ACCRA, Ghana (PAMACC News) - The demand for cocoa remains high, with increasing consumption of cocoa products by emerging economies which is expected to increase in the coming decades.
However, the cost of producing the beans continues to increase, yields are declining and the negative impacts of climate change continue to threaten the already poor smallholder cocoa farmers.
The cocoa sector has also seen very limited innovations and new investments while cocoa trees and farmers continue to age.
“One of the impacts of this dwindling productivity is the removal of shade trees from farms and the expansion of cocoa cultivation into areas of rainforest,” said Harm Duiker, Country Director of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation. “As a result, globally, cocoa is counted among the major driver of deforestation and biodiversity loss”.
As a forest shade grown tree, cocoa is a crop that thrives in areas of high biodiversity and tropical forests landscapes.
Farmers and scientists alike recognize that shade trees are vital to reducing both ecological and economic risks, including maintenance of soil fertility and moisture, weed suppression and pest and disease control.
They also acknowledge shade trees play an important role in climate adaption in cocoa system.
However, there is increasing demand for scientific evidence of ecological and economic benefits of trees in cocoa systems.
Recent studies have contested the benefits claimed to be associated with cocoa agroforestry, including mitigating adverse climate effects, pathogen or disease regulation, and more importantly improvements in soil fertility.
The Cocoa Dialogue
The national dialogue on cocoa agroforestry systems therefore had the objective of consolidating evidence-based ecological and economic benefits of cocoa agroforestry systems, identifying gaps in knowledge and to ensure consistency in promoting cocoa agroforestry science, policy and practice in Ghana.
It was organised by SNV Ghana in collaboration with the Ghana Cocoa Board, the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, KNUST and International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
The event attracted experts who observed that gaps in science and practice, and inconsistencies in the promotion of cocoa agroforestry as well as land and tree tenure bottlenecks constitute major challenges to the rapid adoption of cocoa agroforestry systems among smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana.
They called for increased research to fill the gaps in evidence-base science and the practice of cocoa agroforestry systems in Ghana.
Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Ahia Clottey, the Deputy Director Cocoa Health and Extension Division (CHED), reiterated COCOBOD’s commitment to promoting cocoa agroforestry under its recently launched cocoa rehabilitation project.
He said the current programme targets only 156,400ha out of the 700,000 total rehabilitation need of the entire cocoa landscape of Ghana.
He therefore called for stakeholders’ investment into cocoa rehabilitation in order to increase productivity of current land under cultivation in Ghana.
Expert presentations and discussions were made on the current state of knowledge on soil improvement, soil nutrient and water competition, disease and pest control, trees species recommendation in shaded cocoa systems.
According to Prof. Boateng Kyeremeh from the Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources, KNUST, the realities of climate change vis-a-vis sustainability show the importance of holding the national dialogue to help farmers built resilience.
He believes Ghana’s cocoa industry should be able to meet the challenges imposed by climate change with scientific support and political will.
Building Resilient Smallholder Systems
The national dialogue forms part of activities under the Shaded Cocoa Agroforestry System (SCAFS) project, being implemented by SNV with funding support from the German Federal Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).
SNV supports cocoa agroforestry as a model towards more diversified and resilient smallholder systems that can help to increase and secure production in the long term with ecological benefits.
“This is important to smallholder cocoa farmers that are affected sometimes by highly volatile global prices and by climate change,” said Harm Duiker.
He indicated that cocoa agroforestry practices come at a cost to smallholder farmers and a deeper understanding of the processes in cocoa agroforestry systems will help to promote its benefits to smallholder farmers.
The national dialogue on cocoa agroforestry systems was attended by academia and research institutions, private license cocoa buying companies, farmer’ representatives, non-governmental organizations and representatives from the public.
LIBREVILLE, Gabon (PAMACC News) - Water experts, policy makers, government representatives, UN agencies, donors and nongovernmental organisations kicked off the celebration of the seventh edition of the Africa Water Week in Libreville city of Gabon on 29th October 2018, calling on African governments to reflect on achievements made so far towards availing clean water and sanitation services to all.
The one week long event is convened by the African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) in collaboration with UKaid supported project for Unlocking the Potential of Ground Water for the Poor (UpGro), USAID, Africa Development Bank (AfDB), The Global Water Partnership (GWP) and the International Water Management Institute.
According to Prof Makame Mbarawa, the AMCOW President and the Minister for Water and Irrigation for Tanzania, the event is a call to action and positions Africa to creatively think, act and win.
“This is an opportunity to share lessons and good practices in water security management, to share lessons and good practices on enhancing water and sanitation resilience to climate change,” he said in a statement.
One of the objectives is also to create an opportunity to contribute to developing strategies on raising adequate and sustainable financing of water and sanitation agendas.
The 7th Africa Water Week, brings together over 1000 participants from governments, regional institutions, international partners, the private sector, the scientific community, civil society, and the media particularly from Africa
The Minister for Water and Engergy for Gabon Hon Patrick Eyogo Edzang lauded Prof Mbarawa’s statement saying that accomplishing water security is imperative to safeguarding sustainable access to adequate quantities of acceptable quality water to maintaining livelihoods, human wellbeing, and socio-economic development.
The Africa Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, H.E Sacko Eyogo Leonel Correa urged all African governments to include more water sanitation and hygiene projects in their National Determined Contributions (NDC) to unlock more climate related financing mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund, Adaptation Fund, AfDB Climate related Funds, and a host of other sources of funding.
Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) is a term used under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that all countries that signed the UNFCCC were asked to publish in the lead-up to the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Paris. Once the agreement is ratified, the INDCs automatically changes to NDCs.
“I also want to congratulate AMCOW on the launch of the 2018 - 2030 strategy, and therefore, I call upon our ministers to take action, and they should not keep this important document on their shelves,” said Correa, calling on development partners to help in implementation of the tool.
In a video recorded speech to the delegates, Amina Jane Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations and a former Minister of Environment of Nigeria noted that the challenge of water scarcity is exacerbated by the widening impacts of climate change. “This is both unacceptable, and yet avoidable,” she said.
She called on political leadership to accelerate progress. “In this regard, the United Nations is working closely with the African Ministerial Conference to build momentum for the South South corporations in support for the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Wambui Gichuri, the Director for Water Development and Sanitation Department and Africa Water Facility at the AfDB reminded the delegates that Africa loses an estimated 5% of its Gross Domestic Product to poor water development and management, an estimated 5 to 25% due to climate change impacts, and that more than 300 million people on the continent lack access to improved water supply.
The event will help shape policy direction for water resources and related sector management in Africa; influence science, technology and innovation, network with decision makers and implementers, scientists, development specialists, knowledge managers, industrialists and manufacturers, civil society and other major stakeholders in water and related sectors.
IKOM, Nigeria (PAMACC News) - Chiamaka Abraham is a hygiene hero from Ikom LGA, Cross River state, South-south Nigeria. She attends Holy Trinity Academy and she is 8 years old. Chiamaka recently visited another school in her neighbourhood (PCN Primary School, Ikom) to talk about the importance of handwashing with soap or ash and the implication of not practicing handwashing at critical times.
She demonstrated how to and supported in constructing a handwashing gallery for the school. She also demonstrated the steps to proper handwashing to the host pupils.
At the end of her discourse and demonstrations, she entertained questions from the school kids, and boldly advised the management of PCN Primary school to encourage good hygiene practices such as effective handwashing in the school.
On what motivates her, she informed the WASH unit staff that she would not want to contact germs that would lead to illness for her, making her parent spend money in the hospital or she dying as a result.
She further said, ‘I want to be part of the campaign to save other children’s lives. I want to advice all children to always wash their hands with soap and water, else they contact germs. If they contact germs, they will fall sick, spend money in the hospital or die.
Today I visited PCN primary school, to tell them the importance of Handwashing. I will continue to preach this message to all children around me, to save their lives and save mine too’.
Global Handwashing Day 15th October, together with its cousin World Toilet Day on 19th November, brings attention to the most basic issues – hygiene & sanitation – that to our shame still account for two million child deaths a year.
A third of the world’s population – 2.4 billion people – live with poor sanitation and hygiene which, according to the World Bank, costs countries $260 billion annually.
Every day 2,000 children die before reaching their fifth birthday due to diarrheal diseases, the vast majority caused by poor sanitation and hygiene. Diarrhea alone has killed far more young children in Nigeria over the last 12 months – around 150,000 – than Boko Haram’s slaughtering and the wars in Syria combined. Whilst we continue the daily search for even a hint of a resolution to these two brutal and complex conflicts, we already know the simple solution to tackling hygiene and sanitation-related diseases.
We know that handwashing with soap is the most effective and inexpensive way to prevent diarrheal diseases - reducing incidence by up to 47% - and combined with improved sanitation, this is boosted to 68%. We know that in countries with the highest child mortality rates, as few as 1% of people wash their hands effectively and that the global average is only 19%.
Most frustratingly, effective tools and participatory methods are readily available and it is estimated that interventions that promote handwashing could save close to a million lives.
So why is hygiene promotion not a focus of most development projects?
The relative lack of attention in both development and media circles is why we need days such as Global Handwashing & World Toilet Day to remind us of how simple the solutions to serious issues can be. They can also be used creatively to launch an outreach campaign or to celebrate behavior change achievements.
In Nigeria, United Purpose’s month-long Global Handwashing Day campaign brings together famous musicians, local leaders, and a soap company to empower thousands of school children as hygiene promoters called hygiene heores in communities already committed to improving sanitation.
United Purpose and PZ Cussons expanded its GHD celebration reach this year by holding events across 12 LGAs In Benue and Cross River states from 4th to 9th October 2018. These events were held in the United Purpose’s WASH programme LGAs for Rural Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in Nigeria (RUSHPIN) and Community-led Health Improvement through Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion in Nigeria (CHISHPIN).
Over 43,000 children participated in several events planned for the year between 9 October and 15 October 2018
Participating schools were pre-selected and participating kids from each school were Environmental Health Clubs (EHCs) members in their various schools. EHCs are sanitation and hygiene clubs established in schools to enhance existing skills of participants especially school teachers in life skills-based hygiene education using child to child approach in order to bring about sustainable behavioural changes at school, family and community levels.
At the events, the theme of the 2018 Global Handwashing Day, ‘Clean Hands a Recipe for Health’ was highlighted and the kids were engaged in fun handwashing themed activities and games which demonstrated the importance of handwashing with soap. At the conclusion of the events, over 2,000 kids from 12 local government areas became hygiene heroes who were equipped to take the handwashing message back to their various schools and communities
Mass Handwashing in schools
On the 15th of October, which was GHD proper, the Hygiene Heroes from the LGA events facilitated handwashing with soap at their various schools, thus enabling other kids in their school join in celebrating the global handwashing day. They re-enacted the setting up handwashing stations in their schools, the lessons learnt from the GHD celebration they attended and they demonstrated the steps to proper handwashing. An estimated 36,000 schools kids from 240 primary schools were reached through this activity alone.
Hygiene Heroes Peer to Peer learning visits
To ensure non-participating schools were not left out, some vibrant hygiene heroes were selected in each LGA to visit one or two other schools who did not participate in the GHD celebration to spread the handwashing message.
This event encouraged a peer to peer learning approach which saw the hygiene heroes having discussions with their peers in other schools about the importance of handwashing with soap. The hygiene heroes not only discussed but also demonstrated how to construct group handwashing stations using materials available locally and the proper way to wash hands. This approach is used because kids learn better when they listen to their peers.
For the fifth consecutive year, United Purpose and PZ Cussons has jointly facilitated Nigeria’s largest Global Handwashing Day (GHD) Campaign.
Global Handwashing Day, celebrated on 15th October, is an annual global advocacy day dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about the importance of handwashing with soap as an easy, effective, and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives.
With this message, United Purpose and PZ Cussons have engaged thousands of school children and reached millions of people in Nigeria and globally – and will continue to share the vitally important message of handwashing with soap with many more.
NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has called on African leaders to work in unity to be able to combat effects of climate change.
Saying that climate change is a matter of life and death for Africa and the continent has experienced devastating and unprecedented impacts of climate change on its peoples' lives and livelihoods and national economies.
“Given that our shared ecosystems and natural resources know no boundaries, it is essential that we continue to speak in one voice to safeguard the basis of our development and seek transformative solutions,” Uhuru said last week.
In a speech read on his behalf by Environment Cabinet Secretary KeriakoTobiko, Uhuru said Africa is the most vulnerable continent despite contributing only about four per cent to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Tobikoread the speech when he represented the President to launch the three-day 7th Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-VII) in a Nairobi hotel.
The conference is convened by Government, in collaboration with Climate Development (CLIMDEV) Africa Partners, Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) and Think Renewables from Canada.
However, the President said climate change threats present opportunities for innovative and green investments for Africa.
“This is why implementation of the Paris Agreement remains a priority for the continent in order to adapt to the inevitability of climate variability and change,” Uhuru said
He said that achieving the goals of the Agreement require committed leadership from state and non-state actors.
“The theme of this year’s forum, “Policies and actions for effective implementation of the Paris Agreement for resilient economies in Africa”, reflects our collective engagement and commitment to strengthen climate change actions in the context of Africa’s development priorities,” Uhuru said.
He called on Africa to use the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report on Global Warming of 1.50C special report and its impacts in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty released this week.
The President said 2018 is a critical year for the operationalization of the Paris Agreement. The nature and extent of parties’ obligations will only be clear once negotiations on the Paris Rule Book are complete, and hopefully adopted in COP 24, in Katowice, Poland in December 2018,” Uhuru said.
He noted that for Africa to address effects of climate change, it needs adequate and predictable resources be mobilised and made available to support adaptation and mitigation action in Africa and other developing world.
Kenya has put in place an enabling policy and legal environment for climate change implementation and has a greenhouse gasemission reduction target of 30 per cent by 2030.
“Our National Climate Action Plan (2018-2022) identifies disaster risk management, food and nutrition security, water and the blue economy, forestry, wildlife and tourism, health, sanitation and human settlements to help us tackle climate change,” Uhuru said.
The President as part of tapping into the opportunities in biodiversity, Kenya will hosting the first Sustainable Blue Economy Conference next month to promote sustainable investments in oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers.
“I invite you all to attend and actively participate in the Conference so as to raise the African voice in matters of Blue Economy and Ocean governance,” Uhuru said.
Tobiko stressed the need to include indigenous knowledge, marginalized and indigenous communities, private sector, the youth and women.
“Scientists need to work closely with indigenous people to learn from them on how to address climate change. The communities have solutions to the problems we are facing now. Let us not spend more time in boardrooms,” Tobiko said.
Vihiga Governor Dr Wilbur Otichillo who represented the Council of Governors (CoG) stressed the need for working together to achieve climate change goals.
“The national government has built capacities of counties. Counties now should have their own county determined contributions to address climate change since this is a devolved function,” Otichillo said.
Dr James Murombedzi, head of Africa Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) said climate change is happening at a rate much faster than previously estimated.
“Global warming is outstripping all our efforts to resolve it.The impacts of global warming are also already much greater than predicted, particularly in developing countriesLimiting global warming to 1.5 degrees will cost $2.4 trillion of investments in the global energy system every year between 2016 – 2035. The cost of not doing anything will be much, much higher,” Murombedzi said.
MithikaMwenda, the secretary general of PACJA said political leaders hold the key for the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement.
“Our leaders should remain focused and resist attempts to scatter the unified African voice to deny us a strong bargain of the Paris rulebook which will define whether the agreement will follow the previous efforts which have remained in the shelves of government offices without implementation,” Mwenda said.
