N. Hatibu

Bio: N. Hatibu is an academic researcher from Sokoine University of Agriculture. The author has contributed to research in topics: Rainwater harvesting & Agriculture. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 33 publications receiving 1003 citations.

Indigenous knowledge as decision support tool in rainwater harvesting

Abstract: Rainfall patterns in semi-arid areas are typically highly variable, both spatially and temporally. As a result, people who rely completely on rainwater for their survival have over the centuries developed indigenous knowledge/techniques to harvest rainwater. These traditional water-harvesting systems have been sustainable for centuries. The reason for this is that they are compatible with local lifestyles, local institutional patterns and local social systems. In order to develop sustainable strategies, it is therefore important to take into account of, and learn from, what local people already know and do, and to build on this. This paper explores how indigenous knowledge is used by farmers in the Makanya catchment, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania to identify potential sites for rainwater harvesting (RWH). The paper draws on participatory research methods including focus group discussions, key informant interviews, field visits and participatory workshops. Initial findings indicate that farmers do hold a substantial amount of knowledge about the resources around them. As there are spatially typical aspects to indigenous knowledge, it could be extrapolated over a wider geographic extent. From the preliminary findings, it is being recommended that geographic information system (GIS) could be an important tool to collect and upscale the utility of diverse indigenous knowledge in the decision-making process.

A watershed approach to upgrade rainfed agriculture in water scarce regions through Water System Innovations: an integrated research initiative on water for food and rural livelihoods in balance with ecosystem functions

Abstract: The challenge of producing food for a rapidly increasing population in semi-arid agro-ecosystems in Southern Africa is daunting. More food necessarily means more consumptive use of so-called green water flow (vapour flow sustaining crop growth). Every increase in food production upstream in a watershed will impact on water user and using systems downstream. Intensifying agriculture has in the past often been carried out with negative side effects in terms of land and water degradation. Water legislation is increasingly incorporating the requirement to safeguard a water reserve to sustain instream ecology. To address the challenges of increasing food production, improving rural livelihoods, while safeguarding critical ecological functions, a research programme has recently been launched on “Smallholder System Innovations in Integrated Watershed Management” (SSI). The programme takes an integrated approach to agricultural water management, analysing the interactions between the adoption and participatory adaptation of water system innovations (such as water harvesting, drip irrigation, conservation farming, etc.), increased water use in agriculture and water flows to sustain ecological functions that deliver critical ecosystem services to humans. The research is carried out in the Pangani Basin in Tanzania and the Thukela Basin in South Africa. A nested scale approach is adopted, which will enable the analysis of scale interactions between water management at the farm level, and cascading hydrological impacts at watershed and basin scale. This paper describes the integrated research approach of the SSI programme, and indicates areas of potential to upgrade rainfed agriculture in water scarcity-prone agro-ecosystems while securing water for downstream use.

The knowledge-creating company : how Japanese companies create the dynamics of innovation

Abstract: How has Japan become a major economic power, a world leader in the automotive and electronics industries? What is the secret of their success? The consensus has been that, though the Japanese are not particularly innovative, they are exceptionally skilful at imitation, at improving products that already exist. But now two leading Japanese business experts, Ikujiro Nonaka and Hiro Takeuchi, turn this conventional wisdom on its head: Japanese firms are successful, they contend, precisely because they are innovative, because they create new knowledge and use it to produce successful products and technologies. Examining case studies drawn from such firms as Honda, Canon, Matsushita, NEC, 3M, GE, and the U.S. Marines, this book reveals how Japanese companies translate tacit to explicit knowledge and use it to produce new processes, products, and services.

The green, blue and grey water footprint of crops and derived crop products

Abstract: This study quantifies the green, blue and grey water footprint of global crop production in a spatially-explicit way for the period 1996–2005. The assessment improves upon earlier research by taking a high-resolution approach, estimating the water footprint of 126 crops at a 5 by 5 arc minute grid. We have used a grid-based dynamic water balance model to calculate crop water use over time, with a time step of one day. The model takes into account the daily soil water balance and climatic conditions for each grid cell. In addition, the water pollution associated with the use of nitrogen fertilizer in crop production is estimated for each grid cell. The crop evapotranspiration of additional 20 minor crops is calculated with the CROPWAT model. In addition, we have calculated the water footprint of more than two hundred derived crop products, including various flours, beverages, fibres and biofuels. We have used the water footprint assessment framework as in the guideline of the Water Footprint Network. Considering the water footprints of primary crops, we see that the global average water footprint per ton of crop increases from sugar crops (roughly 200 m3 ton−1), vegetables (300 m3 ton−1), roots and tubers (400 m3 ton−1), fruits (1000 m3 ton−1), cereals (1600 m3 ton−1), oil crops (2400 m3 ton−1) to pulses (4000 m3 ton−1). The water footprint varies, however, across different crops per crop category and per production region as well. Besides, if one considers the water footprint per kcal, the picture changes as well. When considered per ton of product, commodities with relatively large water footprints are: coffee, tea, cocoa, tobacco, spices, nuts, rubber and fibres. The analysis of water footprints of different biofuels shows that bio-ethanol has a lower water footprint (in m3 GJ−1) than biodiesel, which supports earlier analyses. The crop used matters significantly as well: the global average water footprint of bio-ethanol based on sugar beet amounts to 51 m3 GJ−1, while this is 121 m3 GJ−1 for maize. The global water footprint related to crop production in the period 1996–2005 was 7404 billion cubic meters per year (78 % green, 12 % blue, 10 % grey). A large total water footprint was calculated for wheat (1087 Gm3 yr−1), rice (992 Gm3 yr−1) and maize (770 Gm3 yr−1). Wheat and rice have the largest blue water footprints, together accounting for 45 % of the global blue water footprint. At country level, the total water footprint was largest for India (1047 Gm3 yr−1), China (967 Gm3 yr−1) and the USA (826 Gm3 yr−1). A relatively large total blue water footprint as a result of crop production is observed in the Indus river basin (117 Gm3 yr−1) and the Ganges river basin (108 Gm3 yr−1). The two basins together account for 25 % of the blue water footprint related to global crop production. Globally, rain-fed agriculture has a water footprint of 5173 Gm3 yr−1 (91 % green, 9 % grey); irrigated agriculture has a water footprint of 2230 Gm3 yr−1 (48 % green, 40 % blue, 12 % grey).

United nations framework convention on climate change (unfccc)

Abstract: After many years of intense negotiations, the 195 parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) adopted on 12 December 2015 in Paris a new global agreement on how all countries collectively will tackle climate change. The Paris Agreement is widely recognized as the most significant environmental treaty ever adopted, with strong positive implications on development, international cooperation and, of course, for the climate. The ambition is to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2oC above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5oC.