Environment

  • June 19, 2017

    Digital technologies enhance the resilience of individuals and communities

    Written by
    Josh Woodard, Regional ICT and Digital Finance Advisor, Asia Pacific, FHI 360

    We live in an increasingly volatile and uncertain world. The risks to much of the world’s population that stem from climatic, political and economic fluctuations have played out again and again in recent years. While emergency response and humanitarian aid still have an important role to play, the development community is increasingly interested in how to build the resilience of individuals, communities and systems not only to survive these shocks and stresses, but also to adapt to them and better prepare for future occurrences.

    There is no single solution for building resilience, as it is highly dependent on the population in question, the risks they face, local infrastructure and resources, and a number of other factors. However, one tool that has the potential to facilitate increased resilience across a range of contexts is digital technology.

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  • May 5, 2017

    Understanding the relationships among food security, climate change and conflict

    Written by
    Nicholas Wedeman, Technical Advisor, Climate and Environment, FHI 360

    Despite decades of investments to improve food security for the world’s poorest people, hunger and malnutrition are still problems for many. Indeed, a daunting food security crisis currently puts more than 20 million people at risk of starvation in just four countries: Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen. In sub-Saharan Africa, an estimated 42 million children under the age of 5 will be malnourished by 2050, and 10 million additional children will be malnourished if climate change impacts continue unabated.

    This crisis calls for improvements in identifying, understanding and addressing the interlinked factors that result in broadscale food security crises. The cycle of resource degradation caused by climate change that leads to food insecurity, starvation and ongoing conflicts raises the question of whether climate change itself is a “threat multiplier” that increases the potential for conflict. Evidence suggests that the interplay between these sectors is critical to the emergence or development of many humanitarian crises. However, the complexity of these relationships and the role of climate change as a threat multiplier are less understood.

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  • March 15, 2016

    Using technology to help farmers adapt to climate change

    Written by
    Berhane Gebru, Director of Programs, TechLab, FHI 360

    Hellen Mary Akiror’s livelihood relies on the right amount of rainfall coming at the right time.

    A farmer in Uganda’s Soroti district, Hellen lives with her husband and seven children. Growing millet, groundnuts, sorghum, cassava and potatoes on her four acres, she is dependent on rain-fed agriculture for her survival. Yet, she said, “Rainfall comes at the wrong time, in huge quantities, and stops when we need it most.”

    Hellen’s story is all too common. In 2014, I met Mukasa, an elderly Ugandan farmer grappling with the fact that his village was facing unpredictable rainfall and temperatures higher than any in living memory. At the same focus group discussion where I met Mukasa, I also met Father Philippe, the pastor of Mukasa’s parish. Father Philippe said, “We have sinned and the lack of rain and excess heat are the wrath of God.” Another parish member said, “We destroyed the trees and we are facing the consequences.”

    While the villagers’ explanations vary, all agree on one point — rainfall in the country is becoming scarce and unpredictable, and extreme heat is increasing in intensity and frequency. During the 80 years between 1911 and 1990, only eight droughts occurred, while in the 10 years between 1991 and 2000, the country experienced seven droughts. As in other sub-Saharan countries, higher temperatures and more frequent and severe droughts and floods in Uganda diminish food security, decrease the quantity and quality of water, and deteriorate natural resources.

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  • December 11, 2015

    4-step guide to how ICTs can help farmers adapt to climate change

    Written by
    Wayan Vota, Senior Mobile Advisor, FHI 360

    The Climate Change Adaptation and ICT (CHAI) project, co-implemented by FHI 360, uses ICT tools to provide climate adaptation information to more than 100,000 farmers in local languages in three intervention districts in Uganda with the goal of increasing agricultural productivity in communities vulnerable to climate change.

    This week CHAI won the UNFCCC 2015 Momentum for Change’s Lighthouse Activities Award for innovative and transformative solutions addressing climate change and wider economic, social and environmental challenges.

    Studies conducted by the CHAI project showed that access to adaptation information improved by up to 48 percent in the intervention districts (Nakasongola, Sembabule and Soroti) compared to the control district (Rakai), while the effectiveness of adaptation actions that were based on information received through the project increased by up to 33 percent in the intervention areas compared to the control district.

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  • December 9, 2014

    The Green Corrections Challenge

    Written by
    Stephanie Davison, Program Manager and Director, Green Corrections Project, FHI 360

    The primary goal of corrections in the United States is keeping the community — everyone from offenders to those who work within prisons and jails — safe. Policies and strategies within the corrections community, however, increasingly emphasize cost containment and environmental sustainability. Addressing these two goals in tandem has proven to be a great opportunity for correctional leaders and their partners.

    FHI 360’s Green Corrections project contributes to the goal of making the corrections system more environmentally sustainable by facilitating the sharing of effective practices and lessons learned.

    A recent competition, the Green Corrections Challenge, highlighted exciting and innovative green practices in local, state and federal correctional facilities and reentry programs in the United States. The competition, part of the Green Corrections project, showed how dedicated corrections professionals are minimizing negative environmental impacts, saving taxpayer dollars and preparing offenders for green jobs.

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  • October 15, 2014

    An interconnected approach to improving handwashing behaviors

    Written by
    Hanna Woodburn, Deputy Secretariat Director, Global Public–Private Partnership for Handwashing (PPPHW), FHI 360

    Each year on Global Handwashing Day, hundreds of millions of people around the world gather to celebrate the power of handwashing with soap to save lives. This day also provides an opportunity to consider the current status of the hygiene sector and catalyze further action. As we look toward the future of hygiene behavior change, we need to ensure that we are maximizing the broader topic of integrated development and fully considering its relationship to hygiene.

    Integrated development, which can be defined in many different ways, is increasingly being discussed within the international development community, and FHI 360 plays an active role in convening this conversation. I recently had the opportunity, on behalf of the Global Public–Private Partnership for Handwashing (PPPHW), to attend an event hosted by FHI 360 titled Does 1+1=3? Proving the Integration Hypothesis, which brought together expert panelists from academia, government, donors and nongovernmental organizations.

    I took away many key learnings from this event, but the one that stuck with me most is this: If we hope to move the needle on the most entrenched development challenges, we need to consider the benefits that could be offered by combining services or sectors.

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  • November 7, 2013

    Why family planning matters in the post-2015 development agenda

    Written by
    Ward Cates, Distinguished Scientist and President Emeritus, FHI 360
    Tricia Petruney, Senior Technical Officer for Global Health, Population, and Nutrition, FHI 360

    The sun is setting on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). In 2015, the world will shift its focus toward a new development agenda. We know that family planning improves the health and well-being of women and families around the world. Now, as the next-generation goals expand the focus from social and human development to also include economic and environmental objectives, we should not underestimate the positive ripple effects of family planning across all three areas.

    Let’s first remind ourselves of family planning’s connection to all eight MDGs. Family planning: generates wealth and reduces hunger (MDG 1); prolongs education (MDG 2); empowers women and girls (MDG 3); saves infants (MDG 4); improves maternal health (MDG 5); prevents pediatric HIV (MDG 6); reduces pressure on the environment (MDG 7); and promotes global partnerships (MDG 8).

    Moving beyond 2015, the three health-related MDGs are likely to be condensed into one goal (Ensuring Healthy Lives). It is reassuring to see that “ensuring universal sexual and reproductive health and rights” is among the five sub-targets proposed within this goal. Moreover, exciting new support for family planning has been generated by passionate champion Melinda Gates and through global movements like Family Planning 2020. This promising momentum will not realize its full potential, however, without bold, outside-the-box approaches that reach people with family planning information and services. Given family planning’s wide-ranging benefits, we must now strengthen support for it in development sectors beyond health.

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  • June 6, 2013

    FHI 360 celebrates World Oceans Day

    Written by
    Jennifer Barker, Director, Global FISH Alliance, FHI 360

    From the indigenous communities on the Miskito Coast of Honduras to the communities of northern Mozambique, FHI 360 programs are making an impact on the health of our oceans and the humans who depend on them. FHI 360 joins in the celebration of this year’s World Oceans Day on June 8 — an event first recognized by the United Nations General Assembly in 2008. On this day, oceans are celebrated as vital lifelines of communities around the world. Oceans are essential to food, security and other economic activities totaling nearly US$215 billion. The planet’s oceans affect the health of people worldwide, our ecosystems and the air we breathe. FHI 360 is a part of this complex but thriving environment by managing a sustainable fisheries program on three continents, known as the Global FISH Alliance (G-FISH).

    “World Oceans Day recognizes that the ocean is the living link between humankind and the Earth,” says Jimmy Andino, Spiny Lobster Initiative Chief of Party, G-FISH in Honduras. “The ocean provides the perfect conditions so life on Earth can be possible. The ocean provides livelihoods for millions, shelter and breeding grounds for vast marine biodiversity and is responsible for regulating global atmospheric conditions on the planet. As dwellers of a living planet, we deserve a living ocean. It is our responsibility to protect and use it sustainably.”

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  • April 25, 2013

    How ICT is helping farmers and combating climate change

    Written by
    Josh Woodard, Project Manager, TechLab, FHI 360

    Greenhouse gases from agriculture account for over ten percent of total emissions globally, roughly equivalent to the entire global transport sector. Meanwhile, it is estimated that agricultural production will need to increase by about 70% by 2050 to keep pace with global population growth. What’s more, the real impacts of climate change on the agricultural sector are likely going to be hardest felt in many of those countries whose people rely on agriculture most for their livelihoods. In sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, for example, some estimates show a reduction in the productivity of most major food crops as a result of changes to the climate over the next forty years.

    While this may sound like a doom and gloom scenario, this Earth Day I want to focus on an area of promise: the increasing availability of affordable technologies that have the potential to reduce greenhouse gases and increase productivity in agriculture. I am referring here not to agricultural technologies—although those certainly play a role—but rather to information and communications technologies, like the mobile phone, video, and even radio. If you are wondering how a mobile phone, a video camera, and a radio might relate at all to climate change, allow me to explain.

    For starters, so-called “climate-smart” methods of agriculture, such as conservation agriculture, agroforestry, and others already exist. The challenge is that not all farmers know about them, there is no single prescription, and traditional practices can often die hard, particularly when you are working with very small margins and taking risks could spell utter ruin for yourself and your family. So how do ICTs change this? In short, they make it easier to share locally relevant information on improved techniques and to provide time-specific information and recommendations (such as weather forecasts, and when to do what).

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  • March 22, 2013

    Breaking the cycle: Small doable actions in WASH to improve child health

    FHI 360’s Julia Rosenbaum discusses the power of small doable actions in water supply, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs. FHI 360’s WASHplus program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) supports healthy households and communities by delivering interventions that lead to improvements in access, practices and health outcomes related to WASH and indoor air pollution. For more information on WASHplus, please visit www.washplus.org.