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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 16, 2013 9:49 AM
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Despite the challenges in understanding exactly how climate change will affect the world's poorest and worst-hit people, the experimentation needed to find solutions is already happening, from the international level down to the hyper-local. There are many positive examples, experts on the panel said. For example, the Adaptation Learning Programme in northern Kenya brings meteorological department officers together with district officials and community members, including chiefs, religious leaders and women, to plan for different rainfall scenarios based on seasonal forecasts. The jointly devised responses are then publicised. And the Red Cross has led an initiative in which communities, NGOs and decision makers cooperated to establish "minimum standards" for reducing the risks of climate-related disasters. These guarantee that communities can set up and operate early warning, access climate and weather information, assess changing risks, and communicate their needs to government representatives and potential funders.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 16, 2013 9:43 AM
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Research shows that the world will need to invest at least $5.7 trillion in clean water, sustainable transport, renewable energy and other green infrastructure annually by 2020 in order to keep global temperature rise below 2 degrees Celsius, thus preventing climate change's worst impacts. We're currently directing only about $360 billion annually toward these activities. While these discussions are necessary, what's more important is whether or not ministers and officials are talking about the right issues and asking the right questions.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 16, 2013 8:54 AM
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Two major food security summits are being held in Ireland, organised by UN World Food Programme, the CGIAR Research Programme on Climate Change and the Mary Robinson Climate Justice foundation. Ertharin Cousin, the UN's World Food Programme director, said: "We are entering an uncertain and risky period. Climate change is the game changer that increases exposure to high and volatile food prices, and increases the vulnerability of the hungry poor, especially those living in conflict zones or areas of marginal agricultural productivity. We must act quickly to protect the world's poorest people.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 13, 2013 4:31 PM
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Experts Urge More Agriculture, Climate Change Research Experts in food and agriculture are urging policymakers to prepare for future challenges to farm production from climate change.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 8, 2013 5:38 AM
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“Climate Change, Security, and Conflict: Preliminary Findings from Africa and Latin America on a Long-Term Challenge” lecture by Dr. Jeffrey Stark. He presents evidence from field research in Uganda and Ethiopia.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 6, 2013 3:38 PM
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The primary goal of the workshop was to provide an opportunity for leading African scholars and practitioners to engage with 30-40 U.S.-based experts from multiple levels of the climate change, adaptation, humanitarian, and peacebuilding communities in order to identify and debate both challenges and opportunities presented by climate change adaptation.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 5, 2013 3:50 AM
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Representatives from Brazil, the Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) met in Durban, South Africa, on 27 March 2013, at the Fifth BRICS Summit, which addressed the theme “BRICS and AFRICA: Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialization.” The Summit concluded with the adoption of the eThekwini Declaration, which considers a range of international issues, including the global economy, sustainable development, climate change and trade.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 4, 2013 3:21 AM
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Better data on the extent of the problem and likely outcomes of continued climate change is needed. Building on the wealth of information generated by a number of EU-funded projects and other initiatives, the AfriCAN Climate project, supported by the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union, is filling this knowledge gap through its network of research partners in Europe and Africa, using web and communication tools, technical exchanges and its growing database. Our vision is it to be “the gateway to climate change knowledge with relevance for Africa”. The AfriCAN Climate portal is now online and ready for you to search for the content you are interested in, to sign up and share your own content and meet the other AfriCAN members. You can comment to this Blog, create or join a Group for discussing the topics of your interest. The AfriCAN community is open to researchers, students, practitioners, NGOs, policy makers, associations and climate change experts. Once you create your personal profile you will also receive a bi-monthly newsletter, to keep you updated.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 4, 2013 1:44 AM
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WEST AFRICA The first of three books in IFPRI’s climate change in Africa series, West African Agriculture and Climate Change: A Comprehensive Analysis examines the food security threats facing 11 of the countries that make up West Africa — Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo — and explores how climate change will increase the efforts needed to achieve sustainable food security throughout the region.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 3, 2013 4:35 AM
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Herders living in areas where animals have died due to drought and related disasters have long been tempted to raid and steal animals from neighbouring communities to replenish their stocks. But as the disasters come more frequently and banditry rises, some hard-hit communities are abandoning herding altogether... ...The former pastoralists have organised themselves into 16 groups, with 25 members each, to form what are known as Farmer Field Schools. The schools offer adult education, based on the theory that “farmers learn optimally from field observation and experimentation,” according to FAO. In Kenya, the educational drive has been taken up by several organisations who help farmers learn from each other on how to solve food insecurity problems in different ecological conditions. In Isiolo, for example, ActionAid International Kenya supports the schools, with backing from the government... ...One of the ready markets for sorghum is East African Breweries Limited, which has expressed interest in buying the grain for beer making. Other former herders have moved to different agricultural activities, from fish farming to poultry keeping.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
March 29, 2013 2:57 AM
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The Bio-resources Innovations Network for Eastern Africa Development (Bio-Innovate) Program was established in 2010 to support multidisciplinary biosciences and product-based innovation activities in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. It currently supports nine biosciences innovation and policy consortium projects, bringing together 57 partnering institutions from across the six countries and outside the region. Bio-Innovate is implementing programmes in four areas aimed at: addressing climate change adaptability; food and nutrition security; energy production from industrial waste; and securing freshwater resources. The AU/NEPAD is also working to strengthen regional collaboration in science and technology to enable the continent to make the rapid advances that modern biosciences can facilitate, Ambali says.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
March 28, 2013 10:35 AM
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Climate change — including drought, changing weather patterns and falling agricultural productivity — is expected to affect developing countries more than developed ones...We are at the boiling point of a convergence of storms" that includes climatic, poverty, employment and financial crises.[Greenpeace]
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
March 28, 2013 9:03 AM
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This paper examines the impacts of climate change and the changing nature of donor assistance on economic development and food security through the example of Ethiopia.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 16, 2013 9:44 AM
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Claims that climate change will cause mass starvation could actually make it harder to feed the world.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 16, 2013 9:35 AM
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The vast region of Africa known as the Sahel will descend into large-scale drought, famine, war and terrorist control if immediate, coordinated steps are not taken to avert the perfect storm of climate change and the most rapidly ...
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 13, 2013 4:32 PM
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Abebe and his colleagues spent two days discussing how to better address climate change, conflict, and peacebuilding in Africa. Co-sponsored by the Wilson Center, USAID, the U.S. Department of State, and the Institute for ...
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 13, 2013 4:30 PM
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Eight steps to climate-proof development in Africa Observational records and model projections clearly shows that 75-250 million people in Africa are projected to face increased water stress by 2020 due to climate change;...
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 8, 2013 5:33 AM
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”This effort, to co-produce climate information products together with farmers, led us to identify the communication channels that were relevant to them,” said Arame. These channels included text messages in local languages to their cell phones, effective in reaching both male and women farmers, encouraging forecast-bulletin boards posted in strategic outposts across villages, or spreading information at the village mosque or borehole, where women gather in the mornings to fetch water.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 5, 2013 5:01 AM
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In Africa, it is said that the state of policy and governance is dependent upon the leader in power. This is because the person in leadership, in most cases the president, sets the pace for the political will in implementation of certain aspects of law or lack of it. The culture of corruption and impunity is most often pointed to the top most leadership and proper governance is pointed to the same... ...Kenya has been working on a Climate Change Bill for a while now. Various civil society organizations and citizens gave their input on the bill; it went through parliament and was passed by the members of parliament. When it came to the next stage, the outgoing president, Hon. Mwai Kibaki, did not ascent to it. This means that it has to be taken back for amendment. This means that it will be worked on and debated upon by the incoming parliament.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 5, 2013 3:48 AM
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As part of an assessment that shows significant cuts in development aid to poor nations, the OECD revealed that targeted funding for programs mainly focused on helping developing countries adapt to the effects of climate change fell in 2011 to $1.8 billion from $3.1 billion the year before, based on data reported by governments to the OECD. The OECD has not released climate finance figures for 2012, but Oxfam's research of funding suggests that levels of public climate finance did not improve last year. "Funding for climate change adaptation programs is dropping remarkably at a time when it needs to be scaled up in line with UN commitments and when developing countries are dealing with increasing impacts of extreme weather events." [Oxfam]... At the 2009 Copenhagen talks, developed countries committed to provide climate finance balanced between adaption and emissions-mitigation programs, yet Oxfam analysis has shown that just 21 per cent of funds has gone to adaptation. OECD figures show that targeted funding principally for mitigation purposes also declined dramatically by 45 per cent in 2011.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 4, 2013 2:44 AM
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The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) has launched its third Africa Capacity Indicators Report (ACIR 2013) focusing of capacity development for Natural Resources.
The 2013 edition focuses on the capacity development for Natural resources Management in 44 Africa countries. The report outlines that, “If countries are to better address the nexus of fragility, agricultural transformation and food security and natural resource management, then more countries need to invest in strategy, training and innovation.” The previous two reports of 2011 and 2012 focussed on Fragile States and Agricultural Transformation and Food Security respectively. The 2013 Report focuses on what African countries need to do individually and collectively to achieve effective management and good governance of the continent’s natural resource wealth. It covers both renewable and non-renewable endowments, with specific reference to forests, land, water, solid minerals, and petroleum resources and offers analysis of the critical perspectives and contemporary academic and policy debates on the natural resource value chain, including emerging issues such as climate change and green economy. The Report highlights many positive country experiences that include among others: --Ethiopia’s laudable efforts at building capacity for the staff of higher education institutions in the area of natural resource management and eco-tourism
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
April 3, 2013 6:59 AM
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PUBLISHED 2011
The FAO Disaster Risk Reduction for Food and Nutrition Security Framework Programme aims to provide strategic direction to the implementation of disaster risk reduction measures in membercountries across the agricultural-related sectors — in line with the Hyogo Framework for Action and its five priorities for action. In addition, it promotes an inter-disciplinary and programmatic approach to disaster risk reduction for food and nutrition security, by integrating the agriculture, livestock, fisheries, forestry and natural resource management sectors, to respond more effectively to the diverse livelihoods of small-scale farmers and to the complex set of factors which contribute to disaster risks.Our intent is that this Framework Programme will help generate greater understanding, commitment and action in disaster risk reduction for food and nutrition security.
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
March 29, 2013 3:01 AM
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On a global level, climate change could slash crop yields and increase reliance on irrigation in the 2030s, but in some regions, including Southern Africa, agricultural output could increase and farming become less dependent on water, according to a study published last month (27 February)...The researchers, based in Canada, China and Switzerland, set out to predict the combined impact of climate change on food production and water levels globally, regionally and locally. Using eight climate scenarios, they estimated the yields of three staples - maize, rice and wheat - and water use for the short-term 2030s period and the long-term 2090s one. They then compared these with figures obtained in the 1990s. "Southern and eastern parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, along the Rift Valley, may profit in the short run from climate change regarding yields for the three staple food crops...Western and central parts, on the other hand, show a slight negative impact."
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
March 28, 2013 10:37 AM
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The UN International Strategy for International Risk reduction (UNISDR), has been arguing for mainstreaming gender in disaster risk reduction programmes for over a decade. "Disasters don't discriminate, but people do," the agency noted. "The potential contributions that women can offer to the disaster risk reduction [DRR] imperative around the world are often overlooked and female leadership in building community resilience to disasters is frequently disregarded."
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Scooped by
Robin Landis
March 28, 2013 9:32 AM
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Small-scale subsistence farmers need good adaptation strategies so they can cope with climate change. Researchers have tried and tested a range of climate-smart tools and approaches, but the range of options can be baffling. Identifying the right adaptation strategy for a particular farming community means testing potential adaptation strategies against a number of variables, such as the the current the socio-economic scenarios of farmers and the expected impacts of climate change...This work is producing new insights into how different adaptation strategies could enhance the resilience and livelihoods of smallholder farmers in East Africa.
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![Millions face starvation as world warms, say scientists [WFP] | Climate Change & DRR in East Africa | Scoop.it](https://img.scoop.it/JZHeOgXwa3qaiRQWXvsi8Tl72eJkfbmt4t8yenImKBVvK0kTmF0xjctABnaLJIm9)
