Gender Issues in Biogas Promotion and Use in Kenya: A preliminary review

This review has been undertaken in the context of preparation of a concept note for the Kenya dairy NAMA. Biogas promotion is one of the project components. Mitigation actions should aim to achieve greater, more effective, sustainable, and equitable climate change results, outcomes and impacts; ensure that women and men have equal opportunity to contribute to, and benefit from supported activities; and mitigate against potential project risks for women and men arising from the supported activities. In order to ensure that the Kenya dairy NAMA is designed to address these objectives, with support from CCAFS, a process of inquiry has been launched involving stakeholders in the dairy and biogas sectors. This review contributes to that process by summarizing existing knowledge on gender issues in biogas promotion and use, and existing experience with addressing gender issues in biogas promotion initiatives. The focus is on household (domestic) biogas

Tier 2 inventory approaches in the livestock sector: A collection of agricultural greenhouse gas inventory practices

This is a collection of information and examples describing how countries have used different data sources, methods, approaches and institutional processes to adopt and continually improve a Tier 2 approach for estimating livestock GHG emissions in national GHG inventories. The collection provides numerous case studies of how different countries have applied Tier 2 approaches in the livestock sector. These case studies are intended to inform about the practical methods countries use to compile their livestock GHG inventories and to stimulate those involved in livestock GHG inventories to devise methods for improved inventories that are suited to their national context. The collection also provides links to more formal guidance from the IPCC and other sources.The collection is based on a review of GHG inventory submissions by 63 countries that currently (2017)use a Tier 2 approach.Enteric fermentation is the largest livestock emission source, and most countries have applied a Tier 2 approach to cattle. The collection therefore focuses on the use of Tier 2 approaches in estimating enteric fermentation emissions from cattle, although links with estimation of cattle manure management methane emissions are also discussed

Further evidence that gender matters for GHG mitigation in the dairy sector: Analysis of survey data from central Kenya highlights interactive effects of gender and farm management practices on milk yield and GHG emission intensity

Consumption of dairy products in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to increase significantly in the coming decades. As production increases, there will be an increasing need to reduce the environmental impacts of dairy production. One way to reduce the carbon footprint of milk production is to increase productivity: more productive cows use a greater proportion of feed energy and protein intake for milk production than less productive cows. Because more milk is produced for a given level of feed intake, the carbon footprint of milk can be reduced. Productivity may be increased by a range of management practices, such as improved breeds, use of higher quality feeds, animal health interventions and more. Often these measures are implemented as technology packages. For example, stall-feeding often involves adoption of improved dairy breeds and changes in feed sources and feed quality. Adoption of more intensive management practices is commonly linked to increased commercialization so that intensive production remains profitable. While most smallholders sell to informal markets, linking smallholders to the formal market (e.g. cooperatives and processing firms) is also seen as one way to incentivize and enable increased milk production. Thus, Kenya’s proposed dairy NAMA intends to promote intensification of production practices on farm to increase milk yields, and link dairy farmers to cooperatives and formal sector milk processors to strengthen market-based incentives for increased milk production (SDL 2017)

Finance for on-farm investments in dairy production in Kenya

About 2 million rural households in Kenya produce milk. With about 1800 liters per cow and year, average annual milk production per cow on smallholder dairy farms is low. As a result, production costs per kilogram of milk are high, and profit margins for many farmers are slim. Low cow productivity is also associated with high greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity. In 2010, Kenya’s livestock emitted about 16.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e), of which about 20% was from dairy cattle

Aged Arteries and B-vitamins

__Abstract__ Cardiovascular disease is a very common condition, especially among elderly. Cardiovascular risk prediction via the Framingham risk score is the most commonly used risk prediction. However, the Framingham risk score has only been validated until the age of 75 and the power of the classical risk factors have been shown to decline with advancing age. A strong predictor of cardiovascular disease in older populations is arterial stiffness. Arterial stiffness is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease, with pulse wave velocity being the major marker for cardiovascular risk. Over the years, arterial stiffness have been shown to be an important pre-clinical stage of cardiovascular disease of interest for research, mainly based on preventive strategies. Arterial stiffness is associated with many lifestyle factors and disorders, among others smoking, vitamin D deficiency, physical functioning, renal failure, diabetes and constructive obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Measurement, reporting and verification of livestock GHG emissions by developing countries in the UNFCCC: current practices and opportunities for improvement

This report provides an overview of current practices, challenges and opportunities in the measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) of livestock greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and emission reductions by developing countries in the context of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). MRV of livestock GHG emissions is relevant because (i) livestock production makes a significant contribution to global GHG emissions; (ii) livestock GHG emissions have been contributing an increasing share of agricultural emissions over time; and (iii) better characterization of livestock GHG emissions can assist policy makers to target and design efforts to mitigate GHG emissions. As national climate change mitigation policies increasingly focus on GHG reduction targets in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), this report assesses the extent to which current MRV practices are able to meet the evolving policy needs. The report describes MRV obligations under the UNFCCC (Chapter 2), current practices in compiling and reporting livestock GHG emissions through national GHG inventories (Chapter 3) and MRV of mitigation actions (Chapter 4), and highlights opportunities for improvement (Chapter 5).This report is also available in:French: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/93125Spanish: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/93127A summary brief is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/80890