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Country-Specific Information
USAID/Guinea Activities
Environmental Context
Guinea is divided into four regions which correspond to the major natural regions: Lower Guinea,
Middle Guinea, Upper Guinea, and Forest Guinea. The rainfall of Lower Guinea varies from 2,000
to 4,000 mm per year, allowing a growing season of 6 -7 months. Lower Guinea can be subdivided into three zones: the coast, with alluvial plains and mangrove swamps; the interior plain,
which gradually leads to the foothills of the Fouta Djallon mountain range; and the foothills, with
poorer soils susceptible to aluminum and iron toxicity.
Upper Guinea is primarily an area of savanna with transitional areas bordering Middle and Forest
Guinea, while Middle Guinea (the Fouta Djallon Highlands) is an area of lower rainfall, cooler
climate, and a five to six month growing season. Middle Guinea, with an altitude which varies from
600 to 1600 meters, can be divided into the southern foothills, the northwest plains, and the Fouta
Djallon Mountain range. With the exception of Conakry, the Fouta Djallon is the most densely
populated region in Guinea, with about one-third of the country's population. The area's poor soils
and dense population has accelerate degradation of the natural resource base. In addition, there
has been a downward trend in precipitation in the Fouta Djallon over the last 25 years. Lack of
rainfall and a decline in soil fertility have reduced agricultural yields. From a regional perspective,
the Fouta Djallon Highlands is a watershed for three important rivers: the Niger, the Senegal and
the Gambia.
Forest Guinea is a zone of hilly terrain with some remnant rain and gallery forest. This fragile
region is host to at least 500,000 refugees from Liberia and Sierra Leone, which has led to
negative economic, environmental and health impacts in the border areas. The large number of
refugees has strained local infrastructure and devastated the environment through deforestation,
conversion of forest to cropland and contamination and overuse of water resources. Gueckedou, a
major refugee region, experienced a 52% decrease in forest cover between 1989 and 1997. Areas
that were once pristine tropical forests have been transformed into savannah grasslands.
Significant environmental problems for Guinea are caused by adverse land use practices, including
mining, indiscriminate tree felling, shifting cultivation and overgrazing. For instance, fire and
cultivation have destroyed much of the country's original woodland vegetation, leaving the
remaining patches of rainforest interspaced with secondary grassland and cultivated land.
USAID/Guinea Activities
USAID/Guinea's environmental activities are implemented under SO1 "Increased Use of
Sustainable Natural Resource Management Practices" for FY 1998 to FY 2005. This strategic
objective was initiated by USAID/Guinea to help protect Guinea's fragile agro-ecological areas
against accelerating environmental degradation caused by rapid population growth and
exacerbated by refugee inflows, lack of economic alternatives in rural areas and unsustainable
intensification of agricultural production. SO1 helps Guinea manage its forest resources optimally,
exploit its agricultural resource base for food production and income on a sustainable basis, and
conserve biological diversity. It builds upon activities implemented under the 1993 pilot
USAID/Guinea Natural Resources Management (NRM) Project, which worked with the
Government of Guinea to improve the management of natural resources in three targeted
watersheds in the Fouta Djallon Highlands. Results of the pilot NRM project achieved successfully
include significant increases in areas of protected forests, the number of forest sites, and areas
under sustainable agricultural practices. It also includes sustainable production of cash crops and
new village enterprises which have brought additional incomes to villagers.
Under SO1, proven sustainable NRM practices will be replicated in large geographic areas outside
the three originally targeted watersheds. Specifically, USAID's natural resource management
activities will assist smallholders to conserve Guinea's fragile natural resource base by investing in
more profitable and less destructive agricultural and natural resource management practices. The
approach is to transfer appropriate practices to farmers, to empower local populations to manage
their resources, to obtain sustainable increases in farm production, and to improve agricultural
markets and credit for smallholders. Thus, USAID/Guinea activities focus on: improving the natural
resource management capacity of community-based organizations; increasing sustainable farm
productivity; developing income-generating non-farm small and micro enterprises; and establishing
a policy environment which empowers local populations to manage their natural resources and
promotes long-term investments in conserving the natural resource base. This SO also
emphasizes on women, especially the socially and economically disadvantaged, as they play a
crucial role in natural resource management.
USAID's strategy under SO 1 conforms with the participatory, market-driven approach that the
government of Guinea adopted for development of the rural agricultural sector. Activities under
SO1 will play an integral role in helping the government achieve one of its primary sector
objectives, "preserving the productive base by sustainable management of natural resources."
In addition USAID assists Guinea in addressing the environmental degradation in the Forest
Region caused by several hundred thousand refugee-farmers from Sierra Leone and Liberia who
have settled in a previously sparsely populated region containing one of the few remaining West
African tropical forests.