The BioCarbon Fund of the World Bank supports a smallholder agriculture program in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia, in their efforts to reduce emissions. The program aims to increase smallholder crop yields through climate-smart agriculture, to reduce forest loss and degradation and to augment net forest cover across the project area. UNIQUE’s role is to undertake a scoping mission on the actual potential to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) in the area. The assignment includes an assessment of the drivers of deforestation, an appraisal of the suitability of existing VCS (verified carbon standard) REDD+ methodologies and the calculation of emission reductions from REDD and agriculture.

• Identification of scope and impacts of project activities that produce emission reductions.
• Estimation of potential emission reductions.
• Assessment of management capacities and interests of project entities (public/private sector).
• Identification of potential REDD+ project boundaries in the program’s operational area.
• Assessment of eligibility and suitability of existing VCS REDD+ methodologies.