Activiteit

Thu 4 July: Next PhD discussion meeting on Agriculture-Climate-Forests-Food

This session Kitinya Kirina will present the methodology of his PhD concerning the impact of climate smart agricultural (CSA) interventions on climate resilience of different value chains and farming systems in East Africa. Kirina asks the group for input on several discussion points.

Climate change(CC) has been identified as a major risk to agriculture, land and water resources in the East Africa region. In response, Climate Smart Agriculture(CSA) provides a means to adapting to climate change, making farming systems and value chains resilient and sustainable. CSA also has a potential for CC mitigation and has been promoted by developmental organisations and government agencies for those reasons. However, there is still dearth of information surrounding CSA practices and in particular their impact on large scale application on agricultural and ecosystem. This study will assess the impact of large scale application of CSA through a value chain lense. This requires that the research is embedded on stakeholder engagement framework. The key objective of the study is to assess the implication of large scale CSA application and its effect on crop performance and the resulting resilience to climate shocks and ecosystem sustainability. Crop models (WOFOST) and hydrological model(VIC) will be integrated to form a system for better assessment. The integrated modelling framework be used to assess the impact of CC on crop performance under CSA practices on a regional scale and the effect on water balance and trade-offs thereof.

Discussion points:

Can we see climate adaptation as a business? What is needed and why?
Are the current Climate Smart Agriculture Practices against climate change or climate vulnerability?
Modelling climate change impact in small holder and limited data terrain. How to overcome the challenges?

We welcome any PhD, postdoc or researcher who is interested in REDD+ and CSA research and/or topics related to agriculture, climate, forests and food to join this discussion meeting. Registration is not necessary. Please forward this invitation to anybody who might be interested.

The PhD Discussion group on Agriculture – Climate – Forests – Food is an acknowledged discussion group operating under the Graduate Schools PE&RC and WASS, and is open to all PhD candidates. PhD candidates can obtain TSP credits for their active participation.

We are also looking for speakers for future meetings. Do you have something you would like to present to the group? You are welcome to present results, methods or concepts. Please get in touch to discuss a suitable time to present.

Do you want to be added to the email list of the PhD discussion group? Please contact Astrid Bos (astrid.bos@wur.nl)

For more information on the REDD@WUR network, please contact Astrid Bos (astrid.bos@wur.nl) or visit the webpage.
For more information on the CSA@WUR network please contact csa.wur@wur.nl.