Towards Sustainable Charcoal Production and Use: a Systems Approach

The majority of African households will continue depending on traditional fuels to meet their daily energy needs for many decades to come. In particular, the demand for charcoal in most countries in the region continues to grow at high rates owing to the ever-increasing rural-urban migration. These trends, coupled with inefficient charcoal production and consumption practices, and inaccessibility by most households to reliable and affordable commercial energy forms puts in deep uncertainty the future dependence on the already-dwindling biomass resource for energy. A systems approach to sustainable biomass production and consumption as regards charcoal is proposed. Based on the life-cycle concept, the optimum policy and institutional arrangements necessary for this strategy to achieve its goal are prescribed. The strategy can be potentially adopted in all sub-Saharan African countries with various socio-economic and environmental gains. At a time when the continent is searching for lasting solutions to energy insecurity as well as reducing poverty, the strategy proposed provides such a chance for the poor to achieve this goal in the short term, while preparing them to gain access to reliable and affordable commercial energy options

Cleaner Production in Kenyan Small and Medium Enterprises: Prerequisites for Successful Technology Adoption

Results of cleaner production initiatives taken so far in Africa amply justify the benefits of cleaner production (CP). The joint UNIDO-UNEP initiative of establishing National Cleaner Production Centres (NCPCs) in developing countries have been successful in establishing such centres in Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Tunisia and Morocco. In most of these countries, initial activities have involved demonstration projects such as those funded by DANIDA and NORAD in Zimbabwe and Tanzania. However, experiences in Asian countries such as Thailand and Malaysia have shown that such demonstration projects may not necessarily rise to the original expectation of the multiplication effects of the CP concept in SME sub-sectors, despite clear demonstration of the technical and financial viability of these projects . This has been attributed to the distinct characteristics of SMEs in Asian countries, most of which reflect the situation in Africa. These include lack of resources and skilled manpower, and the fear of taking high risks. In this document, we argue that the initial step to the successful introduction and diffusion of CP technologies in developing countries such as Kenya should be the formulation of relevant policies and legislation, and institutions to oversee their implementation. The paper also recognises the need for a different approach to the introduction of CP concepts in SMEs as compared to larger industries, owing to the typical characteristics of Kenyan SMEs. Building upon the major focal areas specific to Asian SMEs identified by , this paper analyses the overall pre-requisites for successful CP adoption in Kenya and proposes an iterative mechanism for their implementation. These consider the current growth and proliferation of small industries in Kenya that make the adoption of CP techniques in SMEs become highly relevant and timely for combating pollution and reducing energy use

A Systematic Literature Review of the Contribution of Past Climate Information Services Pilot Projects in Climate Risk Management

Many pilot-based initiatives have been developed to promote awareness and use of climate information services among vulnerable smallholder farmers in Africa through million-dollar investments. However, despite their experimental nature, these pilot projects have been successful in raising participating farmers’ awareness and use of climate information services and they can inform transferrable good practices. Through a systematic literature review approach, this review sought to understand ways in which these past pilot projects have contributed to climate risk management in the context of smallholder farming and the factors that led to their success. Results showed that climate information services main contribution to climate risk management has been through facilitating farm level decision making. Factors that led to success of the pilots include: use of downscaled information; building institutional partnerships to add value to climate information; involving farmers through the co-designing and co-developing process; face-to-face way of communication; embedding pre-seasonal workshops in the activities of local institutions for sustainability; using diversity of communication channels to enhance reach among others. These factors can be borrowed as good practices to inform future efforts focused on increasing adoption of climate information services among a wider population beyond pilot project reach

Modalities for Scaling up Implementation of Innovations and Best Practices for Resilient Agricultural Systems in Africa

Climate change is already impacting negatively on Africa’s agriculture and threatens to significantly reverse the gains realized in food security as the 1.5 degC warming threshold set by the Paris Agreement fast approaches. This is happening at a time when a wide range of tested and viable technologies, innovations and best practices exist with the potential to scale up climate resilient food production across the region’s diverse agricultural systems. A framework and modalities are proposed to support stakeholders in identifying and scaling up appropriate technologies, innovations and best practices for climate-resilient food production in different farming systems. These provide a much needed solution for Africa’s policymakers who are currently grappling with options to meet their citizens’ food security today even as they ponder over how they will feed their rapidly growing populations, expected to reach 2 billion by 2030 under worsened climate conditions

CARIAA Working Paper no. 3

Includes abstract in FrenchTransitioning from climate information services (CIS) pilot programmes to scaled up systems is possible when scaling up is mainstreamed in the project design stage, along with a clear financial model for sustainability, and includes multiple stakeholders who identify and engage with pilot-project champions and intermediaries. New communication mechanisms such as information and communication technologies (ICTs) help to create and support effective partnerships that enable knowledge co-production. This paper explores the key constraints to, and enablers of, scaling up CIS by drawing on case studies from research, policy and practice in Africa and South Asia

IMPACTS OF GREENHOUSE GAS AND PARTICULATE EMISSIONS FROM WOODFUEL PRODUCTION AND END-USE IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Household energy in sub-Saharan Africa is largely derived from woodfuels burned in simple stoves with poor combustion characteristics. These devices emit products of incomplete combustion [PICs] that both damage human health and negatively impact the atmospheric radiation budget. We use empirical studies and published emission factors to estimate the pollution associated with production, distribution and end-use of common household fuels and assess the impacts of these emissions on public health and the global environment. We find that each meal cooked with charcoal has 2-10 times the global warming effect of cooking the same meal with firewood and 5-16 times the effect of cooking the same meal with kerosene or LPG depending on the gases that are included in the analysis and the degree to which wood is allowed to regenerate. However, although charcoal is worse than other fuels with respect to GHG emissions, it can lead to reductions in concentrations of pollutants like particulate matter (PM). Concentrations of PM in households using charcoal were found to be 88 percent lower than households using open wood fires (charcoal: 465±387 µg/m3 ; open wood fires: 3764±714 µg/m3 (mean±95% CI)). Two years of health data collected from Kenyan families using wood and charcoal shows that charcoal users experienced 44-65 percent fewer cases of acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) compared to wood users. Understanding the costs and benefits of household energy options is an important step in designing effective energy policies

CARIAA Working Paper no. 4

Includes abstract in FrenchThis paper demonstrates the ability of regional institutions to pool existing knowledge and resources, leverage local and national policies, and position African countries at international negotiations. Because climate change is a global problem with local effects, decision-making regarding adaptation strategies must be built into and coordinated over multiple levels of governance. Using data and case studies drawn from Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA), the paper suggests ways in which Regional Economic Communities (RECs) may be strengthened. Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia (CARIAA) aims to build resilience of vulnerable populations in three climate change hot spots

Draft final report of the LCM definition study

Life Cycle Management is a new framework to meet our present global challenges towards more sustainable patterns of production and consumption. In this context, LCM is offering a platform for the private and public sector. Thinking in systems and along product/service life cycles offers insights into how decisions should be made to improve a systems performance. The LCM concept has emerged out of industrial practice, but offers also opportunities for the public sector. In a new global understanding all market actors, policy makers, industry and consumers are essential players that need to find common platforms to achieve triple bottom line success - for all actors. In so far, LCM is rather opportunity driven as risk management or risk aversion driven. The LCM framework build on factual information and uses a variety of procedural and analytical tools, which themselves serve as underpinning of programs, management systems and, finally, corporate and policy strategies. The LCM Definition study positions existing tools, concepts and strategies in one overall framework, that allows sufficient flexibility to meet specific needs and thus also allows for flexibility for implementation. LCM is not a new “super”-tool that superimposes a new approach over existing successful practice. Opposite, LCM offers for the first time an umbrella framework, where tools that had been used in isolation before, can become mutually reinforcing and thus maximize their respective use. LCM is broad and flexible and reaches out to the public and private sector equally. The global challenges ahead of us require all market actors, and in particular industry and governments to align concepts and approaches to achieve the respective aims for all parties. Governments and the public sector need to provide the “right” framework and guidance under which the private sector then can realize its business objectives. Then this happens in a coordinated fashion

Integrating life cycle approaches to African national development policies: considering the institutional dimension of industrial ecology

This paper considers developments in the area of industrial ecology applications and public policy, and the need to facilitate the proliferation of life cycle approaches in Africa through national development policies. It demonstrates the existing demand for systems approaches to sustainable production and consumption in Africa and identifies life cycle approaches as appropriate tools for application, focusing on those sectors, which support livelihoods and national economies. The paper identifies the framework conditions required for life cycle approaches to be effectively integrated into development policy and strategies, and highlights opportunities available for African governments to benefit from the process. The author shows that, in particular, in developing countries, there is a need to address the social, institutional and political preconditions and capacity building of/for life cycle thinking and management rather than the engineering or technical aspects of the life cycle approach