Susan Chomba

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Susan Chomba
Born
Education
Employer(s) International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, World Resources Institute
Known forEnvironmental scientist

Susan Chomba is a Kenyan scientist and environmentalist. She is a director at the World Resources Institute.

Contents

Biography

Chomba grew up in poverty in Kirinyaga County. [1] Chomba was largely raised by her grandmother as her mother, a single parent, was always working. Chomba's mother grew capsicum and french beans on a small plot of land owned by a step-uncle and created a farming cooperative. [2]

When Chomba was nine, a local boarding school rejected her due to her poverty, so she attended one further away, in Western Kenya. When her mother was no longer able to afford to send her there, Chomba returned to Kirinyaga to attend the provincial high school. Each student in the school was given a patch of land to farm. Chomba experimented with organic farming, growing cabbage to withstand the cold climate. [2]

Although Chomba had hoped to study law or agricultural economics, she was placed in a forestry course at Moi University. [2] [3] In her third year, when taking an agroforestry class, she found her calling. [2]

Chomba joined the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, where she Regreening Africa, an eight-country land restoration program that restored one million hectares of degraded land in Africa. [2]

Chomba was a member of the first cohort to graduate with a dual European master's degree in Sustainable Tropical Forestry from Bangor University and the University of Copenhagen. She completed fieldwork in Tanzania. [4] She continued to get her PhD in forest governance at the University of Copenhagen. [2] [3]

In 2021, Chomba joined the World Resources Institute as their Director of Vital Landscapes for Africa, where she leads their work on "Forests, Food systems and People." [5] [3] She is also a global ambassador for the Race to Zero and Race to Resilience under the UN High Level Champions for Climate Action. [3] [6]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest</span> Dense collection of trees covering a relatively large area

A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) defines a forest as, "Land spanning more than 0.5 hectares with trees higher than 5 meters and a canopy cover of more than 10 percent, or trees able to reach these thresholds in situ. It does not include land that is predominantly under agricultural or urban use." Using this definition, Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 found that forests covered 4.06 billion hectares, or approximately 31 percent of the world's land area in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forestry</span> Science and craft of managing woodlands

Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. The science of forestry has elements that belong to the biological, physical, social, political and managerial sciences. Forest management plays an essential role in the creation and modification of habitats and affects ecosystem services provisioning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest gardening</span> Agroforestry food production system modeled on woodland ecosystems

Forest gardening is a low-maintenance, sustainable, plant-based food production and agroforestry system based on woodland ecosystems, incorporating fruit and nut trees, shrubs, herbs, vines and perennial vegetables which have yields directly useful to humans. Making use of companion planting, these can be intermixed to grow in a succession of layers to build a woodland habitat. Forest gardening is a prehistoric method of securing food in tropical areas. In the 1980s, Robert Hart coined the term "forest gardening" after adapting the principles and applying them to temperate climates.

The Green Belt Movement (GBM) is an indigenous grassroots organization in Kenya that empowers women through the planting of trees. It is one of the most effective and well-known grassroots organisations addressing the problem of global deforestation. Professor Wangari Maathai established the organization in 1977 under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya (NCWK). GBM's successes in forest conservation, education, and women's economic empowerment have gained the organisation worldwide acclaim. It is also noted for its advocacy of human rights, democratisation of access to public lands, and environmental justice issues such as the role of women's traditional ecological knowledge in addressing environmental degradation and desertification.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center for International Forestry Research</span>

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is a non-profit scientific research organization that conducts research on the use and management of forests with a focus on tropical forests in developing countries. CIFOR, which merged with World Agroforestry on Jan. 1, 2019, is the forestry and agroforestry research center of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a network of 15 research centers around the world that focus on agricultural research for sustainable development, working closely with governments and other partners to help develop evidence-based solutions to problems related to sustainable agriculture and natural resource management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agroforestry</span> Land use management system

Agroforestry is a land use management system in which combinations of trees are grown around or among crops or pasture. Agroforestry combines agricultural and forestry technologies to create more diverse, productive, profitable, healthy, and sustainable land-use systems. Benefits include increasing farm profitability, reduced soil erosion, creating wildlife habitat, managing animal waste, increased biodiversity, improved soil structure, and carbon sequestration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chellie Pingree</span> American politician (born 1955)

Chellie MariePingree is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for Maine's 1st congressional district since 2009. Her district includes most of the southern part of the state, including Portland and Augusta.

Feminist political ecology is a feminist perspective on political ecology, drawing on theories from Marxism, post-structuralism, feminist geography, ecofeminism and cultural ecology. Feminist political ecology examines the place of intersectional social relations in the political ecological landscape, exploring them as a factor in ecological and political relations. Specific areas in which feminist political ecology is focused are development, landscape, resource use, agrarian reconstruction and rural-urban transformation. Feminist political ecologists suggest gender is a crucial variable – in relation to class, race and other relevant dimensions of political ecological life – in constituting access to, control over, and knowledge of natural resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social forestry in India</span>

Social forestry is the management and protection of forests and afforestation of barren and deforested lands with the purpose of helping environmental, social and rural development. The term social forestry was first used in 1976 by The National Commission on Agriculture, when the government of India aimed to reduce pressure on forests by planting trees on all unused and fallow lands. It was intended as a democratic approach to forest conservation and usage, maximizing land utilization for multiple purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farmer-managed natural regeneration</span> Technique to combat deforestation and desertification

Farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) is a low-cost, sustainable land restoration technique used to combat poverty and hunger amongst poor subsistence farmers in developing countries by increasing food and timber production, and resilience to climate extremes. It involves the systematic regeneration and management of trees and shrubs from tree stumps, roots and seeds. FMNR was developed by the Australian agricultural economist Tony Rinaudo in the 1980s in West Africa. The background and development are described in Rinaudo's book The Forest Underground.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne Waiguru</span> Kenyan politician

Anne Mumbi Waiguru, EGH, is the second Governor of Kirinyaga County in Kenya, who has been in office since 22 August 2017. She was re-elected to office as Governor for her second 5-year term in the elections that were held on 9 August 2022. Previously, she served as the first Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Devolution and Planning. She was nominated by H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta to the position on 25 April 2013. She is behind the establishment of Huduma Centres, places where Kenyan citizens can access government services more efficiently in their respective counties. as well as the 30% procurement rule, which accords at least 30 per cent of all supply contracts to the government to the youth, persons with disability and women.

South Eastern Kenya University "SEKU" is a public university with its main campus located in Kwa Vonza, Kitui County, Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deforestation and climate change</span> Relationship between deforestation and global warming

Deforestation is a primary contributor to climate change, and climate change affects forests. Land use changes, especially in the form of deforestation, are the second largest anthropogenic source of atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions, after fossil fuel combustion. Greenhouse gases are emitted during combustion of forest biomass and decomposition of remaining plant material and soil carbon. Global models and national greenhouse gas inventories give similar results for deforestation emissions. As of 2019, deforestation is responsible for about 11% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Carbon emissions from tropical deforestation are accelerating. Growing forests are a carbon sink with additional potential to mitigate the effects of climate change. Some of the effects of climate change, such as more wildfires, insect outbreaks, invasive species, and storms are factors that increase deforestation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bamboo cultivation</span> Cultivation and raw material industry

Bamboo forestry is a cultivation and raw material industry that provides the raw materials for the broader bamboo industry, worth over 72 billion dollars globally in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Global Landscapes Forum</span>

The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) is a multi-stakeholder forum that facilitates participation in landscape approaches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate-smart agriculture</span> System for agricultural productivity

Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) is an integrated approach to managing land to help adapt agricultural methods, livestock and crops to the effects of climate change and, where possible, counteract it by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, while taking into account the growing world population to ensure food security. The emphasis is not simply on carbon farming or sustainable agriculture, but also on increasing agricultural productivity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture</span> Agricultures effects on climate change

The amount of greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture is significant: The agriculture, forestry and land use sector contribute between 13% and 21% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Agriculture contributes towards climate change through direct greenhouse gas emissions and by the conversion of non-agricultural land such as forests into agricultural land. Emissions of nitrous oxide and methane make up over half of total greenhouse gas emission from agriculture. Animal husbandry is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wanjira Mathai</span> Kenyan environmentalist (born 1971)

Wanjira Mathai is a Kenyan environmentalist and activist. She is Managing Director for Africa and Global Partnerships at the World Resources Institute, based in Nairobi, Kenya. In this role, she takes on global issues including deforestation and energy access. She was selected as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans by New African magazine in 2018 for her role serving as the senior advisor at the World Resources Institute, as well as for her campaign to plant more than 30 million trees through her work at the Green Belt Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth Wathuti</span> Kenyan environmental activist (born 1995)

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Aster Afwork GebrekirstosFAASTWAS is an Ethiopian scientist and a professor of agroforestry at World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).

References

  1. 1 2 "BBC 100 Women 2023: Who is on the list this year? - BBC News". News. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wadekar, Neha (2023-06-21). "'Women bear the biggest brunt of climate change,' says climate scientist Susan Chomba". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Susan Chomba | World Resources Institute". www.wri.org. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  4. "Bangor Alumna among world's most influential women". Bangor University. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  5. "Susan Chomba". #ThinkLandscape. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  6. Macklin, Fiona (2021-04-26). "Welcoming Global Ambassadors to Race to Zero and Race to Resilience". Climate Champions. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  7. "25 more badass women shaping climate action | GreenBiz". www.greenbiz.com. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
  8. "Bloomberg Green at COP28". events.bloomberglive.com. Retrieved 2024-02-09.