Blog

At the IWA Water and Development Congress in December 2023, USAID’s WASH-FIN 2 activity co-convened a session on “Unlocking Climate Finance for Sanitation: The Role of Partnerships,” with the Kenya Water Sector Trust Fund.

• 03/04/2024
• Barbara Kazimbaya-Senkwe

When considering urban sources of greenhouse gas emissions, sanitation is not usually the first sector that comes to mind. Transportation, sure. Electricity generation, certainly. But not waste treatment. And yet, one study showed that up to half of the greenhouse gas emissions emitted from Kampala, Uganda could be traced to sanitation.

• 06/06/2023
• Christine Chumbler

To explore whether certain agricultural interventions may be a win-win to simultaneously meet both climate and food security goals, USAID leveraged the ongoing Feed the Future Kenya Crops and Dairy Activity  to determine the impact of the project’s dairy value chain activities on methane emissions intensity in any geographic zone being assessed, as well as the impact of improved dairy practices on smallholder dairy productivity.

• 11/18/2022
• Judy Odongo, Tracy Mitchell

African and Asian countries have developed Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).

• 03/23/2022
• Funke Aderonmu

This blog is the second part in an Editor’s Pick Series highlighting USAID’s regional approaches to climate and development. The first part of the series featured Climatelinks blogs that reflect these efforts, and this second part features resources and projects with a regional focus.

• 02/09/2022
• Sophie Schrader

With agriculture driving deforestation, global climate protection and biodiversity conservation goals seem to collide with the drive to produce more food. Researchers warn of an impending “food security-biodiversity-climate” crisis and “looming land scarcity.”

• 10/12/2021
• Daniel Evans

Rwanda is among the smallest countries in mainland Africa, roughly the size of Maryland with twice the population. Less land area means harder decisions, such as balancing land allocated for agriculture versus areas designated for forest conservation.

• 07/14/2021
• Phoebe Oduor, Jake Ramthun

Climate mitigation and support for the Government of South Africa’s green growth agenda were central to the conception of USAID South Africa Low Emissions Development Program (SA-LED).

• 04/21/2021
• Peter Nash

Forest protection plays a critical role in maintaining the world’s biodiversity, mitigating climate change, and supporting global economic growth.

• 01/28/2021
• David Miller

Landfills and wastewater treatment plants generate methane, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), from decomposing organic waste and wastewater treatment processes, respectively. What if there were ways to reduce GHG emissions while simultaneously creating renewable energy? And what if there were additional benefits beyond reducing emissions and creating energy?

• 12/04/2020
• Peter Nash

Uptake of low emissions agriculture research outputs by policymakers and other stakeholders requires time. Even when researchers are interested in pursuing the scaling and use of research outputs, most are not incentivized to take this on. Allocating targeted resources and donor support, while involving science communicators and outreach specialists can be effective in overcoming constraints to delivering low emission development research to policymakers.

• 10/21/2020
• Arun Khatri-Chhetri

Research suggests that dairy farmers can reduce their carbon footprint by improving animal and herd management. The growing global population and increasing consumption of meat and dairy will increase global animal protein demand by 60 percent by 2030.

• 10/15/2020
• CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security CCAFS

Planners at USAID and in host country governments need to choose how to invest funds to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land. Should they focus on establishing or strengthening protected areas in the east? Restoring mangroves in the north? Improving timber harvesting practices in the south? In each country, there are many choices.

• 09/28/2020
• Tim Holland

South Africa—the third most biodiverse country in the world—is home to more than 95,000 known species and a diverse range of biomes, from forests to deserts to river delta systems and more. The rich biodiversity of these natural areas plays an important role in the South African Government’s progressive green economy agenda, as it recognizes that those areas provide a wide range of ecosystem services for its people, including food, water, clean air, medicine, resources for livelihoods, recreation, and energy to power daily life and industry.

• 08/27/2020
• Mona Khadr

In arid regions with already unreliable water and sanitation services, climate change is a threat multiplier for those who rely on functional infrastructure for basic water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs.

• 11/12/2019
• Brittany Ajroud, Patrick Nease