Africa Adaptation Knowledge Network (AAKNET) Workshop

5 - 6 February 2013. UNEP headquarters , Nairobi. Africa Adaptation Knowledge Network (AAKNET) Workshop. This workshop was convened under the theme "Convening Adaptation Knowledge Networks and Platforms in Africa".

The Africa Adaptation Knowledge Network is facilitated by UNEP under the umbrella of the Global Adaptation Network (GAN).

Around 70 representatives from some 20 regional adaptation knowledge platforms and others organizations together endorsed the Africa Adaptation Knowledge Network (AAKNet) as the continental network to be responsible for coordinating, facilitating, harnessing and strengthening the exchange of information and knowledge and fostering and supporting strategic planning and policy processes.

The Network functions as a knowledge hub on adaptation, promoting cooperation and collaboration in seeking robust solutions to climate change impacts using experiences and lessons learnt from the implementation of independent actions in different locations. It also seeks to convene existing adaptation knowledge networks and platforms in Africa to open a window of opportunity for taking stock of the state of adaptation knowledge mobilization on the continent.

The AAKNet website is available at: www.africa.ganadapt.org

PARTNERS

                        

Related:

The AfriCAN Climate Project

AfriCAN Climate is a project co-funded by the European Commission within the 7th FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME. The project was set up by a team of 5 African and 5 European organisations, including research institutes and networks, and runs from October 2011 to September 2014.

The AfriCAN Climate Portal

The AfriCAN Climate Portal is an innovative web-based knowledge platform for the sharing of climate change research and good practices. The portal employs innovative and creative web functionalities to harmonise multilingual, interdisciplinary and pan-continental climate change knowledge and to encourage project developers and stakeholders to learn and benefit from Africa’s challenges and success stories.

The AfriCAN Consortium

The European-African project consortium brings in high profile expertise to cover all thematic climate change research and action areas: Adaption and mitigation research, future climate scenarios, climate policy, applied research in good practices and climate project financing. The consortium gathers the following 10 organisations:

Project coordinator:
WIP Renewable Energies Munich, Germany

Project partners:
Africa: 

1. ENDA Tiers Monde Dakar, Senegal
2. FANRPAN - The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network of Southern Africa Pretoria, South Africa
3. University of the Witwatersrand Johannesburg, South Africa
4. World Agroforestry Centre Nairobi, Kenya
5. ICPAC - IGAD Climate Prediction and Application Centre Nairobi, Kenya

Europe:

1. Imperial College London, United Kingdom
2. P.A.U. Education Barcelona, Spain
3. Technical University of Denmark / UNEP Risoe Centre Roskilde, Denmark
4. Practical Action Rugby, United Kingdom

Think, Eat, Save: FAO, UNEP and partners launch global campaign on food waste

22 January 2012, Geneva/Rome - Simple actions by consumers and food retailers can dramatically cut the 1.3 billion tonnes of food lost or wasted each year and help shape a sustainable future, according to a new global campaign to cut food waste launched today by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and partners.

The Think.Eat.Save. Reduce Your Foodprint campaign is in support of the SAVE FOOD Initiative to reduce food loss and waste along the entire chain of food production and consumption - run by the FAO and trade fair organizer Messe Düsseldorf - and the UN Secretary General's Zero Hunger Initiatives. The new campaign specifically targets food wasted by consumers, retailers and the hospitality industry.

The campaign harnesses the expertise of organizations such as WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme), Feeding the 5,000 and other partners, including national governments, who have considerable experience targeting and changing wasteful practices.


Think.Eat.Save. aims to accelerate action and provide a global vision and information-sharingportal for the many and diverse initiatives currently underway around the world.

Strengthening the Ecological Basis of Food Security through Sustainable Food Systems

This report – Avoiding Future Famines: Strengthening the Ecological Basis of Food Security through Sustainable Food Systems - has been a unique collaboration of 12 leading scientists and experts involved in world food systems including marine and inland fisheries.

The institutions involved include the UN Environment Programme, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations, the World Bank, the World Food Programme and the World Resources Institute. 

The report provides detailed analysis of the many factors threatening the world’s food supplies and its ability to continue to generate calories and proteins in the 21st century including from fisheries. Yet it also provides a series of forward-looking recommendations and remedies to the many grim scenarios that often accompany the food security debate.

The debate on food security so far has largely revolved around availability,access, utilization and stability as the four pillars of food security, barely touching on the resource base and ecosystem servicesthat prop up the whole food system. 

The report aims to increase the focus on these crucial environmental aspects, which are being undermined by overfishing, unsustainable water use and other human activities. It also frames the debate in the contextof the Green Economy, calling for food production and consumption practices that ensure productivity without underminingecosystem services.

Final Version to be Available by 28 September 2012