New book arms people with knowledge on landscapes in a changing climate

As the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) launched a new book — designed to arm people with evidence and tools for designing climate smart landscapes—its lead editor underscored the fact that we are a long way from achieving sustainable, climate-smart landscapes across the globe.

Dr Peter Minang, the Global Coordinator of the ASB Partnership for the Tropical Forest Margins at ICRAF, said, however, that “structured interactions, co-investments and negotiations among concerned actors can nudge landscapes towards multifunctionality.” Read more. . .

From ‘energy poverty’ towards sustainable tree-based bioenergy

When it comes to energy, countries—and in particular developing ones—could take a strong cue from Europe, where the use of bioenergy has been rising over the past two decades. Aware that the current reliance on fossil fuels is unsustainable from multiple perspectives, EU countries are increasing their use of renewable energy—including that stored in trees—for varied purposes, including electricity generation from biogas-fired power stations.

“All fossil energy sources have either reached or passed their peak production. Even with new discoveries of oil reserves in Africa, and technologies such as fracking for gas, we are running out of energy,” said Philip Dobie, Senior Fellow at ICRAF.Read more. . .

World Agroforestry Centre and Embrapa sign cooperation agreement

A cooperation agreement signed between the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) in Brasilia builds on a longstanding relationship between the two institutions.

Ravi Prabhu, ICRAF deputy director general for research, said Embrapa’s agricultural research is internationally renowned, and “this MoU opens up great possibilities for collaboration between ICRAF and Embrapa, not just within Brazil but in other areas of mutual interest, such as Central America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa, regions where both institutions already have active programs.”Read more. . .

How research can improve people’s lives: An interview with Mary Njenga

By Arsene, Ahijah, Hubert, Inna, Mélodie and Sabrina (students at Lycée Denis Diderot, Nairobi).

On 21 March 2014, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) researcher Mary Njenga visited Lycée Denis Diderot (LDD), the French School in Nairobi, and gave a talk at an inter-school conference titled “How to Feed Humanity.”  About 200 students and teachers from three schools including LLD attended this conference. Dr Njenga then sat and answered the students’ many questions about her studies, her achievements and her vision on how research can impact people’s lives. Read more. . .

Complexity lives at the tree–people–planet interface

Photo montage by World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) via Flikr
ICRAF photo montage via Flikr

In their editorial review for a special edition of the journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, Mark Stafford Smith of CSIRO and Cheikh Mbow of World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) give compelling examples of the complex challenges the agroforestry researcher works through in analyzing the interactions between people, trees and agriculture. The complexity arises in large part because the interactions happen within dynamic landscapes that are also influenced by policy decisions, market forces, and climate change.

“These social–ecological interactions are not mutually exclusive and require systemic approaches,” say the authors, who based the editorial on the 23 articles published in the special journal edition.Read more. . .

Unpacking the evidence on firewood and charcoal in Africa

Charcoal sellers in Mozambique.World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) archives
Charcoal sellers in Mozambique.World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) archives

Woodfuel meets around a tenth of the world’s energy demand, with its users overwhelmingly found in sub-Saharan Africa. Here, nine out of ten people—around 760  million individuals—rely on firewood and charcoal as their primary source of energy for cooking, heating and other uses.

In 2007 charcoal was a US$8-billion industry, employing more than 7 million people in the sub-region, according to World Bank estimates. The  sector has been growing by around 3 percent annually since the turn of the 21st century, according to FAO data. Woodfuel as a source of energy, commerce and employment makes it an important socioeconomic asset to the continent. But woodfuels, and particularly charcoal, are also clouded by controversy and obscure regulation.Read more. . .

Wake up now to make agriculture sustainable

UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review 2013
UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review 2013

“The world needs a paradigm shift in agricultural development … to an ‘ecological intensification’ approach,” states the UNCTAD Trade and Environment Review 2013 released yesterday (18 September 2013) in Geneva. “The required transformation is much more profound than simply tweaking the existing industrial agricultural system.”

The new report, titled “Wake up before it is too late: Make agriculture truly sustainable now for food security in a changing climate,” is a clarion call for drastic changes to agriculture globally in order to combat hunger and curb further damage to the environment in the face of a changing climate. Read more. . .

More people, more trees: the pathway to food and nutritional security in Africa

Evergreen farming for food and nutritional security in Africa
Evergreen farming for food and nutritional security in Africa

It is not a very old term, yet a google search of Evergreen Agriculture returns over 10 million hits. What exactly does it involve?

“Evergreen Agriculture is a form of intensive farming of crops with the right trees,” explained Jonathan Muriuki, a Scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). “The ‘doublestory’ system has both food crops and trees, and means higher crop productivity and a diversified income base for farmers. It brings numerous environmental benefits too.”

Muriuki was speaking on 15 July at an ICRAF side event at the  Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW6) in Accra. Read more. . .

Bioenergy gathers pace

Oil palm plantation in Indonesia- Photo by Ryan Woo/CIFOR
Oil palm plantation in Indonesia- Photo by Ryan Woo/CIFOR

As part of efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and thus mitigate climate change, the use of bioenergy is gathering pace around the world. Countries’ desire to become less energy-dependent in the face of rising petroleum prices, as well as innovations in technology, are further speeding up the adoption of alternatives to fossil fuels.

A session at the 18th UN Climate Change Conference in Doha last December brought together bioenergy experts to discuss trends and best practices in bioenergy development. Ravi Prabhu, Deputy Director-General for Research at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), said the bioenergy discussion must extend to finding models that are pro-poor and that foster sustainable development, particularly in rural areas. Read more. . .

Is that hot shower deforestation-free?

Photo taken on 2 December 2012 at a Forest Day 6 event at the UNFCCC COP18. Photo/ICRAF
Doug Boucher discussed global deforestation trends on Forest Day 6

At a Forest Day 6 discussion forum, ecologist Doug Boucher spoke about the three D’s that characterize the face of deforestation today: Drivers, Different and Dynamic.

“Drivers vary in important ways among and within countries,” said Boucher, who leads the Climate Research and Analysis unit of the Union of Concerned Scientists. His message reinforced the one delivered by the session’s keynote speaker, Heru Prasetyo, who shared the complexities associated with unraveling the drivers of deforestation in Indonesia.

Boucher explained that those complexities proliferate when country-specific drivers are viewed from a global lens. “Drivers vary depending on the continent you’re on and, often, the country you’re in,” he said. Read more. . .