Scientific & Published Papers

The team at Plant With Purpose applies scientific rigour to the evaluation and measurement of our program outcomes and results. We regularly publish these findings in papers that appear in scientific, academic or other industry journals.

Following is an abstract of some recently published papers along with links to the publications.

Multiplying Impact for Smallholder Farmers

2024

Scott Sabin, Josh Meyer, Emile Icoyavuze, Honorine Murorunkwere, Méthode Ntibandye, Jared White, Milmer Martinez Vergara, Corey Chin, Paul Thompson, Robert Morikawa

Smallholder farmers around the world often find themselves at the nexus of poverty and environmental degradation. Promotion of savings groups has become a well-recognized strategy for addressing poverty. Evidence shows that while savings group promotion can result in positive impact, these results are often small. This paper examines a quasi-experimental (difference-in-differences) study of an integrated approach to savings group promotion, combining a savings methodology with participatory training in regenerative agriculture/agroecology techniques. After 2 years of participation, farmers who participated in both church-based savings group activities and regenerative agriculture training saw positive change across economic, environmental, and spiritual dimensions, with the treatment group experiencing a 39% decrease in poverty as measured by a multidimensional poverty index relative to the control group. Results support the integration of savings methodologies with agricultural training to multiply impact among smallholder farmer communities.

Farm to Forest: How Community Designed Restoration can catalyze landscape change among smallholder farmers at a watershed scale

2024

Scott Sabin, Christi Renaud, Milmer Martinez Vergara, Lynne Marian, Philippe Lazaro, Corey Chin, Robert Morikawa

Tree planting is implemented worldwide as a popular solution to address climate change. Evidence shows that tree planting efforts without sufficient consideration of a suite of local factors have low rates of success. Community Designed Restoration (CDR) is a proven approach to mobilizing smallholder farming communities to engage in and take ownership of restoration or reforestation processes--CDR equips farmers to restore their own farms, and long-term evidence shows that this farm impact can also scale significantly to the landscape level. Four key recommendations based on 40 years of testing and observation are: Focus on smallholder farmer communities as the solution to environmental degradation.Initiatives should be integrated, addressing economic and spiritual/social factors--not only environmental factors.Spatial planning should place high importance on the natural landscape, watersheds specifically. Commitment to long-term partnership and measurement is critical for learning and improvement as well as sustainability.

Smallholder Farmer Resilience: a Multi-year Multidimensional Study in the Dominican Republic and Haiti

2022

Scott Sabin, Annah Amani, [Haiti Country Director, name hidden], Durbel Lora Brito, Milmer Martinez Vergara, Grace Fabry Santos, Corey Chin, Robert Morikawa

This study explores the relationship between farmers, participation in savings groups during the COVID-19 pandemic, and resilience using four different methods of data collection. It was found that rural farmers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic who were savings group participants were more likely to “have more savings reserves, greater income diversity and greater regenerative farming technique diversity–each of these being proxy indicators that point to greater resilience” (Sabin et al. 8).

Community-Based Watershed Change: A Case Study in Eastern Congo

2019

Scott Sabin, Birori Dieudonne, John Mitchell, Jared White, Corey Chin, Robert Morikawa

This study analyzed the relationship between conflict management and environmental restoration in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The authors were specifically interested in the effects of community forestry activities within prescribed watersheds and whether or not they would result in multidimensional outcomes such as peace or reconciliation. The study found that community-based efforts to restore the environment could be linked not only to a positive change in reconciliation efforts but also to overall watershed health and economic well-being.

Healthy Forest, Healthy People II: Remote Sensing and Monitoring Support Implementation of Community Forestry in Thailand

2018

Eric T. Kaiser, Bunsak Thongdi, Jamlong Pawkham, Doug Satre, James Watt, Robert Morikawa

This study was conducted over a period of six years after the original and used many of the same technologies to continue to monitor the effects of community forestry management (CFM) in Thailand. At the time of study, the CFM efforts in the Huai Lu Luang village had extended into the Huai Lu River watershed, and over the period of the study, it was demonstrated that the watershed consistently observed increased vegetative cover, greater economic stability, and more sustainable farm systems.

Remote sensing tools for evaluating poverty alleviation projects: A case study in Tanzania

2014

Robert Morikawa

This study, sponsored by Plant With Purpose, investigates the efficacy of a form of vegetation monitoring data called Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). The study found that while NDVI is typically used to gather agricultural or ecological data, it can also serve as an effective measurement tool of community development and poverty alleviation.

Healthy Forest, Healthy People: Remote Sensing and Monitoring Support Implementation of Community Forestry in Thailand

2012

Eric T. Kaiser, Kimberly Roberts, Jamlong Pawkham, Bunsak Thongdi, Robert Morikawa, Doug Satre

This study used various technologies, such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Geographic Information System (GIS), and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to analyze the efficacy of community forestry (CF) in Thailand. Historically, CF has been looked down upon by the Thai government. The data from these sources revealed that local CF efforts, specifically in the Huai Lu Luang village, are not only effective but also sustainable, and the standard of living in the communities that practiced CF was significantly improved.