PAMACC in Berlin, GERMANY: Delegates from 95 countries comprising energy experts, government leaders, entrepreneurs and civil society have underlined the importance of deploying innovative solutions and technologies to fast-track the global energy transition.
This came out strongly as the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue kicked off today in the German capital. In an opening address at the 4th edition of the dialogue popularly dubbed Energiewende (energy transition in German).
Heiko Maas, German Foreign Minister reiterated the German determination to achieve the sustainable development goals through continuous and sustained transition to renewable energies which according to him, “are plentiful and almost everywhere.”
“We regard energy policy as a platform for cooperation, dialogue and international exchange. and the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue is an ideal example of this,” he said. “The rigourous implementation of the “Energiewende” remains a major priority for us,” he added.
Heiko Maas however warned that failure to implement the Paris Agreement and the 2030 agenda for sustainable development will leave the world in a very precarious situation with greater threats to stability and peace.
To the German Economic Affairs and Energy minister, Peter Altmaier, the 4th Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue is enough proof that that “Energiewende” has become a global phenomenon.
Energiewende, Altmaier said, “gives us the opportunity to produce more energy without polluting the environment as wind and solar power are more than ever before, cheaply available.”
According to the energy minister, “many countries in the world are radically transforming their energy supply but to achieve this fully, they have to overcome challenges similar to those being faced in Germany.”
“We therefore look forward to engaging in discussions with our guests and partners on innovative business models and technologically advanced solution which will accelerate the global energy transition and make it more economically and socially attractive for all us,” Altmaier added.
In a similar vein, the EU Vice President in charge of the commission on energy union, Maros Sefcovic affirmed that “Energiewende” is no longer a German concept as it has been successfully exported across Europe.” Sefcovic said that the fact that the top 10 jobs of today never existed 10 years ago underscores the need for evolving strategies that will create more access to energy, provide jobs and accelerate global energy transition.
Also in an address to the delegates, Lucia Bakulumpagi-Wamala, CEO of the start-up Bakulu Power in Uganda, highlighted the important role women can play in upscaling energy transition.
“If we want more women in the sector, we need to show them the opportunities they can leverage on to fast track the energy transition,” Lucia added.
Hosted by the government of Germany, the two-day Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue is at the core of the Berlin Energy Week holding from 16th to 20th April 2018 and incorporating the Start-Up Energy Transition Initiative Tech Festival, EventHorizon, Global Summit on Blockchain Technology in the energy sector, and the Urban Energy Forum.
This year’s dialogue, with the theme “towards a global Energiewende,” brings together ministers and high-ranking delegations from 40 countries and around 2,000 delegates from 95 countries.
The delegates are expected to develop strategies for the intelligent transformation of the global energy system, the transport sector and the heating supply.
NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Research scientists, government and nongovernmental organisations’ representatives, entrepreneurs and pastoralists from Kenya, Senegal and Burkina Faso met in Nairobi on 12, November 2018 to share knowledge and experiences so as to strengthen the resilience of livestock systems in the future.
“The livestock sector in Africa, especially the extensive livestock, has for a long time been mystified on its contribution to crucial sectors such as the economy,” said Kamau Kuria, the Chief Executive Officer for Kenya Markets Trust (KMT).
The Regional Dialogue for Livestock Value Chain Transformation was organised by KMT in collaboration with International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) to support the resilience of extensive livestock production systems in semi-arid areas south of the Sahara, particularly in the Sahelian regions and in the Horn of Africa.
The dialogue was based on latest research findings from different studies in Kenya and Senegal under the Pathways to Resilience In Semi-Arid Economies (PRISE) project, which indicated that private sector actors along livestock value chains are diverse, ranging from private individuals to entrepreneurs to small-medium enterprises and larger actors.
“Studies have been done and evidences have been gathered from several arenas on the livestock value chain. It is now time to focus and relate that to actions that can show transformative results,” said Kuria.
Abdikarim Daud of KMT observed that in the meat value chain, there is disconnect between pastoralists who are the producers, with the meat industry. “There is need for the meat industry to drive the production,” he said, observing that the industry so far depends on brokers.
“Brokers can only choose the best animal, without telling the producers what the market demand is. But if the industry was to deal with the producers, then it will be possible for the producers to know what to do so as to satisfy the market demand,” said Daud.
Dr Stephen Moiko, one of the PRISE researchers concurred with Daud, saying that pastoralists usually produce for the market, but they do not understand the market. “Pastoralists do not sell the best. Instead they sell weaker animals to get money to solve immediate social needs,” he told the delegates.
Dr James Gakuo, an entrepreneur who buys severely emaciated animals to fatten them through an intensive feeding programme said that most pastoralists keep to their animals to a point of death especially during severe droughts. “We have now created a market for emaciated animals, and therefore pastoralists should not wait until their animals die,” he said.
He urged governments, NGOs and the private sector to invest in the fattening programmes for value addition as a way of helping pastoralists adapt to climate change.
“It is a pity when governments and NGOs decide to slaughter emaciated animals so as to give the meat to the poor as food aid,” said Gakuo. “Here is a scenario where drought is already killing animals, and the government and NGOs are also killing more animals. Are we not going to decimate all the animals, which are the lifeline for the pastoralists?” he paused.
If the same animals that are killed by governments and NGOs were to be fattened through an intensive feeding programme, they would fetch more income for the pastoralists and provide high quality meat for the market according to Gakuo.
The entrepreneur uses oil cakes from sunflower, cotton and barley to make the animal feed rations. “If the government invested in fattening programmes, then people from non-arid regions can take the advantage and start growing raw material crops such as sunflowers and cotton as an alternative source of income,” he said.
Livestock insurance was also found to be another relevant tool that can help pastoralists adapt to climate change.
According to a 2012 policy brief by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), a livestock revolution is taking place around the Horn of Africa - with US$1 billion trade in livestock and livestock products, plus associated economic activities – transport, marketing, financing and processing.
In Kenya, the livestock sub-sector contributes 14 percent to the Gross Domestic Product.
“Pastoralists need affordable insurance cover to cushion them from the effects of climate change,” said Hassan Bashir, the Group Chief Executive for Takaful Insurance of Africa (TIA).
In collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), TIA formed an innovative policy to cushion pastoralists and is now operational in eight counties in Kenya.
ILRI’s Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) project has been in partnership with TIA since 2013, when they introduced, for the first time in Africa, an Index-Based Livestock Takaful (IBLT) policy, which combines an Islamic-compliant financial instrument with innovative use of satellite imagery to determine forage availability.
“It is a perfect product whose payments are done through M-pesa, and the product is available in designated retail shops in the villages,” said Bashir.
Dr. Assane Beye, a research scientist from Senegal said that such a policy is a good innovation that should be introduced in West Africa.
Dr Mary Mbole-Kariuki from the African Union - Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) pointed out that Africa’s future is in the indigenous breeds.
“AU is in the process of setting up five gene banks for indigenous breed, from where governments and scientists can collect semen to ensure that our indigenous breeds remain afloat,” she said.
The delegates further talked about the importance of controlling pests and diseases, the need for pastoralists to work in organised groups, the different ways of rangeland degeneration and the need for governments to put research findings into action through policy implementation among other issues.
The Nairobi Dialogue was building on the first Regional Dialogue meeting held at the PCGC conference that discussed ‘Pastoralism in current global changes: stakes challenges and prospects’ held between 20 and 24th November 2017 in Dakar, Senegal.
NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Research scientists, government and nongovernmental organisations’ representatives, entrepreneurs and pastoralists from Kenya, Senegal and Burkina Faso met in Nairobi on 12, November 2018 to share knowledge and experiences so as to strengthen the resilience of livestock systems in the future.
“The livestock sector in Africa, especially the extensive livestock, has for a long time been mystified on its contribution to crucial sectors such as the economy,” said Kamau Kuria, the Chief Executive Officer for Kenya Markets Trust (KMT).
The Regional Dialogue for Livestock Value Chain Transformation was organised by KMT in collaboration with International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) to support the resilience of extensive livestock production systems in semi-arid areas south of the Sahara, particularly in the Sahelian regions and in the Horn of Africa.
The dialogue was based on latest research findings from different studies in Kenya and Senegal under the Pathways to Resilience In Semi-Arid Economies (PRISE) project, which indicated that private sector actors along livestock value chains are diverse, ranging from private individuals to entrepreneurs to small-medium enterprises and larger actors.
“Studies have been done and evidences have been gathered from several arenas on the livestock value chain. It is now time to focus and relate that to actions that can show transformative results,” said Kuria.
Abdikarim Daud of KMT observed that in the meat value chain, there is disconnect between pastoralists who are the producers, with the meat industry. “There is need for the meat industry to drive the production,” he said, observing that the industry so far depends on brokers.
“Brokers can only choose the best animal, without telling the producers what the market demand is. But if the industry was to deal with the producers, then it will be possible for the producers to know what to do so as to satisfy the market demand,” said Daud.
Dr Stephen Moiko, one of the PRISE researchers concurred with Daud, saying that pastoralists usually produce for the market, but they do not understand the market. “Pastoralists do not sell the best. Instead they sell weaker animals to get money to solve immediate social needs,” he told the delegates.
Dr James Gakuo, an entrepreneur who buys severely emaciated animals to fatten them through an intensive feeding programme said that most pastoralists keep to their animals to a point of death especially during severe droughts. “We have now created a market for emaciated animals, and therefore pastoralists should not wait until their animals die,” he said.
He urged governments, NGOs and the private sector to invest in the fattening programmes for value addition as a way of helping pastoralists adapt to climate change.
“It is a pity when governments and NGOs decide to slaughter emaciated animals so as to give the meat to the poor as food aid,” said Gakuo. “Here is a scenario where drought is already killing animals, and the government and NGOs are also killing more animals. Are we not going to decimate all the animals, which are the lifeline for the pastoralists?” he paused.
If the same animals that are killed by governments and NGOs were to be fattened through an intensive feeding programme, they would fetch more income for the pastoralists and provide high quality meat for the market according to Gakuo.
The entrepreneur uses oil cakes from sunflower, cotton and barley to make the animal feed rations. “If the government invested in fattening programmes, then people from non-arid regions can take the advantage and start growing raw material crops such as sunflowers and cotton as an alternative source of income,” he said.
Livestock insurance was also found to be another relevant tool that can help pastoralists adapt to climate change.
According to a 2012 policy brief by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), a livestock revolution is taking place around the Horn of Africa - with US$1 billion trade in livestock and livestock products, plus associated economic activities – transport, marketing, financing and processing.
In Kenya, the livestock sub-sector contributes 14 percent to the Gross Domestic Product.
“Pastoralists need affordable insurance cover to cushion them from the effects of climate change,” said Hassan Bashir, the Group Chief Executive for Takaful Insurance of Africa (TIA).
In collaboration with the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), TIA formed an innovative policy to cushion pastoralists and is now operational in eight counties in Kenya.
ILRI’s Index-Based Livestock Insurance (IBLI) project has been in partnership with TIA since 2013, when they introduced, for the first time in Africa, an Index-Based Livestock Takaful (IBLT) policy, which combines an Islamic-compliant financial instrument with innovative use of satellite imagery to determine forage availability.
“It is a perfect product whose payments are done through M-pesa, and the product is available in designated retail shops in the villages,” said Bashir.
Dr. Assane Beye, a research scientist from Senegal said that such a policy is a good innovation that should be introduced in West Africa.
Dr Mary Mbole-Kariuki from the African Union - Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) pointed out that Africa’s future is in the indigenous breeds.
“AU is in the process of setting up five gene banks for indigenous breed, from where governments and scientists can collect semen to ensure that our indigenous breeds remain afloat,” she said.
The delegates further talked about the importance of controlling pests and diseases, the need for pastoralists to work in organised groups, the different ways of rangeland degeneration and the need for governments to put research findings into action through policy implementation among other issues.
The Nairobi Dialogue was building on the first Regional Dialogue meeting held at the PCGC conference that discussed ‘Pastoralism in current global changes: stakes challenges and prospects’ held between 20 and 24th November 2017 in Dakar, Senegal.
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - African Forest Forum, a pan-African Non-Governmental Organisation, is leading the way in empowering stakeholders in the forestry sector to develop strategies for sustainable forest management and the fight against climate change.
The organisation says sustainable forest management in Africa is imperative to mitigate the effects of climate change. But the capacities of professional and technical stakeholders in African forestry sector have to be strengthened to permit for better forest management.
It is against this backdrop that a four day training workshop under the theme ‘ ModellingClimate and Applications to the Forestry Sector, is taking place from 9-13 April 2018 in Osun State University, Nigeria.
The workshop that brings over 70participants from 17 African countries according to Godwin Kowero, the Executive Secretary of AFF, is part the organisation’s strategic plan being put in place acrossAfrican countries to douce the effects of environmental degradation and climate change.
« We are committed to work with the different stakholders to better drive efforts towards sustainable forest management, » Kowero said at the opening of the workshop Monday 9th April.
Climate change currently affecting the African environment he noted, remains a serious threat to human lives, hence the urgency for sustainable forest management in Africa. AFF was therefore committed to drive sustainable management and forest conservation pathways to better improve the socio-economic well-being of people in the African continent, he said.
The forum he revealed was working closely with the UN and ECOWAS to address the issue of deforestation, in Africa.
According AFF, Africa requires strengthening professionalism and work ethic in the forestry sector in order to better manage and use African forest and trees resources sustainably. And this also applies to how the continent handles climate change issues.
In this regard the “Strengthening sustainable forest management in Africa project” recognizes the important role Professional Forestry Associations (PFAs) play in promoting forest governance, professionalism in the forest sector and ensuring a high level of competence, independence and integrity in the profession. These are all critical to sustainable forest management in Africa, a note from African Forestry Forum said.
The workshop training objectives is focused on facilitating mobilization of forestry and related stakeholders in ECOWAS countries to address issues more professionally and in a harmonized manner.
Participants accordingly are drilled on the basic concepts and principles of modelling climate; climate models used in different sectors (agriculture, terrestrial/vegetation systems, water resources, coastal systems, and soils),information requirements for climate models used in the different sectors, how to use the models to predict climate impacts in different sectors, and with emphasis on forestry, among others.
Moussa Leko, ECOWAS representative, also pointed out at the opening of the training session the commitment of his institution to support member-states create a platform for synergy among stakeholders, to sustain forest management globally.
Leko emphasised on the importance of forestry on food security and renewable energy , the life –wire of sustainable development.
He commended the AFF for the initiative thatwill go a long way to enhance forest resource management both at regional and international levels.
In another remark, Grace Titilaoyo the deputy governor of Osun, commended the initiative of the AFF, aimed at improving livelihoods and sustainable management of forest resources on the African continent. While appreciating the choice of Osun state to host the workshop, she assured that the administration was committed to the issue of afforestation and tree planting, to fight the ravaging effects of climate change.
AFF accordingly is engaged in the development and implementation of a number of forestry and related projects and activities in close collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders. One area of concern has been the link between forests, climate change and the people who depend on forest resources in Africa.
