Climate-smart farming could help reduce 'emissions gap' - experts

By Isaiah Esipisu

WARSAW (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Scientists at the U.N. climate talks in Poland have said that expanding the use of climate-smart farming techniques could help reduce the “emissions gap” – the difference between the amount of greenhouse gases the world can emit by 2020 if it
wants to avoid dangerous climate change and the larger quantity likely to be produced without tougher steps.

Researchers have estimated that global food systems pump between 9.5 and 14.7 billion tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere per year, or between 19 and 29 percent of total emissions.

Kenya's smallholder farmers use grain stores to raise bank loans

By Isaiah Esipisu

A woman prepares grains at her shop in Kenya (REUTERS)

NAKURU, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – An innovative Kenyan scheme enables small farmers to store their produce in certified warehouses and use it to obtain credit from banks, avoiding middlemen who paid them rock-bottom prices and enabling them to buy good seeds and fertiliser and raise their yields.

“Brokers have always been a thorn in the flesh of  poor farmers because they take advantage of the harvesting season to purchase farm produce very cheaply, then sell (inputs) to the farmers very expensively when such commodities are scarce in the market,” said Paddy Likhayo, a Kenyan-based grain storage expert.

New wheat varieties resist deadly fungus, boost yields in Kenya

By Isaiah Esipisu

NJORO, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - After counting their losses for over a decade, wheat farmers in East Africa are looking forw
ard to a brighter future now that new varieties developed by scientists have proven to be resistant to a devastating wheat disease, and are boosting yields into the bargain.

Known as Ug99, the fungal stem-rust disease thrives in warmer temperatures, and the spores can travel thousands of miles aided by wind, according to Peter Njau, a research scientist at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI).

World's sacred forests may fall prey to developers, scientists warn

Students make a formation of a tree (REUTERS)

By Isaiah Esipisu

NAIROBI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Sacred forests, which have mainly been protected by indigenous communities following traditional beliefs, are among the few remaining forest ecosystems that have been spared by loggers, but they are increasingly under
threat, scientists warn.

“Evidence has shown that many people, including loggers, have for years respected, or have been afraid of going against some religious beliefs - and that has long been a conservation measure for several sacred forests around the world,” said Prasit Wangpakapattanawong, assistant professor at the forest restoration research unit of Thailand’s Chiang Mai University.

Climate-resilient hybrid millet to fight hunger, diabetes

 

Dr Oduor on a demo plot of a hybridised finger millet

 By Isaiah Esipisu

KAKAMEGA, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – A sought-after and drought-tolerant Kenyan crop, little grown because its yields are so low, has gotten a boost with the release of a new hybrid variety.

Scientists in Kenya say it is the first country in Africa to develop a hybrid seed variety of finger millet, which they hope will supplement the country’s drought-hit main staple – maize – and help fight diabetes as a result of its low sugar content.

Finger millet is one of Kenya’s most important drought-tolerant cereals, but farmers have not expanded production much because the yield is low. Government records put the amount of land planted with finger millet at 65,000 hectares, despite rising demand which has led to the grain commanding premium prices in shops.

Climate-smart Kenyan crop hits a setback - hungry birds

By Isaiah Esipisu

KITUI, Kenya (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Gadam, a fast-maturing, drought-tolerant sorghum variety introduced in Kenya as a solution for farmers trying to adapt to changing climate conditions, turns out to have an unexpected drawback – wild birds are eating it just before it can be harvested.

“Such are stumbling blocks to climate adaptation measures being put in place,” said Evans Kituyi, the senior climate change adaptation programme specialist of the International Development Research Centre. “Some of these challenges are usually not foreseen when developing such projects. But we must learn to solve them as we move forward,” he added.

The sorghum variety, selected and introduced in Kenya by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, appears to be a new favourite of the red-billed quelea bird, a type of weaver that moves in flocks of hundreds of thousands, said David Karanja, a research scientist at KARI and the principal investigator for the Gadam Sorghum Production and Marketing Project.

REDD a ‘False Solution’ for Africa

A tree within Mabira Forest in Uganda

NAIROBI , Jul 14 2013 (IPS) - REDD – reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation – would seem to be a mitigation strategy that perfectly matches Africa’s needs.

Deforestation and agriculture are responsible for a significant part of Africa’s greenhouse gas emissions – though the continent is by no means a leading contributor to global warming. Conserving and even extending Africa’s tree cover – the Congo Basin contains the second-largest rainforest in the world – would both lower emissions and absorb atmospheric carbon.

But the concept has both its critics and defenders.