June Top Resources: Climate Change | Climate Smart Agriculture | Smallholder Value Chains
Special June Newsletter on the Best New Resources for Adaptation, Resilience and Sustainability

We encounter so many excellent adaptation and climate change resources that we periodically compile them and share them in a special issue newsletter.

Please note: web addresses change frequently – if one doesn’t work simply type the resource title into your browser.
Climate Change
Youth in action on climate change: Inspirations from around the world
UNFCC
United Nations Joint Framework Initiative on Children, Youth and Climate Change
May 2013
http://unfccc.int/cc_inet/files/cc_inet/information_pool/application/pdf/youth_pub_2013_en_m.pdf

Status Report on Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs)
Midyear Update June 2013
ECOFYS
http://www.ecofys.com/en/publication/status-report-on-nationally-appropriate-mitigation-actions-namas/

A Training of Trainers Manual for REDD+. For community level facilitators.
RECOFTC
http://www.recoftc.org/site/resources/REDD-ToT-Manual-for-Community-level-Facilitators.php
http://www.recoftc.org/site/uploads/content/pdf/REDD+%20Training%20-%20Community%20Level%20Manual%20v.11%20-%20web%20version_243.pdf

Integrating Disaster Risk Management into Climate Change Adaptation
Disaster Risk Management Practitioner’s Handbook Series
http://www.adpc.net/2012/download/DRM-Handbook/ADPC%20DRM%20Practitioners%20Handbook%20-%20Climate%20Change%20Adaptation.pdf

Mainstreaming climate change resilience into development planning in Kenya
Vincent Mutie Nzau
http://pubs.iied.org/10044IIED.html

Eight Steps to Climate Proof Development in Africa
Richard Munang
The Guardian: Global Development Professionals Network
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development-professionals-network/2013/apr/08/mdgs-climate-change-agenda-africa

A Toolkit of Resilient Agricultural Responses to Climatic Challenges in Tropical Asia
Rick Burnette
ECHO Asian notes
http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.echocommunity.org/resource/collection/0ADF35ED-72B3-44AA-92B5-D50F9B4A741D/AN_16.pdf

Agriculture and Climate Change. Learning from Experience and Early Interventions
Case Study Compilation
CDKN
https://ngo.csd-i.org/wp-content/uploads/Old-Squarespace-Blog/CCAg_LEEI-Case-Studies-2.pdf

Achieving food security in the face of climate change
Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change
CGIAR
https://ngo.csd-i.org/wp-content/uploads/Old-Squarespace-Blog/climate_food_commission-final-mar2012.pdf

The Demography of Adaptation to Climate Change
UNFPA/IIED
http://www.unfpa.org/webdav/site/global/shared/images/publications/2013/The%20Demography%20of%20Adaptation%20to%20Climate%20Change.pdf

Climate Smart Agriculture
Climate Smart Agriculture Sourcebook. 570 pages
FAO. June, 2013
https://ngo.csd-i.org/wp-content/uploads/Old-Squarespace-Blog/i3325e.pdf

Download the executive summary: http://www.fao.org/climatechange/climatesmart/en/

YPARD 2012 Activity Report
Young Professionals’ Platform for Agricultural Research for Development
http://ypard.net/resources/ypard-activity-report-2012

Interventions for Achieving Sustainability in Tropical Forest and Agricultural Landscapes
CAPRI
Peter Newton, Arun Agrawal, and Lini Wollenberg
May 2013
http://www.capri.cgiar.org/wp/capriwp110.asp

Forage crop production and management. The effects of herbaceous legume intercropping and mulching on the productivity of Napier grass (Pehnisetum purpureum) and total forage yield in coastal lowland Kenya
J.G. Mureithi and W. Thorpe
ILRI
http://www.ilri.cgiar.org/InfoServ/Webpub/fulldocs/AFRNET/Theefec.htm

A Scientific Perspective on Composting
John K. Lekasi, Keziah W. Ndung’u and Mary N. Kifuk0
Organic resource Management in Kenya – Chapter 8
https://ngo.csd-i.org/wp-content/uploads/Old-Squarespace-Blog/Scientific20Perspective20on20Composting.pdf

Organic Resource Management in Kenya – Perspectives and Guidelines
Savala, Canon E. N., Omare, Musa N. | Woomer, Paul L.
http://41.215.122.106/dspace/handle/0/4040

Smallholder farmers in Makueni turn to drought resistant crops
By Agatha Ngotho, Nairobi Star
http://www.agra.org/news-events/news/smallholder-farmers-in-makueni-turn-to-droughtresistant-crops-/

Conservation Agriculture – A manual for farmers and extension workers in Africa
IIRR
http://www.fao.org/ag/ca/AfricaTrainingManual.html
http://publications.cta.int/publications/publication/1563/post-harvest-processing/

Conservation agriculture and smallholder farming in Africa: the heretics view
Ken E. Giller, Ernst Witter, Marc Corbeels, Pablo Tittonell
Elsevier
http://www.csd-i.org/storage/blog/Conservation%20agriculture%20and%20smallholder%20farming%20in%20Africa%20-%20The%20heretics%27%20view.pdf

A review of the effectiveness of agriculture interventions and improving nutrition outcomes
Peter R Berti, Julia Krasevec and Sian FitzGerald
PATH Canada (Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health)
http://www.healthbridge.ca/phn07599.pdf

Smallholder Value Chains
Leaping and Learning. Linking Smallholders to Markets
ODI
Steve Wiggins and Sharada Keats
May 2013
http://www.odi.org.uk/publications/7453-leaping-learning-smallholder-farming-market-intervention

World Bank: Africa Agribusiness Report 2013 – Africa Agribusiness
Feature Story: Africa’s Agriculture and Agribusiness Markets Set to Top US$ One Trillion in 2030
http://www.africaag.org/2013/03/04/world-bank-report-2013/?goback=.gde_3241614_member_219729675

FARA Agricultural Value Chain Member Discussion June 2013
Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
http://next.dgroups.org/fara-net
www.fara-africa.org
http://www.csd-i.org/storage/blog/Fara%20Agricultural%20Value%20Chain%20Discussion%20June%202013.docx

Growing Africa. Unlocking the Potential For Agribusiness.
The World Bank
January 2013
https://ngo.csd-i.org/wp-content/uploads/Old-Squarespace-Blog/africa-agribusiness-report-2013.pdf

Empowerment Initiatives
West Africa Insight
http://westafricainsight.org/issues/view/32

Realizing the potential of collective action groups.
Coordinating approaches to women’s market engagement.
Oxfam
Written by Martin Walsh, Global Research Adviser, Oxfam GB. Editors: Imogen Davies and Sally Baden, Oxfam GB.
Researchers: Dr. Nandera Mhando, Dr. Elibariki Msuya and Dr. Carine Pionetti.
http://womenscollectiveaction.com/file/view/Eng_Tanzania_lorez.pdf

Women’s Collective Action. Unlocking the Potential of Agricultural Markets.
Oxfam
http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/womens-collective-action-unlocking-the-potential-of-agricultural-markets-276159
http://womenscollectiveaction.com/file/view/GST_GROW.pdf

Excellent article on the importance of internships during a period of unemployment.
The Internship: Not the Movie
Thomas L Friedman
New York Times
June 8, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/the-internship-not-the-movie.html?_r=0

Development
‘Post -2015’ international development goals. Who wants what and why.
Emily Benson
http://pubs.iied.org/17162IIED.html

An Action Agenda for Sustainable Development. Report for the UN Secretary General
6 June 2013
Prepared by the Leadership Council of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network
http://unsdsn.org/resources/sdsnreportjune2013/

An introduction to the use of randomized controlled trials to evaluate development interventions
Howard White. 3ie
Journal of Development Effectiveness
http://www.3ieimpact.org/evaluation/working-papers/working-paper-9/

Health
Nutrition ‘must be a global priority’, says researchers
Helen Briggs
BBC News, 5 June 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22779656

Does a child die of hunger every 10 seconds?
Ruth Alexander
BBC News, 18 June 2013
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22935692

Water Management
Sand dams bank water for dry season in semiarid Kenya
Isaiah Esipisu
http://www.trust.org/item/?map=sand-dams-bank-water-for-dry-season-in-semi-arid-kenya/

Community dams aim to build water security in arid Kenya
Kagondu Njagi
http://www.trust.org/item/20130603103952-mba98/

Women, unity, water: Adapting to climate change in improving livelihoods in Swaziland
IFAD and Rural Poverty Portal
http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/country/voice/tags/swaziland/swaziland_climate

International Adaptation Workshop: Designing & Funding CBA Projects. Come Study with Us September 16 in Beautiful Guatemala
	This blended learning workshop will lead you through the development of a real project, in real time, in a real village, and leave you with the practical field tools to sustain it. Follow link for detailed syllabus. Conduct a participatory needs assessment with a community in your own country in preparation for the Guatemala workshop—guided by CSDi staff. Upon arriving in Guatemala, use the needs assessment to begin the development of a complete, fundable, launchable project in this 5-day training workshop. Return home and launch your project with the continued guidance of your CSDi workshop leader.

Distance Learning Course: Designing & Funding Nonprofit Projects in Developed Nations
	If you work with a nonprofit in a northern country working on traditional programs such as food banks, animal rescue, teen drop-in centers, homeless shelters, day care centers, community development, or environmental restoration—OL 101 for Northern Nonprofits will help you develop a sustainable, impact oriented, local project. Take this course as a live workshop. Follow the link to learn more.   The course will lead you through the development of a real project, in real time, and leave you with the practical tools to sustain it. For example, student projects have included efforts to help communities in Europe and North America with community development, youth employment, income generation, empowering immigrant women, the Inuit and climate change, and environmental restoration.

Join us on July 2 for an intensive series of courses with other students from all over the world.

Are you a donor, a development practitioner, in a job transition, or a student who wants to learn more about what works in designing impact-oriented projects? Online course participants are using our courses to develop real, on-the-ground projects with real communities—both individually and through North/South student partnerships.   Our online courses use each class assignment as a concrete step in developing a real project within a real community. You will take an assignment into the field and use it as a solution-oriented activity that you do together with community members—thereby finishing one component of the project you are developing in the class. And there you have it: an online field course with tangible, concrete results.   Visit Online Learning to see a listing of Summer Quarter courses.

CSDi Summer Quarter 2013: Online Development Courses—July 2, 2013

Full compilation of two-week FARA member discussion on agricultural value chains

Very interesting discussion during the month of June 2013 on agricultural value chains in Africa sparked by the following June 5 post by Francis Kpodo about a World Bank report:

World Bank: Africa Agribusiness Report 2013 – Africa Agribusiness
Feature Story: Africa’s Agriculture and Agribusiness Markets Set to Top US$ One Trillion in 2030
http://www.africaag.org/2013/03/04/world-bank-report-2013/?goback=.gde_3241614_member_219729675

An enthusiastic value chain discussion between FARA subscribers  has continued for two weeks. I have worked value chains in the US and in Guatemala – and many of my colleagues in Africa work on projects with value chain components.

I’ve seen many value chain challenges and opportunities in my work – and so this discussion was extraordinarily interesting and enlightening for me. Thank you all very much!

I compiled all the discussions into a single Word document – I have not done any editing however. It comes in at 22 pages but can be quickly scanned.

Download the Full Discussion here.

I also posted the discussion to our June Top Resources Newsletter so that more people can learn about what FARA is doing. The newsletter contains current resources on both agriculture and on connecting smallholders to markets. Enjoy!

Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa
http://next.dgroups.org/fara-net
www.fara-africa.org
http://www.csd-i.org/storage/blog/Fara%20Agricultural%20Value%20Chain%20Discussion%20June%202013.docx

Tim Magee
Executive Director
Center for Sustainable Development

Tim Magee is the author of A Field Guide to Community Based Adaptation published by Routledge, Oxford, England.

International Adaptation Workshop: Designing & Funding CBA Projects. Come Study with Us September 16 in Beautiful Guatemala
	This blended learning workshop will lead you through the development of a real project, in real time, in a real village, and leave you with the practical field tools to sustain it. Follow link for detailed syllabus. Conduct a participatory needs assessment with a community in your own country in preparation for the Guatemala workshop—guided by CSDi staff. Upon arriving in Guatemala, use the needs assessment to begin the development of a complete, fundable, launchable project in this 5-day training workshop. Return home and launch your project with the continued guidance of your CSDi workshop leader.

Distance Learning Course: Designing & Funding Nonprofit Projects in Developed Nations
	If you work with a nonprofit in a northern country working on traditional programs such as food banks, animal rescue, teen drop-in centers, homeless shelters, day care centers, community development, or environmental restoration—OL 101 for Northern Nonprofits will help you develop a sustainable, impact oriented, local project. Take this course as a live workshop. Follow the link to learn more.   The course will lead you through the development of a real project, in real time, and leave you with the practical tools to sustain it. For example, student projects have included efforts to help communities in Europe and North America with community development, youth employment, income generation, empowering immigrant women, the Inuit and climate change, and environmental restoration.

Join us on July 2 for an intensive series of courses with other students from all over the world.

Are you a donor, a development practitioner, in a job transition, or a student who wants to learn more about what works in designing impact-oriented projects? Online course participants are using our courses to develop real, on-the-ground projects with real communities—both individually and through North/South student partnerships.   Our online courses use each class assignment as a concrete step in developing a real project within a real community. You will take an assignment into the field and use it as a solution-oriented activity that you do together with community members—thereby finishing one component of the project you are developing in the class. And there you have it: an online field course with tangible, concrete results.   Visit Online Learning to see a listing of Summer Quarter courses.

CSDi Summer Quarter 2013: Online Development Courses—July 2, 2013

June Newsletter: Special Nutrition and Home Gardening Issue: Part 1

Malnutrition is one of the most serious challenges in development today. Tonight, over one billion people will go to bed hungry—up from 800 million in 2009. Scientific studies have shown that home gardens can provide 60% of leafy vegetables, and between 20% and 50% of all fruits and vegetables consumed by households. Home vegetable gardens have shown evidence of significantly reducing the number of malnourished children in impoverished communities. Many home gardeners are also able to sell surplus fruits and vegetables and increase family income. This month we are providing Part 1 (we’ve published a lot!) of a two-year compilation of CSDi hands-on nutrition & home gardening resources and examples of their use. Part 2 will appear in July.

International Adaptation Workshop: Designing & Funding CBA Projects. Come Study with Us September 16 in Beautiful Guatemala
	This blended learning workshop will lead you through the development of a real project, in real time, in a real village, and leave you with the practical field tools to sustain it. Follow link for a detailed syllabus. Conduct a participatory needs assessment with a community in your own country in preparation for the Guatemala workshop—guided by CSDi staff. Upon arriving in Guatemala, use the needs assessment to begin the development of a complete, fundable, launchable project in this 5-day training workshop. Return home and launch your project with the continued guidance of your CSDi workshop leader.

Distance Learning Course: Designing & Funding Nonprofit Projects in Developed Nations
	If you work with a nonprofit in a northern country working on traditional programs such as food banks, animal rescue, teen drop-in centers, homeless shelters, day care centers, community development, or environmental restoration—OL 101 for Northern Nonprofits will help you develop a sustainable, impact oriented, local project. Take this course as a live workshop. Follow the link to learn more. The course will lead you through the development of a real project, in real time, and leave you with the practical tools to sustain it. For example, student projects have included efforts to help communities in Europe and North America with community development, youth employment, income generation, empowering immigrant women, the Inuit and climate change, and environmental restoration.

Best of June Resources for Nutrition and Home Gardening Projects

CSDi Links To Documents And Sites specific to this course: Food Security, Nutrition, and Home Gardens. Healthy Harvest: A training manual for community workers in good nutrition, and the growing, preparing and processing of healthy food. Zimbabwe. Low Input Food and Nutrition Security: There is a very good information in this book that connects nutrition to the practicalities of home gardening. Malawi. Garden Africa – Permaculture Trainers Manual: A very thorough training manual by a great NGO with offices in London and projects in Southern Africa. South Africa. CSDi Field Guide: Preparing and Planting Home Garden Beds. Step-by-step, simple instructions for starting a home vegetable garden including a how-to card and workshop lesson plan to use with communities.

Home Gardens for Food Security. First Step: Soil Restoration with Organic Material

Frequently people in developing countries are living in areas with depleted soil. Degraded soil erodes more rapidly because of its fine, silt-like quality. When it does rain, the rain doesn’t easily penetrate into the soil, and frequently just runs off the surface of the soil—taking soil particles with it. This impacts the soil’s ability to retain both soil moisture and valuable topsoil. The first thing we recommend community members to do is to begin a restoration project for the soil by adding organic material.By adding organic material, you begin rebuilding a soil structure which has passageways for guiding and holding water, for supporting microorganisms, and for retaining soil nutrients. Related course: Climart Smart Agriculture.

Tropical Food Gardens: Getting Started with Nutrition in Developing Nations

I’m trying my hand at growing a tropical food garden in Guatemala in order “walk my talk” and to gain first-hand knowledge of the challenges that my food security, nutrition and home garden students living in tropical countries face in growing food. So right now I have 7, 3′ x 10′ beds planted with the 75 varieties of seedlings which you can find on my Excel spreadsheet in the link above. I’m feeling pretty good about this because I’ve only had this garden for 10 weeks and we are already eating produce. I will be regularly posting the challenges that confront me—and that are confronting nutrition and family garden students. Related course: Food Security, Nutrition and Home Gardens.

Income Generation: $150 a Month in the Sales of Excess Vegetable Produce

My friend Ricardo in Guatemala City has a beautiful vegetable garden, but produces more than he and his wife can eat. He recently made some smart decisions about selling his excess produce. Ricardo made some initial queries at a store that specializes in selling high quality vegetables. He showed up one day with samples of his produce—which they immediately purchased—and then asked him to bring more. In his first three months he’s averaged $150 a month in sales. Even $100 a month for many rural families in developing nations could create a change in their overall prosperity. See exactly how he did it. Related Course: Designing and Funding Sustainable Development Projects.

Join us on July 2 for an intensive series of courses with other students from all over the world.

Are you a donor, a development practitioner, in a job transition, or a student who wants to learn more about what works in designing impact-oriented projects? Online course participants are using our courses to develop real, on-the-ground projects with real communities—both individually and through North/South student partnerships. Our online courses use each class assignment as a concrete step in developing a real project within a real community. You will take an assignment into the field and use it as a solution-oriented activity that you do together with community members—thereby finishing one component of the project you are developing in the class. And there you have it: an online field course with tangible, concrete results. Visit Online Learning to see a listing of Summer Quarter courses.

CSDi Summer Quarter 2013: Online Development Courses—July 2, 2013