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The roles of indigenous crops and plants in improving nutrition and fighting HIV/AIDS Josep A. Garí Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) Distance-learning training course to build national capacities for integrating local knowledge into multi-sectoral AIDS projects Vide-conference connection with various African countries 9 September 2005

These content shouws a footage on MUVI Tanzania Video.

This Medium Term Operational Plan (MTOP) describes activities to be coordinated and implemented during the first five years (2014 – 2018) of the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), a new Sub-regional Organisation (SRO) established by SADC member states to coordinate agricultural research and development (R&D) in the SADC region.

Implementation of the R&D activities will be carried out by the various stakeholders in the national agricultural research systems (NARS) in the region.

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.

Madagascar a connu plusieurs événements extrêmes liés aux variabilités climatiques actuelles et passées durant ces dernières décennies. Les plus importants sont les cyclones, les inondations et les sécheresses. Ces perturbations deviennent de plus en plus fréquentes et intenses et génèrent des impacts importants notamment en matière de pertes de vie humaine, de diminution de production agricole et animale, de destruction des infrastructures, de dégradation des ressources naturelles (eaux, sols et forêts) et d’érosion côtière, rendant ainsi précaires la sécurité alimentaire, l’alimentation en eau potable et l’irrigation, la santé publique et la gestion de l’environnement et du mode de vie. Ces impacts mettent la population malgache et ses activités de développement en situation de vulnérabilité répétitive et croissante.

There are few direct measurements of anthropogenic climate-forcing emissions in Africa, making it difficult to accurately assess current emissions and to anticipate changes in future emissions. Emissions databases suggest that sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), home to less than 15% of the world's population, is responsible for 11% of anthropogenic methane (CH4) and 18% of anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions globally, though this includes substantial emissions from biomass burning that would occur in the absence of contemporary anthropogenic activity, and which may be over-estimated. SSA is also an important source of precursors to the greenhouse gas tropospheric ozone, and of mineral dust, which has a range of impacts on climate. Eliminating food insecurity and poverty is likely to take priority over greenhouse gas mitigation in the region, so innovations in mitigation must focus on ways to reduce emissions as an ancillary benefit of improving livelihoods.

Climate change is one of the major challenges that are confronting developing countries. Rural women in Zimbabwe are one of the most hard hit populace groups. The study sought to investigate how rural women are affected by climate change in relation to their livelihoods. It also explores women’s perception of climate change and the effects of those perceptions on adapting to climate change. Emphasis is made on the effects of climate change on crop production, livestock production and water sources focusing on Tsholotsho District in Zimbabwe. The study used a qualitative approach to obtain data on the effects of climate change. One of the major findings of the study was that the impact of climate change undermines women’s livelihoods which are rain-fed thus leading to accelerated food insecurity problems and heightened impoverishment. The paper concludes that women in rural areas must be prioritized in development programming especially in agriculture to ameliorate impending and inevitable climate change induced food insecurity. 

The Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) is a not-for-profit think-tank, consultancy and network of subscribing organisations specialising in regeneration, local economic development and local governance, which was founded in 1986.

Wetlands are unique for storing water from storms; recharging ground water and serving as the habitat for a variety of aquatic organisms, wildlife and plants, including rare, threatened, endangered and endemic species. However, climate variability has led to the shrinking and drying up of most wetlands in Zimbabwe. This study looked at the public perceptions of climatic experiences in their environment, level of knowledge about wetland management and attitudes towards implementing these strategies. Data collection and analysis was based on field surveys in two villages around Intunjambili wetland, including five focus groups, questionnaires (five point Likert-scaled) given to 27 households, structured interviews and observations. The results indicate that a significant proportion of the locals are aware of the dynamics of the local climate; the majority of the participants have heard of climate variability but very few know the causes. The majorities of the participants use indigenous knowledge systems to conserve their wetlands and are reluctant to implement scientific methods as they are perceived as expensive. The study points to the need to encourage residents to merge scientific methods and indigenous knowledge systems in wetland management and to increase outreach about the climate variability risk, for sustainable environmental management.

This global overview is useful but it’s also important to understand whether there are differences in threats between different geographic regions and whether similar species are affected by them in different ways. The Living Planet Index, a rich source of this information, can tell us about threats at the species population level. This more granular level of data has already highlighted different responses in different species of penguins in western Antarctica.

The Living Planet Index also tracks the state of global biodiversity by measuring the population abundance of thousands of vertebrate species around the world. The latest index shows an overall
decline of 60% in population sizes between 1970 and 2014. Species population declines are especially pronounced in the tropics, with South and Central America suffering the most dramatic decline, an 89% loss compared to 1970. Freshwater species numbers have also declined dramatically, with the Freshwater Index showing an 83% decline since 1970. But measuring biodiversity – all the varieties of life that can be found on Earth and their relationships to each other – is complex, so this report also explores three other indicators measuring changes in species distribution, extinction risk and changes in community composition. All these paint the same picture – showing severe declines or changes.