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What race to end malnutrition requires, by WaterAid

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What race to end malnutrition requires, by WaterAid

The race to end malnutrition requires clean water, good sanitation and good hygiene, WaterAid said in a statement on Tuesday, calling for action as world leaders meet in Rio to open the Olympic Games. WaterAid’s new report, “Caught Short”, looks at stunting from malnutrition around the world and the links to low rates of access to clean water and good sanitation.

Dr. Michael Ojo, WaterAid Nigeria’s Country Representative
Dr. Michael Ojo, WaterAid Nigeria’s Country Representative

Currently 159 million children in the world are stunted as a result of malnutrition, their cognitive and physical growth damaged irreversibly by their inability to obtain and absorb the nutrients they need. Some 50% of malnutrition is linked to infections, worm infestations and diarrhoeal illnesses caused by dirty water, poor sanitation and a lack of hygiene including handwashing with soap.

Nigeria ranks second in the world for having the greatest number of children under five suffering from stunted growth – 10.3 million, or 33% of children under five. About 31% of the population in Nigeria do not have access to clean water and 71% do not have access to decent sanitation.

WaterAid Nigeria’s Country Director, Dr. Michael Ojo, said: “The evidence is clear: children’s health and future potential are compromised when they have no choice but to grow up without clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene practices. Even if children survive their dangerous early years, repeated bouts of diarrhoea early in life are likely to leave them stunted, leaving Nigeria, and Africa as a whole, deprived of a new generation of great leaders, thinkers and athletes. World leaders have promised to end malnutrition and deliver water and sanitation to everyone, everywhere by 2030. They must keep their promises – one cannot be met without the other.”

World leaders and prominent current and former Olympians will meet at the Second High Level Summit on Nutrition on 4 August ahead of the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to bring attention to the importance of good nutrition. The Nutrition for Growth Summit is the biggest global event between now and 2020 to address the devastating burden of undernutrition and it is set to evaluate progress that has been made in addressing undernutrition since 2013 and build on those commitments with the necessary financial support in order to ensure the ambition of the SDGs to end malnutrition in all its forms can be realised.

WaterAid supporter, Zambian athlete and Olympic medallist Samuel Matete said: “In my work promoting sport among children, the difference between children who have clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene at home, and those who don’t, is very clear. What is most upsetting is that typhoid, cholera and malnutrition are preventable, and we have the tools to do this. Water is life, and sanitation is dignity, and we must deliver these to everyone, even the world’s poorest, as part of the race to end malnutrition.”

Universal capital fuelling African property markets

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Universal capital fuelling African property markets

Despite Africa’s slowdown, property developers and private equity funds continue to pour investment into the continent, but with more focused strategies, industry practitioners have said.

The Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa will host the conference
The Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa will host the conference

“Over $1,2 billion has been raised and allocated to real estate investment in Africa over the past year and we expect this trend to continue,” said Kfir Rusin, General Manager of the upcoming Africa Property Investment Summit.

Commenting on the global capital flows making their mark on African real estate, Peter Welborn, chairman of Knight Franks’ Africa business said: “The underlying investment theme across sub-Saharan Africa, over the next decade will undoubtedly be driven by substantial allocations of equity, into JV’s with successful local partners. Both the west African retail sector as well as the southern and east Africa logistics sectors will be high on the hit list of international capital.”

The last year has seen Actis, RMB Westport, Novare, Phatisa and Growthpoint successfully raising capital from global funds such as GIC Singapore, Grosvenor (USA), The IFC, CDC Group (UK) among other international funds.

The Africa Property Investment (API) Summit is the leading African focused real estate forum, which brings together influential property players from around the continent. The API Summit offers developers and investors access to new development strategies, a chance to showcase projects and meet with new sources of capital across sub-Saharan Africa.  The summit is the perfect opportunity to leverage off the expertise and knowledge of key industry players.

“This year’s summit will feature various discussions on innovative strategies and collaboration, as well as showcasing new real estate opportunities and projects across Africa. Whilst uncertainty remains, we believe that African property is still poised for growth, albeit at a lower but more sustainable level,” says Rusin.

The effects of the currency and liquidity crises have been sharply felt across the continent but most notably in the larger oil driven commodity exporting countries. This has resulted in a shift towards economic diversification and countries in the East African region providing more economic stability than others. Although there has been a slowdown across Africa, one of the continents’ largest funds remain optimistic. Bronwyn Corbett, CEO of Mara Delta says, “The company remains bullish under the African growth story. We have built extensive IP into our target countries and see tremendous growth in these markets that we are levering to build an Africa powerhouse real estate fund. Focus is on the strength of the counter party and mitigation of risks to build a quality portfolio and deliver substantial returns to shareholders.”

“We can already confirm over 500 delegates from over 30 different countries. We have noticed substantial growth in delegate numbers, with a 30% increase in attendance and a large international contingent compared to previous years.  We see real estate and related industries as an important contributor to GDP in Africa and therefore we expect this trend to continue in future years,” concluded Rusin.

The two-day conference will be held from 18-19 August 2016 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg and will feature speakers from Broll, CBRE, Mara Delta, Knight Frank, Old Mutual, STANLIB, Standard Bank, Novare, RMB Westport, JLL, CDC Group, ALN, ITL, Growthpoint, UPDC, Britam, Fusion Capital, and Heriot Properties.

Key sessions at the API Summit will include: The Role of global capital in Africa , Africa’s Retail reality check, Logistics & Industrial sector making its mark as well as focused discussions on countries such as Rwanda, Ivory Coast and Tanzania.

High hopes for HFCs phasedown as Vienna talks close

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High hopes for HFCs phasedown as Vienna talks close

Civil society organisations have welcome the progress made at the international negotiations for phasing down hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) which ended on a high at the weekend in Vienna, Austria, where countries reaffirmed their commitments and sent what looked like a strong signal that climate action is a priority following the signing of the Paris Agreement.

In Vienna, countries committed to do everything they can to get HFCs phase down amendment in 2016. Photo credit: Gina McCarthy/Twitter
In Vienna, countries committed to do everything they can to get HFCs phase down amendment in 2016. Photo credit: Gina McCarthy/Twitter

An agreement to amend the Montreal Protocol to cut potent heat-trapping chemicals used in refrigerants, air-conditioners and insulants has been nearly seven years in the making and now seems highly likely to be settled this year.

Following these latest round of negotiations, a deal will likely be struck when the Parties to the Montreal Protocol meet in October in Kigali, Rwanda. Observers believe that It may be the most important climate action of the year and demonstrate a united front towards fighting climate change just weeks before countries meet in Morocco in November for COP 22.

“An agreement this year to phasedown future consumption and production of HFCs would be a huge climate victory. China is working constructively with the US, Latin America, Europe, and other parties to reach a deal that will provide a clear timetable for transitioning to climate-friendly alternatives and strengthen finance for developing countries’ transitions,” said Alvin Lin, China Climate and Energy Policy Director, NRDC China.

Expectations from Vienna were high as negotiators drafted the language of the agreement and worked on resolving details pertaining to additional funding to assist developing countries stay on track with their HFC commitments, calculating baselines, and determining timelines and schedules to freeze HFCs.

“It’s been great to see countries across the board show increasing flexibility to resolve some of the difficult issues. Specifically, progress has been made on agreeing an early freeze date for ending the use of HFCs, a baseline from which to start the phasedown and potential national reduction targets,” said Benson Ireri, Senior Advocacy and Policy Officer, Climate Change and Sustainable Agriculture, Africa Division, Christian Aid.

While Climate Action Network commends the progress in Vienna and little now seems to stands in the way to Kigali, the group stressed that it is imperative that countries stay focused on an ambitious agreement by working constructively to fill the gaps that remain and not losing sight of the fact that phasing down HFCs, the fastest growing greenhouse gases, could help avoid 0.5C warming by 2100.

“Though countries are ready to sign an agreement to phasedown HFCs this year, the proposals on the table are not ambitious enough. Countries need to agree on an ambitious phasedown schedule
that will allow rapid reduction in HFC use in developed countries and enable developing countries to leapfrog to safer, energy efficient alternatives. This is the only way the Montreal Protocol can meaningfully contribute to reducing global warming,” said Chandra Bhushan, Deputy Director General, Centre for Science and Environment, India.

Nigeria restates commitment to providing regular, potable water by 2030

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Nigeria restates commitment to providing regular, potable water by 2030

Nigeria’s Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, has restated the Federal Governments’ commitment towards increasing access to potable water for all Nigerians by 2030. Adamu said this on the sidelines of the just concluded sixth Africa Water Week in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

Suleiman Adamu, African Water Facility (AWF) Chair and Nigeria’s Minister of Water Resources
Suleiman Adamu, African Water Facility (AWF) Chair and Nigeria’s Minister of Water Resources

He said that without universal access to safe water and sanitation, poverty and inequality cannot be eradicated in any country.

“We are working to ensure that all Nigerians have access to potable water by 2030 through urban water sector reform programme.

“We realise that implementing the first and second urban water reform programmes have resulted in moderate success and improved piped water supply and if we put in more effort, we can achieve more.”

Adamu said that the results from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) showed that Nigeria was not able to meet its target due to sole reliance on budgetary allocation. He said Nigeria would soon launch the National Programme on Partnerships for Expanded Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (PEWASH), aimed at meeting Sustainable Development Goal 6 on universal access to water and sanitation.

This programme, according to the Minister, is intended to be a partnership between the three tiers of government, development partners and communities to commit funds and mobilise towards meeting SDG 6 by 2030.

“We have also realised that one of the reasons why Nigeria failed to meet the MDGs was because we have been relying only on budgetary allocation from the three tiers of government.

“Due to dwindling resources, there is a huge challenge of scaling up and this is why we must include all other stakeholders.”

He said Nigeria needed to take the lead on its issues, rather than relying only on development partners; adding that Nigeria would do everything possible to reform the water sector because of its centrality to health, agriculture, and other areas of development.

The minister said the Ministry of Water Resources has created a data bank and census for water supply and sanitation for all water infrastructures in the country. He emphasised the need for attitudinal change toward public utilities, saying Nigeria must begin to see the importance of paying for water consumed.

He also stressed the role of political will and commitment from state actors and chief executives in funding water projects; commending the World Bank and other development partners for funding water projects in the country and pledging government`s commitment to increasing fund allocation to water.

Meanwhile, civil society organisations under the banner of Africa Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation (ANEW), called for an ambitious roadmap to achieving sustainable development goals on water and sanitation as necessary for national development plans of African countries.

Presenting a statement to African Governments through the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), the coalition highlighted the urgent need to prioritise water sanitation and hygiene if nations are to achieve Africa’s vision of optimising resources for all Africans and leaving no one behind.

The organisation called on governments to ensure that the commitments of the Ngor declaration on water security and sanitation are aligned to national level implementation plans for achieving Goal 6; challenging governments to ensure a stronger role of civil society at various levels for coordination, communication and improved accountability.

Representing WaterAid CEO Barbara Frost, Head of WaterAid East Africa Region Lydia Zigomo challenged governments and stakeholders to utilise the 6th Africa Water Week to agree on a roadmap that will ensure transformational change. “It cannot be business as usual; we need to increase the pace at all levels in order to reach everyone everywhere in Africa by 2030,” remarked Zigomo.

WaterAid Nigeria’s Head of Governance, Tolani Busari, spoke at the forum about deepening inequalities in the country stressing that WASH specific programming must be combined with programming that tackles the structural causes of inequality and exclusion. She commended the Nigerian government for its efforts so far but highlighted that while the government was moving in the right direction, there remained lots of opportunities to address the widening WASH gaps that remain.

The 6th Africa Water Week (AWW-6), organised by African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), aspires to lay the building blocks for Africa to achieve SDG 6 as well as other inter-linking SDGs connected with water resources management. The week represents a political commitment at the highest level for creating platform to discuss and collectively seek solutions to Africa’s water and sanitation challenges.

Stakeholders explore avenues to resolve Benue farmers, herdsmen rift

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Stakeholders explore avenues to resolve Benue farmers, herdsmen rift

Besides the branding of cows to avoid incidences of rustling, a gathering of civil society players has also demanded for the fast-tracking of the enactment of the legislation against open grazing of livestock in Benue State. These ideas formed part of a series of recommendations arrived at last Tuesday after a daylong Dialogue On Peace-Building between indigenous farmers and insurgent herdsmen in Markurdi, the state capital.

Fulani herdsmen
A Fulani herdsmn

While ensure that a census of livestock is taken at borders as an interim measure pending the passage of the National Grazing Reserve Bill into law, participants at the workshop organised by the Angel Support Foundation (ASF) likewise want herdsmen to revert to the use of sticks and knives instead of sophisticated weapons in the interim pending the passage of the bill, which recently scaled the Second Reading at the National Assembly in Abuja.

Observers believe that the Tiv/Fulani crisis has become one of the most devastating catastrophes that have bedevilled the state after the Tiv/Jukum crisis of neighbouring Taraba State. Local Government Areas (LGAs) such as Logo, Guma, Agatu, Buruku, Tarka, Kwande, Ukum and a host of others have come under severe attacks arising from the calamity.

As a consequence, lives and property have been destroyed, with women and children bearing much of the attendant consequences. Participants cited the case of the recent incidence in Agatu that resulted in the killing of pregnant women, children and the youth, as well as the destruction of shelter and disruption of farming activities – the lifeline of Benue indigenes. Resulting from the crisis, farmlands were deserted, as indigenous farmers fled for their lives.

The forum, which had stakeholders drawn from government Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), civil society, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), herdsmen, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the media, attempted to explore the immediate and remote causes of the crisis in the state with a view to coming up with workable solutions to curtail, mitigate and prevent future occurrence of the crisis in communities where they have been curtailed. The meeting was also aimed at developing a Tiv/Fulani peace pact.

Armed Fulani herdsmen: Participants at the forum want herdsmen to revert to the use of sticks and knives instead of sophisticated weapons in the interim pending the passage of the bill
Armed Fulani herdsmen: Participants at the forum want herdsmen to revert to the use of sticks and knives instead of sophisticated weapons in the interim pending the passage of the bill

Lead discussant, Gideon Inyom, stressed that the relationship between the Tivs and Fulanis existed for over 100 years, but that it (the relationship) had gone sour for about a decade now. Inyom explained how the Fulanis were hitherto guests in Tiv land and then suddenly became landlords. He attempted to unravel the reason for the twisted relationship and the need for a lasting solution.

Indeed, the forum identified the major cause of the crisis to include over stressed land within the Benue valley, worsened by the fact that the Fulanis are usually around only during the dry season.

Arido Boyiri, a representative of the herdsmen, informed the house that the Fulanis came into Benue in 1943 and that most of them were born and brought up in the state. He appealed to the government to take criminal acts more seriously, underlining the need to arrest and timely prosecute those who cause trouble in communities. He agreed to collaborate with the government to identify the strange Fulanis, and also come up with a concrete data base of Fulanis who graze within the Benue valley.

Mary Sewuese Ugbaa, Executive Director of ASF, lamented that the Tiv-Fulani crisis has been a continuous predicament that has distorted the peace and harmony that was hitherto enjoyed in the state. According to her, past efforts to address the unsavoury development had failed to yield the desired result.

“We strongly desire to make meaningful contributions based on what we know is true. We also hope that at the end of the day we would have generated enough ideas towards the development of a Benue State / Fulani Peace Compact containing all our agreed decisions so as to work with the government in fostering sustainable peace in these communities and Benue at large,” she said, adding:

“Today’s event is a first step in a series of events, as we intend to continually hold forums like this regularly to deliberate on the topical issues bordering the lives of our people within communities in Benue State in particular and Nigeria in general.”

The forum suggested that, in order to find a lasting solution to the problem, the Nasarawa State Government should be involved in issues of peace building, resulting from the shared boundary and the movement of Fulanis.

Participants insisted that the principal duty of government is the protection of lives and property and that, as a result of the crisis, the needs of the IDPs is not just a plate of food but a shelter over their head.

On building lasting peace between the indigenous farmers and insurgent herdsmen (Tiv/Fulani), it was agreed that issues of ranching of cattle, enhancement of security apparatus in the state, effective communication, and a cattle census be given proper attention.

Other recommendations at the forum were listed to include:

  • Coalition of NGOs working against insurgency and insolvency to provide a common front in tackling the problems between farmers and herders
  • Effective warning systems and response to be put in place in the communities prone to attacks
  • Provision of effective security at border posts, local vigilantes, Joint-Task Force established
  • Synergy between border states and Benue, the amnesty programme be replicated in neighbouring states
  • Engaging the telecom players in involving in social responsibility by providing toll-free emergency lines
  • Imperative of a Benue State / Fulani Peace Compact to sustain peace
  • Enlightenment of communities across the state on patriotism and selflessness
  • Proscribed punishment for promoters and actors in the crisis
  • The CSOs and NGOs and MDAs should have a synergy in managing the conflicts and running of the IDPs and humanitarian efforts
  • Increased security presence in the local communities especially the conflict prone areas, that is establishment of barracks and other formations will be of help
  • Provision of agricultural inputs to aid internally displaced persons in addition to the foodstuffs and building materials in rebuilding them rather than occasional visits
  • Enlightenment of non-affected communities on security measures
  • Provision of shelter for affected communities like it is done by the UNHCR in the state
  • Provision of adequate security to the IDPs

Goodwill messages were delivered by representatives of the Benue State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, UNHCR, Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC) and State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

How water strategy transformed Nile Basin riparian communities

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How water strategy transformed Nile Basin riparian communities

A conceptual structure agreed upon by Nile Basin riparian countries for organising policies, strategies and guidelines for sustainable management and development of the Nile River Basin some five years ago has enabled speedy development within the basin region.

Nzoia River within the Nile Basin
Nzoia River within the Nile Basin

Talking to members of the Pan African Media Alliance for Climate Change (PAMACC) at the sixth session of the Africa Water Week (AWW-6) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, John Rao Nyoro, the Executive Director for the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), said that the Nile Basin Sustainability Framework (NBSF) is now benefiting all the 10 riparian states.

This comes after government officials from other countries attending the AWW-6 confessed that developing projects over trans-boundary shared resources was proving to be difficult, given the political landscape, frequent change of governments due to periodic elections in the neighbouring countries, and different prevailing policies.

“While it is not a legal framework, the NBSF which is a suite of policies, strategies, and guidance documents – functions as a guide to national policy and planning process development and seeks to build consensus among countries that share the resource,” Nyaoro told the journalists.

The skeptical leaders at the AWW-6 singled out the longstanding dispute between Tanzania and Malawi about Lake Nyasa, in which an agreement for a project on the shared water resource has lasted over 40 years without a deal, and the grand mega power generating project in the Democratic Republic of Congo known as INGA, which has stalled for over 40 years.

“What we did at the Nile Basin was to bring together all the stakeholders, and then we asked them to develop a framework that was going to govern activities along the basin, with reference to existing policies at country levels,” said Nyaoro.

As a result, the Nile Council of Ministers approved the NBSF in 2011, which has laid down NBI’s approach to developing guiding principles for water resource management and development across the Nile Basin countries.

“Today, a country like Uganda, which previously imported rice from Kenya, may soon start exporting the product to Kenya after it developed its wetlands, and is now farming rice more than before,” said Nyaoro.

He said that the most important thing was to have all the riparian countries benefit from the basin.

“Without the NBSF, there would be no consistent guidance for the sustainable development of new investments and no coherent guidance for the achievement of cooperation in sustainable water management and development,” he said.

New Dar es Salaam roadmap targets water security, sanitation

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New Dar es Salaam roadmap targets water security, sanitation

Activities at the expansive Julius Nyerere International Conference Centre in Dar es Salaam hit a crescendo on Sunday (24 July, 2016) as over 30 African water ministers and high-level delegations from 53 African nations adopted a roadmap aimed at achieving sustainable and universal access to safe water and sanitation all over the continent.

Water and Irrigation Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania, Gerson Lwenge, emerges the new AMCOW president
Water and Irrigation Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania, Gerson Lwenge, emerges the new AMCOW president

The adoption of the roadmap titled “The Dar es Salaam Roadmap for achieving the N’gor Commitments on Water Security and Sanitation in Africa” drew the final curtains on the 10th AMCOW General Assembly and the 6th Africa Water Week which began last Monday (18 July, 2016) in Tanzania.

With a strategic objective of making considerable progress on water security and sanitation in line with the Agenda 2030 by improving efficiency, transparency and integrity within sector institutions to achieve sustainable services and create a conducive investment climate as well as integrating the agenda for water, sanitation and climate to improve health and nutrition outcomes, the Dar es Salaam roadmap aspires to ensure coherence in policy implementation, increase gender, equity and social inclusion, and transboundary cooperation in Africa.

African water ministers believe that, by increasing transparency and accountability in the sector, governments across Africa would be able to account for financial contributions, focus on complementing existing initiatives with a view to avoiding overlap and redundancy and ensure a participatory environment for civil society and citizens in policy formulation, sector planning and monitoring.

The roadmap also recognises the role of innovative financing and budgetary prioritisation for the water sector, sanitation and monitoring. Other aspects of the ministers’ plan of action for the continent’s water resources include provision of drinking water, improved sanitation, hygiene, effective and efficient management of wastewater, transboundary water resources, and strengthening Africa’s capacity to respond climate change.

The 10th General Assembly of the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW), which held on the side lines of the biennial 6th Africa Water Week, also witnessed a change of guards as the Water and Irrigation Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania, Gerson Lwenge, took over the reins of AMCOW presidency from his Senegalese counterpart, Amadou Mansour Faye, who held forth from 2014 to 2016 while Dr. Canisius Kanangire was officially unveiled as the new AMCOW Executive Secretary. Dr Kanangire, who hails from Rwanda, is the immediate Executive Secretary of Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) and has over two decades of high level experience in water resources management. He succeeds Mr Bai Mass Taal, who leaves AMCOW after eight years of admirable leadership.

In his acceptance speech, the new AMCOW President expressed delight at AMCOW’s rotational mechanism which led to his emergence and he urged his colleagues to roll up their sleeves for the onerous but achievable task of ensuring the realisation of the SDG-6 in Africa.

“We must build and sustain cooperation among riparian countries in managing transboundary water resources as it is a fact that the more we invest in managing water resources, the more we strengthen AMCOW and the more we advance collectively towards achieving SDG-6,” Lwenge, an engineer, said.

To serve alongside the new AMCOW President are Water Resources ministers from Central African Republic, South Sudan, Egypt, Swaziland and Liberia, who were elected AMCOW Vice Presidents representing central, east, north, southern and west African sub-regions.

Addressing the General Assembly, Vice President Samia Suluhu of Tanzania urged the august assembly of water ministers from across the continent to “tackle present and future challenges by diversifying our sources of water and be innovative in financing mechanisms taking into account the huge funding requirements for the sector, and the urgency of mobilising funds to put the right infrastructure and skilled manpower to develop and manage the sector more efficiently.”

Also speaking at Africa’s flagship water event, the Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union Commission, Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, implored Member States to step up efforts to realise the African Agenda 2063 on the Africa we want because, according to her, water is key to reducing poverty in Africa.

“There is need for us to put in place sound policies, legal and regulatory frameworks to support investments from various sources in water, sanitation and hygiene and also promote gender equality and women empowerment,” she added.

Organised by AMCOW in collaboration with the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture of the African Union Commission alongside regional and international partners, the 6th Africa Water Week represents a political commitment at the highest level for creating platform to discuss and collectively seek solutions to Africa’s water and sanitation challenges.

Kaduna communities get 280 UNICEF hand pumps

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Kaduna communities get 280 UNICEF hand pumps

A Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH) specialist in Kaduna State, Mrs Theresa Pamma, has said 280 hand pump boreholes were constructed and 16 others rehabilitated under Phase I of Sanitation, Hygiene and Water in Nigeria (SHAWN I) project in three Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kaduna State in Nigeria.

A water hand pump
A water hand pump

The communities are in Chikun, Kachia and Kubau LGAs of the state.

Pamma stated this at the sidelines of a two-day mid-year review meeting held recently in the state.

“As a result, household water safety has improved in the 320 communities, with 220,000 beneficiaries having access to improved water sources. The objective of the project is to ensure that children and women have protected access to sufficient safe water, sanitation and hygiene facilities,” she said.

The WASH specialist said that the three councils had also implemented local government wide Open Defecation Free (ODF) plans, targeting 2,512 communities.

According to her, 748 communities are targeted for attainment of ODF status, out of which 320 communities were certified ODF within the last six months.

She said that 64 primary schools in the three SHAWN council areas were currently promoting group hand washing using taps innovation, adding that 7,200 pupils in 24 primary schools in the area had access to and utilise child-friendly gender-sensitive WASH facilities.

The specialist said that 71 local government officials and teachers had been trained and had acquired capacity for promotion of hygiene practices and management of school WASH facilities in SHAWN benefiting councils.

“Based on the achievement recorded in the three council areas, eight new councils have been selected to commence the second phase of SHAWN project in the state,” she said.

She identified delay in the release of counterpart and operational funds, change in government, dismissal and redeployment of key decision makers and staff verification as major challenges affecting the project.

She said that 84 communities in Chikun, Kachia and Kubau council areas were under security threats, thereby temporarily limiting implementation of intervention programme in the affected areas.

She urged the State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (RUWASSA) to liaise with the Ministry of Finance to ensure timely release of funds.

Pamma also urged the Kaduna State Government to conduct training for selected technical officials as supervisors in charge of construction of WASH facilities to improve quality of services.

By Mohammad Ibrahim

Shrinking Kenya rivers endanger Tionosoyiet Wetland in Kericho

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Shrinking Kenya rivers endanger Tionosoyiet Wetland in Kericho

Mzee Richard Kemei has been drinking clean water drawn from the nearby river of “Kipkororiet” since he was a young man over 50 years ago.

There is a dire need for drinking water. Photo redit: Benedict Tirop
There is a dire need for drinking water. Photo redit: Benedict Tirop

The now elderly Kemei says his late mother Mrs. Priscila Sigilai and other women drawn from the nearby village of Keongo in Kapkugerwet ward in Ainamoi have been using the water from Kipkororiet River for the various household needs including drinking, washing utensils and bathing.

Coming from the Kipsigis community, who are largely associated with livestock keeping, the locals also utilized the clean water to quench the thirst of their animals.

“The river has served us very well in all our domestic needs for as long as we can remember,” he says.

They have also been conducting various sacred traditional ceremonies in this river.

However, Kipkororiet River, which is one of the major inflow streams for the Tionosoyiet wetland about one kilometre downstream, might very soon turn out to be a danger to the locals. This is due to the rapid pollution of the water through discharge of raw sewer by the mushrooming residential areas around the river system.

“Again, these days when we drink the water drawn from the river, it tastes and smells of the soap used for washing clothes. This makes it impossible to drink,” he adds.

He attributes the foul taste to the number of people who bathe and wash, which has quadrupled in the last 10 years.

Locals, including the family of Mzee Kemei, are now forced to draw water from other smaller streams which feed Kipkororiet River to avoid exposure to diseases which are associated with pollution by the raw sewerage waste.

Water is essential nutrient for livestock
Water is essential nutrient for livestock

The area Village elder, Peter Marindany, says the water has been some of the cleanest in the country but now the threat of pollution was a risk to the health of the locals.

The Kipkororiet River has also shrunk greatly in the last 50 years, an incident which the locals attribute to clearing of forests, planting of Eucalyptus trees and encroachment of the town which is expanding rapidly.

As a community leader, Mr. Marinday, urges the locals to apply for piped water from the Kericho Water and Sanitation Company (KEWASCO) which he says is safe and reliable.

The shrinking of Kipkororiet river is not an isolated issue, since a neighbouring river of Ainapbelek has also shrunk over five times its size in the last 20 years. The low volume flowing to the wetland, which acts as a reservoir, is a threat to the ecosystem of the region.

Mzee Kemei and many others of his generation might know the meaning of good river water but are not well conversant with wetland conservation.

A survey done by the Ministry of Environment says Kericho town represented one of the most significant diffuse sources of pollution to the wetland, with sewage entering the wetland in the lower parts of the wetland, downstream.

It identified key areas within the town from which pollutants are likely to be derived as the market place, located about 500m from the southernmost point of the wetland, and spans about five hectares.

“Some of the activities at the market include open air sale of fresh food, grains, used and new clothes and household utensils. In addition, there is a terminal for public transport vehicles in the middle of the market area. The market area and matatu terminal are therefore likely to be significant sources of nutrients, sediments and gross pollutants,” it says.

The informal cottage industrial site (Jua Kali) contains artisans who fabricate a wide range of items including cooking pots, farm implements, vehicle spare parts, furniture and collection of recyclable materials among other products. Again this site is likely to contribute significant amounts of sediments, and gross pollutants into the wetland.

Other pollutants to Tionosoyiet include effluent from the KEWASCO Sewage Treatment Plant which is discharged into the wetland.

The densely populated Nyagacho informal residential area hosts a wide range of economic activities such as shops, garages, food outlets and butcheries. The area is not sewered, and has no organised solid waste collection systems. Much of the area drains into the wetland.

To save the situation, over 4,000 wetland-friendly tree seedlings have been planted in the wetland by the government and other stakeholders and, once they grew, the wetland will be turned into a nature trail/arboretum for recreation purposes.

Alternative livelihood activities such as fish farming and bee keeping within the wetland has also been introduced.

By Benedict Tirop

Why monkeys with smaller testicles scream louder, by study

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Why monkeys with smaller testicles scream louder, by study

A new study finds that howler monkeys scream louder when they have smaller testicles.

Howler monkeys
Howler monkeys

The study, published last week in the journal Current Biology, said that howler monkeys with deep roars — used to attract females, deter love rivals and scare off predators — tend to also have smaller testicles and a shortage of sperm compared to their peers.

Biological anthropologist Jacob Dunn and his team from Cambridge University wanted to see if there was a negative correlation between the size of a howler monkey’s vocal tract and the size of his testicles.

The team used 3D laser scanners to analyse a cup-shaped chamber in the howler monkey’s throat called a hyoid that acts an echo chamber.

Dr. Dunn said: “The results of our acoustic analyses show that howler monkeys produce roars at a similar frequency as tigers, which is far lower than we would have predicted from their body size, yet exactly what would be predicted from measuring their giant vocal folds’ which are three times bigger than in a human.”

Howler monkeys can be found in the forests of Central and South America and weigh roughly 15 pounds, but their growl can reach 128 decibels, which is equivalent to the roar of a tiger.

The researchers speculate that this is because howler monkeys want to give the impression that they are bigger than they actually are.

Dr. Dunn proposed: “It may be that investment in developing a large vocal organ and roaring is so costly that there is simply not enough energy left to invest in testes.

“Alternatively, using a large vocal organ for roaring may be so effective at deterring rival males that there is no need to invest in large testes.”

The study furthered that males with bigger hyoids had smaller testicles and lived in smaller social groups where there was a single male dominating a number of females.

Male howler monkeys with bigger testes and smaller hyoids most likely lived in bigger social groups and had to share partners.

Dunn said: “In evolutionary terms, all males strive to have as many offspring as they can, but when it comes to reproduction you can’t have everything.”

According to Charles Darwin, writing on how species’ evolutionary choices impact each other in “On the Origin of Species”: “The whole organism is so tied together that when slight variations in one part occur, and are accumulated through natural selection, other parts become modified.”

By Riley Schatzle, NextShark

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