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How some villages in Northern Ghana keep their forest while everyone else loses theirs

Climate change is severely impacting rural agricultural communities, particularly in developing countries, by disrupting farming practices, reducing crop yields, and threatening livelihoods.

We’re excited to launch our self-paced online course on Data-Powered Positive Deviance (DPPD). Take the course and learn how to leverage digital data to identify and learn from successful practices to tackle complex challenges.

Climate change poses significant challenges for rural communities in the North of Ghana. Due to their dependence on climate-sensitive sectors like agriculture, forestry, and natural resource management, they are highly vulnerable to its effects. Implementing adaptation measures that improve resilience and address the impacts of climate change is essential for reducing their vulnerabilities. This article explores the benefits of new approaches, particularly the utilization of remote sensing data and the Data-Powered Positive Deviance (DPPD) method, in preserving Ghana’s trees and empowering local communities.

The UNDP Ecuador Accelerator Lab, along with GIZ Ecuador, the GIZ Data Lab, and the University of Manchester, conducted a Data Powered Positive Deviance (DPPD) pilot in 2020–21 to learn about local, effective, and desirable cattle ranching practices in two cantons of the Ecuadorian Amazon: Joya de los Sachas and Sucúa. Our goal was to generate evidence of local solutions to inform the PROAmazonia programme that aims to reduce CO2 emissions through the mitigation of deforestation and the promotion of sustainable land use.

Amid geopolitical turmoil and the global impacts of climate change, leaders around the world are increasingly turning to the circular economy as a conceptual framework to align human activities with planetary boundaries. 

Together with the GIZ Sector Network Rural Development Asia and the Pacific and the Sector Network Rural Development Africa, we are running a Masterclass on the Data Powered Positive Deviance (DPPD) method.

tl;dr: we were able to demonstrate the viability of the method and will continue to work on the widespread adoption of DPPD. If you want you to get involved, reach out at mail[at]datapoweredpd.org

Zooming in: A field inquiry to learn about differentiated practices for sustainable livestock farming in Ecuador

In Mexico, two-thirds of all girls and women above the age of 15 have reported experiencing at least one incident of violence in their lifetime.

In every community, there are individuals or groups with uncommon behaviors who, while having access to similar resources, find better solutions to challenges than their peers.