A farmer from Burkina Faso who popularised an ancient farming technique to reverse desertification is among the winners of Sweden’s “alternative Nobel prize”, announced on Monday, September 24, 2018.

Yacouba Sawadogo shared this year’s award with three Saudi human rights activists and an Australian agronomist. The SEK (Swedish Krona) 3 million ($341,800) prize honours people who find solutions to global problems.

Sawadogo is known for turning barren land into forest using “zai” – pits dug in hardened soil that concentrate water and nutrients, allowing crops to withstand drought.

The technique has been used to restore thousands of hectares of dry land and in doing so reduce hunger in Burkina Faso and Niger since he began to teach it in the 1980s, according to the Right Livelihood Award Foundation.

Sawadogo said he hoped he would be able to “use the award for the future”.

“My wish is for people to take my knowledge and share it. This can benefit the youth of the country,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from his village in Burkina Faso.

Sawadogo further commented: “I am very honoured to receive the Right Livelihood Award, which will allow me to persist in my efforts to protect the forest and the wildlife. I hope that the legitimacy provided by this prize will help inspire and encourage many others to regenerate their land for the benefit of nature, local communities and future generations.”

The country dips into a semi-arid zone below the Sahara Desert known as the Sahel, where climate change and land overuse are making it increasingly difficult to farm, experts say.

“Yacouba Sawadogo vowed to stop the desert – and he made it,” said Ole von Uexkull, executive director of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation.

“If local communities and international experts are ready to learn from his wisdom, it will be possible to regenerate large areas of degraded land, decrease forced migration and build peace in the Sahel.”

Last year, erratic rains left nearly a million people in need of food aid across the country.

Sawadogo initially faced resistance for his unconventional technique, based on an ancient method that had fallen out of practice. Now “zai” have been adopted by aid agencies working to prevent hunger in the region.

Sawadogo told his story in a 2010 film called “The Man Who Stopped the Desert”.

Besides Sawadogo, the two other cash awardee Laureates will be decorated.

The civil and human rights defenders Abdullah al-Hamid, Mohammad Fahad al-Qahtani and Waleed Abu al-Khair (Saudi Arabia) share an Award “for their visionary and courageous efforts, guided by universal human rights principles, to reform the totalitarian political system in Saudi Arabia”. It is the first time that a Right Livelihood Award goes to Laureates from Saudi Arabia.

The Laureates are all currently in jail. In 2013, al-Hamid and al-Qahtani were sentenced to 11- and 10-years’ imprisonment on charges including “inciting disorder by calling for demonstrations” and “forming an unlicensed organisation”. Abu al-Khair was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment in 2014 for charges including “disobeying the ruler” and “harming the reputation of the state by communicating with international organisations”.

The agronomist Tony Rinaudo (Australia) is recognised by the Jury “for demonstrating on a large scale how drylands can be greened at minimal cost, improving the livelihoods of millions of people”.

Rinaudo commented: “Receiving the Right Livelihood Award is a great honour and I am humbled. Even though this simple, low cost and rapid method of reforestation has had a very significant impact on the lives of millions of people, globally it is little known to national governments, donors, or communities who need it the most. It is my hope that the spotlight now, through this prize, being shone on farmer-managed natural regeneration methods will result in exponential uptake and increase the spread of it globally.”

The 2018 Honorary Award however goes to anti-corruption champions Thelma Aldana (Guatemala) & Iván Velásquez (Colombia) “for their innovative work in exposing abuse of power and prosecuting corruption, thus rebuilding people’s trust in public institutions.”

Thelma Aldana commented: “The Right Livelihood Award is a recognition of the struggle of the Guatemalan people against corruption, and that it is possible to combat these criminal activities. The construction of a true democracy in Guatemala requires an independent and strengthened judicial system.”

Iván Velásquez commented: “This prize comes at a particularly dramatic moment in the fight against impunity and corruption. It is very important because it will turn the eyes of the world to Guatemala, and hopefully also provide international solidarity with those who are committed to the transformation of the country.”

The announcement was made at the International Press Centre at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs by Ole von Uexkull, Executive Director of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation, and Amelie von Zweigbergk, board and jury member of the Foundation, following the decision by an international Jury that considered 107 nominations from 50 countries.

Ole von Uexkull commented: “The Laureates’ trailblazing work for accountability, democracy and the regeneration of degraded land gives tremendous hope and deserves the world’s highest attention. At a time of alarming environmental decline and failing political leadership, they show the way forward into a very different future.”

The three cash awards are worth SEK 1 million (EUR 96,000) each and will be used to support the Laureates’ successful work. The prize money is not for personal use.

The Award Presentation will take place in Stockholm on November 23, followed by public events and high-level meetings in Geneva, Zurich and Berlin.

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria is committed to the faithful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs).

Buhari stated this on Tuesday, September 25, 2018 in his solidarity message on the Global Day to Act for the SDGs in New York, according to a statement issued in New York by his spokesperson, Mr Femi Adeshina.

The Global Day to Act for the SDGs coincided with the third anniversary of the adoption by Member States of the United Nations of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and commitment to the implementation of the 17 SDGs.

Buhari said: “On this anniversary of the adoption of the SDGs, I want to reiterate our commitment to working for a prosperous, peaceful and sustainable world, ensuring that no woman, man, girl or boy is left behind.”

He stressed that, as a committed member of the comity of Nations, Nigeria “will continue to work with multi-stakeholders including the United Nations System, civil society, development partners, private sector and the academia in the implementation of the SDGs.”

Further reaffirming Nigeria’s commitment, Buhari said: “We are faithfully committed to our Country Transition Strategy and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, both of which are guiding our National efforts.”

The president emphasised that these efforts “at promoting accountable governance and fighting corruption, will provide for institutional effectiveness and increased resources to achieve the SDGs in the medium and long terms.”

The president further noted that the “SDGs provide us with an opportunity to work together to give present and future generations, a world without poverty, hunger and inequalities, and a planet which can sustain lives and ensure prosperity for all”.

He joined the UN SDG Action Campaign to call on all stakeholders “to commit to achieving the historic 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

“Working in partnership, we have every opportunity more than before to ensure access to quality education and healthcare, to fight inequalities and ensure inclusive economic development, and to sustainably explore, manage and preserve our environment for present and future generations,” Buhari said.

By Prudence Arobani

The Hydro Carbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) says it has commenced process to select pre-qualified companies for the clean-up of oil impacted communities in Ogoniland.

Dr Marvin Dekil, Project Coordinator of HYPREP, made this known in Port Harcourt, River State, on Tuesday, September 25, 2018 at the opening of technical and commercial bid for the 21 clean-up sites in Ogoniland.

HYPREP had a fortnight ago announced that 183 out of 400 companies had scaled through to next round of bid for the remediation exercise.

Dekil said that 21 out of the 183 companies that scaled through the initial stage would be selected based on their technology, competence and viability.

“The 183 companies are here today, and we are further screening them by carrying out commercial and technical assessment of their capabilities.

“So, today, we are opening their bids which they submitted to show their competence, commercial, financial and technical capability to do the job.”

He said the pre-qualified phase was the last stage that would lead to commencement of the clean-up exercise slated to start before the end of the fourth quarter of 2018.

“This exercise is the beginning of the last phase of activities to select competent companies that will be deployed to site in compliance with the public procurement act.

`Also, we will further set up a team to re-assess what they are doing, according to the public procurement act,” he said.

Dekil gave the assurance that HYPREP and its partners were committed to making the process tight, competitive and transparent.

He said the final selection phase was a milestone achievement of the Federal Government’s commitment to the project.

“We have 21 sites to clean-up, so at the end of the day, we will have 21 companies handling the sites.

“That a company did not make it does not mean such company is not competent. It’s just that we have to give it to the very best,” he said.

Minister of Environment, Mr Ibrahim Jibril, assured that the selection process would be competitive, transparent and devoid of bias.

Jibril, who was represented by Dr Ishayaku Mohammed, Senior Technical Assistant to the minister, said the Federal Government was passionate to address years of neglect of environmental pollution in the Niger Delta.

`I concur with everything that Dr Marvin Dekil has said; but in addition, the conclusion of this process will lead to actual implementation of the UN Environment Programme Report.

“It is not just remediation but cleaning up and restoration of the devastated lands in Ogoniland. Its success will ensure that the entire Niger Delta region is covered.

“Hopefully, this exercise will signal commencement of healing and catalyst for prosperity of the Niger Delta and the entire country,” he said.

By Desmond Ejibas