Stakeholders’ planning workshop for the Rwanda Climate Services for Agriculture project

This report summarizes the proceedings of the stakeholders’ planning workshop for the Rwanda Climate Services for Agriculture project held in Kigali, Rwanda on 6-7 March 2017. Organized by the project team at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the meeting brought together 39 participants from various institutions including the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), the International Livestock Reaserach Institute (ILRI), the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), the University of Reading, Meteo Rwanda, the Rwanda Agricultural Board (RAB), the Ministry of Agriculture, Development Rural du Nord (DERN), Radio Huguka, AICP and CARITAS. Participants discussed project achievements and activities for year 1 of the project and identified activities for the year 2 of the project

Climate change, agriculture and international migration: An African youth perspective

Existing evidence indicates that Africa is already being affected by climate change resulting in substantial challenges for both human and natural systems. Eastern Africa is among the regions in Africa with disproportionately higher risk of adverse consequences of global warming and climate change. Climate change and variability are having significant direct and indirect impacts on agricultural production, agricultural value chains, food and nutrition security as well as the overall sustainable growth of the sector in the region. Over time, it is expected that climate change will exacerbate the prevalence of spatio-temporal climate variability in Eastern Africa, and these variabilities will manifest in the increased frequency and severity of extreme climate events and the increasing irregularity and unpredictability of weather patterns. To the region’s farmers, these emerging changes represent an additional source of risks and uncertainty

Gender assessment for women’s economic empowerment in Doyogena climate-smart landscape in Southern Ethiopia

Agricultural production systems in Ethiopia depend on seasonal rains, which are increasingly becoming variable, affecting the livelihoods of many farmers. Women in rural areas are more vulnerable to climate change and climaterelated risks due to existing social norms and gender inequalities (limited ownership and control over productive assets/resources, decision-making power, access to information, extension services, market etc.) and multidimensional social factors. These gender inequalities affect the ability of women to adapt to climate change. On the other hand, women have unique knowledge and skills that can help create effective and sustainable responses to climate change (Habtezion 2013)

Integrating climate change in agriculture and food security policies and strategies: Experiences and lessons from East Africa

Several African countries are proactively putting in place policies and strategies for climate change adaptation and mitigation in agriculture at national and local levels. In order for policy makers to develop and implement successful climate change policies and programs, they require reliable and timely information on the uncertainties and complexities related to climate change, including risks, and vulnerability. In East Africa, CCAFS scientists have been working with policy makers from 2011 to identify suitable policy and institutional frameworks that support evidence based policy and program development. This entails making available evidence from research to support policy development and implementation at different levels—local, national, regional and global

Uganda’s National Adaptation Programme of Action: Implementation, Challenges and Emerging Lessons

The agrarian economy of Uganda has been declining due to many factors including climate change. With the majority of Ugandans depending on agriculture and agricultural related activities for their livelihoods, this decline is threatening their survival as well as Uganda’s future economic development. The changing climate is further compounding the problem of declining agricultural production, prompting the Government of Uganda (GoU) to take measures to address its the impacts. In 2007, Uganda submitted its National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The submission was made based on Uganda’s commitment to address climate change impacts as a signatory to the convention. The NAPA aimed to prioritize and implement initiatives that respond to communities’ urgent needs to adapt to climate change. The NAPA identified nine adaptation priority areas. These included community tree growing; land degradation management; strengthening meteorological services; community water and sanitation; water for production; drought adaptation; vectors, pests and disease control; indigenous knowledge and natural resource management and climate change and development planning. This report assesses the status of the NAPA projects in Uganda, identifying the major activities for each of the projects, target beneficiaries and outcomes, including lessons learned and challenges arising from implementing the projects to inform policy. The report is based on a review of existing reports and other published literature from a variety of sources on NAPA in Uganda and interviews of personnel in various government departments, sub-county officials and beneficiaries. Implementation of the NAPA was initiated in 2012 with funding from the Danish government for one-year (2011/12). The NAPA projects were piloted in four districts—Apac, Pallisa, Bundibugyo and Nakasongola—located in different ecosystems (arid, semi-arid, lowland and highlands). The initiative was led by the Ministry of Water and Environment (MWE), working with different agencies and local government to implement the activities at community level. Activities implemented within each of the projects focused on agriculture, energy and water. The target population for NAPA activities included men and women. Each district implemented on average 8-10 different adaptation actions, however, sustainability of the NAPA projects was not considered from the onset. The NAPA process did not establish a sustainability strategy as part of a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation plan. While the aim of the NAPA projects was to build community resilience, beneficiaries were not ready to adopt the new climate resilient technologies without more assistance from the project at the end of the implementation period, except for water storage tanks and the valley dam technologies. The implementation period of one year was not sufficient to build long-term sustainability of the adaptation activities amongst communities, and the lessons learned have not been documented. Luckily the NAPA process created an opportunity for learning and identifying challenges that communities are facing in adapting to climate change, which were used to develop the National Adaptation Plan (NAP), Intended National Determined Contributions (INDC) and the Climate Smart Agriculture Program (2015-2025). Specifically, some of the activities implemented in NAPA are also outlined in the INDC, CSA program and NAP. Prominent inclusion of climate change adaptation actions have also been made on some of the polices and plans such as the National Development Plan, National Policy for Disaster Preparedness and Management, National Climate Change Policy. At local level, issues of climate change adaptation are difficult to tackle, due to lack of knowledge on the effects and impacts of climate change and budgeting allocation for adaptation actions. As of 2015, despite adoption of the various policies and plans outlined above, Uganda’s national government is not allocating funds for local level adaptation. What are some of the emerging lessons from implementing NAPA pilot projects in Uganda? First, involving the community right from vulnerability assessment is essential for identification of adaptation strategies. Second, capacity building for community to manage and implement activities takes time and requires a lot of patience and commitment. Third, capacity building is necessary for local and national government staff to enable them to implement, monitor and evaluate projects with a gender lens. Lastly, community livelihoods are multifaceted and hence one activity is not sufficient to build adaptive capacity. Therefore, local governments need to promote multiple inventions that address climate change that build community resilience

A Decade of Science, Innovation and Transformation: CCAFS Impact In East Africa

This legacy document is intended to capture the key outcomes and highlight the impact of the CCAFS East Africa regional program over the past decade. The reporting is structured around the Strategic Research Pillars detailed in the CCAFS-EA Strategy 2019–2021, apart from the fact that aspects related to Gender, Youth and Socially Inclusive Growth (Pillar 4) are not treated separately but integrated into the other three pillars.The report also highlights the influence and likely contributions of CCAFS East Africa to upcoming endeavors such as OneCGIAR, Accelerating the Impact of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA), and the Two Degree Initiative for Food and Agriculture (2DI)

Stories of Success: Climate-Smart Villages in East Africa

This booklet presents some of the emerging stories of success of climate-smart agriculture technologies and practices that are positively changing the lives of smallholder farmers across East Africa. They were selected from a portfolio of climate-smart agriculture interventions and have potential for scaling up. We hope that the stories contribute to promoting climate-smart agriculture, and help other smallholder farmers in similar vulnerable systems

Uptake and dissemination pathways for climate-smart agriculture technologies and practices in Lushoto, Tanzania

Smallholder farmers in East Africa need information and knowledge on appropriate climate-smart agriculture (CSA) technologies and practices, and institutional innovations in order to effectively adapt to climate change and cope with climate variability. This paper assesses farmer uptake of climate-smart agricultural practices and innovations following a farmer learning journey through the Farms of the Future (FotF) approach. First, we explore and assess the various CSA technologies and practices, including institutional innovations farmers are using. Second, we identify and document farmer learning and dissemination pathways that can enhance uptake of CSA technologies and practices. Third, we identify existing institutions that can enhance uptake of CSA practices. We use household survey data, complimented with qualitative information from focus group discussions and key informant interviews. The results show farmers are using a variety of CSA technologies and practices, and institutional innovations. Improved crop varieties, agroforestry, and scientific weather forecast information were cited as the main CSA practices used. To minimize their risks and reduce vulnerabilities, farmers are diversifying and integrating five to ten practices in one season. Matengo pits, Savings and Credit Cooperative Organization (SACCOs) and energy efficient cook stoves were used by very few farmers due to high initial investment costs and unsuitability to the area. Over 95% of the farmers reported receiving agricultural information orally from a variety of sources including government extension workers, seed companies, researchers, traditional experts, neighbors, radio agricultural shows, religious groups, farmer groups, and family members. Farmers acknowledged the FotF approach as a useful tool that enabled them to interact with other farmers and learn new CSA practices and innovations

Gender implications of the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture: Background paper for the AGNES pre-SBs 50 strategy meeting on agriculture and food security

In Africa, women play an important role in food production, both paid and unpaid, and use of natural resources, while also serving as key figures in communities and the family. In regards to climate change adaptation, women and men will have different preferences and priorities based on their vulnerabilities, access to financial and natural resources, and ability to use information and extension services. Gender, therefore, is an essential factor in understanding how individuals, households, and communities adapt and respond to climate change. Rural women are especially vulnerable to climate change due to dual effects of their reliance on natural resources for income and food security and male-outmigration. In 2017, the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) made a landmark decision formally recognizing the relationship between agriculture and climate change. This paper presents background information on Gender Action Plan (GAP) and the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture (KJWA), in Sub-Saharan Africa including the catalyst for their development and a gendered perspective in climate change adaptation, agriculture, food security and nutrition, natural resource and environmental management. Next steps for climate negotiators and governments in Africa are also discussed

Review of policies and frameworks on climate change, agriculture, food and nutrition security in Kenya

In Kenya, agriculture is a key driver of economic growth and social development. The agriculture sector directly contributes about 28% of Kenya’s gross domestic product (GDP), and accounts for 65% of the total export earnings. The crop and livestock sub-sectors contribute approximately 78% and 20% to the agricultural GDP, respectively (CIAT 2015). Agriculture employs over 70% of the rural population and supports the livelihoods of more than 80% of the Kenyan population through employment, income, and food security needs (GoK 2010). The sector is large and complex, with diverse stakeholders made up of public, non-governmental and private actors