ABIDJAN (PAMACC News) - African governments will be forced to come up with rural based water and sanitation projects with clear infrastructure for management and maintenance, if they have to benefit from the African Development Dervelopment Bank’s kitty for rural water supply.

Speaking at the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) forum in Abidjan, Sering Jallow of the African Development Bank expressed concerns that many leaders in African countries usually prioritise projects that are politically beneficial, thus, ignoring important projects that would benefit people on the ground.

“Countries always come with proposals for urban water and sanitation projects because such projects are more visible, hence, politically rewarding,” he told the water and sanitation forum.

The bank runs a project known as Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI), which supports rural water and sanitation projects and programs with funding for investment operations, strengthening of sector processes and systems, as well as through advocacy and knowledge building.

According to the latest report, the Bank among other development partners disbursed a total of 35.5 million Euros through RWSSI to support water and sanitation projects in Uganda, Sudan, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leon by 2015.

However, the bank now insists on projects that can be sustained for a longer period.

“There is need for policies, but also, there is need for adequate capacity for implementation and management with involvement of rural communities and the private sector,” said Jallow.

He pointed out that poor management of water and water resources especially in rural areas often leads to fragility. And such fragilities, he said, are always an impediment to development. “There is clear evidence that countries that had conflicts did not achieve the millennium development goals,” he told the water and sanitation forum.

Alexander Bakalian, World Bank Sector Manager for Urban Development and Services in the Africa Region pointed out that there was need to professionalise water access services in rural communities.

He observed that many governments prefer investing in urban areas where there are many engineers, but are reluctant to take similar investments to rural areas fearing lack of expertise.

“We need to understand that poor people live in rural areas. So if we have to address poverty, we must focus on rural communities,” he said.

The RWSN forum brings together over 500 people from different sectors to share ideas, learn from each other’s experiences so as to make water available to all, at least by 2030.

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Over 360,000 women are set to benefit from an energy enterprise subsidy in seven counties in Kenya.

The three year Energy and Advocacy for Gender in Kenya (AGEK) project by Practical Action targets women in Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu, Siaya, Nyeri, Murang’a and Kakamega counties.

Practical Action programme manager, Lydia Muchiri, says the project aims to empower women economically by linking them to the charcoal briquettes and cookstoves value chain.

“The plan is to support women in energy enterprises as a way of mainstreaming gender into the energy sector,” says Muchiri.

According to a study by the organization, women are excluded from energy projects, and are not equipped with appropriate technical training, as well as financing.

Yet, Kenya has committed to reach the 80 per cent target for energy generation through renewables, argues Muchiri.

However, she says, this can be achieved by tapping local energy sources such as charcoal briquette production and establishing energy generating mini grids.

“Women can be able to make decisions on energy access if they are empowered,” says Muchiri. “This can help them establish small business and raise their profile as future entrepreneurs.”

Practical Action project officer, Jacqueline Kimeu, says access to modern clean energy solutions can help women access credit lines to invest in micro enterprises.

This can also reduce pressure on Kenya’s forests where over 80 percent of Kenya’s households rely on energy for domestic use.

The project also aims to ensure that implementation of Kenya’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) integrates gender objectives in the process.


   

It is home rare and endemic species that include the endangered bonobo, the vulnerable forest elephant, golden cat, giant pangolin, Congo peacock, and numerous other rare primates, amphibians, reptiles and birds with over 300 known tree species. And environmentally, the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba forest landscape is known to be a critical carbon sink and biodiversity area found in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

This landscape is an invaluable resource for over 800,000 individuals in this remote rural part of DR Congo. However, due to the increasing population following the high fertility rate among inhabitants and immigrants, this landscape was already succumbing to pressure because the surging population depended on it for livelihood needs, including food, fuel, medicine, income and shelter.

However, following intervention by different players among them Africa Wildlife Forum (AWF) with support from USAID and active involvement of local residents for the past 10 years, the Maringa-Lopori-Wamba forest landscape is slowly getting back to its natural position.

“We started with micro-zoning so as to create protected areas, then mapped all areas including community forests, areas for agricultural production, and logging concessions among others,” said Hugues Akpona, the AWF country manager in the DR Congo.

However, to manage these blocks sustainably, Akpona says, “our approach is to partner with local communities, leaders, organisations and everywhere we go we try to be part of all the decision making processes in raising the conservation agenda.”

In the DRC, the Africa Wildlife Foundation works in MLW and Bili Uele where they are involved in improving the effectiveness of protected area management partnering with local wild life authority, the ICCN that is supported technically as well as financial.

The support includes setting up management units, surveillances, performance business plans, ensuring the use of new technologies, managing community conservation strategy among others.
 
Akpona underlines the change AWF has brought to this remote area and to its poverty stricken populations supporting the bordering communitiesin the development of agriculture through initiative like distribution of improved seeds, good agricultural practices and other income generating activities.

One of the major project undertaken by AWF was to ensure accessibility of the MLW landscape to the Capital Kinshasa by establishing Congo shipping project. The 500-ton green ship found no reliable transportation for the residents in the landscape but now they are able to transport their harvests and the ship brings back manufactured products from the capital.

The shipping project has provided a reliable way for the residents on its 11 port stop-over on the Congo River and ensures Maringa-Lopori-Wamba stay connected to the rest of the world while increasing production and access to the markets.

The Africa Wildlife Foundation realized another important component in the landscape which is gender balance. This required empowering women achieved through partnering with RFDR (Reseau des Femmes oeuvrant pour le Developpement Rural) to raise production, do literacy classes and develop alternative income generating activities for women and make sure women are also part of decision making processes.

“The landscape is very remote with no TV, no telephone and people don’t know about laws,” says Akpona emphasizing a need to educate and sensitize the local populations about conservation and other sustainable developments.

Among other local NGO’s AWF has partnered with is a group of lawyers enforcing laws including environmental laws and which shares information in the right way for instance sensitizing the locals not to sale bush meat in local markets. And this is tackled through developing some livestock initiatives for the communities.

Working with communities

AWF has been able to work with communities in this part of the Congo for over 10 years, an achievement that has been based on four elements that include; trust, transparency, pre-consent of community and putting into consideration the cultural values of the area.

This approach has ensured sustainable conservation which started with educating the local communities why it was important to conserve and what are their options.

“We are not there to oblige communities to do what we preach, but the benefits have forced those who first though were there to take away their forests but seeing the benefits from communities who worked with AWF later requested our intervention,” says the Akpona.

He emphasizes that, “We convince them (communities) to do conserve for themselves.” The approach ensures sustainability even when the project comes to an end the good work continues since the people know the advantages of doing it.

The work in MLW has produced success stories for the residents who now boost income generating projects which promotes conservation and the most important element was the changing of perceptions on the importance of landscape and the possibility to value resources.

AWF has developed participative land-use plans and engaged residents inthe active management of the forests in which they live, all while delivering livelihoodimprovements.  This way it caters for conservation of ecosystems in the Congo Basin.

Such work ensures that vulnerable and endangered wild animals and the habitat is secure which in turn would be catastrophic as scientist warn that if they are not protected some species will be wiped out completely by 2050.

KIGALI, Rwanda (PAMACC News) - The involvement of local communities in forest conservation actions at all levels is key to the success of conservation and sustainable use of wildlife resources in the Central African region, experts say.

According to African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), engaging local communities in natural resource management enhances conservation activities including the fight against poaching and wildlife trafficking.

“The local forest communities are key drivers to the fight against illegal and wildlife trafficking and thus the need to empower them in readiness to conservation challenges,” says Manfred Epanda, AWF Coordinator in Cameroon.

In a paper presented at a side event at the Congo Basin Forest Partnership meeting in Kigali November 22, 2016, Epanda emphasised on the need to adequately sensitise and educate the local population on the importance of conservation to their wellbeing.

“Studies by the AWF has shown the direct relationship between the level of education of the population and attitudes towards conservation,” he said.

According to the studies, the involvement of the local people in the conservation process will enhance conservation by some 11.40 percent, pointing out much resources including wildlife and money can be saved by improving the attitude and knowledge of local people towards conservation.

Experts agree there is a direct relationship between the natural resource potential of a region and the socio-economic wellbeing of the population who rely on these resources for cash and subsistence income.

“The local populations directly rely on their natural resources for survival, but the exploitation of these resources must be done sustainably,” says Richard Eba’a Atyi of CIFOR.

“We do not discourage hunting by the local population as a source of food. The law is against hunting in protected areas and hunting for commercial purposes. This is what the AWF and other partners are against,” says Jef Dupain, Regional Director West Africa, AWF.

Conservation experts also called for reinforcement of wildlife trafficking laws in the Congo Basin forest region to curb increasing illegal poaching activities, especially in protected areas.

Manfred Epanda cited the case of the Dja Faunal Reserve in Cameroon known to be ivory trafficking hotspots, necessitating the reinforcement of the wildlife law and continuous education and involvement of the local population in the protection process.

“ The co-management of protected areas with the local people permit for mastery of the local reality like culture, language, people and provide the opportunity for the population to identify with the project,” he said.

The Dja Faunal Reserve he explained is a UNESCO world heritage site that is facing significant challenges although numerous conservation initiatives are presently ongoing in and around the reserve.

Unfortunately, it attracts the attention of traffickers because it is one of the last remaining refuges for wild apes and many other endangered species in the region, Epanda explained.

Chimpanzees are totally protected wildlife species by the 1994 wildlife law, which stipulates that anyone found in possession of parts of a protected wildlife species, is considered to have killed the animal experts said. The aim is to protect animals like the chimpanzee that are facing serious threats from poaching.

 In Cameroon for example according to statistic, some 32 chimpanzee skulls have been seized since the beginning of 2016 during operations carried out under the framework of the wildlife law enforcement initiative started by the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife (MINFOF) in 2003 to effectively enforce the laws.

MINFOF has since been working hard to ensure that those involved with the slaughter and sale of chimpanzee parts are prosecuted because their acts infringe the wildlife law, experts said.