Climatelinks Photo Gallery

October 2016, Conservation South Africa's (CSA) Nolubabalo Kwayimani teaches volunteers to perform a stream assessment in order to determine changes and improvements in stream health in the uMzimvubu watershed. The uMzimvubu catchment spans over two million hectares of the poorest rural areas of South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. This critical ecosystem provides water to approximately one million people and supports more than 2,000 plant and animal species that are unique to this area. The catchment is presently under threat due to the degradation of land from overgrazing, the loss of land to water-thirsty invasive vegetation, and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Rural communities also face significant challenges: unemployment is higher than the national average, with many people dependent upon social grants and the landscape for their livelihoods. The proportion of households with access to piped water inside the home or yard is as low as 16 percent, and waterborne diseases pose a risk to youth and the elderly. In order for conservation to be effectively implemented, the health needs of the community and the proper management of their livestock need to be addressed. CSA is working in the upper reaches of the uMzimvubu to improve water resources sustainability by applying a “One Health” framework that integrates water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities with freshwater conservation, improved livestock farming and restoration efforts. By empowering local communities to manage and benefit from their natural resources, and supporting local governance structures that enable sustainable livelihoods, “One Health” aims secure water futures for all water users. This project draws on work from the USAID-supported Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group—a consortium of seven international conservation NGOs—to develop project implementation guidelines and a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework and indicators to measure the added value of integrated freshwater conservation and WASH programming. CSA’s “One Health” initiative in the uMzimvubu catchment is demonstrating how human well-being, economic growth, and environmental sustainability go hand in hand.

Students from St. Scholastica Primary School in Nairobi, Kenya, presenting their findings on relating varying weather patterns to malaria occurrences from mosquito habitat mapping within Lake Victoria region in Kenya during SERVIR East and Southern Africa 2019 Space Challenge for Primary and Secondary Schools.

Forest Fire. It is a crisis the world is facing at the moment. Amazon is on fire; the forest of Indonesia is burning as well. These forests provide more than 20% of the oxygen of our planet. Forest Fire is an additional risk to the human health and climate change. This photograph depicts the prayer of a tree; it is requesting the humankind not to let it burn intentionally. Taken in Dhaka, Bangladesh on August 2, 2019.

This picture was taken by Herve Irankunda for Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Weze Activity on September 9, 2019, in Ngororero District in Eastern Rwanda. It features two beneficiaries of Hinga Weze, a five-year $32.6 million USAID-funded project (2017-2022) that aims to sustainably increase smallholder farmers’ income, improve the nutritional status of women and children, and increase the resilience of Rwanda’s agricultural and food systems to a changing climate. Hinga Weze works to empower over 530,000 smallholder farmers across 10 districts.

These men were pictured using pesticide on their plot of Irish potatoes on a terraced hillside. Hinga Weze is supporting use improved pest management in order to control crop pests and also to construct terraces on 2,000 hectares of land order to control soil erosion especially around the hilly parts of Rwanda. The farmers including women are able to gain and control incomes from the improved yields, and therefore reserving enough for their households to improve nutritional intake.

Briquettes are blocks of flammable matter made from biodegradable waste. Rural households in Uganda use them to cook food. They burn with no air pollution; hence, maintain hygiene protecting natural systems in a changing world.

Briquettes are also cheaper and affordable than traditional charcoal. Additionally, they are made from locally available materials and waste improves sanitation. Briquette making is a simple and affordable technology. Above all they are important for protecting natural systems in a changing world for instance of cutting many trees, waste from charcoal made from forests may be utilized.

Ganesh Rokaya (Left) and Deepa Poudel (Right) are Community Business Facilitators (CBFs) and Plant Doctors in Surkhet District Nepal. Together they are conducting a Plant Clinic diagnosing samples to recommend safe Integrated Pest Management (IPM) bio solutions for disease and pest problems that are made worse by climate change. CBFs earn commissions on agro sales and provide training to smallholder customers. Ganesh and Deepa each earn about $1,100/year working part time as CBFs, providing services respectively to 750 and 800 mainly women smallholder customers respectively. On average they help their customers earn over $450/year selling vegetables. Ganesh and Deepa were trained to be CBFs by the USAID IPM Innovation Lab (IPM-IL, 2015-19) led Globally by Virginia Tech and in Nepal by partner iDE. They use IPM-based recommendations developed by the IPM-IL working with Government. The IPM-IL in partnership with the global CABI Plant Wise program trained 44 CBFs to become Plant Doctors. Plant Doctors receive intensive training, have access to online databases, and are backstopped by Nepal’s plant protection services. Ganesh and Deepa have extended safe technologies to successfully control the devastating exotic Tuta Absoluta Tomato pest that arrived in 2016. (Photo by Bimala Rai Colavito, iDE Volunteer, 12/31/18)

Children are often most vulnerable to climate impacts. Parents and their children may face increasing risks over time. These impacts include extreme weather events and climate-related malnutrition, increases in the prevalence of malaria and other diseases, water and sanitation problems, and air pollution. Inhaca Island, Mozambique. October 31, 2014.

October 2016, Conservation South Africa's (CSA) Nolubabalo Kwayimani and Nompendulo "Pesh" Mgwali teach volunteers to perform a stream assessment in order to determine changes and improvements in stream health in the uMzimvubu watershed. The uMzimvubu catchment spans over two million hectares of the poorest rural areas of South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. This critical ecosystem provides water to approximately one million people and supports more than 2,000 plant and animal species that are unique to this area. The catchment is presently under threat due to the degradation of land from overgrazing, the loss of land to water-thirsty invasive vegetation, and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Rural communities also face significant challenges: unemployment is higher than the national average, with many people dependent upon social grants and the landscape for their livelihoods. The proportion of households with access to piped water inside the home or yard is as low as 16 percent, and waterborne diseases pose a risk to youth and the elderly. In order for conservation to be effectively implemented, the health needs of the community and the proper management of their livestock need to be addressed.

CSA is working in the upper reaches of the uMzimvubu to improve water resources sustainability by applying a “One Health” framework that integrates water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities with freshwater conservation, improved livestock farming and restoration efforts. By empowering local communities to manage and benefit from their natural resources, and supporting local governance structures that enable sustainable livelihoods, “One Health” aims secure water futures for all water users. This project draws on work from the USAID-supported Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group—a consortium of seven international conservation NGOs—to develop project implementation guidelines and a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework and indicators to measure the added value of integrated freshwater conservation and WASH programming. CSA’s “One Health” initiative in the uMzimvubu catchment is demonstrating how human well-being, economic growth, and environmental sustainability go hand in hand.

Rupa Thapa (left) is a Community Business Facilitator (CBF) and Plant Doctor in Lele, Lalitpur District Nepal. Rupa is conducting a Plant Clinic diagnosing samples to recommend safe Integrated Pest Management (IPM) bio solutions for disease and pest problems that are made worse by climate change. CBF Rupa earns a commission on agro input sales and provides training to her 600 small farmer customers (420 are women). Rupa earns $1,300/year working part time. Rupa’s 600 customers earn over $400/year selling vegetables, in aggregate over $240,000/year, greatly benefiting the community. Rupa was trained to be CBF by the USAID IPM Innovation Lab (IPM-IL, 2015-19) led Globally by Virginia Tech and in Nepal by partner iDE. Rupa uses IPM based recommendations developed by the IPM-IL working with Government. The IPM-IL in partnership with the global CABI Plant Wise program trained Rupa and 43 other CBFs to become Plant Doctors. Plant Doctors receive intensive training, have access to online databases, and are backstopped by Nepal’s plant protection services. Rupa has extended safe technologies to successfully control the devastating exotic Tuta Absoluta Tomato pest that arrived in Nepal in 2016. (Photo by Bimala Rai Colavito, iDE Volunteer, December 31, 2018.

There are an estimated 10 to 15 million artisanal gold miners worldwide, working in about 70 countries. Women, children and men estimated to be more than 400,000 people in Uganda are directly engaged in the mining activity, and an additional 1.5 million are benefitting indirectly.

In Uganda, women are busy mining without protection, which requires addressing these new risks to human health in vulnerable communities in rural areas. Particularly, because even access to better health services is limited in such remote mining sites.

A continuous distribution launch of insecticide treated bed nets was held in the district of Vavatenina on December 8, 2016. During the campaign, 650,000 bed nets will be distributed across eight eastern, high-transmission districts of Madagascar. The campaign is conducted to ensure families have continuous access to bed nets, accounting for new sleeping spaces resulting from births, marriages and migrations.

Photo: Health, Population and Nutrition Office Director Daniele Nyirandutiye provides a new bed net to a young mother.

Ayaturn Admani, 12, stands with his science teacher, Muransa Moses, in front of the Malaria Corner in his Primary Year 4 classroom.

SYLLA DIONGTO, SENEGAL - JANUARY 15, 2015 Community-based solution provider Hapsatou Ka runs a young volunteer group to teach critical nutrition and hygiene practices to mothers-to-be. Trained by the nutrition program USAID Yaajeende, Hapsatou is now sharing her knowledge, giving 11- to 12-year-old girls the information they need to eventually live productive lives and raise healthy children. In Senegal, where 17 percent of children under 5 are underweight, these efforts are making communities healthier, smarter and stronger. “Our next generation will be in much better health because they will know better how they should eat,” Hapsatou says. “When you eat something that is clean, good and rich, you will have a good, healthy life.” Find the full story on USAID’s new storytelling hub: go.usa.gov/3fpUY

Malaria Launch in Apac District, Uganda Since 2012, USAID's Indoor Residual Spraying activity has protected almost 7 million Ugandans from malaria, and contributed to reducing malaria infection rates in targeted districts by 55 percent.

Micro-hydro, powered by nearby streams, brings much-needed electric power to remote mountain communities. Sunbir Ghale (pictured here) maintains Simjung village’s micro-hydro plant in Gorkha district; it was badly damaged during the 2015 earthquake and Hariyo Ban funded repairs as part of its support to earthquake recovery.

Cooking with biogas greatly reduces firewood consumption, improving women’s health and enabling forests to regenerate and increase protection from landslides and floods.