Ackim Brings GRA to Audience of Millions
 NZAGRC’s Post-Doctoral Fellow, Ackim Mwape, has helped bring the work of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases to an audience of millions, following the recent successful workshop on "Low Emissions Livestock Development" in Pretoria, South Africa.
Ackim joined Beth Madden, New Zealand’s Acting High Commissioner in South Africa, for a live TV interview on the South Africa Broadcasting Cooperation News (SABC). SABC News has an audience of over 25 million.
“The interview was a great opportunity for us to highlight the tremendous work of the GRA in southern Africa, particularly our increasing international cooperation on agricultural emissions, and New Zealand’s climate change commitments,” says Ackim.
The 11-minute interview can be viewed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A_wDn_rNgE
The appearance on SABC news followed the three-day workshop in July which focused on how low-emissions livestock development offers countries an opportunity to achieve economic gains at the same time as responding to climate change. The GRA, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Bank have been working together in this area to provide practical and science-based support to countries seeking to achieve green growth through livestock.
The workshop was organised in collaboration with the Centre for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA), the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) and South Africa’s Ministry of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, with support from the SADC-GIZ Programme on Adaptation to Climate Change in Rural Areas in Southern Africa, funded by the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
It attracted 86 delegates. These included 39 senior government officials from 11 southern African countries (representing government departments such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Environment and National Agriculture Research Institute).
Other attendees included 15 development partners, 13 regional organisations, 4 research institutions, 4 universities, 8 non-governmental organisations and 3 Media.
Key recommendations of the workshop include further work to:

Canvass existing regional/international structures/networks etc. to support low-emissions livestock development in the SADC region
Support/develop regional initiatives to acquire data on common production systems; collate available data, leverage (sub)national data and ongoing work, and identify data gaps
Establish a regional exchange network on livestock greenhouse gases to facilitate exchange of experiences, capacity building, information sharing, and general awareness creation (including information about funding), and
Support regional/national capacity building on GHG measurement/inventories