This case study is one in a series highlighting Chemonics’ experiences and lessons learned with thinking and working politically and applied political economy analysis (APEA). Drawing on the Chemonics-implemented USAID/Guatemala Biodiversity Project, this case study highlights the process, findings, and tools of the project’s baseline APEA (and second APEA iteration) and how these APEAs oriented…
Luis Fernando Jara is a forestry and climate change expert with 40 years of experience in project design and management, capacity building, and development of the forestry sector across the climatically diverse regions within Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Perú, Ecuador, and other parts of Latin America. He has extensive leadership experience in technical and managerial…
Biodiversity loss is one of Central America’s most pressing challenges. The five-year, $13.9 million USAID Regional Program for the Management of Aquatic Resources and Economic Alternatives, implemented by Chemonics International, was developed to strengthen coastal-marine resource management and biodiversity conservation while improving the livelihoods of local populations. Population growth in coastal marine areas, climate change,…
This post originally appeared on Mongabay. Photo courtesy of Samantha Cheng. The imperative for nature conservation has never been greater. A widely publicized intergovernmental report predicts extinction for more than a million species over the next few decades unless we drastically change human consumption and economic growth. This loss of species will threaten the global…
We’d like you to meet Brian App! Brian is a natural resource management specialist with nearly 20 years of experience working in the environmental sector. From flipping through the pages of National Geographic to building more water-secure communities in Africa, he shares some of the highlights of his development journey. Brian is one reason #DevelopmentWorksHere.…
We’d like you to meet Alejandro “Alex” Arrivillaga! Alex is a biologist and the deputy chief of party for the USAID Guatemala Biodiversity Project. He shares some of the insight he’s gained over the course of his 25-year career working with communities to develop shared solutions for biodiversity conservation. Alex is one reason #DevelopmentWorksHere. 1.…
This paper was the result of Chemonics’ collaboration with the Conservation Solutions Lab (CSL) at Arizona State University to ask a very basic and important question: Do we have any evidence to show that this approach is achieving the results we seek? At the request of Chemonics and CSL, the authors traveled to three East…
Alejandro Arrivillaga is a biologist with more than 25 years of experience with complex, multi-country biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource management projects, in government and non-governmental settings. Alejandro has a proven scientific record and experience with strategic planning and all aspects of resource assessment and monitoring. His work has required teamwork development, leadership and networking,…
This review was undertaken as part of a joint initiative, the Conservation Solutions Lab, between Arizona State University and Chemonics, and seeks to build knowledge and evidence-based approaches for more effective community engagement in conservation. The analysis revealed that the current evidence base is lacking the robust data needed to uncover the links between governance…
Carlos Morales has over 20 years of experience implementing USAID and other donor funded projects in Latin America. He worked for over than ten years in the Guatemalan food industry, developing an exhaustive understanding of the vegetables value chain and strong relationships with producers, suppliers, and international customers. Carlos worked with the World Wildlife Fund…