Water experts from different countries across the globe are rooting for the partnership approach in solving problems related to the vital resource.
Anders Berntell, the 2030 WRG Executive Director
The call comes as the water professional and authorities from Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Mexico, Mongolia, Peru, Tanzania meet in South Africa for a week-long knowledge exchange organised by the 2030 Water Resource Group (2030 WRG), a global public-private-civil society partnership based in Washington USA in collaboration with Stockholm International Water Institute and the Water and Sanitation Department of South Africa.
Addressing the close to 100 participants at Sheraton Pretoria Hotel, Anders Berntell, the 2030 WRG Executive Director stressed that partnerships based on collaboration and teamwork would provide more consistent, co-ordinated and comprehensive solution to the water resource problems.
Such partnerships could be between individuals, private sector, agencies, organisations and governments. And, according to water experts attending this meeting, this would help to solve problems like: water scarcity, aquifer depletion, corruption in the water sector, water overuse, pollution and changes in water availability, among others.
One of the countries that have benefited from this approach is Kenya, a nation facing a 30 per cent deficit between the water resources and demand, according to water experts.
In an exclusive chat with WaterSan Perspective at the meeting, Kimanthi Kyengo, the Kenya’s Deputy Director in charge of Water Services, said such an approach is a practical solution to Kenya’s water problems.
“It is one of the solutions that is potentially beneficial to Kenya. It brings ideas, expertise and resources in the water sector,” he stated.
Tanzanian delegation. Christopher Sayi, the chairperson of National Water Board for Tanzania, standing
To make this approach work, Kimanthi noted Kenya has “developed concepts on how it would benefit the economy, the environment and the citizens; sensitised all the stakeholders about the process and is now in the process of recruiting stakeholders to come together to look for solutions.”
Similarly, this approach has worked in Tanzania. Christopher Sayi, the chairperson of National Water Board for Tanzania, said it is helping to make sure all stakeholders especially the private sector know their roles in conserving the water resource.
“That is why we are encouraging these partnerships so that they (private sector) can also contribute in terms of technology and also contribute towards financing the management of water resources in the country.”
Earlier, while speaking during the opening session, Anton Earle, the Director of Africa regional centre for the Swedish International Water Institute, gave an example of partnership between governments, citing the South African government which is partnering with that of Lesotho to import water to Pretoria, some 400 kilometres away, following high rains in Lesotho.
“As President of the COP, I need your support to help me succeed this new mission, especially the great project that African Presidents decided during the COP 21, that of Africa to renewable energy.”
Ségolène Royal, President of COP21
Those were the words of Ségolène Royal, President of COP21, at a gathering on Friday (February 26, 2016) in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Royale, who recently replaced Laurent Fabius, the French Minister of Environment, Energy and Marine, was in the Ivorian capital apparently to gather the support of President Ouattara Alasane towards the realisation of Africa’s transition to renewable energy, two months ahead of the planned formal signing of the Paris Agreement in New York. She was hosted at the Presidential Palace.
In the company of the Ivorian Environment Minister, Rémi Allah-Kouadio, Ms. Royal on Friday also visited Abidjan Banco National Park, saying: “I came here to learn, to listen, how to be most useful to relay projects, hopes, expectations of all that was agreed at COP 21.”
The duo was accompanied by the Ambassador of France in Côte d’Ivoire, Georges Serre, and the Ivorian Minister for Urban Safety and Sanitation, Anne Desiree Oulotto.
Allah-Kouadio said he was pleased with the visit of the French Minister, as well as the Banco National Park, the green lung and ecological sanctuary that extends over 3,474 hectares in the heart of Abidjan.
Earlier on Thursday in Abidjan, at the Residence of the Ambassador of France in Cocody, a high-level panel gathered to discuss “The issue of climate change in a post prospects COP 21 in Paris and report to Africa.”
Co-hosted by Royal and Allah-Kouadio, the panel helped to take stock of COP21 and explored prospects for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The panel comprised officials of French and other embassies, representatives of international and public institutions, corporate organisations and the civil society.
Royal said: “My mission as President of COP21 is to effectively implement the Paris Agreement through its ratification. This ratification will enable all the signatory countries to integrate this Agreement to all national laws, thus enabling these countries to implement operational action by 2020 to maintain global temperature, below 1.5 degrees Celsius.”
David Wohary of AFHON Côte d’Ivoire, an NGO, remarked: “We are pleased that civil society was involved in this visit. Our biggest regret remains that the position of the State of Côte d’Ivoire has not changed regarding the law on renewable energies and above all the willingness to invest in the coal industry.”
The Cross River State Government (CRSG) has been asked to halt the bulldozers destroying farms at Etara/Eyeyen and are continuing towards Ekuri and Okuni forests/communities, preparatory to the construction of a highway.
Map showing the southern section of the proposed highway
According to the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), the authorities should reroute the Super Highway along a less damaging path and away from community forests and the National Park.
“The government should comply with the laws of the land by conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), other relevant assessments and consultations as enshrined in ILO Article 169,” submitted HOMEF in a statement endorsed by Cadmus Atake, its Project Officer, and made available to EnviroNews on Monday.
The Benin City, Edo State-based organisation stated that some of the best preserved rain forests in Nigeria are the Cross River National Park and the Ekuri Community Forest, which are both under serious threat of being destroyed to make way for a Super Highway that it believes can easily be re-routed to preserve neighbouring communities as well as enormous biodiversity including rare and endangered species.
The 260km Super Highway is planned to lead from a proposed deep sea port at Esighi in Bakassi Local Government Area, run through the Cross River National Park and up to Katsina Ala in Benue State, Nigeria, at a cost of N700 billion or about $3.5 billion.
With a dramatic and outrageous appropriation of a massive 20.4-kilometre-wide track over 260km length, the Super Highway is a project of monstrous and needless proportions, observed HOMEF.
Northern section of the proposed highway
A Public Notice of Revocation signed by the Commissioner for Lands and Urban Development and published in a local newspaper, Weekend Chronicle, on 22nd January 2016 decreed, among other things, that: “All rights of occupancy existing or deemed to exist on all that piece of land or parcel of land lying and situate along the Super Highway from Esighi, Bakassi Local Government Government Area to Bekwarra Local Government Area of Cross River State covering a distance of 260km approximately and having an offset of 200m on either side of the centre line of the road and further 10km after the span of the Super Highway, excluding Government Reserves and public institutions are hereby revoked for overriding public purpose absolutely.”
But HOMEF insists that “this is clearly unacceptable under any kind of highway design.”
In a petition to the Governor of Cross River State, dated 13th February 2016, the Chiefs and people of Okokori Village of Obubra Local Government Area saw the revocation of the right to their lands including settlements, farmlands and community forest as a calculated attempt to extinguish them as a people.
They concluded: “Since the revocation of all our lands for a Super Highway have damning consequences on us and our environment, we are compelled not to welcome this project as the ulterior motive of your government is to grab our lands and make us worthless, ignoring the fact we voted overwhelmingly for you to better our lot but not to punish us unjustifiably.”
In an earlier petition dated 7th February and addressed to the Governor, the Ekuri Traditional Rulers Council stated: “The right of way for the Super Highway measuring 400 metres wide (200m on each side of the road from the centre line), being the width of four standard football fields, is too large and wil destroy our forest and farms that we have laboured to conserve and cultivate crops…The further 10km on either side of the Super Highway from the 200 metres ends totalling 20km width is appalling, meaning that the whole of our Ekuri community forest totalling 33,600 hectares, all our farms and community settlements would have been revoked leaving us landless.”
Firmly rejecting the routing of the Super Highway through their forest, the Ekuri Chiefs added that “Our forest is our wealth and the beacon of our hopes and aspirations.”
Many things are wrong with this planned routing of the Super Highway, declares Nnimmo Bassey, Director of HOMEF, adding that, if allowed to proceed along the path that has been planned, it would destroy the aforementioned forests and equally impact other forests and communities.
“We find it unacceptable that a project of this magnitude is pursued without regard to the law and in defiance of the rights of communities,” he said, adding: “Although the President conducted a ceremonial ground breaking exercise on 30th October 2015, that cannot be construed to mean an approval for the project to proceed without meeting the requirements of the law, particularly that of Environmental Impact Assessment. Moreover, as required by law, an EIA cannot be claimed to have been conducted if there are no consultations with citizens that would be impacted by the project.”
Observers think the project may be a cover for land grabbing, illegal logging and poaching and the destruction of habitats in the forests and reserves that are protected by law and preserved by custom. They question why a project of this nature would reportedly enjoy contributions from Nigerian banks without requisite preliminary surveys, plans and approvals.
The affected communities stressed that “besides the fact that the proposed route was going to cause untold damage to the globally important park, it also demonstrated that the route had been selected without looking at a contour map, let alone having an engineering survey.”
Chief Edwin Ogar of Ekuri community said: “The destruction of Ekuri and other community forests because of the revocation for a super highway will aggravate climate change crisis with dire consequences on humanity in general particularly among the poor.”
A growing number of pollinator species worldwide are being driven toward extinction by diverse pressures, many of them human-made, threatening millions of livelihoods and hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of food supplies, according to the first global assessment of pollinators.
Bee pollination
Pollinationis needed for plants to reproduce, and so many plants depend onbeesor other insects aspollinators.
However, the assessment, a two-year study conducted and released last week by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), also highlights a number of ways to effectively safeguard pollinator populations.
The assessment, titled Thematic Assessment of Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production and the first ever issued by IPBES, is a groundbreaking effort to better understand and manage a critical element of the global ecosystem. It is also the first assessment of its kind based on the available knowledge from science as well as indigenous and local knowledge systems.
IPBES was founded four years ago with 124 member nations to form a crucial intersection between international scientific understanding and public policy making.
Pollinators are economically, socially and culturally important
“Pollinators are important contributors to world food production and nutritional security,” said Dr. Vera Lucia Imperatriz Fonseca, co-chair of the assessment and Senior Professor at University of São Paulo. “Their health is directly linked to our own well-being.”
There are more than 20,000 species of wild bees alone, plus many species of butterflies, flies, moths, wasps, beetles, birds, bats and other animals that contribute to pollination.
Pollinated crops include those that provide fruit, vegetables, seeds, nuts and oils. Many of these are important dietary sources of vitamins and minerals, without which the risks of malnutrition might be expected to increase. Several crops also represent an important source of income in developing countries from, for example, the production of coffee and cocoa.
“Without pollinators, many of us would no longer be able to enjoy coffee, chocolate and apples, among many other foods that are part of our daily lives,” said Dr Simon Potts, the other assessment co-chair and Professor of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, UK.
More than three-quarters of the world’s food crops rely at least in part on pollination by insects and other animals.
Between US$235 billion and US$577 billion worth of annual global food production relies on direct contributions by pollinators.
Chocolate, for example, is derived from cacao tree seed (annual world cocoa bean crop value, US$5.7 billion). Cecidomyiid and ceratopogonid midges are essential for its pollination.
The volume of agricultural production dependent on animal pollination has increased by 300 percent during the past 50 years, but pollinator-dependent crops show lower growth and stability in yield than crops that do not depend on pollinators.
Nearly 90 percent of all wild flowering plants depend at least to some extent on animal pollination.
In addition to food crops, pollinators contribute to crops that provide biofuels (e.g. canola and palm oils), fibers (e.g cotton), medicines, forage for livestock, and construction materials. Some species also provide materials such as beeswax for candles and musical instruments, and arts and crafts.
Pollinators, especially bees, have also played a role throughout human history as inspirations for art, music, religion and technology. Additionally, they improve quality of life, globally significant heritage sites and practices, symbols of identify, aesthetically significant landscapes. Sacred passages about bees occur in all major world religions.
Various factors affecting pollinators
The assessment found that an estimated 16 percent of vertebrate pollinators are threatened with global extinction – increasing to 30 percent for island species – with a trend toward more extinctions.
Although most insect pollinators have not been assessed at a global level, regional and national assessments indicate high levels of threat, particularly for bees and butterflies – with often more than 40 percent of invertebrate species threatened locally.
“Wild pollinators in certain regions, especially bees and butterflies, are being threatened by a variety of factors,” said IPBES Chair, Sir Robert Watson. “Their decline is primarily due to changes in land use, intensive agricultural practices and pesticide use, alien invasive species, diseases and pests, and climate change.”
Declines in regional wild pollinators have been confirmed for North Western Europe and in North America. Although local cases of decline have been documented in other parts of the world, data are too sparse to draw broad conclusions.
The assessment found that pesticides, including neonicotinoid insecticides, threaten pollinators worldwide, although the long-term effects are still unknown. A pioneering study conducted in farm fields showed that one neonicotinoid insecticide had a negative effect on wild bees, but the effect on managed honeybees was less clear.
“While gaps remain in our knowledge of pollinators, we have more than enough evidence to act,” Prof. Imperatriz Fonseca said.
Pests and diseases pose a special threat to managed bees, but the risk can be reduced through better disease detection and management, and regulations relating to trade and movement of bees.
Genetically modified crops are usually either tolerant to herbicides or resistant to pest insects. The former reduces the availability of weeds, which supply food for pollinators. The latter often results in lower use of insecticides and may reduce pressure on beneficial insects including pollinators. However, the sub-lethal and indirect effects of GM crops on pollinators are poorly understood and not usually accounted for in risk assessments.
Pollinators are also threatened by the decline of practices based on indigenous and local knowledge. These practices include traditional farming systems; maintenance of diverse landscapes and gardens; kinship relationships that protect specific pollinators; and cultures and languages that are connected to pollinators.
Numerous options exist to safeguard pollinators
“The good news is that a number of steps can be taken to reduce the risks to pollinators, including practices based on indigenous and local knowledge,” said Zakri Abdul Hamid, the immediate past Chair of IPBES.
The safeguards include the promotion of sustainable agriculture, which helps diversify the agricultural landscape and makes use of ecological processes as part of food production.
Specific options include:
Maintaining or creating greater diversity of pollinator habitats in agricultural and urban landscapes;
Supporting traditional practices that manage habitat patchiness, crop rotation, and coproduction between science and indigenous local knowledge;
Education and exchange of knowledge among farmers, scientists, industry, communities, and the general public;
Decreasing exposure of pollinators to pesticides by reducing their usage, seeking alternative forms of pest control, and adopting a range of specific application practices, including technologies to reduce pesticide drift; and,
Improving managed bee husbandry for pathogen control, coupled with better regulation of trade and use of commercial pollinators.
Additional findings
A high diversity of wild pollinators contributes to increased stability in pollination, even when managed bees are present in high numbers.
Crop yields depend on both wild and managed species.
The western honey bee is the most widespread managed pollinator in the world, producing an estimated 1.6 million tonnes of honey annually.
The number of bee hives has increased globally over the past 50 years, but a decrease in hives has occurred in many European and North American countries.
Climate change has led to changes in the distribution of many pollinating bumblebees and butterflies and the plants that depend upon them.
The IPBES assessment has critically evaluated an enormous body of knowledge on pollinators, pollination and food production to ensure decision makers have access to the highest quality information. The assessment was compiled by a team of 77 experts from all over the world. The assessment cites approximately 3,000 scientific papers and includes information about practices based on indigenous and local knowledge from more than 60 locations around the world.
The assessment underwent two rounds of peer review involving experts and governments.
Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), said: “The growing threat to pollinators, which play an important role in food security, provides another compelling example of how connected people are to our environment, and how deeply entwined our fate is with that of the natural world. As we work toward food security, it is important to approach the challenge with a consideration of the environmental impacts that drive the issue. Sustainable development, including improving food security for the world’s population, necessitates an approach that embraces the environment.”
Irina Bokova, Director General, UNESCO, stated: “In the context of the IPBES report on pollinators, pollination and food production, for the first time, science and indigenous knowledge have been brought together to assess an important biodiversity-dependent service – pollination – in support of food security and its contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UNESCO is pleased to have contributed directly to this effort.”
José Graziano da Silva, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), submitted: “Pollination services are an ‘agricultural input’ that ensure the production of crops. All farmers, especially family farmers and smallholders around the world, benefit from these services. Improving pollinator density and diversity has a direct positive impact on crop yields, consequently promoting food and nutrition security. Hence, enhancing pollinator services is important for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as for helping family farmers’ adaptation to climate change.”
Nik Sekhran, Director/Chief of Profession, Sustainable Development, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), noted: “The complex and integrated development challenges we face today demand that decision-making is based on sound science and takes into account indigenous and local knowledge. Embracing science in areas such as pollination will contribute to better informed policy choices that will protect ecosystem services important for both food security and poverty eradication. UNDP is proactively contributing to promoting dialogue between scientists, policy-makers and practitioners on this and related topics, supporting countries in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
The launch of an ambitious new three-year scientific assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services was announced in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, on Sunday (February 28, 2016) at the close of a week-long meeting of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
Sir Robert Watson, the organisation’s former Vice-Chair and the former Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was elected Chair of IPBES by acclamation
Similar to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), IPBES is an independent intergovernmental body for assessing the state of the planet’s biodiversity, its ecosystems and the essential services they provide to society. IPBES is open to all member countries of the United Nations and currently has over 124 members.
The new global assessment, for completion by 2019, will measure progress towards meeting commitments under the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity of the United Nation’s Convention on Biological Diversity (the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, 2011-2020) and the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, agreed to by 193 UN member nations in September 2015.
IPBES also announced the completion of an assessment of scenarios and models that provide a new approach for helping policy makers evaluate the impacts of their decisions related to biodiversity and ecosystems services protection.
The report, titled The Methodological Assessment of Scenarios and Models of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, was adopted on Sunday by representatives of IPBES’s 124 member nations.
The report describes how scenarios and models can help decision makers evaluate the future impacts of today’s policies or management decisions. Examples include the use of scenarios and models to sustainably manage fisheries or to carry out land use planning that balances needs for development and biodiversity protection.
“The scenarios and models assessment is the starting gun for mobilising scientists, decision makers and other stakeholders to jointly embark on an ambitious, global effort to better understand and use scientific information about biodiversity and ecosystem services,” said Dr Karachepone Ninan, IPBES Co-Chair of the scenarios and models assessment and Chairperson of the Centre for Economics, Environment and Society in Bangalore, India.
The scenarios and models will help make better use of the IPBES regional and global assessments, including the new one about to be undertaken. The assessment was conducted by 83 experts and cited more than 3,000 scientific papers and, in two rounds of peer review, received 4,066 comments from 230 independent reviewers.
“IPBES’s goal is to give policymakers and all of society a more complete understanding of how people and nature interact, and how policy and management decisions made today might affect these interactions in the future,” said Dr Simon Ferrier, the scenarios and models assessment’s other Co-Chair and Senior Principal Research Scientist with CSIRO, Australia’s National Science Agency.
The new biodiversity and ecosystem services assessment will be overseen by a new IPBES Bureau that was elected on Sunday by the organisation’s member nations meeting in Kuala Lumpur at the IPBES 4th annual plenary, (IPBES-4).
Zakri Abdul Hamid, the immediate past Chair of IPBES
Sir Robert Watson, the organisation’s former Vice-Chair and the former Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was elected Chair of IPBES by acclamation. Dr. Watson serves as Director of Strategic Development at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of East Anglia.
He succeeds Zakri Abdul Hamid, who led IPBES from its inauguration in 2012. Prof. Zakri is a renowned expert in science diplomacy. He currently serves as Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia, is one of 24 members of the UN Secretary General’s Scientific Advisory Board, and co-Chairs the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT).
Said Prof. Zakri: “The release of two outstanding assessment reports at IPBES-4, including Friday’s landmark report on pollinators, marks the emergence of the organization as a major global voice for biodiversity and ecosystem services. I am honoured to have chaired the meetings of IPBES over these first few years. I wish my friend and successor Bob Watson and all IPBES stakeholders continuing success in this work so vital to humanity and to all the species with which we share the Earth.”
Dr. Watson, addressing the Plenary, said: “It is an honor to have been elected the second chair of the IPBES, and in particular to have been chosen to succeed Dr. Zakri, who has so ably led the IPBES through its early and formative stages. He is a gentleman, a world-renowned scientist, a statesman, and a man with incredible integrity who has worked at the forefront of the science-policy interface.”
New IPBES Vice Chairs are: Alfred Oteng Yeboah (Ghana), Asghar Mohammedi Fazel (Islamic Republic of Iran), Senka Barudanovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Spencer Thomas (Grenada).
The new IPBES Bureau Members include: Fundisile Goodman Mketeni (South Africa), Youngbae Suh (Republic of Korea), Rashad Allahverdiyev (Azerbaijan), Diego Pacheco Balanza (Bolivia) and Ivar Baste (Norway).
Reactions from supporting organisations have however trailed the development.
Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP): “Early outputs of IPBES have demonstrated the unique value of this Platform. Proceeding with an updated global assessment through IPBES will help ensure that we have the best available knowledge to inform our collective efforts toward achieving the Global Goals for Sustainable Development.”
Irina Bokova, Director General, United Nations Scientific and Development Organisation (UNESCO): “Scenarios are important tools for sound management based on societal choices. UNESCO supports the use of scenarios, especially participatory scenarios, to inform decision-making on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Co-production of knowledge using diverse participatory approaches and involving a diversity of stakeholders is key to such choices and decisions.”
José Maria Graziano, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO): “FAO’s assessments including the State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture to be launched next year will be an important and timely contribution to the IPBES global assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services. FAO welcomes the collaboration of the different sectors and stakeholders in the areas of environment and agriculture on global assessments, such as the IPBES assessment of biodiversity and ecosystem services.”
Nik Sekhran, Director/Chief of Profession, Sustainable Development, Bureau for Policy and Programme Support, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP): “Decision-making based on sound science and taking into account traditional knowledge is critical for maintaining and enhancing the goods and services that our ecosystems provide. These two IPBES assessments present new opportunities for integrated and informed approaches to development solutions in implementing Agenda 2030. This is particularly significant to UNDP as we commemorate our 50th anniversary, and are looking toward the future of people and planet.”
According to IPBES, its assessments provide policymakers with scientifically credible and independent information with which to make informed decisions about how to protect biodiversity and ecosystem services. It adds that the assessments also put forth methods to interpret the findings and reflect the complex relationships between biodiversity, ecosystem services, and people. Although IPBES assessments lay out various policy options, they do not make policy recommendations.
IPBES assessments are conducted by leading experts who synthesise, review, assess and critically evaluate relevant information and knowledge generated worldwide by governments, academia, scientific organisations, non-governmental organisations and indigenous and local communities.
IPBES experts, who belong to organisations, institutions and the private sector from around the world, volunteer their time for these assessments. They are selected based on nominations from governments and interested organisations. There are currently about 1,000 experts contributing, from all regions of the world, to the work of IPBES.
Sir Rufus Ebegba, the director-general and chief executive officer of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NABMA), at a meeting held in Abuja to review two applications submitted for the release of genetically-modified (GM) cotton and maize, said Nigerians should prepare to see more GM products in the market to serve as alternative to consumers’ choice. In this interview with Etta Michael Bisong, the agriculturist and environmental biologist spoke on the benefits of adopting safe biotechnology practice to Nigeria’s national development goal.
Director-General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NABMA), Mr. Rufus Ebegba
What are the two GMOs applications about?
We have two biosafety applications which we are reviewing to ensure that the products are safe for human consumption and to environment. These applications are submitted by Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited. The first one is to register the gene of cotton that has been genetically modified to resist against a pest, while the other is maize that is encoded with two genes for confined field trail – herbicide-tolerant and insect-resistant.
So, the essence of this meeting is to inaugurate the National Biosafety Committee (NBC) in addition to the existing National Biosafety Technical Committee (NBTC) to check the hereditary materials that have been put into the maize and cotton to ensure that they do not cause any allergy to man or animal as well as negative environmental impact. The committees are working and expected to conclude soon.
Already, there are publications in three national dailies informing members of the public of these applications in accordance with the Act establishing the agency. We have done these publications and expect comments or responses within 21 working days either by writing or visit to the agency. We have also deposited these applications and necessary documents at two other locations in addition to our office (NABMA). We have one at the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Zaria and the other at the National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA). The essence is for those within the areas of means to be able to access and review these applications.
How is Nigeria expected to benefit from this?
What this means is that now that we have a law and an agency to implement this law, it means Nigerians should be expecting new products in addition to others we already have in the market for consumers’ choice. Nigerians should be expecting biotechnology products that definitely will be certified safe before any release. And the farmers should also be expecting better harvests, healthy seeds, more income for their labour and inputs into agricultural activities. Apart from that the farmers can also produce enough for export and through these processes jobs are created, as well as revenue generated through payment of permit fees to enhance economic growth.
Aside maize and cotton, what other crop is Nigeria expecting to release soon?
There is another crop that may likely come up very soon and that is the Bt cowpea modified to resist a pest known as maruca which has being on experimental field trail since 2009. The institution that was given the permit is doing multi locational trail across various regions of the country to ascertain the performance of the product.
What is your position on media’s role and various campaigns in Europe against GMOs?
The media is the voice of the nation; it is a means to ensure social equity and ensure that our nation is brought to the public so that everyone is aware.
I want the public to know that there are attempts by some individuals to cause unnecessary panic over matters surrounding genetically modified organisms (GMOs). GMOs are not synthetic or manufactured materials; it’s the swap of gene to achieve particular aim.
Europe should not be used as model for the adoption of biotechnology or GMOs. Europe is a self satisfied continent; we shall adopt technologies that are safe for Africa and our nation. Nigeria as a country has planned its programmes and will not be panicked, dissuaded or misled to abandon a safe technology like modern biotechnology. The establishment of the NABMA is not in error, it’s an attempt for Nigeria to diversify the economy and broaden the scope of our national development under a safe technology practice. The agency has come to give Nigerians hope that the adoption of modern biotechnology will be done in safe manner.
And I want to urge the media that it is not everything that is sensational that should be printed or reported. Journalists should not make themselves available for information that is not good for the nation because if misinformation is not published, it will not circulate. Your conscience is where God lays and you will be an accomplice if you join those that don’t want to make Nigerians prosper. Nigeria will adopt modern biotechnology that is safe for our national development.
I have said it severally that a safe biotechnology practice under a legal framework has ability to generate minimum of 25,000 jobs annually. Nigeria is a country with diverse activities and if oil is failing us we must move to other sectors that can help our nation grow. Posterity will not forgive journalists if they connive with those who carry out misinformation, distortion of facts that are not scientific base and dissuade Nigerians from benefiting maximally from this technology. America, Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, Burkina Faso are among countries that have prospered from this technology. We will take what is good about the technology and abandon what is not good.
You must take note that GMOs are not meant to be imported into the country alone; Nigeria scientists have the competence and opportunity to develop varieties that are meaningful to our environment. One thing you must know again when we talk about GMOs is that it is not for food alone, it’s also for environmental sustainability and avenue to move the economy round mostly now that the world is on edge. If our conventional methods of doing things are failing us, we must move for advanced methods of doing that.
Europe is not the best model for Nigeria. Nobody should quote Europe in the adoption of genetic engineering. Go to Europe 60 per cent of their products are GMOs and they have the capacity to diversify their economy beyond Nigeria. How many countries in Europe are producing oil? How do they survive? Ask yourself these questions. We will not listen to those countries that have failed to adopt technologies that have moved on and want to continue with obsolete technologies and try to delay others until they meet up.
I want to assure you that the NABMA has what it takes to ensure that any product that is derived from modern biotechnology is safe before any release into the market.
What is your advice to Nigerians regarding the adoption of this technology?
Nigerians should trust the judgement of the NABMA; the Federal Government is doing everything possible to diversify the economy and everybody must support the government to achieve this for better today and future Nigeria.
The Ogun State Government has solicited the support of stakeholders in the state’s forestry sector to join its efforts in curbing illegal felling of trees in government owned forest reserves in order to enhance its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
Illegal logging
Commissioner for Forestry, Kolawole Lawal, gave the charge while addressing the Timber Contractors Association, Ogun Waterside Chapter, during a working visit to Divisional Forestry Office, Abigi in Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of the state.
Lawal said that the state’s IGR was very crucial for its development and growth, saying that all ongoing developmental projects are being majorly financed with tax payers’ money.
“It is very pertinent to work together in order to achieve our aims and objectives in boosting the state’s IGR as we are all aware of the dwindling allocation from the Federation Account, therefore all hands must be on deck to achieve this,” he said.
The Commissioner disclosed that the theme of this year’s budget tagged ‘’Budget of Optimisation’’ was aimed at maximising available resources in order to get good results and, in line with this, he charged the stakeholders to carry out their duties in the forest reserves with utmost sense of responsibility.
He urged all stakeholders involved in the forestry sector to join hand in glove with the government in total eradication of illegal felling of trees in the state owned forest reserves, explaining that it makes government lose money through illegal activities in the forest reserves, and negatively impacting the IGR.
Responding, Monitoring Unit Officer, Marine Section, Olameto Gabriel, assured government of section’s unalloyed support to curb illegal acts in the forest reserves, adding that they would act according to the rules and regulations guiding forestry operations in the state.
He affirmed the readiness of timber contractors in the state to collaborate with government in achieving its aims and objectives, especially in the area of boosting the IGR to further provide more developmental projects for the people of the state.
A non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Abuja, Connected Development (CODE), has listed drawbacks being experienced by a project aimed at curbing desertification in Nigeria and neighbouring countries. The group however unfolded measures it hopes to undertake to realise the scheme’s potential.
Officials of CODE, Follow The Money, as well as the DG and senior staff members of the NAGGW after the advocacy visit/meeting
The Great Green Wall (GGW) scheme brings together Nigeria and several other countries to grow a wall of trees across the continent to literally hold back the Sahara Desert – albeit with a swathe of greenery that will lessen the effects of desertification and improve the quality of life and livelihoods of communities.
CODE’s Chief Executive, Hamzat Lawal, during a recent visit to the offices of the National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW), disclosed that a team of officials of “Follow The Money” – an initiative being implemented by CODE – visited communities in the northern states of Kebbi, Kano and Jigawa in order to ascertain what was obtainable on the ground.
Lawal, who told the Director General of the NAGGW, Goni Ahmed, that the purpose of CODE’s visit to the agency was to discuss the framework of implementation of the GGW project, said: “We visited Bachaka in Kebbi State, Kadandanni in Kano State and Jeke in Jigawa State. All three communities had water challenges, nurseries are dying and this is because either the boreholes are broken, not functioning properly or some parts were missing.”
He further stated that all three communities were quite enthusiastic about the project and the traditional leaders supportive of the project as well. He acknowledged that all the shelterbelts were faring well in all three communities. However, it was observed that all the communities suffered from a high rate of poverty and lacked access to water.
Replying, Ahmed said the office was initially a project implementation unit under the Federal Ministry of Environment before it was formally established as an agency in May 2015, adding that the idea was for it to be a community based agency. According to him, himself and his team started with 92 communities and are currently in 138 communities.
“The communities are the sole beneficiaries of the GGW project, so they have to be involved,” stressed Goni, even as he underlined the importance of having the state governments support the project and provide land as well as funding from their Ecological Fund allocations.
His words: “For example, the Governor of Katsina State assisted the project by giving a directive that GGW should be provided with land.
“The agency identified all the communities they are working in are having high rate of poverty and lack access to water. The idea behind the windmill and solar powered boreholes is because the communities cannot sustain a borehole powered by generator or electricity due to the power challenges in the country.
“The agency is new and we are learning from our mistakes and making amends. We are committing to ensure all three communities as you have reported are budgeted in our plan and water provided within the shortest period of time and we would improve security around the boreholes as we are now putting up lights in all locations.”
The DG further stated that the agency is still in the process of setting up its bank accounts, but that because of the TSA, the process is slow. But he is confident that, by next month (March), the agency would be up and running.
“We promise to be open, transparent and accountable to every kobo received on behalf of the NAGGW. I run an open door policy and would appreciate if you engage us more and do feel free anytime to call on me or visit the office for any information at all on our activities,” he told the visiting CODE team.
Lawal stated: “CODE hopes to work with the agency to hold town-hall meetings with the communities as we are working to provide a platform for interaction between the locals and the agency in order to make the project succeed. To make the communities take ownership of the project, CODE is currently finalising plans with our media partners to air a programme on the GGW and also plans to establish a community radio as well, so that the communities can be reached and get enlightened on the GGW project.
“CODE is also planning to work with the GGW agency to have a stakeholders meeting in Abuja, where different key stakeholders will be invited to discuss how to make the GGW project succeed. Everyone is aware of the budget allocation but no one talks about the releases and constraint around the GGW.
“CODE is also hoping to have an expert meeting where CODE and NAGGW can pull resources together and bring someone from the international community for a one- or two-day workshop on Re-greening Nigeria and the NAGGW can take the lead on that. CODE has identified an expert who has worked on this issue around East and West Africa.
“Lastly, CODE is planning to build a tool in collaboration with NAGGW that will be an independent tracking system on the progress of the project, because CODE has discovered that nobody is talking about the achievements of the GGW project. The plan is to gather data using the tracking system and then use the data to inform both the communities and the general public, and most importantly policy makers, in terms of how we will be able to show the results and then advocate for more budget allocation for this intervention.
“We are hoping that your Agency will own this tracking system and commit to using it; where we can then commission state monitors independently who will send reports and feedbacks. We hope to engage the communities involved in the GGW to document their findings by sending reports via the Tracking system before engaging the larger society/stakeholders. The essence of this initiative is to create a feedback loop between the communities and the implementing government agencies.”
Expressing his appreciation towards CODE, Goni said the visit has reinvigorated his belief in the role of NGOs who, according to him, “play an important role in the society, and when a credible NGO goes out to put up a case, people will believe them more than the government.”
He disclosed that NAGGW is planning to convene a stakeholders meeting probably in March where the President, state governors and other government agencies will be invited to showcase the GGW project. “The plan is to outline the role and responsibility of every institution in respect to the GGW project, which was lauded in Paris during the COP 21 meeting, and Africa was seen to be taking charge of her own problems by herself,” said Ahmed.
In Nigeria, the GGW aims to address desertification, enhance natural resource management and promote ecosystem integrity in the dry-land in the Northern parts of the Country. The Nigerian Project stretches from Zamfara and Kebbi states in the North West corner along the northern border of Nigeria to the extreme eastern border in Borno State. Eleven States are involved in the project.
The GGW, an initiative spearheaded by African heads of state, will stretch about 7,000 from Senegal in the west to Djibouti in the east and will be about 15 Kilometres wide as it traverses the continent, passing through Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Sudan, Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The programme aims to support the efforts of local communities in the sustainable management and use of forests.
The National Immunisation Prevention Diseases (NIDPs) campaign has commenced in Lagos. The campaign is aimed at reaching 95% of children within the age of 0-59 months, notwithstanding their previous immunisation status.
Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Primary Health Care, Dr Olufemi Onanuga, said the children would be administered with the oral polio virus vaccine, which he described as safe and free.
The campaign is expected to last from Friday, February 27 to Tuesday, March 1, 2016. Organisations such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation (WHO) and Rotary International are partnering with the Lagos State Government.
This was how the campaign went at OtodoGbame community in Lekki, Lagos where over 25 children died from an infection in the last one month.
Immunisation set to beginSpreading the word…Bracing up for the task ahead…Meeting the people…
China will aim to close more than 1,000 coal mines over this year, with a total production capacity of 60 million tonnes, as part of its plans to tackle a price-sapping supply glut in the sector, the country’s energy regulator said.
A coal mine in China. Photo credit: bloomberg.com
China is the world’s top coal consumer but demand has been on the wane as economic growth slows and the country shifts away from fossil fuels in order to curb pollution.
In a notice posted on its website (www.nea.gov.cn) on Monday, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said the closures would form part of the plan released earlier this month to shut as much as 500 million tonnes of surplus production capacity within the next three to five years.
China has a total of 10,760 mines, and 5,600 of them will eventually be required to close under a policy banning those with an annual output capacity of less than 90,000 tonnes, the China National Coal Association has estimated.
China has promised to stop approving all new coal mine projects for three years in a bid to control capacity. The country produced 3.7 million tonnes coal last year and has an estimated capacity surplus of 2 billion tonnes per annum.
Last year, the supply overhang dragged down domestic coal prices by a third, but there has been some recovery this year with thermal coal at the port of Qinhuangdao up 2.7 percent at 380 yuan ($58.29) per tonne.
Apart from coal, China will also aim to tackle overcapacity in the thermal power sector this year by controlling new builds and cancelling projects in regions with the biggest capacity surpluses, the notice said, citing administration head Nur Bekri.
Utilisation rates in the power sector last year fell to their lowest since 1978, with demand failing to keep up with the rapid expansion in capacity.
As part of its power market reforms, China will further promote a scheme allowing suppliers to enter into direct power sales agreements with consumers, and also work to reduce power prices this year, it said.
