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Emerging vista in managing Africa’s faecal waste

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Emerging vista in managing Africa’s faecal waste

Wikipedia defines water as a transparent fluid, which covers 71 percent of the Earth’s surface‎ and is vital for all known forms of life. Wastewater, according to the online English dictionary, is any water that has been used by some human, domestic or industrial activity and, because of that, now contains waste products.

Suresh Rohilla, CSE's Programme Director
Suresh Rohilla, CSE’s Programme Director

The current paradigm on water is that the more water is supplied, the more waste water is generated. This results in more costs for treatment, which in turn, is not sustainable because of the growing population – even though more than 1.2 billion people lack access to clean drinking water.

The Second India-Africa Dialogue and Media Briefing Workshop, organised by the Media for Environment, Science, Health and Agriculture (MESHA) in conjunction with Ghana’s SaTCOG, was funded by the India-based Centre of Science and Environment (CSE). Jornalists from Burkina Faso, Benin Republic, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda attended the forum.

The workshop, which was premised on Sewerage to Sanitation: Mainstreaming Septage (Faecal Waste) Management, understudied the African plan for cities’ water, which forgets the waste. The faecal waste plan is such that is dependent on the plan by the colonial administration.

According to Suresh Rohilla, CSE’s Programme Director in charge of Water Management, “80 percent of water leaves homes as sewage where the more water that is generated, the more is wasted. Cities have no clue how they will convey waste, treat it in order to have clean rivers.”

The CSE, which carried out a study on waste water management in 2015, found that the disposal system of faecal waste was based on the sewage systems built by the colonialists, without the involvement of the local people. The study discovered that “The colonial administration created systems and structures where the participation of local people in making decisions was completely eliminated while the systems also became more and more centralised.”

The water supply systems were not decentralised. They were controlled and relied on long transmission lines. More so, the transportation of water from distant locations and sewage disposal were centralised in most towns and cities. “As much as 20 to 50 per cent of water was wasted during the supply process.”

According to Indian National Urban Sanitation Policy 2008, 50 percent of the population lives in unhygienic situations where “only 102 million (equivalent to 29 percent of the urban population) are connected to septic tanks and 60 million (17 percent) use pit or vault latrines. Big cities still have 20-40 percent dependence on septic tanls and small/medium cities 80-100 percent ‎are on septic tanks.”

Against the conventional waste water treatment systems, which are expensive in maintenance, the workshop recommended the Duckweed based Waste Water Treatment (DWWT)‎, which have flexibility in design. ‎ “The DWWT are tolerant to inflow fluctuation and sewer networks are shorter in length and smaller in diameter,” Rohilla explained in his presentation, adding, “it uses a variety of simpler and natural treatment system with non or minimal energy. It promotes conservation of used water and nutrients.”

Of additional advantage is that the DWWT system uses no electricity or chemicals for the treatment process and semi or unskilled labour for operation and maintenance. “The reuse of water is local and safe.

While the DWWT could be used in rural and urban areas, it could also be applied in single houses, public toilets, residential areas, tourism facilities, craft villages, industrial parks as well as hospitals, markets and schools.

African governments must think of workable ways of managing waste water. This could be by adopting technologies ‎that are known to improve water treatment processes.

“These technologies, according to CSE, “are decentralised and designed to enhance the natural aerobic and anaerobic processes” and “create conditions in which wastewater can be treated with the least use of energy or mechanical equipment.”‎ On the whole, wastewater could be effectively recycled and reused locally at household, institutional or community level.

Patrick Appoya is of the Africa Sanitation Think Tank ‎and an Environmentalist. Presenting his paper, “Mainstreaming Sustainable Sanitation Solutions in Africa,” he observed that the sewage systems being used today in Africa “have proven not to be able to cover the population the way we want.”

He gave an example of Ghana, which in 1990 had 11 percent of the population only with access to improved sanitation. The country recorded a four percent difference (15%) in 2015. “It means that our strategy is not working if in 25 years, there was a difference of only four percent. We are showcasing today that other workable approaches are available to achieve our public health objectives. And that option is the decentralised waste treatment. Whatever it will cost to contain our faecal matter effectively, according to the principle of improved sanitation, we must do it.”

Appoya sees one of African government’s challenge in faecal waste management as not charting their own path. “For example, countries that inherited conventional sewage treatment systems still go that way. They don’t think of how best they could create their own suitable methods. The ability to organise authentic evidence ‎to be able to improve on the status quo is the major problem when it comes to sanitation,” he said.

While Appoya sees that very little has changed on the toilet that was invented in 1840s, ‎he recommends the decentralised waste water management system for Africa.

“I will recommend the decentralised waste water management system. We need to also understand that the centralised system will not be able to service everybody.”

Sudhir Pillay, of South Africa’s Water Research Commission made a presentation on the “Opportunities and Challenges in Faecal System Management (FSM) while MESHA’s Secretary, Aghan Daniel presented a paper titled, “Challenges Facing Science Journalism.”

By Abdallah el-Kurebe

Fears over vulnerability of Belgium nuclear plants

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Fears over vulnerability of Belgium nuclear plants

As a dragnet aimed at Islamic State operatives spiraled across Brussels and into at least five European countries last Friday, the authorities were also focusing on a narrower but increasingly alarming threat: the vulnerability of Belgium’s nuclear installations.

The nuclear power plant in Doel, Belgium. The country has a troubled history of security lapses at its nuclear power facilities. Photo credit: Julien Warnand / European PRESSPHOTO AGENCY
The nuclear power plant in Doel, Belgium. The country has a troubled history of security lapses at its nuclear power facilities. Photo credit:
Julien Warnand / European PressPhoto Agency

The investigation into last week’s deadly attacks in Brussels has prompted worries that the Islamic State is seeking to attack, infiltrate or sabotage nuclear installations or obtain nuclear or radioactive material. This is especially worrying in a country with a history of security lapses at its nuclear facilities, a weak intelligence apparatus and a deeply rooted terrorist network.

On Friday, the authorities stripped security badges from several workers at one of two plants where all nonessential employees were sent home hours after the attacks at the Brussels airport and one of the city’s busiest subway stations three days earlier. Surveillance footage of a top official at another Belgian nuclear facility was discovered last year in the apartment of a suspected militant linked to the extremists who unleashed the horror in Paris in November.

Asked on Thursday at a London think tank whether there was a danger of the Islamic State’s obtaining a nuclear weapon, the British defense secretary, Michael Fallon, said that “was a new and emerging threat.”

While the prospect that terrorists can obtain enough highly enriched uranium and then turn it into a nuclear fission bomb seems far-fetched to many experts, they say the fabrication of some kind of dirty bomb from radioactive waste or byproducts is more conceivable. There are a variety of other risks involving Belgium’s facilities, including that terrorists somehow shut down the privately operated plants, which provide nearly half of Belgium’s power.

The fears at the nuclear power plants are of “an accident in which someone explodes a bomb inside the plant,” said Sébastien Berg, the spokesman for Belgium’s federal agency for nuclear control. “The other danger is that they fly something into the plant from outside.” That could stop the cooling process of the used fuel, Mr. Berg explained, and in turn shut down the plant.

The revelation of the surveillance footage was the first evidence that the Islamic State has a focused interest in nuclear material. But Belgium’s nuclear facilities have long had a worrying track record of breaches, prompting warnings from Washington and other foreign capitals.

Some of these are relatively minor: The Belgian nuclear agency’s computer system was hacked this year and shut down briefly. In 2013, two individuals managed to scale the fence at Belgium’s research reactor in the city of Mol, break into a laboratory and steal equipment.

Others are far more disconcerting. In 2012, two employees at the nuclear plant in Doel quit to join jihadists in Syria, and eventually transferred their allegiances to the Islamic State. Both men fought in a brigade that included dozens of Belgians, including Abdelhamid Abaaoud, considered the on-the-ground leader of the Paris attacks.

One of these men is believed to have died fighting in Syria, but the other was convicted of terror-related offenses in Belgium in 2014, and released from prison last year, according to Pieter Van Oestaeyen, a researcher who tracks Belgium’s jihadist networks. It is not known whether they communicated information about their former workplace to their Islamic State comrades.

At the same plant where these jihadists once worked, an individual who has yet to be identified walked into the reactor No. 4 in 2014, turned a valve and drained 65,000 liters of oil used to lubricate the turbines. The ensuing friction nearly overheated the machinery, forcing it to be shut down. The damage was so severe that the reactor was out of commission for five months.

Investigators are now looking into possible links between that case and terrorist groups, although they caution that it could also have been the work of an insider with a workplace grudge. What is clear is that the act was meant to sow dangerous havoc — and that the plant’s security systems can be breached.

“This was a deliberate act to take down the nuclear reactor, and a very good way to do it,” Mr. Berg, the nuclear agency spokesman, said of the episode in a recent interview.

These incidents are now all being seen in a new light, as information is mounting from investigators that the terrorist network that hit Paris and Brussels may have been in the planning stages of some kind of operation at a Belgian nuclear facility.

Three men linked to the surveillance video were involved in either the Paris or the Brussels attacks.

Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui, the brothers who the authorities say were suicide bombers at the Brussels airport and subway station, are believed to have driven to the surveilled scientist’s home and removed a camera that was hidden in nearby bushes. The authorities believe they then took it to a house connected to Mohammed Bakkali, who was arrested by the Belgian police after the Paris attacks and is accused of helping with logistics and planning. The police found the videocamera during a raid on the house.

Belgium has both low-enriched uranium, which fuels its two power plants, and highly enriched uranium, which is used in its research reactor primarily to make medical isotopes, plus the byproducts of that process. The United States provides Belgium with highly enriched uranium — making it particularly concerned about radioactive materials landing in terrorist hands — and then buys isotopes.

Experts say the most remote of the potential nuclear-related risks is that Islamic State operatives would be able to obtain highly enriched uranium. Even the danger of a dirty bomb is limited, they said, because much radioactive waste is so toxic it would likely sicken or kill the people trying to steal it.

Cheryl Rofer, a retired nuclear scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and editor of the blog Nuclear Diner, said Belgium’s Tihange nuclear plant has pressurised water reactors, inside a heavy steel vessel, reducing the danger that nuclear fuel could leak or spread. She said that the Brussels bombers’ explosive of choice, TATP, might be able to damage parts of the plant but that the damage would shut down the reactor, limiting the radiation damage.

And if terrorists did manage to shut down the reactor and reach the fuel rods, they would have to remove them with a crane to get the fuel out of them, Ms. Rofer said. And then the fuel would still be “too radioactive to go near — it would kill you quickly.”

While experts are doubtful that terrorists could steal the highly enriched uranium at the Mol reactor without alerting law enforcement, some nuclear scientists do believe that if they could obtain it, they could recruit people who know how to fashion a primitive nuclear device.

Matthew Bunn, a specialist in nuclear security at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, said another worry was the byproducts of the isotopes made at Mol, such as Cesium-137.

“It’s like talcum powder,” he said. “If you made a dirty bomb out of it, it’s going to provoke fear, you would have to evacuate and you have to spend a lot of money cleaning it up; the economic destruction cost could be very high.”

The discovery of the surveillance video in November set off alarm bells across the small nuclear-security community, with fresh worries that terror groups could kidnap, extort or otherwise coerce a nuclear scientist into helping them. The official whose family was watched works at Mol, one of five research reactors worldwide that produce 90 percent of the radio isotopes used for medical diagnosis and treatment.

Professor Bunn of Harvard noted that the Islamic State “has an apocalyptic ideology and believes there is going to be a final war with the United States,” expects to win that war and “would need very powerful weapons to do so.”

“And if they ever did turn to nuclear weapons,” he added, “they have more people, more money and more territory under their control and more ability to recruit experts globally than Al Qaeda at its best ever had.”

By Alissa J. Rubin (Brussels) and Milan Schreuer (Paris), New York Times

Australia to invest $1 billion in clean energy

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Australia to invest $1 billion in clean energy

The Australian Government is establishing a $1 billion Clean Energy Innovation Fund to support emerging technologies make the leap from demonstration to commercial deployment.

Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull
Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull

This will drive innovation and create the jobs of the future, while delivering a financial benefit from the investment of public money.

The $1 billion Clean Energy Innovation Fund will be jointly managed by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), drawing on their complementary experience and expertise. It will provide both debt and equity for clean energy projects.

The government will retain and reinvigorate the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency as part of our strong commitment to supporting jobs and innovation through investment in clean and renewable energy in Australia.

The refocused agencies will work together to provide capital investment in Australian businesses and emerging clean energy technologies.

“We are promoting innovation and new economic opportunities, enhancing our productivity, protecting our environment and reducing emissions to tackle climate change,” the government said.

An example of a project could be a large scale solar facility with storage in Port Augusta.

By offering innovative equity and debt products, the Clean Energy Innovation Fund can accelerate the availability of new technologies to transform the energy market, and deliver better value for taxpayers.

“There is growing maturity in the clean energy market, but early stage clean energy projects can have trouble growing to the size and maturity needed to attract private equity. We will help plug this investment gap. The Clean Energy Innovation Fund will target projects such as large-scale solar with storage, off-shore energy, biofuels and smart grids.

“Clean energy is central to the Government’s strategy to address climate change and meet our emissions reduction targets. We are committed to supporting the development, demonstration and deployment of renewable technologies – which will help transition Australia’s energy sector to low emissions over the course of the century.”

ARENA will continue to manage its existing portfolio of grants and deliver the announced $100 million large-scale solar round, and will be given an expanded focus beyond renewable energy to enable energy efficiency and low emissions technology.

This will provide greater alignment with the CEFC and ensure that ARENA is able to support the full spectrum of emerging clean energy technology options.

Once the $100 million large-scale solar round is complete, ARENA will move from a grant based role to predominantly a debt and equity basis under the Clean Energy Innovation Fund.

The $1 billion Clean Energy Innovation Fund will be established from within the CEFC’s $10 billion allocation. This Fund will make available $100 million a year for 10 years.

The changes announced work hand in hand with the Emissions Reduction Fund, the Renewable Energy Target, the National Energy Productivity Plan and our broader support for clean energy to reduce emissions and drive productivity across the energy sector.

“Our strong suite of climate change policies will work to achieve our commitment to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 per cent by 2030. This target is ambitious but achievable,” officials disclosed.

China to halt construction on coal-fired power plants in 15 regions

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China to halt construction on coal-fired power plants in 15 regions

Move still falls short of halting build-up of overcapacity in coal-fired power generation, critics say

A coal-fired power plant
A coal-fired power plant

China will stop the construction of coal-fired power plants in 15 regions as part of its efforts to tackle a capacity glut in the sector, the country’s energy regulator said on Thursday, confirming an earlier media report.

The Southern Energy Observer, a magazine run by the state-owned China Southern Power Grid Corp, said regulators had halted the construction of coal-fired plants in regions where capacity was already in surplus, including the major coal producing centres of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi and Shaanxi.

An official at the communications office of the National Energy Administration (NEA) told Reuters that the report was correct, but he did not provide any further details.

The report, citing documents issued to local governments by the regulator, said China would also stop approving new projects in as many as 13 provinces and regions until 2018.

The rapid expansion of China’s coal-fired power capacity, together with a slowdown in demand growth, has saddled the sector with its lowest utilisation rates since 1978, the NEA said earlier this year.

Environmental group Greenpeace said the rules, if fully implemented, could involve up to 250 power projects with a total of 170 gigawatts (GW) in capacity, according to initial estimates.

“China is finally beginning to clamp down on its out of control coal power bubble,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, Greenpeace’s senior campaigner on coal, in an emailed statement.

“However, these new measures fall far short of even halting the build-up of overcapacity in coal-fired power generation, let alone beginning to reduce it,” he said.

China’s total generation capacity reached 1,485.8 GW by the end of February, up 11.8 percent year on year, according to the latest figures. Thermal power, which mostly consists of coal-fired capacity, rose 9.4 percent on the year to 1,003.8 GW.

China aims to raise the share of non-fossil fuels to 15 percent of total primary energy by 2020, up from 12 percent at the end of last year.

By Kathy Chen and David Stanway, Scientific American

How to reclaim Nigeria’s lost cocoa glory, by experts

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How to reclaim Nigeria’s lost cocoa glory, by experts

Ways to boost cocoa produce in the country dominated discussions at a recent gathering in Ibadan, Oyo State, where stakeholders explored measures to address the dearth of planting materials for the cash crop.

Harvesting cocoa
Harvesting cocoa

Courtesy of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Nigeria, major service providers in key producing states were drilled on issues related to vegetative propagation of cocoa, ostensibly to correct grey areas in its cultivation.

Cocoa is a small (about 4m to 8m tall) perennial tree crop that primarily comes from three tropical regions – Southeast Asia, Latin America, and West Africa. West Africa collectively supplies two-thirds of the world’s cocoa crop, with Cote D’Ivoire leading production at 1.65 million tonnes, and Ghana, Nigeria and Togo producing additional 1.55 million tonnes.

The week-long forum, which held at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) offices in the Oyo State capital, entailed series of practical sessions and field trips, as well as explanations on how to carry out rehabilitation of old cocoa trees via vegetative grafting with young or new budwoods from high-yielding cocoa trees. This measure reinvigorates the old tree and increases its productivity yield for another number of decades, according to the IITA.

The Nigerian cocoa industry, it was gathered, is currently plagued by low productivity at less than .350ton/hectare and dire scarcity of cocoa seedlings (planting materials) to cultivate much needed new cocoa plantations.

“Investments in new plantation are required to replace and expand existing cocoa estates, most of which were cultivated in the pre-independence era, hence the timely and strategic invention of USAID in the production end of the cocoa value chain,” disclosed a source.

Lead Facilitator at the event tagged “Training of trainers on cocoa rehabilitation and planting Material,” Dr Daniel Adewale, who is of the Department of Crop Science and Horticulture at the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, noted: “Nigeria is no longer getting full economic benefits from growing cocoa because most cocoa fields are old and small as well as the poor genetic qualities of the planting materials used.”

Therefore, the cultivation of cocoa is no longer a profitable crop for many farmers and, as a result of this, the nation’s quantity and quality of cocoa is declining, he added. According to him, the need to urgently address this decline is why USAID Nigeria is intervening through its Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transport (NEXTT) project to build the capacity of service providers/extension workers to help farmers rehabilitate old cocoa trees and cultivate new clonal seedling gardens – using budwood – for production of more high-yielding cocoa seedlings.

Speaking on the need to move Nigeria cocoa’s industry from the 19th century to the 21st century, Mr Remi Osijo from the USAID Nigeria NEXTT project identified the massive investment opportunities and its inherent potential for the Nigerian economy if young entrepreneurial cocoa farmers are “supported with renovation and expansion of atomized farms (less than one hectare) to 3-5 hectares, for higher yields of over one ton/hectare.”

He said: “There is an urgent need to encourage investments in commercial cultivation of nuclear cocoa estates not just for increased productivity but because the commercial scale of the operations and services that will be rendered. This will ultimately address quality issues of Nigeria’s cocoa beans as the fermentation, drying, ware housing and branding will be done appropriately and these services will certainly be extended to the atomised/local farmers around the estate.

“Just imagine the scale and number of jobs that will be created from this venture with Nigeria earning more revenue as premium price will certainly be paid for such standardised cocoa beans all over the world.”

Nigeria currently produces less than 500kg of dry bean per hectare. “This very low level of cocoa production has made it necessary to change protocol of production,” argues Dr Adewale, who is a scientist, and used to work with the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN).

“Vegetative propagation is the best way to ensure increased production of high quality cocoa pods or beans instead of seedling cultivation because it enables multiplicity and commercialisation of high-yielding strains,” he said.

The crop scientist further explained that vegetative propagation makes it possible to multiply desired cocoa varieties thereby ensuring “quick replication of highly productive planting materials, production of uniform trees with shortened gestation period and cocoa plants are protected against diseases.”

The need for Nigeria to quickly bridge the gap in its cocoa production was also emphasised by Dr Ranjana Bhattacharjee, a Senior Researcher at IITA.

According to her, “globally, the chocolate and cocoa industry are in crisis due to low productivity which is failing to meet a growing demand that is increasing by 2% annually,” hence the need for Nigeria to urgently seize this opportunity growing global demand by increasing its falling cocoa production.

The country has fallen from the world leading producer of cocoa in the 1960s to fourth position after Cote D’Ivoire, Ghana and Indonesia respectively. Indonesia grew almost no cocoa before the early 1980s, when production took off and it is the world’s third leading producer of cocoa beans, growing 740,500 tons in 2012, according to the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations (FAO).

Cocoa was a major foreign exchange earner for Nigeria decades before the advent of crude oil. With falling crude oil prices and government revenue, major stakeholders have continuously called for the diversification of the Nigerian economy through agriculture and the development of cocoa value chain provides such an opportunity.

However, the failure to sustain and improve Nigeria’s production of cocoa over the years has led to its sharp decline and productivity at less than 0.350ton/hectare when other leading countries are producing about 2 to 5 tons per hectare of improved variety. This challenge is further accentuated by the lack of planting materials for cocoa, which is greatly affecting cultivation of new cocoa plantation in Nigeria.

“The use of high quality planting materials in the right environment and management plus market demands must all be linked and developed to increase Nigeria’s cocoa yield,” Dr Ranjana said, adding that “there is a need to develop more hybrid varieties.”

“A pipeline of varieties of high-yielding cocoa must be created and continuous research is essential for this,” she added.

The age-old use of cocoa beans as seeds for the cultivation of new cocoa seedling was strongly discouraged by the team of scientists and experts at the training.

Noting that “the size and shape of cocoa pods – as used by farmers to identify viable cocoa seed – is not the best way to find superior cocoa variety,” Dr Adewale explained that a myriad of issues such as the environment and cross pollination affects the final output of the cash crop which can be ascertained if clonal materials from the best trees were used instead of the seeds.

The forum, which featured participants such as government officials, farmers, extension workers, policy makers, input suppliers, service providers and financial institutions from all cocoa producing states in the country, also entailed a field trip to a cocoa plantation in Mamu village in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, where old cocoa trees were rehabilitated by the trainers to the delight of the local farmers.

The farmers were also trained on how to prune cocoa trees to ensure higher productivity instead of vegetative growths that limits the production of cocoa pods. The USAID Nigeria NEXTT project set an ambition for participants at the training to deploy the skills learnt to other farmers and extension workers in a bid to ensure the rehabilitation of 20,000 hectares of old cocoa trees, annually.

The need for cocoa farmers to invest in cost-effective irrigation method was underscored by Akpan Imeh, an irrigation expert, who warned that “the time has passed for farmers to be solely relying on climate-fed agriculture as the is climate changing.”

According to him, “Cote D’Ivoire has expanded its cocoa productivity above Nigeria and every other country because it has evolved the cultivation of cocoa beyond the traditional ways which relies on climate.”

The participants were tutored how to determine if their soil requires irrigation, using their palms to firm up soils collected at about 2 feet deep from the farms.

“If the soil forms a bond, then the soil will be able to withstand a lot of water stress but if there’s no bonding, irrigation is badly needed.” Akpan revealed, pointing out that there are series of ways by which such farms can be irrigated at little or no cost if the farmers cannot afford the drip irrigation.

By Augustina Armstrong-Ogbonna

EJN’s mentoring programme in Nigeria sees measurable success

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EJN’s mentoring programme in Nigeria sees measurable success

A 10-month media capacity building programme in Nigeria has produced three journalists committed to climate change reporting, as well as a series of environmentally-focused local content.

Augustina Ogbonna-Armstrong and Innocent Onoh (right) on a field work
Augustina Ogbonna-Armstrong and Innocent Onoh (right) on a field work

Led by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network (EJN), the Climate Journalism Mentors Programme commenced in June 2015 with the aim of increasing the capacity of journalists in the country to report on the challenges of covering climate change. The programme not only provided a comprehensive overview into the science behind climate change-related issues, it also linked the mentees to scientists and numerous experts in the field.

The mentored journalists, who are all based in Lagos, include: Innocent Onoh (from the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria), Augustina Ogbonna-Armstrong (a freelance multi-media journalist) and Kayode Aboyeji (from the Daily Newswatch Newspaper).

To date they have jointly produced about 18 print, online and radio stories. The stories were published on EnviroNews Nigeria and Teenaijanews Blpgspot, while radio reports broadcasted on Radio One Lagos and Radio Nigeria Network were uploaded to AudioBloom.

The reports focused on the human dimensions of climate change, telling the stories of ordinary, vulnerable people that are hugely affected by shifting weather patterns. In some cases, the stories also highlighted the adaptation strategies of these communities. For instance, Aboyeji’s pieces on heavy rainfall flooding farmlands outside of Lagosand ocean surge inundating the village of Okun-Alfa captured the scale of the problem, as well as steps taken to address it.

Similarly, Onoh’s piece on a disappearing crop in Arochukwu highlights how climate change is negatively impacting food security and explores measures adopted by local communities to adapt to the situation.

Some of these reports have prompted serious discussion in wider circles in Nigeria’s media landscape. Over the course of producing a series of stories on a controversial refinery project in Lagos that was said to be threatening coastal communities, Ogbonna-Armstrong sparked a debate with the developers that played out in radio shows and newspaper articles.

Through the EJN mentorship programme, these journalists have also seen success outside of Nigeria. Two of the reporters – Kayode Aboyeji and Augustina Ogbonna-Armstrong – traveled to Paris for COP 21 where they actively covered the climate negotiations. From Paris, Ogbonna-Armstrong proceeded to New York, where she was awarded the United Nations Foundation Gold Prize for print and broadcast media by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. The piece that won her the award was also selected by the “Voices2Paris” storytelling contest, earning her a trip to Paris with the United Nations Development Fund.

Augustina Ogbonna-Armstrong and Innocent Onoh also jointly won an EJN story grant award that enabled them to travel to the northern part of Nigeria to investigate issues related to widespread desertification and land degradation.

The three journalists expressed satisfaction with the programme, saying that, despite some challenges, they gained a lot from the experience. Aboyeji says he learned a lot from being able to experience first-hand the effects that climate change is having on people. However, there were some challenges with getting experts or officials to speak or provide input on important issues. In some cases, this was due to scheduling conflicts, but many simply did not want to comment on record.

“By and large, the programme has helped in boosting my skill through experiences shared by colleagues and reading other peoples’ write-ups,” Aboyeji said. “I look forward to such an opportunity again in the nearest future.”

“I never knew some things I took for granted matter a lot. This mentorship (programme) is really worth it,” added Onoh. “For me, it was a big opportunity for learning, networking and getting exposed.”

Ogbonna-Armstrong agrees. “For the first time in my journalism career of about 10 years, I was able to write a story proposal and win a grant,” she said. “All of this was achievable under the mentorship of Mr. Simire, who will not relent in getting the best out of me because he believes in my ability.”

Michael Simire, editor of EnviroNews and member of the EJN International Council of Partners, mentored the trio.

Sierra Leone, UAE build Solar Park Freetown

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Sierra Leone, UAE build Solar Park Freetown

Sierra Leone has taken a number of critical steps to commence the implementation of the Solar Park Freetown Project, its promoters have announced.

Stakeholders during the official kick-off and ground breaking of the project in Freetown, Sierra Leone
Stakeholders during the official kick-off and ground breaking of the project in Freetown, Sierra Leone

These steps, according to the Sierra Leonean Government and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), include the ratification of the ADFD loan by the government, establishment of a working Project Implementation Unit (PIU) at the Ministry of Energy in Sierra Leone, and the recent re-appointment of the UAE based Advanced Science and Innovation Company (ASIC) LLC as the Project Manager and Lead of the Solar Park Freetown Project and the EPC, Mulk-OGI both as Consortium.

The progress made in these areas was notified to ADFD and IRENA during meetings held on the sidelines of the 2016 World Future Energy Summit (WFES), where the Government of Sierra Leone, Ambassador to the UAE and the Ministry of Energy PIU met with ADFD and IRENA representatives and the Project Manager, ASIC.

It was further discussed that, due to the falling world solar prices, the Project Consortium will try to include non-revenue generating assets such as an additional extension of road and grid-power infrastructure, incl. a necessary extension of the 161KV grid power line, distribution networks, and a substation as part of the total project cost, which will significantly and further benefit the Government and the people of Sierra Leone.

The landmark 6MW Solar Park Freetown Project which won the first prestigious International Renewable Energy Agency and Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (IRENA/ADFD) financing facility, will provide clean renewable electricity to urban and western rural districts around the capital, Freetown. Officials describe it as a landmark renewable energy project in West Africa, adding valuable and needed clean electricity to the grid, as well as important power infrastructure and international know-how to Sierra Leone.

Solar Park Freetown Project is specially designed to include a number of institutional and critical human resource arrangements for sustainable management and international best practices of the project facility, in order to provide a most efficient implementation of sustainable Renewable Energy and knowledge transfer, for Sierra Leone’s particular geographic and socio-economic situation.

The ASIC General Manager also highlighted the important role that the Sierra Leone Diplomatic staff in the UAE, H.E. Ambassador Siray Alpha Timbo, Ambassador of Sierra Leone to the UAE, and Bahige Annan, Consul General of Sierra Leone in Dubai, as well as H.E. Ambassador Henry O. Macauley, Minister of Energy of Sierra Leone, and Dr Patrick Tarawalli, Technical Adviser / Head of the PIU, all played in making this project a reality.

After the official kick-off meetings in Abu Dhabi with all the project stakeholders, the Solar Park Freetown Project Team at the Ministry of Energy, key stakeholders and consortium had an official Kick-off and ground breaking of the project in Freetown, Sierra Leone on March 9th, 2016.

The ASIC-MULK-OGI team, in assistance of the PIU of the Ministry of Energy, assessed the site in Newton Freetown and prepared a step by step plan for the ‘on the ground’ project implementation. The team further made calculations and assessment on providing an extended Power supply and the construction of a 161KV Transmission Line and substation, all which will be included in the overall Project delivery cost and is a necessity for successful connection to the main grid.

During the visit to Freetown, ASIC-MULK operational team together with the PIU outlined a road map of the the next high level steps in moving ahead with the project efficiently. Some of the immediate next steps of the road map were also discussed including the finalisation of the project master plan, the selection and sourcing of local contractors, on site mobilisation of EPC workforce, and the setting up of a project camp at Newton, which will host the workforce and provide capabilities of onsite liaison with the PIU, government and the local community.

Ogun to plant 1.5 million tree seedlings

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Ogun to plant 1.5 million tree seedlings

The Ogun State Government has reiterated the importance of planting trees in the society, saying that, aside of its contribution to socio-economic development, it also for human survival as the climate change time to time.

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

Commissioner for Forestry, Chief Kolawole Lawal, who made the disclosed after planting some tree seedlings as part of the programme to commemorate the 2016 International Forest Day that had “Forest and Water” as its theme. He added that the ministry had began to distribute 1.5 million tree seedlings to the nine forest reserves in the state.

Lawal said 2016 had been earmarked by the ministry for massive tree planting in the state as government had started distribution of tree seedlings across the state’s three Senatorial Districts.

“For the government and the people of the state, year 2016 is a tree planting year, that is why we have stepped up the numbers of tree seedlings in our nursery sites from 700,000 to 1.5 million tree seedlings, so that we can have enough for distribution and planting in our forest regeneration exercise,” he said.

He explained that the distribution and planting exercise was expected to commence around June this year during the rainy season, even as he urged the people of the state to key into the free tree seedling distribution that would be provided by the state government.

Lawal said that it’s very pertinent for the residents to plant trees even in their immediate environment to prevent climate change in the society, saying” “The last man dies when the last tree dies”.

It will be recalled that 200,000 tree seedlings had been earlier raised by the ministry but, for the coming raining season, it has to raise it to 1.5 million to cut across the nine forest reserves in the state.

Japan kills 300 whales in defiance of UN verdict

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Japan kills 300 whales in defiance of UN verdict

More than 300 whales including 200 pregnant females have been slaughtered in Japan’s latest whaling mission in the Southern Ocean.

Whaling
Whaling

Japan confirmed the kill as its ships returned from their “scientific” expedition in the Antarctic region on Thursday.

Its actions are in defiance of international criticism and despite a 2014 UN legal decision that ruled so-called scientific whaling activity in the Southern Ocean was a front for commercial hunts.

Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson accused the federal government of turning its back on Japan’s “sickening” illegal activity.

“Not in 40 years has an Australian government done so little to prevent whaling on our watch and in our waters,” he said.

He accused the government of breaking Environment Minister Greg Hunt’s personal election promise to send a patrol vessel to the Southern Ocean to monitor whaling activity.

The government has repeatedly refused to confirm whether it undertook any monitoring missions in the Southern Ocean this summer.

It has also refused to release legal advice it sought when Japan announced it would resume whaling, despite the International Court of Justice ruling.

Four survey ships from Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research were in the Antarctic region over a period of 115 days from December 1 last year.

The institute’s report on Thursday confirmed 333 minke whales were captured.

Darren Kindleysides, director of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said the 2014/15 summer was the first time in 70 years Japan had stopped its whaling program – but the break was short-lived.

He said Australia’s leading international experts had examined Japan’s new so-called scientific research program this year and found it was also a guise for killing whales, and a breach of international law.

“That puts the onus on the Australian government to make sure this is the first and the last season of Japan’s new so-called scientific program.”

The Australian government in December described Japan’s decision to resume whaling over the summer as “deeply disappointing” and insisted it raised concerns at the highest level of the Japanese government.

It had said it would consider sending a Customs patrol vessel to the Southern Ocean and explore options for legal action.

But conservation group Sea Shepherd in February said the Japanese fleet had faced little or no scrutiny over the summer and Australia and New Zealand seemed unwilling to send a ship to intercept them.

AAP

Shell, developer complete 79-unit Abuja estate

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Shell, developer complete 79-unit Abuja estate

Shell has inaugurated the Imani-Shell Estate Phase 2 located in Maitama District of Abuja in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The project was developed by Shell Nigeria Closed Pension Fund Administrator (SNCPFA), in partnership with Imani and Sons Nigeria Limited, and consists of 28-unit luxury residential apartments to complement the existing 51 units in the phase one of the estate.

L-R: Minister of State for Environment, Alhaji Ibrahim Jibrin; Executive Director, Imani & Sons Nigeria Limited, Alhaji Suleiman Abubakar; Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed; Director, Shell Nigeria Closed Pension Fund Administrator (SNCPFA), Mr. Guy Janssens; SNCPFA Managing Director, Mr. Akeeb Akinola; and the Managing Director, Abuja Investment Company Limited, Dr. Musa AHmed Musa, at the inauguration of the Imani-Shell Estate Phase 2 in Abuja ...on Monday, May 21
L-R: Minister of State for Environment, Alhaji Ibrahim Jibrin; Executive Director, Imani & Sons Nigeria Limited, Alhaji Suleiman Abubakar; Minister of Environment, Amina Mohammed; Director, Shell Nigeria Closed Pension Fund Administrator (SNCPFA), Mr. Guy Janssens; SNCPFA Managing Director, Mr. Akeeb Akinola; and the Managing Director, Abuja Investment Company Limited, Dr. Musa AHmed Musa, at the inauguration of the Imani-Shell Estate Phase 2 in Abuja …on Monday, May 21

Speaking at the event, Chairman of SNCPFA and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Mr. Osagie Okunbor, noted that the estate was delivered without any injury. Osagie, who was represented by a Director, SNCPFA, Mr. Guy Janssens, said, “As a pension fund administrator, we are always thinking beyond the present. The new apartments are designed to be efficient in energy consumption and will rank as one of the early green-rated residential accommodations in the Federal Capital Territory. Thus, together with our partner, we are able to meet today’s needs without losing sight of the future.”

In his remarks, Managing Director, SNCPFA, Mr. Akeeb Akinola, described the project as “a product of vision, commitment, hardwork, and collaborations”. He thanked the leadership of the Federal Capital Development Authority and the National Pension Commission (PenCom) for their support in making the project a reality.

Minister of the Environment, Amina J. Mohammed, at the event described partnerships as a thrust of the President Mohammed Buhari administration.

She said: “As I came into the estate, I saw workers everywhere. This tells me that the partnership that has delivered not just the estate but also employment opportunities to Nigerian youths is worthy of commendation and emulation,” the minister said adding that the government was willing to promote and support any such partnership that would drive the government’s efforts at providing jobs and meeting the housing needs of Nigerians.”

Also present at the event were the Minister of State for Environment, Mr. Ibrahim Jibrin; former Minister of State for the FCT, Senator Solomon Ewuga; Chairman, Imani and Sons Limited, Alhaji Bello Abubakar; President, Real Estate Developers Association of Nigeria, Rev. Ugo Chume; and SNCPFA’s External Directors, Mrs. Funke Osibodu and Mallam Balamu Manu.

SNCPFA is licensed by PenCom to manage the Shell Nigeria staff non-contributory pension fund, a Defined Benefit pension scheme established in July 1991.

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