Technologies to enhance and monitor soil carbon for Africa
Healthy soil is critical for productive agriculture in Africa. To address declining health, countries are sharing knowledge and learning about new technologies.
Elizabeth Mwangi
Elizabeth supports the implementation of CTCN capacity building activities for African countries to build their climate resilience and adopt to low carbon development. She is based at World Agroforestry’s headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. She has a Master of Arts in Environmental Policy and a Bachelor of Science in Meteorology. Elizabeth has experience in research and projects on monitoring and evaluation. Prior to joining CTCN, she worked as a project manager in Integrated Green World Solutions where her project portfolio included environment and climate change and previously with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) as a Research and M&E associate.
The potential of agroforestry to enhance Land Degradation Neutrality: case study from Tanzania
Researchers highlight how the ngitili agroforestry system aids land restoration, in a new publication for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
SHARED knowledge to promote sustainable woodfuel
Workshops in Tanzania to better understand the context of woodfuel (charcoal and firewood) systems and plan for sustainable interventions brought together communities, governments, NGOs and businesses in three regions. We have just returned from Tanzania where we witnessed...
GEF-funded program on resilient food security targets smallholder farmers in 12 African countries
Africa’s population is expected to double from 1.26 billion today to over two and half billion by 2050, little more than 30 years from now. At the same time, land degradation, loss of biodiversity and the effects of...
Two books launched at ICRAF Science Week 2016
Two books — one on traditional plant-based medicine for livestock, and another on greenhouse gas measurements— were officially launched at ICRAF Science Week 2016, 5–9 September. Kimutai Maritim, the Assistant Director of Veterinary Services in Kenya, was the...
Success factors for land and water management in Africa
At present, large expanses of land in rural Africa are degraded as a result of over extraction of trees for timber, firewood and charcoal. The problem is exacerbated by poor crop and animal husbandry practices, such as growing...
A new guide to traditional plant-based medicines for livestock in East Africa
A wide range of medicinal plants are used to treat diseases and health conditions in animals. A new manual documents these ethnoveterinary practices in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, and describes 53 of the plants used. It looks...
For more and better-quality food production, take care of pollinators
The evidence is clear: For big gains in crop production, our landscapes must become more hospitable to some of the planet’s littlest creatures— its pollinators. Bees, birds, butterflies, moths and some small mammals transfer pollen from flower to...
Multipurpose trees help Tanzania smallholders build a resilient farming system
Winnie Saigodi, a mother of five, from Moleti village in Kongwa District, Tanzania, had long given up on ever harvesting any meaningful produce from her one acre farm. ‘I completely lost hope because for five years, I hardly harvested...
The right tree for the right place: vegetationmap4africa v2 includes smartphone app
Tree enthusiasts on the move can now identify species as they go, and at the same time gain a deeper understanding of their natural environment, thanks to a new version of vegetationmap4africa (www.vegetationmap4africa.org). The new version of the...
Using science to support the development of climate-smart agriculture in East Africa
The connection between food security and climate change cannot be understated. Governments, development organizations and scientists are teaming up to search for solutions to address this challenge. In the process, the concept of climate-smart agriculture has emerged as...