Not surprisingly, NTT faces real development challenges, including periods of serious food insecurity. Since irrigation systems are virtually nonexistent, farmers here are almost wholly dependent on monsoon rains to supply water to their crops. But even in years of normal rainfall, the province can expect to distribute between 20 and 25 thousand tons of food aid to families. During El Niño years, which typically result in significantly less rainfall, the aid figure can be twice that. Rates of malnutrition, especially in children, can reach 25% during these periods.

Scientists at the International Research Institute for Climate and Society want to reduce these impacts by using seasonal climate forecasts to alert government authorities about periods when below-average rainfall is expected. Indonesia has a good system in place to respond to food insecurity, but the challenge is generally one of timing. From the moment a problem is declared to the moment the first shipments of rice and other aid is unloaded, half a year may pass. The hope is to give agencies and humanitarian organizations such as CARE Indonesia months of lead time to stock up on food supplies, jump-start their monitoring activities and set aside funds and other resources in case the food problems materialize.

We’ve organized a workshop for tomorrow in NTT’s capital, Kupang, with CARE Indonesia, Bogor Agriculture University (IPB) and the provincial food-security agency in order to share the latest research findings and discuss their potential use in food-security planning. This latter goal is critical. We can issue the best forecasts in the world, but if there’s no institutional system in place to understand and act on them, they’re essentially useless.

Tough climate

Understanding the NTT’s climate is critical if one is to issue reliable forecasts. In general, the climate of NTT is drier than that of other regions of Indonesia. The monsoon rains typically arrive in late October or early November and end in mid-March. Rainfall levels vary significantly from year to year, and from location to location.

While historical climate data is scarce for the region, we have enough evidence to believe that El Niño events are strongly associated with delayed monsoon rains, below-normal rainfall and poor harvests. These are the times to worry about food insecurity. As if this wasn’t bad enough, NTT is also the only part of Indonesia to get hit with cyclones.

The people of NTT have been coping with climate variability for centuries and as such have been practicing their own form of climate risk management. One way they do this is by taking advantage of the localized rainfall variability, says Shiv Someshwar, who runs the IRI’s Asia program. Those who can, own smaller parcels of land in different agro-ecological zones: a few hectares in lowland areas, some more a few kilometers away on the slope of a mountain and still some more on the mountain’s opposite slope. In other parts of Indonesia, where rainfall variability is less localized, farmers tend to own fewer, larger plots.

With help from our CARE, IPB and food-security agency colleagues, I hope to be able to tour a few villages near Kupang to see how people live and work. We can cite endless statistics and pin up scores of maps to characterize climate variability, but these will never be as compelling as the stories told to us by those directly affected. I’ve got my camera in one hand, my recorder in the other and plenty of empty cards. Let’s go!

[Information for this entry comes from a report on a workshop on climate risk management in Southeast Asia, as well as my many breakfast and dinner conversations with colleague and fellow traveler, Esther Conrad, who coordinates the IRI's Asia/Pacific program]

Photo: Market fruit, Jakarta. Francesco Fiondella

©2012 autogeno.us. All Rights Reserved.

• Dry season in West Timor (0)
• What is climate risk management? (0)

No, your computer isn’t misfiring. Welcome to a new Wall Street Journal blog, Environmental Capital. It replaces the Journal’s Energy Roundup blog. Environmental Capital will continue Energy Roundup’s tradition of tracking daily energy news. And it will go further, analyzing how the energy world, and all of business, is adapting to mounting concern about the planet.

With Jeff Ball at the helm, look for smart analysis on the sector. He’s a sharp reporter who’s been covering Detroit for years and I’m sure he’ll bring great insights to the forum. And Keith Johnson is nothing if not prolific, with a great filter for what’s news and what’s not.

Curious to see how the editorial side will cover (if at all) the new blog. I’ll post any reax in the days to come.

©2012 autogeno.us. All Rights Reserved.

• WSJ discusses IRI work (0)
• WSJ and COP13 (0)

That’s because for most people, especially the world’s poorest, forewarning of short-term changes in temperatures can help them make life-or-death decisions, these scientists say. It’s also because scientists say models that predict climate can do so with accuracy only over a year or so. The International Research Institute for Climate and Society, part of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, outlined a project to help farmers on the Indonesian part of Borneo island to predict up to six months ahead when dry weather is likely to cause uncontrollable bush fires. The institute aims to raise funding to pay farmers not to use slash-and-burn techniques during those peak dry periods.

Read it here.

©2012 autogeno.us. All Rights Reserved.

• WSJ and COP13 (0)
• What is climate risk management? (0)

Speaking of Bali, anyone there now? I’ve never been to a COP, so I can only imagine the total chaos that must ensue, especially to the uninitiated. Please feel free to post your stories!

©2012 autogeno.us. All Rights Reserved.

• WSJ discusses IRI work (0)
• IRI, COP13 and other acronyms (0)

The paper will rechristen Pursuits, its Saturday leisure section, as Weekend Journal, the same name as the Friday section, according to several people familiar with the paper’s decision.

They are changing the name because readers and reporters are confused by the fact that Friday carries a Weekend section and the actual weekend day has a Pursuits section.

Not a bad start. Maybe he’ll get rid of the Weekend Journal altogether. Now that would impress me.

©2012 autogeno.us. All Rights Reserved.

• No related posts.

I am a member of LinkedIn, which is a myspace for yuppies. One of the nice features of the service is that it alerts you when your former colleauges or classmates join the network, so that you can reach out and “link” to them.

I also happen to be a former WSJ employee. Since I left the paper last year, I’ve been keen on staying in touch with my ex-colleagues there, and have used LinkedIn’s service to do so. Typically, I’ll get an alert every few days on my home page telling me that one or two, maybe up to four, WSJers have joind the network since I last logged on–which is typically every few days. This morning, FIFTY WSJers had become members in the last 48 hours.

Is something astir in the henhouse now that a fox has gotten the keys?

©2012 autogeno.us. All Rights Reserved.

• WSJ discusses IRI work (0)
• WSJ and COP13 (0)

James Macpherson, editor and publisher of the Pasadena Now website, hired two reporters last weekend to cover the Pasadena City Council. One lives in Mumbai and will be paid $12,000 a year. The other will work in Bangalore for $7,200.

Good. Let me qualify. Good, if it means there will be fewer reporters being paid to take down minutes of meetings. One is hard-pressed to categorize these sorts of stories as “journalism” to begin with. I hope it means the Pasadena Now publisher will spend the liberated money to pay reporters to open closets, lift rugs, rake muck.

Additional commentary can be found on the Center for Citizen Media web site.

©2012 autogeno.us. All Rights Reserved.

• No related posts.