NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation and the World Bank are working towards an agricultural observatory platform that will enable institutions access high resolution agro-meteorological data. The partnership is to support Kenya Climate Resilient Agriculture (KCSAP) project under the Ministry of Agriculture Livestock, Fisheries and Irrigation to pilot the Agricultural Observatory Platform for the sector for one year. The data that will be received from satellites will help policy makers and farmers optimize on data that supports agro weather, market, climate and advisory markets. Speaking during the launch of the pilot Agricultural Observatory Platform, KALRO Director General Dr. Eliud Kireger said the biggest challenge in agriculture performance has been lack of accurate, timely and reliable weather. “This data will be able to give accurate information as it will observe information such as temperature, weather and rainfall that will be availed to scientists to make sense of it and in turn provide digital meteorological information using modern ICT tools,” he said. Kireger added that depending on the focus given through the platform, information collected will also be availed to policy makers and farmers to make timely and informed decisions.For the farmers, the DG said they will be able get information on how to prepare early depending on indication of the weather such as early rainfall, poor rainfall or even lack of and thus plan. He said that the policy makers and through the observatory platform will now be able to advise farmers through the Agricultural extension systems on even the variety of maize they need to plant depending on the area data. Kireger noted that the two-year Agricultural Observatory Platform will be able to aggregate field and farm level data into able information that provides insight in addressing the challenge of where it rained, where crops failed and how many people were impacted. The Lead Agriculture Economist from the World Bank, Ladisy Komba Chengula said that the system will be up and running by end of the month. He explained that with only 23 meteorological sites that are providing agro weather data and mostly concentrated in Central and rift valley the current observatory platform will be providing data on rains, temperature, wind and speed in an area of 9 by 9 kms square. “This access is high resolution, reliable and it means we will be having 7,200 agro weather stations that will be giving data,” he said. Chengula explained that the current 23 Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) owns the ground stations that compliments the data gotten from the satellite and will cost yearly subscription of USD 50,000 which is a subsidy considering one MET stations would cost USD10, 000. “The biggest climate risk Kenya has is drought which alternates with floods even with good rains, this platform will see scientism be able to predict when floods will happen and in which area,” he said. Agronomists says two weeks delay of rains means that 40 percent reduction of yields will occur but with this system one can…

LAGOS, Nigeria (PAMACC News) - Mariam Shuaibu, is one of the 845 victims of insurgency residing at the Gongola Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp, in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory. Mariam, like other peers suffering the same fate, finds succor in this camp, after activities of insurgency in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State, made them flee their homes in 2015, being ravaged by terrorists. At a visit to the temporary make-shift community along airport road, one could see the untold hardship glaring, with look of despondency, not knowing where the next meal or succor would come from. Narrating her ordeal was a tale of dashed hopes of resettlement and rehabilitation of their home in Madagali Local Government Area in Adamawa, North-east Nigeria.According to her, several attempts at relocation to their base met a brick wall, following continuous insurgent attacks. Mariam noted that the camp which had become home to her family and other settlers, was being neglected by the government of the day, noting that these was evident without access to potable water and sanitation facilities. ``We don’t have any good source of water here, all we use is the stream that is a kilometer away, there were two occasions when two women going to fetch water were bitten by snakes. ``This is not the first time that this has happened, we had to take them to the health center in Karamajiji Lepers village, a distant community to assess first aid care for them.Mariam, a mother of four, also bemoaned the lack of toilet facilities at the make-shift community, saying they had to make use of surrounding bushes to defecate in the open.Another settler, Hannatu Peter, worried about continued cases of occurrence of infection women suffer from lack of toilet, saying the cost of hospitalization was taking its toll on them. ``We go to the stream, we don’t have water here, even toilets, it is the use of bush, a woman was bitten by a snake while defecating in the bush, and another one was bitten when she went to pick firewood for cooking. ``We want them to help us, especially on this toilet and water issue, some women urinate anywhere and get infected, majority of us are having infections, to treat it in hospitals is expensive,” Peter said. Curious to know the hygiene situation of the community, I had the opportunity to witness poor living conditions, with the smell of open defecation permeating the air.Without been told, one would believe that open defection practice in that community was the reason why a large number of the children had bouts of cholera.The camp Chairman, Mr Joseph Jauro, noted that there was the need for immediate interventions from the relevant stakeholders, saying this was necessary to forestall future occurrences. He recounted numerous cases of diarrhea and cholera cases and deaths among under-five children, saying this was been linked to poor sources of drinking water.Jauro narrated the difficulty in getting water, adding that water vendors usually came around to sell…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - I have the honor to represent the African Climate Policy Centre in this esteemed gathering, the first National Climate Governance Conference, which has been convened by our partner organization, the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, to discuss national issues relating to the governance of the climate response in Kenya. We are extremely grateful to PACJA and to the Kenyan Government for hosting this conference. Kenya has developed a sophisticated framework for the governance of climate change in the Country. The Kenya Green Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan (2016-2020) is designed to guide the country’s transition to a low carbon, resource efficient, equitable and inclusive future. The plan recognizes that in order to succeed, substantial resources are required in the form of finance, investment, technology development innovation and transfer, and capacity building. It further recognizes that integration of Green Economy in the national and county planning and budgeting processes are also crucial. Climate change is cross cutting. It affects every aspect of life, and our ability to achieve the SDGs or indeed any of the aspirations of agenda 2063 is constrained by climate change. Because of its cross cutting nature, climate governance is complex. It requires the participation of multiple stakeholders, with sometimes conflicting interests. The world is heading towards catastrophe if immediate action is not taken to halt greenhouse gas emissions. As we all are aware, the IPCC yesterday released its 1.5degrees report in South Korea. The report confirms what we are already experiencing iun Africa, and is a cause for serious concern. Last night I took time to skim through the report. Some of the major findings of the report include the following: Climate change is happening at a rate much faster than previously estimated. Global warming is outstripping all our efforts to resolve it. The impacts of global warming are also already much greater than predicted, particularly in developing countries to avoid passing he 1.5 degrees guardrail, we need to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 – we have under 12 years to achieve that. And to have a 50% chance of staying within the 1.5 degrees threshold the world must become carbon neutral by 2050, in only in only 32 years. Avoiding a catastrophe will require a major transformation of society and the world economy on an unprecedented scale Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees will cost $2.4 trillion of investments in the global energy system every year between 2016 –2035 (this is equivalent to 2.5% of world GDP). He cost of not doing anything will be much, much higher We must all get involved in resolving this challenge We have adequate knowledge of the causes of global warming, and the science is conclusive. There is no room for climate deniers in this discourse However, the inaction that we have seen is not because there is insufficient knowledge or technology or finance. We have enough of these to be able to change the way in which we produce, distribute and consume goods…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Development stakeholders from Africa have been challenged to drive strategies and mechanisms that can speed-up the climate ambition of their different countries.Different speakers at the opening of the Seventh Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA – VII) conference in Nairobi, October 10,2018, agreed that Africa must hence lead the way in the implementation of the Paris Agreement by operationalising their different nationally determined contributions in line with the Paris Agreement.According to James Murombedzi, Officer in Charge of the Economic Commission for Africa’s African Climate Policy Center (ACPC), while the Agreement is a treaty between nation states, its implementation is the challenge of the different countries in line with their Nationally Determined Contributions(NDCs) .“Africa has the potential to drive the implementation of the Paris Agreement,” he said.He notes that sustainable, inclusive and equitable development which does not increase atmospheric carbon concentrations was possible.“But for these opportunities to be realized, a lot needs to be done by the different countries”.The CCDA-VII Conference is taking place under the theme,”Climate change and development in Africa; policies and actions for effective implementation of the Paris Agreement for resilient economies in Africa” Kenya’s Environment and Forestry Minister, Keriako Tobiko called on African governments to exercise good political will to make the Paris Agreement implementation effective.“Without political goodwill recommendations from scientists as contained in the Agreement cannot be translated to policies,” Keriako said.Climate change accordingly is seriously impacting in many African countries making life perilous for especially the vulnerable population, women, children, reason why the implementation of the Paris Agreement is more than urgent.“The implementation of the Paris Agreement remains a priority for the continent in order to adapt to the inevitability of climate variability and change. It is however important to emphasize that achieving the goals of the Agreement require committed leadership from state and non-state actors,” the Minister said.Among other actions, countries were enjoined to integrated green economy in the development action plans.“Integration of green economy and other innovative carbon free investments in national action plans have today become critical,” Murombedzi said.He also ccommented on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.The reports he said, means that there is a chance for a stable climate system which will allow for sustainable development but only if we do manage to halt emissions in the projected time frame.“This added implies doing two things, the first to halt emissions and to have an organized transition to a carbon neutral future in the shortest time possible. And the second to restructure our economies to ensure sustainable development without further emissions,” Murombedzi said.He said it has been demonstrated that in addressing these challenges, there were opportunities to be harnessed. James Kinyangi of the AfDB and the ClimDev Fund, for his part disclosed an ambitious Climate Action Change Plan for the period 2016-2020 for the Bank. He said the plan explores modalities for achieving adaptation, the adequacy and effectiveness of climate finance,…