Caroline King-Okumu

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Caroline King-Okumu (formerly Caroline King) is an international development opportunities manager for the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. [1] She was formerly a senior researcher for the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). Her major areas of research are dryland ecosystems, economic and environmental assessment, and climate change. She is considered an international expert on land and water management, particularly drylands agriculture. [2] [3] King-Okumu is based in Kenya [4] but is involved in research and projects throughout the world.

Career

King-Okumu has worked with the United Nations University (UNU), [2] United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), [5] and International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). [5] [6] She has consulted with the Ecosystems and Human Development Association (EHDA) [7] and has been a Visiting Research Associate at the School of Geography and Environment at the University of Oxford. [7] [8]

Previously, she was a senior researcher in the Climate Change research group of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) [5] [9] Based in London, England, IIED is an international organization engaged in policy and action research to support sustainable local development in countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific. [10]

King-Okumu studied methods for the sustainable integrated management of water and land in dryland ecosystems, and economic and environmental assessment techniques for calculating the costs of groundwater degradation. She encouraged initiatives for decision-making in the context of longer-term considerations of increasing variability and climate change. She worked to develop in-country partnerships engaging government, research institutions, civic groups and the private sector, to support sustainable practices and community-based adaptation and to increase climate change resilience. [5] [11]

King-Okumu analyzes situations in terms of a nexus of interlinked water, energy, and food production concerns rather than focusing solely on water balance and food production. [7] She makes use of a wide variety of techniques ranging from remote sensing for the monitoring of the environment, [12] to in-depth field observation and surveys with local people. [13]

Her research includes examinations of sustainable coastal management in Asia and the Pacific, [14] water management for Egyptian citrus producers west of the Nile Delta, [15] desertification in the Northern Sahara, [16] groundwater degradation in the Western Desert, [13] and the impact of local policies on the management of pastoralist grazing in Isiolo County, Kenya. [11] [17] [18] She has also reported on the effects of conflict in Syria on agriculture in the Orontes Basin. [19]

King-Okumu was involved in the G20 Water Policy Workshop on Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation for All (2004). [2] The report was used to support proposals for a summit meeting of L20 world leaders to discuss safe water. [20]

King-Okumu has worked with Boshra Salem and others on the Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands (SUMAMAD) project for UNESCO. [21] [22] She presented at The future of drylands (Tunis, Tunisia, 2006), an international conference organized by UNESCO and 20 other organizations as part of the United Nations' International Year of Deserts and Desertification to assess the past 50 years of drylands research and identify priorities for future development. [23] [24] [25]

She has presented at other conferences including the Eleventh International Dryland Development Conference: Global climate change and its impact on food & energy security in the drylands (Beijing, China, 2013) [26] and the International Conference on The Water-Food-Energy Nexus in Drylands (Rabat, Morocco, 2014). [4]

King-Okumu speaks English, French, Arabic and Japanese and is learning Amharic and Swahili. [5]

Related Research Articles

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Sustainable agriculture Farming relying on as much renewable resources as possible

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References

  1. ↑ "Dr. Caroline King-Okumu". UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Daley, R.J.; Adeel, Z.; Mayfield, C.I.; King, C.; Grover, V. (2004). Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation for All – A G20-Led Initiative. Background Discussion Paper for the G20 Water Policy Workshop, Alexandria, Egypt, December, 2004. United Nations University - International Network on Water, Environment and Health Hamilton, Canada (PDF).
  3. ↑ Bose, Purabi (February 6, 2015). "Action Plan for Drylands Dialogue and Social Diversity". CIAT: International Center for Tropical Agriculture.
  4. 1 2 "List Of Speakers - International Conference on Water Food Energy Nexus in Drylands". OCP Policy Center. Rabat, Morocco. 2014-06-25. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Caroline King-Okumu". International Institute for Environment and Development. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  6. ↑ King, Caroline (2013). "Water & Livelihoods Initiative" (PDF). ICARDA.
  7. 1 2 3 King, Caroline; Jaafar, Hadi (22 April 2015). "Rapid assessment of the water–energy–food–climate nexus in six selected basins of North Africa and West Asia undergoing transitions and scarcity threats". International Journal of Water Resources Development. 31 (3): 343–359. doi:10.1080/07900627.2015.1026436.
  8. ↑ Schuster-Wallace, Corinne J.; Grover, Velma I.; Adeel, Zafar; Confalonieri, Ulisses; Elliott, Susan (2008). Safe Water as the Key to Global Health (PDF). United Nations University. Retrieved 21 October 2016.[ permanent dead link ]
  9. ↑ Toulmin, Camilla; Hesse, Ced; Tari, Daoud; King–Okumu, Caroline. "Investing in institutional 'software' to build climate resilience". A Global Village. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  10. ↑ "About us". International Institute for Environment and Development. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  11. 1 2 Tanner, Thomas; Bahadur, Aditya; Pichon, Florence; Morsi, Hani (2015). "3. Review of grey literature on resilience" (PDF). Resilience Scan April-June 2015: A review of literature, debates and blogs on resilience. London: Overseas Development Institute. p. 16. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  12. ↑ King, C.; Meyer-Roux, J. (1990). "Remote sensing in agriculture: from research to applications". In Steven, M. D.; Clark, J. A. (eds.). Applications of remote sensing in agriculture. London: Butterworths. pp. 377–395. ISBN   978-0408047678.
  13. 1 2 King, Caroline; Salem, Boshra (9 May 2012). "A Socio-Ecological Investigation of Options to Manage Groundwater Degradation in the Western Desert, Egypt". AMBIO. 41 (5): 490–503. doi:10.1007/s13280-012-0255-8. PMC   3390576 . PMID   22569842.
  14. ↑ King, C; Adeel, Z (July 2002). "Strategies for sustainable coastal management in Asia and the Pacific—perspectives from a regional initiative". Global Environmental Change. 12 (2): 139–142. doi:10.1016/S0959-3780(02)00007-9.
  15. ↑ King-Okumu, Caroline; Aboukheira, Abdrabbo A.A.S. (2015). "Challenges to Achieving Sustainable Exports of Fruits from Small-Holdings under Water Scarcity Conditions of the Southern Mediterranean" (PDF). In Paciello, Maria Cristina (ed.). Building Sustainable Agriculture for Food Security in the Euro-Mediterranean Area: Challenges and Policy Options. Roma: Edizioni Nuova Cultura. pp. 113–137. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  16. ↑ King, Caroline; Thomas, David S.G. (April 2014). "Monitoring environmental change and degradation in the irrigated oases of the Northern Sahara". Journal of Arid Environments. 103: 36–45. doi:10.1016/j.jaridenv.2013.12.009 . Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  17. ↑ King-Okumu, Caroline (2015-04-22). "The economics of local adaptation in the dryland ecosystems of Isiolo County". International Institute for Environment and Development. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  18. ↑ King-Okumu, Caroline; Wasonga, Oliver Vivian; Jarso, Ibrahim; Salah, Yasin Mahadi S (2016). Direct use values of climate-dependent ecosystem services in Isiolo County, Kenya (PDF). IIED. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  19. ↑ Jaafar, Hadi H.; Zurayk, Rami; King, Caroline; Ahmad, Farah; Al-Outa, Rami (23 March 2015). "Impact of the Syrian conflict on irrigated agriculture in the Orontes Basin". International Journal of Water Resources Development. 31 (3): 436–449. doi:10.1080/07900627.2015.1023892.
  20. ↑ "Leader's Summit on Access to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation: Towards an L20?" December 1-2, 2004 Alexandria Commissioned Briefing Notes for the CIGI/CFGS L20 Project (PDF). United Nations University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-10-22. Retrieved 2016-10-21.
  21. ↑ Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands SUMAMAD, Fifth Project Workshop Aleppo (Syria) 12 – 17 November 2006 (PDF). Paris, France: UNESCO. 2007.
  22. ↑ King, Caroline. "Fourth Project Workshop Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands (SUMAMAD) Islamabad (Pakistan) 26 January to 1 February 2006" (PDF). United Nations University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 January 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  23. ↑ Lee, Cathy; Schaaf, Thomas (2008). The future of drylands : international scientific conference on desertification and drylands research, Tunis, Tunisia, 19-21 June 2006. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. ISBN   978-1402069697.
  24. ↑ Adeel, Zafar; Bogardi, Janos; Braeuel, Christopher; Chasek, Pamela; Niamir-Fuller, Maryam; Gabriels, Donald; King, Caroline; Knabe, Friederike; Kowsar, Ahang; Salem, Boshra; Schaaf, Thomas; Shepherd, Gemma; Thomas, Richard (2007). Overcoming one of the greatest environmental challenges of our times : rethinking policies to cope with desertification (PDF). Hamilton, Ont.: United Nations University. ISBN   978-92-808-6004-7 . Retrieved 21 October 2016.
  25. ↑ Seely, Mary. "Session 8: Education and Knowledge Sharing in Dryland" (PDF). UNESCO.
  26. ↑ "Eleventh International Dryland Development Conference: Global climate change and its impact on food & energy security in the drylands" (PDF). International Drylands Development Commission (IDDC). Beijing, China. 2013.
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