EIAR Girma Mamo

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CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION AND AFRICAN AGRICULTURE GRANTEE CONVENING

24-25 February 2011

Making Ethiopian Agriculture Climate Resilient: Towards Networking and Coordination to Mainstream Climate Change Adapataion into Food Security and Sustaiable Developemnt

Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR)

Girma Mamo, Principal Investigator

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Brief Background of EIAR

The Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) has evolved through several stages since its first initiation during the late 1940s.

The establishment of the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) in 1966 saw the first nationally coordinated national agric-research system (NARS)

NARS

EIAR+ Regional Agricultural Research Institutes (RARIs) + Higher Learning Institutions (HLIs)

EIAR -- overall coordination of agricultural research countrywide advising Gov’t on agric-research

policy and practices NARS -- 55 research centers across various agro-ecological zones. variation in experience, human

and facility. Few research centers -- one or more sub-centers and testing sites.

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Prime responsibility to address climate issues in Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP)

Core value of EIAR. Better position in terms of technically capable manpower in climate science

Brief Background of EIAR

Directorate Technical Man Power

PhD MSc/MA BSc/BA/BEd Total

Crop 48 108 76 232

Livestock 7 56 37 100

Forestry 9 27 21 57

Soil and

Water 11 35 48 94

Agricultural

Mechanization 0 5 7 12

Total 75 231 189 495

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Other projects on Climate Change Adaptation

Project Title Ongoing /new Funder/s

1. Integrated Technologies to mitigate drought and increase smallholder sorghum productivity

Ongoing

ASARECA

2. Linking seasonal climate outlook and weather info into food security under rain-fed cropping

Ongoing

World Bank

3. Assessing vulnerability and exploring best options

12 new Government

4. Making the best of climate variability in agriculture

Ongoing

ASARECA

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Objectives of the Rockefeller Foundation Grant

1. To form a consortium that ensures networking among climate and agriculture institutions for mainstreaming climate change adaptations Capacity building

2. To develop a standard methodological tool for monitoring progresses from mainstreaming of CCA and sustain the impact beyond the project life Scalability/Sustainability

3. To assess vulnerability (social, economic and environmental) and map impacts Science

4. To create relevant climate risk adaptation policies and practices suited to effective networking Policy

5. To develop institutional capacity for technology dissemination, uptake and impact pathways to enhance climate change adaptations Technology/communication/impact

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Key Activities

1. Coordination and networking: Seven key climate-agriculture institutions with common goals have formed alliance

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EIAR has taken the precedence in mainstreaming CCA, not only into its own system, but also in bridging the other key climate-

agriculture institutions

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Table:Working groups by objectives

matrices in CCA mainstreaming

Pillars Working

Group Objectives

1 2 3 4 5

Capacity Building 1

Scalability/Sustainability 2

Science/Knowledge/info 3

Policy and Strategy 4

Technology-communication 5

Piloting Seasonal Climate

Outlook: The Case of CBA

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Technology-Methods of crop

monitoring & yield estimation

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Communication 8

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Developing M & E Tool: Logical Framework Matrix

Narrative

Summary

Objectively

verifiable

indicator

Means of

Verification

Important

Assumptions

(external)

Goal

Purposes

Outputs

Activities

Key activities

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2. Capacity building for effective mainstreaming

Short term training Climate change vulnerability and risk mapping

Climate change impact assessment

Long term training Climate & development oriented courses institutionalization and accreditation

MSc students

Procurement Computing facilities, including for Farmers Training Centers

Development of commutation tools

Social Media, Own Web page RANET (Radio Internet)

Key Activities Continued

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4. Climate change policy formulation

Policy gap analyses for agriculture sector Policy gaps analyses on climate data use Build on existing policy documents on agriculture and climate data use

5. Adaptation technology & communication mainstreaming

Assess project activities for climate risk management Identification of adaptation options Prioritize adaptation options Select best adaptation options Evaluation of adaptation options (convene workshops) Redefine the conceptual framework of NMA-Research- Extension-

Farmers linkage

Key Activities Continued

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Highlight on the Progress to date

The seven-step Project level CCA mainstreaming tool in place

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Higher Learning Institutions level entry points for mainstreaming CCA in place

Highlight on the Progress to date

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Farmers Training Centers (FTCs) level entry point for mainstreaming CCA in place

Highlight on the Progress to date

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Communication Tool Among Partners

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Training Specific area No of trainees

Short term • Climate change adaptation related project proposal writing 20

•Focal Personnel in climate change impact assessment and downscaling of GCM outputs

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•Experts from NARS and Arba Minch University in using RegCM 4.1 for downscaling (Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics)

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•Training on Social Media 15

•Sensitization workshop for community at 4 EIAR research centers

900

•Sensitization workshop for environmental clubs in 4 High Schools

200

Long Term MSc students in climate science 15 + 6

Resource persons (international) offering courses at Arba Minch University expressed commitment

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Highlight on the Progress to date

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Challenges

Currently, initiatives are many across a wide ranging institutions,

However, climate change is such a complex challenge that, neither research nor development efforts can solve its adverse impacts in isolation

In Ethiopian context, with almost virtually rain-fed system, agriculture will continue to take the lead in the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) of the nation over the coming 5 years

But, existing adaptation options can not carry this

ambitious plan:

Poor networking and coordination Poor institutional capacity to analyze climate

vulnerability and risks Poor technology, Poor financial backup Poor infrastructure

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NARS can not have any priority agenda than considering climate as a variable or treatment , largely in translating forecast products into technologies and best practices Clearly, adaptation to the constraint in point will require new level of thinking and technologies (Business as usual can not be the way forward) Re-positioning the existing technologies in response to ensuing opportunities (dismantling the system and resynthesis in a new way). Government funded research projects identified to make the best entry point in mainstreaming CCA in the research

Lessons Learnt

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Climate science courses structuring and accreditation identified to make the best entry point in mainstreaming CCA in higher learning institutions The need for graduation of institutions for mainstreaming CCA The identified explicit expectations from the project partner institutions will solve part of the problems, while EIAR as the project coordination office will make extra efforts to realize the anticipated success

Lessons Learnt

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Emerging Opportunities for Collaboration

Opportunities are also many, especially since the time is right and ripe to confront climate change through networking, and that, international donors are demonstrating great interest.

Opportunity of expanding (scaling out) the project idea and practices to Rockefeller Foundation grant receiving countries in East Africa

Strong commitment from African governments on climate change

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Next steps

Enhancing analytical capacity in CC vulnerability and impact mapping

Building on existing farmers capacities

Working towards the graduation of partner institutions for mainstreaming CCA

Building on existing policies in climate and agriculture

Strengthening communication tools in reaching out the farmers

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Acknowledgement

We would like to thank the Rockefeller Foundation for funding the project

EIAR for capacity building efforts