Community Sites of Knowledge: Knowledge Creation and Application for Sustainable Peace in Africa

In this article the question is asked: What is relationship between knowledge creation and sustainable peace in Africa? The specific aim of this article is to identify specific principles of knowledge creation and sustainable peace that can serve as propositions for further research.The knowledge foundation of this discussion is a literature study, interpretative interaction and participation in focus-groups during field research in collaboration with the Community Sites of Knowledge (CSoK) and the Marcus Garvey Pan African Institute near and in Mbale, Eastern Uganda. It is that knowledge systems are converging towards a glocality of awareness and action. This convergence facilitates the complementarity of endogenous and modern institutions and the inclusive participation of the community as a building block for sustainable peace, transformation and progress. The finding is that relationship of knowledge creation and sustainable peace in Africa is characterized by glocal interconnectedness, the converging of knowledge and central value adding. Some important recommendations are offered to communities, conflict and dispute resolution practitioners, African Universities and state structuresconcerning the application of endogenous knowledge for sustainable peace

The quest for Great Heart Leadership to activate and promote the ending of violent conflict in Africa

Inspired by the never-ending quest for the end of violence in some African communities, the author asks what kind of leadership is required to lead a community from violent conf lict to peaceful coexistence. The aim of the article is to propose some principles for leadership in situations characterised by violent conf lict. By departing from a conceptual framework to explain holistic leadership, conf lict leadership and peace leadership, the author explains what Great Heart Leadership is, citing several examples to illustrate these concepts. The author argues that a leader with a ‘great heart’ is a leader who is able to apply analytical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual/normative leadership to activate peaceful change. This argument is applied to the challenge of leading people towards lasting peace in Africa, offering the specific case of a San community in South Africa to illustrate Great Heart Leadership.Keywords: Holistic leadership, Great Heart Leadership, African conf lict, peace, conf lict, San communit

Climate Change and Global Agricultural Potential Project: A Case of Kenya

Kenya is endowed with a wide range of agro-ecological conditions, varying from hot arid lowlands to cool humid highlands. As expected, the results of the impact analysis of climate change and increases of atmospheric carbon dioxide, therefore show a wide spectrum of impacts on land resources make-up and agricultural production. At the sub-national level results of impacts on agricultural productivity vary substantially both in terms of magnitude and direction. At present, agricultural production in the low altitude areas in Kenya is mainly constrained by water availability, highland areas are constrained by low temperatures and locally by water availability, while in parts of central and western Kenya rainfall in excess of optimal levels occurs. Rising temperatures, without corresponding increases in precipitation to balance the increased plant water requirements due to higher evapotranspiration may lead to dramatic reductions in agricultural production potential, especially in eastern and southern Kenya, i.e., in parts of Eastern province, North-Eastern province and Coast province. In central and western Kenya temperature increases would result in larger extents of lands with cultivation potential, because some higher altitude areas would become suitable for cropping. This, together with potentials for higher cropping intensities in these highland areas, more than outweighs effects of diminished moisture conditions, even in scenarios assuming no change in precipitation. Under such conditions in the presently humid areas (>270 days of growing period), diminished wetness, in instances, could reduce the potential impact of pest and disease constraints. Results of the impact assessment suggest that the national level food productivity potential of Kenya may well increase with higher levels of atmospheric CO2 and climate change induced increases in temperature, provided this is accompanied by some increase in precipitation as predicted by several global circulation models. If no balanced increase in precipitation were to take place then the impact on agricultural productivity in the semi-arid parts of Kenya could be devastating. Although land productivity in Kenya as a whole appears most likely positively affected by climate change, impacts vary considerably depending on location. Negative impacts are expected to occur in Coast province and North-Eastern province. The main reasons being: -- Exceeding optimal temperature ranges for photosynthesis and growth; -- Shortening of cereal growth cycles and periods of yield formation; -- Increased water stress. For Central province, Nairobi area, important parts of Eastern province, Nyanza province and Western province the impacts are mostly positive. However, some negative impacts in western Kenya may occur due to pest and disease damage and worsening of workability conditions due to increased wetness. The high-potential agricultural lands in central and western Kenya will dominate the agricultural production potential even more under projected climate change conditions. The main reasons of positive impacts appear to be: -- Temperature increase in the mid/high altitudes, enlarging the area with crop production potential; -- Increased cropping intensity potentials; -- CO2 fertilization. In Rift Valley province, comprising of a wide range of thermal and moisture conditions, impacts are mixed. Negative impacts are, for instance, expected in Laikipia and Narok while positive impacts are anticipated in Nakuru and West Pokot. Despite of overall positive effects for Kenya as a whole, impacts of climate change on land productivity may intensify regional disparities. Therefore, preparedness is critical in order to: -- take advantage of potential blessings of climate change and increased atmospheric CO2 concentrations; -- mitigate likely negative impacts in low-lying and semi-arid areas; -- cope with the socio-economic consequences of changing patterns of land productivity. These observations are consistent with short and medium term considerations for sustainable development, emphasizing the critical need for careful planning and protection of high potential areas

Climate Change and Agricultural Vulnerability

The challenge of agriculture in the 21st century requires a systemic integration of the environmental, social and economic pillars of development to meet the needs of present generations without sacrificing the livelihoods of future generations. Over the next 50 years, the world population is projected to increase by some 3 billion, primarily in the developing countries. Yet, even today, some 800 million people go hungry daily, and more than a billion live on less than a dollar a day. This food insecurity and poverty affecting one-quarter of the world's population is a sad indictment of the failure to respond adequately in a time of unprecedented scientific progress and economic development. There is no way we can meet food security and poverty concerns without first addressing the issues of sustainable agricultural and rural development. The methodology and results reported in this study form a first comprehensive and integrated global ecological-economic assessment of the impact of climate change on agro-ecosystems in the context of the world food and agricultural system. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) have developed a comprehensive methodology based on environmental principles, referred to as the agro-ecological zones methodology. This GIS-based framework combines crop modeling and environmental matching procedures to identify crop-specific environmental limitations under various levels of inputs and management conditions. This has facilitated comprehensive and geographically detailed assessments of climate-change impacts and agricultural vulnerability. The sensitivity of agro-ecosystems to climate change, as determined by the FAO/IIASA Agro-ecological Zones (AEZ) model, was assessed within the socio-economic scenarios defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Emissions (SRES). For this purpose, IIASA's global linked model of the world food system was used. This modeling framework, referred to as the Basic Linked System (BLS), comprises a representation of all major economic sectors, and views national agricultural systems as embedded in national economies, which in turn interact with each other at the international level. The BLS is a global general equilibrium model system for analyzing agricultural policies and food system prospects in an international setting. BLS views national agricultural systems as embedded in national economies, which interact with each other through financial flows and trade at the international level. The national models linked in the BLS cover about 80% of the most important attributes related to the world food system, such as population, land, agricultural production, demand, and trade. The remaining countries of the world are grouped into 14 regional models to provide closure for the world system, both geographically and economically. The national models simulate the behavior of producers, consumers, and the government. They distinguish two broad sectors: agriculture and non-agriculture. Agriculture produces nine aggregate commodities. The combination of AEZ and BLS provides an integrated ecological-economic framework for the assessment of the impact of climate change. We consider climate scenarios based on experiments with four General Circulation Models (GCM), and we assess the four basic socioeconomic development pathways and emission scenarios as formulated by the IPCC in its Third Assessment Report. The main results of the study include climate-change impacts on the prevalence of environmental constraints to crop agriculture; climate variability and the variability of rain-fed cereal production; changes in potential agricultural land; changes in crop production patterns; and the impact of climate change on cereal production potential. Results of the AEZ-BLS integrated ecological-economic analysis of climate change on the world food system includes quantification of scale and location of hunger, international agricultural trade, prices, production, land use, etc. The analysis assesses trends in food production, trade, and consumption, and the impact on poverty and hunger of alternative development pathways and varying levels of climate change. The methodology and database developed in this study provides a foundation for detailed country studies, incorporating country-level information. The climate change issue is global, long term and involves complex interaction between climatic, environmental, economic, political, institutional, social and technological processes. It has significant international and intergenerational implications in the context of equity and sustainable development. Climate change will impact on social, economic and environmental systems and shape prospects for sustainable agricultural and rural development. Adaptation to climate change is essential to complement climate change mitigation, and both have to be central to an integrated strategy to reduce risks and impacts of climate change. Most of the discussion on climate change has focused on mitigation measures, for example the Kyoto Protocol. Not much attention has been given to climate change adaptation, which will be critical for many developing countries. The developing world has not realized that this issue needs to be on the global agenda and for developed countries this is not a priority, as they have the means and resources to adapt to future climate change. National governments and the international community must give agriculture and rural sector the highest priority in terms of resource allocation and adoption of development polices that are locally relevant and globally consistent. Only then progress can be made to eradicate hunger and poverty in the world

Assessment of Potential Productivity of Tree Species in China, Mongolia and the Former Soviet Union: Methodology and Results

Over the past twenty years, the term agro-ecological zones methodology (AEZ) has become widely used for global regional and national assessments of agricultural potentials. The AEZ methodologies and procedures have recently been extended and newly implemented to make use of the latest digital geographical databases, and to cope with the specific characteristics of seasonal temperate and boreal climates. This report presents details of a companion model of AEZ that enables assessments of potential productivity of forest tree species. It is referred to a FAEZ. The FAEZ methodology follows an environmental approach; it provides a standardized framework for the characterization of climate, soil and terrain conditions relevant to forest production and it uses environmental matching procedures to identify limitations of prevailing climate, soil and terrain for a range of tree species and assumed management objectives. The model for the estimation of biomass increments is based on two well established and robust models: the Chapman-Richard biomass increment model, and the AEZ potential biomass model. FAEZ includes an inventory of ecological adaptability characteristics as well as an inventory of specific ecological and environmental requirements for 52 boreal and temperate forest tree species. The natural resources inventory is based on the up-to-date LUC-GIS database of climate, soil, terrain and vegetation covering China, Mongolia and former Soviet Union. Results of potential productivity for tree species in North, Central and East Asia are presented under three different sets of assumptions of forest resources management and exploitation, namely: conservation forestry, traditional production forestry and biomass plantation forestry

The African Farming Systems Update Project. Farming systems and food security in Africa: Priorities for science and policy under global change. Technical Annex: FS Characterization with GAEZ Data

In 2012, the government of Australia established the Australia International Centre for Food Security (AICFS) to help achieve food and nutritional security in Africa through the provision of focused research and capacity building. Hosted by the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (ACIAR), AICFS research will help boost the productivity and commercial orientation of smallholder agriculture and support the improvement of livelihoods in a sustainable manner. The Centre undertakes medium to long-term end-user driven collaborative agricultural research for development and it develops education and training programs as well as strategies that build innovation and R&D capacity; and deploy research outputs and encourage take up by smallholder farmers. The AICFS research will contribute to informing the agenda for food security in Africa as well as underpin the development of the strategic orientation and program portfolio of AICFS. One of the research foci is the update of earlier farming systems work (Dixon et al 2001) in the African Farming Systems Update Project: “Farming systems and food security in Africa: Priorities for science and policy under global change”. This work aims to fill a current gap for a suitable text on African farming systems for university courses. It will also provide a valuable resource for governments in their efforts to understand and harness the key trends that are expected to influence farming systems evolution over the next fifteen years as well as for academic programs that AICFS plans on developing. A workable number of farming systems was selected for the purpose of targeting policy makers who need relatively large-scale tendencies for planning. Among the 14 systems identified in the 2001 study, thirteen farming systems were defined based on agro-ecological criteria. Farming systems and subsystems definitions and map classes follow a rigorous basis and explicit set of principles. The first principle applied is to have the continental level farming systems map classes align with length of growing period (LGP) boundaries. LGP is a component of agro-ecological zones (AEZs) that include amongst others, climate, soils, terrain and land cover resources inventories. The LGP map used is from the GAEZ version 3.0, released by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and FAO through their GAEZ data portals in May 2012. As a further contribution to the African Farming Systems Update Project, IIASA provided farming system characterizations with biophysical and agronomic GAEZ data. This work is documented in this technical annex

Our Common Cropland: Quantifying Global Agricultural Land Use from a Consumption Perspective

Understanding teleconnections of regional consumption patterns and global land use supports policy making towards achieving sustainable land use. We present an innovative globally consistent hybrid land-flow accounting method to track biomass flows and embodied land along global supply chains. It uses the large FAOSTAT database, which is, for non-food commodities, complemented with a multi-regional input-output model. We employ the hybrid model globally between 1995 and 2010 and present results for regional markets. Results highlight the growing integration in international markets. In 2010, 31% of cropland cultivation was for export markets compared to 16% in 1995. The higher land demand of livestock-based diets, which account for one third of global cropland use, and differences in land use intensities cause large regional variations in extents and composition of land footprints. The utilization of cropland changed towards a growing importance of the non-food sector accounting for 12% in 2010. Comparing land quality weighted cropland footprints across regions further reveals large differences in the appropriation of available global cropland productivity. Because of large uncertainties and quality differences in the actual use of grassland for feeding ruminants, we propose land quality weighted grassland footprints to discuss the additional land use for ruminant livestock products

Global Agro-ecological Assessment for Agriculture in the 21st Century

In recent years the ability to collect spatial information from volunteers has greatly expanded through the combination of Google Earth, geo-tagged photos and the Internet. A Geo-Wiki has been created to aid in both the validation of existing spatial information and the collection of new information through the powerful resource of crowdsourcing. A case study of a land cover validation Geo-Wiki is described, in which the tool is used to validate existing global land cover products. The potential of such a tool for other applications is also recognized

Global Agro-ecological Assessment for Agriculture in the 21st Century: Methodology and Results

Over the past 20 years, the term "agro-ecological zones methodology," or AEZ, has become widely used. However, it has been associated with a wide range of different activities that are often related yet quite different in scope and objectives. FAO and IIASA differentiate the AEZ methodology in the following activities: First, AEZ provides a standardized framework for the characterization of climate, soil, and terrain conditions relevant to agricultural production. In this context, the concepts of "length of growing period" and of latitudinal thermal climates have been applied in mapping activities focusing on zoning at various scales, from the subnational to the global level. Second, AEZ matching procedures are used to identify crop-specific limitations of prevailing climate, soil, and terrain resources, under assumed levels of inputs and management conditions. This part of the AEZ methodology provides estimates of maximum potential and agronomically attainable crop yields for basic land resources units. Third, AEZ provides the frame for various applications. The previous two sets of activities result in very large databases. The information contained in these data sets form the basis for a number of AEZ applications, such as quantification of land productivity, extents of land with rain-fed or irrigated cultivation potential, estimation of land's population supporting capacity, and multi-criteria optimization of the use and development of land resources. The AEZ methodology uses a land resources inventory to assess, for specified management conditions and levels of inputs, all feasible agricultural land-use options and to quantify anticipated production of cropping activities relevant in the specific agro-ecological context. The characterization of land resources includes components of climate, soils, and land form. The recent availability of digital global databases of climatic parameters, topography, soil and terrain, and land cover ahs allowed for revisions and improvements in calculation procedures. It has also allowed the expansion of assessments of AEZ crop suitability and land productivity potentials to temperate and boreal environments. This effectively enables global coverage for assessments of agricultural potentials. The AEZ methodologies and procedures have been extended and newly implemented to make use of these digital geographical databases, and to cope with specific characteristics of seasonal temperate and boreal climates. This report describes the methodological adaptations necessary for the global assessment and illustrates with numerous results a wide range of applications