Signing away the future by African govts

The International Institute for Environmental and Development (IIED) has alleged risk for the signing away water rights for decades by African governments without considering the effects to the continent and common people.

They also alleged that though there are endless opportunities in the deal, it could cause great harm if local people are being excluded from decisions about the allocation of land and if there is no protection for the land right.

Researchers at IIED in a public statement made available to NaijaAgroNet, cautioned that the signing away water rights was done in a way that would harm the future prospects of Africans, with fishermen and pastoralists are the main professions to share greater part of the damage as they have much reliance on water.

Few African countries, they further said, are trying to curb the harm as investors in Mali and Sudan have unrestricted access to as much water as they need.

Lorenzo Cotula, who co-authored a study report of land acquisition said companies that acquire land for irrigating farming will want secured water rights but long-term contractual commitments can jeopardize water access for local farmers.

“This affects not only the people who have customarily used the land that is being leased, but also distant downstream users who can be hundreds of kilometers away and even across an international border,” Cotula said.

Recalling that the Ethiopian government already allocated a large portion of land for irrigation in the Gibe III dam, but the study revealed that it would lower the level of Kenya's Lake Turkana which half a million Kenyans depends on.

A principal researcher at IIED Jamie Skinner who also led the study said the global water crisis is a crisis of water management and not of water quality.

“Good water management in the face of climate change is only possible if it is clear who the water belongs to, who holds rights to its use and when allocations to all users are made in a transparent way,” he said.

Yinka Awosanya

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Large dams don’t benefit local people - IIED

Findings from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) revealed that many dam programmes in West Africa that have been resettled and or compensated people have been problematic.

The published research report made available to NaijaAgroNet, highlighted how future dam in the region could share benefit with local people including river users and communities who have been displaced as major dams had been criticized by NGOs over disasters it spell on communities which usually lead to people's displacement.

The report noted that benefits of dam should be shared over decades and not just a few years. The challenge according to the report is to ensure that displaced people are beneficiaries through the lifetime of the dam, as much as 50 to 80 years and not just less than 10 years when the project's main financial backers are still engaged.

Jamie Skinner stated in the report, that large dams have a bad name as a result of the too many serious environmental and social impacts the dams do bring along.

Skinner acknowledged that the main beneficiaries of dams are urban citizens and industries gain from the improved infrastructure over decades.

The impact of large dams as noted by Skinner would not stop large dams.

"... Large dams are here to stay and more are being planned..." He said countries are beginning to choose them as an adaptive measure for food security, rising energy prices and climate change.

For these reasons, Skimmer reaffirmed that building good dams is an essentiality where benefits are widely shared and there are minimum harmful impacts.

"Countries will need dams to manage these unpredictable flows, and to provide irrigation and hydro-electric power to address food and fuel insecurity," Skinner said.

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World Bank commends S/Leone on fisheries

The World Bank has commended the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources of Sierra Leone on the successful completion of the first phase of the West African Regional Fisheries Programme, reports AllAfrica.

The commendation was made by experts from the apex bank on their visitation to Sierra Leone's Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources to discuss the activities of the project, challenges therein and the way forward.

The programme implemented by NEPAD, the report added, was in order to support a politically-led process and strengthen Africa's ability to define and take forward effective reforms in fisheries governance.

The programme co-funded by the World Bank and New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) for the past one year, saw Sierra Leonean Minister of Fisheries and Marine Resources

Dr. Soccoh Kabia, saying that illegal fishing and poor management of water were key challenges of the ministry as the country was losing millions of dollars to illegal fishing acts.

According to him, the project was designed to ensure proper governance and sustainable management of the country's marine resources in order for the communities to benefit from the scheme.

"This is a great investment by the World Bank," said John Virdin, one of the representatives from the World Bank at the event. Read more

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UN confab on Sustainable Development goes to Rio

The United Nations planned conference on Sustainable Development (SD) is anticipated to give boost to global economic development.

Addressing a press conference at the UN headquarters, the UN Under-Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, Mr. Sha Zukang said the conference "Rio 2012" will be hosted by Brazil following its impressive track record in economic growth, poverty eradication and environmental conservation after it played host to UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992.

Zukang also said that the SD conference scheduled to hold in June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, will provide opportunity for international community to build a global economic development model.

The model according to Zukang is meant to improve lives, ensuring social equity and reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcity.

"Brazil has certainly shown the world how to put sustainable development into practice," he said.

Further, he recommended that participating Member States should come up with a focused political document based on the three objectives of the event which are renewing political commitment for sustainable development, identifying progress and obstacles to achieving it and addressing emerging challenges. Read more

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Experts warn against trans-bounder animal diseases

Veterinary experts from East Africa and Horn of Africa at a three-day meeting in Kigali, last week discussed the cause of animal diseases, just as they cautioned over Trans-bounder animal Diseases (TADs).

According to AllAfrica, the experts said TAD could lead to food insecurity in the region.

They warned that if no serious action is taken to avert the transmission while seeking a common approach towards the prevention of animal diseases across borders to ensure food security.

Director-General, Rwanda Animal Resources Development (RARDA), Dr. Christine Kanyandekwe, affirmed the tendency of TAD, pointing out that it was imperative for regional countries to develop such an approach.

"We have seen animals dying of these diseases in various parts of Africa. We should not therefore sit as our animals die. We need to draw a roadmap to prevent these diseases," she said. Read more

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UNEP says forest protection to create 5m jobs

A new report from the United Nations’ Environment Programme (UNEP) has shown that spending about N6.24 trillion, just 0.034 per cent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually in forest protection would create estimated 5 million jobs worldwide.

The Citizen reports that such investment would allow forests to absorb 28 per cent more carbon from the atmosphere.

UNEP further said in the report that the proposed investment would lead to about 140 per cent rise in the number of new trees to be planted and increase employment in the forest sector, which currently at 25 million to 30 million by the middle of the century.

Additionally, the report stated that public and private sectors could be sourced for finance using strategies that pay landowners for maintaining the ecosystems.

With a drop in the annual net forest since 1990 from about eight million hectares to about five million hectares, it is reported that the amount of forested areas has actually increased over those 20 years in some regions of Asia, the Caribbean and Europe. Read more

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ALTGP supports ecology with N775m

The newly established Canadian-based Alberta Land Trust Grant Programme (ALTGP) has set aside the sum of $5million, about N775m to preserve ecologically significant lands through conservation easements, reports Alberts.

According to Kel Knight, the Minister of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, this step was due to the growing population with its significant effects on landscape.

Knight also said there is need to have representative samples of biodiversity and landscape under protection for generations to come.

Chairman, Alberta Land Trust Alliance, Grant Pearsell, said the land trusts needed the support for quite a long time, especially following the dry up of charitable caused by the 2008 recession.

Created in 2010, ALTGP, has not been funded until now but offers registered land to registered land trust organizations upto the tune of $1 in grants for every $2 they collect to protect lands through conservation easements. Read More

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Cocoa affected by economic crisis - ICCO

Yinka Awosanya

The London-based International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) has said that the economic crisis of 2008 and 2009 affected the cocoa industry.

ICCO in its annual report 2008/2009 made available to NaijaAgroNet revealed that Cocoa grinding within the year under review was affected by the global economic crisis, although the year was a good year for cocoa farmers and the cocoa exporting nations.

The annual report showed that despite the 6.6 per cent estimated global decline of cocoa grinding, Asia and Oceania had the hardest hit in cocoa grinding upon having a decline of 20 per cent in the two regions.

The effect of the crisis has a limited effect on chocolate production and consumption with price development remaining positive.

Confirming this, the chairman of ICCO, Dr. Victor Iyama, noted with the expiration of the current International Cocoa Agreement of 2001 in 2012, also gave high priority to the preparation of a future International Cocoa Agreement since signature and ratification of concerned nations takes time. Read more

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African crop to decline by 2050

The Inter-Governmental Panel (IGP) on climate change has predicted that Africa crop yields would fall by 50 per cent between now and year 2050, reports AllAfrica.

According to a research the risk of future climate change is very high on the continent, while its impact on agriculture, ecosystems and livelihoods would be catastrophic.

The most severe impact, the panel disclosed would be felt in Africa.

Some of the impact, the panel noted is evident in Somalia where a combination of drought, hunger and conflict have given birth to famine, the worst in more than half a century. Read more

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