plantations of native trees. This approach will regenerate the local habitat, improve food production and help Timor Leste communities adapt to some of the negative effects of climate variability.

A history of unsustainable agricultural practices have negatively affected the environment

In Timor Leste, much of the indigenous tree stock has all but disappeared. As a result of unsustainable agriculture practices, much of the region’s original rainforest has been destroyed. Consequently, Timor Leste is now facing soil degradation, a decrease in ground water, threats to wildlife and a reduction in food forests. 

Deforestation, particularly in tropical developing countries, is estimated to cause 20 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. In 2007, the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali indicated support for activities to reduce forest degradation in developing countries.

With One Seed is assisting to improve the standard of living and grow rural communities in Timor Leste

The initiative will drive long-term social, economic, technological and environmental benefits to subsistence farming communities that include the following key areas.

Improved livelihood and employment opportunities.

WithOneSeed facilitates reforestation of land for the development of a local, sustainability-driven business for Timor Leste communities. Importantly, the Tree Cooperatives can generate income by selling online carbon credits to customers in exchange for the carbon sequestered through their plantations. This means that the Tree Cooperatives can operate as fully self-sufficient businesses that help grow the local economy.

It is estimated that WithOneSeed could double a farmer’s salary to $400 (US) a year. Jobs will be available across the local economy in the villages participating in Tree Cooperatives and in the broader District of Baucau.

Indirect employment will also result due to a more robust local economy. Opportunities for employment include:

Planting and maintaining trees
Propagating seedlings
Transport and delivery
Labouring
Security
Education and training
Technological support

Increased education opportunities and skill development

A detailed education and training program will focus on each area of the business:

Managing a Tree Cooperative business
Administration and finance
Land management and preparation
Certification, monitoring and reporting on tree care
Computer use and maintenance
Use and management of online carbon exchange tools

Increased technological proficiency

The provision of information communication technology (ICT), which is at the centre of the online trading scheme, provides a wide range of spin-off benefits, including:

The development of ‘Technology Resource Hubs’ in each main village to provide access to computers and satellite broadband internet
ncreased computer skills and literacy throughout the community
Potential to develop community-based social enterprises using internet technologies, leading to greater employment opportunities through access to markets
Student access to computers that would have been otherwise beyond their means.

Rural communities in Timor Leste currently experience a lower standard of living

The current income of subsistence farmers in Timor Leste is as low as $200 (US) per year. Compared with developed countries, people living in rural communities in Timor Leste have reduced employment and job security, fewer education and training opportunities, decreased access to technological services, and an overall lower standard of living.

WithOneSeed will provide people worldwide with an opportunity to minimise their carbon footprint
Individuals and organisations can offset their carbon emissions by supporting Carbonxchange and purchasing carbon credits from Tree Cooperatives.

Global carbon emissions are at an all-time high

According to the International Energy Agency, energy-related carbon-dioxide emissions in 2010 were the highest in history. Emissions climbed to a record 30.6 gigatonnes, a 5 per cent jump from the previous record in 2008.