NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Thousands of farmers in six African countries now enjoy improved security and quality of their food supply, courtesy of Food Africa programme.The 20,000 farmers in Kenya, Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal and Uganda have not only had improved the security and quality of their food supply, but their activities have changed the fortunes of other 200,000 people in their communities.“FoodAfrica has been an extremely interesting and rewarding programme,” said Mila Sell, a senior scientist at the Natural Resources Institute Finland.She said her team has worked directly with people at different levels, ranging from academics, policy makers, through to farmers, and they’ve given us immediate feedback.“Through collaboration with these excellent partners, we have witnessed encouraging results. This initiative has definitely increased their knowledge and abilities on sustainable production of healthy and safe food. However, there is still a lot to be done to reach the Zero Hunger Sustainable Development Goal in Africa. The work must continue,” Sell said.“An important achievement of the 2012-2018 programme’s work on innovative extension approaches was engaging volunteer farmer trainers to help increase the reach and sustainability of agricultural extension services,” said Dr Steven Franzel, an agricultural economist at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).As a result, Franzel revealed, 85 organizations across four countries adopted the volunteer farmer trainer approach, or modified the approach they were using, in part due to exposure to FoodAfrica’s research.“These organizations’ volunteer farmer trainers, in turn, work with several hundred thousand farmers,” he said.Mercy Nyambura of World Agroforestry Centre, said the programme has enabled scientists to network soil laboratories across Africa and in the world.“This will allow us to test our soils so that we recommend which seeds, fertilisers and other measures can be used for improved production of food on the continent,” Ms Nyambura said.FoodAfrica Programme, funded by the Government of Finland, works from solid research to effective action, and has enhanced sustainable food production, food safety and nutrition, and market access and agricultural extension.“The research component of the programme has seen the production of 300 publications and training materials targeting farmers, agricultural extension workers, academia and policy makers,” Franzel said.The programme has also enabled 31 people from the six countries to obtain Masters and PhD degrees, highlighting the importance of building national capacity to ensure sustainability of food security.Among several other activities, the research included learning how to reduce the risk of aflatoxins in crops and milk, increase the profitability of dairy production through improved management and create new methods to improve soil properties.“Through improved post-harvest methods, including drying, and using traditional fermenting methods, farmers reduced aflatoxin contamination by 80 per cent,” Franzel said.Researchers mapped micronutrients in soils, providing information to policy makers and recommendations for farmers on how to improve the quality of their soils.FoodAfrica is implemented by the University of Helsinki, Häme University of Applied Science, Natural Resources Institute Finland (LUKE) and four CGIAR centres: Bioversity International, International Food Policy Research Institute, International Livestock Research Institute and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).

DJA, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - The Dja Conservation Complex in Cameroon globally recognized for its importance in biodiversity is increasingly in danger. Reports by the African Wildlife Foundation says the Dja and its wildlife face an uncertain future with rampant poaching, timber exploitation, the expansion of industries like mining and forestry and a lack of adequate support. The government says it is hence working in partnership with other stakeholders to reinforce protection of the forest and its surrounding rich resources. It is against this backdrop that the government, through the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development (MINEPAT) recently signed a partnership convention with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to handle environmental aspects of the Integrated Development and Planning Programme of the Dja Mining Loop and the Adjacent Border Area (PADI DJA). Mining operations are expected to take place in the Dja Faunal Reserve which spans across the South and East Regions, thus protecting the important animal and plant species therein becomes imperative, officials say. Hanson Njiforti, Director of WWF-Cameroon Country Office Programme who signed for his institution pointed on the need to reduce the human and environmental impact of any development project in the area. According to Hanson Njiforti the convention will give WWF a legal framework to exercise in protecting the Dja. “We sometimes neglect the impact of some of our activities on the environment. A project carried out without considering the impact on the environment can cost us a lot more,” he said, noting that the convention was a good step in the right direction. WWF Cameroon is expected to provide its assistance, technical expertise and support to PADI DJA, with the principal objective of ameliorating the living conditions of the affected population. WWF Cameroon will also have the task of promoting good governance in the execution of the project and put in place transparency mechanisms to guarantee proper usage of resources allocated to the project among others. Blondeau Talatala, Coordinator of PADI DJA said they are handling all concerns in view of the future exploitation of the Mbalam iron ore and other similar mining projects in the area. The Dja reserve was created in 1950, and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. Since 1992, the reserve has been managed by ECOFAC, the European Union’s Central African Forestry Ecosystems programme. Covering an area of more than 500,000 hectares, the reserve has important populations of chimpanzees, gorillas, elephants and buffalo. It is thought to contain some of the highest levels of biodiversity compared to any other forest in Africa. But the Dja reserve has also long been the source of conflict with local communities who are angered at their exclusion from the reserve and the imposition of strict anti-hunting bans.

KUMASI, Ghana (PAMACC News) - In a bid to help reduce the use of refrigerants, Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is establishing Refrigeration Centres of Excellence in parts of the country.Two centres are already up and running in Kumasi and Takoradi to serve the northern and southern sectors respectively. A third national centre will be commissioned in the capital city, Accra.Refrigerants are substances used in a cooling mechanism, such as an air conditioner or refrigerator, as the heat carrier which changes from gas to liquid and the back to gas in the refrigeration cycle.The chemical is known to contribute to the greenhouse gas effect, which adversely affect the ozone layer, global climate and human health.“The EPA has a responsibility to ensure the reduction in the use of refrigerants in order to avert ozone depletion and global warming,” said the Executive Director of EPA, Peter Abum Sarkodie. “By so doing, we will be helping to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 7 and 13 on affordable and clean energy, and climate change action, respectively.He added that the initiative will also enable the Agency “meet the obligations of the Montreal Protocol and its amendments; reduce energy demands, and help citizens to avoid premature demobilization of their equipment”.The refrigerant dynamicsChlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) are synthetic substances used as refrigerants.Following the discovery that some of these chemical compounds may be harmful to the environment, they are being replaced with more environmentally-friendly alternatives.Production of new stocks of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) ceased in 1994. The slightly less ozone damaging Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) will phase out completely by 2020.With no chlorine in the mix, Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) is safer for the environment. Air conditioners that run on these are more efficient, offer better air quality, increase comfort and improve reliability.Ghana ready for alternative refrigerantsGhana’s EPA says the country is ready and equipped to adopt alternative refrigerants, which include hydrocarbons and ammonia.The refrigeration centres of excellence, situated in three technical educational institutes, will impart the code of good refrigeration practices to both students and practitioners in the formal and informal sectors.The goal is to ensure the men and women who will install, service, repair and dismantle refrigerators and air-conditioning equipment are at the heart of the phase-out of HCFCs, and the introduction of energy-efficient and low global warming potential initiatives.“They need to be trained to cope with the specific properties of alternative refrigerants such as flammability, toxicity and high working pressures. They also need to understand the pros and cons of the different refrigerants and equipment that use them,” said Mr. Abum Sarkodie.The EPA is also pursuing a certification regime for technicians to ensure standards are upheld to make life more comfortable.

KIGALI, Rwanda (PAMACC News) - A beer making company in Rwanda is now producing energy from wastewater organic pollutants to power its boiler equipment.The Skol Brewery has partnered with the Global Water Engineering (GWE) to turn wastewater organic pollutants into biogas for internal use while achieving high environmental benefits.Rwanda has a strong need for sustainable technologies, with the World Health Organisation’s African Regional Office identifying, “Rwanda undoubtedly faces significant environmental challenges, and needs to invest significantly in adapting to current climate challenges as well as in adaptation to future climate change.”Water shortages are also a significant problem in Rwanda, with water needs in Kigali city being only met at 50% or less especially in dry season in a city with urbanization growth rate of more than 9% annually.Skol Brewery Rwanda’s new installation, incorporating some of the world’s most efficient and proven GWE waste-to-energy technologies, aligns Skol Brewery with top international environmental wastewater standards and demonstrates the company is taking important action to ensure the sustainability of its operations, says GWE Chairman and CEO Mr Jean Pierre Ombregt.The new process at the Kigali plant involves GWE’s globally distributed anaerobic waste digestion technology proven in more than 150 waste-to-green energy plants worldwide, including dozens of breweries. The technology not only improves sustainability outcomes, but also decreases operating costs.The anaerobic digestion technology is also integral to 415 high quality industrial wastewater and waste treatment plants in 62 countries, the benefits of which are applicable to any food and beverage, agribusiness or manufacturing operation with one or more organically loaded wastewater and waste streams.Skol Kigali’s new continuous system – which replaces an old sequential batch reactor – highly efficiently removes organic waste material from production wastewater, converting more than 90 per cent of the wastewater’s Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD). The new wastewater treatment plant is a reliable method of turning organic waste into usable biogas.This organic material is transformed into biogas (mainly methane) to replace the need for an equivalent amount of fossil fuel to power the plant boilers equipment, while the treated wastewater effluent leaving the plant delivers high environmental benefits through achieving discharge limits of 250mg/L COD.The new process – now successfully in its first full year of operation – begins with pre-treatment, followed by a modern treatment line utilizing GWE’s robust ANUBIX™-B system at the heart of the operation. A sludge management and dewatering unit is also used to process any excess sludge.“The methane-rich biogas produced by the ANUBIX™ process is reused to power an existing boiler unit, replacing baseline power requirements, which is a further benefit to the brewery,” said Mr Ombregt.“Breweries, and other food and beverage companies, are often literally flushing money down the drain in the form of wastewater. They are spending money to treat or dispose of their waste water, when they could be treating it as a resource and turning waste water into a profitable source of energy,” he said.Because it is a continuous system, green energy can continue to be generated consistently. This base load…