Adapting to a Changing Environment

Regional Sustainable Energy Center of Excellence

, Nigeria

An Overview Of Our Solution

Who is this solution impacting?
Ecosystem
Forests
Forests
Urban Built Environment
Urban/Built Environment
Community Type
Suburban
Suburban
Additional Information
  • Population Impacted:
  • Continent: Africa
General Info

Address

Umaru Musa Yar
Katsina state
Nigeria

Email

cloustonenergy@aol.com
Problem

Size

7000

Major Occupations

Global

Local resources the community depends on, and for what purpose

Small Farmers

Local threats to resources

We have a strong technical team and a consortium

Climate Hazards

Droughts.

Level of sensitivity

Moderate to great exposure.

Level of adaptive capacity

Moderate to high.
Solution

The Regional Sustainable Energy Center of Excellence (RSECE) is a consortium following the suggestions of Kofe Annan a past Secretary General of the United Nations. The Type Two Partnership consists of governmental organizations, non profits such as university and tax exempts and for profit businesses. We are inclusive of the poor. One of the projects is called Enhancement of Extension Agents and Youth Vocational Training. The Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) did a study and states in the report that an Extension Agent typically has 7,000 farmers in his service area. Only a few of the larger farmers are given service in a year. This suggests that there are several thousand farmers that are not served or are under served. We are working to enhance the Extension Agent and deliver with ICT information for continued training of farmers for the needed food secruity. Poverty and Hunger Relief is the first listed Millennium Development Goal of the United Nations. This enhancement ought to include youth interns and some method of earning an income. RSECE has actions now ramping up for this effort. Our consortium www.rsece.org

Results

Ecological Costs

To be inclusive of the poor and deliver education will improve capacity to adapt to the expected changes due to Global Warming. The replacement of trees to include orchard trees that have a product (fruit and nuts) that will provide support in the Millen

Ecological Benefit

$0

Economic Indicators used to measure benefit

Greater than $1.00

Community/Social Cost

We at RSECE ;have a Three Legged Stool program in development. The Green Data Center is not only for information for Extension Agent and Youth Vocational Training with Internship in support of the agents, but to manage Big Data. The three data sources are Space based, Aerial based and on the Groung based data. The ground based is withthe enhanced extension agent sector. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) is very important in Baseline data and to compare to the Efficitiveness Monitoring.

Community/Social Benefit

$0 I have applied a Memorandum of Understanding that the Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN) and I signed that is intended to benefit the people of Nigeria and African neighbors. www.energy.gov.ng

Community/Social Indicators used to measure benefit

Youth Vocational Training and job creation is a great social benefit to local and regional sectors.

Economic Cost

Extension Agents can provide methods and venues for the social or community cooperation and input of indigenous wisdom.

Economic Benefit

Several hundreds of dollars for various costs to add to donations, some of which has already occured.

Ecological Indicators used to measure benefit

Global Trade is anticipated after local and regional demands are met. A Food crop and a Cash Crop that includes feedstock for bioenergy and fuels is a product in demand and can be a sustainable project beyond any grant.

What were/are the challenges your community faced in implementing this solution?

Standard accounting methods are well understood.

Action

Describe the community-based process used to develop the solution including tools and processes used

Poor to moderate.

Climate hazard of concern

Distance Education is facilitate by the Extension Agent and other members of RSECE for improve farming and yields of farmland. A Data Center is being developed with Solar Power that is grid connected and a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) to be included.

How does your solution reduce the exposure of and buffer/protect the ecosystem affected?

Changing temperatures and weather patterns

How has your solution increased the capacity of the ecosystem to adapt to potential climate changes?

Appropriate actions to the forest area and arid areas are anticipated. Switchgrass can provide soil organic matter and reduce the encroachment of deserts. Three hundred pounds of three varieties have been delivered to Nigeria and will be planted in several different areas for study and selection. A product in demand would be ethanol from the second generation biofuel feedstock. Future clean cookstoves could have ethanol fuel for clean cooking and when this effort is expanded the vehicle fuel use is also considered to be a product in demand for sustainable triple bottom lines.

How does your solution reduce the exposure of and buffer/protect the communities affected?

Forests, Orchards and Switchgrass have roots that remain and have sequestered CO2 in their growth and life. Some trees can be harvested five times with the single planting so root calculations of carbon reduction is argued to exist.

How does your solution reduce the sensitivity of the communities affected?

Indirectly and directly it does by lowering the greenhouse gas and improved agricultural yields by enhancement of Extension Agents as well as greater service delivery in continued education to farmers.

How has your solution increased the capacity of local communities to adapt to potential climate changes?

Continued education by ICT and wireless methods. We have had several discussions with the Commonwealth of Learning. www.col.org who has in place a continued education for farmers. They also favored enhancement of Extension Agents which my paper influenced or was a timely addition to their programs in budget considerations.

Scale

Can this solution be replicated elsewhere?

Finance is a bottleneck for development projects. However good business tools when applied become interesting for others. We are discussing now for the solar power for the Data Center. I am a IBM Partner World Partner and they have a Finance program available. IBM is actively developing a Data Center in Kenya now. The Wireless technology is relevant to the National Science Foundation funded program of Syracuse University and WiGiT group that is a wireless innovative testbed. group that I am a member of. I am also the International Director for RSECE www.rsece.org

Overview
Solution
Scale