MainDB: Adapt to local climatic conditions and reduce impacts

Title: Adapt to local climatic conditions and reduce impacts
NWPWeblink:
NWPTypeOfOrganization:
NWPGeographicRegion: Africa
Scope of work:
NWPMandatesandFrameworks:
NWPModalityApproachandMechanism:
NWPEffortsToAddressSOE:
NWPRelevantStakeholders:
NWPFocusonNElossesFlag:
NWPImpactAreas:
NWPOutputs:
Good practices and lessons learned:
NWPGapsChallenges:
Date of submission:
Abbreviation:
Activities:
Adaptation element: Adaptation planning and practices; Capacity building; Education and training; Impact assessment; Knowledge management; Science and research; Technology support
Adaptation sector/theme: Agriculture; Food security; Water resources; Biodiversity
Climate hazard:
Country: Kenya; United Republic of Tanzania
NWPDataSource: PSI
Description: Unilever Tea-growing farms in East Africa (UTEA) recognized over 20 years ago that deforestation around Lake Victoria and the Mau Forest in Kenya and in the Eastern Arc Mountains of Tanzania was a threat to business. Rainfall patterns are highly dependent on local water cycles, in which the forests play an important role. With the shrinking of forests, rainfall patterns have changed and dry seasons have become longer and more frequent.
 
In Tanzania, where a 6-month long dry season means that economic sustainability is only achievable by irrigating the tea, Unilever has focused its attention on conserving the high biodiversity value forest within its own concessions and in the surrounding area, and on improving irrigation efficiency.
 
The company set up rainwater harvesting and storage systems in small valleys on the farm and hosted irrigation trials, managed by local and international researchers. By doing so, the business was among the first to understand and use the research findings on cost-effective and water-efficient irrigation for tea. Where the terrain is suitable, recent trials have shown that drip irrigation (rather than sprinkler) can save 70 liters of water per kilogram of tea harvested.
 
In Kenya, UTEA has a program to identify and breed drought-tolerant tea varieties and rootstocks. It invests € 156,000 (US$ 230,000) annually in the program and has recently released two new tea varieties for commercial planting that are comparatively drought tolerant. These will be used throughout the East African business.
Expected outcome:
Further information:
NWPGeographicScope: Local; National
Indicators of achievement:
NWPInformationType: Case study
NWPJoinDate:
NWPPartner: Unilever
Purpose: This case study demonstrates a multipronged approach to climate change. Unilever uses drip irrigation and has identified drought tolerant tea varieties for tea production, resulting in water savings.
Regional group:
Target group: Practitioners; Private sector
NWPWorkStream: NWP
NWPYear:
NWPOutcome: Prompted by reduced and poorly distributed rainfall in the tea gardens and the surrounding area (and linking this to the apparent deforestation), the Kenyan business initiated a tree-planting project in the year 2000 – Trees2000 – that includes all management and staff. As of June 2009, over 700,000 indigenous trees had been planted on farms and in the surrounding community. Every year, the company propagates over 100,000 seedlings. 

Each employee plants at least two trees annually and company visitors are expected to plant at least one tree. The on-farm survival rate for the trees is well over 90%. The scheme has now spread to other Kenyan tea farms, including those of smallholders and outgrowers for the plantation companies, and to the Tanzanian business (where 150,000 indigenous trees will have been planted by 2010).
 
All the boilers used for drying tea in UTEA factories are wood-fired, and the company – apart from improving forestry and wood-management techniques – has improved boiler efficiency through new economical installations. In East African countries heavily burdened by poverty, continued large-scale deforestation, and increasing problems of water availability, Unilever Tea companies are helping reduce the problems and adapting to a more uncertain future.
NWPPartners:
Type of knowledge resource:
Scale of work:
NWPSlowOnsetEvents:
NWPReferences: Tackling climate change on the ground:http://www.wbcsd.org/Pages/EDocument/EDocumentDetails.aspx?ID=136&NoSearchContextKey=true
Find the case study summary here: https://unfccc.int/files/adaptation/nairobi_work_programme/private_sector_initiative/application/pdf/unilever.wbcsd.pdf
Implementing partners:
NWPYearPublication:
NWPUpdate:
SourceItemID:
NWPSecendaryEmail:
NWPPrimaryEmail:
NWPTypeOfKnowledge:
NWPCountryItem:
NWPRelevantWeblinks:

Created at 21/04/2016 11:46 by Roberto Felix
Last modified at 11/05/2022 02:30 by Nicholas Hamp-Adams
 
Go back to list
Home(NWPStaging)