Vital signs provide data for Dar`s pioneering climate resilience plan

BabuK · 2014-08-31T17:45:00+00:00

Vital Signs, a monitoring system led by Conservation International (CI), is co-hosting an event on Monday, at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF). During the meeting, Tanzanias Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives (MAFC) will present their unique partnership and show how Vital Signs integrated data and indicators support Tanzanias agriculture climate resilience plan. Vital Signs, a system that tracks agriculture, ecosystems and human well-being to inform development decisions, is led by CI in partnership with the Earth Institute, Columbia University and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Africa, and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Tanzania developed the pilot for Vital Signs in 2010, and the country partner Tanzania Forest Conservation Group leads the system on the ground in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics. Vital Signs collects data that measures the benefits farmers receive from nature that help them maintain resilient livelihoods; like clean water, soil nutrients, and wild foods. It provides data and decision-support tools to help governments, smallholder farmers and others understand how to make more sustainable choices and become resilient to climate variability and shocks. At the event, the MAFC will introduce its Agriculture Climate Resilience Plan, presenting a strategy for sustainable agricultural development in the face of climate change. The strategy includes risk assessment, key investments and implementation. Vital Signs data and indicators will support the implementation of the Tanzanian strategy, and are essential tools to help policy makers in Africa and around the world make informed decisions about pursuing agricultural intensification sustainably. Climate change will continue to put pressure on our farmers, and that is why we have developed this resilience plan, said Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Cooperatives, Honorable Christopher Chiza. Using the information that Vital Signs provides to help us implement our plan gives us the advantage of making more informed decisions. Together, we can serve as a model for other East African countries as they develop their own climate resilience strategies. He added Agriculture is a critical sector for Africas economy; it is the mainstay of most livelihoods and the generator behind a large percentage of GDP. In Tanzania, it contributes up to 25 percent of the GDP, and 30 percent of exports. But the effects of climate change rising temperatures, erosion, diminished access to fresh water, loss of pollinators threaten important growth in this sector, as well as the lives of small-holder farmers. Vital Signs was designed to help people be more resilient better adapt, grow and thrive while dealing with the mounting threats from climate change, said Sandy Andelman, CIs Senior Vice President and Executive Director of Vital Signs. Its use to support Tanzania on the national level can help small-holder farmers maintain their livelihoods, and allow Tanzanias agriculturally based economy to address the challenges of climate variability. He added. A real life example of a Tanzanian farmer struggling with climate variability is Churi Kimbawala a mother, wife and farmer who grows rice, farms fish and tends beehives in Mangula B Village in the Kilombero Valley. She is one of two billion small-holder farmers who depend on nature for their livelihoods Kimbawala depends on healthy ecosystems to support her family, but is finding that unpredictable rain patterns are threatening her way of life. Already working in Tanzania and Ghana and starting in Uganda, Vital Signs has proven to be a vital tool for CI in collaborating and partnering with governments, other nongovernmental organizations, the academic community, the private sector and key international partners in guiding agricultural development that is sustainable for people and nature. Small-holder farmers dont rely on just one crop or commodity there are many ways their farms are supported by the natural landscape around them, said Cheryl Palm, Senior Research Scientist and Director of Research at the Earth Institute, Columbia University. The information that Vital Signs provides can be used by farming communities for making decisions that will increase yields while continuing to utilize benefits from healthy ecosystems. Following the presentation of the MAFC and Vital Signs partnership for climate resilience, representatives from East African Ministries of Agriculture will be joined by high-level Vital Signs partners on a panel to discuss the Tanzania Agriculture Climate Resilience Plan and its relevance for other countries. During the discussion, the parties will share experiences on planning for agricultural climate resilience. Through an innovative pilot project with the government and national partners in 2010, Tanzania developed the model for Vital Signs, an open access, transparent monitoring system. It was scaled in 2012 to include Ghana and Uganda with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Conservation International (CI). Vital Signs provides near real-time data and diagnostic tools to people around the world to guide agricultural decisions and monitor their outcomes. It fills a critical need for integrated measurements of agriculture, ecosystem services and human well-being, and is creating a gold standard environmental monitoring system. SOURCE: GUARDIAN ON SUNDAY

Thread starter BabuK
Start date Aug 31, 2014

BabuK

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Vital signs provide data for Dar`s pioneering climate resilience plan

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