Africa’s Environment Ministers call for action through innovative solutions

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO

Africa’s Ministers responsible for Environment   have announced commitment to promote and invest in innovative solutions while implementing concrete actions to overcome environmental challenges facing the continent.

In a ministerial declaration issued recently at the closing of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), African governments agreed to enhance innovative environmental solutions and capacity building of human capital to achieve sustainable development in Africa

.

Speaking on behalf of the President of Kenya H.E Uhuru Kenyatta, Mr. Keriako Tobiko, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Environment said protecting environment  is vital actions since environment plays big role towards social transformation.

Some of the Minister  who attended the meeting

:” It is important to note that environment is the foundation and the basis of the social and economic development of our countries as continent let us struggle to ensure that nature is protected .” Tobiko said

This year’s AMCEN was held under the them Under “Turning environmental policies into action through innovative solutions”, the ministers the importance of the meeting was to mobilize political support and committed to integrate innovative solutions into their countries’ national development agendas.

According to the Moroccan Minister for Environment Dr. Nezha El Ouafi said African need invest more resources in developing innovations that can support environmental conservation.

“Africa needs to invest in innovative solutions to change its development pathway in a sustainable way. We need to deploy new and smart approaches to overcome the continent’s most pressing environmental challenges,” said Nezha El Ouafi Minister of Environment, Morocco and vice-president of AMCEN.

At the conference, ministers stressed the need to empower innovators, the private sector, micro-small and medium enterprises and civil society to use new approaches to address environmental challenges. They agreed to support Pan-African platforms on the environment to promote and share experiences and solutions across the continent.

“Public-private sector partnership will have to play a key role in embracing innovation and turning environmental policies into concrete actions to achieve the objectives of the AU Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” Minister Ouafi added.

Committing to enhance their countries’ efforts to implement policies, legislation and programmes promoting innovative solutions, the ministers called on UN Environment Assembly and UN Environment programme to increase support to African countries as well as facilitating access to innovative partnerships.

“Africa stands on the right side of history to support the environment. We have the human resources, natural wealth, and leadership to innovate and transform our region,” said Joyce Msuya, Deputy Head of UN Environment.

Addressing the Conference, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) said protecting the environment can save peoples live since environmental destruction leads to people’s death.

“Environment is central to human health; every year almost 12.6 million people die from hidden risks in the environment African governments should put human and environmental health at the center of policy making in all sectors.

Other key decisions made at the conference included Biological Diversity conservation:

African Governments recognized the urgent need to combat land degradation and restore ecosystems in Africa. A Pan-African action agenda is being prepared to respond to land and ecosystems degradation challenges.

The Ministers agreed to develop common positions on various priority issues and speak with one voice during the upcoming 2018 UN Biodiversity Conference which will be held in Egypt in November 2018. The priorities will inform the post-2020 biodiversity framework and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

On Climate Change, the Ministers stressed that the outcomes of COP24 should reflect the spirit of the Paris agreement. The outcomes should balance between the Agreements elements related to action, support and transparency. Adaptation and finance should be core elements for effective operationalization of the Agreement.

They emphasized the importance of enhancing accessibility, predictability and sustainability of means of implementation, in particular finance. They agreed to work constructively to deliver the mandate of the Paris Agreement Work Programme.

Health and Environment: Recognizing the nexus between environment and health, Ministers agreed to actively participate in the third Inter-Ministerial Conference on Health and Environment in Africa, Libreville, 9 to 12 October 2018. The theme is “Health and environment strategic alliance: a catalysis for action on the Sustainable Development Goals in Africa.”

African Agric Ministers calls for more funding in the sector

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO

Several African agriculture ministers joined public and private sector representatives calling for more investment in agriculture at a Leadership4Agriculture event held at the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Kigali, Rwanda.

Organized by the African Development Bank, the Leadership4Agriculture session facilitated partnerships between policy makers, private investors, institutions and offered participants opportunity to learn more about the Leadership 4 Agriculture network’s agenda to drive action-oriented, growth enabling investments. Several ministers at the event criticized what they said was a culture of talk without action

.

“Too many of the same declarations are made but are never carried out at the African Union level,” said Côte d’Ivoire Minister of Agriculture, Mamadou Coulibaly.

The African Union’s Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Program in 2003 set a target for African governments to allocate ten percent of national budgets to agriculture. According to AGRF, only 13 African nations have reached or surpassed this goal.

Jennifer Blanke, African Development Bank Vice-President for Agriculture, Social and Human Development, and the Rockefeller Foundation’s Managing Director for Africa, Mamadou Biteye, earlier set the tone for the session. They charged their organizations to advance the Leadership4Agriculture mission..

President Kagame posing in Group photo with Delegates  during the conference 

“With [Bank] partners the Rockefeller Foundation, now we have funding for a Secretariat for Leadership4Agriculture, which will allow us to track progress,” said Blanke. “Let us all, together, make Africa shine,” she added.

 

Agriculture ministers from across the continent, including from Zambia, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Gabon, Mozambique, South Sudan, Togo and Mauritius. Rwanda’s former Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, who now serve as President of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), said ministers need to campaign harder for increased budget funding for smallholders.

“[Agriculture] is a government’s most important industry,” AGRA President Agnes Kalibata told the audience. “Nobody is going to give you money because you are Minister of Agriculture – there are 20 other ministries competing for money. It is [an agriculture minister’s] responsibility to make the case,” she said.

Speaking at the occasion Rwandese President  Paul Kagame  hailed African Green Revolution Forum for spearheading the development of Agribusiness in the Continent

Kagame  stressing  point 

.

AGRF research indicates farming remains a key source of income for 60 to 65 percent of the labor force in sub-Saharan Africa and will continue to be a major source of employment for a decade or more. Leadership4Agriculture session attendees said the mentality that agriculture is more of a traditional career for those who don’t have alternative r work options, has to change.

Edward Mabaya, Manager of the African Development Bank’s Agribusiness Development Division, said government leaders and farmers should replace the word “agriculture” with “agribusiness.”

NFA to plant 10 million trees

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO

National Forestry Authority plans to plant 10 million trees in a mover to restore Uganda’s forest cover which has been deeply reduced due to human activities across the country.

 According to Tom Okello  the executive Director  of NFA , Uganda’s forest cover  has been reducing at high rate this has exposed Uganda as Country to massive Environmental  Impacts such as climate change , landslides  and soil erosion which has had big impact on the country’s economy thus the need to restore the forest coverage in the country.

 “We are going to plant about 10 million trees starting on the 21^stOf September across the country our attention is to restore the country’s forest cover  which has been highly degraded due to human activities such as the increasing demand for biomass fuels , demand for land for Agriculture activities due to the increasing population in the country “ Okello said.

Aisha NFA Pro and  Okoello during the press conference 

Uganda’s forest cover according to statistics from NFA stated diminishing from 1994 where the total coverage was at 24% but to date such coverage has been reduced to less than 10% currently. The major driver for the loss of the country’s forest cover is the high demand for trees to produce charcoal and fire woods which are the major source of energy in most urban towns in the country.

For the country to regain the lost glory of the forest cover, the country need to plant at least 136000 hectares annually and According to NFA, the agency is read to work with Individuals willing to engage in tree planting.

“We are willing to work with communities by providing free tree seedlings especially for the natural trees such as Mahogany Mvule  to those Individuals NFA has nursery tree  beds across the country which makes it very cheap to access the tree planting materials in the country let us work together for the good of our country” He said.

some of the tree seedlings to be distributed.

The tree planting Exercises is among the key Activities being organized by the tax Body URA as the agency plans to host the 2018 tax payers appreciation week which is expected to kick off on the 26^thOf September to 28^th at the Kololo Airstrip ground.

Addressing the media at the URA Head offices Okello said, NFA will be signing agreements with local Governments to ensure that they engage more local communities in tree planting.

“Government allocates some resources to NFA to implement the community Tree planting programs we shall be using part of the resources to support the local governments to implement the program on behalf of NFA” He said.  

UK partners with Kenyan scouts and UN environment to fight plastic

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO

UK Prime Minister Theresa May has  announced her government’s commitment with UN Environment to inspire young people to become leaders in the fight against single-use plastic.

May recently who was meeting over 150 scouts and Guides along side with the  Head of UN Environment, Erik Solheim, on the campus of the United Nations offices in Nairobi to announce the launch of a new Plastic Challenge Badge for Girl Guides and Scouts.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May  with Scouts  inKenya recently 

Plastic Challenge Badge for Girl Guides and Scouts, initiative will promote education and action through the type of hands-on environmental stewardship for which the Scouts and Guides are famous.

The Badge curriculum will first target schools and youth groups in Kenya, helping an estimated 50,000 young people to better understand the importance of reducing plastic consumption and kick-start behavior change.

In the UK, the government is providing $50,000 in initial funding for the project and will support an exchange programme to connect Scouts and Guides from the UK and Kenya with a focus on catalyzing a youth-led global effort to beat plastic pollution.

The UK Government will also fund the creation of a resource pack which will support UK Scouts to take greater action on plastic pollution.

In the months to come, UN Environment, the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) will continue to empower millions of young people on plastic pollution.

 World Scouting, with 50 million members across the world, and UN Environment in February renewed their global partnership for the environment.

Speaking to Scouts and Guides on hand to participate in a design challenge for the badge, UN Environment’s Executive Director summed up the stakes.

“The environment has already paid a heavy price for our addiction to single-use plastics. We simply can’t allow that cost to extend to the next generation,” said Solheim.

“That’s why this support from the UK government to create and launch a plastic pollution badge with the Guides and Scouts is such an inspiring step in the right direction. This global partnership allows us to not just fight plastic pollution on the beaches, but to invest in the young minds that will preserve the planet for future generations to come.”

Symbolic of to the UK’s global leadership in the fight against single-use plastic pollution, May paid the visit amid a packed diplomatic schedule which featured visits to South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. She is the first Prime Minister since Margaret Thatcher to visit UN Environment headquarters in Nairobi.

Developed as part of the Food and Agriculture Organization’s Youth and United Nations Global Alliance, UN agencies, civil society and other organizations, 

Challenge Badges aim to raise young people’s awareness, educate and motivate them to change behavior and help them become an active agent of change in their local community. The series can be used by teachers in school classes as well as by youth leaders, especially those in Guide or Scout groups.