ADDIS ABABA (PAMACC News) - Morocco, a nation in the northern part of Africa has been showcased as the best example of African countries that are shifting from nonrenewable energy to green energy, but a senior government official says it takes more than availability of resources.
The country, which has been importing most of its energy particularly from Spain targets to generate 40 percent of grid electricity from renewable sources mainly solar, wind and hydroelectric by 2020.
“We got to this level because there was good political will from the Royal Kingdom, there was transparency, sound policies and direct involvement of the private sector,” Said Mouline, the head of Moroccan Agency for Energy Efficiency (MAEE) told a high level dialogue on sustainable energy held on the sidelines of the Africa Union Summit, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Today, the country has the world’s largest concentrated solar plant on the fringe of the Sahara desert already generating 180 megawatts of electricity, and is set to generate 580 megawatts once the solar plant is completed in 2018.
All the projects are handled by the private sector, but with very close involvement of the government to ensure that there is sound policy environment and transparency at all steps, according to Mouline.
In 2011 for example, the Royal Government made changes in its constitution so as to bring out the aspect of sustainable development, and at the same time stopped subsidising fossil fuels to make renewable energy more competitive, and started welcoming private investments in the clean energy sector.
As a result for example, some of the public transport buses in Morocco, and private cars run purely using electric energy.
“Apart from the mega energy projects, the government encourages investment in solar roofs, solar pumping systems among others by reducing the prices of the gadgets,” Mouline told participants.
So far, there are over 100 small companies in Morocco investing in solar related businesses such as irrigation pumps, repair of the gadgets, disposal of obsolete batteries among other areas. “There is a huge potential in small projects,” said Mouline.
According to Augustine Njamnshi of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, time has come for Africa to invest in solar energy not just for lighting, but for irrigation, heating, refrigeration among other uses.
“We need to change the notion that non-grid energy belongs to the poor, but at the same time try to improve it so that it does more than just lighting the house,” said Njamnshi.
In Morocco, nearly every household in the cities and rural areas have access to electricity. “15 years ago, only 25 percent of the total households in rural areas had access to electricity. But today, 99 percent have access to power,” said Mouline.
Benson Ireri of ChristianAid also wondered why a country like Kenya would invest so much in coal production, when the country has a potential of over 10,000 megawatts of electricity, which is totally underutilized.
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) - Members of African Civil Society organisations (CSO) on Climate change are worried that President Donald Trump may derail his country’s progress towards implementation of the Paris Agreement that seeks to slow global warming, which was coined particularly to accommodate the United States of America.
“The Paris agreement was weakened because we were looking for a treaty that the US President could sign by Executive Instrument, since it is usually very difficult for US to be party to a legally binding treaty that require ratification by the Congress,” said Dr Seth Osafo, the Legal Adviser to the African Group of Negotiators at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
However, with the president’s latest moves to dismantle the legacy of his predecessor Barrack Obama, CSO representatives are afraid that even after accepting to weaken the treaty, Trump is likely to withdraw from the process.
Their worries are complicated by the fact that during his campaigns, Trump had indicated that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive."
“He is a climate denier and that is very unfortunate for the entire world,” said Mithika Mwenda, the Secretary General for the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance during a workshop to review the 22nd Conference of Parties (COP 22), which was held in Marrakech, Morocco.
In one of the presidential debates, Trump further said that the issue of climate change is an issue that requires further probing, and that money used to fight the phenomenon should be channeled to other uses.
"There is still much that needs to be investigated in the field of climate change. Perhaps the best use of our limited financial resources should be in dealing with making sure that every person in the world has clean water. Perhaps we should focus on eliminating lingering diseases around the world like malaria,” said Trump.
Perhaps, he continued, “We should focus on efforts to increase food production to keep pace with an ever-growing world population. Perhaps we should be focused on developing energy sources and power production that alleviates the need for dependence on fossil fuels. We must decide on how best to proceed so that we can make lives better, safer and more prosperous.”
To cement his words, he has already selected a close ally of the fossil fuel industry to head up the environment department, which analysts say may do a big blow to president Obama’s progress on climate change.
So far, in less than fortnight after his inauguration, the President has already changed the federal government’s approach to the environment by clearing the way for two major oil pipelines that had been blocked by his predecessor.
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Members of African Civil Society organisations on Climate change are worried that President Donald Trump may derail his country’s progress towards implementation of the Paris Agreement that seeks to slow global warming, which was coined particularly to accommodate the United States of America.
“The Paris agreement was weakened because we were looking for a treaty that the US President could sign by Executive Instrument, since it is usually very difficult for US to be party to a legally binding treaty that require ratification by the Congress,” said Dr Seth Osafo, the Legal Adviser to the African Group of Negotiators at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
However, with the president’s latest moves to dismantle the legacy of his predecessor Barrack Obama, CSO representatives are afraid that even after accepting to weaken the treaty, Trump is likely to withdraw from the process.
Their worries are complicated by the fact that during his campaigns, Trump had indicated that "the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make US manufacturing non-competitive."
“He is a climate denier and that is very unfortunate for the entire world,” said Mithika Mwenda, the Secretary General for the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance during a workshop to review the 22nd Conference of Parties (COP 22), which was held in Marrakech, Morocco.
In one of the presidential debates, Trump further said that the issue of climate change is an issue that requires further probing, and that money used to fight the phenomenon should be channeled to other uses.
"There is still much that needs to be investigated in the field of climate change. Perhaps the best use of our limited financial resources should be in dealing with making sure that every person in the world has clean water. Perhaps we should focus on eliminating lingering diseases around the world like malaria,” said Trump.
Perhaps, he continued, “We should focus on efforts to increase food production to keep pace with an ever-growing world population. Perhaps we should be focused on developing energy sources and power production that alleviates the need for dependence on fossil fuels. We must decide on how best to proceed so that we can make lives better, safer and more prosperous.”
To cement his words, he has already selected a close ally of the fossil fuel industry to head up the environment department, which analysts say may do a big blow to president Obama’s progress on climate change.
So far, in less than fortnight after his inauguration, the President has already changed the federal government’s approach to the environment by clearing the way for two major oil pipelines that had been blocked by his predecessor.
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OPINION By Dr. Robin Buruchara
I, like millions of others in Africa, can’t imagine what it would be like to live without beans.
Venture onto any small farm in Uganda at meal time, and I can guarantee you that you will find beans on your plate.
Come to think of it, venture onto any smallholder farm, low income urban home or boarding school across Africa at meal time, and you are more likely than not to find beans or some kind of pulse on your plate.
And that’s despite the most severe drought that parts of the continent have seen in decades. Rains have been late or not come at all; water scarcity has devastated harvests, and incomes have been crippled.
Yet beans remain a staple in the African diet, for more reasons than one. They’re inexpensiveand easy to grow, with seeds sourced from neighbours or family members. They’re nutritious: high in protein, fibre, carbohydrates, folic acid, iron and zinc.
Our studies in Rwanda, for instance, show eating iron-fortified beans can actually reverse anemia and iron deficiency.
They come in many shapes, sizes, colors and tastes. In many countries they a good source of income as they are easy to sell. And farmers know beans are a good bet to plant, because if most of their harvest fails and they can’t sell anything - at least they have some food at home.
That’s why the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), works with national bean programs to strengthen cropping systems across 30 countries in Africa.
But growing more beans is not a panacea for tackling malnutrition, improving soil fertility and improving incomes. And, significant challenges block the road to improve production.
Despite the prominence of beans in the local diet and their versatility, the production and improvement of beans is not as high a priority in agricultural and nutritional policies as it ought to be. Their nutritional benefits are not incorporated into nutrition programs; their ability to combat climate change and make farmers’ fields more resilient are not spelled out in climate policy.
It’s unlikely that farmers throughout sub-Saharan Africa – where nitrogen is a commonly lacking crop nutrient – know that beans and other pulses can be used as an alternative or complementary source of nitrogen.They convert atmospheric nitrogen into nutrients the plant can use, by-passing problems associated with excessive fertilizer use - including water and air pollution, not to mention cost.
They might not know which beans can be sold for a good income twice a year at the local market – especially important for women, who traditionally control earnings from the crop. They might not know which varieties can tackle anemia, or improve soil health.
They probably don’t know that beans use less water and energy compared to most other protein sources, and that they are also relatively drought resilient compared with other crops.
This needs to change. These are vital factors for farmers in Africa, who must prepare for more drought, longer dry seasons and shorter spells of unpredictable rainfall. Until our agricultural systems become fully irrigated, our farmers need more resilient crops, and beans are an excellent case in point.
In too many places, new bean varieties and agronomic packages don’t reach farmers or advisory services. To inform farm-scale decision making and agricultural policy, we need to spread the word about the full set of impacts that can be felt by integrating pulses into cropping systems.
It’s true: we do need more research into which beans fit within specific cropping systems.
Agronomic management is a central pillar of pulse production that relies on developing options suited to local contexts. Yield and environmental benefits of pulse production vary widely across agro-ecological contexts.
But already we have evidence to show the yield increases farmers can expect in their fields; the extra income they put into their pockets, and the huge nutritional benefits they can gain from eating beans.
What remains to be seen is how the private sector and public sector can work together to make sure better beans get to more people. To make sure farmers growing them can make more money from them; or feed their families more nutritious diets with them.
We’re tackling these challenges head on. And raising awareness about how exactly beans contribute to our welfare this Global Pulse Day, is among the many routes we can take to beat them.
Dr Buruchara is the Director of the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA)
