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June 9th, 2009
08:50 pm - On climate change and the developing world
When I was in Somalia, I was astounded at the repeated failed harvests of their main crops, sorghum and cowpea. Given this, why do people even bother planting a crop? Surely it's not even worth getting out the hoe, I thought. At the time, I thought that the problem was that the land was just prone to drought. "No", a senior Somali staff member told me, "it is climate change. I heard about climate change on BBC radio, and this is climate change". Surely not, I thought.
He went on to explain that rain now fell at the 'wrong times' of the year. There was meant to be one long rainy season and one short rainy season in the year. But now, rain was falling even in the dry season. And sometimes the short rainy season had more rain than the long rainy season. Sometimes, it would stop raining for too many days during the rainy season, and the crop would fail. So even if the annual rainfall was the same, rainfall patterns were making cropping difficult.
He had a point, I thought. So I mentioned to the head office that we really should be commissioning a study about this through the Horn of Africa (Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya). Well, imagine my uncontrollable bouncing excitement when I saw that a study was published that looks into this exact issue (though it was not done by us, but a mob with considerably more resources). And the study, Croppers to livestock keepers: livelihood transitions to 2050 in Africa due to climate change, makes pretty much the same recommendation that we came to through instinct: for affected areas, move away from growing crops, and start rearing drought-hardy animals such as camels and goats. And there is a nifty map in there that shows the areas most prone to change in the coming decades. (If the scientific paper is too filled with jargon and graphs, try the user-friendly IRIN article instead.)
The solution sounds easy -- trade in your sorghum seeds and hoe for a herd of camels. But how are they going to get hold of a herd of camels when they have been impoverished by drought? Also, in a larger scale, another problem arises: cropping can provide more food per hectare than pastoralism can. Effectively, our 'holding capacity' for people would go down. Where do people move to? Like it or not, it's likely to result in conflict, like seen with Nigeria's pastoralists.
Alas, climate change is having a very real impact on people in the developing world, as Duncan Green, Head of Research at Oxfam GB constantly blogs about. As this map from New Scientist shows, developing countries get hit pretty bad. Mozambique knows what it's in for, and says that climate change adaptation can't wait. Too right.
Friends, it's begun. If you are an aid worker (and more so if your work is in livelihoods, water supply and sanitation or health), I urge you to understand climate change and its impacts. If you design a project, include adaptation features. Just as you mainstreamed gender, do no harm and protection, mainstream climate change. And more.
Current Location: Canberra, Australia
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September 23rd, 2008
01:40 pm - Trading in those flamingo fantasies
For my once-every-three-months R&R, we had ambitions of going to Lake Nakuru to see flamingos. I had imagined myself by the side of the lake, watching flamingos, hippos, and other such African critters. But alas, little did we realise that tourism in Africa is not like tourism in Asia. In Asia, one seems to be able to travel comfortably (possibly even luxuriously) for as little as $20. But the price tag on a modest trip to see African wildlife is about USD150 per person per day. Not exactly compatible with the notoriously frugal French NGO salary.
Thusly, we swapped flamingos with other similar waterfowl (namely farm geese and muscovy ducks) at Kembu Cottages and Campsite. At about $100 per night for a cottage that sleeps four, they self-advertise as an "affordable, highland countryside retreat". And yeah, trust me, this is comparably affordable. Plus they gave us a great 35% discount since it was mid-week!
Oh well, at least we got a bonus of being able to visit the Kenana Knitters, a knitting business, which is run by the same mob. Kenana Knitters employs about 250 women in their spinning, dyeing and knitting their products -- mostly knitted toys. And they are really nice lookin' toys. I had romantic ideas of sitting and knitting with the women, but alas, it's a business, not a stitch-and-bitch circle. We were ushered through a swift tour, and then straight to the shop for our purchases. No photos allowed. *sigh*.
Current Location: Nairobi, Kenya
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July 23rd, 2008
03:49 pm - A mzungu, but not a bule
I was hearing a Kenyan friend explain the Indonesian word bule (pronounced boo-lay). "It's the same as mzungu", she says, translating it into Kiswahili. "Aha, but it's not the same," I replied, "I'm a mzungu, but am not a bule."
Confusing? So here's the thing. In Indonesia, a bule is a white foreigner. So I'm not one. In fact, most people regarded me as almost local. But in Kenya, a mzungu is any pale skinned foreigner. Thusly, I am a mzungu, and am definitely seen very very very much as a foreigner.
Working and living in Africa is different to working in Asia for me. In my previous postings in Indonesia, Philippines, and even Afghanistan, I looked local. Almost. But in Africa, I stick out like dog's balls. I've been wondering if this creates a distance between myself and the people I work with.
Also, I find that being Asian is a strange thing. Perceptions of me change with context. As the The Freshly Married Husband tells me, "In Australia, I think you are brown. In Indonesia, you were like everyone. But now in Africa, you are pale as".
Current Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/mood/growf/smileys/smile.gif) amused
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