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Technical Assistance to the GCCA Climate Support Facility
under the 10th EDF Intra-ACP Financial Framework
Work Order 17
Climate Change Adaptation in Lake Victoria Basin:
Ecosystem Health and Sustainable Development in Mt Elgon:
TECHNICAL BRIEFING ON ADAPTATION MEASURES AND PILOT AREAS
Field Missions from March, 2013 to August, 2013
Author name: Simon Thuo
Quality control : Manuel Harchies
Consortium SAFEGE-Prospect-ADETEF-Eco – Gulledelle 92, 1200 Brussels, BELGIUM
MT ELGON: SECURING
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
ENCROACHMENT; POPULATION AND CLIMATE THREATS
Straddling the border between Kenya and Uganda, Mt Elgon is the water tower for key rivers that
feed Lake Victoria, Lake Kyoga and Lake Turkana; the water and other ecosystem services have
provided livelihoods for millions of people. But over the last 30 years encroachment, deforestation
and adverse climate on Mt Elgon has led to serious effects on the environment it services, acutely
demonstrated by frequent landslides in Bududa, siltation and increased flooding around Lake
Kyoga. Urgent measures to reverse environmental degradation; improved governance coupled with
incentives for alternative livelihoods to stem the degradation are urgently needed to protect
ecosystem services that stretch far beyond the mountain
MT ELGON: SECURING
ECOSYSTEM SERVICES
ENCROACHMENT; POPULATION AND CLIMATE THREATS
ECOSYSTEM BASED
ADAPTATION
Use of biodiversity and
ecosystem services in an
overall adaptation strategy. It
MT ELGON: MORE THAN A MOUNTAIN
Mt Elgon is the source of water and environmental services for one of
the most densely populated regions in Eastern Africa. In Kenya, it is
the key water catchment for key rivers: River Nzoia and Lwakhakha
which flow to Lake Victoria; River and the Turkwel that drains into
Lake Turkana,, the Sio Malaba Malakisi.
SIO-MALABA-MALAKISI SYSTEM FROM MT ELGON (NELSAP)
includes the sustainable
management, conservation
and restoration of ecosystems
to provide services that help
people adapt to the adverse
effects of climate change.
(UN Convention on
Biodiversity)
Resilience
The ability of a social or
ecological system to absorb
disturbances while retaining
the same basic structure
and ways of functioning, the
capacity for self
organization, and the
capacity to adapt to stress
and change.”
It has a rapidly increasing population of over 4 million people, 80% of
whom are engaged in agriculture. The high and increasing population
on both sides of the border is creating ever-increasing demand for
agricultural lands that are already scarce. At the slopes of Mt. Elgon,
agriculture is encroaching on forest resources which are also
depended upon heavily for firewood, ropes, pole wood, vegetables,
bamboo shoots, fruits, medicines, and for livestock feed (IUCN 2005).
IPCC, 2008
1
Formal establishment of national parks and forest reserves has caused resentment from local
population, particularly on the Ugandan side where, during the period of civil strife, encroachment
reached well into the moorland and is now close to the mountain peak.
Population density 100km buffer around lake Victoria:
people per km2 (After UNEP)
Low
<25
Med
25-100
High
>100
On the Kenya side, although less encroached, logging and clearing of land for agriculture has left
complete areas denuded of forest cover.
The degradation has devastating consequences for the local population as well as those
downstream. Landslides in Bududa have left hundreds dead in the last few years. Environmental
degradation has led to flash flooding in the Mpolomoko sub-rivers that serve Karamoja region, the
most arid in the country, carrying away loose soils and filling up significant parts of the wetlands and
raising the bed of the shallow and swampy Lake Kyoga system, in turn causing massive floods in
the surrounding areas during the rainy season.
Lake Kyoga and the Wetlands of Uganda
In 2008 an Integrated Ecosystem Assessment Pilot Study for Uganda was carried out in the Lake Kyoga catchment area by NEMA,
UNEP and UNDP to assess the linkages between changes in ecosystems, ecosystem services and human well-being. The Lake Kyoga
catchment is an important focal area for Uganda because of its importance in the Nile Basin and the significant differences in human
welfare indicators such as health, poverty, food security among others.
The findings show that in the last twenty years, Nakasongola district lost more than 50 per cent of its forest woodland cover, cut down to
cater for the burgeoning need for charcoal and wood fuel in the urban areas. River Manafwa suffers heavy siltation from the agricultural
production that takes place along its banks and causeddownstream functions of the river system to decline. Fish catch has dwindled so
much it is now left to children. In Nakasongola, where 60 per cent of the community is pastoralist, harsh weather and overstocking of
livestock deteriorated key grasslands into bare earth between 1990 and 2004. The decline in ecosystems and ecosystem services to
wetlands, and other freshwater ecosystems, agro-ecosystems and grasslands. While the communities in the dry lands areas have
problems of inadequate rainfall, those in the Mount Elgon areas have to deal with excessive rains resulting in landslides that periodically
lead to loss of crops, human life and poverty.
The major drivers of changes in ecosystems such as rapid population growth, the high demand for charcoal in urban areas, limited
knowledge or extension service support and poverty are still prevalent and growing in some communities. The study shows that over
the next fifty years the consequences of the deterioration in the Lake Kyoga catchment ecosystems will be extremely adverse. It posits
that neither a market-driven approach, nor government action nor the segregation of wealthy class as seems prevalent in Uganda, will
ensure sustainable development.
2
CLIMATE CHANGE IS CAUSING ADDITIONAL AND SIGNIFICANT DRIVERS AS WELL.
Investigation from the ACCESS team reveals that temperatures on the mountain system have
increased in the last 30 years, between 0.5 to 1 °C, changing vegetation cover, increasing incidence
of malaria and other water-related diseases, and may change land use and cropping patterns as
farmers seek more productive and resilient crops
For Mbale region, average monthly temperature increased by 0.80C between 1990 – 2000,
with seven out of 12 months of the year (February, March, May, June, July, August and
September) experiencing an increase of more than 0.5 °C. Monthly average rainfall
increased by 12.3% between 2001 and 2010 from an average decrease of -7.47% between
1991 and 2000
(Mbogga, 2012). The
Mt. Elgon region of
Uganda, where the
Districts of Mbale,
Manafwa and Bududa
are located is extremely
vulnerable to the
impacts of climate
change (Kitutu et al.,
2011). Impacts of the
climate variations have
included tragic
landslides that have
occurred in Bududa and
Manafwa Districts since
the El Nino rains of
1997/98 and most recently in March 2010 and June 2012 (NEMA, 2009; District Forestry
Officer Bududa 2012 pers. comm.). Communities have reported increased incidence of
malaria and the outbreaks of associated waterborne diseases within the human population,
and Trypanosomiasis (Nagana) (NEMA, 2011). Whereas the risk of climate change in
these areas is observable, it is the extreme vulnerability of many poor communities that has
got development actors to seek for solutions to build resilience in some cases and build
local capacity to withstand risks of living in the Mt. Elgon landscape1
1
3
Analysis of Adaptation and Mitigation Options for the Territorial Approach to Climate Change (TACC) Project
For the Mbale Region of Uganda, (August 2012); UNDP
PURPOSE AND APPROACH OF THIS REPORT
Though the impact of degradation, encroachment and climate change will have far-reaching effects
well beyond Mt Elgon, this report will dwell not on the mountain or its shadow, but best practices
and received wisdom from interventions in other parts of the world that have contended with
reducing vulnerability to climate change; enhancing societal resilience; and other economic,
governance or structural measures that sustain ecosystem services with particular focus on
mountain landscapes.
Context
The US Agency for International Development is funding a project aimed at improving resilience of
Lake Victoria basin to climate change.
IUCN is the lead agency on the project based on innovative methodology structured around four
key objectives:
1) Improving scientific knowledge of Climate Change information;
2) Demonstration of increased social and ecological resilience in hot spots of climate vulnerability
using adaptation strategies including ecosystem based adaptation (EBA);
3) Integrating evidence from adaptation approaches into policies across sectors and;
4) Enhancing learning on Climate Change adaptation strategies at local to regional levels
For improved scientific knowledge and preparedness for a changing climate in the Mount Elgon
region, the African Collaborative Centre for Earth Systems Science (ACCESS) is gathering, collating
and analyzing climate data and scenarios, and is facilitating the exchange of information across the
partner agencies implementing the project as well as with key regional and international research
centers.
This will be undertaken under two main activities:
1) Development of GIS based data and maps on climate change impacts on key livelihood
resources and their vulnerability:
 Consolidate existing climate data, review and identify gaps for mapping climate change
impacts and vulnerability
 Hotspot identification and generation of risk vulnerability maps
 Fieldwork for groundtruthing the maps generated
 Facilitate training to produce model GIS data and maps on climate change impacts and
vulnerability.
2) Analysis of scenarios for regional adaptation strategies to identify investment opportunities
 Undertake a stakeholder review workshop to prioritize transboundary adaptation strategies
 Develop scenarios outlining costs and benefits of transboundary adaptation strategies.
To institutionalize research findings and outputs the project will collaborate with regional bodies
including the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC).
The Intra-ACP GCCA program is providing ACCESS support in downscaling climate change models
to be used as important tools/information sources for present and future interventions in the areas;
as well as training in climate change adaptation in mountain areas and advice in the design of a
M&E system for hotspots that will be selected for pilots.
4
During discussions with ACCESS and IUCN it was agreed that since the lead partner has been
active in this region for decades on environmental sustainability issues, it would be more useful for
GCCA consultant to focus on best practices and approaches on climate and Ecosystem Based
Adaptation from other mountain areas of the world, in order maximize value for the stakeholders
involved.
Framework for climate resilience
Effective climate adaptation requires iterative work program that addresses the five components as
listed below.
This summary gives an overview of why each is critical, how it can be undertaken or demonstrated,
identify best practices or case studies that shed more light on the issue, and provide links for further
information
I.
Stakeholder Involvement
Different actors in climate adaptation have different kinds of development agenda, their own views
and visions on what has to be achieved, among which actors and in what way. It is therefore
important to explore the different interests of the stakeholders involved.
The following matrix provides a useful guide for identifying the different kinds of stakeholders and
how to keep them informed and engaged with the process
This matrix helps in diagnosis of stakeholders and other actors, their power, influence and interest.2
Which stakeholders will play a role or be affected by the programs? Have all primary, secondary
and external stakeholders been listed?
Power interest matrix
 Have all potential supporters and
opponents of the project been identified?
 Which actors can be seen are most
critical to the process or most affected?
 Has gender analysis been used to
identify different types of female
stakeholders at both primary and secondary
level?
 Have the interests of the poor and
vulnerable groups especially been
identified?
 Who else could make an important
contribution? Why and how?
 What do the various actors
contribute?
 Why are there any new primary or
secondary stakeholders that are likely to
emerge as a result of the project?
2
Facilitating Innovation for Development Engel, P.G.H. and M.L. Salomon (1997);: and
Guidance Note on How to do Stakeholder Analysis of Aid Projects and Programmes ODA (1995);
5
II.
Information to Support Decision Making,
The search for evidence based policy making derives from the field of medicine, where rapid
advance away from quackery was assured through rigorous, demonstrable and repeatable proof
that indeed the solution was beyond doubt and scientifically proven.
Unfortunately, climate change is full of “uncertainty” – it is difficult to pinpoint if human induced
greenhouse gases cause global warming; whether this will be good or bad for different parts of the
world, or when to expect bad or changed weather.
For instance, in a recent attempt to downscale climate change for the Nile region, forty different
possible outcomes were arrived at by some of the best equipped scientists in the world that lead
climate science. This ranged from extremes of wetness to drought, from miniscule temperature rise
to the changes that would spell doom for critical vegetation, fish and other sensitive species etc.
However, there is growing consensus that climate is changing, and for the worse, with longer, drier
periods and shorter, more intense rain periods across Eastern Africa.
Accounting for knock on effects from climate change elsewhere
The undisputed fact is that sea level rise has already reached 40 cm, is threatening to inundate
coastal cities and regions that have been the bedrock for agriculture, fisheries and transport system
for many countries particularly in Africa, and will result in massive demands for food, all of which will
impact on people far interior just like the financial meltdown spared no one.
Although national and local governments, NGOs and community organizations all have different
roles, they should agree on what constitutes progress, and the indicators that will be regularly
measured suitable for each actors role. Information overload, from too many indicators is likely to
lead to failure to monitor progress. Indicators that are expensive or require sophisticated
management are likely to be unsuitable for the range of key actors particularly community based
change agents. Effective adaptation requires targeted information that is cost-effective to manage.
III.
Effective Governance & Institutional Framework
Climate adaptation requires an enabling environment—one that grants the poor the rights, resources and
access they need to sustain and benefit from ecosystems, governments and markets. It begins with fair
and equitable governance
Sound ecosystem management—whether at the watershed level, on a shared plot of forest land, or of a
particular water body—can reduce the poor’s vulnerability to climate-related risks by creating economic
opportunities that build livelihoods and increase resilience. Unfortunately, decades of development
experience have shown that governance failures often rob the poor of effective control of the ecosystems
on which they depend3.
Devolution and empowerment of power towards communities as emerged in many African countries
as the solution to years of indifferent national institutions. Subsidiarity is good, but mere transfer of
decision making to local and community organizations is not enough.
A critical role remains for national agencies from government, civil society and donors, who need to
interpret scientific information, international agreements and protocols, legal and institutional
frameworks and all other sophisticated information, for use by communities.
3
6
Enabling Adaptation: Priorities for Supporting the Rural Poor in a Changing Climate: Manish Bapna, Heather
Mcgray, Gregory Mock & Lauren Withey (World Resources Institute)
Even more essential is better coordination and collaboration among community based
organizations, faith-led agencies; youth, women and the ubiquitous self-help groups common in
most rural areas and informal settlements.
Clear, predictable and enforceable leadership by local authorities, with mandate derived from
national laws, is critical for effective action for ecosystem based adaptation.
A similar framework is prerequisite for effective policy and integrated planning across competing line
Ministries and national agencies to enhance use of national resources for resilience.
IV.
Planning and policymaking
For some time now, leaders and technical officers in developing countries have expressed
dissatisfaction with international agreements meant to reduce poverty, improve environmental
stewardship and enhance their resilience to climate change. During consultations leading to the
UNFCCC Conference of Parties (CoP15) in Copenhagen, several key workshops to elicit views of
Africa practitioners to the demand for a new concordant on what was to be done to address the
impacts as well as reduce global warming. Though skeptical at first, they finally negotiated the
conclusion that climate change, particularly on the Africa continent, was just another additional
constraint to existing development challenges; and concluded that climate adaptation was most
feasibly undertaken through sustainable land and water resource management approaches.
Nairobi Statement
Adapt to climate change through an integrated land and water management
 Climate change an added challenge to poverty, hunger, diseases and
environmental degradation.
 Building resilience- Focus on the adaptive capacity for livelihoods and
ecosystem maintenance, no regrets investments
 Governance – Strengthen institutions; build on participation of civil society,
gender equality, subsidiarity and decentralisation.
 Information has to be improved; a public good to be shared at all levels
 The Economics and Financing - cost of inaction vs benefits of adaptation
Establish partnerships that enable the combining of strengths, mandates and institutional capacities.
As such, there is a familiar and relatively well understood starting point to avoid lack of action given
the very complex issues in climate science; that have commonly used and even specialized
decision support tools which can help public officials make difficult adaptation decisions.
In Subsaharan Africa, were communities and governments have faced extremes of climate
variability, useful experiences and approaches that can be brought to bear on assessing climate
risks and vulnerability and decide among policy options.
V.
Resources: Financial, Human and Technical
The effective deployment of financial support will be critical if developing countries, many of which
will bear the brunt of predicted climate impacts, are to prepare for extreme events, a more variable
climate, and long-term change that may force changes to human habitation, infrastructure, and the
make-up of their economies.
7
In addition, human resources (such as trained engineers, data-processing technicians, and
scientists) and ecological resources (which provide services such as food, freshwater, and erosion
control) will also be critical if developing countries are to become more climate resilient.
Adapting to climate change impacts will require a huge expenditure of financial and human
resources, and the effectiveness of interventions will often depend on ecological and social
resources as well.
Recognizing this, industrialized countries have agreed to a
provision through the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC), to mobilize US$100 billion a year by
2020 to address both mitigation and adaptation in developing
countries. Climate financing, however, will not cover all
adaptation needs, given the likely impacts across society.
Governments and communities will need both financial and
human resources at their disposal in order to develop and
implement flexible plans to cope with variability and to build the
capacity to collect and analyze locally relevant seasonal data.
MATRIX FOR ADAPTIVE ACTIONS
Adaptive actions need to be undertaken in different spheres and
economic sectors for effectiveness. The three organizing
frameworks for adaptive actions for this document have been
defined as
As the recent
Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC)
Report1 makes clear, water is
in the eye of the climate
management storm. Global
warming and related climate
changes are predicted to
present significant challenges
over the next century. These
challenges are increasingly
better understood and there is
growing consensus on their
likely scale.
To date, much attention has
been focused on the
dimensions of temperature
and sea level rise. Substantial
work has also been done on
some of the consequences,
such as changes in rainfall
and the risk of more, and
more intense, floods and
droughts. However, not nearly
enough work has been done
to understand how to cope
with the potential impact of
climate change on the water
environment at a regional,
national and local level.
(Global Water Partnership)
1. SOCIAL VULNERABILITY- examples are Egypt’s
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirement for
project approval and regulating setback distance for
coastal infrastructure given sea level rise. For instance,
Rwanda seeks to address vulnerability of its agricultural
sector to climate change by promoting non-agricultural
income generating activities to reduce the vulnerability of
rural populations to climate change (see below).
2. RESILIENCE (managing for enhanced ecosystem
resilience); for instance sustainable agricultural land
management, e.g. the incorporation of trees and shrubs in smallholder farming systems to
maintain permanent soil cover, stabilize soil structure, build soil organic matter and enhance
infiltration and moisture retention, diversify household incomes.
3. TARGETED ADAPTATION is intended to underwrite risk (e.g. pastoralism, agriculture,
health) that is affected by a specific climate change impact (drought, flood, disease). The
index based risk transfer mechanisms (e.g. index based livestock insurance in Kenya and
Ethiopia’s first national index-based disaster insurance program) are good examples of
targeted adaptation actions.
The cases given here below provide demonstration of these different but complementary
dimensions of adaptation actions which though individually limited in terms of impact have capacity
for scaling rapidly or providing firm foundation for adaptive action that can enhance community and
national resilience.
8
BEST PRACTICES FOR ADAPTATION IN MOUNTAIN
ECOSYSTEMS
The Case of Rwanda
By 2050, the global population is expected to rise from 7 to 9 billion- and will be eating more on per
capita basis. 70% more food will be required, and in developing countries the food requirement will
double.
For Rwanda, the 2012 General Population and Housing Census indicates that Rwandan population
is composed of mostly women, making up 51.8% of 10.5 million inhabitants.
The outlook is even more critical. By 2050, the population is expected to reach 18.2 million, 82%
higher than the present figure.
With average annual population growth rate of Rwanda (2.7%) the country's population density,
already highest in Africa, has increased from 321 to 416 per km2 in the ten years to 2012.
Even if fertility were to decline to replacement of 2.1children per woman, Rwanda’s population will
continue to grow and still double during the next 70 years. This is due to the youthfulness of the age
structure and the population momentum, by which the very large number of people in the
reproductive age groups fuels the continued growth.
Rwanda relies heavily on agriculture for its income, employment opportunities and the economic
well-being of its people. 80% of the population lives in the rural areas. Farm size for more than 60%
of the farmers is less than half a hectare.
Rwanda is currently highly vulnerable to climate change as it is strongly reliant on rain-fed
agriculture both for rural livelihoods and exports of tea and coffee. It also depends on hydropower
for half of its electricity generation, a driver of economic growth.
Rwanda has experienced a temperature increase of 1.4°C since 1970, higher than the global
average, and can expect an increase in temperature of up to 2.5°C by the 2050s from 1970. Rainfall
is highly variable but average annual rainfall may increase up to 20% by the 2050s (above 1970
levels). Projections for East Africa over Rwanda and Burundi show an increasing trend in rainfall
intensity for both rainy seasons. This is likely to cause floods and storms resulting in landslides, crop
losses including cash crops and damage to infrastructure.
Extreme weather already negatively impacts the economy and climate change could result in annual
economic costs of around 1% of GDP by 2030 (Stockholm Environment Institute).
Poverty tends to trap households/communities in livelihoods options even when these are no
longer effective. Poverty limits access to new information, innovation or opportunities to develop
new skills. Poor people occupy the least productive or most disaster-prone lands, such as flood
plains, slums, eroding hillsides, and low lying and unprotected coastal areas. Under these already
difficult conditions, even modest changes of climate hazards will quickly push households and
communities beyond their abilities to cope.
Appropriate policy actions need to be taken in order to tackle the negative impacts of climate
change through all socio-economic sectors.
9
Agriculture in the Mille Collines
However, the landscape of Rwanda makes any improvement of agricultural productivity very
difficult. 82% of farmland land is either on the hills- 24% is located near the top; 46% on hillsides;
12% near the bottom; only 16% on plains and 2% on marshlands.
Soil erosion is a massive problem already, and the attempts to stem siltation of key rivers by
planting elephant grass, shrubs and trees in a 10m band has failed. The soil erosion not only leads
to reduced fertility, but destroys pumps and reservoirs for water supply and hydropower; while silting
up the marshes and their critical ecosystem functioning.
Additional problems from siltation includes reduced capacity to store water during wet season; rapid
runoff leading to accelerated destruction of soil cover, and reduced buffering capacity to ameliorate
impacts of both floods and droughts.
Comprehensive National Policy and Strategy Framework
GREEN GROWTH AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE STRATEGY
The Green Growth and Climate Resilience strategy, an inclusive strategy for all sectors of the
economy was approved by Cabinet in December, 2011. It has the following important features
1. A comprehensive economic approach that cuts across all sectors: Vision 2050: For Rwanda to
be a developed climate-resilient, low-carbon economy by 2050
2. Articulates clear strategic objectives that different ministries and public agencies can respond to:
Strategic Objectives
 To achieve Energy Security and a Low Carbon Energy Supply that supports the
development of Green Industry and Services
 To achieve Sustainable Land Use and Water Resource Management that results in Food
Security, appropriate Urban
 Development and preservation of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
 To achieve Social Protection, Improved Health and Disaster Risk Reduction that reduces
vulnerability to climate change
3. Articulates programs of action and targets across different economic sectors, but also addresses
underlying enabling framework to be undertaken and a roadmap for implementation
Funding climate resilience
ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE FUND FOR RWANDA (FONERWA)
To ensure that the Climate Resilient strategy was implemented without unde stress on the line
departments and lengthy bureaucratic process, Rwanda created by special Parliamentary Statute
an embedded fund, FONERWA - approved by Parliament in 2012.
FONERWA is the intended vehicle through which environment and climate change finance is
channeled, programmed, disbursed and monitored in Rwanda. As a national basket fund,
FONERWA is both an instrument to facilitate direct access to international environment and
climate finance, as well as to streamline and rationalise external aid and domestic finance. The
operation and organisation of this mechanism is ultimately guided by Rwanda’s legal framework,
in the form of the FONERWA Law which has been approved by Parliament.4
Government of Rwanda, Environment and Climate Change Fund (FONERWA) Design Project, 2012
10
4
IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK5
Adaptation is facilitated by reducing vulnerability and vulnerability in turn is mainly determined by
poverty, economic inequality, isolation and income diversity among others (Brooks et al 2005).
Creating resilient communities must go beyond actions to reduce climate impacts to address
underlying causes of vulnerability, especially poverty.
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Strategic Framework for Rwanda’s National Strategy on Climate Change and Low Carbon
Development
5
Human Development and Efficient Resource Utilisation:
Social Capital Compounds Resource Scarcity
Managing water scarcity entails taking measures to overcome
it, either by supply-side increases or demand-side regulation.
Often regarded as the -solution- to potential conflicts over the
natural resource water, such regulation in fact contains the
seeds of a new kind of conflicts, best described as secondorder conflicts, incurred by the very attempt to overcome the
source of the potential first-order conflict, water scarcity. Water
scarcity, when dealt with by societies and states, thus very
quickly surfaces as a scarcity of social adaptive capacity,
which is what merits an attempt to delineate and delimit a
concept of social resource scarcity- Leif Ohlsson,
Assessment of lack of adaptive capacity in the
Greater Horn and Nile Basin, in which lake
Victoria and Mt Elgon lie, demonstrates the
impact of social capital on level of water
stress. A hydrological examination of the Nile
Basin Countries, compared to UNDP’s
Human Development Index gives the results
in the table below6:-
Burundi thus ranks as the most socially water
stressed country in the Nile Basin, with Egypt
taking merely the fifth place, after Kenya,
Rwanda, and Ethiopia, although Egypt is more water-stressed than these countries according to
standard hydrological indicators (WSI). Egypt’s low rank on the list of socially water-stressed
countries is due to its comparatively higher social adaptive capacity, measured by the HDI.
Table 1: Comparing Water Stress Index (SWI) and Social Water Stress Index (SWSI)
f o r
t h e
N i l e
B a s i n
s t a t e s
Country:
Available Available WSI
renewable water per
Water
water
capita
Stress
Index
Human
Development
Index
Social
SWSI
resource
scarcity Social
Water
(rank)
Stress
Index
WSI
SWSI
(rank) (rank)
SWSI
rank
minus
WSI
rank
Egypt
58.10
936
11
0.614
65
17
17
20
3
Sudan
154.00
5,766
2
0.333
19
5
82
57
-25
Ethiopia
110.00
1,950
5
0.244
7
21
34
16
-18
Kenya
30.20
1,112
9
0.463
43
19
18
18
0
Uganda
66.00
3,352
3
0.328
18
9
58
36
-22
Tanzania 89.00
2,964
3
0.357
28
9
50
33
-17
Rwanda
6.30
1,215
8
0.187
2
44
22
10
-12
Burundi
3.60
594
17
0.247
8
68
13
6
-7
Standard hydrological
indicators
6
HDI
HDI taken to indicate social
adaptive capacity
Comparison between
water stress and social
water stress
Bo Appelgren and Leif Ohlsson: Water and Social Resource Scarcity,1998
12
MAU FOREST COMPLEX (KENYA)
The Mau Forest Complex is the most important of Kenya’s five
water towers, the source of water for 30 million people in Kenya
and Tanzania. It is the upper catchments of all but one of the main
rivers on the west side of the Rift Valley, including Nzoia, Yala,
Nyando, Sondu, Mara, Ewaso Ngiro (south), Naishi, Makalia,
Nderit, Njoro, Molo and Kerio that feed into six major lakesVictoria, Turkana, Baringo, Naivasha, Nakuru and Natron.
The Mau Forests Complex provides ecological services in river
flow regulation, flood mitigation, water storage, recharge of
groundwater, reduced soil erosion and siltation; water
purification, promoting biodiversity and the source of water for
Maasai Mara and Serengeti national parks in Kenya and
Tanzania.
The environmental services provided by the Mau Forests Complex support key economic sectors,
including: energy, tourism, agriculture (cash crops, subsistence crops, and livestock) as well as
water supply to urban centers and industries.
Micro‐climate regulation, Nutrient cycling and soil formation.
The market value of goods and services generated annually in the tea, tourism and energy sectors
alone to which the Mau Forests Complex has contributed, is in excess of Kshs 20 billion.
It has the potential to add 40% more hydropower of over 500 MW to Kenya’s electricity grid.
Illegal forest resource extraction for timber, charcoal and firewood; land encroachment leading to
conversion of forestland into
human settlements;
mismanagement of industrial
forest plantations that have
devastated indigenous trees,
fires and overgrazing have
severally damaged over 160,
000 hectares.
The consequences have
been catastrophic:
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Water resources: the main
aquifer in Nakuru (Kenya’s 4th
largest city) has been lowered
by 100 meters in 10 years;
Irregular flow on Sondu River making it impossible to run the hydropower plant at full capacity in the
dry seasons; the four main rivers feeding the Lake Nakuru were are now seasonal; the Mara River
level in the dry season is very low, threatening the river‐dependant wildlife in the Maasai Mara and
the Serengeti ecosystems
In Njoro area, 13 of the 32 streams have dried up completely mostly between 1996 and 2001. 27
other water sources or streams have also dried up completely in Elburgon, Kuresoi, Keringet,
Kiptagich and Ol Pusimoru areas (from Government of Kenya sources)
Numerous forest species including bamboo have been lost, wetlands degraded and the very critical
Lake Nakuru, Mara and Serengeti parks are threatened with extinction.
Interventions
IMPROVING INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PLAN
Mau Forests Complex Authority (MFCA) has been established to coordinate and oversee the
management of the complex. Economic sectors dependent Mau ecosystem services like water,
energy, tourism and wildlife, agriculture and forestry and other stakeholder are represented.
Vision 2030 Ecological requirements, existing strategic plans are being integrated in the
management plan. Information and data status are being updated. Critical catchment areas and
biodiversity hotspots have been prioritised for assessment and appropriate conservation strategies.
ESTABLISH & ENFORCE CATCHMENT BOUNDARIES, SECURE LAND TENURE;
 Assessment and delineation of catchment areas and biodiversity hotspots; demarcation of
legal boundaries and fencing off where significant human-wildlife conflicts could occur,.
 Improved systematic and routine monitoring to prevent new encroachment, charcoal burning
and tree felling that could further attenuate degradation process.
 Hydrological and biological hotspots were hence imperative in this context.
RELOCATION, RESETTLEMENT, LIVELIHOOD SUPPORT AND DEVELOPMENT
Despite the most intense political pressure even from some very senior government leaders, all
people living in the demarcated forest areas were relocated.
The State provided alternative land for resettlement and funds for improving livelihoods and new
land, while taking into consideration vulnerability of the people within the locations.
Water, food, shelter and energy were provided for relocated families as both a humanitarian
measure and to avoid potential resentment, alienation and further politicisation.
PUBLIC AWARENESS AND COMMUNITY SENSITIZATION
 The restoration process was to be done in consultation with local communities, who were to
prioritised to benefit through employment and improved access to ecosystem services
including water supply.
 Exploration of sustainable livelihood options with particular emphasis on employment
opportunities and payment for environmental services such as communities preparing tree
seedlings for sale to the program, with the balance secured through institutional nurseries.
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Rwanda’s Gold Medal: best reforestation program in the world
21 September 2011 – Rwanda today won a United Nations-backed gold award for its forest promotion
policies, an event that former United States track and field star Carl Lewis, himself a nine-time Olympic gold
winner and now UN Goodwill Ambassador, called more important than the many medals he has garnered.
Policies from the United States and Gambia were runners-up, winning joint silvers in the Future Policy Award
announced at UN Headquarters in New York by the World Future Council (WFC), a group of 50 respected
personalities from all five continents representing governments, parliaments, the arts, civil society, science
and business world.
The annual awards celebrate policies that create better living conditions for current and future generations,
and seek to raise global awareness and speed up action towards just, sustainable and peaceful societies.
This year’s topic was forests, with 16 entries from 20 countries, and the announcements took place under the
sponsorship of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
“Despite the genocide and continuing population and land pressures, Rwanda is one of only three countries in
Central and Western Africa to achieve a major reversal in the trend of declining forest cover and is on course
to achieving its goal of forest cover of 30 per cent of total land area by the year 2020,” WFC Director
Alexandra Wandel said in announcing the gold medal for the country’s national forest policy, initiated in 2004.
“The Government of Rwanda has taken a lead in developing visionary forest policy but also bio-diversity
conservation, ecotourism, green jobs.”
Forest cover has increased by 37 per cent since 1990, massive reforestation and planting that promote
indigenous species and involve the local population have been undertaken, and new measures such as agroforestry and education have been implemented.
“I kind of know about awards, I’ve had a few myself and I think it’s much more important that we talk about this
award because it affects everyone,” said Mr. Lewis, a Goodwill Ambassador for FAO who in his sporting
career won 10 Olympic medals, nine of them gold, and 10 World Championships medals, eight of them gold.
“It talks about reforestation and overcoming hunger. So I’m delighted to make the Future Policy Award more
well-known and to carry out some of the inspiriting energy of the Olympic spirit that I’ve had in the past. So I
hope that all of you can be inspired to do what you can in your communities and in your forests to make your
worlds a better place.”7
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?newsid=39661#.UYpAg5LfrIU
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7
Northern Peru: High Value Agroforestry for mountain zone8
Sisa river basin lies in the coffee and cocoa producing zones. The rural families that cultivate these
crops actually come the country’s poorest and most highly populated regions use slash-and-burn
agriculture. Farm sizes are between one and three hectares, with low productivity that resulted in
poor quality of and with heavy post-harvest practices. Large parts of forest were cleared for largescale corn and cotton production that quickly drain the rainforest soils of nutrients, leading to
demand for new agricultural land. The result was high rates of logging, increasing the risk of
flooding, mudslides, soil erosion and biodiversity losses. Both global climate change and these
practices themselves are having significant impacts on the microclimate in the river basin. More
intense rains and prolonged periods of drought are accelerating desertification processes, putting
the livelihoods of coffee and cocoa farmers at risk.
In response to these challenges, Soluciones Prácticas initiated a two-year agroforestry project in
2006, working in partnership with 300 small-scale coffee and cocoa producers, local NGO Capirona
and the Oro Verde Cooperative.
LESSONS LEARNT:
Integrate environmental conservation into local economic development
objectives. The project re-introduced the natural forest environment into local production systems
and taught farmers how to benefit from planting multi-strata native tree varieties on their land. By
demonstrating the direct links between biodiversity and soil conservation with a higher quality
product, farmers were motivated to take up other complimentary practices such as applying organic
fertilisers.
Consequently, the project not only led to improvements in local environmental conditions, but also
supported farmers to increase their income levels. Agroforestry therefore represents a key strategy
for addressing the main challenges of climate change in mountain areas while also providing
economic incentives for farmers and policymakers.
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Innovative Mountain Adaptation: A Case Study in Agroforestry’s Economic, Environmental and Social
Benefits: Evidence & Lessons for Latin America
8
Capitalise on local knowledge. Farmers provided vital information on local biodiversity
including the range, uses – such as food or medicinal - and production methods of different native
forest species. This knowledge was used to design farm management plans that could be
implemented at a low cost and with locally available materials.
Open-up access to international markets. The two crops promoted in the project – the
African coffee bean and the American cocoa bean – were selected based on international market
demand and suitability to local conditions, including both current and anticipated impacts of climate
change. Furthermore, by integrating the agroforestry and cooperative production models, two niche
markets – organic and fair trade – were also opened up for local producers who were certified as
meeting required standards.
Promoting producer associations to increase competitiveness. Although coffee and
cocoa production in northern Peru is dominated by small-scale farmers, international markets
demand high quality and quantity of production that cannot be achieved if these farmers continue to
work individually. To meet these challenges, the project promoted farmer membership in the Oro
Verde Cooperative which improved technical capacity and commercial viability of small-scale
production.
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