ILRI-PLE hosts policymaker, practitioner and community user workshop

Environmental Permanent Secretary Mr Ali Mohammed

The Permanent Secretary in Kenya’s Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, Mr Ali Mohammed (EBS) will on Tuesday 14th February 2012 give the opening address at a policy workshop hosted by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

Mr Mohammed was recently elected as Vice-chair of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The IPBES is a mechanism being set up to further strengthen the science-policy interface on biodiversity and ecosystem services. It is expected to enhance the existing processes that aim at ensuring that decisions are made on the basis of the best available scientific information on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystem services.

The main aim of the workshop is to engage stakeholders from grassroots users through to national and international policymakers/practitioners, entrepreneurs, and scientists working on issues related to the Biodiversity, Ecosystem services, Social sustainability and Tipping points in African Dry lands (BEST) project. It is managed in collaboration with The African Technology Policy Studies Network, the Institute of Zoology, London, University College London, UCL, Anthropology (East African dry lands societies, livelihoods and NRM institutions) will host a one-day Policymaker, Practitioner and Community User Workshop. BEST is run by the People Livestock and Environment (PLE) theme in ILRI.

BEST targets to provide awareness into the poverty and environment impacts of different policies on tenure and natural resources management, as is incorporated at household decisions. The outcomes are intended to be used by national and international policymakers at all levels who have responsibility for planning and budgeting, climate change adaptation programmes, and donor-funded interventions. The stakeholders comprise of national and international interest groups (including responsible investors). The envisioned beneficiaries are the local users who are mostly the residents in the dry lands; BEST has the intentions to improve their livelihoods and environments and also make them more resilient and sustainable.

The workshop will be held at ILRI, Nairobi on 14 February 2012. BEST researchers will present project aims and approach, preliminary work completed to date, and plans for subsequent work, soliciting feedback on all elements of the project during the workshop.

The BEST research collaboration brings together international partners, social and natural scientists; specialists in ecology, economics and anthropology, in geographic information systems (GIS) and in modelling. Others are communications and research management experts, to help create an integrated approach to addressing central issues in African dry lands ecosystem services and poverty alleviation.

Project partners include TAWIRI, ASARECA, ESRC-STEPS and many others contributing data and insights, sharing and enhancing the networking potential in both consultation/feedback and dissemination of findings.

 

Warmer temperatures, human settlements threaten Nakuru park

Ogutu: warming is a threat to biodiversity

Warmer temperatures and drier weather conditions have significantly affected the composition of wildlife in Kenya’s Lake Nakuru National Park, situated in the heart of the Rift Valley, states a new study published on January 28, 2012. The Nakuru region has experienced perhaps one of the fastest warming rates in the region in the past half a century.

This, associated with human encroachment around Kenya’s first fully fenced-protected park, has seen the numbers of two wildlife species plummet to levels that now threaten their future population viability in the park although, surprisingly, the park continues to hold a high level of biodiversity including the world famous flamingos.

The trends of nine (9) most common herbivore species were studied in the 41 years from 1970 to 2011. The study found that the waterbuck, once a flagship species whose population density in the park was the highest known anywhere until the mid 1990s, has lost its position of dominance to buffalo and zebra, while Grant’s gazelle and impala at first increased and then gradually declined. Both the waterbuck and warthog decreased in numbers to levels that now threaten their very survival in the park while the buffalo, zebra and Thomson’s gazelle continued to thrive. Populations of the other three common species were relatively stable.

The crash of the waterbuck population following the 1990 drought is attributed to competition for forage between waterbuck, on the one hand, and buffalo and zebra, on the other. There are extensive overlaps in the forage consumed by the three species but waterbuck select a diet far richer in crude protein and thus requires plenty of water to excrete the nitrogenous waste in urine. It therefore has a much higher minimum requirement of water than most African ungulates.

Waterbuck crashes, duickers disappear

Consequently, as more animals seek to feed around the lake shore during dry periods, the forage gets depleted faster and selective feeders like the waterbuck suffer the most. Thomson’s gazelle, impala and waterbuck that are the most strongly dependent on the lakeshore grasslands that become more extensively exposed under dry conditions when the lake level recedes, have to compete more intensely with the expanding buffalo and zebra populations. Zebra and buffalo have a competitive edge over these smaller grazers on the lake shore grasslands, as well as on grasslands around the artificial water points dispersed all over the park in the dry season, when food supply is lowest elsewhere. This is because both buffalo and zebra can tolerate low-quality grasses because of their bulk-feeding style due to their large body sizes and also because zebra is a non-ruminant grazer able to rapidly process large quantities of low-quality forage.

It is not only the common smaller species that are bearing the brunt of the increase in numbers of the larger species in the park. The small and rare species are facing even harder times. So for example, the mountain reedbuck that was once the fourth most abundant species in the park during 1970-1971 and the common and blue duikers have all but virtually disappeared from the park due to the loss of their favoured habitats of tall grasslands and shoreline vegetation due to grazing by the expanding numbers of the large-sized grazers.

The lack of a water outlet and the small size of Lake Nakuru make it very vulnerable to habitat degradation and changing land use in its 1800 Km2 catchment basin. The massive destruction of forests in the catchment basin and the alteration of the catchment hydrology have destroyed most of the wildlife that previously existed in the region; described by early European explorers as the richest found anywhere in East Africa. As a result of these changes, populations of elephant, Jackson’s hartebeest, Masai and Rothschild giraffes, white rhinoceros, and eland became locally extinct. A once spectacular migration of zebra and Thomson’s gazelles between Lake Baringo and the Lake Nakuru-Elementaita region also disappeared.

The waterbuck: Its survival in Lake Nakuru threatened

Being located right next to Nakuru town, the park is gradually being adversely affected by water pollution due to industrialisation and the lake level has dropped from 2.5 m (in 1925-1979) to 1.01 m during 1992-2002 and now stands at 0.756 m (2003 to 2011), reflecting high siltation rates.
Water quality in the streams supplying water to the lake is also deteriorating exposing animals to potentially dangerous agro chemicals and heavy metals.

It is indeed very striking that this small park has been able to support such large numbers of a diverse large mammal assemblage for over four decades, despite wide climatic variation and major land use changes in its surroundings. However, although the long-term consequences of the population expansion and increasing isolation of the park are uncertain at present, when the expanding populations reach their carrying capacity in the park, they may become more vulnerable to rainfall, temperature and lake level influences on their food resources and large predators, with ramifying and unforeseen adverse consequences for the other species.

The study titled Dynamics of ungulates in relation to climatic and land use changes in an insularized African savannah ecosystem, was published in Biodiversity and Conservation journal by Joseph Ogutu, a senior statistician in the Bioinformatics unit of the University of Hohenheim, Germany. He conducted the study with colleagues there and at the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya, where he initially served under the People, Livestock and Environment theme.

Masai Mara National Reserve

Ogutu previously published extensive studies on the world famous Masai Mara National Reserve (2011 and 2009). The 2011 study published in the Journal of Zoology indicated that the populations of wildlife species in the world-renowned Masai Mara reserve in Kenya have crashed in the past three decades by as much as 70%.

Fewer survive beyond the reserve in the wider Mara, where buffalo and wild dogs have all but disappeared, while huge numbers of wildebeest no longer pass through the region on their epic migration.
However, numbers of cattle grazing in the reserve have increased by more than 1100% per cent, although it is illegal for them to so do. This explosion in the numbers of domestic livestock grazing in the Mara region, including within the Masai Mara national reserve, is one of the principal reasons wildlife has disappeared, the scientists said.

‘The status of Masai Mara as a prime conservation area and premier tourist draw card in Kenya may soon be in jeopardy’ Ogutu’, said at the time.

By Jane Gitau

 

New Year, new beginnings for PLE

ILRI DG: Jimmy Smith announced the far reaching changes

The start of a new year is for many of us, a time for reflection, a time for resolutions and often re-organisation of personal goals to meet our resolutions. For the People Livestock and Environment Theme, a new beginning is literally happening.

A new Theme Director, Dr Iain Wright takes over the mantle from 23 January 2012 (announced Dec 19, 2011 here).  A new research team – the ‘Sustainable Livestock Futures’ group, led by Dr. Mario Herrero, has also been incorporated in to PLE. However, the name remains the same. Mario’s group will continue to provide leadership at the institutional level with respect to work on sustainable futures.

As ILRI and the parent group the CGIAR move into new ways of collaborating in research, several PLE scientists will be actively engaged in carrying forward the CGIAR Research Programs (CRPs). These will be Mario Herrero leading the work on ILRI aspects CRP 7: Climate change; Polly Ericksen coordinating CRP 1.1: Drylands; while Alan Duncan will coordinate CRP1.2: Humid tropics.  Jan de Leeuw will coordinate CRP 5: Land, water and ecosystems.

In making the announcement, ILRI Director General Dr Jimmy Smith said: “As we move into new research planning and funding situations, we need to adjust the ways we organize ourselves to meet our commitments and maximize synergies across the institute“.

He said the, the Management Committee agreed to the changes, in late 2011. However, he added, “these are not set in stone and will evolve and be adapted as we proceed”.

 

PLE’s got talent, a lot of big ideas – and a bright future?

A recent meeting of the People Livestock and Environment (PLE) research theme of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) underlined the creative capacity and strong potential of team members. There is enough spark, flair and daring in the pool to embark on ambitious and relevant initiatives for the future of livestock, environment and crucially the people. The meeting took place from 12 to 13 December 2011 at the ILRI-Ethiopia campus in Addis Ababa. Under a broad agenda of change, it aimed to share ideas and information about the upcoming work of ILRI and the PLE team in the emerging CGIAR Consortium Research Programs (‘CRPs’).  The CRPs are intended to be the main modality for all CGIAR centers and imply significant changes in the way ILRI plans, executes and manages its research. Besides the CRP discussions, an important part of the meeting was to identify promising ‘big research ideas’ that the PLE team could develop in the coming year.

Highlights 2011 winner: Silvia Silvestri (Photo credit: ILRI/Ewen Le Borgne)

Prior to the forward-looking big idea discussions, the team also organized a light competition to elect the most important PLE achievement of 2011. Five team members introduced their highlight of 2011 – after which a small vote was organized to select the most striking highlight. The winner was Silvia Silvestri’s work on payments for environmental services. On the second day, a special session called ‘PLE’s got talent’ brought together eight presenters to introduce a big idea that in their eyes was worth developing into a large proposal. The eight ideas were:

1. A large proof of concept  to test carbon sequestration and ecosystem service schemes in rangelands (proposed by Mario Herrero)
2. A project to reduce volatility and increase the resilience of pastoral drylands (proposed by Jan de Leeuw)
3. A wide-ranging study of different development paradigms applied to the livestock sector (proposed by Alan Duncan)
4. A project on the efficient uses of biomass in semi-arid areas as one of the critical areas in sustainable livestock management (proposed by Amare Haileslassie)
5. Investigating ways that Eastern African highland products could be branded and exploited by smallholder producers (proposed by Tilahun Amede)
6. Exploring linkages between  green economy concepts and approaches and livestock systems and services (proposed by Silvia Silvestri)
7. An initiative to improve the characterization of forage diversity and ILRI’s genebank (proposed by Alexandra Jorge)
8. A comparative study of policies and approaches to livestock development and appropriate pathways to the intensification of smallholder agriculture (proposed by Mario Herrero)

These eight ideas were distilled from a list of 17 ideas in total collected online via Survey Monkey in preparation for the PLE meeting. They were further discussed at an ILRI management retreat from 18-20 December.

Mario Herrero, one of the contenders, explains what happened in the process and his perspective of PLE’s future…

Will the big ideas survive the funding trial stage?

 

ILRI-PLE scientists embrace change, communication

PLE welcomes Iain Wright: he cuts cake with his predecessor Shirley Tarawali at the PLE meeting held in Addis Ababa recently. (photo credit: ILRI/Apollo Habtamu).

Communicate, Change! That is the new mantra of the People, Livestock and Environment (PLE) team at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

During a one and a half days brainstorming retreat in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the thirty-strong  team from Eastern and West Africa and India, appreciated that more communication was necessary both within PLE and across other teams within ILRI as well as within the Consortium for International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).

In January 2012, the CGIAR embarks on over ten new CGIAR Consortium Research Programmes (CRPs), as the new way of doing research. This means that each CRP across the entire CGIAR system will have more than one centre working on it. This change affects not only every CG centre, such as ILRI, but also every team in each centre, such as PLE.

This will start a new approach to partnerships – working with CGIAR centres much more closely than has been the case in the past, closer collaboration with national research institutions, development partners and to a large extent policy makers.

Polly Ericksen observed that working with all these partners and policy-makers implies collaboration among the various disciplines. Communication is one of them.

Communication is indeed crucial to connect different actors but also to learn across CRPs as emphasised by Shirley Tarawali: “Communications will be really important to let all of us know what each of us is doing and avoid duplication”.

The big question then is: can we have an integrated approach to develop synergies with other CRPs? This approach would need integrators who understand the different parts trying to work together and attempt to unite them, change managers who understand processes and recognise that the new approach to research will involve changing both functional and institutional cultures. Change is never easy to manage or to go through.

The key challenges that PLE handles on behalf of ILRI are climate change adaptation and mitigation, sustainable intensification in small holder crop livestock systems, and vulnerability of marginal systems and peoples.

The retreat also gave an occasion for the PLE team to embrace change by bidding farewell to their outgoing theme director Shirley Tarawali and welcoming her successor, Iain Wright.

Speaking on behalf of the PLE staff, Alan Duncan praised Tarawali for building a capable team over the last five years; he further lauded her as a patient strategic and detailed person, a meticulous leader, a role model to emulate and a mentor to all PLE staff.

Incoming Director, Iain Wright, announced that the coming days would be days of change, challenge, communications and opportunity. The entire system has adopted a new way of research-through collaboration in the CRPs which brings with it a lot of challenges. Dealing with challenges requires effective communication, in order to make use of opportunities that arise in every situation, he said.

In January 2012, Tarawali will take up the newly-created post of Director of Institutional Planning in ILRI Nairobi.

 

Dairy intensification and milk market quality in Amhara region, Ethiopia

The first report from the ‘livestock intensification project on dairy value chains in India and Ethiopia’ (funded by the OPEC Fund for International Development) has just been released.

Entitled ‘dairy intensification and milk market quality in Amhara region, Ethiopia’, the project report by Addisu Bitew and colleagues report on a study to develop a systematic understanding of the links between market opportunities and productivity increases in livestock in Amhara region of Ethiopia, with a focus on dairy production.

Findings showed that milk marketing cooperatives were the dominant milk buyers from producers at all milk marketing quality levels. Milk marketing cooperatives have been increasing in number, although there were limitations in recruitment of members, and the capacity to collect, process and market milk. Veterinary and artificial insemination (AI) services were provided from district agricultural development offices, except for some villages that had veterinary clinics and AI centers.

Stall feeding and feeding of concentrates for crossbred dairy cattle was more prominent in high market quality sites compared to medium and low market quality sites, which indicated the level of feed intensification as the market quality improved. The contribution of grazing to total diet was higher for indigenous than crossbred cows. The proportion of crossbred cows exceeded that of indigenous cows in high market quality sites but the reverse applied in medium and low market quality sites. Milk yield data indicate that there is room for increasing average productivity by improving management practices.

The major constraints to dairy development related to: breeding (shortage of improved breeds and inefficient AI services); feeding (shortage of feed and water, and high feed cost); health (disease incidence, shortage and high prices of drugs, and limited veterinary service); and market- and dairy-derived income (low prices of milk and poor demand for milk during fasting season). Due consideration should be given to alleviate these problems to increase productivity and improve dairy-derived income.

Download the report

 

Drylands development in Eastern Africa: The policy context and recommendations

Policies, legal and institutional frameworks are core pillars of any conservation, natural resource management as well as development work at all societal levels. They define the relationships between people and resources and guide the interactions that ensue from such relationships for sustainability, growth and harmonious coexistence. In appreciation of the role that policy and laws play in biodiversity conservation and drylands development in Eastern Africa, a review was carried out on the regional and national policy contexts, which have a bearing on biodiversity conservation, pastoralism and drylands development.

The survey covered Kenya, Tanzania and Ethiopia and explored the economic value of the drylands. It was undertaken by ASARECA and its partner institutions – the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Egerton University, the International Union for the Conservation of  Nature (IUCN) and RECONCILE.

View a a summary of the project as published in the ASARECA-PAAP newsletter for December 2011.

The three DRAFT policy briefs published from the project are shared here:

Policy brief 1 ASARECA Regional

policy brief 2 Mara Case Study Brief

Policy brief 3 Tarangire Case Study

 

Livestock essential for food security in the pastoral areas of Africa – Ericksen

 There is need to “harness” the livestock resources of pastoral production systems so that they contribute to food security in East and Central Africa (ECA).  This “harnessing” will rely on the combined efforts of research and development to ensure a long term and sustainable future for pastoralism.

Speaking today at the General Assembly of the Association for Strengthening Agriculture in East and Central Africa (ASARECA), Dr Polly Ericksen said pastoral areas constitute the major land use in the drylands of the ECA and are home to millions of people.  However, the drylands have very high precipitation variability and droughts occur in regularly in three to four year cycles. This means that the mobility that pastoralists have traditionally relied upon to manage in the face of such harsh climate is increasingly constrained by various forms of land expropriation and fragmentation, further increasing degradation in the accessible grazing areas.

Dr Ericksen is a scientist with the People, Livestock and Environment (PLE) theme at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). She was speaking on the sub theme “Agricultural Development Challenges and Opportunities”. She observed that pastoral livestock productions systems are the most suitable and adapted land use in the ECA drylands, and currently the meat and milk produced by those systems contribute significantly to local, national and regional food security as well as the gross domestic product (GDP).

She further observed that poverty and food insecurity are prevalent among ECA pastoral communities and are becoming chronic for some groups, especially those who have very low herd sizes or have “dropped out” of livestock production all together.

Pastoralists’ participation in markets could be higher and more equitable, Dr Ericksen said, if more interventions were introduced into the pastoral system.

“Little research has been done on improving pastoral livestock breeds or supporting species diversification. Rangeland management studies and interventions are also lagging and could contribute greatly to enhancing livestock productivity”, said Dr. Ericksen.   She further added that maintain some form of mobility will always be key for pastoral production, and hence ensuring access to grazing and water resources is critical.

ASARECA is holding its first General Assembly 14^th – 16^th December 2011. Its theme is “Feeding our region in the 21^st Century”. ILRI’s Director General Jimmy Smith and Director for Communications, Bruce Scott are representing ILRI. Dr Smith is scheduled to make a presentation on The Role of ASARECA partner institutions.

ASARECA and ILRI_PLE have just completed a research project on Natural Resource Management and Biodiversity Conservation in the Drylands of Eastern and Central Africa.

Details of the General Assembly are found at: http://www.asareca.org/generalassembly/?page_id=38

words: Jane Gitau

 

ILRI seeks disease- and drought-resistant forages for livestock kept by smallholders

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) is evaluating drought-resistant, nutritious and palatable varieties of Napier grass to feed dairy cattle in Eastern Africa.

Speaking at a seminar on ‘Napier grass diversity studies and further application to other forages in ILRI, Ethiopia’, ILRI’s genebank manager, Maria Alexandra Jorge, said Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) continues to be the major feed for cut-and-carry stall-feeding (or ‘zero-grazing’) dairy systems in East Africa. Napier, commonly known as ‘elephant grass’, constitutes between 40 and 80% of the feed on such smallholder dairy farms.

The productivity of Napier grass in the region is threatened by emerging diseases and recurrent droughts. Jorge said the ILRI Gene Bank has received over one hundred DNA samples of materials from outside the ILRI system (from EMBRAPA, Brazil under the project Africa-Brazil, Agricultural innovation marketplace) whose DNA is being studied to see which ones may have additional diversity comparing to our current napier grass materials. The identified unique materials will be introduced to our collection and further tested in Eastern Africa for the unique characteristics being sought.

Climate change predictions for East Africa may indicate that the region will experience greater rainfall variability and more frequent and/or severe drought in some areas, with associated yield reductions in both feed and food crops. Unless new improved lines of Napier grass are made available, the livelihoods of farmers dependent on Napier grass as the main source of feed for their dairy animals may be harmed.

Jorge presented her findings at a seminar given at the end of a four-month stay at ILRI’s headquarters, in Nairobi, where she was attached to the Biosciences east and central Africa (BecA) hub as a fellow of an African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) program. The ILRI Genebank is managed by staff of ILRI’s People Livestock and Environment Theme.

Shirley Tarawali, who directs ILRI’s People, Livestock and Environment Theme, was happy to see Alexandra Jorge successfully complete her rich experience at the ILRI BecA Hub. ‘The new technologies and methods Jorge has learned will advance ILRI’s research to protect and enhance Napier grass and other important feed resources in East Africa. Jorge’s training also strengthens the links between ILRI’s high-tech BecA Hub, in Nairobi, and the institute’s specialized forage laboratory and genebank, located in Ethiopia,’ said Dr Tarawali.

“It was a joy to work with Alexandra. She has demonstrated extraordinary work ethics, maturity and seriousness in what she does. She is also a very fast learner; she takes initiative in learning more things and she has great people’s skills”, said Dr Segenet Kelemu, the BecA hub Director.

The AWARD fellowship is a professional development program that strengthens the research and leadership skills of African women in agricultural science, empowering them to contribute more effectively to poverty alleviation and food security in sub-Saharan Africa. It is offered by the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD), established in 2008, as a project of the Gender & Diversity Program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
AWARD Fellows benefit from a two-year career development program focused on establishing mentoring partnerships, building science skills, and developing leadership capacity. The fellowships are awarded on the basis of intellectual merit, leadership capacity, and the potential of the scientist’s research to improve the daily lives of smallholder farmers, especially women.

 

Mitigating climate change is a team effort – Mututho

There is need to join hands to understand, prevent (where possible) and mitigate the effects of climate change. This was said by the chairman of Kenya’s Parliamentary Committee for Agriculture, Hon. John Mututho when he launched the Climate Change Journalist of the Year Award in Nairobi.
Noting that journalists shape our environment through continuous good reporting, he urged them to take a front seat in creating a dialogue about climate change because it is affecting people negatively.

Mr Mututho is widely known for the bill regulating the hours and sale points of alcohol. He stressed that a local newspaper, The Daily Nation had taken up the anti-alcohol crusade since 2000, painfully reporting about the people who died of alcohol so that by time he introduced the bill in parliament, awareness had already been created. Now no one remembers the role the media had played previously.

“You are prophets like Martin Luther King, you must dream for us, have a big vision for us, and climate change is the one big thing now. It affects our safety security including our food security. You must play your part and give us both the information and direction to take. You are in the best position to talk to researchers, farmers, people in governance, the weather people and everyone else so that we understand what is happening around us”, he said.

The award and workshop were organised by the Participatory Ecological Land Use Management Program (PELUM). The award will recognise the journalist who publishes the most articles in the media concerning climate change within the twelve months of the year. He commended PELUM for taking up the role of tracking journalists on environment and climate change. “We must accept that our mistakes must be highlighted so that we learn to improve our practices”, he said.

Natural resources best for climate change mitigation
Environmental Policy Specialist, Philip Osano from ILRIs People Livestock and Environment theme said there is need to find new technology to help find new solutions to climate change. Such technology may include engineering.

Speaking at the same event, Osano said the question that determines our survival is: “When things change, how vulnerable do you become?” He noted that an economically endowed country such as the Netherlands has a bigger capacity to cope with unfriendly situations by building dykes while Bangladesh cannot, and therefore the people migrate to cope with the same situation – too much water.

Osano outlined the different aspects of climate change as science, economics, technology and politics. He noted that when the first world climate change conference was held,1979, the world demonstrated the possibility of coordinated international action on global environmental issues. The world had subsequently converged over the same issue in 1987 in Montreal where the protocol on restricting ozone layer depleting substances was signed, in 1988 when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established by two UN agencies (World Meteorological Organization and the UN Environment Program) to coordinate scientific research and assess the “risk of human-induced climate change” and in 1992 when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Through debates, discussions and treaties some of which were legally binding, the world continues to recognise that climate change is of concern to the entire world and its inhabitants. As such there is need for concerted efforts to mitigate its threats. In June 2012, the Rio + 20 Conference will be held in Brazil. The theme will be the Green Economy and Poverty Reduction. There will be need to determine the pathway to achieve the long-term goal, because so far, there is a lack of convergence on the issue of the contribution by different groups of countries to the achievement of the long-term goal and pathways to it.

The building blocks for negotiation are mitigation, adaptation, technology and finance. Mitigation entails steps to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases or to increase their removal from the atmosphere by enhancing carbon sinks such as sustainable development policies and measures, clean development mechanism projects, low-carbon development plans and strategies, national sector-based mitigation actions and standards and technology deployment programmes.

Parties have made proposals regarding the metric (temperature limit, level of atmospheric concentrations of GHGs), its level of ambition, the per cent reduction required, the contribution to achieving it by developed countries as a group and the emission pathways over time towards it, including the period or year in which global emissions should peak.

The best form of adaptation however is to maintain our natural resources because they shield us from disaster. Osano observed that the tsunami in 2004 was most severe where the mangroves had been destroyed while almond farmers in California have suffered poor quality of fruit because the bees disappeared and no pollination could occur. They then had to start renting bees from a bee farmer- something they had previously not budgeted for.

Corporate social responsibility
Lauding the journalists for being willing to stand up and be counted in the climate change campaign, PLE Communication Specialist Jane Gitau urged the journalists to understand climate change and spread the knowledge and its impact as part of their social responsibility.

“We must strive to make climate change understood and help our people and government make the right choices in adaptation and mitigation”, she said, adding that media is today enjoying a vibrant environment in Kenya where there is no limit on the tools one can use to share the message.

She outlined the role of the media as to inform and educate, to be a watch dog of society and create public awareness of issues that threaten our survival and unity. Noting that ILRI is a good resource for research information on climate change, she said ILRI had chosen the area as one of its seven challenge areas recognising that the world’s climate is changing at unprecedented rates. African agriculture and pastoralism will suffer some of the greatest impacts of the twin threats of global warming and increasing climate variability.
The ‘Climate Change Adaptation, Mitigations and Innovations Media Award’ was launched in Nairobi on 25 November, 2011.

by Jane Gitau