A Partner of HarvestPlus, an international agricultural organisation, Mr Pelumi Aribisala, says that Nigeria stands to gain a lot through the bio-fortification of crops.
Bio-fortified crops in Africa
He said this in Ibadan on Friday, February 16, 2018 at a training organised for members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) serving in Akinyele Local Government Area, Oyo State, on bio-fortification of crops.
Aribisala described bio-fortification as a process of using conventional breeding techniques to infuse essential micro-nutrients into staple crops.
He said that HarvestPlus and its partners had developed, through bio-fortification, 25 different value added products in the country through vitamin A cassava and maize.
He urged corps members to exploit the business opportunities that were available in bio-fortified crops.
“You can engage in planting or production of vitamin A cassava and maize even while serving; you can also engage in garri production.
“Besides, you can produce odourless fufu, custard and other products from vitamin A cassava and maize; you can also supply fufu to restaurants and other places.
“The start-up capital for the business is small but it has several benefits; we have made the products available, especially for youths who want to engage in the business.
“As a corps member, you can be easily linked up to farmers who will patronise you.
“So, look at any of the products you are interested in and start dealing in them; we promise to give you every assistance you need,” he said.
Speaking, a corps member, Mr Eugene Igbaifua, thanked HarvestPlus for the training, saying that it had been very beneficial.
“I now know that I can be self-employed through crop bio-fortification; I can also make business plans on different businesses for any investor.
“I can do business plans for establishment of garri/fufu processing centres and the optimisation techniques in making combo bites snacks,” he said.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that HarvestPlus improves nutrition and public health by developing and promoting bio-fortified food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals.
The organisation also provides global leadership on bio-fortification evidence and technology, with emphasis on naturally bio-fortified crops.
The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) says more than 8.5 million persons are in dire need of life-saving support due to humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeastern part of Nigeria.
Some internally displaced persons awaiting food distribution in a camp
According to its recent report, no fewer than 6.9 million displaced persons are targeted for assistance out of the number.
The fact-sheet from the agency shows that 5.2 million people are facing food insecurity and 5.1 million persons are targeted for food security interventions.
Similarly, it observes that humanitarian organisations, in collaboration with the Federal Government, have also provided support to three million persons under the emergency food intervention programme.
The report further states that 3.4 million persons, particularly children, expectant and nursing mothers, need nutrition support but 2.7 million persons are targeted for assistance.
OCHA explains that 2.1 million persons have so far benefitted from various nutrition interventions designed to control malnutrition in the war ravaged region.
Similarly, according to the report, more than 5.6 million of the estimated 6.9 million persons received health care service support through effective interventions provided by humanitarian organisations.
In spite of these humanitarian interventions, OCHA decried the spate of violence against civilians and internally displaced persons, noting that urgent measures were necessary to enhance protection and security of persons affected by the conflict.
It is against this backdrop that the UN Deputy Secretary-General, Mrs Amina Mohammed, recently paid a visit to Borno State.
She visited Bama, one of the communities liberated by the military from the insurgents, the Military Command, Control Centre, Military Cemetery and Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri, to assess the situations.
She said the visit was to assess gaps in humanitarian needs, identify areas of interventions and reconstruction efforts recorded by the government so that she could report back to the UN secretariat.
During the visit, Mohammed inspected a camp of internally displaced persons in Bama and a school in the camp where she interacted with pupils and displaced persons.
“My visit to Bama is to see what the government of Nigeria, Borno Government with the support from the UN system, has achieved in the past years; what are the challenges and the gaps to address.
“It is also to interact with those that are working in the frontline, to hear from humanitarian workers, our agencies and organisations, about the funds that we have put on the federal and state governments’ programmes.
“The visit is also to speak with displaced persons and the military with a view to understanding best way we can address the situations.
“To know how we can deal, address the crisis, work towards the resettlement and reintegration of displaced persons to their communities.
“The federal and state government have achieved significant feat in rehabilitation and reconstruction projects.
“There is considerable improvement from what has happened in the past two years; certainly, more can be done and that is why we are here.
“I will say that the funds raised at the Oslo Conference for North-East Humanitarian Intervention were properly utilised and we have seen the benefit of it.
“We look forward to another opportunity to bring more funds to Borno,’’ Mohammed stated.
Prof. Babagana Zulum, Commissioner for Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement in Borno, said that 11,000 residential homes, 170 classrooms, 11 schools, electrification and water projects had been completed in Bama.
He explained that the projects were designed to facilitate voluntary return of displaced persons to their ancestral homes, build resilience and provide means of livelihoods to enable them to continue with normal life.
In a remark, Brig.-Gen. Garba Audu, Commander of the 21 Brigade of the Nigerian Army in Bama, Borno, told the UN visiting officials that the military were conducting various operations in the area including clearance of mines; security protection, support to internally displaced persons, unaccompanied children and provision of free healthcare services.
Audu declared that Bama town was safe and called for UN support to facilitate clearance of mines that were preventing farmers to cultivate farmlands.
He said that such clearance exercise was imperative to ensure protection of lives and property as well as fast-track resettlement of displaced persons.
In the same vein, Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno observed that the UN had demonstrated greater concern and commitments to addressing the humanitarian crisis in the north-eastern region of the country.
“While as minister in Nigeria, Mohammed showed empathy towards us in Borno; she visited Chibok over the abduction of school girls and also visited Bama when the town was liberated from the insurgents,’’ the governor said.
For the benefit of hindsight, the 2016 Recovery and Peace Building Assessment Report indicates that one million residential homes, 665 public structures, 5,335 classrooms, 201 healthcare centres, 776 electricity installations were destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents in the region.
The report was issued by the World Bank, the European Union and the federal and government of the affected states in the region.
To address the problem, OCHA noted that improved funding was imperative to scale up activities and fast-track implementation of humanitarian interventions in the war ravaged region.
The UN agency stressed that the humanitarian crisis in the region remained severe due to ongoing conflict, continued internal displacement and unpredictable return of refugees from neighbouring countries.
The agency, nevertheless, promises that humanitarian partners will dedicate planning and programming to in-depth assessment in the region which findings will feature in humanitarian overview and 2018 Humanitarian Response Plan.
Nigerian off-grid energy investment company, All On, has announced financial close with three firms for accelerated access to affordable and sustainable energy sources in the Niger Delta.
Off-grid solar energy solution in a rural community
Chief Executive Officer of All On, Dr. Boer Wiebe, announced a follow up to the equity investment made in 2017 to Nigeria Solar Home System market leader, Lumos Global BV, in the form of a debt facility to facilitate a quick rollout in the Niger Delta. All On is also providing equity and debt to Port Harcourt-based Green Village Electricity (GVE), a Nigerian mini-grid player, for expansion in the Niger Delta and across Nigeria, while ColdHubs is receiving a convertible debt facility to expand its solar-powered marketplace cold storage business to new markets in the region.
These developments are coming barely three months after All-On announced its first set of transactions in Nigeria’s off-grid market, and two months after the firm and U.S. Africa Development Foundation (USADF) announced a $3 million partnership to expand access to energy for underserved and unserved markets in Nigeria.
“The investments made in these energy solution providers further demonstrate our firm belief that off-grid energy is indispensable in the improvement of Nigeria’s energy narrative. It therefore deserves adequate attention and financial backing from both the public and private sectors,” Dr. Boer said.
Commenting, Lumos’s CEO, Davidi Vortman, said: “This debt facility from All On both cements the strategic relationship between our two companies and goes a long way towards significantly accelerating the speed of penetration of Lumos Solar Home Systems in the Niger Delta region. All On has established itself as a leader in off grid energy in Nigeria and we are therefore excited to work with All On to enhance energy access for Nigerians in the Niger Delta and across the country.”
ColdHubs CEO, Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu, described the investment as a demonstration of All On’s commitment beyond simply addressing the access to energy gap, to harnessing innovative renewable energy solutions for the preservation of perishable foods. “This support by All On will enable Cold Hubs to further refine its business model to help improve the livelihoods of people and enhance food security in the Niger Delta,” he said.
In his reaction to the financial close, Managing Director of GVE, Ifeanyi Orajaka, said: “We at GVE are excited about this relationship with All On. An investment from a world-class organisation such as All On further validates our position as one of the leading and most innovative indigenous clean energy solutions providers in sub-Saharan Africa.”
All On, an independent impact investing company, was seeded with funding from Shell, and works with partners to increase access to commercial energy products and services for under-served and un-served off-grid energy markets in Nigeria, with a special focus on the Niger Delta.
Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State on Thursday, February 15, 2018 said that the open grazing prohibition and ranches establishment law was the only way out of the conflicts between herdsmen and farmers in rural communities.
Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba State
Ishaku said this when he received the American Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr William Stuart, who paid him a courtesy call in Jalingo, the state capital.
The governor, who explained that the population of the country in the 1950s and 1960s was no longer the same, said that Nigeria must adopt ranching to end frequent clashes and other challenges associated with open grazing.
“Cattle breeders cannot continue to move through the bush with a lot of risks associated with such movements.
“They need a better life and that is what we are trying to do by enacting open grazing prohibition law.
“It is unfortunate that some people, who don’t have knowledge of what we are trying to do, are constantly attacking us and giving wrong colouration to the law,” he said.
Ishaku solicited the support of the American government in finding ways toward permanent peace in Taraba and Nigeria, and commended the U.S. government’s deep concern for the welfare of its citizens.
“In America, if one person is killed, America will go to war. That is what we are lacking in Nigeria.
“As a governor, I don’t control any security apparatus which makes it difficult for me to take concrete decisions on security. Whatever decision I take, critics see it from either ethnic, religious or political angle. This is bad,” he said.
He pledged to solidify the relationship between Taraba State and the American government, and called on investors to take advantage of the abundant natural resources endowed in the state to invest in it.
Earlier, Stuart had said that he was in the state to learn more about its people, and urged Nigerians to always remember that they could never be Nigerians without Nigeria.
He advised Nigerians to always protect and promote national interest and strive toward unity.
“The strength of Nigeria lies in its diversity; Nigerians must harness these diversities for the good of the country.
“Any time I have interactions with Nigerians, I always ask them what they love about Nigeria.
“I am happy working in Nigeria than any other country, because Nigerians are hardworking and resilient people,” he said.
Extreme weather events are set to occur more frequently, even if the central goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement to limit the global temperatures rise to well under 2°C is met, according to new research by Stanford University scientists.
Outcome of extreme weather: Extensive flooding of Lokoja in Kogi State in 2012.
The findings highlight the urgent need for more and better insurance schemes for the world’s most vulnerable populations, such as the InsuResilience Partnership which was given a boost during last year’s UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany.
The researchers, who published their work in the journal Science Advances, analysed the likelihood of warm, dry, and excessively rainy periods in the coming years, all of which are already exacerbated by rising global temperatures and sea levels.
By meeting the current commitments of the 2015 Paris Agreement, heat waves are five times more likely to occur in 50% of Europe and more than 25% of East Asia. In addition, heavy rainfall is three times more likely to occur in 35% of North America, Europe and East Asia.
Countries agreed in 2015 that they would limit the rise in global average temperature to rise to well below 2°C from pre-industrial levels and as close as possible to 1.5°C. Achieving both goals would reduce but not eliminate the risk of extreme weather events, the study says. Whilst governments are seeking to raise climate ambition, national climate action plans submitted under the Paris Agreement to date put the world on a course to 2-3 °C.
“Even if this better level were achieved , we would still be living in a climate with a much greater likelihood of unprecedented events than today,” says Noah Diffenbaugh of the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment.
About 90% of North America, Europe, East Asia and the tropics “would see a marked increase in the risk of record heat, rainfall and / or drought,” says Science Advances again.
“We have determined that humans have already increased the likelihood of historically unprecedented extreme events … including more than 50-90% in North America, Europe, and eastern Asia,” the researchers say.
Insurance One of the Most Effective Ways to Build Resilience to Climate Impacts
According to the German reinsurer, Munich RE, natural disasters mostly related to climate change (intense storms, floods and wild fires) caused a record amount of damage in 2017: $330 billion.
According to a study from Davis University in California, insurance can be the most effective way to increase the resilience of poor households in the face of climate change while also preventing other households from falling into poverty.
For example, the InsuResilience Partnership for Financing and Development insurance solutions for climate risk and disasters was launched by the G7 Group of countries in 2015 under the German presidency.
The initiative is to provide insurance to 400 million vulnerable people around the world by 2020. It was boosted last year during the UN Climate Change Conference COP23 in Bonn, Germany.
Also during COP23, Norway and Unilever pledged $400 million to boost resilient social development.
One thing is certain: Adaptation to the inevitable impacts of climate change – which under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is already politically on the same footing as reducing greenhouse gas emissions – will doubtless become increasingly important over the coming years.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued new recommendations to establish global care standards for healthy pregnant women and reduce unnecessary medical interventions.
Mother and child after a successful delivery
Worldwide, an estimated 140 million births take place every year. Most of these occur without complications for women and their babies. Yet, over the past 20 years, practitioners have increased the use of interventions that were previously only used to avoid risks or treat complications, such as oxytocin infusion to speed up labour or caesarean sections.
“We want women to give birth in a safe environment with skilled birth attendants in well-equipped facilities. However, the increasing medicalisation of normal childbirth processes are undermining a woman’s own capability to give birth and negatively impacting her birth experience,” says Dr Princess Nothemba Simelela, WHO Assistant Director-General for Family, Women, Children and Adolescents.
“If labour is progressing normally, and the woman and her baby are in good condition, they do not need to receive additional interventions to accelerate labour,” she says.
Childbirth is a normal physiological process that can be accomplished without complications for the majority of women and babies. However, studies show a substantial proportion of healthy pregnant women undergo at least one clinical intervention during labour and birth. They are also often subjected to needless and potentially harmful routine interventions.
The new WHO guideline includes 56 evidence-based recommendations on what care is needed throughout labour and immediately after for the woman and her baby. These include having a companion of choice during labour and childbirth; ensuring respectful care and good communication between women and health providers; maintaining privacy and confidentiality; and allowing women to make decisions about their pain management, labour and birth positions and natural urge to push, among others.
Every labour is unique and progresses at different rates
The new WHO guideline recognises that every labour and childbirth is unique and that the duration of the active first stage of labour varies from one woman to another. In a first labour, it usually does not extend beyond 12 hours. In subsequent labours it usually does not extend beyond 10 hours.
To reduce unnecessary medical interventions, the WHO guideline states that the previous benchmark for cervical dilation rate at 1 cm/hr during the active first stage of labour (as assessed by a partograph or chart used to document the course of a normal labour) may be unrealistic for some women and is inaccurate in identifying women at risk of adverse birth outcomes. The guideline emphasizes that a slower cervical dilation rate alone should not be a routine indication for intervention to accelerate labour or expedite birth.
“Many women want a natural birth and prefer to rely on their bodies to give birth to their baby without the aid of medical intervention,” says Ian Askew, WHO Director, Department of Reproductive Health and Research. “Even when a medical intervention is wanted or needed, the inclusion of women in making decisions about the care they receive is important to ensure that they meet their goal of a positive childbirth experience.”
High quality care for all women
Unnecessary labour interventions are widespread in low-, middle- and high-income settings, often putting a strain on already scarce resources in some countries, and further widening of the equity gap.
As more women give birth in health facilities with skilled health professionals and timely referrals, they deserve better quality of care. About 830 women die from pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications around the world every day – the majority could be prevented with high-quality care in pregnancy and during childbirth.
Disrespectful and non-dignified care is prevalent in many health facilities, violating human rights and preventing women from accessing care services during childbirth. In many parts of the world, the health provider controls the birthing process, which further exposes healthy pregnant women to unnecessary medical interventions that interfere with the natural childbirth process.
Achieving the best possible physical, emotional, and psychological outcomes for the woman and her baby requires a model of care in which health systems empower all women to access care that focuses on the mother and child.
Health professionals should advise healthy pregnant women that the duration of labour varies greatly from one woman to another. While most women want a natural labour and birth, they also acknowledge that birth can be an unpredictable and risky event and that close monitoring and sometimes medical interventions may be necessary. Even when interventions are needed or wanted, women usually wish to retain a sense of personal achievement and control by being involved in decision making, and by rooming in with their baby after childbirth.
Wind energy continues to grow globally, with wind the most competitively priced technology in many if not most markets.
Wind turbines in a wind energy farm
According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), the inevitable transition to renewable energy continues to gather momentum with the total global wind energy installation now at almost 540 gigawatts.
The GWEC Secretary General Steve Sawyer says that wind energy is becoming steadily cheaper, and that this benefits consumers and the environment:
“The dramatic price drops for wind technology has put a big squeeze on the profits up and down the whole supply chain”, concluded Sawyer. “But we’re fulfilling our promise to provide the largest quantity of carbon-free electricity at the lowest price. Smaller profit margins are a small price to pay for leading the energy revolution.”
The transition towards renewables such as wind energy is critical to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Change Agreement which aims to limit the rise of global average temperatures to well below 2 degrees Celsius and as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The report published by the Global Wind Energy Council today says that Europe, India and the offshore sector have had record years.
Chinese installations were down slightly to 19.5 Gigawatts (GW), but the rest of the world made up for most of that.
Markets in locations such as Morocco, India, Mexico and Canada range in the area of USD 0.03/kwh, with a recent Mexican tender coming in with prices below USD 0.02.
GWEC says that India had a very strong year, but will be subject to policy restraints in 2018. Pakistan, Thailand and Vietnam all continue to show promise.
Europe had its best year ever, led by more than 6 GW in Germany, a very strong showing in the UK, and a resurgence in the French market. Finland, Belgium, Ireland and Croatia also set new records. Offshore installations of more than 3 GW are an indication of things to come.
The US had a strong year with 7.1 GW. Canada and Mexico both had modest years in terms of installations.
Private co-operations such as Google, Apple, Nike, Facebook, Wal-Mart, Microsoft, etc. are also playing an increasing important role in the renewables market.
In Latin America, Brazil chalked up more than 2 GW, despite political and economic crises. Uruguay completed its build-out and is nearing the 100% renewable energy target in the power sector. The results of 2016 and 2017’s auctions in Argentina will start to result in strong installation numbers in 2018 and beyond.
There was a lot of activity in Africa and the Middle East, but the only completed projects were in South Africa, where 0.621 GW of new capacity was added to the grid. Big projects in Kenya and Morocco are awaiting grid connection this year.
The Pacific region remains quiet, although a lot of new contracts were signed in 2017. Australia, the only active market in the region, put up 0.245 GW.
Sea level rise from melting ice sheets is accelerating around the world and the annual rate of the rise could more than triple every year by 2100, according to data published recently in the Proceedings of the American Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
Rising sea level
A team of researchers led by University of Colorado-Boulder professor of aerospace engineering sciences, Steve Nerem, relied on information collected by satellites over 25 years.
The research of the team shows that sea level rise from melting ice sheets is already responsible for half of the 7 centimeters of increase observed since 1993. At the current rate, the rise of the level of the oceans of about 3 millimeters per year right now could more than triple to reach 10 an extra millimeters per year by 2100.
This would mean that the sea level could rise by 65 centimeters by the end of the century, a figure in line with estimations by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, with serious implications for coastal cities and small island states such as Fiji.
Climate change is driving ocean rise through two phenomena: the rapid melting of ice at the poles and the increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. This latter phenomenon warms the temperature of the water. Hot water – less dense than cold water – takes up more space, causing the ocean to expand.
“This acceleration, driven mainly by accelerated melting in Greenland and Antarctica, has the potential to double the total sea level rise by 2100 compared to projections that assume a constant rate,” says Nerem. With the increase accelerating each year, the level of the oceans would rise by more than 60 centimeters by the end of the century. “And that’s naturally a conservative estimate”, he warns.
The results of this work are broadly in line with the projections of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR5 report, submitted in 2014.
The rapid implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is crucial to avoid temperatures and sea levels from rising even faster. The main goal of the agreement is to maintain the rise in global average temperature well below 2°C, and as close as possible to 1.5°C.
Global greenhouse gas emissions, mainly caused by fossil fuel combustion and deforestation, need to peak soon and then decline rapidly to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, which include rising sea levels, more droughts, floods and forest fires.
In order to help achieve the objectives of the Paris Agreement agreement, a unique process dubbed the Talanoa Dialogue was set up by Fiji, which has the chair of the UN Climate Change Conference COP23. The Talanoa Dialogue is an international discussion in which countries and other key actors monitor progress under the Paris Agreement while seeking to increase global ambition.
Taxes are effective at cutting harmful greenhouse emissions from energy use, but taxation applied by major economies to CO2 emissions is not enough to fight climate change, say experts with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in the report Taxing Energy Use 2018 published on Wednesday, February 14, 2018.
Mining coal in a deposit. Coal has been widely described as a dirty energy source
The report describes the evolution of this tax on fossil fuels (coal, oil, gas) in 42 OECD and G20 countries – collectively responsible for about 80% of global energy consumption and CO2 emission – during the period 2012-2015.
In the non-road sectors, which account for 95% of carbon emissions from energy use, 81% of emissions are untaxed, and rates are below a low-end estimate of climate costs of €30 per tCO2 for 97% of emissions, says the OECD.
“There is no structural change to the pattern of taxes on energy use between 2012 and 2015. This is disconcerting,” says Angel Gurría, Secretary General of the OECD. “Efforts have been made or are underway in many countries and communities to implement the polluter pays principle, but progress towards more efficient use of taxation to reduce harmful emissions is slow and piecemeal altogether. Governments must do more and better.”
For example coal, which accounts for nearly half of the carbon emissions in the 42 countries studied, still escapes taxation in many countries, and its taxation exceeds €5 per tCO2 in only five countries.
Fuel Tax Reform Showing First Results
Taxes on oil products are relatively high, whatever their uses – exceeding €50 per tCO2 on average in all sectors. Contrary to what would appear desirable for the protection of the environment, taxes on diesel remain lower than those applied to gasoline in 40 of the 42 countries studied. At the same time, several countries have recognised the problem and are initiating change in this area.
The OECD says that carbon taxation is higher and more widespread in road transport than in any other sectors. The share of the taxed emissions in this sector currently reaches 97% and the taxes are higher than 50 euros per tCO2, covering 47% of emissions in 2015 – a marked increase to 37% in 2012. These changes mainly result from fuel tax reforms in large emerging economies such as China, India and Mexico.
The effective increases in taxation therefore mainly concern the road sector, which continues to depend almost exclusively on oil products.
Although taxes are among the most effective tools for mitigating the negative impacts of energy use “most emissions are not taxed at levels that would reduce energy consumption and thus limit climate change,” the OECD report says.
The share of emissions subject to a carbon tax increased from 1 to 6% in 2015, but only 0.3% of emissions are imposed at a level at least commensurate with the cost to the environment.
“The impacts on climate and air quality attributable to the burning of fossil fuels can be controlled, but the longer we wait, the more difficult and costly it will be to meet this challenge,” OECD chief Gurría warned. “Aligning energy prices with the costs of climate change and air pollution is essential for effective and efficient action, and major improvements are urgently needed.”
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is holistically addressing the biosphere reserve and the world heritage importance of the Lake Chad Basin (LCB), an official has said.
Scientists say the Lake Chad, that borders Nigeria and some other countries, has shrunken by 95 percent over the past 50 years. They have also linked the Boko Haram insurgency to the lake’s situation. Photo credit: AP/Christophe Ena
Mr Simone Grego, Regional Advisor Sciences at UNESCO, made the statement on Thursday, February 15, 2018 on the sideline of the National Consultation Workshop on BIOPALT project.
The workshop was sponsored by UNESCO in collaboration with Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) in Abuja.
Biosphere and Heritage of Lake Chad (BIOPALT) is a project targeted at promoting peace in the LCB through the sustainable management of its natural resources.
“UNESCO is addressing the issue of Lake Chad shrinking, issues relating to livelihood and security and is proposing this multidisciplinary project in which natural resources are used as a tool for cooperation rather than conflict.
“The BIOPALT project is planning to address the issue of trans-boundary resources shared by countries around the lake in a consultative, participatory way.
“The flagships of the project are on the biosphere reserves and the World Heritage Listing of the lake relating to science and culture,” Grego said.
He decried the shrinking of LCB over the decades as a result of climate change.
“One of the challenges about Lake Chad is that it shrank for the past 30 years with the surface which went from 25,000 square kilometres in the 1960s to 2,500 square kilometres in 2000.
“It then increased again to 5,000 square kilometres.
‘’This indicates that there is variability of rainfall which is made more extreme by climate change.
“There is a natural component, human component flowing into the lake, so it is a very complex problem,” he said.
Grego added that UNESCO was working toward developing a trans-boundary heritage site around Lake Chad.
He said that the organisation was always ready to assist any government according to their national issues and help draft policies on such challenges.
The regional advisor said Nigeria understood the challenge of the LCB because it was its `major hotspot’ for security, environmental degradation and migration.
President Muhammadu Buhari and UNESCO’s former Director-General, Ms Irina Bokova in August 2016 held discussions on the restoration of the Lake Chad Basin.
The discussions were on issues of mutual interest toward attaining the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and to reflect on the future of the lake.
Buhari had solicited UNESCO’s assistance to organise an international conference to reflect on the future of the lake and support the preservation of the surrounding environment.
Buhari in 2017 approved the hosting of a conference in Abuja from Feb. 26 to Feb. 28 with focus on creating global awareness on the socio-economic and environmental challenges arising from the shrinking of the lake.
