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Authored by: Namanga Ngongi and Hugh Scott

 The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), which invests in businesses wishing to implement commercially viable and high development impact projects in Africa, is launching three new competitions to spur business innovation and investment in: agribusiness development across Sub-Saharan Africa; renewable energy and adaptation to help small farmers [...]]]>

Authored by: Namanga Ngongi and Hugh Scott

 The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), which invests in businesses wishing to implement commercially viable and high development impact projects in Africa, is launching three new competitions to spur business innovation and investment in: agribusiness development across Sub-Saharan Africa; renewable energy and adaptation to help small farmers in East Africa to adapt to climate change; agri-business development in South Sudan.

Through an open and transparent “competition” for investment support in the form of grants and interest free loans, AECF co-invests alongside companies looking to implement innovative business ideas that are both commercially viable and also create opportunities for the rural poor.

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COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (OCTOBER 2011)—Responding to appeals from African leaders for new tools to deal with the effects of climate change on food production, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security [...]]]>

Increased aid from biotechnology needed in the next 2 decades to tap the genetic potential of seed banks

Source: Freebase

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK (OCTOBER 2011)—Responding to appeals from African leaders for new tools to deal with the effects of climate change on food production, the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) has released a series of studies focused on “climate proofing” crops critical to food security in the developing world.

The studies constitute various chapters in a new book titled Crop Adaptation to Climate Change from John Wiley & Sons, which was developed by an international team of the world’s leading climate and agricultural researchers to provide adaptation strategies for more than a dozen crops—such as potatoes, beans, bananas and cassava—on which billions of people depend worldwide.

The studies describe how climate change could threaten food production and how specific adaptation strategies could neutralize or at least significantly lessen the impact. They argue that investments are urgently needed to identify important genetic traits, including drought tolerance and pest resistance, which will be critical for helping farmers adapt to new growing conditions.

“In these studies, we’ve brought together the best climate science with the best knowledge of crop improvement to spell out how crops will be affected and what plant breeders can do to avert or at least cushion potentially devastating blows,” said Julian Ramirez, a scientist at the Colombia-based International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and one of the authors of the studies.

The studies indicate that many of the critical traits farmers will need to deal with hotter, dryer, and in some cases, wetter conditions likely reside in seeds now safeguarded by international crop genebanks. But researchers note that tapping the potential of plant genetic resources, particularly the rich vein of traits contained in the wild relatives of key crops, will require more intensive application of cutting edge biotechnology, including new tools from the rapidly developing fields of genomics and transgenics.

“These results offer plant breeders a strong foundation for establishing research priorities for the next two decades, which is about the time they’ll need to develop new generations of crop varieties suited to shifting agriculture environments,” said Bruce Campbell, CCAFS director.

The studies indicate that the most direct impact on crop yields will come from changes in temperature and rainfall. But they also warn that indirect effects of climate change could result from altered incidence of pests and disease, though these changes will not always be for the worse.

Scientists report that the potato, for example, a dietary staple for millions of people around the world, is especially vulnerable to heat stress, which reduces growth and starch formation. Rising temperatures in southern Africa and tropical highlands worldwide could be particularly hazardous. Scientists believe that developing and distributing heat-tolerant potato varieties could reduce climate-related damage for about 65 percent (7.7 million hectares) of the world’s potato crop.

Also of concern is the potato tuber moth, which could spread northward and to higher elevations as a result of climate change. But drier, warmer summers in some regions will likely depress the incidence of potato’s worst disease – late blight, which caused Ireland’s potato famine in the 19th century.

Data on the projected impacts of climate change on bananas, beans, cassava and potatoes are available on the website of the recently launched Adaptation and Mitigation Knowledge Network (AMKN) (www.amkn.org). This online platform brings together a large volume of knowledge from diverse sources about climate mitigation and adaptation and links it to interactive maps. Users can access tools and information, such as climate models, drought indexes, and socio-economic data about agriculture, together with farmer comments on video and photos from pilot sites across the tropics.

“Until now, all this information has been widely dispersed, making it hard for scientists, policy-makers, and civil society actors to get a proper grasp of the complex interactions between agriculture and climate change,” said Andy Jarvis, an agricultural geographer at CIAT who also oversees CCAFS research on climate change adaptation. “By making key information freely and easily available for the first time, the AMKN should greatly enhance our understanding of the threat that climate change poses to food security and ultimately our ability to curb the threat.”

For many crops, developing the traits needed to cope with climate change promises to be a long, arduous process, the new studies suggest. Past banana and potato breeding has focused mainly on yield, product quality, and pest- and disease-resistance, while tolerance to drought and heat has received scant attention.

Yet, scientists express confidence that the thousands of samples of traditional varieties and crop wild relatives held in genebanks likely contain a wide diversity of tolerance traits. Though largely neglected in modern crop breeding, traditional varieties and crop wild relatives could play a vital role in helping farmers adapt to climate change, despite the challenges of crossing species that are distantly related.

To overcome those barriers, researchers say they need more detailed information on the traits contained in crop genebanks and more support for deploying biotechnology tools to gather and use this information.

“This pioneering research, which considers crop-by-crop how climate change will alter food production in the future, opens up new windows of opportunity for research to deal with the challenges that farmers face around the world,” said Campbell. “But given how rapidly growing conditions are changing, these windows won’t be open for long. We must act now to ensure that in the coming decades farmers have the technologies they need to maintain a food-secure world.”

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The newly established Bioresources Innovation Network for Eastern Africa Development (Bio-Innovate) Programme—the first of its kind in Africa—provides competitive grants to African [...]]]>

A new programme that provides grants to bioscientists working to improve food production and environmental management in eastern Africa was launched Wednesday at the Nairobi headquarters of the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

The newly established Bioresources Innovation Network for Eastern Africa Development (Bio-Innovate) Programme—the first of its kind in Africa—provides competitive grants to African researchers who are working with the private sector and non-governmental organizations to find ways to improve food security, boost resilience to climate change and identify environmentally sustainable ways of producing food.

In its first three-year phase, the programme is supporting five research-based projects working to improve the productivity of sorghum, millet, cassava, sweet potato, potato and bean farmers; to help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change; to improve the processing of wastes in the production of sisal and coffee; and to better treat waste water generated in leather processing and slaughterhouse operations.

In a second call for proposals, beginning mid-2011, Bio-Innovate will help build agricultural commodity “value chains” in the region and a supportive policy environment for bioresource innovations.

The five-year programme is funded by a US$12-million grant from the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida). Bio-Innovate is managed by ILRI and co-located within the Biosciences eastern and central Africa (BeCA) Hub at ILRI’s Nairobi campus. Bio-Innovate will be implemented in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

“By emphasizing innovations to help drive crop production in the six partner countries, Bio-Innovate is working at the heart of one of the region’s greatest challenges—that of providing enough food in the face of climate change, diversifying crops and addressing productivity constraints that are threatening the livelihoods of millions,” said Carlos Seré, ILRI’s director general.

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Washington/Kinshasa, March 8, 2011 – A small community in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that decided to replant its degraded forest is ensuring education for hundreds of children and providing basic health care services – in part thanks to carbon revenue that their [...]]]>

Reforestation Project Is DRC’s First Registered Under Kyoto Protocol

Washington/Kinshasa, March 8, 2011 – A small community in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) that decided to replant its degraded forest is ensuring education for hundreds of children and providing basic health care services – in part thanks to carbon revenue that their reforestation project is expected to generate.

Ibi village, located on the Batéké Plateau approximately 150 kilometers from the capital Kinshasa, is now finding itself in the spotlight as it boasts the DRC’s first Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project approved and registered under the Kyoto Protocol. In addition to fighting climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide, the Ibi Batéké Carbon Sink Plantation Project is helping surrounding communities improve the livelihoods of its people through job creation and provision of health and education while promoting other environmental benefits such as the regeneration of patches of savannah and sheltering wildlife.

The project is seen as a successful model for the rest of the country and indeed the continent. Through the planting of different types of acacia, eucalyptus and pine trees, the project is directly absorbing carbon from the atmosphere. Part of the reforestation will be used as a sustainable source of charcoal for urban areas, such as Kinshasa, which will reduce the pressure of deforestation on native forests. By dealing preemptively with the effects of climate change including a focus on employment and better health care, this project is aligned with the World Bank’s newly approved strategy for Africa.

NOVACEL, a private company founded and managed by local people from the Batéké Plateau, is reforesting over 4,200 hectares of degraded land, which will employ around 400 part- and full-time staff and absorb an estimated 2.4 million tons of carbon dioxide over the next 30 years. This allows the project to generate carbon credits which are purchased by the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund and private sector firms such as the French company ORBEO. The carbon revenue will be invested in reforestation and local development activities – a primary school is providing over 200 children with an education and a clinic is providing basic health care to the local population. Local farmers are also receiving support from GI-Agro, an NGO linked to NOVACEL, to adopt more productive agriculture techniques, contributing to food security in the area.

According to Olivier Mushiete, head of NOVACEL, “What makes Ibi Batéké so unique is that it adopts an integrated vision of truly sustainable local development. The project has three sources of revenue: income from cassava intercropped with acacias; fuelwood, produced from the wood of these acacias and sold in Kinshasa; and finally, carbon credits, sold on the global carbon market.”

As a local firm, NOVACEL attaches primary importance to providing its community with development opportunities. In addition, it supports an important element of research, including the development of more productive acacia varieties, promoting a better understanding of the natural regeneration process of local flora, and testing new agricultural techniques, such as biochar.

The Ibi Batéké Project is the first of its kind to be registered by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in the DRC, and is only the third CDM forestry project to be registered in Africa. Reforestation and avoided deforestation are areas where African countries see an opportunity to take part in climate change mitigation and a chance to generate important revenues. The project developer has signed an emission reduction purchase agreement (ERPA) with the World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund for the purchase of 500,000 certified emission reductions (CERs) to be generated by 2017.

“We believe that Ibi Batéké is a concrete example of the capacity of the private sector to help transform the national economy,” said Ms.Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, Country Director for the World Bank in DRC and the Republic of Congo. “Given the suitable conditions, such initiatives can be scaled up, creating thousands of jobs while reducing the pressure on native ecosystems. The World Bank is looking forward to working with NOVACEL and other private sector actors in the DRC in creating the conditions for replication – like access to affordable credit, security over land tenure and access to reliable technical assistance.”

The Ibi Batéké model has been identified by DRC’s Ministry of Environment as a building block for the national REDD+ (reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) strategy, under preparation with support from the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and the UN-REDD program.

“REDD+ is about sustainable forest management. It is a tool for countries to support successful initiatives that reduce pressure on forests. The Ibi Batéké does exactly that. By providing a sustainable source of charcoal to a large urban market, the project reduces pressure on native forests and by promoting tree planting, the project results in carbon absorption from the atmosphere”, says Idah Pswarayi-Riddihough, Sector Manager for the Africa Environment Department of the World Bank.

Scaling up has already begun. NOVACEL is partnering with the government to implement an agroforestry project in the Sud-Kwamouth territory where there has been severe deforestation of primary forests. It has also recently signed a contract with Danone for the sale of carbon credits generated by the reforestation of an additional 2,500 hectares of land.

Ibi Batéké is the latest in a series of ground-breaking carbon finance forestry projects across Africa. With the support of the BioCarbon Fund, the continent’s first large scale reforestation project located on the Humbo mountain in Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley is looking to be scaled up further. While, in nearby Kenya, the fund is supporting the continent’s first soil carbon project, where local small-holders are changing their farming practices and lowering greenhouse gas emissions that will generate carbon credits.

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The world’s first Climate Innovation Center (CIC) will be established in Nairobi, according to an announcement in Nairobi today by Andrew Steer, World Bank’s Special Envoy [...]]]>

Kenyans are set to reap the rewards of a new initiative to help local companies develop and deploy climate friendly technologies that will create thousands of new green jobs.

The world’s first Climate Innovation Center (CIC) will be established in Nairobi, according to an announcement in Nairobi today by Andrew Steer, World Bank’s Special Envoy for Climate Change.

The initiative was announced during a Danish sponsored conference, ‘Green Growth in Kenya’, which focused on the private sector’s role in promoting green growth in the context of the county’s changing climate and increasing resource constraints.

The CIC, spearheaded by the Royal Danish Embassy (DANIDA) and the Bank’s Information for Development Program (infoDev), will harness Kenya’s private sector in boosting industry competitiveness and job creation and help the country to better respond to the challenges of climate change.

“The creative spark of private Kenyan and African entrepreneurs can transform climate challenges into market opportunities,” said Steer. “This Climate Innovation Center will provide the help to make it happen.”

Accelerating innovation in emerging technologies is essential to help reduce the current and long-term impacts of climate change. However developing countries, which are most immediately threatened by these impacts, lag in their capacity to transfer, develop and deploy innovative climate technologies.

The infoDev Climate Innovation Center therefore has a role to play in transforming Kenya to a middle income in line with the Government’s Vision 2030.

“This initiative will specifically enable Kenya to achieve the essential technological advancement and catalyze innovative technology among small and medium enterprises,” said Alex Alusa, the Climate Change Policy Advisor in the Prime Minister’s office.

In the first five years, the CIC is expected to create more than 70 sustainable climate technology businesses, generating some 4,600 direct and indirect jobs. Over the next decade, it is estimated that over 24,000 jobs will be created in Kenya.

The CIC will provide targeted financing and capacity building to entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to scale up and deploy innovative clean technology solutions that meet local needs and create local jobs. This leverages infoDev’s successful experience supporting SMEs in information and other technologies.

“I’m especially interested in tapping the CIC’s proof-of-concept financing. We have a great product that could be successfully adapted for other applications,” said Anthony Ng’eno, the Chief Executive Officer of WinAfrique Technologies Ltd—a Kenyan hybrid renewable energy company serving the telecom and rural electrification sectors. “The CIC will allow us to accelerate that process so we can significantly increase our market size and ramp up staffing.”

Danida has supported the CIC concept, complementing Denmark’s broader private sector and business support program in Kenya.

“The private sector has a pivotal role in the economy, contributing to 80 percent of Kenya’s GDP. The CIC will assist Kenya’s 1.7 million informal SMEs and community entrepreneurs to compete in one of the most promising sectors of the 21st century while helping to provide critical solutions to the needs of the rural poor.” said Geert Aagaard Andersen, the Danish Ambassador to Kenya.

The need for green growth in Kenya is characterized by low electrification rates, high costs of conventional energy, water shortages, and increasing agricultural pressures caused by climate variability. These challenges persist in the context of the country’s 40% unemployment rate.

In addition to the CIC, The World Bank Group and Danida support a number of ongoing projects in Kenya which intersect the country’s climate, energy and economic development needs.

InfoDev is establishing a global network of CICs that enables developing countries’ private sectors to proactively and profitably take part in green growth. Over 120 stakeholders in Kenya assisted in design of the CIC that will provide a holistic range of services that remove local market barriers to innovation. The infoDev CIC will offer new ventures financing, technical assistance, market information, policy advice, capacity building and more.

InfoDev’s  vision is to build a global network of 30 Climate Innovation Centers that will create over 2,400 enterprises, generate 240,000 direct and indirect jobs, install 3000 MW of off-grid energy capacity, provide energy access to over 28 million people, deliver clean water to over 10 million households and mitigate 65 million tons of CO2.

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