BCRD-Uganda Assistant Team Leader becomes an ACCFP Policy Research Fellow!

It is Triple Merry and lots of Satisfaction at BCRD-Uganda!

Following the May 2011 call for applications for the ACCFP (African Climate Change Fellowship Programme) by the global change SysTem for Analysis, Research & Training (START) and other partners, BCRD-Uganda’s Assistant Team Leader, Natwijuka Seth Kayombo submitted his application, motivated by the BCRD-Uganda Team Leader. Seth was selected by the ACCFP Technical Committee (that extensively reviewed more than 170 applications) as a 2011-2012 ACCFP Policy Research Fellow! Seth’s research for the ACCFP Fellowship will assess community-based strategies for adapting to changing climatic conditions employed by the Indigenous Batwa adjacent to Echuya Forest Reserve in Kisoro District, South-western Uganda. The proposed research work on IKS (indigenous knowledge systems) is of interest to Egerton University, Kenya to which Seth has been matched as Host Institution where he’ll execute his Fellowship project and activities. The proposed research work is equally of interest to the Fellow’s home institution, BCRD-Uganda since we work with smallholders and Indigenous Batwa of the Central Albertine rift. Additionally, as BCRD-Uganda, we believe in research as the engine of development for evidence-based decision making and planning.

ACCFP Fellowships provide experiential learning, education, research and training opportunities to African professionals, researchers and graduate students to enhance their capabilities for advancing and applying knowledge for climate change adaptation in Africa. The ACCFP rounds are managed by the Institute of Resource Assessment at the University of Dar Es Salaam (IRA-UDSM) and implemented in partnership with START with funding from Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (CCAA). In June 2011, Seth was accepted into the Future Generations Graduate School, Class of 2013 Master’s Degree Program. Indeed, this is triple satisfaction for the young but growing CBO (community-based organizations) where we think globally and act locally. BCRD-Uganda strives to become a learning organization where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning how to learn together. As development practitioners, we value staff capacity development to keep pace with the dynamic community development needs.

Seth was a beneficiary of the 2010 Education and Training Program on Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation in the Albertine Rift Region of Africa, organized by START and IRA-UDSM with financial support provided by the MacArthur Foundation. The program had six-master level credits and benefited early to mid-career conservation researchers and practitioners from Albertine Rift countries of Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The fellowship was a great learning experience and benefited the fellow as well as home institution. The Externship Research conducted by Seth and other Ugandan fellows from the Uganda Wildlife Authority, Luweero District Local Government, and WWF-Rwenzori Region Mountains Conservation and Environment Management Project hinged on the “Community and Park management adaptation and Mitigation strategies to the Impacts of climatic variability and climate change: A case study of Queen Elizabeth National Park ecosystem-Uganda.” Seth shared with us information pertaining to the educational program as well as the great research experience and skills learned from the Externship Research Supervisor, Dr. Julius Lejju of Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Ugandan colleagues with whom the fellowship and externship research were done. Seth learned that there are no CSOs to facilitate community development related projects with Queen Elizabeth National Park adjacent communities especially in Rubirizi District. BCRD-Uganda is thinking about filling the gap.

         Here are some pictures of Seth while in Dar es Salaam last year for the Education and Training Program on Climate Change and Biodiversity Conservation in the Albertine Rift Region.

Seth with other fellows that benefited from the Educational and Training Program in 2010 at the IRA-UDSM

A health best practice adopted from the IRA-UDSM.

Seth reflecting on the Wonders of Nature in front of a beautiful waterfall.