SUSTAINABILITY - The African Mirror

Sep

17

2020

U.N. says global goals to protect nature need women to succeed

SUSTAINABILITY

LAURIE GOERING WOMEN - who gather much of the world's wood and water, and carry out a large share of its farming - have too little say in how land is used, one key reason countries are failing to halt rapid losses of nature, environmental officials said on Tuesday. Giving women a bigger voice in decision-making "is essential to achieve our biodiversity goals", said David Cooper, deputy executive director of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The United Nations released a sobering update on global efforts to protect forests, plants, wildlife, fish and other forms of nature, noting that none of…

Sep

11

2020

By The African Mirror

Kenyan county tackles water woes with locally led climate fund

SUSTAINABILITY

GEOFFREY KAMADI EXPOSED to both drought and flash floods, Makueni was one of the first counties in Kenya to set up its own fund to help small-scale farmers cope with worsening climate change impacts, and dedicate local resources to tackling the problem. Inhabitants of this water-scarce region southeast of Nairobi have often faced hunger during long dry periods, while heavy rains inundate its low-lying savannah with little notice. Sometimes the two extremes hit the county at the same time. "We had to think of a quick, locally led solution for our people," said Mary Mbenge, Makueni's chief officer for natural…

Sep

10

2020

By The African Mirror

Zimbabwe bans mining in wildlife parks

SUSTAINABILITY

ZIMBABWE’S government has banned mining in game reserves following concerns from conservationists who accused two Chinese companies of exploring for coal in the biggest national park, Hwange. Hwange, in western Zimbabwe, is home to the country's biggest elephant herd - more than 40,000, large pride of lions as well as buffalo, among other game and birds that are popular with tourists. The park is near a forest where 22 elephants have died in mysterious circumstances. The Bhejane Trust, which works with the wildlife authority in conservation in Hwange and the Safari Operators Association said two Chinese firms were allocated concessions…

Sep

08

2020

By The African Mirror

Mauritius must protect vulnerable coastal communities from the effects of the oil spill

SUSTAINABILITY

ROSABELLA BOSWELL, Professor of Ocean Cultures and Heritage, Nelson Mandela University ON 25 July 2020, the Japanese ship, MV Wakashio, ran aground the coral reef off the eastern coast of Mauritius. The vessel discharged more than 1,000 tonnes of oil into the island’s pristine lagoon including its Blue Bay Marine reserve. The situation is critical because Mauritius is a biodiversity hotspot. But beyond the environmental consequences, there’s the human impact. Oil spills have major social and health implications. People exposed can suffer from liver damage, skin and lung disorders, increased cancer risk, reproductive damage and post traumatic stress. Responding to…

Sep

04

2020

By The African Mirror

Kenyans fear ‘ecological disaster’ if two swollen lakes merge

SUSTAINABILITY

JACKSON NJEHIA Lake Baringo, one of the most northern of the Kenyan Rift Valley lakes, is visible at the top of the image. With a surface area of 130 sq km and an elevation of around 970 m, the lake has an average depth of around 5 m and it is one of the two freshwater lakes in the Rift Valley.South of Lake Baringo lies Lake Bogoria – a saline, alkaline lake. The long and narrow lake has an area of around 30 sq km and is around 10 m deep. Lake Bogoria provides refuge for the lesser flamingo, with…

Oct

02

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigeria’s pioneering gas flaring plan risks going down in flames

SUSTAINABILITY

LIBBY GEORGE JONAH Gbemre often has no electricity, but he says his home is permanently lit at night by the flames of waste gas being "flared" near his home town in Nigeria's Delta State. Like Gbemre, nearly half of Nigerians have no stable power supply, yet government attempts to harness gas belching from its oil fields to generate urgently-needed electricity or revenue have stalled. And experts say that without progress towards its 2030 target of virtually eliminating flaring, which releases carbon dioxide along with polluting methane and soot, Nigeria cannot meet its pledge to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 20%.…

Oct

05

2020

By The African Mirror

Key insights into land degradation from seven African countries

SUSTAINABILITY

KARL HUGHES, Head of Monitoring, Evaluation and impact Assessment, World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) LAND is essential to our lives – we grow food on it and rely on it for economic growth and development. In sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 83% of people depend directly on land for survival. However, approximately two-thirds of the continent’s productive land is degraded – it has lost its productive capacity – to some degree. This is driven by years of overgrazing, inappropriate agricultural practices, extreme weather events and the conversion of forest land into farm land. The future doesn’t look promising either as Africa is the…

Nov

07

2020

By The African Mirror

Satellite data provides fresh insights into the amount of water in the Nile basin

SUSTAINABILITY

FLOWING through 11 African countries, the Nile River plays an important role in the lives of more than 24% of Africa’s population. To both upstream and downstream countries, the Nile waters are crucial in development planning, food and energy production. EMAD HASAN, Postdoctoral Researcher in Remote Sensing Hydrology, Binghamton University, State University of New York AONDOVER TARHULE, Professor, Vice president for Academic Affairs and Provost, at Illinois State University, Illinois State University As countries vie for these resources, there has been immense tension. Most notably, Egypt and Sudan have challenged Ethiopia’s decision to construct and fill the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance…

Nov

05

2020

By The African Mirror

Flooded out, hungry South Sudan farmers race to plant fresh crops

SUSTAINABILITY

STEPHEN TEKAJUOK AFTER the worst rains in living memory inundated her fields, South Sudan farmer Alexandra Karama is, like hundreds of thousands of her compatriots, staring hunger in the face. Her smallholding is located outside the western town of Mundri, one of the worst affected areas where swathes of crops have failed. "My groundnuts have all been swept by the water... Nothing is left, no sorghum (either)," Karama, a grandmother, told Reuters in Mundri town, where she has been forced to seek shelter at a U.N. compound. Like much of east Africa, South Sudan has been affected by unusually prolonged…

Nov

04

2020

By The African Mirror

Climate change, migration and urbanisation: patterns in sub-Saharan Africa

SUSTAINABILITY

ROMAN HOFFMAN, Postdoctoral researcher, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research THE link between climate change and migration has gained both academic and public interest in recent years. Many studies have found that environmental hazards affect migration. But the links are nuanced and depend on the economic and sociopolitical conditions in the respective regions of origin. So what causes people to move and where do they go? And what is the relationship between these decisions and changes in climatic conditions? To answer these questions we conducted a meta-analysis to systematically analyse previous findings in the literature on environmental migration. We combined…