Asareca to start climate-smart agriculture in East Africa

 

The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (Asareca), plans to rollout climate-smart agriculture projects in East Africa starting next year to cope with the effects of climate change on food security.

 

Speaking during a regional workshop on research and policy related to climate change adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa in Nairobi, Hezron Mogaka, manager of natural resources management at Asareca, said farmers in the region risk heavy losses in coming years if they are not assisted to cope with the new climatic trends.

 

“At the moment, our communities have their own traditional ways of dealing with climate change. However, given that it is changing so rapidly, the communities don’t have real mechanisms for adaptations and so the rate at which climate change is changing is faster compared with the rate of adaptation,” Dr Mogaka said.

 

Dr Mogaka said farmers in the region are incurring losses due to crop failure resulting from drought, landslides as well as loss of livestock in Kenya, Tanzania and some parts in Uganda.

 

Climate-smart agriculture, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, refers to the “agriculture that sustainably increases productivity, resilience, reduces or removes greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation), and enhances achievement of national food security and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”

 

Whereas UN summit agreed in 2010 to limit the rise in global temperatures to 2 degrees by 2020, there are signs that it could even double, according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency —having a negative impact on not only crops and livestock production but also on the spread of pests and diseases.

 

Officials at Asareca say they plan to mobilise funds for the climate-smart agriculture projects starting next year across the region.

 

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the World Bank estimate the costs of adaptation at between $41 billion and $170 billion per year by 2030, globally.

 

Adaptation cost

 

In the agriculture sector alone, the annual costs of climate change adaptation required in developing world agriculture as estimated by the International Food Policy Research Institute at between $7 billion and $8 billion per year, while the UNFCCC estimates the costs of adapting agriculture to climate change to be from $11.3 billion to $12.6 billion per year by 2030.

 

The East African nations mainly depend on rain-fed agriculture with over 70 per cent of the population employed in the sector.

 

However, Dr Emma Liwenga, a climate change consultant, said despite extensive climate change adaptation research in the East African region, there is still little evidence regarding how the generated knowledge is made useful or integrated into the agriculture sector.

Uganda to start trials of Genetically Modified Irish Potato

Scientists in Uganda will soon start confined trials of genetically modified strains of Irish potato designed to be resistant to Phytophthora infestans, the fungus that causes potato blight, now devastating the crop in the west of the country.

Dr Andrew Kigundu of Kawanda Agricultural Research Laboratories told The EastAfrican that laboratory tests on the GM potato shows signs of resistance against the disease and it is now time to be transferred to the natural environment for further trials.

“Data from our lab experiments shows that a combination of R-genes from wild potatoes have different levels of resistance to the disease, leading to crop immunity,” said the lead scientist.

Seeking approval

Dr Kigundu added that, with assistance from their Kenyan counterpart, Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, the centre is now seeking approval from Uganda’s National Biosafety Committee to carry out confined field trials. He said two potato varieties, each with 12 lines, have so far been identified for confined field trials.

If approved, the late blight-resistant Irish potato will become the latest crop to undergo trials for the genetically engineered strains in Uganda, even as scientists in the country continue to differ over the proposed law to regulate production and commercialisation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The trials will be conducted at Kachwekano Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute in south-western Uganda.

The National Biosafety Bill, which intends to introduce biotechnology seeds and allow commercial release of GM products from ongoing research into the markets, is before parliament.

Uganda has already approved and carried out a field trial on banana to test black sigatoka disease resistance (2007-2009); two trials to evaluate Bacillus thuringiensis  (a naturally occurring soil  bacteria that protects crops against crop pests) and roundup ready cotton (2009-2010); a trial to test cassava mosaic virus resistance (2009-2010); and two ongoing trials to test banana bio-fortified with vitamin A and iron, and also testing resistance to banana bacterial wilt.

Though some of the studies on GM crops have been completed, the crops cannot be released for commercial production.

Causing losses

Abel Arinaitwe, a pathologist at the Kachwekano institute, said late blight is one of the major diseases of economic importance to potato production in Uganda, causing yield losses of 40 to 70 per cent.

Potato blight has rapidly progressed over the potato-growing areas of Kenya and Uganda since it was first reported in East Africa in 1941, according to CropLife Foundation. The disease is greatly affecting Irish potato production in south-western Uganda.

The initial symptom of blight is a rapidly spreading, watery rot of leaves, which soon collapse, shrivel and turn brown.

If unchecked

In humid weather, a fine white fungal growth may be seen around the edge of the lesions on the underside of the leaves.

If unchecked, the disease reaches the tubers, which develop a reddish-brown decay below the skin, firm at first but soon developing into a soft rot as the tissues are invaded by bacteria. Early attacks of blight may not be visible on tubers but any infected tubers will rot in store.

Uganda’s scientists to use phytoremediation in restoring Queen Elizabeth National Park

 

Uganda’s scientists plans to restore Queen Elizabeth National Park through planting trees deemed to be resistant to mineral pollutants with a view to maximise their potentials for phytoremediation. 

Phytoremediation is the direct use of green plants and their associated micro-organisms to stabilise or reduce contamination with organic and inorganic pollutants in soils, sledges, sediments, surface water, or ground water. 

The Lead Researcher, Prof Hannington Oryem-Origa said tree species; Eucalyptus grandis and two legume species; Leucaena glauca and Cassia siamea, are currently under confined trials in the copper tailings dams in Kilembe and in the pyrite trail in Queen Elizabeth National Park both in Kasese District, Western Uganda. 

Eucalyptus trees under confined trials in Queen Elizabeth National Park.

 “These two areas have been contaminated by heavy metals as a result of dumping of wastes generated from the mining of copper from Kilembe Mines between 1956 and 1982. The estimated amount of pollutants dumped in Kilembe area is about 15 million metric tonnes,” Prof Oryem-Origa said.

 Prof Oryem-Origa said conditions in the tailings dams in Kilembe area and the pyrite trail in Queen Elizabeth National Park are acidic and inhibit the growth of ordinary plants.

 The pyrite materials originally consisted of metal suphides which were oxidized resulting in the production of sulphuric acid. The acidic pyrite was then spread into the Park area by storm water and at one time covering a total area of about 150 hectares within Queen Elizabeth National Park, threatening the survival of biodiversity.

 Queen Elizabeth National Park covers 1978 square kilometres, with its position providing a magnificent view of the rift valley floor that occupies Lakes Edward and Gorge.

  The Park is believed to have the highest biodiversity ratings in country with over 500 different bird species and about 100 mammal species.

 According to Uganda Wildlife Authority, Queen Elizabeth National Park is the country’s third highest revenue earner after Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Murchison Falls National Park in Uganda.

Prof Oryem-Origa said their interest was to use trees of economic value to people which could be periodically harvested and transported away from the polluted habitats while gradually removing the pollutants.

 In addition to growing fast, these tree species can also send deep roots into the soil and extract heavy metals from the polluted habitat as they grow because they exhibit some degree of tolerance or resistance to acidity and drought.

 “It is in the process of repeated tree harvesting that the trees will be taking away heavy metals that include lead, cadmium, copper, cobalt, nickel, manganese and iron among others from the polluted soil and ultimately leading to its restoration to the original state,” Prof Oryem-Origa said.

A section of pyrite trail in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda

 Prof Oryem-Origa added that there will also be an element of phytostabilisation of the polluted soils-a subset of phytoremediation- where growing trees reduce heavy metal mobility by root adsorption and precipitation resulting from growing the pollutant resistant trees.

 Prof Oryem-Origa said if the new technology succeeds, then the planted tree in Queen Elizabeth conservation area will be cut down and completely removed to permit the indigenous vegetation to regenerate in the restored areas.

 The scientists also expect to use the same technology in restoring vegetation in other mineral polluted environments countrywide.

 Though the new development is good news for the restoration of the Park, Uganda Wildlife Authority believes that the selected tree species may not be allowed in the park at the moment as they seem to be exotic.

 “While the development is a good initiative, I am only worried that the proposed plant species seem to all be exotic species and would not be accepted inside the national park,”  said Mr. Charles Tumwesigye, a chief conservation manager at UWA. 

Mr. Tumwesigye said the scientists need to identify indigenous plant species that are resistant to mineral pollutants and they would be happy to work with them.

 In the early 2000s, scientists successfully applied shallow rooted plant species like Spear Grass (Imperata cylindrica), Barmuda Grass or Common Star Grass (Cynodon dactylon), Kodo Grass (Paspalum scrobiculatum), Bulrush millet (Typha latifolia) and Copper ferns in the pyrite trail in Queen Elizabeth National Park to restore the natural vegetation.

 However, the tested shallow-rooted plants improved only shallow depths of the soil in the pyrite trail.

 It is on this basis that Uganda’s scientists have embarked on new technology that could possibly help restore the polluted soil permanently.

 The project is being conducted by Makerere University in collaboration with Sorderton University in Sweden.