Antony Philip Emenyu wants to speed up the adoption of regenerative farming practices, using payment for Ecosystem Services as an incentive for conservation. This is important because of the urgent need for a response to climate change impacts on food security, without compromising livelihoods.

Smallholder farmers produce the bulk of the food consumed in Africa. Emenyu says his research  provides a means to increase the rate of adoption of proven climate smart practices by smallholder farmers. “Thus, generally, not only reducing the carbon footprint of smallholder agriculture in Africa but also improving food security and livelihood security for those primarily dependent on agriculture as a livelihood source.”

Emenyu is a doctoral student at the University of Exeter, UK under the Openheimer-Turvil Doctoral scholarship. His research focuses on assessing the use and uptake of regenerative farming practices in African landscapes, supervised by Dr Tom Powell, Dr Andrew Cunliffe, Dr Lorien Jasny and Prof. Mulala Simatele.