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In recent decades, global food security has come under increasing pressure from a growing global population, changing diets, declining ocean health, and depleting natural resources among many other factors. This has exacerbated agriculture’s vulnerability to climate change as effects range from increased temperatures, floods, and invasive crop pests and diseases. Climate change has significantly reduced crop yields and the nutritional value of major staple crops as well as lowering livestock productivity. According to Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security, agriculture and food production contribute up to 29% of global greenhouse gas emissions whereas according to the world bank, 1/3 of this global production results in loss or waste.
Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an integrated approach to help managers of agricultural systems respond effectively to climate change. It involves managing landscapes (farmland, livestock, fisheries & forests) to help adapt agricultural practices to the ongoing climate change and where possible. This approach aims to counteract greenhouse gas emissions where possible, while simultaneously taking into consideration a growing global population and food security.
CSA has three (3) pillars which are often referred to as objectives or outcomes;
- Increased sustainable productivity & incomes
- Enhanced adaptation and resilience to Climate Change
- Reduced emissions
Climate-Smart Agriculture in Kenya
The government of Kenya in partnership with the World Bank has undertaken the Kenya Climate-Smart Agriculture Project (KCSAP). An overview of the KCSAP website indicates that the project is being implemented over a five-year period (2017-2022) and is expected to benefit approximately 552,000 households of smallholder farmers, agro-pastoralists and pastoralists directly, 340,000 households benefiting from county–level and public-private partnership investments, and over 600 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
Smart Tea in Kenya: A WE4F – CBES Partnership
Being ranked 3rd in global black tea production by tonnage, the tea industry is a major contributor to Kenya’s national income and employment.
Climate Change has begun affecting Kenya’s tea production negatively. Shifts in temperatures and rainfall patterns in tea-growing zones could affect the quality and yield of the country’s major export. Apart from poor yields, the tea sector in Kenya is a major employer, contributing to about 3 million jobs directly and indirectly. A negative impact of climate change on the sector could upend jobs with the changes making it increasingly difficult for producers to move to new uncultivated regions.
Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) is an international initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the European Union (EU), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Netherlands, Sweden through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). A review of their website reveals that the initiative capitalizes on learnings from past grand challenges focused on environmentally sustainable innovations aimed at improving energy and water efficiency in the agriculture sector.
The Centre for BiomassEnergyStudies (CBES) is an autonomous, self-sustaining body under the Dedan Kimathi University of Technology’s GREEN Institute. CBES specializes in research and development (R&D) in biomass bio-chemical conversion technologies, biomass thermal-chemical conversion technologies, biomass-based chemical production technologies, waste treatment technologies/circular production/economy, and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) technologies.
WE4F and CBES have partnered in the implementation of a two-year project supporting water and energy efficiency measures in selected tea factories, and circular economy models for tea processing. The project is aimed at the reduction of water and energy usage during tea processing. This will conserve forests and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
These aims will be achieved through the development of a low-tech wood seasoning shade, energy and water management solutions, and an Internet of Things (IoT) integrated technology. For the production of optimal wood fuel, the seasoning shade will adopt the greenhouse tunnel design while the IoT integrated technology will adopt Smart Metering and assessment of water consumption. The metering technology will be used to capture real-time data of different parameters monitored during the seasoning process such as humidity, temperature, and wind speed. This data will form the basis for the analysis of seasoning techniques.
Such integration of greenhouse tunnel design and smart metering technology targets to reduce energy and water consumption, resulting in lower production costs and improved profitability for the tea factories.