Saluting Women Researchers in Climate Change! |
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Climate change has an immense impact on women and girls in Africa where reliance on natural resources for livelihood and survival is especially pronounced. To compound the matter, the link between gender equity and climate is often overlooked in the search for solutions to the climate challenges.
In this issue, we celebrate women leading climate action on the continent by profiling seven luminaries of the Mawazo Network, from those driving change in academia, energy, social justice and health, to the ones on the front line of addressing climate change related issues. Read more about some of the truly inspirational individuals playing a collective role in climate research.
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Advocate for Social Justice and Health Systems |
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“I believe that there is an interplay between genetics and the environment and as a genetic engineer myself, I understand the role of climate change in the genetic mutations over time.”
Miriam Laiser (2023 Mawazo Fellow)
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Miriam’s work in climate change is through a social justice and health lens, especially focusing on the interplay between climate change and the rising number of cases of communicable and non-communicable diseases such as neurodevelopmental disorders.
In her work, Miriam has noted an increase in the number of children born and diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders in recent years and is exploring whether it has something to do with climate change.
“I believe that it is an interplay between genetics and the environment and as a genetic engineer myself, I understand the role of climate change in the genetic mutations over time,” she says. For Miriam, climate discussions mean a lot as it helps to explain the causes of the alarming rate of autism spectrum disorders diagnosis and prevalence in recent years.
“I am participating in the discussion by furthering my research agenda to ascertain the link between climate change, environmental pollution and the rising number of autism spectrum disorders and other neurodevelopmental disabilities.” Findings from her research will empower people to be aware and more intentional in embracing green living and climate-positive growths.
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Strong Supporter of Drought Early Warning Systems |
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“Assessing the use of drought early warning systems in the Horn of Africa, is critical for saving lives, reducing economic losses, building resilience, and adapting to the challenges posed by climate change.”
Jacinta Kinyunzu (2023 Mawazo Fellow)
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Drought early warning strategies are an integral part of the broader climate change discussion as they contribute to resilience, adaptation, and awareness, while also providing data and support for policy development and international cooperation.
Jacinta’s efforts contribute significantly towards this end, as climate change continues to affect weather patterns and increase the risk of droughts, making early warning strategies even more critical in minimising the adverse impacts on communities and ecosystems.
She is helping in designing drought early warning systems to monitor and predict the onset and severity of droughts, providing information that can help communities, governments, and organisations prepare for and mitigate the impacts of droughts. “Assessing the use of drought early warning systems in the Horn of Africa, therefore, becomes critical for saving lives, reducing economic losses, building resilience, and adapting to the challenges posed by climate change.” she says.
The input by Jacinta and others working in this area ensures that resources are used efficiently and that the systems remain effective in the face of evolving conditions. Regular evaluations are essential for the continued success of these systems and for the well-being of the region's populations.
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Examining Climate and Humanity’s Impact on Biodiversity |
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Human population expansion is associated with land-use changes, altering the earth’s biomes, and giving rise to a new era referred to as the Anthropocene. By the year 2000, changes in land cover had led to the destruction of 88 percent of global primary vegetation, especially due to intensified agriculture and urbanisation. It also led to the loss of up to 40 per cent of species in some of the most biologically diverse areas globally.
Nanchin Winifred is pursuing her PhD in Zoology at the University of Jos in Nigeria and her research crucially focusses on how urbanisation and agricultural intensification affect biodiversity, specifically bird species composition and distribution in Nigeria. This is because they form a very important component of human land-use activities. Due to aggravated anthropogenic landscape transformation, a reduction in habitat availability and quality for species is expected.
“There are implications of climate and anthropogenic land-use change on bird species composition and distribution in Nigeria,” she explains.
Winifred has successfully published a paper titled ‘Local human population increase in the non-breeding areas of long-distance migrant bird species is only weakly associated with their declines, even for synanthropic species.’
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Climate-Smart Agriculture is the Way to Increase Food Security |
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“Assessing climate-smart agricultural options for rain-fed small-scale farmers in data-limited areas of South Africa is critical.”
Luleka Dlamini (2023 Fellow)
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Climate change and variability are major contributors to the continued rise in global food crisis. More than 500 million small-scale farms and some 750 million extremely poor people who depend on the agricultural sector are vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
In the southern African region, agriculture particularly plays a critical role in the economies of most countries. Luleka is a PhD student in Environmental and Geographical Science at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and working as an adjunct lecturer at Stellenbosch University.
Luleka’s research focuses on Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA), as a solution to the twin challenges of food security and unprecedented climate change and variability.
There are increasing efforts to on-board the benefits of remote sensing (RS) data access combined with crop models’ (CM) simulation capacity to improve crop growth accuracy and yield estimations.
Luleka’s study seeks to answer the question: To what extent can the integration of RS and CMs be used to explore and assess CSA practices that can sustainably increase crop yield of rain-fed small-scale farming systems in marginal and data-limited areas?
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Sustainable Agriculture Systems Champion! |
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“The climate discussion through the recent Africa Climate Summit, means awareness among all stakeholders. The African voice counts! It means positioning all stakeholders in their rightful position to complete the cycle.”
Edna Muthamia (2021 Mawazo Fellow)
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Edna is a researcher in Horticulture, a university tutor, a sustainable Agriculture systems auditor, and a champion for sustainable Agriculture production. In Kenya, Agriculture is a key income earner and has continued to advance in the recent past to maximise production as well as profitability. Her work involves exploring climate-smart Agricultural production systems that support sustainable production and consumption.
She says, “The climate discussion through the recent Africa Climate Summit, means awareness among all stakeholders. The African voice counts! It means positioning all stakeholders in their rightful position to complete the cycle.” Agricultural production is multi-disciplinary and connects so many players on the web. Edna believes that bringing everyone to the table is the only way to ensure meaningful and informed change.
For her part, Edna is “interacting with stakeholders seeking opportunities for multidisciplinary research and innovations that benefit Agricultural producers at all levels. And especially with producers to identify gaps that can be addressed through research, innovation and/or capacity building.”
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Environmental Governance in Climate Change |
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“I actively engage in climate discourses through research, teaching, and community outreach, and or stakeholder engagement. I leverage workshops, conferences, and media to promote awareness about climate change’s complex interactions with other issues and collective action.”
Dr. Lilian Namuma S. Kong’ani (2021 Mawazo Fellow) and Postdoc Fellow, University of Cape Town
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Dr. Kong’ani’s work primarily revolves around environmental governance and informs critical decision-making processes for development and addressing environmental issues such as climate change, advancing local and global development goals and planetary health.
According to Dr. Kong’ani, climate discussion remains essential in environmental governance as it entails influencing policies, strategies, actions, fostering sustainability, and addressing climate change and its impacts on ecosystems and communities.
Good governance is crucial for effective climate action especially in Africa, which is struggling with extreme weather events leading to severe hunger, economic losses exceeding USD 200 billion, eco-migration, conflicts, and increased mortality from climate change effects. But she believes Africa is making commendable progress in addressing climate change despite its low global greenhouse gas emissions. The continent has developed crucial legal frameworks and strategic plans and is currently transiting to renewable energy.
Dr. Konga’ani believes Africa can ‘leverage its resources and innovation to address climate change effectively’ since it already enjoys political cooperation evident in initiatives like the recent Africa Climate Summit.
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Building Resilience and Improving Adaptive Capacity |
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Livestock production is a key source of livelihood for more than one-third of the world’s population and accounts for about 40 percent of the global agricultural Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (FAO, 2021).
In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the livestock subsector has the potential to deliver agricultural–led growth and socio-economic transformation envisioned in the African Union (AU) Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Africa Agriculture Growth and Transformation (FAO, 2021).
“My work aims at building resilience and improving adaptive capacity to climate change among the livestock farmers,” Evaline explains.
In Kenya, livestock is a key source of livelihood for over 10 million people mainly found in the ASALs region where around 75 percent of the total livestock is kept (Republic of Kenya, 2021).
Climate change and agriculture are influencing each other in very profound ways. Climate change significantly reduces agricultural output on the other hand, agricultural activities lead to GHGs emissions. Climate conversations in this area now focus on how to avoid the risks associated with climate change.
Evaline’s contribution will make the sector more sustainable while adapting to climate change as well as meeting the growing demand of livestock products in response to increase in population and change of consumption patterns.
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2021 Mawazo Fellows Publish Papers |
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Yvonne Githiora |
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2021 Mawazo Fellow Yvonne Githiora has published a second paper from her PhD research on “Perceptions, trends and adaptation to Climate Change in Yala wetland, Kenya.”
She credits the Mawazo Institute for enabling her to publish, saying, “I could not have done this without the support of Mawazo, who helped me pay the article processing charge through the Connects Fund. This is the kind of practical support that we as African women PhD students need to help us reach our goals. Asante sana Mawazo!”
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Emily Ngeno |
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Emily Ngeno, a 2021 Mawazo Fellow, has published a paper on waste water treatment, a culmination of a five-year long journey. The paper is titled “Endocrine disrupting chemicals in wastewater treatment plants in Kenya.”
Emily is indebted to the Mawazo Institute for their continuous support in realising this achievement for she almost gave up at some time. “This one took so long. I began the process in 2019 and it was rejected several times,” she says. Even after acceptance, it still went through another long review by seven reviewers.
“I am now about to submit another paper, with support from Mawazo, as I also finalise my thesis at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.”
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Women Leading Climate Change in Africa Gala Dinner |
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On 6th September 2023, the Mawazo Institute participated in the “Women Leading in Climate Change and Sustainable Financing Dinner Event,” organised by The African Women Leaders Network – Young Caucus (AWLN) in collaboration with the UN Women Kenya Country Office and graced by Kenya’s First Lady, Rachel Ruto. The event was a delightful blend of dance, meaningful connections, and thought-provoking conversations. It served as a platform to meet remarkable women dedicated to making a positive impact in the realms of Climate Change and Sustainable Financing.
The event was part of the high level activities conducted during the inaugural Africa Climate Summit that was held in Nairobi from 4 to 8 September. The theme of the Summit was “Driving Green Growth and Climate Finance Solutions for Africa and the World”.
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I love Mawazo because generating African evidence is at the heart of what we do |
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When I joined the Mawazo Institute in December 2017, I was moved then, just as I am now, by the founders’ mission to impact Africa by supporting African women in research. Being a passionate believer in data and evidence for policy decision making, every day at work gives me great pleasure knowing that the women we work with are generating African evidence to drive African solutions to Africa’s biggest emerging challenges such as climate change.
The evidence is context specific and locally driven by the people who understand Africa’s problems best. Furthermore, it is generated from rigorous research methods that are recognized globally.
For me, the best part about working at Mawazo is being part of a small team with a big heart for Africa. Mawazo is truly an African organisation for Africans, and that’s special.
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Support Africa's Next Generation of Change-makers |
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