NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries has committed to building resilient food systems by investing more in technology with respect to food production. During a COVID-19 virtual conference convened by the Council of Governors (CoG) on 31st August, 2020, and hosted by President Uhuru Kenyatta, the leaders also agreed to mainstream climate change within annual budgets to promote community resilience during pandemics. The overall objective of the conference was to reflect on the government’s COVID-19 response efforts, challenges so as to recommend strategic policy measures that can be adopted by both levels of government in readiness for future pandemics.In his remarks, John Macharia, the Country Manager for the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa lauded the quick efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture in putting in place the food security war room that has effectively coordinated activities of national, county, private sector and development partners. “As we think of a paradigm shift, it is important to think more of resilient food systems as opposed to value chain sustainability,” Macharia told the conference which was also attended by the Deputy President, William Ruto, all the Governors, some Cabinet Secretaries and different stakeholders. “COVID-19 has shown us the interconnectedness of health, education and agriculture. As such, we need to focus on the development of resilient food systems that are cognizant of the nexus between water, nutrition, food security and the environment,” said Macharia. President Kenyatta as well reiterated the need for the country to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic moving forward. “We must build positive resilience out of the COVID experience,” he said.AGRA has been working with different counties across the country to promote food productivity through building capacities of smallholder farmers and supporting government activities. So far, the ration between extension officers and small holder farmers in Kenya is approximately 1:5000. To this end, AGRA has collaborated with counties to promote the concept of Village Based Advisers (VBA). The VBAs are usually trained in partnership with seed and fertilizer companies on how to teach farmers on the use of the appropriate maize varieties, correct spacing of seed, placement of fertilizer and other good agricultural practices including control of the Fall Armyworm. “I would like to highlight here the work of Governor James Nyoro of Kiambu and the Governor Martin Wambora of Embu, who are piloting private sector-led extension approaches therough the VBA model,” Macharia told the Council of Governor’s conference. The conference came up with resolutions that will be used as reference points as the country continue to develop resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic.

PRESS RELEASE YAOUNDE, Cameroon: The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) has called on Africa and its people to rise against any trade deals and plans that may render their streets and communities a dumping ground for US waste. The Alliance, with at least 1,000 civil society organisations in 48 African countries under its fold, has especially condemned any plans by oil companies to have a trade deal that would benefit them but weaken Kenya’s rules on plastics and imports of American trash. In a statement sent to newsrooms today (September 2nd 2020), PACJA’s Executive Director Mithika Mwenda any such plan to “flood Africa with plastics” would be diabolic “and the oil companies and governments behind this endeavour must be shamed and stopped”. “Africa already receives millions of tonnes of waste from western countries annually. The World Bank estimates that by 2050 waste generated in Sub-Saharan Africa will triple. Right now, 80 per cent to 90 per cent of plastic waste is inadequately disposed of in many countries across Africa,” said Dr Mithika, adding that this posed threats to rivers and oceans. He was responding to statements appearing in credible media websites insinuating that “faced with plunging profits and a climate crisis that threatens fossil fuels, (Big Oil) is demanding a trade deal that weakens Kenya’s rules on plastics and on imports of American trash”. Dr Mithika said waste mismanagement was projected to increase on the African continent, and that any additional burden of plastics imports would make it difficult for people and nature to thrive. “We cannot let this happen,” he said. He called upon the US government to be transparent in its dealings with African countries, noting that it was a glaring concern that already the American leadership had aided the country’s withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Agreement, yet it was responsible for 18 per cent of the total global emissions. “It is, therefore, wicked and immoral for the US government and its corporate interests to pursue actions likely to cause further havoc and exacerbate existing environmental crises in African countries,” Mithika said. He urged the US government to ensure any of its dealings in Africa were in line with or supported through continued investments in healthcare, sustainable food systems, water, infrastructure to mention a few. The ED urged big oil investors to begin redeeming themselves by redirecting their resources towards supporting de-carbonised growth in Africa through investments in renewable energy uptake and access. “Fossils fuels account for nearly 90 per cent of global emissions of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which with other greenhouse gasses, is responsible for climate change,” Mithika noted.Despite contributing only 4 per cent to global emissions, Africa is among the most vulnerable regions to the impacts of climate change and the least capable to either adapt or contribute to mitigating it. “Big Oil investors should support strides towards an Africa powered by renewable energy and not work to hamper or reverse them,” said Dr Mithika. “Big Oil investors should support strides towards an…

HARARE, Zimbabwe, (PAMACC News) - News On an isolated part of Mpudzi Resettlement Scheme—a sprawling farming community in eastern Zimbabwe—bees hum menacingly as they enter beehives dotted around trees on the banks of a small river. Though the bees appeared menacing, the beekeeper— 60-year-old Divas Matinyadze— was unperturbed as he inspected an array of traditional hives on a sweltering afternoon.Matinyadze cautiously checked all the beehives, many of which were made of hollowed dead wood logs. He started beekeeping a few years ago to offset substantial agricultural losses due to severe droughts. With about 45 beehives, Matinyadze harvests honey twice a year getting about 15 to 20 kilogrammes of honey per hive; earning upto US$60 from every hive.“I’m getting more money from selling honey than from selling crops like maize,” Matinyadze said.Amidst severe droughts, the past decade has seen the mushrooming of many beekeeping projects across the countryThe Beekeepers Association of Zimbabwe (BKAZ) estimated that there were more than 50 000 beekeepers across the country.At the same time, more farmers in the country are venturing into cotton farming, buoyed by subsided and free farming inputs from the government and private cotton companies. Though Zimbabwe had been a regional cotton grower, many farmers had abandoned the crop owing to poor prices on the local market. By 2015, cotton farming had declined to about 28 000 tonnes per year but during the 2019/2020 seasonat least 400 000 farmers benefited from the country’s Presidential Cotton Input Scheme. The presidential cotton scheme input scheme—funded by the Zimbabwe government— is meant to revive cotton farming in the countryUnder the scheme, farmers received free basal and top dressing fertilisers, seed and pesticides.And Kennedy Seremani, a cotton farmer in the eastern Chipinge district, is one of the recipients. He said despite the little rainfall in the country this year, his cotton quality was good and he was expecting yields of more than 50 bales of cotton from his 4 hectare piece of land. “We were given enough pesticides .As farmers we are happy that we received free cotton farming inputs from the government. We’re now waiting for the government to announce this year’s cotton prices,” said the 61-year-old Seremani. The Cotton Company of Zimbabwe— with an 80 percent market share— and other private companies buys the cotton from farmers for up to US$0.52 per kilogramme in the past season. In Zimbabwe maize harvests are now meagre due to low rainfall and across the country— maize output was estimated at about 944 000 tonnes in 2019 — approximately 40 percent below the five-year average.But Seremani has encouraged other farmers in drought prone areas to venture into the crop because cotton is a more drought tolerant crop and survives better in dry weather than maize.In the wake of severe climate change induced droughts in Zimbabwe, experts said both cotton farming and beekeeping could reduce the severe impact of droughts to farmers. Cotton is more tolerant to drought than maize, whilebeekeeping counters deforestation and beekeepers find worthwhile to plant trees for…

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - The Cameroon government has issued a decree No 20203216 of 14thJuly 2020 to log Ebo Forest, destroying one of the rare natural forest ecosystems in the Gulf of Guinea, stretching over 2000km2 and known to be a massive biodiversity hotspot and stocking millions of tonnes of carbon.The decree signed by the Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute gives a go ahead to the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife to exploit 85,000 hectares of the 150,000 hectares of the Ebo Forest, located in the Littoral region of Cameroon amidst multiple protests by the local population and international forest rights organizations.At a press briefing in Yaounde July 22,2020, to explain the raison d’etre of the decision, the Minister of forestry and wildlife Jules Doret Ndongo said “the logging concessions to be exploited in the Ebo Forest are neither occupied nor exploited by the people of the region concerned.’’ According to the Minister the government was quite aware of the worries of the riparian communities around the forest area and ‘the protection their interest has been taken into consideration’. He assured that the government will respect its forest conservation policy while carrying out timber extraction needed to boost the economy [swell state coffers] .The government also said it rejected a request in June 2020 for tax reduction made by the loggers’ association GFBC. The logging sector complained their activities have been grounded by the effects of corona-virus.Also reacting to the tax reduction request by the loggers association, Greenpeace Forest Campaign Manager for Africa in Cameroon, Ranèce Jovial Ndjeudja in a letter said, “The real problem underlying the logging industry is not its current failures to pay taxes, but its ongoing contribution to human rights violations and destroying the planet. Giving tax breaks to logging companies might mean public funding for our next pandemic”.“We must protect nature so nature protects us. The current distress of the logging sector is a good opportunity to rebuild our economy into sustainable sectors that neither exacerbates the climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis nor threatens our health”, Ndjeudja concludes.The riparian Ebo forest communities of Yabassi, Yingui, Ngambe and Ndikiniméki debunk the government’s claim of their non expliotation of the affected areas and the protection of their interest. The forest communities say they use the resources of this rich biodiversity for food, health care and cultural activities.Environmentalists say the Ebo forest is biodiversity with over 35 million tonnes of carbon and home to over 12 tree species yet unknown to science. The forest also host chimpanzees, forest elephants, grey parrots and other species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened and Endangered Species.‘Apart from its rich and vast forest expands Ebo forest is also home of the world's only chimpanzees that both fish for termites and crack nuts; a small population of gorillas that may be a new subspecies; and one of only two remaining populations of Preuss's Red Colobus, a Critically Endangered Monkey. Ebo Forest also makes up one half of a Key Biodiversity…