Caroline King-Okumu Explained

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] King-Okumu is based in Kenya but is involved in research and projects throughout the world.

Career

King-Okumu has worked with the United Nations University (UNU), United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA).[3] She has consulted with the Ecosystems and Human Development Association (EHDA) and has been a Visiting Research Associate at the School of Geography and Environment at the University of Oxford.[4]

Previously, she was a senior researcher in the Climate Change research group of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)[5] 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.[6]

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.[7]

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.[8] She makes use of a wide variety of techniques ranging from remote sensing for the monitoring of the environment,[9] to in-depth field observation and surveys with local people.

Her research includes examinations of sustainable coastal management in Asia and the Pacific,[10] water management for Egyptian citrus producers west of the Nile Delta,[11] desertification in the Northern Sahara,[12] groundwater degradation in the Western Desert,[13] and the impact of local policies on the management of pastoralist grazing in Isiolo County, Kenya.[14] [15] [16] She has also reported on the effects of conflict in Syria on agriculture in the Orontes Basin.[17]

King-Okumu was involved in the G20 Water Policy Workshop on Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation for All (2004).[18] The report was used to support proposals for a summit meeting of L20 world leaders to discuss safe water.[19]

King-Okumu has worked with Boshra Salem and others on the Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands (SUMAMAD) project for UNESCO.[20] [21] 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.[22] [23] [24]

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)[25] and the International Conference on The Water-Food-Energy Nexus in Drylands (Rabat, Morocco, 2014).[26]

King-Okumu speaks English, French, Arabic and Japanese and is learning Amharic and Swahili.[7]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Dr. Caroline King-Okumu . UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology . 30 July 2020.
  2. Web site: Bose. Purabi. Action Plan for Drylands Dialogue and Social Diversity. CIAT: International Center for Tropical Agriculture. February 6, 2015.
  3. Web site: King. Caroline. Water & Livelihoods Initiative. ICARDA. 2013.
  4. Book: Schuster-Wallace. Corinne J.. Grover. Velma I.. Adeel. Zafar. Confalonieri. Ulisses. Elliott. Susan. Safe Water as the Key to Global Health. United Nations University. 2008. 21 October 2016.
  5. Web site: Toulmin. Camilla. Hesse. Ced. Tari. Daoud. King–Okumu. Caroline. Investing in institutional 'software' to build climate resilience. A Global Village. 21 October 2016.
  6. Web site: About us. International Institute for Environment and Development. 20 October 2016.
  7. Web site: Caroline King-Okumu. International Institute for Environment and Development. 20 October 2016.
  8. King. Caroline. Jaafar. Hadi. 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. 22 April 2015. 31. 3. 343–359. 10.1080/07900627.2015.1026436.
  9. Book: Steven. M. D.. Clark. J. A.. King. C.. Meyer-Roux. J.. Applications of remote sensing in agriculture. 1990. Butterworths. London. 978-0408047678. Remote sensing in agriculture: from research to applications. 377–395.
  10. King. C. Adeel. Z. Strategies for sustainable coastal management in Asia and the Pacific—perspectives from a regional initiative. Global Environmental Change. July 2002. 12. 2. 139–142. 10.1016/S0959-3780(02)00007-9.
  11. Book: King-Okumu. Caroline. Aboukheira. Abdrabbo A.A.S.. Paciello. Maria Cristina. Building Sustainable Agriculture for Food Security in the Euro-Mediterranean Area: Challenges and Policy Options. 2015. Edizioni Nuova Cultura. Roma. Challenges to Achieving Sustainable Exports of Fruits from Small-Holdings under Water Scarcity Conditions of the Southern Mediterranean. 113–137. http://www.iai.it/sites/default/files/iai-ocp.pdf. 21 October 2016.
  12. King. Caroline. Thomas. David S.G.. Monitoring environmental change and degradation in the irrigated oases of the Northern Sahara. Journal of Arid Environments. April 2014. 103. 36–45. 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2013.12.009. 21 October 2016.
  13. King. Caroline. Salem. Boshra . A Socio-Ecological Investigation of Options to Manage Groundwater Degradation in the Western Desert, Egypt. Ambio. 9 May 2012. 41. 5. 490–503. 10.1007/s13280-012-0255-8. 3390576. 22569842.
  14. Book: Tanner. Thomas. Bahadur. Aditya. Pichon. Florence. Morsi. Hani. Resilience Scan April-June 2015: A review of literature, debates and blogs on resilience. 2015. Overseas Development Institute. London. 3. Review of grey literature on resilience. 16. https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/9885.pdf. 21 October 2016.
  15. Web site: King-Okumu. Caroline. The economics of local adaptation in the dryland ecosystems of Isiolo County. International Institute for Environment and Development. 21 October 2016. 2015-04-22.
  16. Book: King-Okumu. Caroline. Wasonga. Oliver Vivian. Jarso. Ibrahim. Salah. Yasin Mahadi S. Direct use values of climate-dependent ecosystem services in Isiolo County, Kenya. 2016. IIED. 21 October 2016.
  17. Jaafar. Hadi H.. Zurayk. Rami. King. Caroline. Ahmad. Farah. Al-Outa. Rami. Impact of the Syrian conflict on irrigated agriculture in the Orontes Basin. International Journal of Water Resources Development. 23 March 2015. 31. 3. 436–449. 10.1080/07900627.2015.1023892.
  18. Book: Daley. R.J.. Adeel. Z.. Mayfield. C.I.. King. C.. Grover. V.. 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. 2004.
  19. Book: "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. United Nations University. 2016-10-21. https://web.archive.org/web/20161022030748/http://inweh.unu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Alexandria_Report.pdf. 2016-10-22. dead.
  20. Book: Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands SUMAMAD, Fifth Project Workshop Aleppo (Syria) 12 – 17 November 2006. 2007. UNESCO. Paris, France.
  21. Web site: King. Caroline. Fourth Project Workshop Sustainable Management of Marginal Drylands (SUMAMAD) Islamabad (Pakistan) 26 January to 1 February 2006. United Nations University. 10 July 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20180101153311/http://inweh.unu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/4th-Project-Workshop-Islamabad-Pakistan-January-2006.pdf. 1 January 2018. dead.
  22. Book: Lee. Cathy. Schaaf. Thomas. The future of drylands : international scientific conference on desertification and drylands research, Tunis, Tunisia, 19-21 June 2006. 2008. Springer. Dordrecht, Netherlands. 978-1402069697.
  23. Book: Zafar. Adeel. Janos . Bogardi. Christopher . Braeuel. Pamela . Chasek. Maryam . Niamir-Fuller. Donald . Gabriels. Caroline . King. Friederike . Knabe. Ahang . Kowsar. Boshra . Salem. Thomas . Schaaf. Gemma . Shepherd . Richard . Thomas. Overcoming one of the greatest environmental challenges of our times : rethinking policies to cope with desertification. 2007. United Nations University. Hamilton, Ont.. 978-92-808-6004-7. 21 October 2016.
  24. Web site: Session 8: Education and Knowledge Sharing in Dryland. Mary. Seely . UNESCO .
  25. Web site: Eleventh International Dryland Development Conference: Global climate change and its impact on food & energy security in the drylands. 2013. Beijing, China. International Drylands Development Commission (IDDC) .
  26. Web site: List Of Speakers - International Conference on Water Food Energy Nexus in Drylands. Rabat, Morocco. OCP Policy Center. 21 October 2016. 2014-06-25.

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