PAMACC in Abidjan, COTE D'IVOIRE
The Second Conference of the Parties to the Bamako Convention (also known COP 2) began this morning in Abidjan, the capital city of Cote d'Ivoire.
The conference will hold from 30th January to 1st February 2018 under the theme: "The Bamako Convention: a platform for a pollution-free Africa."
"COP 2 aspires to provide a platform to discuss ways and means of ensuring that the continent rids itself of hazardous wastes and contribute to the achievement of a pollution-free planet", says Mme Aida Keita M'bo, President of the COP and Malian Minister for Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development.
Host Minister and Ivoirian Minister for Public Health, Environment and Sustainable Development, Mme Anne Désirée Ouloto urged her colleagues to work torwards a COP 2 outcome that will "prevent Africa from becoming a dumping ground for toxic wastes through an effective implementation of the Bamako Convention”.
"The importation of hazardous waste into Africa is a crime against humanity and we must commit to prompt action aimed at overcoming barriers to effective management and minimization of waste in Africa through increased knowledge on waste scenarios in order to prevent harm to health and environment,” Mme Ouloto added.
"We have a collective responsibility to safeguard communities from the environmental and health consequences of hazardous waste dumping," said Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director of UN Environment.
"Africa is not the dustbin of the world" Thiaw added while reinstating UN Environment's commitment to a pollution-free world.
From Basel to Bamako Convention
The Bamako Convention is a treaty of African nations prohibiting the importation of any hazardous (including radioactive) waste into Africa.
The convention which came into force in 1998 is a response to Article 11 of the Basel convention which encourages parties to enter into bilateral, multilateral and regional agreements on Hazardous Waste to help achieve the objectives of the convention.
African Nations established the Bamako Convention in 1991 to complement the Basel Convention.
The Convention, which came into force in 1998, is aimed at protecting the health of populations and the environment of African countries through a ban on the import of all hazardous and radioactive wastes.
It also prohibits the dumping or incineration of hazardous wastes in oceans and inland waters, and promotes the minimization and control of trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes within the African continent.
The Convention also aims to improve and ensure ecologically rational management and handling of hazardous waste within Africa, as well as the cooperation between African nations.
PAMACC in Abidjan, COTE D'IVOIRE
The Second Conference of the Parties to the Bamako Convention (also known COP 2) began this morning in Abidjan, the capital city of Cote d'Ivoire.
The conference will hold from 30th January to 1st February 2018 under the theme: "The Bamako Convention: a platform for a pollution-free Africa."
"COP 2 aspires to provide a platform to discuss ways and means of ensuring that the continent rids itself of hazardous wastes and contribute to the achievement of a pollution-free planet", says Mme Aida Keita M'bo, President of the COP and Malian Minister for Environment, Sanitation and Sustainable Development.
Host Minister and Ivoirian Minister for Public Health, Environment and Sustainable Development, Mme Anne Désirée Ouloto urged her colleagues to work torwards a COP 2 outcome that will "prevent Africa from becoming a dumping ground for toxic wastes through an effective implementation of the Bamako Convention”.
"The importation of hazardous waste into Africa is a crime against humanity and we must commit to prompt action aimed at overcoming barriers to effective management and minimization of waste in Africa through increased knowledge on waste scenarios in order to prevent harm to health and environment,” Mme Ouloto added.
"We have a collective responsibility to safeguard communities from the environmental and health consequences of hazardous waste dumping," said Ibrahim Thiaw, Deputy Executive Director of UN Environment.
"Africa is not the dustbin of the world" Thiaw added while reinstating UN Environment's commitment to a pollution-free world.
From Basel to Bamako Convention
The Bamako Convention is a treaty of African nations prohibiting the importation of any hazardous (including radioactive) waste into Africa.
The convention which came into force in 1998 is a response to Article 11 of the Basel convention which encourages parties to enter into bilateral, multilateral and regional agreements on Hazardous Waste to help achieve the objectives of the convention.
African Nations established the Bamako Convention in 1991 to complement the Basel Convention.
The Convention, which came into force in 1998, is aimed at protecting the health of populations and the environment of African countries through a ban on the import of all hazardous and radioactive wastes.
It also prohibits the dumping or incineration of hazardous wastes in oceans and inland waters, and promotes the minimization and control of trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes within the African continent.
The Convention also aims to improve and ensure ecologically rational management and handling of hazardous waste within Africa, as well as the cooperation between African nations.
NAIROBI, Kenyya (PAMACC News) - Kenny Matampash, a crop and livestock farmer and an agricultural solutions expert in Kajiado County says African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) are crucial to addressing effects climate change in Kenya.
Matampash says his knowledge in irrigation has helped him grow crops in a dry land for commercial use.
“From October this year, I have lost 130 heads of cattle. This shows how urgently Government should engage us to get our views on how to incorporate our indigenous system in improving agriculture,” he says.
The farmer who keeps livestock, rabbits, bees and grows various crops says indigenous knowledge can help in the use of storage of animal feeds and water for irrigation.
“I use my indigenous knowledge prepare land for pasture conservation. Here, I can conserve Napier grass and beetroots. I have also drilled two boreholes at a cost of Sh4.5 million. I use the water to irrigate crops like maize, vegetables, water melon and yellow beans,” Matampash says.
He reveals that he has trained farmers locally and internationally to adopt diversification and adaptation of innovative techniques for sustainable agriculture.
Together with his wife Phylis Nadupoi, the couple now sells their products in Elangata-Wuas, Ilbissil and other markets in Kajiado.
“My knowledge has created a miracle in this arid and semi-arid area. This can be replicated in all ASAL regions when water availability and storage is made a priority,” Matampash says.
Mary Kiminza, a farmer in the arid area of Makueni in Eastern Kenya says farmers in the region have used IKS to devise innovative ways of water storage to help them plant crops even during droughts.
The farmers have come together to build a traditional rock catchment system to harvest rainwater, and despite dry weather, the village still has plenty of water.
“Apart from the gift of life from God, this is the other biggest blessing that has come to us,” says Mrs Kiminza, a mother of five and a member of the village's Ithine Self Help Group.
Rock catchment systems use naturally occurring rock outcrops to divert rainwater to a central collection area. A concrete wall is built to direct the water that trickles down the rock surface into sand and gravel filter, then down pipes into covered storage tanks to be used for irrigation.
“We use our knowledge to build resilience to climate extremes among the worst-hit areas, using locally acceptable techniques and making them as sustainable as possible,” Mrs Kiminza says.
“Residents here in the dry-land regions face an acute water shortage. But with innovative traditional water harvesting techniques, most of them have become food secure and not dependent on food aid any longer,” Mrs Kiminza says.
In Mbeere region, another dry land, farmers have abandoned growing traditional crops like maize, sweet and white potatoes and have found a way to stay afloat as water becomes scarcer.
The farmers are now breeding catfish in “home dams” that capture rainwater, to help them cope with water scarcity.
“This is my new source of income,” said Sylvester Kinyori, 32, who operates a kiosk in Isiolo town where he sells fish products from local farmers who have turned to aquaculture.
Farmers in the region started rearing fish four years ago, after they were introduced to a simple way of trapping and storing rainfall run-off in what are known as “home dams”.
The water is stored in reservoirs sunk in the grounds of a household compound, fitted with a thick polythene lining to stop it percolating away into the soil.
John Njiru said experiment by farmers in Mbeere had shown catfish which have distinctive whisker-like filaments around their mouths could be more resilient to a harsh climate than tilapia, withstanding higher temperatures.
"We are now healthier because we can eat the fish, and sell the surplus to generate income. It is my hope that fish farming in this region will stand the test of time given the tough and changing climatic conditions,” Njiru says.
Weather, climate change and IKS experts unanimously agree that tapping IKS will make conventional weather services more relevant and accessible, thereby increasing update and use by local farmers.
The experts note that local farmers have in-built indigenous knowledge weather forecasting practices established after long years of observation of their respective natural environments.
They also agree that African IKS pertaining to weather have not been fully integrated in climate change information services and this has led to existing weather information services to lack relevance to local communities.
Dr Richard Lesiyampe, the principal secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture agrees. He explains that unpredictable weather patterns have negatively affected farming in Kenya.
“We have a shortfall of nine million bags of maize this year. This is because farmers in this region, considered the country’s main grain basket harvested 36 million bags of maize last year,” Lesiyampe said.
He added, “The shortfall has been caused by adverse weather effects that have caused prolonged wet or dry seasons and new emerging diseases. Government has a programme to tap farmers’ knowledge in weather forecasts and irrigation to find ways of mitigating against such negative effects.”
Dr Richard Muita, a lecturer at Institute for Meteorological Training and Research works closely with the traditional Nganyi rainmakers based in Bunyore in Western Kenya.
The Nganyi observe changes in nature that would be unnoticeable to most people - in air currents, the flowering and shedding of leaves of certain trees, the behaviour of ants, bird songs, even the croaking of frogs and toads.
“They are able to interpret weather patterns and provide valuable advice. The Kenya Meteorology Department (KMD) works together with the traditional rainmakers to produce more accurate forecasts and disseminate them to a wider number of farmers.
This, he adds has enabled the meteorologists to blend ancient and modern weather systems together to build climate resilience.
Prof Joseph Mukabana, Head of African Offices and Least Developed Countries at the World Meteorological Organisation (MWO) in Geneva, Switzerland emphasised the role of IKS in agriculture.
“The Nganyi have key information in astronomy and botany that can be used to address climate change. These people can look at stars and plants and predict whether there will be strained or enough rains. This knowledge can be used by governments to advise farmers on what crops to plant to last the predicted spell of rain,” Mukabana says.
Prof Hassan Kaya, the Director, Centre in Indigenous Knowledge Systems, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa said that understanding of the importance of IKS is key in explaining the symbiotic relationship between ecosystems and human dynamics for climate change adaptation and mitigation.
“This includes the correlation between habitat, ecosystem services, culture including language, natural resources and their collective impact on community livelihoods in terms of food security and nutrition and energy needs in the face of climate change,” Kaya says.
He called for research and documentation of African cultural and ecological histories, including indicators of natural early warning systems and innovative adaptation strategies to climate variability and change,
“This will provide a clear and broad conceptualization of climate change and variability in the African context across time. It will also provide foundation for devising policy strategies which are culturally and ecologically specific. It will also identify IKS-based commonalities in ecologically and culturally comparable zones for climate change policy development and implementation,” he said.
Prof Joseph Matowanyika, the Director of Indigenous of the Knowledge Systems, Environment and Lifelong Learning Department, Chihonyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe says the history of how African countries are inter-related through the river systems is useful.
“The whole of African is connected by its river systems. When we work with experts in IKS, we will be able to minimise conflicts among countries and be able to produce enough food for all of us,” he says.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) - The government of Ethiopia through the country’s National programme to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+) office will now support the efforts by the World Bank to create awareness on the subject among rural communities through the civil society.
Addressing delegates at an event alongside the Africa Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, Dr. Yitebitu Moges Abebe, the Country’s National REDD+ Coordinator said that his office will soon call for proposals from civil society organisations to support REDD+ Preparedness, which is an ongoing project with funding from the World Bank through the Pan Africa Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA).
“The government is committed to spreading the knowledge of REDD+ to rural communities so that they can understand the meaning of conserving forests for the long term benefit of the entire country,” said Abebe.
So far, the Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD), which is a PACJA sub-grantee on the project has already trained 35 experts from four different civil societies as REDD+ trainers, who are now supposed to spread the same knowledge to many other experts on the ground who always interact with local communities.
“Training communities especially on a complicated issue such as REDD+ is not like a lecture in class. It calls for practical action, and this comes with a cost,” said Asrat Mangesha, the ISD Administration and Finance Manager.
According to estimates by the government of Ethiopia, greenhouse gas emissions from forestry will increase from 53 MT CO2e in 2010 to 88 Mt CO2e in 2030, and therefore, there is need for urgent action, according to Abebe.
PACJA is currently implementing a two-year project supported by the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership facility (FCPF) which is aimed at building the capacity of African Civil Society and Local Communities on REDD+.
The beneficiaries of the project are Southern Civil Society Organisation networks and organisations from18 FCPF eligible countries in Africa. PACJA is therefore the CSOs Intermediary and implementing agency, and is focusing on national level activities on five countries namely that include Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Togo, Mozambique and Madagascar.
In Ivory Coast, through ‘Actions en faveur de l'homme et de la nature Ivory Coast (AFHON)’ targeted students from the Faculty of Local Languages to train them on REDD+ modules. “We mobilised them during the module session to bring their academic knowledge in local languages to facilitate awareness information, then caravan campaign,” said Coulibaly Davy Wohary, AFHON’s Coordinator of FCPF REDD+ Project.
According to Obed Koringo from the PACJA Secretariat, the main objective of the project is to strengthen knowledge of CSOs and local communities in Africa on REDD+ Readiness at the national level and as well to strengthen knowledge exchange at the regional level.
“We also target to provide CSOs and local communities in Africa with information, knowledge and awareness on REDD+ in order to enhance their understanding of REDD+, and to engage more meaningfully in the implementation of REDD+ Readiness activities,” he told PAMACC News.
The project is consistent with the 16 session of the United Nations negotiations on climate change (COP16)’s recognition of the need to engage a broad range of stakeholders at the global, regional, national and local levels, including governments, private business among other entities to foster the participation of women, youth, indigenous peoples, civil society groups and relevant stakeholders in decision-making on climate change at the national level and their attendance at relevant intergovernmental meetings.
In response to civil society representatives’ calls for knowledge sharing and dissemination, and in order to strengthen regional CSO collaboration, the project aims at designing and implementing a robust regional platform for information exchange and knowledge sharing between CSO networks of the FCPF member countries in Africa as well as other national and regional REDD+ processes and climate change fora.
