Promote Agro Ecology Farming, Government told

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO.

James Isabirye   a maize farmers from Wakiso District has been farming for the last 10 years with the hope of buying himself a vehicle, but the more acreages of maize he plants the more he spends on buying agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and maize seeds from seed companies.

He was told by scientists that planting hybrid maize varieties will give him more produce since they mature earlier.The produce has been promising but later he discovered that he was destroying the biodiversity by destroying the environment and other living organisms in the soil which are vital in soil fertility maintenance.

“The more we apply inorganic fertilizers and other pest herbicides the more our soils lose fertility. Almost every season we are supposed to buy fertilizer to apply in our gardens if we are to get good harvest but our soils are drying up. When we contacted other scientists they advised us to apply organic fertilizers if our soils are to regain its lost fertility,” he explained.

Some of the farmers that attended the Kulika Agro-ecology Dialogue organised by PELUM Uganda 

He, however, knows that it is difficult to access organic fertilizer in huge quantity because there is no company engaging in massive production of organic fertilizers in Uganda.

Isabirye and other farmers were connected to non-government organizations such as Agency for Integrated Rural Development (AFIRD) and Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM Uganda) that are promoting agro ecology farming system, a system which uses Indigenous Knowledge in food and Livestock production

“Through our working relationships with these two institutions, we were taught how to engage in organic farming through our interaction many farmers in the district (Wakiso) are now practicing agro ecology farming system. We were trained on how the system works and many farmers can make their own organic fertilizers instead of procuring the expensive inorganic fertilizers which are very expensive and also dangerous to the country’s Biodiversity,” Isabirye said.

Agro ecology farming

PELUM Uganda, in partnership with other organizations, is pushing for the adaptation of Agro ecology farming system in the country. The organization believes that if the system is adopted, the country will be in position to mitigate climate change which is associated with conventional farming system.

Agro ecology is farming that centres on food production that makes the best use of nature’s goods and services while preserving natural resources.

Robert Guloba, the Program officer Sustainable farming at PELUM Uganda told East African Business Week that on January 16 that conventional/ Industrial Agriculture cannot be a solution to end hunger especially among the small holder farmers in the country.

He explained that the modern system is built around two goals; maximization of production and maximization of profits and for such system to achieve its goals, farmers need big chunks of land. He said such systems are not favourable to farmers in Uganda where the country is experiencing the problem of land fragmentation.

 “PELUM is not against the adaptation of the conventional farming system by the farmers but the system promotes specialized farming system such as monoculture, over depending on expensive inputs; such system is not conducive to our local farmers.Government should put their legal framework which can support our local farmers to adopt Agro ecology farming system which is friendlier to small holder farmers. There is need to rethink agricultural systems that can sustainable feed a growing population and conserve the natural resource base,” Guloba he explained to Environment News Uganda  during an interview.

Guloba observed that Industrial farming promotes mono-cropping in the country a practice which has eaten away the country’s forests cover replacing the country’s biodiversity with monocultures crops such as Sugar cane this has led to Deforestation leading to land degradation and water pollution as result of inorganic fertilizers application by the industries.

Other negative Impacted associated with the current farming system is the Loss of biodiversity due to its habitants being destroyed under the conventional system.

“Uganda is losing vital Insects  especially the pollinators such as bees   due to massive application of herbicides  on some flowering crops , the more bees are killed the more Uganda will be exposed to hunger because the insects plays big role in the pollination of crops and fruits in the organic farming systems ” He added.

Commercial value of agro Ecology

According to the agitators of the system, there is high demand for organic food produces both on the local, regionally and international markets.

What should be done to adopt the system?

According to Julius Musimenta, the Deputy Executive Director AFIRD, government needs to come up with agro ecology policy if farmers are to be supported in adopting the system.

He added that the policy was drafted by the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries but the document is awaiting Cabinet.

“The document is ready but Cabinet has not approved it. As stakeholders in the agriculture sector, we shall keep on pressing the Minister for Agriculture to ensure that the documents are tabled before Cabinet,” he said.

Musimenta added that his organization has carried out research on the system and found that Agro ecology is viable in the country. He noted that currently they are working with farming groups in the central region to practice agro ecology and the results are impressive.

An exhibitor showing farmers packed organic fertilizers from made by AFIRD

“These farmers are accessing our organic fertilizers to apply on their gardens and the produces are good because organic fertilizers feed the soil thus regenerating the soil fertility as compare to inorganic fertilizers which feeds only the crops,” he explained.

A lot of gaps to be filled

Although the Agitators are talking positives about the system, some farmers who shared their views with East African Business Week said there are a lot of gaps which need to filled by the agitators of Agro Ecology farming system.

Patrick Okello, a farmer from Lamwo District told Environment News Uganda that they need to be educated about agro ecology and that some have no capital to invest in the system. This is on top of the country lacking industries that produce agro ecology related inputs such as the organic fertilizers.

He, however, said that   AFIRD has begun producing organic manures from Livestock byproducts and are also planning to partner with local and foreign investors to invest in massive production of organic fertilizers.

On capacity building, Guloba from PELUM Uganda said his organization has been conducting dialogues with farmers in various parts of the country to educate the peasants about agro ecology farming.

“Recently, the organization has been carrying out regional dialogues for agro ecology actors from various parts of the country sensitizing farmers and district leaders about the advantages associated with Agro Ecology farming.The last dialogue was held in the mid of December at the KULIKA Training centre (Wakiso District) for farmers from the central region and before that we held other  trainings in Northern  and Eastern Uganda respectively  and farmers are ready to adopt the farming system,” he said responding to a query from farmers in Lamwo District.

He added that during the dialogues, farmers were educated more about the dangers associated with Conventional/Industrial agriculture.

NEMA's 2017/18 achievements

Statement

The National Environment Management Authority Annual Corporate Report for the Financial Year (FY) 2017/18 has been completed. NEMA has registered numerous achievements in line with the mandate, statutory functions, strategic and approved annual work plan of the institution as described below.

To increase the capacity and strengthen of the institution to effectively deliver its mandate, NEMA established four new regional offices in Mbale Lira, Mbarara and Masindi districts. The opening of the new offices came with the recruitment of new 35 additional staff (20 male and 15 female) to address staffing gaps and meet the increasing service delivery demands. This alone has improved service delivery to and facilitated faster reviews of ESIA documents to ensure timely decision making.

Dr Tom Okurut the NEMA ED

In addition to the above, with support from the Environmental Protection Force (EPF), a total of 59 wetland degradation and 33 noise pollution cases were successfully prosecuted. The EPF has been instrumental in enforcement, investigations, apprehension of suspects and compilation of evidence to support criminal prosecution.

Further still, significant progress has been witnessed in the review and drafting of environmental laws. The National Environment Bill 2017 and National Environment Management Policy, once enacted into Law, will address the gaps in the current National Environment Act, Cap 153; and take care of the new and emerging issues including management of the environmental aspects of oil and gas related activities, electronic waste, climate change, alien invasive species, environmental justice, biotechnology and biosafety, biodiversity loss and offset, payment for ecosystem services, strategic environmental assessment, access and benefit sharing, sound management of chemical and plastics, among others.

Also worth noting is that in FY 2017/18 NEMA contributed to the National Development Plan (NDP11), the Vision 2040 theme and the Manifesto 2016, by giving guidance on strategic EIAs and successfully approving 84.7% of projects for developers. These included; fuel facilities (200), infrastructure projects (194), Information Communications Technology (ICT) (123), processing/manufacturing industries (105), and mineral/mining (62) projects. This is the highest number of projects in a financial year ever approved by NEMA
.

NEMA successfully carried out a total of 1,518 compliance audits and verifications inspections against the planned target of 1,400; hence accounting for a 108% success. The Inspections were undertaken at various facilities and activities across the country, including players in the manufacturing and processing industry; waste management and health care; infrastructure like roads and transport projects; mining and quarrying activities that impact on the green environment. Compliance inspections were also carried out at the countries major hydro-power projects; Isimba, Nalubale and Bujagali.

Numerous restoration activities of critical degraded fragile ecosystem were undertaken and key findings of concern at the time were issues pertaining to site restoration, securing of sedimentation tanks, alien species, biodiversity offset, fish ladder, water stagnation, aquatic weed and soil erosion among others. The Authority has also observed the regeneration of the ecological functions of wetlands such as Limoto, Rwizi wetland systems, and Nakivale lakeshores among others. Restoration of approximately 1000ha of various wetland systems has also been documented.

In a bid to promote Education and Sustainable Development goals (ESD), countrywide environmental education and awareness campaigns were undertaken. These programs were on electronic and print media such as newspapers, magazines, TV and radio. Of which a total of 47.3% were corporate materials; 31.6% for information, education, promotional, and publicity/branded materials; and 21.1% was through the publication of NEMA Quarterly Newsletter.

Finally, NEMA has participated in various regional and international conventions, protocols and conferences. Because of such engagements; a number of officers have been nominated for international assignments; thus contributing to resource mobilization for NEMA through projects and thus strengthening technical environment management skills in Uganda.

World takes a stand against powerful greenhouse gases with implementation of Kigali Amendment

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO

The world has taken an important step on the road to drastically reduce the production and consumption of powerful greenhouse gasses known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and limit global warming, with the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer coming into force on 1st January 2019.

If fully supported by governments, the private sector and citizens, the Kigali Amendment will avoid up to 0.4°C of global warming this century while continuing to protect the ozone layer. The amendment will substantively contribute to the goals of the Paris Agreement.

HFCs are organic compounds frequently used as refrigerants in air conditioners and other devices as alternatives to ozone-depleting substances controlled under the Montreal Protocol.

While HFCs themselves do not deplete the ozone layer, they are extremely potent greenhouse gases with global warming potentials that can be many times higher than carbon dioxide.

The parties to the amendment have put in place practical arrangements for its implementation, including agreements on technologies for the destruction of HFCs and new data reporting requirements and tools.

 The amendment comes with provisions for capacity-building for developing countries, institutional strengthening and the development of national strategies to reduce HFCs and replace them with alternatives. Phasing down HFCs under the Kigali Amendment may also open a window to redesign cooling equipment that is more energy efficient, further increasing the climate gains.

Implementation of new targets set out in the amendment will be done in three phases, with a group of developed countries starting HFCs phase-down from 2019. Developing countries will follow with a freeze of HFCs consumption levels in 2024 and with a few countries freezing consumption in 2028.

Ratified by 65 countries so far, the Kigali Amendment builds on the historic legacy of the Montreal Protocol agreed in 1987. The Protocol and its previous amendments, which require the phasing out of the production and consumption of substances that cause ozone depletion, have been universally ratified by 197 parties.

The broad support for and implementation of the Montreal Protocol has led to the phase-out of more than 99 per cent of nearly 100 ozone-depleting chemicals and significantly contributed to climate change mitigation.

Evidence presented in the latest Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion shows that the ozone layer in parts of the stratosphere has recovered at a rate of 1-3% per decade since 2000. At projected rates, Northern Hemisphere and mid-latitude ozone is scheduled to heal completely by the 2030s followed by the Southern Hemisphere in the 2050s and Polar Regions by 2060.

 To date   65 countries have already ratified the amendment, with more expected in the weeks to come.

GE Renewable Energy, GE EFS partner to provide technology for the Kipeto wind projec

BY ENU

GE Renewable Energy and GE Energy Financial Services, GE EFS, have partnered to provide technology and advisory support for its flagship onshore wind project in Sub-Sahara Africa.

Kipeto Energy Plc's 100-megawatt (MW) wind power project is located south of Nairobi, in Kajiado, Kenya.

GE Renewable Energy will provide 60 of its highly efficient GE 1.7-103 turbines to the Kipeto project, providing power to the equivalent of approximately 40,000 homes in the region.

The 100MW Kipeto wind power project will provide clean energy to the national grid as a significant contribution to Kenya's Vision 2030 and Big Four Agenda. The project is expected to reach commercial operation in 2020.

Peter Wells, GE's Onshore Wind Regional Director for Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, said:

 "GE is incredibly proud to be a part of this exciting endeavor. The Kipeto project is an important step forward in providing affordable, reliable clean energy to the region, and meeting Kenya's renewable energy goals. We look forward to working with our partners on the journey for years to come."

The Kipeto wind power project, which reached financial close yesterday, is funded by equity from Actis and a Kenyan company, Craftskills Wind Energy International, alongside senior debt from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the United States government's development finance institution (DFI).

Subha Nagarajan, Managing Director, GE EFS' Global Capital Advisory, said:

 "Kipeto represents our ability to identify and connect capital from leading government agencies to emerging markets, and enable construction of GE's wind projects in new markets. The project lays foundation for cleaner and more reliable energy for the local communities in the future."

GE Renewable Energy will also provide operations and maintenance services for the wind turbines.

The Kipeto project was originally conceived by Craftskills Wind Energy International, with support from GE. AIIM and IFC InfraVentures co-developed the project with Craftskills from 2014 until early 2018, executing a 20-year Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Kenya Power and Lighting in 2016.

Ugandan Based Innovations Win Grants For Environmental Research

BY ENU

Ketty Adoch a Ugandan innovator in the Agriculture sector has been named among eleven innovators who have been nominated for the Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Earth Innovation Awards.

Adoch, ageographical information systems specialist agriculture works towards monitoring change detection for Land Cover Mapping around the areas surrounding the Murchison Falls National Park.

Also on the list of grants is Torsten Bondo, a business development manager and senior remote sensing engineer from Denmark who applies AI to improve crop water efficiency in Uganda using machine learning.

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Earth Innovation Awards are organized by Microsoft and the National Geographic Society (NGS), to provide funds to innovators for research on global environmental challenges in the key focus areas of climate, agriculture, water and biodiversity conservation.

The grants will be awarded to research teams and organizations who are working across five continents to advance scientific exploration and research on critical environmental challenges with the power of Artificial Intelligence. Each recipient will be given access to Microsoft Azure and AI tools and will be included in the National Geographic Explorer community.

Microsoft Corp Chief Environmental Officer Lucas Joppa said, “We believe AI can be a game-changer in our ability to address pressing societal challenges and create a better future.

Perhaps now here is that potential greater than the continent of Africa, where early adoption of AI tools in areas like agriculture or conservation can yield environmental benefits as well as economic benefits from better management of natural resources and upskilling of the workforce.

In the year since AI for Earth launched, we’ve supported several individuals and organizations in Africa, as well as nearly a dozen organizations that are leading field research across the continent.

The interest is there, the technical skills are growing and we are looking forward to many more exceptional ideas from the next generation of African innovators in the coming years.”

This partnership with NGS builds on Microsoft’s own US$ 50 million over 5 year AI for Earth program, which has awarded more than 180 grants and supports 8 organizations in larger projects since its inception a year ago.

This year, both organizations are awarding US$1.2 million in grants with each recipient having earned funds that range between US$ 45,000 and US$ 200,000.

onathan Baillie, the Executive Vice President and Chief Scientist National Geographic Society said, “We’re incredibly excited about the number and quality of projects from Africa using AI to solve environmental challenges as part of our AI for Earth program.

“From my early days in the Peace Corps in Malawi to today, I’ve had the opportunity to see and experience the abundance and diversity of biodiversity and natural resources across the continent.

“So many of the world’s greatest environmental challenge and largest datasets are available here – from sustainable agriculture to improving species conservation, and from mitigating the impacts of climate change in cities and rural areas to conserving and protecting water.

“Early adoption and use of AI to solve these problems, here, with young innovators and entrepreneurs, will help every African country grow, adapt and thrive in the future.”

The two organizations believe that the combination of human ingenuity and AI can change the way that society monitors, models and manages Earth’s natural systems.

The eleven 11 AI for Earth Innovation grant recipients are:

Ketty Adoch, Uganda, agriculture: Change Detection for Land Cover mapping Around the Areas Surrounding the Murchison Falls National Park

Torsten Bondo, Denmark/Uganda, agriculture: AI4Water: Improving Crop Water Efficiency in Uganda Using Machine Learning.Kelly Caylor, US, water: Global Maps of Center Pivot Agriculture to Improve Estimates of Land Use Change and Water Use

Joseph Cook, UK, climate change: AI at the Ends of the Earth.Stephanie Dolrenry, US/Kenya, biodiversity: LINC- an AI-assisted Collaborative Database for Lion Identification and Inter-Organizational Research.Gretchen Daily,

 US, water: Mapping of Small Dams and Reservoirs with Earth Observation and AIAfrica Flores, Guatemala, water: Harmful Algal Bloom Early Warning System.Solomon Hsiang, US/ Sweden, climate change: Understanding the Effect of Climate Change on Human Migration in Africa Using 1.6 million Historical Aerial Photographs

Holger Klinck, Germany/Panama, biodiversity: The New Buzz: AI-Powered Acoustic Monitoring of Insect Communities to Advance Conservation of Tropical Rainforests.Justin Kitzes, US, biodiversity: Developing the First Open Source, Scalable Bird Song Classification Software.Heather J. Lynch, US, biodiversity: Coupling AI with Predictive Modeling for Real-Time Tracking of Antarctic Penguin Populations.

Coca-Cola Beverages pens down deal with Danish Embassy on Plastic management

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO

Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA) Uganda has signed Memorandum of Understanding with the Royal Danish Embassy in Uganda to ensure that the country is free of plastic waste.

The Memorandum will support the beverages company vision of seeing that all plastics are collected and recycled by the year 2030. According to the beverage company they plan to work with all stakeholders to help the company in collecting and recycling of all plastic wastes generated in the country.

Speaking at the signing ceremony at the Danish Embassy in Kampala on Thursday, the head of Mission at the Embassy  Majbrit Holm  Jakobsen  applauded the  Coca Cola for coming up with the initiative of keeping Uganda  free from plastic waste  that are  an environmental threat.

The Head of Mission at the  Danish Embassy Majbrit posing in picture after the signing of the deal with the Coca-coal boss in Uganda Niekerk

“Sustainable development and green growth are focus areas of Denmark and the Danish Embassy in Kampala and its companies are leading when it comes to developing of sustainable products and services.  When plastics waste are recycled, more products can be produced and sold on the market; this creates jobs for younger people at the same time cleaning up the environment,” she said.

CCBA Managing Director Conrad Van Niekerk said by recycling plastics will help the beverages company to lower the cost of production since some of the packaging materials are being imported from abroad.

“Food  and beverage packaging  is  an important  part  of our  modern  lives, yet  the world  has a packaging problem  which  CCBA together  with  The Coca-Cola Company have  responsibility  to collect plastics that are significantly global challenge.  That is why as a company, we have are commited to invest in initiatives that save our planet and make the packaging problem a thing of the past through recycling the waste,” he explained.

Van Niekerk added that the partnership will support the government in solving environmental challenges associated with the accumulated plastic waste.

“We want to support the government’s environmental   management objectives by making recycling more accessible for everybody,” he added.

Under the deal, the Embassy of Denmark will ensure that all their employees participate in collecting plastics accumulated in their offices to make the deal successful.

Kenya and Uganda to Intensifies the fight against Wildlife trafficking through new strategy

BY SAMUEL NABWIISO

  In abid to avert the increasing incidences of Wildlife trafficking between Uganda and Kenya, the two countries are developing new strategy to help conservations agencies to protect wildlife’s.

The new strategy in the offing will look at three most sensitive areas that fueling in wildlife trafficking between Kenya and Uganda and they are Stopping Killings, Blocking the transits of Illegal wildlife and finally blocking market accessibility by the traffickers especially on International markets.

Speaking at the closing of Four days Training for Uganda cross border Law enforcement training which aimed at  building capacity for detecting illegal species so as to combat wildlife trafficking in Kenya and Uganda at Hotel Africana . UWA Executive Director Sam Mwandha said the increasing Trafficking of illegal Wildlife products is due to the high demands for the products in the Asian Countries thus the need to come up with strategy to cut off such markets.

Mwandha handing over certificate to one of the participants as Njimbi  smiles on left 

“The new Strategy which the two Conservations agencies are about to adopt   will be game changer in combating Illegal Wildlife trafficking between Uganda and Kenya when we stop the killings of Wildlife and Intensifies enforcement at the borders entries both in Uganda and Kenya boarder points then we shall eliminate Ivory on Transit from the two states to the International markets.” He said.

The proposed strategy will be implemented by Uganda Wildlife Authority and Kenya’s Wildlife Services.

   

Mwandha noted that Wildlife’s killings in both countries has reduced due to the strengthening in the  enforcements  especially in the National parks and game reserves but , the challenges is now with other neighboring countries  in central Africa  where large consignment of Illegal Wildlife products are   entering the two countries on transits to Asian Countries  where the market is high.

 “Our routes are being used by the dealers as transits routes to Asia because of the lope holes on the boarder entries especially on the side of Democratic Republic of Congo, Malaba and Busia but we are ready to ensure that security at those points are beefed up to ensure that Illegal wildlife products are Intercepted before getting its way to International markets especially in China and Thailand” He explained.

Explaining more on blocking market accessibility, Mwandha explained that they will be carrying out more sensitization about the danger of Wildlife trafficking in most Asian Countries to ensure that the market provider Understand the economic value attached to wildlife conservation and also the dangers associated with Wildlife trafficking one of them being the funding of negative forces in most countries. 

   

Training for Uganda cross border Law enforcement was organized by UWA with financial support   from the International Fund for the Anial Welfare (IFAW) and its was attended by participant’s from Law enforcement agencies  from  UWA ,Civil Aviation Authority,  Uganda Revenue Authority, Uganda Police Kenya Wildlife Service , ISO and Migration  both from Uganda and Kenya .

Commenting on the outcome of the training IFAW Head of programs Steve Njimbi , said the training  has equipped the participants with adequate skills if used professionally it can yields into positive results in the struggle to eliminate Wildlife trafficking in the two countries

“The enforcement officer have equipped with skills related to carrying out crime Investigations related to Wildlife trade, how to detect Wildlife products being concealed in luggage’s on transits  both at the boarder  entry pointers  even at Airports  we hope that if they  follow the guidelines  the two countries then will registers big progress in combating Wildlife trafficking”  Njimbi said

.

 Comments from participants, some participants who attended the training and share their views with the media on condition of anonymity said they have learnt a lot but for the training to be productive, the two countries should allocate more resources in the Implementation of the strategy.

“The strategy is good but more resources should allocated to the various e enforcement agencies to enable them carry out their enforcement duties without being compromised by the Wildlife traffickers especially when it comes to carrying out Investigations both by police Customs officer among other agencies responsible for fighting Wildlife trafficking related cases” Said one of the participant from the Uganda Police forces.

At the end of the Training participants were awarded certificates of participation   in the training