OIKO, as part of a World Bank technical team, presented the results of a bioeconomy analysis in Paraguay.  

On November 15th, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in collaboration with the World Bank presented the results of the National Bioeconomy Diagnosis of Paraguay. This initiative aims to enhance the competitiveness and improve diversification of Paraguayan agro-industries by fostering innovation and added value within priority value chains: biopharmaceuticals, organic meat, petitgrain for cosmetics, and bio-packaging. 

OIKO team coordinated the research and analysis. During a workshop attended by over 70 representatives, Miguel Trillo presented the findings on various bioeconomy sectors, potential supply chains, and innovative products suitable for Paraguay. 

Bioeconomy is an approach that utilizes renewable biological resources to produce goods and services with a high degree of innovation and added value. Collaborative efforts among the public, private sector, and academia are crucial for implementing the principles and practices of the bioeconomy and fostering its sustainable development within the country’s economy.   

System Transformation through Climate Technology Transfer

As a member of the CTCN Climate Technology Center & Network, OIKO has been invited to the annual CTCN Latin America and the Caribbean NDE Forum. The event was held from October 24 to 27 as part of Latin America and the Caribbean Climate Week 2023 in Panama City.

This Forum brings together Government representatives, CTCN technical Advisory Board and other country stakeholders, in a platform for networking, sharing experiences, and forging new collaborations.

This year the Forum’s primary focus revolved around the recently introduced CTCN’s 3rd Programme of Work (2023-2027). This program is designed to amplify transformational impacts and upscale key service areas through the utilization of two proven technologies: the National System of Innovation and Digitalization, actserving as enablers of systemic change.

CTCN’s priorities are centered around five major areas for system transformation:

· Water-Food-Energy Nexus
· Building and Infrastructure
· Sustainable Mobility
· Energy Systems
· Business and Industry

As part of the program, our specialist Veronica Macku presented a climate technology solution for decarbonization of the dairy sector, that was implemented in one of our recent projects in Uruguay. We’re also pleased to share that our Technical Needs Assessment (TNA) project in Paraguay received recognition in the DNA’s report on ongoing CTCN initiatives in the country.

We’re deeply grateful to the CTCN team and to all the participants for the excellent organization of the event. It was a remarkable opportunity for networking and exchange of experience. We look forward to further cooperation with CTCN network in the development and transfer of climate technology to Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as across the globe.

Project

Designing nature-based solutions with an ethnic and gender-equity approach, to increase the resilience of rural mountain communities in protected natural areas affected by extreme weather events in Honduras

Client

Climate Technology Center Network (CTCN)

Partners

INCEBIO, MAPANCE

The OIKO team has begun conducting risk and vulnerability assessments as part of our CTCN-funded project in Honduras. The main work is taking place in the Celaque National Park in the west of the country. The OIKO and INCEBIO technical team, represented by Joe Ryan and Héctor Orlando Portillo Reyes, with MAPANCE support, is visiting three mountain indigenous communities of Malsincales, Rio Negro and Chimis Montaña.

Experts are conducting community meetings and collecting information on areas of greatest impact from hurricanes Eta and Iota. Through these activities, the team is mapping the risks and threats that have affected and are still affecting the community. The main purpose of this work is to raise public awareness of risks and build up capacity to tackle extreme weather events, such as landslides, and mitigate their impacts.

In September, our international team will hold a series of workshops for local communities, local governments, and the private sector. Each session will focus on a different aspect of preserving indigenous cultural heritage related to climate, biodiversity, resources and disaster risk management.

The mission of our project in Honduras is to boost mountain community resilience through integration; stakeholder engagement; and capacity building of indigenous groups, institutions, and local governments.

Project

Development of a sector-specific curriculum for participatory UAS mapping & geospatial analysis training courses, and design of policy and operations manuals in Grenada and Guyana.

Client

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Partners

GISCAD Limited, OpenPlan

This week, the OIKO team, along with our partners at GISCAD Limited and OpenPlan, is kicking off a series of regional trainings aimed at enhancing drone operation capabilities in Grenada and Guyana.

The initiative to use drones for crop monitoring which supports disaster response and risk reduction in the agricultural sector is led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Obtaining time-critical and reliable data is becoming increasingly important for the agricultural sector in Grenada and Guyana as these countries are facing the growing impacts of climate change. In recent years, this has become evident through the growing occurrence of severe weather events, including hurricanes, tropical storms, droughts, and floods.

The trainings are attended by representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture of both countries. During the training modules, participants will get a comprehensive understanding of how to operate and utilize drones, as well as opportunities to jointly develop ideas and projects for the region.

El Ministerio del Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (MADES), a través de la Dirección Nacional de Cambio Climático (DNCC), realizó un taller de presentación sobre el proceso y los avances de la Evaluación de Necesidades Tecnológicas (ENT) y Plan de Acción Tecnológica (PAT). En esta ocasión, han participado del proceso representantes de diversas empresas y organizaciones de la sociedad civil, quienes han realizado consultas y comentarios sobre el proceso presentado por la consultora internacional OIKO, principal responsable, y su aliado local, Investigación para el Desarrollo (ID).

El Director Nacional de Cambio Climático, Ing. Ulises Lovera, explicó en su mensaje de inicio del taller el proceso por el cual se ha pasado y que con este proyecto se está cumpliendo con un acuerdo no mandatorio a nivel internacional para encarar el cambio climático, que es la evaluación de necesidades y elaboración del Plan de Acción Tecnológica para mitigar o lograr una adaptación al cambio climático.

Así mismo, se cumplió con el objetivo de dar a conocer el proyecto ENT y los PAT con el sector privado. Además de identificar el rol del sector privado y la sociedad civil con relación a las tecnologías climáticas identificadas, mediante mesas de debate y recibir aportes desde la visión del sector privado.

De esta manera, se ha logrado consensuar tanto con el sector público (el día 13/03), como con el sector privado en esta ocasión. En los próximos meses el proyecto estará llegando a su fin y dejará para el país un portafolio de tecnologías priorizadas por los mismos actores claves, los cuales se buscará implementar con financiamiento externo.

El Ministerio del Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible (MADES), a través de la Dirección Nacional de Cambio Climático (DNCC), realizó un taller de presentación y validación de avances de la Evaluación de Necesidades Tecnológicas (ENT) y Plan de Acción Tecnológica (PAT).

En el mismo se avanzó en la priorización de tecnologías en el marco del programa de las Naciones Unidas, a través del Centro de Tecnologías Climáticas (CTCN) https://www.ctc-n.org/countries, que financia esta iniciativa, para hacer un diagnóstico de cuáles son las iniciativas más viables en el Paraguay, para alcanzar las metas y compromisos de la Comunicación de Adaptación y Contribución Nacionalmente Determinada (NDC por sus siglas en inglés).

El taller ha contado con trabajos grupales divididos por sectores priorizados: 1. Ecosistemas y biodiversidad / Recursos hídricos / Uso de la Tierra, Producción agropecuaria, forestal y seguridad alimentaria Cambio del Uso de la Tierra y Silvicultura (UTCUTS). 2. Energía y Transporte y 3. Un grupo compuesto por los representantes del sector Procesos industriales y uso de producto (IPPU), donde se han trabajado sobre las tecnologías priorizadas.

Como próximos pasos, el MADES, una vez consensuado estará reportando a la CMNUCC su Evaluación de Necesidades tecnológicas y su Plan de acción en tecnología climática, así también como parte de los productos del equipo consultor se desarrollarán dos notas conceptuales, para obtener financiamiento externo, en base al portafolio de tecnologías priorizados por las propias instituciones clave.

La apertura del taller estuvo a cargo del Director Nacional de Cambio Climático, Ing. Ulises Lovera y se contó con la participación de diversos sectores en la acción climática. Seguidamente, los responsables de la consultora internacional OIKO, Miguel Trillo y Verónika Macku, presentaron el contexto y los objetivos del trabajo que lleva más de un año, así también, las tecnologías priorizadas en los talleres virtuales con expertos.

The MIC plans projects with the assistance of @bancomundial in bioeconomy, which has great potential to strengthen the economic development of the country. Matilde Bordón, Resident Representative of the World Bank, held a working meeting with Minister Luis Alberto Castiglioni.

El MIC planifica proyectos con asistencia del @bancomundial en bioeconomía, que tiene mucho potencial para fortalecer el desarrollo económico del país. Matilde Bordón, Representante Residente del Banco Mundial, mantuvo una reunión de trabajo con el ministro Luis Alberto Castiglioni.

At the end of the year we held a training workshop for Cameroonian milk producers, collectors, transporters and processors, as part of the project “Support the implementation of an integrated Water-Energy-Livestock project for the Dairy Value Chain in the municipalities of Petté and Wina”. This workshop is the result of a diagnosis, recognition and mapping of the main actors involved, directly and indirectly, in the dairy value chain of these two communities in northern Cameroon.

The workshop, in addition to presenting good and best practices for the collection and preservation of fresh milk, aimed to propose the main actions and milestones, as well as the objectives for 2023. The main objectives include: (1) provision of a building by the municipality of Petté, to host the first pilot milk storage, (2) delivery and installation of the first refrigerated milk storage unit in Petté, with solar energy, and (3) sensitization of stakeholders for the implementation of the unit and the constitution of the management team and consultation framework.

For the first time, OIKO participated in COP27 and we had some great moments. We were able to showcase two of our nine ongoing projects and establish valuable relationships with organizations and governments that share OIKO’s objectives: to help the most vulnerable communities face the risks of climate change and promote sustainable development for the planet.

On the one hand, we had a side event with more than 100 attendees in person, where we presented the context, progress, results and expectations of the project in Togo, which aims to improve the resilience against climate change effects, reinforce agricultural practices, facilitate technology transfer and provide an answer to the current challenges regarding climate change mitigation. The event was attended by Miguel Trillo, CEO of OIKO, Raul Pantaleo, co-founder of TAMassociati, Kouassigan Tovivo, director of Climate Analytics, and Esso-Kl’nam Pedessi, executive director of Jeunes Verts, who have been our partners during the implementation of the project. What stood out most about our side event were the criteria taken into account for the selection of the communes, and how this model could be replicable in similar areas of Togo and the region. 

On the other hand, together with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), the Caribbean Development Bank, and the Green Climate Fund, we held a project event in the CARICOM region that seeks to develop an appropriate comprehensive Implementation Plan, a Financing Strategy, an M&E Framework and the re-establishment of a RCCCC towards the operationalization of Climate Change and the Caribbean.

Undoubtedly, COP27 was an enriching experience that will allow greater visibility of the purpose of the assignments being carried out in different countries around the world.