The main goal of the MICCA project, which started in 2010, is to support efforts to mitigate climate change through agriculture in developing countries and move towards carbon friendly agricultural practices. The project has 5 components: better knowledge
As cloud computing becomes more common and demands on the internet grow, major companies hosting online services are using more and more energy for their data centers. This report looks at the contribution of cloud computing to climate change and what can
Effective disaster response demands rapid access to reliable and accurate data and the
capacity to assess, analyse and integrate information from varied sources. ICTs can
obviously help, and this paper focuses on the role of ICTs in reducing the impacts of
acute climate-related events. The centrality of the community in effective disaster
management is argued while acknowledging the important role of governments, donors,
businesses, epistemic communities and NGOs. Some ICT applications in
hydrometeorological disasters are described. That the majority of applications are
funded externally raises concerns about further dependency and unsustainability but
the paper argues there are grounds for optimism.
Developing country farmers are facing tough decisions that can either hinder or strengthen their ability to cope and adapt to the challenges posed by the changing climate.
Experiences from the field suggest that “environment related information ranks high in the needs of rural populations in developing countries” (Karanasios, 2011, Panchard et al., 2007), and that the increasing diffusion of technologies such as mobile phones provides a potentially powerful platform for the dissemination of relevant information.
But the availability of information is not enough to foster processes of adaptation and change.
Could Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) such as cell phones, the Internet and related applications help to strengthen farmers’ decision making and to adapt more effectively to the impacts of climate change?
By providing farmers with information at critical points in the growing season, the project aimed to help rural communities manage the risks associated with variable rainfall.
Effective communication of information has been a major factor in this project. Climate information is processed by a working group into 10-day bulletins and 3-day weather forecasts. The former are given to national policy makers working on food security, and are broadcast through television and radio. The weather forecasts are downscaled to target regions and broadcast in local languages by radio stations, enabling them to reach rural farmers. However, obstacles still remain, such as low literacy among farmers and difficulties in translating technical terms into local languages.
A Maarifa centre is a room or a ‘fabricated shipping container’ where communities access information resources. The centre is equipped with computers and internet access. It is an information hub where local knowledge is documented by communities with the support of field officers and shared widely.
A Maarifa centre also has a rich information resource base that includes publications, newsletters, research reports and electronically stored information that includes CD ROMs, audiovisual material and compendiums. The ICT equipment enhances information access via the Internet, content creation and skills development among rural communities. Maarifa centres are operated by field officers employed by ALIN. An advisory committee drawn from a focal group oversees the Maarifa center operations in collaboration with the field officer.
The "Enhancing Women's Assets to Manage Risk under Climate Change: Potential for Group-Based Approaches" project explores ways to contribute to poverty reduction in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (especially Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Mali) through helping poor women farmers and pastoralists manage risks and adapt to climate change as a result of more effective programs to protect or strengthen women’s control over critical assets, including natural and social capital, and/or increased returns to those assets. The project is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany.
"The InfoClim project, which distributes climate data to local communities, has helped Senegalese farmers adapt to climate change. "
ITU launched a project on ICTs and climate change in Ghana which would be based on two pillars. The first would look at how ICTs could be used to help Ghana adapt to the effects of climate change, and would be led by the ministry of communications and sponsored by Research in Motion (RIM). The second, which would be led by Ghana's Environment Protection Agency (EPA) with sponsorship from Vodafone Ghana, would look at how telecommunications in Ghana could reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). This project would pilot, for the first time, the ITU methodology on environmental assessment for the ICT sector.
In Africa, where half the continent’s population uses a mobile phone, people now have unprecedented access to information via their handsets. The Guardian recently reported on the multiple ways mobile phones have catalysed innovation, including in the farming sector. For example, farmers from isolated areas can access weather information via text messages (SMS) or phone calls, to prepare for upcoming drought spells, heavy rain or floods.
The CGIAR Climate program has just published a report on climate information services in West Africa.
In March 2009, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) joined together in a strategic program to advance innovative policies designed to help the poor benefit from climate change mitigation and improved market access. Results from the field are already pouring in.
The overall goal of the IFAD–IFPRI Strategic Partnership Program is to provide rural poor people, particularly women, with better access to new market opportunities and the capacity to take advantage of them. Access to markets for high-value agricultural products and opportunities related to climate change mitigation, such as carbon sequestration, are especially important. This goal presents two distinct challenges, but each could potentially improve incomes and decrease the vulnerabilities of the poor in many countries.
Four countries have been selected to share in this venture: Ghana, Morocco, Mozambique, and Vietnam.
AfricaAdapt is an independent bilingual network (French/English) focused exclusively on Africa. The Network’s aim is to facilitate the flow of climate change adaptation knowledge for sustainable livelihoods between researchers, policy makers, civil society organisations and communities who are vulnerable to climate variability and change across the continent.
The Adaptation Fund has been established by the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to finance concrete adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries that are Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
TECA is a platform where small producers can find practical information – agricultural technologies and practices – to help them in the field. Using TECA, they can interact with people with similar interests and discuss sustainable solutions for their work in the online forums ("Exchange Groups"). Users can find technologies and practices in crop production, forestry, livestock, fisheries, marketing and more. Some of them can also help to adapt to climate change. TECA technologies are tested and/or adopted by small producers, easy to replicate, expected to increase production in a sustainable way.
The e-learning tool "Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change" offers interactive learning sessions and practical resources for training on climate change adaptation in rural communities. Four thematic modules structured in 24 sessions, introduce basic concepts, participatory tools, analytical steps and working approaches using field examples from various regions of the world, as well as practical examples.
Small-scale farmers in arid African countries are learning new techniques to help them adapt to climate change. Stone Lines and Fanya Juu are two sustainable land management technologies that have a proven track record in Africa. Watch these films to find out more.
This paper describes the potential role innovative agricultural practices and technologies can play in climate change mitigation and adaptation and aims to address the question: what policy and institutional changes are needed to encourage the innovation and diffusion of these practices and technologies to developing countries?
The platfom weADAPT is based on the idea that in order to realise effective adaptation it is necessary to learn from each other’s experiences in adaptation and develop guidance on the process of adaptation. WeADAPT is an interactive space for reading about, discussing and contributing to current thinking and experience on climate adaptation, with contributions from different individuals and groups. The wiki is a key component of the WeADAPT collaboration, and contains core themes on Framing Adaptation, Risk Monitoring, Decision Screening, and Communication, as well as different tools and methods, worked examples and useful external links to aid adaptation.
This table seeks to identify key references that integrate ICTs, Climate Change and Development, and will be updated as new publications become available. Resources have been organized chronologically, according to their publication year, and alphabetically, according to their title.
This Web site provides online guidance, research knowledge and networking about ICTs' relation to climate change mitigation, monitoring, strategy and adaptation in developing countries.