Environmental research

ABOUT THE NGO NECOS is a legal entity registered in 2004, under the registrar of societies Act of the laws of Zambia. The study is targeting over 30,000 fishermen and women and people living along Mweru-Luapula fishery, with over five thousand (5000) fishing sites, camps/villages found along the bank of the river, lagoons and islands on the lake. It will also target the women groups, youth organizations, indigenous people, marginalized groups and the traditional leaders. The applicant organization, Network for Environmental Concerns and Solutions (NECOS) is a Action Oriented Research Non-Governmental Organization. The organization purpose and core activities includes among others conducting action research, project design and implementation, environmental management services such as peri urban sustainable sanitation service chain delivery, reuse of waste as a resource in Agriculture to improve the household food security, climate adaptive livelihoods, research in fish conservation etc. NECOS aims at engaging Government in policy dialogue with evidence based research, marketing ecological, socio-cultural, sustainable sanitation, climate change adaptation and water quality which is contributing to rural and peri urban development. 2. Project s main objective 2.1 To study the effects of climate change on the social-economic, livelihood and fishery ecosystem in Mweru Luapula Fishery, identifying community and ecosystem adaptation options as well as appropriate approaches to climate change, and set strategies, which will: Directly or indirectly provide biodiversity and ecosystem adaptation opportunities among the target study groups; and Promote community participation in adaptive livelihood as fish conservation strategy. 3. Specific Objectives 3.1 To assess climate change effects on Mweru Luapula Fishery; 3.2 To assess the socio-economic, knowledge, attitudes and willingness of the Mweru-Luapula fishery to climate change adaptive livelihood; 3.3 To identify community based and ecosystem based adaptation options; 3.4 To identify the impact of climate change on gender roles and responsibilities 4. Key outcomes. 4.1 Identified types of resources exploited and number of climate change hazards. Magnitude of the climate change impact 4.2 Types of climate adaptive knowledge spheres identified. 4.3 Identified number and types of sustainable community based adaptation options 4.4 Types of livelihood activities for women, youths and men in climate change adaptive behavior identified 1.1 Project Summary Climate change adaptive development of fisheries plays an important role in improving food supply and in increasing the earnings of both rural and urban populations. However, sustainable and climate change adaptive fisheries can be guaranteed only when fisherpersons are introduced to climate adaptive social-economic livelihood and ecosystem adaptation options as alternative source of income so that fish population can be allowed to increase. One way of effecting this climate change adaptive and alternative development is to encourage and introduce fisherpersons to climate adaptive exploitation of biodiversity and ecosystem as alternative source of services and livelihood. The examples of Community Based Adaptive livelihoods (CBA and Ecosystem Based Adaptive livelihood includes but not limited to projects supporting climate resistant agriculture, aquaculture, adaptive livestock raring, women entrepreneurs, conservative biodiversity exploitation of the commons etc. It was observed that some of the adaptive livelihood came out during the community meeting such as - Fish farming among fishing community. Livestock management (Goats, Chicken, Pigs, Kettle). Commercial farming (maize). Organic /conservation farming of climate adaptive crops like cassava. Women Out- grower schemes of sunflower farming and production of cooking oil. Combating deforestation by growing coffee trees and avocado trees which can lead to soap making. Identifying gender specific impacts and protective measures related to floods, draughts, diseases and recommending strategies to enhance adaptive exploitation patterns. Identification of women s particular skills and capacities. Use of community radio stations to disseminate the goals, activities and study results

Zambia