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Stockholm forum explores ways to build water partnerships

Michael Simire
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Stockholm forum explores ways to build water partnerships

Scientists, non-profit organisations and policymakers all over the world convene this week at the Stockholm International Water Institute in Sweden for this year’s World Water Week (WWW) to discuss new research and developments in water conservation – and most importantly, what needs to be done to ensure the protection of one of earth’s most valuable resources for future generations.

Stockholm, Sweden
Stockholm, Sweden

In line with the U.N. General Assembly’s declaration of 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation, the WWW 2013 theme is Water Cooperation: Building Partnerships.

According to a recent estimate by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) for Water Supply and Sanitation, 768 million people do not have access to clean water, and two and a half billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation facilities. Contaminated water plays a significant role in malnutrition – vomiting and diarrhoea caused by water-borne diseases prevent the absorption of key nutrients in food, and are responsible for the deaths of approximately 1.3 million children every year.

Meanwhile, crops that are nourished with contaminated water can carry dangerous pollutants, such mercury and arsenic, which can inhibit crop growth and potentially sicken people who consume the crops. Unfortunately, agriculture is not only a primary contributor to global water use – approximately 70 percent of the world’s water use is concentrated in farming – but also to water contamination. U.N. Water estimates that the food sector contributes 40 percent of organic water pollutants in industrialised countries, and 54 percent in developing countries. And the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition reports that if everyone in the world had the same consumption habits as North Americans and Europeans, a 75 percent increase in water resources would be necessary to sustain them.

During the WWW, Food Tank will also highlight research and innovations that are working around the world to conserve water resources and make clean water available to everyone.

But most importantly, these should serve as inspiration for cooperation. Research institutions, private businesses, governments, and the donor community can all work together to:

  • research simple innovations for providing clean water to households. There are already several low-cost, simple innovations that are available to households in areas with limited access to clean water.

For example, SODIS is a method of solar water purification by which untreated water is placed in transparent bottles and heated and disinfected by UV rays. Charcoal filters and biosand filters can also remove impurities and pathogens from water. The organisation ECHO is training development workers to construct low-cost biosand filtration systems. However, further research and funding needs to be directed toward similar methods for at-home water purification.

  • Build infrastructure for communities. Giving communities the means to access water for personal consumption and for agriculture is a crucial step in global development. In Niger, theInternational Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) has constructed solar drip irrigation systems for market gardens. Their model has been replicated by other organizations, such as the Solar Electric Light Fund (SELF), which implemented a similar system in a women’s farming cooperative in Benin. Drilled wells, although expensive to implement, are useful in helping communities access underground aquifers. Governments and nonprofits, such as The Water Project, primarily fund construction of this infrastructure, but there are also opportunities for the private sector to contribute. For example, People Water is a for-profit company, and its Drop for Drop program puts money from bottled water sales toward building and maintaining drilled wells in Haiti, India, and other developing regions.
  • Mainstream organic agriculture. Chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and antibiotics in animal waste all contribute to water pollution, causing health problems for eaters and damaging the environment. Water runoff from land treated with chemicals can contaminate water supplies. By implementing organic fertilizers, agro-ecological pest-management methods, and raising livestock holistically and without antibiotics, farmers can prevent contamination of already scarce water supplies.
  • Implement low-resource farming practices. For centuries, farmers across the world have used traditional methods that conserve water. As population demands on agriculture increase, global agricultural water consumption is expected to increase by 19 percent by 2050, indicating a need to expand on water-conserving farming methods. Both new techniques – such as solar-powered drip irrigation methods in Benin – and old – such as zai, an effective form of rainwater harvesting in Burkina Faso, should serve to inform the future of farming.

Lome Convention devises climate, post-2015 MDGs agenda

Michael Simire
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Lome Convention devises climate, post-2015 MDGs agenda

Recently, representatives of civil society organisations (CSOs) from West African nations such as Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, The Gambia, Togo, Mali, Cote D’Ivoire, Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mauritania converged on Lome, Togo for the West Africa Regional civil society capacity building workshop on Climate Change and Post 2015 MDGs Sustainable Development Agenda organised by the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), in collaboration with the Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in West Africa (FECCIWA). The forum had “Climate Change and Post 2015 MDGs Sustainable Development Agenda” as its theme.

Lome, Togo
Lome, Togo

Participants at the two-day event observed in “Lome Convention” (a communique released at the close of the gathering) that the impacts of climate change have continued to exert considerable economic, social, political and cultural pressures on households, working families, the poor, rural and urban dwellers. The pressures are said to have a combined effect of reducing opportunities and potentials for attaining progress and prosperity in our communities.

They likewise noted that a wholly transformative development framework is required to fulfil the international commitments of the past and present which, they added, must be based on the principles of human rights, equity, social, economic, gender, climate and environmental justice, participation, accountability and non-discrimination.

While stressing that poverty and inequality are on the increase as a result of the people’s inability to effectively tackle the problems of climate change, they emphasised that certain developed countries are still not fully committed to the Kyoto Protocol.

They insisted that climate change is a human rights issue that cuts across all sectors and must be tackled through a holistic developmental approach. They described the continent’s technical, technological and financial capacities as being too weak to address climate change adaptation issues.

They frowned at the dominance of the private sector across development and its disregard for the principles of environmental sustainability and enforceable international accountability in line with human rights.

They also expressed concern over developed countries’ lack of commitment to reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, even as higher temperatures are being experienced and the impacts of climate change are being manifested in repeated cases of flooding, aggressive deforestation, desert encroachment, sand dune surge, drought and depletion of arable land.

The need for Africa to begin to focus on generating its own funds in order to finance climate change programmes and activities was underlined by the gathering, which laid emphasis on the importance of continuous training and information sharing so as to deepen the capacities, skills, knowledge and information of stakeholders around climate change issues. They affirmed the authority of the civil society and communities as the expression of the people’s sovereignity.

Consequently, they declared, climate justice and sustainable management of the planet’s resources must be at the centre of the Post 2015 development framework, adding that developed countries must continue to be held to commit and deliver on providing financial and technological resources to address mitigation and adaptation challenges in line with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.

They declared that the Beyond 2015 Sustainable Development Agenda should be underpinned by the principle of polluter pays, common but differentiated responsibilities with respective capabilities, equity and climate justice.

All countries, it was agreed, should make a contribution towards the achievement of a more sustainable world with actions based on levels of corruption, low carbon development pathways, abilities to adapt to the effect of climate change, as well as to reduce risks and respond to disasters.

Further, it was resolved that national non-state actors’ platforms on climate change should initiate and implement national action plans that would lead to effective participation and outcomes around Conference of the Parties – COP 19.

West African CSOs were asked to engage their governments to find alternatives to financing climate change such as the adoption of the Financial Transaction Tax (FTT) and taxes on luxury imported goods and services.

African governments, on their part, should increase their funding for climate change projects and activities, while CSOs should increase their efforts to monitor and track climate change budget provisions and performance. Additionally, the activists will monitor and participate effectively in the management and implementation of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), while researching into and exploring ways to achieve practicable sources of cheap and clean renewable energies.

The participants want alternative and sustainable agricultural methods made available to African farmers in order to address the crisis of food insecurity. They urged rural and urban folks to take advantage of the strengths and opportunities in new and emerging social media in order to address climate change challenges affecting the people.

Decision makers were asked to include global governance in the post 2015 development framework by institutionalising democratic participation and accountability to citizens at all levels. The need to give top priority to the promotion of women’s rights, gender equality and the empowerment of youth and vulnerable groups was underscored.

2012 flood: Nigeria adopts disaster recovery plan

Michael Simire
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2012 flood: Nigeria adopts disaster recovery plan

Nigerians are not in a hurry to forget the widespread flooding that ravaged a considerable part of the nation in 2012. The disaster was unprecedented in the country’s history. Despite warnings of heavy rains in 2013, the flooding of last year’s magnitude is however yet to manifest.

Coco
Coco

But it was enough to jolt the Federal Government from its reverie and into taking action towards addressing emergencies. The National Disaster Recovery Strategy/Framework and 2012 Flood Recovery Action Plan, as the document is christened, is being prepared in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Bank.

After the flooding, government, with support of World Bank/Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Reconstruction (GFDRR), United Nations Systems, European Union (EU) and other Development Partners conducted a Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) of 2012 flood disaster from November to December, 2012.

The scope of the PDNA included estimating the effects and impacts of the 2012 floods, estimating the financial requirements to overcome the impact of the disaster through a set of well-defined recovery and reconstruction with disaster- resilience features, and defining a strategy to reduce disaster risk that can be applied in the long term.

The final report of the PDNA was disseminated to all stakeholders, followed by a series of review stakeholders meetings in June 2013, where recommendations contained in the report were reviewed with a view to developing short-term recovery and reconstruction framework, and prioritised actions for future implementation.

As a follow-up to that engagement, stakeholders a week ago converged on Abuja, the federal capital city, to review and validate both the National Disaster Recovery Strategy and Framework and the Nigeria 2012 Floods Recovery Plan.

The UNDP Deputy Country Director in Nigeria, Bernardo Coco, at the forum said the Action Plan was developed with the support of UNDP “as part of a broader strategic response to addressing the broader challenges of disaster management in Nigeria, arising from the lessons learnt from the 2012 floods.”

According to him, UNDP’s partnership with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) predated the 2012 floods, stating that NEMA was supported in the institutional mapping of all ongoing efforts in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR), the Nigeria Disaster Risk Reduction Capacity Assessment, and development of a National Action Plan for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Vordzorgbe
Vordzorgbe

In direct response to the floods however, he said that aside from coordinating the UN systems inputs into the PDNA, it also supported the preliminary humanitarian assessment, undertook a community consultation and validation surveys in partnership with the six Nigerian universities centres for disaster management as a critical part of the human recovery needs assessment (HRNA).

“Consultations are also already ongoing on developing a DRR project, which will be implemented by NEMA,” he said, even as he commended the Director General of NEMA, Sani Sidi, “for his foresight and leadership which has resulted in the development of these strategic documents and to also assure him of UNDP’s continued support in their implementation, going forward.”

A UNDP consultant on the project, Professor Seth Vordzorgbe, noted that the time has come for Nigeria to look at how it can recover from emergencies, adding that the country has a strong framework in terms of policies and institutions, “some of which are not complete but are in the process of being completed, but they need to be operationalised and, one of the areas is how do we recover from disasters when they occur? So, the government requested the assistance of the UNDP to help to develop a recovery framework.”

Vordzorgbe, a Ghanaian, said his impression is that “the timing is good, the enthusiasm is there, the will of government is strong and the way we have a lot of participation from states and other stakeholders that their buying in to the process is strong as well. It bodes well for its implementation if the resources are there.”

Sidi
Sidi

Vordzorgbe said Nigeria is putting an appreciative system in place for response but that it needed to be activated more often and systematically at the various levels. “But the framework does exist. However, there is no concrete integrated framework and there is where the gap lies. This builds on the disaster response plan which was prepared in 2001, which itself needs to be revised because of its complex nature.”

On the timeframe needed to put the action in place, he said when the revalidation stage was over, it would be finalised and that the next step would be its formal approval. “I cannot give you a very definite timeline but there are other things being planned to move this process forward. One of these is that UNDP is developing a project with NEMA to finalise these frameworks, to rationalise them, and to also do a national preparedness framework.”

He said the framework being prepared was for recovery that is very modern “if you compare the countries of the world. This is the first of its kind in Africa and it is modelled on that of the US, the UK, New Zealand and so it is the state-of-the-arts. Even the United States FEMA did its recovery framework in 2011. So, this is the most recent but the question is operationalisation that is the will and the funding to make that happen.”

On funding, he said, “This is not a project at such but a framework that should guide action. So, depending on the disaster and the time it will take to recover. One of the elements in this framework is financing of disaster recovery.”

He said it was not about funding but financing of recovery because “funding limits itself to government funding but financing brings in all the options, including tax concessions, investment allowances. For example, in the last flood when businesses were destroyed in Anambra State and the rest, one of the things that could have been done is to say let’s give physical rebate as a way of giving the business owners come back on track. Perhaps their tax obligations for this year could be cut down, not necessarily waived, and given an extended time to meet them. So, we take a holistic approach to financing disaster management and not just funding.”

In financing flood disaster recovery, he said there is a role for everyone. “They were able to mobilise large sums of money in the Presidential task force. That is one good example and this is about the second time I have heard this was done. The first was in Kenya during the drought of 2011 where civil society and business interest came round to mobilise funding. The private sector here in Nigeria can actually do a lot more.”

Director General of NEMA, Sani Sidi, said the document is being prepared against the backdrop of 2012 unprecedented flood that caused widespread devastation in several states of the country. “To me, that experience serves as a wakeup call for NEMA and her stakeholders to fashion out lasting workable guidelines of operations towards Disaster Risk Reduction and improving our national resilience.”

He said one of the strategic priorities of the agency is to reposition the country by providing a solid foundation and frameworks for building a national and community resilience to reduce all related disaster risks towards actualising the gains of any developmental strides aimed at total transformation for rapid socio-economic development of our great country.

“To achieve this strategic objective therefore, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has developed various policy frameworks and programme instruments to guide Disaster Risk and Emergency Management,” he said.

NCF, BirdLife in conservation scheme to renew livelihood, habitat

Michael Simire
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NCF, BirdLife in conservation scheme to renew livelihood, habitat

A team of nature conservation groups has embarked on an initiative designed to improve livelihood and habitats of migratory birds in the Sahel areas of Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Mauritania.

Alade Adeleke, NCF Executive Director
Alade Adeleke, NCF Executive Director

Tagged “Living on the Edge Project (LOTE),” the project is funded by the Dutch Nationale Postcode Loterij, an independent lottery that sets aside two-third of its profits for charities in the fields of development, education and nature conservation. Vogelbescherming Nederland, as the beneficiary of the grant, established a contractual partnership with BirdLife International, Nigerian Conservation Foundation (NCF) and three West African countries to carry out intervention activities aimed at realising the goals and objectives of the project from 2011 to 2015.

Presently, the project is being implemented in seven communities in the Sahel zone of Nigeria. These communities are Kaska, Kumaganam and Meori, in the sand dune-prone area of Yobe State; Adiani, Baturiya and Maikongoli situated within and around the Hadejia-Nguru Wetlands  Complex; and Rijiyan Dono in  the Sokoto-Rima Basin.

The aims of the project are to: restore and conserve the natural dryland and wetland habitats, improving peoples’ livelihoods and conserve habitats for migratory birds, and empower people for sustainable use of natural resources and improve livelihoods. The project employs various strategies to achieve its set goals which are all encompassing and toeing the line of African Union (AU) policy direction.

Similarly, the Great Green Wall initiative is expected to plant trees that provide a barrier against desert winds, and help to hold moisture in the air and soil, allowing agriculture to flourish. The LOTE takes the cognisance of the fact that forests play a major role in the efforts to arrest climate change. Next to the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation is the greatest source of greenhouse emissions, hence the global demand to stop deforestation and to engage in massive re-afforestation in tropical zones.

The project combines Geographical Information Systems and remote sensing technology to develop LandUse/LandCover map of these areas to identify the area of intervention in each sites and also delineate the habitat restoration sites.

So far, the forest regeneration component of LOTE has restored about 15 hectares of land in some of the communities it works. This is evident in the planting of 14,700 seedlings on 10 hectares of land and provision of 1,500 seedlings of economic trees for the communities of Kaska, Kumaganam and Meoiri and; establishment of tree nurseries for raising tree seedlings for planting to curtail desert encroachment in collaboration with the local communities of Kaska, Kumaganam and Meoiri. It is expected that this effort will enhance biodiversity and improve resilience to climate change in the area as the tree will stabilise the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere.

One of the project sites of LOTE, Meoiri, is a 35km north of the wetlands. Historically, the site used to be an important habitat for migratory birds but the LOTE project noticed its serious state of degradation at the inception of the project. Specific interventions were made in form of re-planting of indigenous trees to establish plantations to reduce the rate of desert encroachment and habitat restoration; and planting to establish orchards (fruit trees) for locals to generate income. These same interventions were made in Kumaganam, Kaska, and Rijiyan Dono (Sokoto Rima Basin) sites of LOTE.

Interestingly, some of the species of trees planted for the afforestation are economical trees that will eventually bring income for the people in the long run As part of its sustainability plan, the project establishes Site Support Groups (SSGs) in each of the sites. These groups are trained on how to establish trees nursery, help to maintain the plantation and were also taught basic ecological monitoring skills to monitor their environment.

Restoration efforts embarked upon by the project notwithstanding, it employed various practical approaches and intervention to reduce pressure on the remaining woodlands and ensuring sustainable natural resource management. Conflicts over the use of resources are being addressed. The project, in collaboration with the concerned stakeholders, has re-beaconed a grazing route of approximately 3km distance and covering about 8 sq. km of Maja grazing reserve.

The conducted activity has now eliminated disputes that usually occur between the nomadic Fulani livestock keepers and the crop cultivators. Similarly, the activity has assisted in the protection of the remaining woody vegetation of the Maja Grazing Reserve as it harbors variety of migratory birds’ species.

The project has equally introduced fuel-efficient stoves capable of reducing the volume of firewood to be consumed by women and men for cooking and heating purposes.  It facilitated a train-the-trainers workshop on the production and use of fuel efficient stove for 36 women from six communities. From surveys conducted after the first attempt at training the people to construct the stove, over 600 fuel-efficient stoves have been constructed both for commercial and domestic use purposes in the different communities of the project sites, leading to reduction in the rate of encroachment into the reserves for fuel wood exploitation. Other intervention efforts aiming at supporting the people to reduce pressure on the forest include bee harvesting training and mat making.

Kunle Olawoyin, spokesperson of the NCF, said: “The LOTE project can be described as one single conservation project in the Sahelian region of Nigeria which is promoting greater community participation in wetlands resource management, through the reduction of natural resource degradation and the prevailing pressures mounted on the wetlands as result of unsustainable harvest of resources, upstream development and incursion of invasive species. It is the hope of the NCF and other stakeholders in the business of conserving our natural resources, particularly those located within the Sahelian regions will, see LOTE as one project they can draw useful lessons from for future interventions.”

IPCC: Governments comment on draft Kyoto document

Michael Simire
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IPCC: Governments comment on draft Kyoto document

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will on Monday 2 September 2013 commence the final round of written comments by governments on the final draft of the 2013 Revised Supplementary Methods and Good Practice Guidance Arising from the Kyoto Protocol (KP Supplement). The exercise will end on 29 September 2013.

Rajeendra Pachauri, Head of IPCC
Rajeendra Pachauri, Head of IPCC

This is the third stage of IPCC mandated reviews before formal adoption and acceptance of the KP Supplement at the 37th Session of the IPCC to be held in Batumi, Georgia, from 14 to 18 October 2013.

Review is a vital part of producing methodology reports such as this one. Draft reports are subjected to a multi-stage review beginning with the review of a first order draft by scientific experts, followed by the review of a second order draft by governments and experts and a final round of government comments before adoption and acceptance at a Session of the Panel.

Two previous drafts of the KP Supplement were subject to scientific and technical review by experts (Expert Review) from 7 January 2012 to 3 February 2012 and by governments and experts (Government and Expert Review) from 22 April 2013 to 2 June 2013. The draft was revised by the authors after both of these reviews in response to comments received, and this process has produced the Final Draft of the KP Supplement. The first review of the Overview Chapter took place at the time of the Government and Expert Review.

Climate policy and global climate negotiations rely on a robust scientific foundation to produce sound results. The IPCC provides policymakers with regular assessments of climate science and its potential impacts, as well as assessments of the possibilities for mitigating climate change. The estimation of emissions and removals of greenhouse gases (GHG) is one important basis for climate mitigation and the IPCC provides de facto international standards for such estimation, through highly technical work, while offering flexibility to take different national circumstances and capacities into account.

In December 2011, the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) invited the IPCC to review and, if necessary, update supplementary methodologies for estimating anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions by sources and removals by sinks resulting from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) activities [under Article 3, paragraphs 3 and 4, of the Kyoto Protocol (KP)], on the basis of, inter alia, Chapter 4 of IPCC’s 2003 Good Practice Guidance for Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (GPG-LULUCF)

In response, in June the following year, at its 35th Session in Geneva, Switzerland, the IPCC asked its Task Force on National Greenhouse Gas Inventories (TFI) to produce the KP Supplement. Also at the request of the UNFCCC, the TFI is working on the 2013 Supplement to the 2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories: Wetlands, whose final draft was circulated for government comments on 12 August 2013 for four weeks until 8 September 2013. It will also be considered for formal adoption and acceptance at the 37th Session of the IPCC in October.

Features, remedies to Benue flood disaster

Michael Simire
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Features, remedies to Benue flood disaster

The recently released report of “The 2012 Flood Impact Assessment” of Benue State conducted by the Benue Non-governmental Organisation Network (BENGONET) with support from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Benue State Government aims to bring to the fore the extent of the damage caused by the flood and the need to carryout interventions that will mitigate its effects on the lives of those involved as well as put in place adequate measures to prevent its re-occurrence and evolve better strategies for managing such situations in future.

A flooded neighbourhood
A flooded neighbourhood

With the release of excess water from the Lagdo Dam in the Republic of Cameroun, several states in Nigeria witnessed heavy flooding especially those with rivers passing through them.

Benue State, which has the River Benue as a major river passing through it and other smaller rivers and tributaries, experienced severe flooding which cut across all its major towns on the bank of the river and its tributaries. Indeed, the flood ravaged and swept way anything within a 10-kilometre radius of the bank of the river between September and October 2012, the peak period of the flood.

The devastation, which sacked communities in Makurdi, Apa, Agatu, Otukpo, Guma, Buruku, Tarka and Kasina-Ala local government areas (LGAs) of the state, left on its trail over 700,000 displaced persons with thousands of farmlands, houses and huts either submerged or washed away.

In response to the flooding, the Benue State Government created camps for the displaced in Makurdi metropolis where those who were rendered homeless by the devastation went to seek shelter. Primary schools within Makurdi were closed and turned into camps where the displaced persons lived and survived on goodwill donations from charity organisations, religious bodies, non-governmental (NGOs), donor agencies, governmental agencies and public-spirited individuals.

According to the report, the flood had a devastating impact on the affected people, houses and environment. Private and public buildings were affected by the water which, in most instances, rose up to the window and even completely submerged buildings in some locations.

Refuse was washed from dump sites into people’s homes and sewage was flooded into sources of water in most areas affected by the flood. Farmlands were washed away and vegetation was either swept away or withered away due to excess water.

The camps that were set up by the government could not adequately cater for the needs of those families that ran to them. Toilet facilities were not adequately provided for in the camps and water supply was an issue in most of the camps.

Though there were warnings about the flood, the government’s response showed a lot of unpreparedness for the floods when they eventually came. It was as if the government did not heed the warnings of the flood. The failure of the government to heed repeated warnings and properly prepare for severe flooding resulted in far more damage and hardship than was necessary

Most of the victims who went to the camps complained that the camp officials kept most of the items donated by public-spirited individuals/philanthropists for themselves. Most of the areas affected were those located near the banks of the river or its flood plains.

Also, most of the victims were traumatised, helpless and depressed as a result of the floods. This put a strain on families and the relationship between members of families.

Lots of properties were lost to the flood. Most families, even as at the time of the conduct of the survey, could not come to terms with the reality that they had lost so much to the flood. Electronics, domestic animals, vehicles and other properties were either damaged beyond repairs or washed away by the flood.

Businesses, farmlands and other means of livelihood were destroyed by the flood, leaving most families with nothing to fall back on even after the flood.

It is believed that women and children suffered the most. Women were not provided with sanitary commodities and the absence/inadequacy of toilets and water hit them very hard. Most women were torn between looking after their children and catering for themselves during the period, which put a strain on them emotionally.

The men, the report states, had to undergo a lot of stress and pressure as they had to constantly experience anxiety about catering for their families in terms of looking for shelter and providing for other essential needs of the family and managing the situation. There were also unconfirmed reports of rape on some of the females.

The report states that, though the flood has come and gone, the impact and effects on the people is still being felt by those that were directly involved. The government, civil society organisations and public-spirited individuals should intervene to bring succour to those that were directly affected by the flood.

The removal of refuse from some of the affected areas has not been done till today. Government agencies responsible should be reminded of their responsibility to those in the affected areas where refuse was washed from dump sites to residential areas.

If not in place already, government should develop a disaster management blueprint and get its agencies responsible for response to disaster acquainted with such a document. The state’s response to the flood showed a blatant unpreparedness.

Similarly, government should make efforts towards supporting flood victims, nurturing economic growth, restoring infrastructure and re-establishing and protecting the environment.

Government should relocate houses built close to the river bank, while enacting legislation that would ban new development in floodplains.

Government should embark on the construction of new drainage channels, canals and aggressive expansion of existing ones within the areas affected to enhance the free flow of water.

CDKN in moves to build climate resilience in Africa

Michael Simire
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CDKN in moves to build climate resilience in Africa

The Climate & Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) is seeking to support an 18-month project within an African city that will contribute to climate compatible development (CCD) within the informal context. A workshop from 9-11 July 2013 in Cape Town, South Africa provided a forum where participants could exchange knowledge and experiences with the aim of identifying the key elements of a framework for CCD in informal settlements and slums.

Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary
Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary

The workshop was attended by government representatives, NGO practitioners and university-based researchers from Kampala (Uganda), Accra (Ghana) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), as well as representatives of CDKN, the African Centre for Cities (ACC) researchers and other key urban experts.

This project aims to foster climate compatible development in African cities through working with informality and building climate resilience amongst the urban poor.

The project was initiated by CDKN, in partnership with the ACC at the University of Cape Town (UCT), to develop an approach to CCD that responds to the specific challenges and needs of African cities, which are characterised by high levels of slums and informal settlements, largely informal economies, high levels of unemployment, majority youthful populations, and low levels of industrialisation. They have the highest growth rates in the world. The urban poor, who largely reside in informal settlements and slums, are vulnerable to global economic and climate change impacts. These can combine to devastating effect.

Informality is a central characteristic in African cities. Engaging with the informal sector is therefore key in the response to the urban climate change challenge in the African context. Informality comes in many forms, including settlement on unplanned land without public services and bulk infrastructure, unregistered housing construction and transfer, informal and insecure jobs, and unregulated trade and service provision. 62% of Africa’s population lives in slum conditions and this is likely to double by 2050.

According to Project Manager, Lisa McNamara, “This awarded project will also help develop the beginnings of this co-created framework further. The ACC will act as a research partner during the project to facilitate, track and document learning on what constitutes CCD in African cities.”

The project will span two years (Jan 2013 – Feb 2015).

Bamako Convention in flagship meeting, 22 years after adoption

Michael Simire
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Bamako Convention in flagship meeting, 22 years after adoption

History was made a couple of weeks ago when Bamako, the capital of Mali, hosted the first gathering of the parties to a treaty adopted in the ancient city about 22 years ago.

WasteThe treaty, the Bamako Convention, was first adopted in 1991 and came into force in 1998. Nigeria is yet to ratify the agreement.

Indeed, the meeting of the first Conference of the Parties (COP 1) of the Bamako Convention on the Ban of the Import into Africa and the Control of Transboundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa held 24-26 June, 2013. Among the expected initial organisational work of a first meeting, the assembled African nations selected electronic waste (e-waste), an unknown subject at the time of the 1991 adoption of the Convention, for strong continental action.

Since the 2005 release of the Basel Action Network’s (BAN) film and report “The Digital Dump: Exporting Re-use and Abuse to Africa,” Africa has been revealed as an ongoing destination for unwanted used electronics flowing from North America and Europe. Destinations such as Accra in Ghana, Nairobi in Kenya, and Lagos in Nigeria have been the subject of numerous subsequent studies and documentaries.

The Bamako meeting, however, marks the first time that African Parties have by themselves called for rigorous action to prevent e-waste dumping in a decision adopted by Parties to legal instrument or treaty.

The Bamako COP 1 e-waste Decision (Decision I/13) calls for:

  • All African nations to enhance or supplement existing legislation to prevent illegal and unwanted traffic in hazardous and other e-waste from entering their territory and the African continent;
  • African nations to create and adopt legislation to make electronics manufacturers legally take individual producer responsibility for taking back their equipment in the continent of Africa;
  • African nations to legally consider all non-functional or untested used electronic equipment as hazardous waste and prevent their importation into the African continent;
  • African nations to adopt legislation to control the importation of near-end-of-life or unwanted equipment, inter alia by designating such equipment as hazardous waste.

Among other decisions adopted were those calling for all African states to ratify the Convention as well as the Basel Ban Amendment. Currently the Bamako Convention is ratified by Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Libya, Mali, Mozambique, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

In a reaction to the development, Leslie Adogame, SRADev Nigeria’s Executive Director, described the delay as shameful to the African continent.

His words: “Although we welcome the eventual coming on-board of the first session (COP 1) of the Bamako Convention which suffered a natural death since 1991, but this delay is shameful to the continent and has accounted for the poor management of hazardous waste and the e-waste dumping into Africa in the past 22 years (even though e-waste was not originally addressed within the convention).

“It is most shameful that Nigeria who should be seen to play a lead role in the continent has inadvertently lagged behind, Nigeria is yet to ratify the Bamako Convention after 15 years of its coming into force in 1998.

“It is not enough to just sign the Convention without Ratification, which was why Nigeria could only attend the recent Bamako meeting (COP 1) as an Observer.

“An observer status simply means no voice in the continent’s on-going rigorous action to implement the treaty or prevent e-waste dumping in a decision adopted by Parties to legal instrument or treaty.

“Moreover, following the global exposition of the Basel Action Network’s (BAN) film and report ‘The Digital Dump: Exporting Re-use and Abuse to Africa,’ which implicated Nigeria as one major destination for unwanted used electronics flowing from North America and Europe, we should be seen to be pro-active after all.

“We are urgently calling on the Federal Government to match words this time with action and move away from “environmental rhetorics”. Although we acknowledge the effort and achievements by NESREA in recent past at addressing the national scourge, this final take-off of this First Meeting of African Waste Treaty – Bamako Convention, the government would need to address immediately the illegal importation of e-waste through its porous borders as a priority, domesticate and harmonise the existing legislation in line with the Bamako Convention, strengthen and Fund a competent authority (NESREA) and establish the treaty Focal Point in addition to a national body to act as ‘Dumpwatch’ in liaison with NGO groups and other interest groups before the second conference of parties – COP 2.”

Electronic wastes entail discarded computers, office equipment, entertainment device electronics, mobile phones, television sets and refrigerators. These also include device destined for reuse, recycling, or disposal.

Some electronic scrap components such as CRTs are known to contain contaminants such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury and brominated flame retardants.

In Nigeria, numerous ICT markets have emerged over the years but the popular Computer Village at Ikeja in Lagos stands tall, occupying about six hectares of land with over 400 registered businesses. People come from every nook and cranny of the country and even from countries within the West African region to buy computers, phones and parts in the market.

The wastes are processed and disposed using crude methods such as dumping in open land spaces or refuse dumps as well as open burning. Toxic chemicals are released into the environment with the crude disposal methods in use and in the process cause high risks to human health and the environment as some of these toxic constituents are carcinogenic and endocrine disruptors.

Since the days of the infamous Koko toxic waste dump in Delta State over two decades ago, Nigeria has consistently experienced cases of illegal toxic waste shipment into the country from Europe and the Americas. The National Environmental Standards and regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA) had on several occasions detained some vessels that brought in e-waste into the country. Some vessels previously detained include: MV Maersk Nashville and M.V. Gumel.

The Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Environment and the NESREA have intervened appropriately by developing draft National Policy on e-waste while NESREA has launched national E-Waste regulations. In cognisance of the environmental and human health challenges posed by e-waste, Lagos State Government through the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) and Lagos Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) also have ongoing initiatives on how to solve the e-waste menace in an environmentally-sound manner.

PAVE, CTI-PFAN collaborate on clean energy

Michael Simire
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PAVE, CTI-PFAN collaborate on clean energy

Officials of the Pan African Vision for the Environment (PAVE) have disclosed that the Lagos-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) is collaborating with the Climate Technology Initiative Private Financing Advisory Network (CTI-PFAN) in the area of sustainable energy.

Consultant to the Pan African Vision for the Environment (PAVE), Evans Bassey; President of PAVE, Akpan Johnson; Global Coordinator, Climate Technology Initiative Private Financing Advisory Network (CTI-PFAN), Peter Storey; representative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Ms Ime; and Programme Manager at PAVE, Temiloluwa Ogunniyi, during a visit by Storey and Ime to PAVE’s office in Lagos… August 1st, 2013
Consultant to the Pan African Vision for the Environment (PAVE), Evans Bassey; President of PAVE, Akpan Johnson; Global Coordinator, Climate Technology Initiative Private Financing Advisory Network (CTI-PFAN), Peter Storey; representative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Ms Ime; and Programme Manager at PAVE, Temiloluwa Ogunniyi, during a visit by Storey and Ime to PAVE’s office in Lagos… August 1st, 2013

“We are currently in discussions and anticipate that there will be many synergies and opportunities for our respective organisations to explore to support clean energy initiatives in Nigeria,” stated Anthony Akpan, head of PAVE.

According to him, the Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN) is a multilateral, public-private partnership initiated by the Climate Technology Initiative (CTI) in cooperation with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Expert Group on Technology Transfer.

“PFAN operates to bridge the gap between investments and clean energy businesses.  CTI PFAN operations and activities are funded by the CTI and other funding partners including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) Energy for All Programme, the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA) and the International Centre for Environmental Technology Transfer (ICETT).

Moringa tree

admin
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Moringa tree

Moringa is becoming popular in Nigeria and people seem to enjoy consuming the seeds more than the leaves . However Dr Aimienwauu, a Moringa farmer and natural medicine practitioner warns that consuming the seeds of moringa has a long term side effect. The kidneys, Liver and other organs of the body could be damaged.
The experiment of using moringa seeds to purify water is enough warning to show how the high portent seeds can gradually damage the human body if consumed for a long time without the guidance of a natural medicine practitioner. Watch this video.

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