ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) - Scientists are struggling to figure out the level of environmental pressure facing the Tana river basin due to lack of reliable data.And such data bankruptcy is affecting hydroelectric power generation in Kenya, Willis Ochieng’, the energy and chief planner at the Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KENGEN), said during the ongoing African Climate Risks meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.According to Ochieng’, most of the data about the Tana river basin is either untimely or unreliable. For instance, he said, this year’s flood forecasting which can help plan how to avoid water spillage has not been done.“We use the forecasts for planning and operation to ensure water use is sustainable. The seasonal forecasts helps us in managing the dams. This way we are able to project the amount of energy we can generate during a particular season,” said Ochieng’.For instance, in April 2018, the abrupt heavy rains resulted in water rising to a level of around 1.7 meters in the dams within 24 hours. Such a surge can affect the hydro power plant because it is the only unit that can manage system fluctuations. “That was too much than what our machines could take. Luckily we had alerts from Kenya Meteorological Department warning there would be heavy rains. We used the forecasts to adjust to the situation. In the absence of this information we would only have waited to see what is happening,” said Ochieng’.Zachary Atheru, programme officer at the IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Center (ICPAC) acknowledged that Kenya, and other African countries are facing a weather data crisis.This is because most hydrological stations installed in the region, including in the Tana river basin, have flunked.Also, said Atheru, most countries that have installed automatic weather stations are not reporting the data collected through them.“In the IGAD region hydrological data is considered as a security asset. For security reasons, most water agencies do not share this data,” said Atheru, adding that the global framework for climate services requires countries to collect and share as much weather data as possible.Ali Ramtu, the senior acting director in charge of aeronautical and meteorological services at the Kenya Meteorological Department (KMD) acknowledged that most weather observation stations, including those in the Tana river basin, have closed down.He accused the government of neglecting investment in weather forecasting, adding that the sector does not receive funding from the government. “We used to have a lot of observational stations but they have died because most of them were on voluntary. Even if we get any funding from donors we are not supposed to use it at the county level but submit it to the Treasury. In most cases it does not come back to us,” said Ramtu.Masinga dam which is the upper reservoir in the Tana river basin has a capacity of 1.56 billion cubic meters, while Kiambere dam in the lower reservoir can store about 585 milion cubic meters of water.“KENGEN may not reach everywhere. We may not just go everywhere for…

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) - “Disasters, particularly related to hydro-meteorological hazards, extreme climate and weather phenomena are increasing across Africa. On average, Africa suffers approximately two disasters per week, 8 deaths per day,” said African Union Commission (AUC) Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Ambassador Josefa Sacko, at the official opening ceremony of the Ministerial segment of the 3rd Ordinary session of the Specialized Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment. By all standards, the figures are alarming, and a timely call to action for African experts on Agriculture, Rural economy, Water and Environment, who have this week been meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The key objective of the STC is to review the relevant strategic goals, linkages, progress and pitfalls,and their implications on the achievement of the continent’s set goals as set out in various strategic documents such as the Malabo Declaration; the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the ten-year implementation plan of Agenda 2063. The SCT, segmented in two parts; starts with technical work by experts followed a policy session attended by Ministers responsible for Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment. Officially opening the meeting, AUC Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Ambassador Josefa Sacko underscored the importance of environmental sustainability as a cornerstone for promoting and ensuring food security in Africa. “We have the honour and the arduous duty of promoting and ensuring food security and safety, climate change adaptation, resilience to disasters and droughts and environmental sustainability in Africa. Building resilience in arid and semi-arid regions of the continent and supporting land tenure reforms that specifically address the inherent challenges for women in particular are critical areas that we must address. It is also our mandate to assist Member States to rationally manage and utilize the vast natural resources of our continent ranging from fisheries, water, land, forests, wildlife and biodiversity,” said Ambassador Sacko. Amid the climate crisis, building resilience is the buzz word globally. And for Africa, climate adaptation is not an option but a necessity due to the continent’s majority population’s dependence on natural resource sensitive sectors for livelihood. “To ensure a coordinated and synergistic implementation of these programmes, we have developed a draft Strategy for the Division of Environment, Climate Change, Water and Land Management in line with AU Medium Term Plan to enhance resource mobilization and programme delivery. We are the flag bearer in the global environmental discussion, articulating African priorities and concerns and ensuring a fair deal for our continent especially in arena of climate change, biodiversity and desertification negotiations,” she added. And to highlight the magnitude of the environmental challenge, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), reports that this year alone, over 45 million people across Africa, mostly in Eastern and Southern Africa, are food insecure due to prolonged droughts.This came to light when the Africa Risk Capacity (ARC) and the UNCCD announced a partnership to support the development of financial tools to help Africa to adapt and become resilient to future…

OPINION In our beloved, land-locked nation of Zambia, the government has demonstrated encouraging foresight and pragmatism in guiding the country’s efforts to mitigate the causes of the climate crisis and, more relevant to low-emitting African states such as Zambia, adapt to the hazards it brings. Although some of the world’s most powerful political figures are liable to deny it, we in Africa are living with the consequences of climate change every day in new ways. The impact is inescapable. Indeed, over the last several years, the 1.2 billion people living on our proud continent – the second largest population in the world – have suffered significantly the adverse effects of historic droughts, floods, storms and other severe weather events made ever more common by the warming of our planet. The world’s climate scientists, economists, development specialists, urban planners, engineers and any number of other experts among society’s public, private and academic spheres agree that these unnatural weather patterns are, more likely than not, destined to become the norm in sub-Saharan Africa and beyond. Their conclusion? Governments of the world must re-evaluate their national priorities, and allocate far greater attention and resources to adapting their respective economies to this new normal, a verdict that increasingly appears to be gaining traction. This at least is the major takeaway from the recent 74th convening of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Here attendees focused nearly exclusively on climate change and how governments of the world can and should mobilise their political and economic resources to take action. This, of course, is easier said than done. Sub-Saharan Africa needs leadership and international coordination on this issue, and both are in short supply. The absence of urgency may be related to the fact that we are not the world’s worst polluters. Often discussed in recent years has been the region’s profound vulnerability to the hazards of climate change, despite being responsible for less than 5% of annual global greenhouse gas emissions, and less than 2.5% of global cumulative CO2 emissions. Yet it is we who are suffering. No one will soon forget the “Day Zero” water crisis in Cape Town that came after three years of drought. But the problems are diversifying in scope and range. Average climate change-induced temperature increases in the region are projected to be significantly higher than the global mean. And, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the same can be said for the duration, intensity and frequency of droughts and major storms, such as Cyclone Idai. To make matters worse, while this alone is cause enough for alarm, sub-Saharan nations’ quickly growing population, insufficient infrastructure, lack of financial resources, institutional instability and over-dependence on industries highly exposed to climate change, such as agriculture and extractives, render the region ill-equipped to make the necessary adaptations. Yet, against the odds, there are some exceptions. In our beloved, land-locked nation of Zambia, the current government has demonstrated encouraging foresight and pragmatism in guiding the country’s…

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) - Delegates at the Africa Climate Risks Conference have been informed that groundwater is more resilient to extreme climatic conditions especially in arid and semi arid areas, contrary to earlier beliefs – that the resource was vulnerable to the changing climatic conditions. “Through a project known as Groundwater Futures in Africa, we analysed the relationship between climate change and variability and groundwater in 14 sites in Africa,” Martin Todd, a Professor of Climate Change at the University of Sussex, Department of Geography. “What we found is that in arid regions, there was episodic recharge, which occur mainly as a result of intense storms that happen every few years, and sometimes even in years of low total precipitation,” said This, according to the scientist, it means that climate plays a dominant role in controlling the process by which groundwater is restocked. Generally, it means that extreme periodic flooding is what recharges aquifers in such arid and semi arid areas, providing a lifeline and livelihoods for people who depend on groundwater in such areas. The findings, which have since been published in the Nature scientific journal contradicts the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which states that ‘climate change over the twenty-first century is projected to reduce renewable surface water and groundwater resources significantly in most dry subtropical regions, intensifying competition for water among sectors.’ According to Prof Todd, groundwater is generally overlooked in terms of climate impact, and it is also an overlooked resource in Africa and underutilised compared to other continents. “With the rapid population growth and quest for development, there is going to be huge demand on water resources, and therefore we expect that groundwater is a resource that will be heavily developed in the future because climate change and variability is going to place increasing threat to surface water,” he said. The new findings from the study, which was supported by the United Kingdom research councils (Natural Environment Research Council, Economic and Social Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council), the Department for International Development (DFID) and The Royal Society also highlight the need for improvements in models of climate and hydrology. The report indicates that climate models that can better predict the variability and intensity of precipitation events at the local scale, as well as the large scale, would allow hydrological models to better represent replenishment processes. Given a fact that extreme floods can be predicted up to nine months in advance, the researchers say that there is a possibility of designing schemes to enhance groundwater recharge by capturing a portion of flood discharges via a process known as Managed Aquifer Recharge. According to the British Geological survey, successful and sustainable development of groundwater resources in Africa is critical for future safe water supplies, economic growth and food security in the continent. The findings have come at a time several cities across the continent are beginning to exploit the groundwater, which has for long…