Notes from the UN Conference on Sustainable Development-first intersessional leading up to Rio+20

Folks back in China replied my email introducing this intersessional held in NYC from Jan 10th to 11th and updates of my experiences there and showed interests in further engagement. To my delight, this perhaps was my biggest take-home from the trip to NYC in between the blizzards hit the Northeast region. So here I will give a brief summary of what the meeting is about and its implications for broader youth participation.

If you recall, the first Earth Summit was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 as a monumental event in the formalization of the concept of sustainable development and the adoption of Agenda 21 -- "an unprecedented global plan of action" to achieve SD. It was also where the UNFCCC was officially open for signatures. In 2002 the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation was adopted to provide more concrete steps to implement SD, albeit in slow progress. The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development touted 27 principles that recognize the fundamental independence and connection of our earth and aim to protect the integrity of natural environment and development systems.

The aim of this first intersessional meeting is to discuss the role of UN Conference on Sustainable Development, in preparation of the Earth Summit 2012 (or "Rio+20"), of securing renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development and address new and emerging challenges. The meeting will also address the role of UNCSD with regard to the following themes an green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication and institutional framework for sustainable development. It is a somewhat different track of meetings from UNFCCC -- more focus on the ideology,methodologies and implementation strategies and of sustainable development.

As the first intersessional meeting after the first preparatory meeting (mostly logistic) held last May, the meeting itself was more about opening discussions and inviting questions by member states and Major Groups (such as Youth and Children major group) around two of the topics raised previously, namely the green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication and institutional framework for sustainable development.

The organization of the conference itself stands differently from that of a UNFCCC meeting. Scientists, experts and officials from academia, prominent NGOs and relevant UN organs speak and present their understandings of the "new" concept of "green economy" and its relationship to the umbrella goal of "sustainable development," and then invite the delegates from countries organizations and business,women, indigenous people and youth communities to ask their questions and offer their comments and suggestions. There are still quite a lot of debate over what it means by building a world green economy and what it means locally. The goal at Rio+20 next year is to achieve some kind of shared understanding and precious wording of green economy but definitely also leaves room for interpretation and implementation at local level. A synthesis report pulled together by StakeholderForum surveyed over 200 non-governmental organizations and their opinions of the concept of "green economy", which was dissiminated at the meeting and online.

The intersessionals seem to lack the participation of youth -- there were only six of us there (three Europeans, two Americans and myself, despite one of the Europeans' comment that "this is such a diverse group", 我也只有在心里吐痰呸他了).Anyway, we are still all in discussion of how to bring in broader participation of the youth community. There seems to be discussions about setting up funds to facilitate civil society participation. Education, formal and non-formal, also need more devotion by the academic institutions or through national programs but also by youth themselves (as in peer-to-peer training or participating in these meetings). Kyle from SustainUS is thinking about producing a guidebook for youth involvement, so one example of how we as Chines youth could be involved is to adapt that knowledge brochure under a Chinese context. These could also be potential topics at domestic events such as IYSECC 3.0 and or at smaller scales. It is another potentially viable platform for the China-US youth exchange, since one of CUYCE's focus is also on advancing clean technologies for sustainable development.

The reason why I think getting more youth involved in the UN Conference on Sustainable Development is worth pursuing is that it is less politically technical and tedious than the UNFCCC process. It can potentially generate more ideas, actions and projects by the young people inspired by the concepts and framework offered in this set of discussion. And from actions we could potentially lead to changes in the making of policies and business practices.

The following is an article on the second day of Outreach that summarizes some of the issues in our intervention at the official meetings.

http://www.stakeholderforum.org/sf/outreach/

Young people at Rio+20 Intersessional call for a youth-friendly green and fair economy

BEN VANPEPERSTRAETE, ORGANISING PARTNER MAJOR GROUP YOUTH AND CHILDREN

A few young people from across the globe have arrived safe at the first informal. For us, discussions (and even negotiations) on Rio+20 can’t start soon enough. So we where happy to have already the opportunity to go quite directly down to business.

While there would be a fair argument that we young people still have enough time to attend and participate enough conferences, we feel we can not wait with Rio+20.

Green economy – the need for policies and finance

We are not that interested in a sterile academic brainstorm about green economy, but want to see action as soon as possible. Mr. Steiner hit the nail today by stating that “the world is not looking for a treaty/protocol about green economy - it’s looking for policies and finance”. So we should be prepared to take the risk to transition quickly to a fair and green economy when we leave Rio next year. As we think Green Economy seems an interesting method toward achieving Sustainable Development, and to speed up its implementation.

But we understand the hesitation, as we share a lot of questions on a Green Economy:

• Why don’t we talk about a Green and Fair Economy?

• Is there a risk that Green Economy can replace existing language on Sustainable Development, rather complement and even strengthen it with concrete action?

• And why do the national schemes Mr. Steiner mentioned not focus particularly on youth, when it is this generation that needs the prospect of a future and decent jobs?

Young people often hardest hit

We believe that one year ought to suffice to hash out the big details, to converge quickly, and to start putting things into action. The key outcome we want to land is a youth-friendly green and fair economy. As mentioned earlier, young people are often being hit the hardest by the ecological, social and economic crises, despite being the ones needing green and decent jobs the most.

Walk the Talk

We are ready to make own contributions to Green Economy like providing the skills we need through amongst other peer-to-peer education. Another example comes from one of the groups active in the Youth and Children Major Groups, who will organise a green business-plan contest between here and Rio.

So, we are ready and hope the readers start walking the talk. But, within one year we should all be ready to walk, and all walk in the same direction.

Readings and Notes from Social Entrepreneurship Class at Amherst College

First session, Jan 11th 2011

The Social Entrepreneurship has started today and the readings and speakers have been quite fascinating, intriguing and thought-provoking (although I need to take a critical view of the emphasis and structure of the course itself) . My first reaction (to everyone now involved in the Renewable Energy Enterprises Network, REEN) is that in terms of developing ourselves as a social enterprise that seeks to seed more of such, we really need to build our own knowledge base of what it actually means as inspired practitioners. So I would really encourage you to take time and effort to do some studies in the context of REEN and the broader socio-political-economic environment it is situated with a critical eye.

I have the list of very helpful readings from today's class with some highlights and keywords.
You can find the course materials through here http://seinterterm2011.weebly.com/index.html
and I will try to keep my reflections on the readings and class on my blog (yes push me if I do not deliver since I think this is important and will post today's notes later).

Readings from today (in order of relevance and helpfulness of these materials)

"In Kenya, Huts Far Off the Grid Harness the Sun.” Elisabeth Rosenthal – 12-25-2010 – Front page NYT

This article basically outlined the business case and a nascent market for what REEN can provide in its full-fledge especially when it comes to off-grid solar systems. In the article it cited several cases and places where good busniess models seem to be up and running -- potential resources for us. And the rest of the stuff we already know so be proud.

Everyone a Changemaker:SE's ultimate goal

Download File by Bill Drayton

Working with these social entrepreneurs, Ashoka builds
communities of innovators who work collectively to transform
society, and to design new ways for the social sector to become
more productive, entrepreneurial and globally integrated. There
are now over 1,750 Ashoka leading social entrepreneurs, and
Ashoka serves over 60 countries.

Key words: citizen sector, multiplying society's capacity, pattern-changing leading social entrepreneurs, results-based mission and operation, transforming the youth years, underlining skills for young enterprises: applied empathy, teamwork and leadership

Building a Performance Measurement System
File Size:	1777 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File by Root Cause

"Performance measurement provides vital information for advancing
social innovation: the process of developing, testing, and honing
new and potentially transformative approaches to existing social
issues. With the right performance metrics, data, and analysis in
hand, social innovators—nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and businesses that offer innovative, results-driven solutions tosocial problems—can make well-informed management decisions to drive continuous improvement and long-term social impact." This document is a step-by-step, practical guide to create or strengthen a customized performance measurement system for: ƒƒ Start-up or existing nonprofit organizations (including direct service, advocacy, associations/networks, and capacity-building organizations).

Results (magnitude) in various activities and metrics are crucial to measure the social and environmental impacts of REEN or other seedling organizations. Setting the standards prior to the execution of the projects seems to be important if we are to ensure the resource efficiency of our organization and the effectiveness of our work.

Class Notes Jan 11th, 2011:

Notes from social Entrepreneurship Interim class At Amherst

SE: “a social entrepreneur recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create and manage a venture to achieve social change.” Wiki

A SE is not a risk taker in the sense that he or she plan, does research, and strategize

Takes Imagination, gives flexibility

“SEs are not content just to fish or teach how to fish. They will not cease until they have revolutionalized the whole fishing industry. " CEO Ashoko

Major themes in the SE concepts in this course:

ü Profitable: could be in several years, not relying solely on grant money

ü Sustainable:

ü Scalable: easy to duplicate and spreadable

ü Measurable:e.g. SE vs private venture: SE has to have a built-in social impact measurement system

*Be aware of unintended processes, contents or products for potential social disasters.

Guest speaker: Dean’s Beans' founder Dean Cycon

Global coffee supply chain:95% of people involved in the raw coffee bean production are marginalized indigenous people.

Cotton uses 50% of words pesticides supply, coffee plantation only the second

Language barriers of indigenous ppl prevent them from broader participation in the global

Kenya: failed case: advocate for bean plantation free of pesticides
because: donated by German and American aid agencies who require Kenyan government to buy these pesticides.

Q:How has your enterprise be able to contribute to the revolutionization of policy making and global supply chain practices? Given the failure in Kenya, what are the situations competing with traditional aid agencies?--> not all aid programs are bad, just need to be cautious of the tie-backs and strings attached to it.

Three pillars of Dean’s Beans' operation and other strategies:

Economics, ecology and People-centered development (meaning trade relationship built on development in the community, identify comunities' priority based on cash and equity available at Bean’s Dean. Some projects go on for 15 years)

Listening and observing

Facilitating program design and funding: gender violence, not a lack of funding, address fundamental challengesn in the community, not necessarily what outsiders see as important.

Case: Guatemala

Designing a women’s healthcare fund financed by the distribution and management of micro-loans. Promoting indigenous radio programs that provide crop and market information for coffee farmers.

Different from having intermediate micro-credit manager who sometimes sucks away a lot of money. We want micro-bank come in to teach women how to run the program. So women run their own banks. Interests payment channeled into a common pool, which took four years. Manageable size matters. Lasted 8 eight years but shrank back after uncontrollable size.

Peru:assisting coops of 300 families to enter the American market. Funding reforestation and women’s loan program.

Question: who monitors the funds? What happens when borrowers failed to reply?-- will continue the discussion with this guy via email.

How does a progressive funders keep its enterprises embedded mission as it progresses on and have a change of leadership, or when facing acquisition attempts by bigger corporations?

Growth is an outcome of business done well, not the ultimate goal

Unwired world: 5.3 billion mobile phone users by year end

Brought up in Vinnie Ferraro's class today at his first lecture during the winter session on Contemporary U.S. Foreign Policy(access to full syllabus and reading materials). I will write a separate entry on the first session of class. It is a must for his level of intelligence and knowledge on what is going with the U.S. as the world number one power in decline.

October 21, 2010, San Francisco: The world will have 5.3 billion mobile phone subscribers by the end of the year, the International Telecommunications Union has predicted in a new report, publicised at its annual conference in Guadalajara, Mexico.

The report said that mobile phone networks are already available to over 90 percent of the world's population. Mobile phone penetration in developed countries is 68 percent, a saturation level higher than any previous technology.

Internet access is also exploding, the report found. The number of internet users has doubled over the past five years and will reach 2 billion by the end of 2010. An estimated 1.6 billion people have home internet access, up from 1.4 billion people at the end of 2009.

But there's still a huge gulf between the first and third worlds.

By the end of 2010, 71 percent of the population in developed countries will be online by the end of the year, compared to 21 percent of the population in developing countries.

While in developed countries 65 percent of people have access to the Internet at home, this is the case for only 13.5 percent of people in developing countries where Internet access in schools, at work and public locations is critical.

Regional differences are significant: 65 percent of Europeans are on the Internet, compared to only 9.6 percent of Africans

Cancun Climate Negotiation | Center for Strategic and International Studies

Cancun Climate Negotiation | Center for Strategic and International Studies

By Sarah O. Ladislaw Dec 15, 2010

(I have enjoyed many of CSIS's talks on the China-in-Africa discussions from last year. This one seems to be fairly comprehensive. But for better understanding I would suggest you skip through the Copenhagen assessment as well. It's really interesting to note the changes, development and "progresses" taking shape between these big meetings. Again the whole climate change politics and policy extravaganza is a constantly and intriguingly evolving discourse as our understanding of the complexity and interconnectedness of our climate and many aspects of our human civilizations)

For the last two weeks international climate negotiators met in Cancun, Mexico for the 16th Conference of Parties (COP) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). After last year’s near-catastrophe in Copenhagen (see our assessment of the Copenhagen talks), countries spent the better part of the past year tamping down expectations for this year’s round of negotiations. Instead of shooting for the completion of a legally binding agreement, the negotiators focused on making incremental progress on some of the foundational elements of a new regime while sidestepping the issue of whether to extend the Kyoto Protocol and avoiding a more serious discussion about the diminishing likelihood that the international community will be able to reach its collective climate goals.

What agreements were reached in Cancun?

The climate talks in Cancun successfully “anchored” agreements reached last year in the formal negotiating progress and filled out some of the details in each major area. Last year, the negotiators reached an eleventh-hour political agreement referred to as the Copenhagen Accord. For many developed economies, chief among them the United States, this agreement is meant to serve as the foundation for a new global agreement because it solves some of the deficiencies of the Kyoto Protocol (namely, it includes emissions reduction pledges and transparency provisions for all major economies, not just the traditional developed countries). The agreement is broadly supported among the parties but was never formally adopted by the entire group. Todd Stern, the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, described the outcome of the Cancun negotiations as “approving and elaborating” on the Copenhagen Accord. This characterization can be derived from the fact that all the key elements of the Copenhagen Accord (i.e., emissions reductions, transparency, financing, technology sharing, forestry and land use, and adaptation) were included in the Cancun agreement. Moreover, while the Copenhagen Accord focused on high-level principles and agreements on each of those issues, the agreement in Cancun begins to set down some substantive detail about how each will be carried out (see the chart below for a partial summary of how the Cancun agreement built upon the major pillars of the Copenhagen Accord).

Does this agreement signify progress or more of the same?

For those paying close attention to the climate negotiation process, the progress made in Cancun is tangible and significant. It solidifies the core achievement from the Copenhagen Accord: all major developed and developing economies are willing to take action and be held to some level of accountability for emissions reductions. This is a significant departure from the world of the Kyoto Protocol and engenders some level of momentum for near-term action on emissions reduction activity.

In other ways, the outcome revealed that the negotiations have become a process that is waiting for the stars to realign before attempting to make any big breakthroughs or address some of the core underlying problems. The decision not to take on major issues seems to be strategic and pragmatic. The negotiators purposely did not take on thorny issues about increasing emissions reduction pledges (which are widely viewed as inadequate for reaching the agreed-upon target of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius) or ensuring greater levels of financing for developing country mitigation and adaptation efforts. From a practical standpoint, negotiators recognized that none of the parties were in a position to strengthen emissions or financial pledges due to domestic political and financial constraints, so instead, negotiators focused on things they could accomplish in order to facilitate as much real action on the suite of measures as possible.

Where do the negotiations go from here?

The next round of formal negotiations (there will be preparatory negotiations throughout the course of 2011) will take place in Durban, South Africa, at the end of next year. Many analysts have rightly noted that it be will difficult for the negotiators to make the same type of “incremental progress” next year and avoid some of the underlying disagreements and core weaknesses of the current regime. One example of this is the question of whether to extend the Kyoto Protocol for another commitment period. During the negotiations in Cancun, Japan and several other countries with commitments under the Kyoto Protocol stated that they would not sign on to a second commitment period. All of this is, in some way, political theater. The idea that major developed economies would continue to be part of a legally binding agreement that does not somehow bring in the other major emitters has been a nonstarter for developed country signatories of the Kyoto Protocol for quite some time. However, the Kyoto Protocol is a critically important document for developing countries as it enshrines many of the core principles and structures that they view as the necessary foundation for any and all future action. The agreement reached in Cancun simply puts off a decision about whether to extend the Kyoto Protocol until next year (though it is hard to see how parties will be any closer to an agreement 12 months hence). The underlying strategy here is to build up a “replacement” for the Kyoto Protocol—an agreement that includes all the core principles that the developing world wants to see (e.g., common but differentiated standards, financing for mitigation and adaptation measures, etc.) but breaks down some of the barriers between developed and developing country action that the developed world simply cannot accept. Over time, if parties became more confident in a new agreement, the Kyoto Protocol will seem less important and hopefully fade away (because nobody ever kills these types of agreements). It is doubtful, however, that this type of confidence will be achieved before the deadline for extension comes up.

Perhaps more importantly, the international community seemed reluctant to accept that given current trajectories, the prospect of reaching their stated emissions reduction goals is increasingly unlikely. Most negotiators openly recognize that the world is not on course to effectively limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius. This will become increasingly evident as more time passes, especially if major emitters like the United States are not able to make tangible and meaningful progress on emissions reductions. At some point individual countries as well as the global community will have to accept this new reality and come to grips with what it means for our collective action approach.

Progression from Copenhagen Accord to Cancun Outcome (not intended to be comprehensive)
Pillars of a “Balanced Package”	Copenhagen Accord	Cancun Outcome
Emissions reduction pledges	Developed country targets and developing country actions (invited countries to submit targets and actions)	Includes developed country targets and developing country actions as part of the decision (so-called anchoring of pledges)
Transparency	Developed country monitoring, reporting, and verification. Developing country national communication with domestic monitoring review and verification subject to international consultation	Adds detail to the content, frequency, and review of emissions reduction and financial pledges for developed, major developing, and lesser-developed economies Establishes details of the international consultation and analysis process for major developing countries
Financing	$30 billion of “new and additional” resources from developed countries between 2010–2012 Goal to mobilize $100 billion a year in public and private finance by 2020 High-Level Panel on finance goal Sought to establish Green Climate Fund	Locks in the amounts listed in the Copenhagen Accord for fast-start and long-term financing Establishes a Green Climate Fund as the operational entity for climate finance Establishes the World Bank as the interim trustee for the fund Establishes a Transitional Committee and Standing Committee within the COP with the goal of improving the facilitation of the fund
Technology	Sought to establish a new Technology Mechanism (expressed desire but could not execute outside the realm of the COP)	Establishes a Technology Mechanism to facilitate the technology development and transfer. Will include a Technology Executive Committee and Climate Technology Center (agreement describes the functions of both)
Reducing Emissions for Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)	Agreed on the crucial role of REDD and the need to provide positive incentives to such action and enable mobilization of resources from developed countries	Establish a process for developing countries to reduce emissions in the forest sector in such a way that could enable external financing for these efforts
Adaptation	Agreed that developed countries shall provide adequate, predictable, and sustainable financial resources, technology, and capacity building to support adaptation in developing countries [Within financing section] Prioritized adaptation for the most vulnerable developing countries and stated that and that a balanced allocation of funding should go to mitigation and adaptation	Establishes Cancun Adaptation Framework to enhance adaptation action Establishes an Adaptation Committee to promote implementation of enhanced action Establishes a work program to study and address loss and damages associated with climate change

Sarah O. Ladislaw is a senior fellow in the Energy and National Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.

Audio: Post-Cancun Update - What Happened in Cancun and Where do the Climate Negotiations go from Here?

With Johnathon Pershing by CSIS

United against the divide

By Meng Si from ChinaDialogue| Dec 02


On November 30, while the Cancun climate negotiations in Cancun were stumbling on, at the climate village an hour's drive from the main venue, over 30 Chinese and American youths were discussing their personal views of how to move forward. Although the arguments in the climate talks going back and forth are becoming more and more intense between China and the US, the two countries' younger generations are opening channels of mutual understanding with hope for the future.

"We hope to encourage both sides to recognise that cultural exchange is necessary before political exchange," said Wang Yiting, one of the organisers. She is a fourth year student at Mount Holyoke College majoring in environment and international relations and was a member of the COP15 China Youth Delegation last year, which also had an exchange with the American youth team. The participants of this exchange included members of the China Youth Delegation, student union, United States sustainable development and ladder climate networks. A considerable number of the young people involved have a climate-related professional background or work in related fields.

It has been a rough year since the start of the Copenhagen talks. During the Tianjin conference, the US was "very disappointed" with China - a great carbon-dioxide-emitting nation - and its refusal to compromise on the issue of verifying emissions reduction efforts (the words of US delegation head, Jonathan Pershing) while Chinese delegate Su Wei accused the United States of using the transparency issue to evade emissions reduction responsibilities.

"Chinese people attach great importance to traditional family values," said Peking University student, Shi Xiangying, one of the Chinese youths to deliver a speech. She demonstrated how "well-behaved" Chinese youths in school are and their academic burdens. She also talked about the abundance of social activities. American youth, Ethan Buckner described the diversity of American families.

In addition, the two sides discussed topics that were more related to climate change. "I was very impressed by the data Chinese students provided, such as detailed charts," said Dr Xu Anqi from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, who was invited to participate in the dialogue. Her recommendation of this exchange on her twitter page was quickly noted and retweeted by some American journalists.

"Chinese culture is characterised by having a good reputation, so the most well-known Chinese cities around the world are often the most affluent cities in China, but this is far from reality." Said Peking University student Chen Yingao. She gave an introduction to the actual problems in China, including population, and believes that China's accession into the WTO, making it a "world factory," has an enormous impact on the country.

American youth Jarey Schy presented the situation of lobby groups in the government's lobbying fund: "There was a peak value of US$3.49 billion in 2009, which was just in time to introduce the climate bill," Schy said. In his ranking of lobbyists, the biggest fund, reaching US$680 million, came from the US Chamber of Commerce. Schy introduced lobbyists including the US Chamber of Commerce, General Electric, and Exxon Mobil, which all represent traditional energy industries.

"This exchange will be much deeper than that of Copenhagen," Wang Yiting said, "in Cancun, we will conduct two seminars and organise private exchanges about issues of interest for both sides." She also mentioned that after the exchange this year, there will be follow-up activities, such as promoting university cooperation projects between the two countries.

"We get to the root of our differences by discussing anything from culture to the establishment of systems. Maybe it won't be able to push the negotiating parties to resolve specific differences, which is why we want to deepen this understanding among youths - in order to evoke change in the future," Wang Yiting said.

Back at the negotiating table, the China-US antagonism seems to have relaxed. The delegates of the two countries, Xie Zhenhua and Jonathan Pershing, have publicly talked about the active dialogue between China and the United States. "I feel we have made some progress," Pershing said in a news conference on 29 November. However, there is a long road ahead.

"Mutual trust between China and the United States has great significance for addressing many global issues. The exchanges we promote have an unprecedented significance in the world," a member of the Chinese youth delegation said.

The photo is China and US youth meeting Jonathan Pershing, chief of US delegation.

"shared vision, diversified humanity"thoughts from an interview during Cancun

cross-posted on http://chinausyouthclimate.weebly.com/

It turns out that only when thoughts and events of the past two weeks are gathered into one thread that I have the “aha” moments. Thus, please excuse my relative silence here.

This whole entry started with an interview with a newspaper reporter from Hong Kong…


“We are knowledge-based idealists,” I just dubbed the phase on the spot when the journalist Binglin from the Southern Morning Post questioned if we ever touched base on the reality of what was truly going on. Jared and Ruanxi were with me at the interview. It was a rather provocative chat so I decided to write my version of it here, knowing that we might all have different interpretations of the same conversation.

The skeptics coming at our China-U.S. youth climate exchange are fair. We are young and inexperienced. Not knowing much about the real meaty stuff at stake could turn out to be very “rosy,” said Binglin, “this (here in Cancun) is not the reality. When you go back home, that is real; that is where people continue to buy SUVs and live in big houses.”

“I think we are pretty sure that these are two levels of realities,” I rebutted, and “the one at home is the cast of the one here, and vice versa.” Citing again one of Holly’s presentations on the three pillars of “saving the planet” model, I told him that being able to raise your voice to one decision-maker presumably has a greater impact than to one Joe Brown. This is not to say the “top-down” approach is the only solution. Grassroots organizers like Jared and folks from the China Youth Climate Action Network know better their own “circle of influence.” We simply need both.

A more immediate reality is that we cannot stay satisfied as grassroots organizers who only try to educate the public of the issue of climate change and advocate for a greener life-style. There are three pillars – policy, economics then lifestyle. What influence policy – presumably the most important deciding factor—are also economic drivers and public opinions. Occasions like Cancun, in Holly’s words, are “global policy in the making” and where we could use the bright spot to amplify our influence.


“But still, these two countries are so different and complex. Even if you young people get to collaborate, does that mean anything?” The very persistent journalist Binglin pushed on.

“But we get together because we all want to do something to prevent catastrophic disasters on our planet,” Jared argued, which is the foremost important shared vision we recognize among ourselves. “Besides, when you actually get to make the efforts to listen to and understand a seemingly stranger, you will find a lot of commonalities.”

“We are all human beings, the difference of gene composition between two Chinese might as well be higher than that between one Chinese and one American, according to some genetics studies in the U.S.”

“But tell me, didn’t you come to interview us with the assumption that we are just very different and it is naïve for us to think we can have meaningful agreement?”I turned the interview in reverse.I had enough of his prejudice, not to mention his very first question whether the China Youth Delegation was funded by the Chinese government. The second assumption was reasonable given historical trends, but I didn’t feel comfortable.

He agreed, nodding his head.

I pressed on. “Yes, we did each come with a certain agenda, but we also try to keep an open mind to be receiving. Youth is very receiving and adaptable. That’s why we represent the hope for the future.”

“And better, you learn to appreciate the difference.” At least this is something I am also trying to emphasize, besides only connecting on the commonalities. The neo-liberalism ideology that has been prevalent in the western societies since the Enlightenment and is also on its way to force onto other geographic territories, places human being as the center of the political system. Then you have democratic representation, human rights and market mechanism, etc. It believes in its universal application.. But it is not that there are no other alternatives in operation. We have family-centered, tribe-centered, gender-centered, just to name a few.

And that different political systems are in place for various historical reasons and have their right reasons to exist could be an alternative assumption for our collaboration. If not more open. And if assumption is a prerequisite for the human society to operate.

Admittedly I was a little bit pissed off when Binglin came to interview us because his boss wanted to find out if we were funded by the Chinese government as its propaganda machine. However I also appreciate his spirit of a searching journalist and his courage of recognizing the inadequacy in his reasoning.

For us, it was absolutely very provocative conversation as well. Dialogue sparks deep thinking. We come together, willing to try to find critical areas of commonalities on which we can build our collaboration, and to innovate solutions having understood the raison-d’être of our perspective cultural and political systems.

From Copenhagen to Cancun, from “Chinese Medicine” to “Food Diplomacy”

Nov, 26, Friday Less than an hour to Los Angles, three days before Cancun, COP 16


While I was trying to feel comfortable for gaining a day flying a restless 11-hour journey westbound, a peek into someone else’ newspaper indeed injected me some comfort. On the back side of the front page, it was Lina’s interview by China Daily – “Climate sparks warm views,” by the journalist Sun Li who visited us at the Sunday team meeting two weeks ago.

The article started with Lina’s awe-inspiring trip to the Antarctic with the “2041 project” initiated by Robert Swan, and moved on to her “part-time career” as an environmental activist besides her Fortune 500 job. But of course the core of this article is Lina’s transition of leadership (from the policy team leader of COP 15 China Youth Delegation to the chief of the COP 16 delegation) and that of the whole China Youth COP delegation from Copenhagen to Cancun.

One year after, from a winter to a “summer”, are we coming back Stronger?

The transition of the delegation is by all means necessary and the efforts of maturing are recommendable. Last year the whole delegation was irradiant, yet on some level, flimsy—the first Chinese youth delegation ever to voice out on behalf of some 400 million youth at home, 40-sth strong in number, over ten people receiving educations overseas. We symbolized China’s hope. Yet very unprepared, many of the “delegates” had to “do their homework” to get familiar with the negotiation process on the spot after arrival in Copenhagen, much as they all cared about the environment and climate. Too large a team, and too many distractions during the two weeks, just to name a few.

This year, however, we learned our lesson. Lina volunteered to go through the intensive preparation process once again and even to take the lead as the chief coordinator of the less-than-20 team. So did Furong, Mengsi and myself decide to take the challenge one more time and improve upon our experiences. The new team was assembled in August officially, after rounds of applications, selections and interviews. The team had convened for around 20 times each weekend, not including the daily meeting during the Tianjin round of talks, studying technical materials, planning activities, receiving trainings from field experts, organizing internal debate, managing our social media outlets, sending out newsletter, etc. Like last year, most of the funding came almost during the last minutes. No one backed out. No one intended.

“The college students are not easy! They all had to fund-raise for themselves to go, unlike you (referring to other big NGOs). I visited them both in Copenhagen and Tianjin,” said Xie Zhenghua, the deputy director of the National Development and Reform Committee and the head of the official Chinese negotiation delegation, in a close-door meeting with NGO representatives in China on the 25th before departure. He had especially requested representatives from the Delegation and the China Youth Climate Action Network.

A hard decision. We did not plan any “high-profile” campaign activities this year such as the “Green China” and “Chinese medicine therapy to climate change” we staged last year. We thought we ought to think deeper and wider this time.

So instead of having one of our guys dressing like a Chinese “Daifu (doctor),” the team came up with the idea of a new carbon calculator with support from Zhejiang University’s “Qiushi Chao” club. This is a carbon calculator that tells you what 10 US dollars can do to offset your carbon footprint – how many trees can be planted and CO2 sequestrated per say – or how long a student in the country side can remain in school, or how many chickens could be brought into a rural household in China. It will be available on our official website and and introduced through a side event.

“I think of this idea after the Tianjin meeting,” vented Yina, the head of our policy team, “where I had heard enough of foreign participants saying that China was such a developed country when they had not set their foot in places no longer than an hour away from the conference place.” This is not to say that China has no responsibility of being diligent in reducing its emission but that it needs to take a smarter move for its own sustainable development and at the international negotiation stage, Yina explained.

Recognizing our hard-earned opportunity to fly half way around the world to Cancun to witness the “first scene,” we highlight our responsibility of transmitting back the most up-to-date development and dynamics of the negotiations, as well as personal interpretations and reflections from a youth angle at Cancun with our multi-media distribution channels (e.g. official website, blogs, partner online media, online social media, etc.) targeting domestic young audience. On top of that, an army of reinforcement of over 30 people (with one third stationed overseas) has been assembled back home to support the frontline in terms of translation, editing articles and multi-media materials and organizing domestic activities on college campuses.

On the other hand, we want to show the world what efforts the pioneering Chinese youth have made to educate our peers by releasing the China Youth Climate Action Report during Cancun. We are also open to discuss strategies and lessons from youth groups from around the world and eager to seek resources to bring back home to enhance the work of the domestic youth organizations and NGOs at large.

Another legacy from Copenhagen that the team decided not to let it deposit but to dig deeper, polish and perpetuate is the second China-U.S. Youth Climate Exchange at Cancun after Copenhagen. Unlike last year when only three out of the 40 of team were involved in organizing the workshops and other joint activities, this year the preparation had started in a month in advance followed by intensive rounds of skype meetings with the help of tools like google docs that contain our “progress reports.” We have a core organizing team of over ten Americans and Chinese from both sides, claiming “territories” of work and serving as bottom-liners and facilitators of specific projects such as two workshops, focal groups, shared actions, and “food diplomacy” – a potluck party where the Americans have pledged to make pumpkin cheesecake and the Chinese to do the “Sichuan hotpot.”

The primary goals of the collaboration between young people from the two largest emitters are to educate themselves and build their own capacity and those of their peers to influence the policy-making at high level. Holly Chang, the CEO and founder of GoldenBridges and someone who has worked a facilitator of meetings between American and Chinese for three years, was again very instrumental in helping set up the framework and SMART goals of our collaboration. For us youth we recognize that we have our strengths and opportunities; we believe in alternatives and want to approach the issue our own way and potentially set up examples for the adults– such as, getting to know what our dorms each look like and our pet peeves before we go on to discuss CO2 and wind turbines. Last Monday, during the tele-conference organized by SustainUS to announce the youth participating strategies at Cancun, the exchange was announced for the first time. Later a story was published by SolveClimate and picked up by Reuters. "We hope to strengthen trust between our countries by growing our own trust. We hope ... to show the world in a more visible way that China and the U.S. are working together now."” quoted Jared Schy.

Thus we have designated a prioritized mission to be carried out before, during and after Cancun to reflect our core purposes of building our own capacity to make greater influence on the climate agenda for our own future and that of peers at home by engendering domestic interaction and international civic diplomacy. We need to grow substantially after Cancun and provide platforms for more to join the party.

From Copenhagen, to Nairobi, and to Cancun – an “L” journey that tells a big story

Now shift the wide angle to a close-up. Interestingly for myself, from Copenhagen to Cancun, it’s a year that has witnessed some organic and substantial growth – a transition of concentration from youth advocacy to implementation.

I lingered on in Copenhagen after COP 15, not because I enjoy Scandinavia’s gloomy winter and Denmark’s little mermaid, but because I had arranged to study in Denmark for an exchange semester prior to knowing I was going to COP 15. It was all worth-a-while. From both the courses and my involvement with Energy Crossroads Denmark Chapter – a youth organization focusing on energy issues -- I had the chance to learn more about the highly developed and efficient Danish energy supply system and its advancement in wind energy, and how to create value and opportunities for the society and youth themselves amidst the seemingly conflicting nature of climate change and development.

As if I had been traumatized by Europe’s coldest winter in 30 years and needed some intensive therapy, the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) headquartered in the equatorial country of Kenya offered me an internship after I submitted my “medical case of illness.” From Copenhagen to Nairobi, life was finally awoken from a cold but fruitful dormancy.

Although while at the communication division of UNEP I was, for most of time, focusing on awareness-raising and advocacy -- promoting UNEP’s programs and activities to broader Chinese audience through various forms of social media. In the meanwhile, I went to the meetings of the African Youth Initiatives on Climate Change (AYICC) every Wednesday for one project. We had been pooling together resources for local youth groups to help implement energy-saving and clean cook stoves in Kenya – a mission I had promised my fellow Energy Crossroaders that I would carry on when I went there. And later together with several young Kenyans of my age, we founded the Rural Energy Enterprises Network (REEN), which is envisioned to become the network and incubator of youth enterprises for the sustainable promotion of appropriate energy technologies for rural households in Kenya and later across African under the umbrella of AYICC.

That said, yet I did not realize the significance of the establishment of REEN until a young journalist from Germany, who had just finished his travel to China to interview the young climate pioneers there, came to his stop in Africa to complete a book on global youth climate movement. It was Daniel who brought AYICCers and me two big pictures of this unprecedented global movement. His interviews of youth leaders from over 20-something countries told him that youth activists from many developing countries can give lots of inspirations and strategies to their counterparts in developed nations, not only just vice versa. And the creation of REEN, in his eyes, symbolized AYICC’s “high-profile” move that has been brewing for long to implementation of mitigation and adaptation projects from just pure climate change advocacy activities. Behind his “eyes,” I suddenly realized that I have consciously and unconsciously shifted my own focus of energy from singing the song to walking the talk.

But, is it a once-and-for-all transition? Is the climate movement on a personal level a point-A-to-point-B line? Is there anything more to it?

From Nairobi to Beijing

Then, do my decision to take a semester off school and returning to Beijing to help prepare the team signals my re-embracement of youth advocacy over implementation? I pondered over the question myself and could finally give out the ever-neutral “Yes-and-No” answer, which could potentially be a theory in the boiling as I’d like to see it that way.

It is nothing but a forward-rolling circle, like all matters in the universe, and I am only just one of the tides that are trying to raise more boats (to borrow Holly’s words), and the same for the whole team from a collective point of view.

Having my eyes wide-open at the 10-thousand-strong PowerShift09 and worked for the China Youth Climate Action Network the following summer, Copenhagen was a glorious attraction for me, academically and career-wise. This year, despite the frustrating outcome of Copenhagen and much cooler public enthusiasm, I decided that I am still motivated to build upon my experience and continue my efforts to organize and facilitate the Delegation as the stakes of no agreement is getting higher and the presence and voices of Chinese youth need to be sustained and lifted up and indeed--new sprouts need to be given chance to mature to lead waves of young Chinese into the spread the words of climate change, including learning ways to mitigate and adapt to it.

For the first China Youth Delegation to COP 15, the purpose was to organize a strong youth force and send our voices to the summit that we youth in China care about the climate change and we’ve done a lot to educate our peers and the general public. But this year to put the perspective back into the circle with Cancun being a big knot, the objective of promoting the ideas and examples of sustainable development was added into our COP 16 “constitution” of the team. And together with our U.S. counterparts, we come to Cancun with an agenda to spark the U.S.-China youth exchange into some long-term collaboration that bring youth into the field to experience and innovate sustainable development.

So for the team as a whole, while newbies are not only educated of the matters, they will also be exposed in Cancun—to the epicenter for-the-moment of climate change experts and solution practitioners—a place to accelerate the transition of each individual and the overall flow and movement of the big cycle. By transmitting back everything we will have experienced during the next two weeks, we are motivated and determined to stir up more cycles of transitions that will eventually flow into the mainstream of climate movement in China and around the world.

Photo à la une-Sudanese women venture out to collect firewood

just echoed the importance of efficient cook-stove (less than 4 dollar), imagine just a 50% efficiency increase from the open fire stove, you can save one day's trip!


Featured Photo | Photo à la une

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Posted: 5 October 2010 | Posté : 5 octobre 2010

Sudanese women from Kassab Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp in Kutum, North Darfur, venture out to collect firewood. They were escorted by South African peacekeepers of the African Union-United Nations Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID), as the women IDPs often fear being raped by rebel fighters or criminals when they leave their homes | UN Photo: 443583

Des femmes soudanaises du camps Kassab de personnes déplacées internes à Kutum, dans le Nord du Darfour, ramassent du bois à brûler. Elles sont escortées par des casques bleus sud-africains de l'Opération hybride Union africaine-Nations Unies au Darfour (MINUAD), car les femmes déplacées internes craignent souvent d'être violées par des combattants rebels ou des criminels lorsqu'elles sortent de chez elles | UN Photo: 443583

Previous featured photos | Précédentes photos à la une

Shining Light: ToughStuff wins top global award for enterprise in Africa

I have been thinking about someday how much would the cost look like if these products can be produced in African and sold locally...
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from ToughStuff press release September 2010

ToughStuff, an international social enterprise founded by English and Dutch entrepreneurs, has today been announced as a Tech Awards Laureate 2010 for its work providing clean, affordable energy to the world’s poorest people.

Toughstuff, which started trading just 15 months ago, has already sold more than 100,000 solar power kits benefitting 380,000 low-income consumers in Eastern and Southern Africa. ToughStuff’sproducts have also been distributed to people living in temporary camps in Haiti following the earthquake.

The Tech Awards Laureate 2010 coincides with the start of Toughstuff’s plans for rapid expansion into previously untapped markets in Africa and the rest of the developing world to meet the needs of the 1.46 billion people globally without access to electricity.
ToughStuff, with offices in London, Kenya and Madagascar, has been chosen from hundreds of applicants in 50 countries to receive the Laureate from the Tech Museum in California.

The Tech Awards, sponsored by Applied Materials, Inc and other global organisations, is one of the world’s top humanitarian awards programs, recognising technical solutions that address critical issues facing theplanet and its people and that spark global change.

ToughStuff was established in 2008 by social entrepreneurs, Andrew Tanswell, who is English and based in London, and Adriaan Mol, a Dutch national living and working in Madagascar.

Andrew Tanswell believes ToughStuff ’s unique and commercial approach benefits very poor people in the most remote places in the developing world.
“On the back of our success in Kenya and Madagascar we are now planning rapid expansion across Africa, a vast unreached market. Poverty will primarily be combated through enterprise not charity. The Tech Awards laureate is a timely endorsement of our business model.”
ToughStuff is a “triple bottom line” business that achieves financial, social and environmental returns by selling solar energy solutions to the 1.46 billion people in developing countries who have no access to electricity.

ToughStuff designs and distributes robust, affordable, portable products which can weather theharsh conditions of developing countries. The products include solar panels, LED lamps and battery packs to power radios and mobile phones. These replace kerosene, candles and dry-cell batteries which are costly, polluting and damage health.

ToughStuff believes its solar products have similar growth potential in Africa as mobile phones. In Africa alone over $27 billion is spent on sources of energy such as kerosene, candles, batteries and mobile phone charging in areas where there is no electricity.
Adriaan Mol, Madagascar-based Operations Director, said: “ToughStuff products cut the cost of light and power so people have more money to spend on food, education, health and enterprise. That’s why ToughStuff products are in huge demand, and appear to be following a similar growth trajectory to that of mobile phones. We have enormous numbers of potential customers.”

ToughStuff has developed innovative distribution systems to get products to remote settlements.or example, through a “Business in a Box” program Village Solar Entrepreneurs sell and hire out solar panels and chargers. The scheme has already attracted Dutch Government funding.

George Gitau, ToughStuff’s Kenya-based East African manager, said: “The success of ToughStuff in Kenya and Madagascar shows we have a winning formula which customers love. Our plans to grow our business rapidly will increase the number of people who we can help improve their lives and save money.”

Tech Awards laureates are selected by a prestigious panel of international judges organised by the Centre for Science, Technology and Society at Santa Clara University, California.
Peter Friess, president of the Tech Museum, said: “The global challenges of the day have become increasingly strident, more deeply rooted.
“Still there is hope. These incredibly impressive laureates have all proven to be equal to, or better than, the challenge to make the world a better place. By celebrating their accomplishments today, we are encouraging future innovators to work toward solutions to make the world healthier, safer and more sustainable.”

The Tech Awards laureate will be formally bestowed at a Gala hosted by the Tech Museum in San Jose on November 6. ToughStuff will also find out at the Gala if it is one of the five laureates whowill also receive a $50,000 cash prize. If successful, ToughStuff will use the prize money to provide emergency kits to large-scale crises including the Pakistan floods and the Haiti earthquake.

Ends Notes to Editors
Contact Information
www.ToughStuffonline.org
Roger Hattam +44 (0) 20 72610983 +44 7768 801174 (m) Roger.hattam@ToughStuffonline.com
Ros Dawson +44 (0) 1274 561241 +44 7720 882512 (m) ros@rosdawsonmedia.co.uk
To receive a sample ToughStuff solar panel and LED lamp or for high resolution
photographs and videos, please contact the above.

Fish Farms, With a Side of Greens

Just came across an interesting piece from the NYTimes talking about the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics, and Clarice, here you go, closed-loop agricultural system!

However，"Brett Roe, who investigated ecologically integrated production systems at the University of Queensland in Australia, cautioned that it might not be a cure-all. 'Aquaponics offers decentralized food security on a small scale, and reuse of resources,' he said. 'Every little bit helps. But in developing countries it may make better sense to culture fish in ponds and use the wastewater on land-based crops; a simple linkage of aquaculture and crop farming that has the same general effect of reusing resources and can be practiced in a larger scale of economy.'”

The Kenya project is carried out in conjunction with the Baobab Trust in Mombassa, http://www.thebaobabtrust.com/projects.html

By GENEVIEVE ROBERTS

LONDON — In the Lowlands of Scotland, an old fire station donated to the community of Moffat for a symbolic penny has been converted into what may be the farm of the future. Forget about fields. Forget even about established norms of industrial agriculture. Using a new technology known as aquaponics, the Moffat farm, due to start production at the end of this month, will churn out fish and vegetables by the ton, in a space equivalent to a small factory.

Aquaponics — a combination of aquaculture, or fish cultivation, and hydroponics, or water-based planting — utilizes a symbiotic relationship between fish and plants. Fish waste provides nutrients for the plants, which in turn filter the water in which the fish live. Cuttings from plant are composted to create food for worms, which provide food for the fish, completing the cycle.

“Aquaponics is a method of delivering multiple crops with minimum input, through a closed-loop method of farming,” said Charlie Price, founder of Aquaponics UK, the nonprofit organization that runs the farm.

A kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of fish food, produces at least 50 kilograms of vegetables and 0.8 kilogram of fish, he said. “As the ecosystem becomes self-sustainable, the fish food comes from the worms, so the entire cycle is free.”

Mr. Price’s organization is working internationally with food production projects in India, Afghanistan and several African countries, including Uganda, Kenya and Namibia. But it also works closer to home. Its next project is a city farm shop in London at which people will be able to pick their own salads and choose fish for their supper from giant tanks.

The store, called Farm:shop, in the Borough of Hackney, was created by Something & Son, a design company, working with the local council. It hopes to make direct links between the city neighborhood and the realities of farming. A location has been secured, and the project is in the late stages of acquiring funding.

The potential for urban farming is being explored in Milwaukee, where some of the leading aquaponics entrepreneurs are based. Sweet Water Organics, an urban aquaponics company, raises perch and leafy green vegetables in an old factory that housed a mining company until the 1950s. The farm, founded by James Godsil and Josh Fraundorf in January 2009, has sold thousands of fish and produces about 70 kilograms of vegetables a week. It is expanding rapidly, and plans to produce between 360 and 450 kilograms of greens a week and to grow tens of thousands of kilograms of perch in coming years.

Mr. Godsil and Mr. Fraundorf learned the techniques largely from Will Allen, an urban farmer and winner of a MacArthur “genius” fellowship, and through trial and error.

“We believe this is the world’s first effort to turn a factory into a fish and vegetable farm, and it’s a complex proposition,” Mr. Godsil said. “We’ve experimented with 40 types of lettuce, settled on three or four, and we’re now trialing spinach.”

The farm started with a $50,000 investment but has attracted about $1 million in funds over the past 20 months and partnerships with the Milwaukee School of Engineering and informally with the University of Stirling in Scotland. It is discussing the prospect of a $30 million concept for Sweetwater villages, which would have community-scale manufacturing, restaurants and cafes with food produced from aquaponics.

The farm is receiving support from the University of Wisconsin and Sea Grants, a U.S. government program, to grow yellow perch and possibly blue gill, species indigenous to the Great Lakes but in decline. “The fish it produces are a 21st century form of protein that won’t harm planet earth,” Mr. Godsil said.

Industrial aquaponics is still in its infancy, with only five facilities of more than 0.4 hectare, or one acre, operating in the world, although interest is growing, particularly in areas with water shortages. Aquaponics use between 80 and 90 per cent less water than traditional growing methods.

In Barbados, where fresh water is scarce and 80 per cent of food is imported, according to the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, a project known as “Aquaponic island” started last year, with a goal of educating farmers about the benefits of aquaponics to make it their technology of choice in four years. The project has funding from the United Nations Development Program, the Barbadian Ministry of Agriculture, the institute and a community group, the Baird’s Village Aquaponics Association. A commercial-scale system was set up at Baird’s Village, and this year aquaponic systems are being introduced to many of the island’s schools.

In Australia, where farmers have struggled with drought for the past decade, backyard aquaponic systems have grown in popularity. Joel Malcolm, who opened the world’s first aquaponics retail store, Backyard Aquaponics, in the Australian city of Perth, sells about 300 systems a year.

“With water restrictions enforced in almost every city around the country, people just can’t have their traditional vegetable garden,” he said. “Being able to produce your own chemical-free fish and vegetables in your own backyard not only saves money but also provides enjoyment and satisfaction. Lately there have been quite a few schools installing systems here as learning tools for the kids.”

While backyard systems are in their infancy in the United States, they are growing in popularity, with estimates that there may be 800 to 1,200 aquaponics setups in American homes and yards and as many as 1,000 more in schools, according to the Aquaponics Journal.

Could this almost-waste-free food production method be the miracle solution to tackle worldwide food shortages that some expect? Brett Roe, who investigated ecologically integrated production systems at the University of Queensland in Australia, cautioned that it might not be a cure-all. “Aquaponics offers decentralized food security on a small scale, and reuse of resources,” he said. “Every little bit helps. But in developing countries it may make better sense to culture fish in ponds and use the wastewater on land-based crops; a simple linkage of aquaculture and crop farming that has the same general effect of reusing resources and can be practiced in a larger scale of economy.”

While still in its fledgling stages, Mr. Godsil said the potential of aquaponics was “breathtaking.”

“Aquaponics has inspired pragmatic utopian visions, that keep getting validated by the facts. We need solutions to what could be a Pearl Harbor moment for the species, if global warming trends continue the way Al Gore and scientists predict,” he said referring to the former U.S. vice president.

Mr. Price of Aquaponics UK said: “Given our requirements to provide significantly more energy and food in the next 20 years, aquaponics can play a vital role. It isn’t a new technology – in fact it was first documented by the Aztecs – but when adopted in our new climate it provides a highly profitable and sustainable food production system.”

The Baobab Trust project

Sustainable Agriculture

The Mtopanga Training and Demonstration Farm is a 10hec farm with a variety of vegetables and fruits organically grown. Livestock and poultry keeping including an integrated fish farming system and alternative technology makes up the demonstration farm at the same time a Training facility. With a number of components on the farm each structure is
interlinked, providing and benefiting each other. Hence, ensuring it is a continuous process all on the same land. Since all these are set-up on together, we offer community and the surrounding stakeholders
technical advice, trainings tours. We also welcome farmers and interested individuals to visit the farm. Hence the farm is open to all who are interested in sustainable farming. We work very closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries.

Training:
We offer trainings on organic farming, integrated fish farming, livestock and poultry keeping, bee keeping, alternative energy including biogas. Compost, tree nursery set-up and charcoal making. Our trainings are based on hands-on training for the communities and surrounding stakeholders.

Educational Tours:
School groups and Institutions are taken on a tour around
the farm.

Open Field Days:
About twice a year, an Open-Field Day is hosted to the local Farmers, Institutions, Schools and Individuals. The Farm is set up to demonstrate various farming methods using basic affordable techniques that can be applied to their own farms. This day is coordinated with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock..