The Challenges Of Establishing Marine Protected Areas In South East Asia

Whilst Africa is among the most vulnerable regions to climate change, relevant scenario models suggests that Eastern Africa will be among the regions with the largest decline in agricultural yields in the continent due to increasing mean surface temperatures and GHG concentrations. Climate change impacts in the Eastern African region will include an acceleration of the hydrologic cycle, occasioning increased variance in rainfall. This will particularly impact dryland environments due to their climate sensitive production systems and low adaptive capacities. Context specific adaptive responses will be necessary to reduce vulnerability of communities to environmental change, hence increasing their resilience to climate variability. Such adaptive solutions will require, among others, the building of institutional capacity in technology and governance particularly in the food, energy and water nexus. Appropriate technologies such as rainwater harvesting systems, can be applied for supplemental irrigation, and in conjunction with good agricultural technologies, would ensure food, energy and water security at the household level among the small holders. This chapter discusses regional strategies to address food security, energy needs and water resources in the Eastern African region. It postulates that current sectoral approach is not sustainable and therefore provides a nexus perspective, based on use of Rainwater Harvesting Technologies at the farm level, as a step towards sustainability.