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How private efforts boost afforestation, climate mitigation in Nigeria

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How private efforts boost afforestation, climate mitigation in Nigeria

In 1960 when Nigeria became independent, there were about 40 percent forest landmass that spreads across the length and breadth of the nation’s rain forest. But, over the years, these have continued to deplete due to numerous factors such that, currently, less than two percent forest land mass remains. Succour is however emerging, thanks to some individuals and private bodies, who have taken up an afforestation campaign to boost the nation’s forest cover, green the environment and mitigate the impact of climate change. Kayode Aboyeji, who recently visited some of the initiatives, stresses in this report that, in the near future, some of these emerging forests may qualify as project sites under the United Nations (UN) Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) programme

The Evergreen Tree Plantation in Ijari, Ijebu North East Local Government Area of Ogun State
The Evergreen Tree Plantation in Ijari, Ijebu North East Local Government Area of Ogun State

Trees are essential to life; they produce oxygen without which man cannot exist. Trees control noise pollution, slow storm water runoff and serve as carbon sinks. Besides, trees clean the air, serve as wind breaker and curb soil erosion among other relevant purposes it serves to mankind.

Unfortunately, due to infrastructural development, population explosion, illegal and indiscriminate timber and non-timber product harvesting, agricultural expansion into the forest reserves and lack of compliance with and enforcement of forest laws, forest reserves have been depleted while the remaining surviving trees have become endangered species in Nigeria.

Over the years, government has supplied seedlings for tree planting, but there are no forests to show for the intervention.

Despite the involvement of the World Bank, African Development Bank Afforestation projects in the 1960s and the 1970s and the Western Nigeria Forest of 1968 headed by the Emeritus Professor Akin Mabogunje, the nation still seems worst off and struggling to find viable project sites for REDD or earn carbon credit.

But it appears all hope is not lost, thanks to initiatives spearheaded by individuals and private bodies, who are investing in massive tree planting and creating new forest zones.

 

The Evergreen Tree Plantation

The Evergreen Tree Plantation – a teak (Tectona grandis) plantation – is located in Ijari, Ijebu North East Local Government Area of Ogun State. The Evergreen Tree Planters, a non-governmental organisation, was established in 1984 and is focused on planting trees for industrial prosperity and environmental sustainability is one of Nigeria foremost tree planters.

It has been able, through its aggressive tree planting programmes, to acquire and plant well over two million trees. It has been able to established plantations of 27 exotic and indigenous trees species that spreads across the state. These are Tectona grandis (teak), Khaya spp. (mahogany), Nauclea diderrichi (Opepe), Milicia excels (Iroko), Afzelia spp (Apa), Cedrella odorata (Cedrella), Mansonia altissima (Mansonia) and Cordia milleni (Omo) trees.

Bisi Rodipe, founder of Evergreen Tree Planters, is a lover of nature. At 75, he is still planting trees.

He said, “I have visited and attended several forest and forest products trade fair, conferences and workshops, hence my strong belief of the popular and ancient saying ‘Agbe L’Oba’, meaning farmers are kings. This I have practiced and proved in my 30 years’ experience in tree planting.”

Rodipe disclosed that the group is now exploring indigenous tree timber species that are near extinction which are priced in the timber market both locally and internationally.

He called on investors to join in the vanguard of tree planters towards a sustainable and economic development.

Rodipe, while charging other investors said, “Had I known 30 years ago when I planted my first mahogany trees (Khaya senegalensis) to establish a plantation of at least 500 hectares, at my present age of 75 years, I would have been spending most of my time relaxing at the Miami Beach in Florida, the United States of America.

“This is a wake-up call once again to all well meaning individual and groups to see this plantation as a means to invest in the future for you and generations yet unborn,” he said.

 

Labo Plantation

The Labo Plantation was established in 2011 by a Professor of Forest Economics and Sustainable Development at the University of Ibadan, Labo Popoola.

The plantation, part of a farmland that operate at Olowosoke village, Surulere Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria has a total size of 13 acres – approximately 5.2 hectares – of Tectona grandis (Teak). It forms part of the original 50-acre integrated farm enterprise comprising arable crops, oil palm and livestock.

Prof. Popoola, when asked on what informed the decision to establish the plantation said, “I enjoy farming, and I am a trained forester. I have helped individuals and corporate organisations to raise plantations, and I just felt that I should also lead by practical example, hence my decision to establish the plantation as part of my farming enterprise. It is a self-financed enterprise. No external financing yet.”

On future plans for the plantation, he added, “Together with some friends, we now have a total holding of about 150 acres. We desire to extend the plantation, particularly using trees to secure the boundary of our land.

On forest management in Nigeria, he maintained, “The forest sector is beset with quite a number of challenges in Nigeria. Key among these is paucity of data for proper management, obsolete policies and laws, poor financing and corruption. The characteristics of the resource as a long gestation enterprise may also pose some challenge.

“Also critical are ownership of resources, including policies and legislation that define ownership, the social and economic conditions of the owners and more importantly their entrepreneurial ability (including the ability to understand the changing opportunities and to move up the value chain); and the nature of markets served. These interact with each other, altering the opportunities and constraints in capturing the different values from the forests. Also, there are virtually no incentive structures for private forestry. Regardless, individuals and corporate organisations are increasingly embarking on private forestry,” he said.

The Professor of Forest Economics and Sustainable Development, who highlighted the relevance of forestry to biodiversity, stated that within six years of establishment, the plantation is already closing canopy. “We now have a number of wild animals inhabiting the area. We are also considering embarking on apiary in the plantation,” he disclosed.

On the importance of forestry, he noted, “There are so many advantages in forest plantation establishment. Broadly, the benefits are socio-economic, cultural, environmental and even spiritual. With the dwindling resources in the public sector, private forestry becomes an imperative. It is therefore important that governments at all tiers should create incentive structures that will encourage the involvement of the private sector to enhance sustainable forest management.”

 

The LUFASI Park    

The Lekki Urban Forest Animal Sanctuary Initiative (LUFASI) is another private afforestation programme in Nigeria. The green expanse hosts 20 hectares of play and relaxation parks, animal sanctuary, fern gardens, forest and some of the last remaining populations of the highly endangered Ekki ‘iron wood’ tree, the threatened hooded vulture and lesser hornbill.

According to the Director of LUFASI and renowned environmentalist – Desmond Majekodunmi, “Humans have gone too far down the path of environmental destruction and this goes against our essence as stewards of the Earth.” This essence is reflected in LUFASI Nature Park’s direct response to the pertinent issue of climate change. Most importantly, the park serves as a living laboratory for agricultural, ecological, environmental and veterinary education in Nigeria.

 

Obasanjo Farms

Former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who is a renowned farmer. is also engaging in tree plantation. Presently, he has large expanse of teak tree plantations in Iseyin Road, Oke area of Oyo State.

The Iseyin farms consists of over a million teak trees planted in well arranged order and provides job opportunity to villagers in the community.

Besides the Iseyin farm, the former president also has about 250 hectares at Ajoda, in Ogun State where teak trees are planted. He is also said to have large expanse of teak farm in Bayelsa State, South-South Nigeria.

 

Stakeholders’ response

Commenting on these initiatives, National Coordinator of Climate Change Network-Nigeria (CCN-Nigeria), Surveyor Efik, said such efforts are worth commending, adding that that is what the global campaign is all about. That the business sector should participate in afforestation programmes.

Said he, “I will also want them to work with the Federal Ministry of Environment and register it under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) project so that they can earn carbon credit.

“It is actually good that private individuals are into afforestation in Nigeria. This will boost afforestation programme in the country and the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) submitted during the Paris Agreement.

“I want more Nigerian investors to go into afforestation programme,” he added.

Climate change scientist, Prof. Olukayode Oladipo, said it is a good thing that private individuals are going into afforestation.

He noted that government alone cannot reverse the years of massive deforestation that the country has experience, therefore the private sector has to come in to support the government in afforestation programme.

Recently, President Muhammadu Buhari, declared that his administration is poised to unroll greater-than-expected measures to keep the country green.

Buhari made this statement during the launching of the ‘Keep Kaduna Green Project in Kaduna.

The president represented by Amina Muhammed, Minister of Environment, revealed that Nigeria had the highest rate of deforestation in the world.

“Environment is one of the six core pillars of this economy, thus underscoring the importance to the Change Agenda. The initiative in Kaduna State today is a clear example of state government contributing to the environment component of our economy.

“It is on record that the rate of deforestation is about 3.5 per cent per annum. The implication of this is that about 350,000 to 400,000 hectares of forest, equivalent to 576 million trees are lost annually.

“The environmental challenges that come with this include desertification, erosion, flooding and reduction in perspiration and contribution to drought, all this bringing untold hardship on communities and the environment.”

The president said the initiative further underscores the importance of taking climate action and creating jobs for the teeming youths.

Christiana Figueres joins UN Secretary General race

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Christiana Figueres joins UN Secretary General race

From border disputes in the South China Sea to the ongoing conflicts and refugee crisis in Syria the world is an increasingly unstable place. Global crises like terrorism and pandemics will be amplified by climate change, undermining the UN’s ability to preserve peace and security.

Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Christiana Figueres, former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Former UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) chief Christiana Figueres on Wednesday joined the race to become the new UN Secretary General (UNSG). Whoever becomes the new UNSG, they must radically reform the UN to make it fit for purpose in a climate changed world or see its core mission undermined, according to a report, United We Stand, released on Wednesday by climate change think tank, E3G.

CEO Nick Mabey says: “We need the UN more than ever – it is an important constant that transcends social and political unrest – but we need it to be fit for purpose. The new Secretary General must follow through on the major international agreements struck last year and climate proof the UN system.”

The future UNSG is under increasing pressure from countries to reform the UN systems, most recently during the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May which sought to improve systems around humanitarian aid and crisis response.

The new UNSG will need to make sure the UN can implement the three major agreements struck last year – the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals which seek to eradicate poverty, and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

“The agreements struck last year recognise that climate change impacts all of the key objectives of the UN. By learning lessons from regimes like nuclear proliferation and terrorism, the UN can find practical ways to manage the impacts of climate change on its core missions and avoid being stuck in permanent crisis response,” says the report author Camilla Born, Policy Advisor at E3G.

The report draws lessons from the histories of other risk regimes to recommend practical reforms which could be delivered by 2020. A thorough approach to climate risk will help improve the quality of life for the most vulnerable, and reduce the risk of globally fragility. These reforms will need strong prioritization from the new UN Secretary General.

Vulnerable South Sudanese families get FAO seeds, tools

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Vulnerable South Sudanese families get FAO seeds, tools

Ahead of the 2016 farming season and in order to give farmers enough time for proper land preparation and planting, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and its partners have so far distributed seeds and agricultural tools to about 200,000 vulnerable farming households, which benefitted about 1.1 million people in South Sudan.

Harvesting cassava tubers in South Sudan
Harvesting cassava tubers in South Sudan

A statement issued by the UN body revealed that many families had exhausted their seed reserves because they were unable to plant last year, had low harvest or were unable to replenish their reserves by buying seeds in local markets.

“In some cases, families have been forced to consume or sell their seeds for food and seed distributions have come at a critical moment. Without this support, many families would be unable to plant this year, meaning another year of relying on external assistance to meet their basic food needs,” said Serge Tissot, FAO Representative in South Sudan.

As a reason for the predicament, FAO stated that the 2015 violence forced many farmers in the country from their lands, “leaving them unable to plant their crops. In areas where security has improved, such as Western Equatoria, Unity and Jonglei, farmers are returning and FAO’s support has been crucial in enabling them to plant and resume food production. With the tensed food security situation, this is a critical time to ensure a decent harvest for South Sudan – last year, local production met about 70 percent of the nation’s cereal needs.”

In order to achieve the feat and because of the challenge of getting the seeds to the farmers on time, FAO worked with 40 local and international partners to effectively reach out to those families in dire need.

The early seed supply, according to FAO, was necessary because the season extends from as early as mid-March in the Equatoria regions up to June in Greater Upper Nile and Greater Bahr El Ghazal. “The support of the WFP-led Logistics Cluster was critical in ensuring that the seeds and tools were transported to hard-to-reach areas of the former Jonglei and Upper Nile States,” the statement further stressed.

FAO and the partners provided the seeds and tools directly to beneficiaries in Greater Upper Nile and in other areas, scaled up the distribution of seeds through seed fairs. In this case, over 80,000 vulnerable families have been issued with vouchers that have pre-set values with which to ‘buy’ seeds at local fairs in 2016. Over 110,000 other vulnerable families received their seeds through direct distribution.

“With the seed fairs, we are increasing access to local, but high quality seeds in a sustainable way. The fairs also boost the local economy by working with local traders, which directly injects money into the market. FAO strives to implement all distributions through seed fairs as far as security and market functioning allows,” Abdoul Karim Bah, Deputy FAO Representative explained.

FAO added that, in Greater Equatoria, more than 40,000 households received crop seeds and tools; over 60,000 households in Greater Bahr El Ghazal and a further 90,000 in Greater Upper Nile.

The beneficiaries of the assistance through a joint operation by FAO and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, included refugee households, who received the inputs. “In addition to the crop seeds and tools, FAO and its partners have also distributed more than 170,000 vegetable seeds and tools and over 140 000 fishing kits in South Sudan,” the statement further disclosed.

It stressed that the organisation’s emergency response activities were made possible through the financial support of the Common Humanitarian Fund, and the Governments of Denmark and Norway, the Swiss Confederation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United States of America.

By Abdallah el-Kurebe

Experts seek incentives for climate-resilient, low-carbon investment

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Experts seek incentives for climate-resilient, low-carbon investment

A group of environmentalists has called on government to create an incentive for intensive engagement on climate resilience measures in the economy.

Participants at the Dialogue
Participants at the Dialogue

Participants at the 6th session of the Development Dialogue on Climate Change and Renewable Energy that held recently at the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA) in Ondo State, who made this submission, emphasised that the dialogue provided considerable insight and knowledge on climate change issues and climate action projects they could initiate.

Apart from providing the opportunity of earning higher incomes through low-carbon projects and carbon rebates, the day-long session, the participants agreed, also provided an avenue whereby networks in climate change were created and opportunities opened.

Themed: “Climate Change: Cross-Sector Scaling of Mitigation and Adaptation Initiatives in Nigeria” and organised by the Carbon Exchange Trade in Collaboration with FUTA, SMEFUNDS, New Nigeria Foundation and Noaz International, the forum, it was gathered, created a platform whereby professional partnerships were brokered and output from Nigeria’s Climate Action Forum communicated to the global audience.

Apart from creating a platform for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the forum was described as a local action in line with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s (UNFCCC) Climate Action in global intensification of knowledge and capacity through advocacy on climate change.

In view of the need to create awareness on the debilitating effect of climate change on national economies and how to mitigate its effect especially in the country, the Africa Roundtable on Climate Change under its Climate Action Forum in Nigeria, a coalition of local action groups, hosts regular Development Dialogues on Climate Change, Renewable Energy and Carbon Emission Reduction.

The FUTA session, according to the organisers, was designed to enable academic institutions to endow research and projects on climate mitigation and adaptation including climate smart agriculture, renewable energy as well as carbon emission and landscape resilience.

Prof Adebiyi Daramola, Vice Chancellor of FUTA, said the overall advantage of the Dialogue would be seen in climate change mitigation, adaptation and finance which are critical to building both economic, social and environmental resilience, scaling clean projects in sustainable landscapes and cities, biodiversity preservation as well as renewable energy, energy efficiency, environmental screening and monitoring and value-chain development.

Prof. Olufemi Ajibola, chairman of the session and Managing Director of New Nigeria Foundation, said issues on climate change are relatively new therefore there is need to create increased public awareness. He said an alternative to oil is imminent giving the drop in oil prices globally, adding that it is unacceptable for the country to overlook the opportunities of the new energy solutions, and so it is imperative to harness alternative resources in solving the problems of the country.

Director of CERAD, Professor Ayorinde Olufayo, was optimistic that the dialogue would provide linkage to global climate change and renewable energy and create technologies for ecosystem that will aid livelihood resilience for rural communities.

In a presentation titled: “Mitigation and Adaptation Initiatives for Sustainable Economic Development”, Innocent Azih, Director, Carbon Exchange Trade, said mitigation of climate change would be achieved through policy measures that emphasise scaling of climate friendly products and technologies, climate regulations, low-emission transportation and building construction as well as adaptation practices such as Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and stable long term financing for new greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation technologies.

While highlighting mitigation measures and policies, Azih posited that climate change recognition now identifies climate-friendly products and technologies as well as slow and long term financing from GHG technologies. He also identified carbon pricing as an effective mitigation measure as well as private sector response in the form of clean energy projects such as solar energy and clean cooking technologies.

In a presentation that explored research readiness for local action on climate change, Director, Centre for Renewable Technologies (CRET) at FUTA, Professor Olurinde Lafe, stressed the need for concerted efforts to globally address climate change. He said local actions which include legislation, advocacy and adoption of a clean development mechanism would have great impact in mitigating the effects of climate change.

Professor Lafe said Nigeria has abundant renewable energy sources in the form of solar, wind, biomass, gas thermal, ocean waves and tides, adding that there are research opportunities for project development in renewable energy sources through the use of available energy conversion technologies and waste to energy opportunities. He said opportunities abound in local action which according to him will solve employment problems and at the same time resolve the energy challenges facing the nation.

Professor Lafe outlined top research and development topics for local action which include: harnessing multiple renewable energy sources, distributed energy generation, micro grids high capacity energy storage, fuel cells and smart building architecture and engineering.

Farming, forestry top list of jobs most linked to suicide

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Farming, forestry top list of jobs most linked to suicide

A US study has listed farmers and foresters among the people most likely to take their own life.

Farming
Farming

The research carried out by America’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that those who work in farming, fishing, and forestry are the top most likely to commit suicide, compared to those in other jobs.

Published last week, the data was gathered from 17 US states in 2012. Occupational codes were applied to 12,312 suicide cases from the National Violent Death Reporting System.

Rates for each profession were calculated by the number of suicides per 100,000 population. For farming, fishing and forestry, the rating stands at 84.5.

Other job sectors ranked below farming, fishing and forestry were construction and extraction; installation, maintenance and repair; production; and architecture (with a rate of 32.2).

The group that encompassed arts, design, entertainment, sports and media was seventh, with a rate of 24.3.

The lowest rate of suicide, 7.5, was found in the education, training and library occupational group.

Approximately 40,000 suicides were reported in the United States during 2012 – the 10th leading cause of death among people aged 16 and over.

“Understanding suicides by occupational group provides an opportunity for prevention, but such data have not been reported recently for a broad population or examined by sex and occupation classification,” said the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The report acknowledges that the findings are subject to limitations, such as human and computer errors in categorisation.

However, the researchers hope that forthcoming data, gathered in 2014 from across 32 states, might provide more representative findings and allow them to examine occupational trends over time.

How smallholder farmers can food secure Africa

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How smallholder farmers can food secure Africa

One of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is to “End hunger, achieve food security and adequate nutrition for all, and promote sustainable agriculture.”

Chairperson of the Committee for World Food Security (WFS), Amira Gornass
Chairperson of the Committee for World Food Security (WFS), Amira Gornass

Smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa number around 33 million, representing 80% of all farms in the region, thereby contributing up to 90% of food production in some sub-Saharan African countries.

These facts state the importance of this group of farmers in ensuring food security in Africa, especially if the regional governments could provide incentives, education, farm inputs as well as favourable policies that would strengthen their efforts towards mass food production.

As major producers of food, African governments must pay more attention to the smallholder farmers. They must be made to, in the first place, be food sufficient so that they could become non or less dependent on governments for subsistence. All farmers’ needs towards food production should also be made affordable in order to incite the zeal in them to support food security programmes of governments.

More so, African governments should partner with organisations like the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) to enhance food security as well as boost nations’ agricultural productivities.

It is commendable to note that, through its Committee for World Food Security (WFS), the FAO is strengthening the African smallholder farmer in order to enable him contribute his quota in addressing global food insecurity.

The Chairperson of the Committee for World Food Security (WFS), Amira Gornass, disclosed in an exclusive interview during the organisation’s recent Regional Conference for Africa, which held in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast, that smallholder farmers make up the world’s largest producers of food. She added that they supply 70 percent of overall food production.

“Smallholders are at the heart of the agricultural sector by supplying 70% of the overall food production. They are at the centre of agro-food systems, mainly as producers, but also as consumers and labourers and increasingly as processors and traders. At the same time, 70% of the 1.4 billion poor people in the world live in rural areas with smallholders representing three quarters of these rural poor,” she said.

Gornass underlined the need to strengthen smallholder farmers’ role and their livelihoods because, according to her, policy interventions that address food insecurity and malnutrition should consider that they are engaged in a variety of interrelated markets (such as local and international, output and input, labour and financial) and perform multiple roles in rural areas.

“The CFS,” Gornass emphasised, had “developed a number of recommendations to address the specific challenges faced by smallholders. In 2011 and 2013, respectively, it endorsed policy recommendations on “How to increase food security and smallholder-sensitive investments in agriculture” and on “Investing in smallholder agriculture for food security and nutrition,” adding that, “currently, the committee is discussing a set of recommendations to strengthen smallholders’ access to markets, which are expected to be approved at the Plenary in October.”

The recommendations, she further stressed, resulted from extensive discussions and negotiations among representatives of member states, UN bodies, civil society and private sector organisations, financial and agricultural research institutions and were informed by the independent reports of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE), the scientific arm of CFS.

She pointed out that “drawing on its analysis of the potential contribution of smallholders to the four dimensions of food security and nutrition (availability, access, utilisation and stability), the committee recognises that, with the support of adequate policies and public investments, smallholders can greatly contribute to economic growth, employment, poverty reduction, emancipation of marginalised groups and the reduction of social and economic inequalities.”

Gornass however posits that for smallholders to be able to contribute to food security and nutrition, “we not only need to better understand and recognise the importance of local and domestic food markets for smallholders and the need to strengthen markets’ data collection systems to better inform public policies; the potential role that smallholders can play in international markets, as well as the financial and capacity building opportunities they have, but also the challenges in terms of standards to be met and conditions to be faced; the importance of smallholders in creating stronger linkages between consumers and producers; and the reliance on smallholders’ production to support the development of public procurement programmes for vulnerable consumers.”

On the migration of the African smallholder farmer from traditional to modern methods of farming, Gornass noted that “smallholder farmers’ education, especially in the area of the application of farm inputs, is a worrisome impediment to the achievement of food security.”

She explained that the CFS had identified a set of major areas where increased support was “needed to improve smallholders’ productivity: water and land management, sustainable management of genetic resources, soil conservation practices, better transport systems and infrastructure, including feeder roads and rural electrification, in addition to appropriate pre and post-harvest handling and storage facilities.”

For the smallholder farmer in Africa, as elsewhere, these are necessary if he is considered a critical stakeholder in tackling the challenge of food insecurity and, considering the limited resources available to them, Gornass suggests that “smallholders should also make better and more efficient use of those resources to increase their productivity in a sustainable way.”

According to her, CFS had recommended the strengthening of “participatory research, extension and farming services to increase smallholders’ productivity and diversify their production, ideally by combining their traditional knowledge with the findings of the newest scientific research.”

Measured in terms of value, she views that “productivity strictly depends on prices of inputs, equipment and machines but in several developing countries, their reduced availability and higher costs make this increase in productivity more difficult to achieve. In addition, smallholders, when not acting collectively, are pure price takers. For this reason, we need to enhance smallholders’ access to inputs as well as strengthen their capacity to act and invest collectively in order to reduce individual costs and increase smallholder’s economic influence on prices.”

The CFS boss warned that higher levels of productivity that were associated with higher use of inputs and the development of labour-saving technologies might lead to a reduction in agricultural employment, which needed to be somehow addressed with corrective policies and investments. “In this context, the committee has recommended that rural non-farm economies should be supported in order to provide smallholders with alternative off-farm employment opportunities, to diversify their sources of income and to manage the associated risks. Last, investments should also be made to build local capacities, develop entrepreneurial skills and promote innovation in value chains,” she recommended.

By Abdallah el-Kurebe

Climate justice: Spectre at the Paris feast

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Climate justice: Spectre at the Paris feast

Michael Donoghue writes in this issue that Pacific Islanders are responsible for only a tiny fraction of GHG emissions, yet they are suffering the worst effects of global warming. This unjust situation should be at the heart of the climate debate but was overshadowed in Paris by the much-acclaimed progress made elsewhere. We would question how much progress can truly be made without a commitment to climate justice. Climate justice demands action from those who are contributing most to climate change and benefiting from resource depletion: developed countries and multinational corporations. This is the area that is crying out for philanthropic action predicated not on charity but directed towards systemic change.

Jubilation greeted the adoption of the Paris Agreement last December in Paris, France. Photo credit: unfccc.int
Jubilation greeted the adoption of the Paris Agreement last December in Paris, France. Photo credit: unfccc.int

The mindset required for action can be summed up in three words: conviction, compassion and commitment. By conviction we mean full agreement that global warming is happening and that it is primarily the result of human activity. By compassion we mean empathy with and care for the victims, to date mostly in the Global South. That conviction and compassion combine to require commitment to do something about the situation; to put our resources where our hearts are and curtail the toll being taken on the planet.

 

Is the Paris Agreement a turning point?
The Paris Agreement has been hailed as a turning point in global efforts to avoid catastrophic climate change. Nearly all countries, polluters and non-polluters, rich and poor, have for the first time agreed to do something about global warming. So at least there is conviction, but the value of conviction without action is limited. Will mere acknowledgement that climate change is urgent and that temperature increases above pre-industrial levels must be kept to 1.5 °C, or well below 2 °C, be enough to save life as we know it on the planet?

 

Key concepts of justice missing
The key concepts of justice, including common but differentiated responsibility, have barely survived on life support provided by the preamble to the Paris Agreement. This is an opportunity for philanthropy to back the countless groups such as Corporate Europe Observatory, Friends of the Earth International and Third World Network advocating that northern nations increase their level of ambition in line with the requirements of common but differentiated responsibility. Apart from the lack of attention to climate justice, there are two big omissions from the agreement. First, as La Via Campesina, the international peasants’ movement, puts it (and as other articles in this issue have pointed out), ‘there is nothing binding for states, national contributions lead us towards a global warming of over 3 °C and multinationals are the main beneficiaries. It was essentially a media circus.’

 

No mention of fossil fuels
Second, the agreement made no mention of fossil fuels, the great culprit in the unfolding climate crisis.

The influence of the fossil fuel lobby was made most apparent at the Warsaw COP in 2013 when there was an official coal conference during the negotiations. It is estimated that the only way to keep temperature rises to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels is to stop burning fossil fuels by 2030. Philanthropy can and should fund the groups and coalitions organising and advocating for alternatives, while at the same time divesting its own endowments from fossil fuels. Some have already set the example, as shown by Ellen Dorsey, Sian Ferguson and Clara Vondrich and a recent Alliance interview with Stephen Heintz of Rockefeller Brothers Fund. But as 350.org leaders May Boeve and Bill McKibben also write, ‘(Big) philanthropy is not sufficiently involved. Many foundations, including some of the largest environmental funders, have not divested from fossil fuels.’

 

Need for funding for adaptation as well as mitigation
Wanjira Mathai and Sean DeWitt point to another area in need of philanthropic attention: grassroots movements fighting to preserve local ecosystems embodied in forests. While the Paris Agreement highlights carbon markets and the embedded carbon offsets, forest communities, especially those of indigenous peoples, see their trees and soils as arenas of life and culture and not as carbon sinks. Tackling global warming at the grassroots level means supporting groups fighting for their way of life and their culture. These fights provide opportunities for compassion which lead resolutely to commitment. Commitment demands action now, not simple intention. It requires philanthropy to fund adaptation on the scale that it has been funding the search for mitigation.

There are areas where justice has a still more obvious application. Nations have considered climate change to be a national security issue and their obstinate dependence on dirty energy has led to a form of climate warfare against protesters. While nations continue to see their interests tied up in big dams and fossil-dependent power generation, these sites have become the focus of protests. In some cases, protesters have become the targets of violence.

 

Emissions reductions determined by national interests
The linchpin of COP21was the so-called Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). The INDC platform was set by COP19 in Warsaw. As the name implies, nations were required to submit the level of emissions reduction they would contribute towards limiting temperature increases above pre-industrial levels. The key attraction was that countries would set their own targets, in contrast to the Kyoto Protocol which required that countries reduce emissions in line with a global assessment of contributions, abilities and historical responsibility. In other words, under Kyoto, the emissions reduction plan was based on the reduction in emissions that was actually needed. Under the INDCs, national interests determine what actions should be taken. Analysts at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) indicate that with the INDCs the world is set for a 3-4 °C temperature increase at the minimum, which would mean irreversible loss of lives, species and habitats, territories and citizenship due to climate change.

 

Catastrophe pending
This sort of temperature increase would make Africa, for example, uninhabitable because the continent would suffer temperatures 50 per cent above global averages. Temperatures in the range of 4.5-6 °C would mean incineration of the continent, heatwaves, floods, catastrophic droughts and crop failures, among other calamities. Island communities and coastal regions would disappear under water. Maxine Burkett notes in her article, ‘in earth’s documented history, we have not seen the amount of carbon released combined with the speed at which we are depositing it in the atmosphere.’ As she suggests, climate-induced migration will need to be a funding priority of foundations. More starkly, Pablo Solon, former chief climate negotiator for Bolivia, remarked: ‘The Paris agreement will force us to choose (which) of our children will survive, because in a +3 °C world, not all will be able to live.’

 

How philanthropy can support climate justice
We have considered at length the reasons why the current climate negotiation pattern is leading us into more crises. The good news, however, is that grassroots communities are both innovative and resilient in the face of challenges. Thousands of climate justice groups around the world, including coalitions such as Climate Justice Now and the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, are offering solutions from those most affected, including indigenous peoples, women and youth. They are being supported by funding from foundations including Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Chorus, Kendeda, Oak and Overbrook Foundations, some of whose efforts are profiled in this issue.

We urge philanthropy to become more committed: to divest from fossil fuels and reinvest in renewable energy; to fund adaptive strategies developed at local and regional levels; to support people’s movements  putting pressure on world leaders; to make grants for the protests that will be erupting around the planet to shut down fossil fuel facilities; to fund alternatives such as wind and solar power; and, perhaps above all, to consider the issue of climate justice which should inform all our efforts to combat the various forms of climate change.

By Nnimmo Bassey (founder/director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation and chair of Global Greengrants Fund) and Terry Odendahl (president and CEO of Global Greengrants Fund)

Global Witness: Chinese miner’s role in Congo gold rush

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Global Witness: Chinese miner’s role in Congo gold rush

Chinese-owned mining company exporting to Dubai gave armed groups AK-47s for access to gold, alleges Global Witness, an international NGO that works to break links between natural resource exploitation, conflict, poverty, corruption, and human rights abuses 

Sophia Pickles, Senior Campaigner, Global Witness
Sophia Pickles, Senior Campaigner, Global Witness

Armed groups in Shabunda territory, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, received gifts of arms and cash from a Chinese mining company and made up to $25,000 per month extorted from local miners during a recent two-year gold boom. In just one year, up to $17 million of gold produced by Kun Hou Mining, the Chinese-owned company, went missing and was likely smuggled out of Congo into international supply chains, Global Witness has revealed.

At the same time, the Congolese state lost out on tax revenues on up to $38 million of artisanal gold produced per year during the gold rush, due to smuggling and misconduct by provincial authorities. The gold rush focused on the Ulindi River reached its peak in 2014 and 2015 and continues to this day. Evidence gathered by Global Witness also shows a provincial authority colluded with armed groups in illegal taxation of miners while another altered official export documents so gold looked as though it was coming from legally-operating mines.

Global Witness’ investigation reveals the extent of the problems in eastern Congo’s artisanal gold sector. Eastern Congo has seen an uptick in gold production in recent years, the revenues from which could have been used to address the region’s desperate poverty but have instead often funded armed groups and corrupt officials. Most of eastern Congo’s artisanal miners – around 80% – work in the gold sector. Recent international reforms have aimed to stop Congo’s mineral wealth funding armed groups. Global Witness warns today that the Congolese government needs to hold companies and government officials involved in such abuses to account in order for these reforms to work.

Armed groups, known as Raia Mutomboki, received at least two AK-47 assault rifles and $4,000 in cash from Kun Hou Mining, which operates mechanised gold dredging machines along the Ulindi River in Shabunda territory, South Kivu province of eastern Congo. In addition, the armed men taxed artisanal miners operating locally-made dredgers extracting gold along the river. Local authorities also collaborated with the Raia Mutomboki, through a tax sharing deal. The taxes collected by authorities appear to have disappeared, depriving Congo of much needed revenue which could be used for health and education.

“There were over 500 cases of malnutrition reported in Shabunda town in 2014 and yet the significant revenues generated by this gold boom benefitted armed men and predatory companies instead of the Congolese people,” said Sophia Pickles, Senior Campaigner at Global Witness. “The Congolese government must enforce its own laws to ensure that companies in its gold sector do not produce or trade gold that has funded armed groups. Any company breaking these laws must be held accountable for their actions. Provincial mining authorities that fail to properly govern the minerals sector must also be held liable.”

Global Witness’ research shows that almost half a million dollars’ worth of Kun Hou’s gold was exported to a Dubai company through official channels. The rest of the company’s estimated $17 million of gold production is likely to have been smuggled out of the country.

Global Witness has also found evidence that mining officials in the provincial capital, Bukavu, deliberately falsified documentation to obscure links to Shabunda. Officials changed the gold’s origin on official export documents to show instead it came from the handful of legally-operating artisanal mines in South Kivu. This pattern has been repeated with other mines in the province. As a result, it is much more difficult for international buyers to be sure that gold has not funded armed groups.

“Provincial authorities overseeing Shabunda’s boom have, by their actions over the past two years, directly undermined international and the national government’s efforts to reform eastern Congo’s artisanal gold trade,” said Pickles. “States have a responsibility to ensure that companies do no harm, including checking supply chains for links to conflict and human rights abuses – Congo and the United Arab Emirates have dramatically failed in this respect.”

Global Witness’s report River of Gold also shows that:

  • South Kivu’s provincial government and mining authorities continued to support Kun Hou Mining despite repeated legal violations by the firm and repeated requests from Congo’s national government in Kinshasa to shut down its operations.
  • Mining officials in Shabunda town working for SAESSCAM, a governmental body mandated to support artisanal miners, ran an illegal taxation racket in areas where the local dredgers operated, including in collaboration with Raia Mutumboki armed groups.
  • Gold from Shabunda’s boom was sold on to a gold trading house in Bukavu that then sold it to their sister company, Alfa Gold Corp DMCC, in Dubai. Neither firm carried out supply chain due diligence to international standards, which would have revealed that the gold had been obtained in direct contravention of Congolese law and UAE Guidelines. Alfa Gold Corp DMCC has a wholly owned UK subsidiary registered in London’s Hatton Garden jewellery area. Alfa Gold in Dubai and London did not respond to request for comment.
  • Documents show that a French citizen Frank Menard, who worked for Kun Hou Mining, is deeply implicated in the company’s wrongdoing. Raia Mutomboki armed groups wrote to Menard in February 2015 to thank him for the two AK-47 assault rifles and $4,000. Menard also signed an official document confirming the sale of Kun Hou’s gold to Alfa Gold’s Congolese office. Global Witness’ attempts to contact Franck Menard were unsuccessful.

In recent years there have been significant international efforts to tackle the link between violent conflict, human rights abuses and the minerals trade in Congo and elsewhere including international supply chain guidance set out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) five years ago, which has been a legal requirement in Congo since 2012. The US also passed a law and most recently industry supply chain guidelines based on the OECD standard were agreed in China. The Chinese guidelines set a precedent for Chinese companies to recognise and reduce supply chain risks and if adhered to should allow companies sourcing minerals from high-risk areas to do so responsibly.

Kun Hu Mining refused to comment in response to three requests from Global Witness. SAESSCAM have strongly denied that its agents collaborated with armed groups.

NASA’s Juno space probe arrives Jupiter’s orbit

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NASA’s Juno space probe arrives Jupiter’s orbit

The NASA spacecraft Juno successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit on Monday, marking what seems like a huge achievement in a five-year and $1.8 billion journey to investigate the largest planet in our solar system

Juno probe enters Jupiter’s orbit
Juno probe enters Jupiter’s orbit

Braving intense radiation, a NASA spacecraft reached Jupiter on Monday after a five-year voyage to begin exploring the king of the planets.

Ground controllers at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Lockheed Martin erupted in applause when the solar-powered Juno spacecraft beamed home news that it was circling Jupiter’s poles.

The arrival at Jupiter was dramatic. As Juno approached its target, it fired its rocket engine to slow itself down and gently slipped into orbit. Because of the communication time lag between Jupiter and Earth, Juno was on autopilot when it executed the tricky move.

“Juno, welcome to Jupiter,” said mission control commentator Jennifer Delavan of Lockheed Martin, which built Juno.

Mission managers said early reports indicated Juno was healthy and performed flawlessly.

“Juno sang to us and it was a song of perfection,” JPL project manager Rick Nybakken said during a post-mission briefing.

The spacecraft’s camera and other instruments were switched off for arrival, so there weren’t any pictures at the moment it reached its destination. Afterward, NASA released a time-lapse video taken last week during the approach, showing Jupiter glowing yellow in the distance and its four inner moons dancing around it.

The view yielded a surprise: Jupiter’s second-largest moon, Callisto, appeared dimmer than initially thought. Scientists have promised close-up views of the planet when Juno skims the cloud tops during the 20-month, $1.1 billion mission.

The fifth rock from the sun and the heftiest planet in the solar system, Jupiter is what’s known as a gas giant – a ball of hydrogen and helium – unlike rocky Earth and Mars.

With its billowy clouds and colourful stripes, Jupiter is an extreme world that likely formed first, shortly after the sun. Unlocking its history may hold clues to understanding how Earth and the rest of the solar system developed.

Named after Jupiter’s cloud-piercing wife in Roman mythology, Juno is only the second mission designed to spend time at Jupiter.

Galileo, launched in 1989, circled Jupiter for nearly a decade, beaming back splendid views of the planet and its numerous moons. It uncovered signs of an ocean beneath the icy surface of the moon Europa, considered a top target in the search for life outside Earth.

Juno’s mission: To peer through Jupiter’s cloud-socked atmosphere and map the interior from a unique vantage point above the poles. Among the lingering questions: How much water exists? Is there a solid core? Why are Jupiter’s southern and northern lights the brightest in the solar system?

“What Juno’s about is looking beneath that surface,” Juno chief scientist Scott Bolton said before the arrival. “We’ve got to go down and look at what’s inside, see how it’s built, how deep these features go, learn about its real secrets.”

There’s also the mystery of its Great Red Spot. Recent observations by the Hubble Space Telescope revealed the centuries-old monster storm in Jupiter’s atmosphere is shrinking.

The trek to Jupiter, spanning nearly five years and 1.8 billion miles (2.8 billion kilometres), took Juno on a tour of the inner solar system followed by a swing past Earth that catapulted it beyond the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Along the way, Juno became the first spacecraft to cruise that far out powered by the sun, beating Europe’s comet-chasing Rosetta spacecraft. A trio of massive solar wings sticks out from Juno like blades from a windmill, generating 500 watts of power to run its nine instruments.

In the coming days, Juno will turn its instruments back on, but the real work won’t begin until late August when the spacecraft swings in closer. Plans called for Juno to swoop within 3,000 miles (5,000 kilometres) of Jupiter’s clouds – closer than previous missions – to map the planet’s gravity and magnetic fields in order to learn about the interior makeup.

Juno is an armoured spacecraft – its computer and electronics are locked in a titanium vault to shield them from harmful radiation. Even so, Juno is expected to get blasted with radiation equal to more than 100 million dental X-rays during the mission.

Like Galileo before it, Juno meets its demise in 2018 when it deliberately dives into Jupiter’s atmosphere and disintegrates – a necessary sacrifice to prevent any chance of accidentally crashing into the planet’s potentially habitable moons.

Courtesy: AP

Climate: Ogun distributes seeds ahead tree planting spree

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Climate: Ogun distributes seeds ahead tree planting spree

The Ogun State Government has concluded plans to distribute free seedlings of teak, gmelina and other species of trees to individuals and residents of the state in order to curb the effects of climate change as well as environmental degradation.

Commissioner for Forestry, Chief Kolawole Lawal
Commissioner for Forestry, Chief Kolawole Lawal

Commissioner for Forestry, Chief Kolawole Lawal, made this known recently while addressing stakeholders during an official visit to Sagamu, Iperu, Ago-Iwoye and Owode-Egba forest ranges.

Chief Lawal described planting of trees as crucial in sustaining the ecosystem as, according to him, the benefits derivable from planting trees are immense and vital to human survival. He added that, apart from its economic importance, the effects of climate change would be mitigated with a significant reduction in the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere through gaseous exchange.

The commissioner said that government had decided to encourage private bodies and individuals to plant trees across the state, calling on them to key into the tree planting exercise by applying for free tree seedlings in the Ministry of Forestry just as the government on its own was embarking on a tree planting campaign that will be flagged-off soon.

Speaking at the occasion, the Chairman, Ogun State Association of Processed Wood Producers and Marketers, Chief Adetola Dosumu, appealed to the state government to consider creating a forest reserve in the Remo axis to revive the moribund saw-mills in the area.

Meanwhile, the Divisional Forest Programme Officers in the state have been called upon to intensify efforts on revenue generation in their respective forest ranges and ensure wood merchants play according to the rules of operations.

Chief Lawal gave the charge while addressing foresters in Sagamu, Iperu, Ago-Iwoye and Owode Egba free area ranges.

Chief Lawal said irrespective of the fact that the ranges were free zones had not precluded them from generating more revenue, advising that they should map out strategies towards the objective of raking revenue into government coffers.

The Commissioner however ordered that all saw-mills yet to renew their operational licenses in defiance of government directive on the payment of operational licences, should be sealed off immediately.

He therefore urged the DFPOs to ensure that contractors renewed their property hammers, hackney permit for felling machine and timber lorries in accordance with the rules guiding forest operations in the state.

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