More boreholes, less yield and more saline water

Joy Obando and Moses Muriuki The drylands support sparse settlements and agro-pastoralism which are the key factors that influence water development. In these environments, water is considered limited and intermittent. However, with the need to solve the challenges of water in these dryland environments, there is a tendency towards technical …

Protecting Cropland in Malawi

By Chengxiu Li  Cropland expansion has become a common strategy for boosting agricultural production in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, cropland expansion is not a sustainable form of agricultural development due to the environmental concerns it raises and the limited arable land available. We do not have a comprehensive understanding of …

Ghana: Assessing the Impact of Flooding on Water Sources, Livelihoods and Local Adaptation Measures

By Moses Asamoah Considering the importance of water and how its sources may be affected by flooding, a BRECcIA team of researchers set out to assess the impact of flooding on water sources and livelihoods in the Upper East Region and Northern Region of the Republic of Ghana. This was …

Analysis of gaps between policy-makers and community stakeholders…

Analysis of gaps between policy-makers and community stakeholders in building climate change resilience in dry lands of Malawi: why do interventions fail? Considering the demand for research information to guide climate change resilience policies, BRECCIA researchers are investigating gaps that exist between policy-makers and community stakeholders on building climate change …

Working together is a way to enhance community resilience

– Lessons learned from BRECcIA Summer School in Malawi Chengxiu Li, University of Southampton When the plane landed in Lilongwe airport at 12:20 on 7th July 2019, I was very excited but also nervous on my summer school journey organised by project BRECcIA from the University of Southampton and the …

Reflecting on BRECcIA’s Kenya stakeholder workshop:

Developing cross-scale synergies will be critical for addressing climate change and water security in the drylands By Fiona Ngarachu, Christine Magaju* and Matt Kandel On 17 January 2019 BRECcIA held a workshop with stakeholders from the Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) counties of Kenya in Machakos Town. The stakeholders included representatives …

Developing resilient livelihoods in the drylands of Africa

Matt Kandel’s ‘Developing resilient livelihoods in the drylands of Africa’ was published this week as part of the Wilson Center’s Africa: Year in Review 2018, an annual collection of short articles that reviews major trends and developments in Africa.   Kandel argues that more focus is needed on building the resilience …

United Nations Development Programme/UK Research and Innovations/GCRF Workshop

‘Conflict, Climate Change, and Disruptions in Food and Water Systems’ By Laura Lewis, Sosten Chiotha, John Obiri and Mawuli Dzodzomenyo On October 22-23, BRECcIA co-investigators Prof Sosten Chiotha (LEAD, Southern and Eastern Africa), Dr Mawuli Dzodzomenyo (University of Ghana), Prof Laura Lewis (University of Southampton) and Prof John Obiri (Masinde …