IPCC released a new report on climate change

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released its fifth report on the impacts of climate change. The report is based on multi-disciplinary research on adaptation and mitigation options in different regions. GLM is particularly interested in the situation in southern Africa where the organisation operates.

Impacts will be worse in Africa than in many other regions of the world. The rise in mean temperatures will be faster than the global average increase. In all seasons, minimum and maximum temperatures will rise from 3 to 6 degree during this century. Extreme heat waves follow El Niño events, which means drought. Changes in precipitation are more difficult to forecast because of the lack of measuring it in the past, but decrease is possible, especially in the areas which are already dry.

Changes in the climate will have drastic impacts on the daily life in Africa. The small-scale farmers who GLM works with have already experienced this, since their livelihoods depend largely on agriculture and livestock. IPCC forecasts shorter growing seasons, negative effects on yields as well as changes in vegetation and pests. Agriculture in Zambia is focused on growing maize which may suffer up to 30% losses in yields after 2050. Farmers, therefore, need to start to diversifying their crops in order to ensure food security in the future. Cassava, for example, is resilient to higher temperatures.

Many countries have developed adaptation programmes, but implementation has been slow. The multi-disciplinary nature of climate change and variations in the impacts within each country have been a challenge. Many NGOs have taken responsibility for training local communities. GLM currently supports eight villages in Zambia and two in Swaziland. Our work provides villagers the opportunity to plan their future in a sustainable way. Agroforestry and diversification of livelihood sources are examples of ways to secure life.

GLM’s Climate work expands in Zambia

GLM Zambia and GLM Finland got a funding for the project ‘Community strategies for climate-resilient livelihoods‘ from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland.

The project aims to build community resilience to the impacts of Climate Change through awareness raising, different capacity trainings and support in best practices of sustainable agriculture and livelihood diversification on Climate Change adaptation.

Three-year project will be implemented in 2014-2016 in four communities including Kafubu Farm Block in Luanshya district and Shimbizhi in Mumbwa with who GLM has worked before. The new project communities Chiyumu and Chikuni in Monze district were identified through the Zambia Climate Change Network (ZCCN).

GLM Climate resilient livelihoods

Green Living Movement working with the community in Mumbwa

Farmers’ Market project receives visitors from Finland

The Farmers’ Market project has been running for almost two years in GLM’s partner communities in the Serenje district in Zambia. During the project, farmers’ knowledge of marketing issues and bargaining has greatly improved. They have also completed financial and business reports and visited markets in Lusaka, to mention a few of the activities. The marketing committees have showed good progress, and the market centres have made a profit since the first year.

The distances between the communities and the nearest town are long and the transportation of the products has been a big problem. The project has now purchased seven donkeys to help farmer clubs with the transportation but also with the field work. The donkeys have been healthy and adapted well to the new environment. The training of the donkeys has also started well and they have already been used in the farmers’ fields.

The time has now come for GLM Finland to monitor the project together with GLM Zambia. The project coordinators will visit the project communities of Nambo, Kundalumwanshya and Luanshimba in October and discuss the challenges and good practises with the communities.

GLM Zambia donkeys

The donkeys have helped farmers with transportation but also provided draught power

GLM hosts two Finnish volunteers in 2013

GLM Zambia has been collaborating with Kepa, the Finnish Service Centre for Development Cooperation, for several years. Through Kepa’s volunteering programme ETVO, the organisation has hosted about twenty Finnish volunteers over the past years. In 2013, two new volunteers are working with GLM.

The first volunteer, Emma Liljeström, a student of Environmental Science, arrived at the beginning of the year and will stay for six months. She spends a major part of her volunteering period in GLM’s rural partner communities, monitoring and reporting on the progress of GLM’s projects and facilitating the communication between the locals and the organisation.

The other volunteer, Pieta Seppänen, will be working at GLM for almost the whole year. Pieta has a degree in languages and international relations and has previously worked mainly in the field of communications. At GLM, her main tasks include creating communication and advocacy strategies, drafting project proposals, developing the website, and at times, also going on field trips to the rural communities.

Read more about the Etvo volunteering programme here.

Etvo volunteers Zambia

GLM volunteers Pieta and Emma on a Women’s Day March in Lusaka with their colleagues Patricia and Sylian

Sustainable agriculture: Farmers share their experiences on ZNBC

From 29th November 2012 to 30th January 2013, Zambian small-scale farmers are sharing their experiences on sustainable agriculture on television and radio. The Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) will be running a series of documentaries on the experiences of the farmers working with Green Living Movement (GLM) from the past 12 years of implementing sustainable farming methods.

Agriculture as a way of life for small-scale farmers in Zambia has gone through ups and downs. The use of synthetic fertilisers has not helped matters, if anything it has made the farmers’ productive capacity less and less sustainable by the year. Working with GLM has, however, given a glimmer of hope to the small-scale farmers in the rural areas in Luanshya and Serenje districts where the organisation is supporting the implementation of sustainable agricultural practices.

Tune in to the Chintobentobe programme on ZNBC every Sunday at 14:05 hours and Radio 1 every Thursday from 13:45 to 14:00 hours for the life-changing stories from the farmers!

ZNBC interviews GLM and small-scale farmers about agroforestry

ZNBC journalist Musonda Lombe interviews agroforestry farmer Mr Allan Spider Mbulo from Serenje.

ZNBC interviews small-scale farmers

ZNBC journalist Musonda Lombe interviews a dairy farmer Dorothy Manda from Luanshya.