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Decentralising water governance: Solution to increased water-related conflicts

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Decentralising water governance: Solution to increased water-related conflicts

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number six is about ensuring availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

However, the noted increase of droughts, both in frequency and intensity blamed on climate change have resulted in increased incidences of water related conflicts due to high demand.

Some of the noted misunderstandings and conflicts range from, and are a result of water blockages in form of weirs for gardening, overgrazing, to river bank cultivation leading to silting, threatening the very existence of particular water bodies on which the communities depend for their domestic use, and in some cases, animal drinking points.

With this in mind, experts believe support and strengthening of the participation of local communities in water and sanitation management – a key strategy under SDG six, should be a matter of urgency. Therefore, as the global community raises water to the top of its agenda, countries are following suit.

“The new water Act empowers the community to have a greater say in the management of water resources in their catchment,” says Rowen Jani of the Water Resources Management Authority, an established national Agency charged with the responsibility of planning for, and ensure the sustainable and rational utilisation, management and development of water resources.

Jani, who is Manager for the Kafue River catchment, adds that climate change has added extra pressure and demand for water among different users, hence, “the Act’s insistency on community participation in the management of these resources.”

Until 2011, Zambia’s water governance system remained centralised such that there was little involvement of the local communities in the management of water resources in their localities.

But the reforms in the water sector, allowed for the 1949 Water Act to be replaced by the Water Resources Management Act No 21 of 2011 which provided for the establishment of WARMA.

It is this Act which provides for decentralisation of water resources management. And at the lowest community level, it provides for the establishment of Water Users Associations (WUAs) – non-profit organisations that are initiated, and managed by a group of primary water users and other interested water stakeholders, along one or more raw water sources (hydrological sub systems) regardless of the type of use.

“The objective of the WUAs is to ensure the management, development and protection of raw water sources and their ecosystems within designated boundaries,” explains David Banda, Community Engagement Officer at WARMA’s Kafue Catchment management office based in Mazabuka, Southern Zambia.

Other than understanding the actual problem and the urgency of solutions, WUAs present a platform for different water users (regardless of size) to come together to establish their water priorities and jointly agree on respective actions to ensure water is accessible in good quantity and quality, thereby preventing and reducing possible conflicts.

According to Emmanuel Mumba, Acting Director of Legal Services at WARMA, once the Statutory Instrument (SI) is issued, “some of the key functions of WUAs would be to promote the participation of the community in water resources management and ensure gender mainstreaming in decision making processes relating to the use of water; and investigate and deal with disputes relating to the use of water as may be prescribed.”

And the traditional leadership is elated by this policy reform which they believe would dramatically transform the management of water resources in their localities, which has been a historical preserve of the central government.

“I must commend government for this remarkable decision to undertake reforms in the water sector,” said Tyson Hamaamba, Ngambela for Chieftainess Choongo, during a community stakeholders’ meeting to prepare for the formation of WUAs for various water resources in Southern Zambia’s Kafue Catchment. “It is the first meeting of its kind where we are called as community members and traditional leadership to plan and get involved in the management of our water resources.”

With Agriculture dominating rural life, one of the hardest people with climate induced water challenges among community water users are smallholder farmers, and improving water security for this group has become a pre-occupation of most development actors as they aim to safeguard food and nutrition security.

And one such organisation is SNV – the Netherlands Development Organisation which is implementing a Water Smart Use project, supporting 1, 200 small-holder farmers in the Lower Kafue sub-catchment.

“The main objective is to strengthen local water resources management and enhance climate sensitive water use at farm level,” says Nina Mukubesa, Water Governance officer at SNV. “We aim to establish demonstration sites and train farmers in water harvesting, storage, and irrigation, as well as soil management and agroforestry, with a focus on water use efficiency for their crop production,” emphasising the importance of adaptation to the changing weather pattern.

Whereas the SI is yet to be issued, partners such as GIZ, the German Society for International Cooperation, stepped in to offer support to WARMA to undertake community stakeholder meetings in readiness for the formation of Water Users Associations.

Courtesy: PAMACC News Agency

N734m Barkin-Ladi irrigation scheme project a scam – Fiscal commission

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N734m Barkin-Ladi irrigation scheme project a scam – Fiscal commission

A project verification team from the Fiscal Responsibility Commission has described the N734 million Barkin-Ladi Irrigation Scheme project in Plateau as “a scam”.

Barkin-Ladi Irrigation Scheme
Site of the Barkin-Ladi Irrigation Scheme

Mr Sampson Eletuo, the Team Leader, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after inspecting work so far done on the project, declared that project execution was “less than 20 per cent”.

“The Project Engineer, Mr Garba Bello, a staff of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, has said that 95 per cent of the job has been completed.

“He has also told us that the project will be inaugurated in December, which is just next month.

“But, from what is on ground, less than 20 per cent of the job has been executed; there is no way the project can be inaugurated this year because both the irrigation and dam components are not ready,” Eletuo said.

He said that the work appeared to have been abandoned because the handlers were not at the site, while the contractor was not around to answer questions raised by the verification team.

“The information given to us was puzzling; the manager told us that the water for the dam was coming from the ground, which we found rather confounding.

“He also said that work was ongoing, but we did not see any machine, power generating plant or any equipment at the site.

“Our conclusion is that this project is managed by the worst engineers in the world. If I have my way, the engineer should be arrested. The project is a scam and money is being spent unnecessarily,” he said.

Eletuo accused Bello of “shielding” the contractor from the verification team so as to “play pranks”.

Reacting, Bello said that the opinion of the verification team was not a true reflection of work already carried out at the project site.

“I think the team’s assessment is based on the dam component of the project, which is only 20 per cent completed.

“I have taken them round the irrigation component and they have seen that it is more than 90 per cent completed,” he said.

He rejected suggestions that he had shielded the handlers from the team, saying that workers of the construction firm represented the principal handler who had traveled out of the country.

Bello said that “about N440 million” had so far been paid to the contractor, adding, however, that work so far done had exceeded that amount “by far”.

NAN quotes Bello as telling the team, during the inspection, that a 5,000 KVA power generating plant was already at the site, while nozzles to be used to pipe water for dry season farming had been installed.

He further said that three communities – Pomor, Bassa and Heipang – in Barkin-Ladi Local Government, would benefit from the irrigation scheme to be undertaken on 145 hectares of land.

Bello explained that the irrigation scheme would ease dry season farming, boost the production of Irish potatoes and assorted fruits, and also create jobs.

Mr Charles Abana, Deputy Team Leader, who also spoke on the project, said that the commission’s interest was to ensure that no project was abandoned after money had been paid.

“The Fiscal Responsibility Commission’s mandate is to visit project sites and verify work done so as to ensure that government money was not wasted. We want to ensure that monies meant for projects do not disappear into private pockets.

“A laudable project like this one should be pursued to its logical conclusion so that it will touch the lives of those it is expected to benefit,” he said.

Abana said that the team would compare what it had seen with how much had been paid to the handlers, before passing a verdict on the project.

NAN reports that the project was awarded in 2014 by former Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, who hails from Barkin-Ladi.

NIGCOMSAT committed to bringing satellite services to all Nigerians –MD

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NIGCOMSAT committed to bringing satellite services to all Nigerians –MD

The Managing Director, Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (NIGCOMSAT), Ms Abimbola Alale, has reiterated the company’s commitment toward ensuring that Nigerians reap the benefits of communication satellite.

NigcomSat-1R
The NigcomSat-1R

Alale, represented by Mr Raji Kolawole, the Executive Director, Engineering Services NIGCOMSAT, said this at the training of resellers and installers on Ka-VSAT in Abuja on Thursday, November 23, 2017.

Alale said that very soon, every Nigerian would have access to communication satellite services in their homes as against a few who presently enjoys the services.

“Our services had been rated very high by current users as second to none, it is therefore our humble appeal to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and the private sector to utilise the services offered by NIGCOMSAT.

“The services offered by NIGCOMSAT are geared toward ensuring reduction in capital flight and to engender the socio-economic development and growth of our nation.

“With the recent signing of a back-up agreement with Belintersat, operators of Belintersat-1, NigComSat IR is poised to offer excellent service and capture the communication satellite market available in Africa and beyond,’’ she said.

Alale said that NIGCOMSAT Ka band offers a VSATS Network cost effective solutions that reduces total cost of Ownership (TCO) and cheaper bandwidth pricing for subscribers in comparison to Ku and C-bad networks.

According to her, the training exercise is designed specifically for NIGCOMSAT V’SAT installers on its Ka band and it is meant to equip them with the best and emerging trends in the satellite communications industry.

She said that the training was envisaged to further deepen and strengthen the Federal Government’s broadband penetration plan.

“The installers will be adequately trained to handle all issues relating to configuration, deployment and management of the service,’’ Alale said.

While urging the participants to take the training seriously, the NIGCOMSAT boss said that they had been carefully selected out of the hundreds that applied to leverage on the opportunity to improve themselves.

Alale said that training was also part of NIGCOMSAT way of fulfilling its corporate social responsibility in achieving the goals and aspirations of President Muhammadu Buhari’s agenda of reaching out to Nigerians no matter where they reside.

One of the participants, Mr  Gbenga Balogun said that  it was  a great opportunity for him to be involved in the training as it would be of great benefit to his company .

He said that the training would create job opportunities for Nigerians as most of them being trained would also train others.

Also speaking, Mr Gbolahan Kolawole expressed joy he was part of the training, adding that it would help those in the rural areas to access network from NIGCOMSAT Ka-VSAT.

By Constance Athekame

Rwanda offers to host 30,000 African migrants sold as slaves in Libya

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Rwanda offers to host 30,000 African migrants sold as slaves in Libya

Rwanda’s government has offered to host up to 30,000 African migrants held as slaves by armed groups in Libya.

Paul Kagame
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda

The announcement on Thursday, November 23, 2017 comes days after U.S. television network CNN broadcast footage of African migrants being auctioned off for slave labour in Libya, for as little as 400 dollars.

“Given Rwanda’s political philosophy and our own history, we cannot remain silent when human beings are being mistreated and auctioned off like cattle,” Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo told dpa.

“Our door is wide open,” the minster added. “Rwanda is small, but we will find some space.”

The East African nation has a population of 12 million.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “horrified” by the CNN footage.

On Tuesday, the African Union (AU) said it has launched an investigation into Libyan slave markets and was trying to access illegal detention centres in which migrants were held and then auctioned to the highest bidder.

The AU appealed to its 55 member states to provide logistical support to enable the evacuation of the migrants held in Libya to their countries of origin.

Cameroon on Monday evacuated 250 of its nationals from Libya.

Jigawa goat breeding scheme, model for all states – Lai Mohammed

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Jigawa goat breeding scheme, model for all states – Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has described the Jigawa State Government’s Goat Breeding and Rearing Micro Credit Scheme as a model for all states to copy.

online-publications
Alhaji Lai Mohammed

Mohammed made the remarks while addressing newsmen in Dutse, the state capital, on Thursday, November 23, 2017.

“I learnt that widows were given three goats – two goats and one he goat to rear.

“And one good thing about this empowerment is that the beneficiaries pay with the three offsprings after 18 months.

“It is also a very good initiative because the goats reproduce twice a year, and you know most of goats give birth to between two and three babies.

“So this a very easy way to empower women economically because within 18 months, you have between 9 and 11 babies. So this a very good initiative.

“And there is the need for all states to copy,” Mohammed said.

The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that Jigawa Government empowered 5,940 widows where 220 were selected from 11 wards in each of the 27 local government areas of the state.

The Chairman of the goats distribution committee, Dr Ahmed Zubairu, while performing the exercise, in Dutse Local Government Area in April 2016, said that each of the beneficiaries was given three goats to rear under the scheme introduced to empower women.

“The breed of the goats is the one that gives birth to three twice a year.

“The beneficiaries were expected to pay back the revolving loan in 18 months with three goats.

“The decision to give the beneficiaries goats was because of its economic value and simplicity to rear.

“The government decided to give the women goats because of its economic values – both the goat’s meat and its skin are needed.

“Since most of the beneficiaries are rural dwellers, to feed the animals will not be hard for them because of the availability of the animal feeds in their villages,’’ he said.

“The government’s gesture is commendable because it will make the beneficiaries self-reliant by enhancing their economic status,” Zubair said.

By Muhammad Nasir Bashir

Environmentalist calls for proper sanitation of toilets to prevent infections

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Environmentalist calls for proper sanitation of toilets to prevent infections

An environmentalist, Mr Johnson Abang, has called on the citizens to ensure proper sanitation of toilets before to prevent them from contracting toilet infections.

Ibrahim Usman Jibril
Environment Minister of State, Ibrahim Usman Jibril

Abang, an Environmental Health Officer in Odukpani Local Government Council, Cross River State, gave the advice in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

He gave the advice while speaking on the sidelines of an event organised to mark the 2017 World Toilet Day which was celebrated on Nov. 19.

Abang said that the call became imperative because of the need to raise public awareness on how to tackle issues surrounding toilet sanitation.

He said that human waste, if not well-managed, could turn out to be causative agents of some air-borne and killer diseases, which can spread and trigger serious epidemics.

Abang said: “To achieve a healthy society, we must engage in regular sanitation and proper management of toilets and human waste.

“Toilets play a crucial role in creating a strong economy, a vital role in improving the people’s health and protecting their safety and dignity.

“Proper sanitation of toilets before use will facilitate efforts to keep people away from catching diseases that can impact negatively on their livelihoods.

“Toilet sanitation entails the proper treatment and disposal of human waste in a safe and sustainable way.”

Abang stressed that inadequate toilet facilities had engendered open defecation and poor sanitation practices in many communities.

He also said that human waste should always be channelled to sealed pits or sewage tanks to prevent people from having contact with it and getting infected.

NAN reports that the theme of this year’s World Toilet Day is “Wastewater’’ and it seeks to create global awareness on the dangers of poor toilet sanitation.

By Fortune Abang

GEF/SGP spends $39,000 on reclamation project in Delta

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GEF/SGP spends $39,000 on reclamation project in Delta

The Global Environmental Facility/Small Grant Programme (GEF/SGP) says it has spent $39,000 dollars (about N14 million) to execute land reclamation in Delta State.

Ibironke Olubamise
Ibironke Olubamise, National Coordinator SGEF/SGP programme

Mrs Ibironke Olubamise, the GEF/SGP’s National Coordinator, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 in Abuja.

She said that the project was on reclamation and restoration of degraded lands affected by oil spill in the state.

The national coordinator said that Initiative for Community Development, an NGO, handled the project in Emede Isoko South Local Government Area in Delta.

Olubamise said the GEF/SGP and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)  funded the project.

She said that the effort would help to restore degraded lands, caused by oil spill and promote environmental sustainability.

“We discovered that oil spill in the area has affected lands as well as the farm lands and we decided to intervention to restore the affected lands.

“If we don’t intervene, it will definitely affect the farm production, in other words, food security will now become a big challenge in the state.

“Degraded land can cause a lot of environmental challenges and we are working tirelessly to prevent land from degrading and to ensure that degraded lands are restored in the area.

“The effort will keep the farmers on farm as well as promoting environmental health in the state,’’ she said.

Olubamise said that land degradation could cause the dry lands to become increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife.

She urged affected communities to embrace effective sensitisation

to help them to take necessary precaution on how their lands and environment should be managed.

Olubamise said GEF/SGP supported actions to combat major environmental issues such as climate change, loss of biodiversity, polluted international waters, land degradation, desertification and persistent organic pollutants to stimulate green growth.

By Vivian Emoni

Climate change: Nigeria gets support to access crop insurance

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Climate change: Nigeria gets support to access crop insurance

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced plans to support Nigeria to access crop insurance, to mitigate the impact of climate change in the country.

Dr-Peter-Tarfa-DCC
Dr Peter Tarfa, Director, Department of Climate Change (DCC) in the Federal Ministry of Environment

The President of the AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, announced this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

Adesina said that the bank would implement the support under its Second Climate Action Plan for 2016 to 2020.

“When it comes to Climate Financing, what we will do is to support Nigeria, especially to have access to Crop insurance.

“A lot of pastoralists actually needs to have insurance as well because lack of access to water can become a big problem because of drought.

“Also, I have being a big supporter of the need for the global climate financing mechanism to support countries to pay the premium to insure them against catastrophic risk.

“For example, there is a facility, which is called Africa Risk Capacity and this is the Africa Union Facility that allows countries to buy insurance.

“It allows countries to buy insurance and if there is drought and flood, they will pay it back into the confer of government to cover a lot of recovery activities.’’

The Boards of Directors of AfDB had, on Nov. 8, approved the Africa Thriving and Resilient: The Bank Group’s Second Climate Change Action Plan, 2016-2020 (CCAP2).

The approval of this document is propitious as it echoes at just concluded Climate Change Conference (COP23) in Bonn, Germany.

This is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change and achieve the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

According to Adesina, the Chair of the Africa Risk Capacity Facility is the former Minister of Finance in Nigeria, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

“I consider it as unfair that Africa, which has been shortchanged by climate change, is now shortchanged in terms of climate financing.

“It is very important therefore, that the global mechanism for climate should pay insurance for African Countries that are suffering this disproportionate in negative impact of climate change.

“I have reached out as well to President Buhari on this issue because I know within the context of what is trying to push for Lake Chad Basin.

“If somebody pays the premium, if there is any catastrophic event, they will be able to get money from Africa Risk Insurance.

“I have said that Africa Development (Bank) is willing to co-finance the premium payment. I don’t want Africa to be short-changed because we are suffering quite a lot from the impact of Climate Change,’’ he said.

Adesina, however, said that the international community had bought into the idea and it would also form part of the agenda at the forthcoming World leaders meeting.

“I have discussed it with the former UN Secretary-General and incumbent UN Secretary and I have discussed it with a number of G7 leaders.

“Also, I have discussed it with President Buhari and several African Heads of State; we will continue to push it and look forward to One World Summit in December.

“This is for me a big agenda that I am pushing. I think Africa must have access to financing, to adapt to the impact of Climate Change and mitigate the issue of greenhouse gases emission.

“ It will have big impact on our urban centres and rural areas; we have to make our economy more resistant and resilient in face of climate change,’’ he said.

By Cecilia Ologunagba

Concern over palm oil certification systems’ regard for social values

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Concern over palm oil certification systems’ regard for social values

A new report from the Forest Peoples Programme assesses six different certification schemes being used by companies to facilitate their access to international markets for edible oils and biofuels.

oil palm
Oil palm plantation

The desk-based study used the same yardstick to assess the various schemes against a range of criteria including:

  • fair land acquisition, respect for customary rights and Free, Prior and Informed Consent
  • treatment of smallholders
  • social and environmental safeguards
  • core labour standards
  • gender and discrimination
  • quality assurance
  • access to remedy

After scoring and ranking the various schemes, the study concluded that the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has the strongest set of requirements, followed by, in declining order of ranking, Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN), International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC), and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO). The Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) standard came out worst in the ranking and provides very little protection of human rights and community livelihoods.

The review also assessed the High Carbon Stocks Approach against the same yardstick, although it is not a certification scheme, in order to gauge the relative risks and benefits of the approach being used as a stand-alone endorsement of performance.

The report’s author, Angus McInnes, notes: “The schemes vary a lot. None is perfect and all could benefit from adopting some stronger provisions from competing schemes. RSPO now provides the most robust standard for oil palm certification, although there are still some gaps. The main challenge for RSPO is to ensure RSPO members actually apply the standard in practice. The unreliability of complaints and remedy  procedures when non-compliances are identified is also worrying.”

Marcus Colchester, FPP’s Senior Policy Advisor, says: “The European biofuels market by and large relies on the ISCC certification scheme to fulfil EU requirements. Although precise figures are not available, it seems that about half of RSPO members’ palm oil sold in Europe, mostly for biofuels, is ISCC- and not RSPO-certified. For those concerned about human rights and social justice, this is very troubling as the ISCC standard, while quite strong on environmental requirements, falls way below the RSPO standard on social protections.”

As an addendum, the study also compared the standards of the Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG) and RSPO Next, both of which have added social and environmental provisions on top of the RSPO generic standard but lack additional challenge and remedy procedures. The POIG standard includes additional human rights and workers’ rights provisions.

AfDB to support urban transportation system in Abuja, says Adesina

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AfDB to support urban transportation system in Abuja, says Adesina

President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, says the bank will support urban transportation system in Abuja.

Abuja
The Abuja city gate

He said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday, November 22, 2017 in Abuja.

According to him, the bank is also working with the Nigerian government to ensure that the Abuja Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system was effective.

The AfDB boss said the bank was also supporting the Abuja Monorail System and other rail networks.

“If you take a look at urbanisation, it goes without saying that the population is increasing.

“The need for infrastructure continues to expand, for water and electricity, but also for urban transport and mass transport is the biggest way that we have to do this.

“So, I think as a bank, we are looking with the government into what they want to do in the wider Abuja metropolitan area, especially in terms of urban transport.

“I really believe that it is important to continue to invest in rail transport.’’

Adesina said when the bank invested in Nigeria; it invested in a lot of areas depending on the decision of the government.

He said the bank did not make decisions for the government, because the government prioritises its needs.

He said the current portfolio investment of the bank in Nigeria was about six billion dollars, adding that this was in the areas of infrastructure in the power sector, water, sanitation and private sector investments.

AfDB is a multilateral development finance institution aimed at fighting poverty and improving the living conditions on the African continent.

AFDB does this by promoting the investment of public and private capital in projects and programmes that are likely to contribute to the economic and social development of the region.

By Folasade Folarin

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