African climate change: Blooming Sahara or hunger - EIS

Issue 68 January 2008
African climate change: Blooming Sahara
or hunger and war?
While the world is discussing how to slow down global
warming, many hold the most important issue now is to
gather more knowledge about how an already changing
climate will affect the poorest continent and what can
be done to help Africans meeting these new challenges.
Ignoring the decreasing minority still denying man-made
climate changes, there exist two colliding views of what a
warmer climate will mean in Africa. One focuses on more
droughts, natural disasters, spread of diseases and resource
conflicts. Other scientists hold that the picture could be
much more positive as some climate models strongly
indicate that many of Africa’s poorest regions will get more
rainfall.
The most known scenarios of Africa’s future in a warmer
world include more drought, floods, cyclones, land
degradation, epidemics and resource wars. A negatively
changing climate always will have the greatest effects on the
poor and on societies living directly from earth resources,
making Africa most vulnerable to even small reductions in
rainfall or increases in extreme weather frequency.
This year’s UNDP Human Development Index was especially
dedicated to the dangers of global warming. “Drought
affected areas in sub-Saharan Africa could expand by 60–
90 million hectares, with dry land zones suffering losses of
US$ 26 billion by 2060 (2003 prices), a figure in excess of
bilateral aid to the region in 2005,” the report warns.
Rising sea levels could displace 6 million only in lower Egypt
and an increased number of tropical storms and floods
will in particular effect the hundreds of millions living in
urban slums and other poor housing, the HDI adds. Finally,
changes to coastal currents in for example Southern Africa
“could compromise the future of Namibia’s fisheries sector.”
Scientists especially focus on the negative effects for food
security in Africa. WFP Director Josette Sheeran recently
warned that climate change already was one of the main
factors behind growing food prices and insecurity. This
week, the International Food Policy Research Institute
released a report titled “The World Food Situation”, warning
that “world agricultural output is projected to decrease
significantly due to global warming, and the impact on
developing countries will be much more severe than
industrialised nations.” The researchers added that “Africa
is particularly vulnerable to climate change because of its
high proportion of low-input, rain-fed agriculture.”
The UNEP office GRID-Arendal warns of “extreme hardships
in terms of food and water for the arid and semi-arid areas
of West and Horn of Africa as well as Southern Africa” as a
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Annual precipitation change over Africa 8,500
years ago (mid-Holocene) compared to present
© Climate and Global Dynamics Division
consequnce of global warming. It has also tried to map
some of the proected regional crises, which range from
the flooding of Lagos and Banjul, cyclones on Madagascar,
drought in Southern Africa, the spread of malaria in Chad
and a crisis for commercial agriculture in Kenya. GRIDArendal bases its warning on models of future climates.
But not all predictions, models and theories are exclusively
negative. The following is not a theory based on climate
models, it is a well-documented fact: Until 5,000 years ago,
during the so-called Holocene Climate Optimum, world
climate was significantly hotter than now - comparable to
global warming forecasts - and Africa was living through
what scientists call the “African Humid Period”.
During this warm and humid period, what is now the
Sahara Desert was indeed green, covered with grasslands
and savannah vegetation. The rock paintings at Tassili
- in the middle of the Sahara in south-eastern Algeria first caused astonishment when found as they depicted
savannah animals such as elephants and zebus.
Late, the bones of water-dependent beasts as crocodiles
and hippos were found in the Sahara, together with
sediments showing that great lakes and rivers existed here
until 6,000 years ago.
Continued on page 4
Page 2
Tunisie:
Etablissement
d’une Science with Africa: Accelerating
cartographie de la qualite l’air
Science and Technology
L’Agence nationale de protection de l’environnement entamera,
sous l’égide du ministère de l’Environnement et du Développement
durable, une étude sur l’établissement d’une cartographie de la
qualité de l’air dans le Grand-Tunis, dans le cadre du projet de gestion
de l’environnement industriel et urbain dans le Grand Tunis (Qualité
de l’air) financé par l’Agence française de développement, et en
application de la loi sur la qualité de l’air promulguée le 4 juin 2007.
Ainsi, 220 points ont été choisis pour l’installation des tubes passifs à
diffusion pour l’analyse des polluants atmosphériques, tels que l’ozone,
le dioxyde d’azote, le dioxyde de soufre et les composés organiques
volatils.
Cette campagne durera du 16 au 23 janvier 2008.
Cette cartographie sera étendue prochainement à d’autres villes.
Il est à noter que cette cartographie servira de base à la modélisation
de la dispersion atmosphérique.
La conception et l’installation de ce modèle se feront conformément à
un plan d’action permettant de prévoir la qualité de l’air à court terme
(48 heures), ainsi que de réaliser des études dans le domaine de la
pollution atmosphérique.
Ce système aura pour but, notamment, d’optimiser le réseau national
de surveillance de la qualité de l’air et d’identifier les sites prioritaires
pour le suivi en continu.
Source: La Presse
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and ISCIntelligence in Science are organizing a conference titled “Science
with Africa” that will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 3 to 7
March.
The timeliness of the ‘Science with Africa’ initiative is evidenced by
the EU-Africa Summit’s adoption of a renewed strategic partnership,
including a chapter on Science, Information Society and Space.
The chapter emphasizes the priority to strengthen cooperation on
science and technology programs and to promote the application
of S&T to achieve specific Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as
well as promote the participation of the African research community
into European programs.
The conference will examine methodologies for improving science
program participation by scientists and researchers in African nations.
The three day event will be divided into three pillars: science and
innovation policy, science themes and innovation and will consist of
plenary sessions and workshops. Speakers will include senior policy
makers from Africa and around the world, eminent scientists, research
project managers, experts in proposal preparation and IP and patent
specialists.
The ‘Science with Africa’ conference will be a follow-up to the January
2007 summit meeting of heads of African states in which the leaders
declared 2007 the year of science and technology and strongly urged
all member countries to allocate 1% of their gross domestic product
to R&D by 2020. According to Abdoulie Janneh, UN Economic
Commission for Africa Executive Secretary, “For Africa to accelerate
its development and achieve the Millennium Development Goals,
African countries have to scale up their investments in Science and
Technology.”
To further raise awareness of the ‘Science with Africa’ initiative on
the global arena, a congressional briefing is scheduled on 8 February
2008 in Washington DC.
Registration is now open for the Science with Africa conference. The
conference is free of charge.
To further conference details and registration, please visit: www.
sciencewithafrica.com/ . Source: AllAfrica
.Editorial
Dear Reader,
IThe first month of 2008 is over and it already seems that much has happened
on the African continent. The year has unfortunately started off with more
bad news than good. EIS-AFRICA too has some bad news to share with our
loyal readers. Due to restructuring we have had to say goodbye to Sonja
Vorster. She, as you are all aware, has been the focal point for the EIS-AFRICA
secretariat for the past five years. She will be greatly missed and I would like
to, on behalf of all of you, wish her well in her future endeavours.
Even though we have lost a dedicated staff member, we will continue to
maintain our usual high standards. Evidence of which is right here in this
month’s newsletter. Our lead article this month is on Climate Change in
Africa, a subject which in foremost in everyone’s minds at the moment. We
also have articles on Tunisia’s effort to map air quality, mapping the world in
3D, southern African power shortages vs MDGs and many more.
For those of you that want to send us relevant news about meetings,
conferences, vacancies or other geo-information articles, please email
Elizabeth Folgen ([email protected]).
Until next month…
Page 3
Mapping the world in 3-D
Two firms are racing to map the world as the internet goes
increasingly mobile with ever more sophisticated gadgets.
Tele Atlas’s global fleet has mapped more than 205 countries and
territories, according to company spokesperson Erin Delaney.
Las Vegas - Two firms are racing to map the world as the internet
goes increasingly mobile with ever more sophisticated gadgets for
people on the move.
“I talk to myself a lot,” Russo quipped as he stood next to the minivan.
“I get a lot of hotel stay credits, but convert them right away to airline
miles because I don’t want to be driving anywhere on vacation.”
Netherlands-based Tele Atlas and Navteq, which has a US
headquarters, crisscross countries around the world to gather
information about what is where and how to drive to it.
Tele Atlas and Naviteq augment information obtained from their
specially-equipped fleets with data from satellites, public records,
government agencies and anywhere else with reliable facts about
roadways.
The data they stockpile turns up in mapping services offered
by Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, as the internet titans expand
“location-based” features far beyond simply providing directions to
travellers.
“We’re mapping the world,” John Bates of Tele Atlas told AFP. “In
3-D.” A Tele Atlas minivan with eight rooftop cameras and a laser
sensor was in a sea of cellphones, personal navigation devices,
and internet-linked gizmos at the Consumer Electronics Show that
ended on Thursday.
The cameras record a 360-degree view, making note of traffic
signs and posted speed limits, while the laser makes detailed scans
building facades and sizes.
A global positioning satellite unit in the vehicle tracks its location to
within a metre.
“People think I’m from another planet,” said Greg Russo, who spent
the previous eight months alone on the road in the minivan.
“It’s not a low profile vehicle.”
The whole world online...
Tele Atlas is now making three-dimensional digital recreations of
the world’s major cities.
Mio Technology Corporation used CES to showcase a new in-car
navigation system with realistic Tele Atlas 3-D maps of European
cities and landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Rome’s
Coliseum.
“Eventually, I’m sure, the whole world in 3-D will be online,” Delaney
said. “You’ll never have to leave your house, although I think it’s
better if you do.”
Data compiled by the companies promises to merge with
innovations in mobile devices and software applications to offer
drivers conveniences such as finding out nearby gasoline prices or
available parking spaces in real time.
Trucking companies already use information from the companies to
determine the cheapest or fastest routes to destinations, taking into
account how the road slopes will affect mileage.
Navteq has more than 700 analysts collecting, verifying and
updating the more than 20 million kilometres of logged roadway
from 72 countries.
Source: News24.co.za
Tele Atlas’s global fleet has mapped more than 205 countries and
. Interesting Website
Tenth International Conference for Spatial Data Infrastructure
St. Augustine, Trinidad February 25-29, 2008
http://www.gsdi.org/gsdi10/
Page 4
Continued from page 1:
African climate change: Blooming Sahara or
hunger and war?
Disappearing
Lake Chad (1973,
1987, 1997 and
2001)
Modern scientists have dug deeper and taken sediment cores off the
Mauritanian coast, showing a very sudden change in wind-borne
sediments, indicating a dramatic climate shift took place within the
scope of only decades. Suddenly, the Sahara had reached a threshold
that could not support vegetation and the desert took its firm grip of
this vast landscape.
© afrol News /
NASA
During the early and mid Holocene - corresponding with the first
millennia after the latest ice age - the global climate was about
2-5 degrees warmer than today. In some regions this meant a drier
climate, but for most of Africa, it meant more rain and more stable
rainfalls. In the northern half of Africa, this meant that the African
monsoon went much further north and especially the Central Sahara
had a moister climate. But also south of the Sahara, rainfall was more
abundant, meaning that the forested region went further north.
These are the most certain data from the Holocene Climate
Optimum, and other African regions have been much less studied
(Africa’s climate as a whole has been less studied than other regions).
There are however indications that the Holocene greening included
the African Horn, Southern Arabia and East Africa. According to the
Climate Change Institute at the University of Maine, “East Africa
was much wetter during the early Holocene than it is today,” but
the region does not always follow the warm-wet, cool-dry pattern.
Data on Central Africa are sparse, some indicating drier conditions in
today’s Congo Basin and some indicating even more rain.
Only Southern Africa seems certain to have been much drier each
time the historic climate has become warmer. “The early Holocene
experienced warm and extremely dry conditions,” according to a
study by the European Geophysical Society. Southern Africa is also
the most frequently mentioned example of current negative effects
of global warming in Africa with an increased drought frequency.
The big question that has been astonishingly little studied is
whether the ongoing man-made climate change will lead us back
to the conditions of the mid-Holocene if or when we reach the same
temperatures. Can we predict that at least the northern half of Africa
will be much better off by global warming, while we need to assist
COMMUNITIES REJECT SODA PLANT IN TANZANIA
Communities close to Tanzania’s Lake Natron had publicly opposed to the proposed
plans to erect soda ash plant in the area. The plant will threaten the survival of the
world’s largest population of Lesser Flamingo Phoeniconaias minor.
At a meeting convened by the National Environment Management Council of
Tanzania in the capital Dar es Salam, community representives could not swallow
their worry about lack of consultation in the Environmental and Social Impact
Assessment, complaining that the proposed factory would not provide jobs to
educated and skilled workers, instead of those living in the communities.
Rather, the communities feared the plant would endanger employment gained
from tourism, one of the major sources of income for many locals. The meeting’s
outcome would consolidate an aggressive campaign launched by the BirdLife
International Partnership against the development over the past six months.
“We strongly believe that the cumulative impacts from the proposed facility have
a high risk of causing extreme detriment to the Lesser Flamingo population should
the project be allowed to be developed in Lake Natron area,” the CEO of WCST
[BirdLife in Tanzania], Lota Melamari, told the public hearing.
Southern Africa in restructuring its agriculture to drier conditions?
Most climate models trying to predict the effects of global warming
indeed calculate with a marginal or small increase of rainfall in the
northern half of Africa. But these models, that are not so much based
on paleoclimates, mostly hold that this increase is within the error
margin, and many also predict a northwards move of the Sahara,
meaning that the African and European Mediterranean could face
desertification. But they do agree on a much drier climate for most of
Southern Africa and indicate that East Africa could follow the same
negative path.
These models and current experiences could point to a very
negative conclusion on climate in a warmer Africa. One already sees
a deteriorating climate in Southern Africa, which has contributed
strongly to food insecurity in the region. Most observers hold this is
a direct consequence of global warming. But the positive effects are
not that visible. Why, for example, is Lake Chad still shrinking when it
was a mega-lake in the Holocene? Will we fail to obtain the positive
effects of global warming in the Sahel and Sahara?
Continued on page 5
The lake’s consultative group, which includes the BirdLife Africa Partnership,
rejected the project at the open forum, fearing the local community would “lose
their sources of livelihoods owing to over-sue of water by the factory and their
livestock economy risks being destroyed” without getting anything in return.
The group advised the enhancement of the thriving ecotourism as the best way of
utilising the natural resources of Lake Natron. Many other stakeholders, including
the environmental journalists, lawyers and tour operators, asked the government
to avoid the plant.
“Its our sincere hope that our government will carefully analyse and hear all
interested and affected stakeholders views before making a final decision on this
issue,” BirdLife International quoted Lota Melamari as saying.
© afrol News
Page 5
Continued :
African climate change: Blooming Sahara or
hunger and war?
Experts in paleoclimate are however more optimistic about the
northern half of Africa - for other parts of Africa they lack good data.
The Saharan climate, sediment cores from Mauritania have shown,
is twisted between two extremes: It either is green or it does not
support vegetation. There is a threshold to be crossed, or at least,
that was the case in the Holocene. Scientists have shown that, when
the greening first starts due to some more rainfall, veget ation itself
influences the climate, producing even more rainfall.
In the case of the Holocene, greening and desertification of the
Sahara was a matter of a century, maybe even decades. It was an
“abrupt” process, leading expert Peter deMenocal has shown in
several studies.
Martin Claussen of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology has
looked deeper into the possible “greening of the Sahara” due to
global warming. He concludes that “some expansion of vegetation
into today’s Sahara is theoretically possible” as a consequence of
CO2 emissions. Indeed, “the rate of greening can be fast, up to 1/10th
of the Saharan area per decades,” his models had shown.
But he warns against believing the mid-Holocene climate optimum
will be recreated. Firstly, it is not the same processes driving today’s
climate change, meaning that they may not have the same effect on
ocean currents, insulation and thereby rainfall patterns. Further, and
more important, today’s Sahelian landscape is also strongly shaped
by man-made factors such as over-grazing.
In short, if pastoralists follow their cattle into greening areas, they
may destroy the potential effect vegetation could have on the
climate, thus hindering the positive development to get rooted.
These warnings by Mr Claussen may be a much underreported issue,
as satellite images of the Sahel indicate that the southern edge of
the Sahara already may have experienced a small greening effect.
But these areas are also under heavy pressure by a rapidly growing
population, which may be hindering the full and spreading effect
of greening. In fact, the same region is subject to deforestation,
countering the possible positive effects. The increased use of water
in this region also partly explains the continued shrinking of Lake
eThe Human Sciences Research Council’s (HSRC)
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Centre and EISAFRICA have decided that it is imperative to develop a
geo-information research portal that will ensure the
establishment of a forum for a vigorous engagement by
African researchers.
It is AGIRN’s mission to be the premier knowledge portal
for Africa’s Geoinformation researchers, practitioners
and decision-makers where research papers, project
findings and policy guidelines to enrich policy debate
are published and accessed and to support decisionmaking through the use of appropriate web-based
technologies.
Chad.
If the paleoclimate specialists’ models are to be believed, there are
new challenges for Africa as it develops a new climate. There is an
almost universal agreement on a drier climate in most of Southern
Africa, which must be addressed by helping the region to become
less dependent on rain-fed agriculture. In the Sahel, on the other
hand, there are strong indications that very positive climate effects
can be yielded if the fragile ecosystem is let to cross the greening
threshold. With an optimal development, Niger, Mali and Mauritania
could become the bread baskets of Africa in some decades.
But the great problem is that so little research has been done on
how to meet these climate challenges. For East and Central Africa,
there are not even sufficient paleoclimatic data to be able to make
good models for a warmer future. And for the northern half of Africa,
there are very few studies looking into what is actually happening.
Is the region greening or drying up? Is the desertification effect of a
growing population reversing a possible greening? How should we
act to help a possible greening effect to spread more rapidly?
The irony is that large parts of Africa could indeed face a positive
effect of global warming, but due to lack of research, we may never
know.
As the world gets ever more determined to stop an uncontrolled
global warming, the possible negative and positive effects of this
climate change on Africa need to be better researched.
Surely, in many African countries, great efforts will be needed to
reverse the droughts, floods, epidemics and coastal erosion inflicted
by CO2 emissions from the industrialised world.
But even these consequences are too poorly mapped, and scientists
warn that time is running out.
Source: Rainer Chr. Hennig© afrol News
www.agirn.org
Page 6
SADC Mission Inspects Flood Le
Stricken Areas
The Executive Secretary of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC), Tomaz Salomao, on Wednesday called for an improved early warning
system among countries who share river basins, in order to mitigate the impact
of flooding.
Salomao is leading a SADC mission to Mozambique to see at first hand the
damage caused by flooding on the Zambezi, Pungue, Buzi and Save rivers. The
mission will also visit other SADC countries that have suffered from torrential
rains - Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Angola.
Cited in Thursday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, Salomao called for
improved transmission of data between the Kariba and Cahora Bassa dams on
the Zambezi, and for better flood warning systems in the other basins.
Exchanges of information between upstream and downstream countries
was key for joint action under the SADC protocol on shared watercourses, he
stressed.
Salomao, who is a former Mozambican transport minister, stressed that when
SADC countries plan their development, they must always bear in mind
mechanisms for mitigating the effects of natural disasters. He added that the
SADC Council of Ministers will shortly draw up a directive on this matter to be
submitted to the next heads of state summit.
Meanwhile, since the rains have slackened, the flood waters are subsiding
across central Mozambique. On the Zambezi, according to the latest bulletin
from the National Water Board (DNA), the river rose sharply at Tete city on
Tuesday, reaching 5.26 metres, but on Wednesday fell back to 4.85 metres, 15
centimetres below flood alert level.
Further downstream, at Mutarara, the river subsided to 5.83 metres, while at
Caia, the river fell from 7.5 to 7.37 metres between Tuesday and Wednesday.
(At both Mutarara and Caia, alert level is five metres). At Marromeu, the last
measuring station before the delta, the river remained steady at 7.07 metres.
The Cahora Bassa dam has slightly increased its discharges into the Zambezi
from 4,800 to 4,900 cubic metres a second.
Comparative data with earlier floods show that this year’s flood is larger than
last year’s, but has not reached the scale of the 2001 flood. Thus at Caia the
river rose to 8.14 metres in 2001, but its highest point this year has been 7.82
metres.
Similarly with Mutarara. This year’s high point of 6.47 metres is still 15
centimetres below the 6.62.metres reached in 2001. At Marromeu, the river has
not risen above 7.08 metres this year, but in 2001 it reached 7.68.
As for the Pungue river, measured at Mafambisse it dropped from 7.38 to 7.15
metres between Monday and Wednesday. This is still 1.15 metres above the
alert level.
By Wednesday the Buzi, at Goonda, had fallen to 5.1 metres, only marginally
above the local alert level of five metres, while the Save, measured at Vila Franca
do Save, fell from 3.94 metres on Monday to 4.25 on Wednesday, comfortably
below the alert level of 5.5 metres.
Source: Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
Lac Tchad menacé
d’assèchement
Son étendue est passée de 25 000Km2 à 2000Km2 en quarante ans du fait de
l’action de l’homme.
“La situation est dramatique à l’heure actuelle aussi bien sur place que dans toutes
les localités alimentées par le bassin du Lac Tchad. La crise de l’eau est très forte
dans les mayos et les fleuves. Cette année par exemple, elle s’est accrue du fait
de la très forte pluviométrie malheureusement, brutalement interrompue. Cela a
eu pour conséquence non seulement de détruire la récolte du mil (sorgho), mais
surtout un assèchement drastique tout aussi brutal des cours d’eau”. Ce raccourci
du coordonnateur national du projet, Commission nationale du bassin du Lac Tchad
/Fonds mondial pour l’environnement (Cblt/Fem), Oumarou Dobaï, aborde certains
aspects visibles de l’avancée du désert dont l’expert et point focal du ministère de
l’Environnement et de la Protection de la nature (Minep), Gabriel Tchatat dit qu’il
atteindra le Cameroun en 2075 au plus tard.
Le bassin du Lac Tchad dont les experts étaient réunis du 18 au 20 janvier 2008 à
Maroua pour une évaluation de l’état de la dégradation de la biodiversité autour de
ce lac, est l’objet de réelles appréhensions à en croire de nombreux observateurs
avertis. Cette étendue d’eau d’environ 25 000Km2 en 1963 ne fait plus aujourd’hui
que 2000Km2 en période de crue. Cet assèchement est officiellement dû à l’avancée
du désert, au déboisement sauvage et quasi permanent des aires au profit du bois
de chauffe et à diverses autres actions de l’homme. Pour autant, sous cape, certains
experts de la Cblt réunis la semaine dernière à Maroua (notamment tchadiens) font
état de la dégradation du lit du lac pour cause de nombreuses interventions de
projets camerounais et nigérians dans sa périphérie.
On cite à ce propos, la digue de Maga dont la retenue d’eau prive le Lac Tchad d’une
partie importante de ses eaux. Les experts interrogés qui ont requis l’anonymat,
affirment que des opérations de ce genre sont multipliées par quatre ou cinq du
côté du Nigeria. Toujours est-il que les Etats qui semblent prendre conscience
de la gravité de la situation, ont décidé de faire payer ce désagrément aux pays
concernés dans le cadre des cotisations (que certains pays ne paient pas depuis
huit ans). Chacun des pays membres de la Cblt intervient financièrement au prorata
des désagréments causés sur les eaux du lac. C’est à ce titre que le Nigeria considéré
comme le principal auteur des dégâts participe à hauteur de 52%, le Cameroun le
suit avec 28%. Les autres pays viennent ensuite avec 8 et 6%.
Cotisations
Du côté du Cameroun comme dans les autres pays riverains qui sont le Tchad,
le Nigeria, le Niger et la République centrafricaine, les populations souffrent des
mêmes maux. La famine s’installe et se répercute à des lieux du lit du lac. “Nous
souffrons de l’assèchement des eaux du Lac Tchad. Tous les mayos sont secs sans la
moindre goûte d’eau y compris ceux des fleuves qui se jettent dans le lac comme le
Logono, le Chari, leSerbewol ou l’Elbeid. Il sert de régulateur à l’activité dans cette
région. C’est lui qui alimente nos sols. Il en facilite la conservation, la restauration
des zones humides et la gestion des ressources en eau. Or, maintenant qu’il a perdu
9/10e de ses eaux, l’on assiste à de très mauvaises récoltes”, explique le maire de
Tokombéré, Kari Deguer.
Sur la même lancée, la pêche qui est l’autre activité commune à toutes les
populations des Etats membres de la Cblt, connaît également une chute libre. Sans
pouvoir quantifier le volume, le délégué départemental de l’Environnement et de
la Protection de la nature, Wandabe Nyakou estime que le volume d’eau a baissé
dans le Logone (fleuve qui arrose Kousseri, ville frontalière avec le Tchad) qui est
l’un des affluents du Lac Tchad. Moktar Mbot, un expert tchadien rencontré en dit
autant du Chari. Et ce n’est pas la teneur en poisson qui ne souffre pas de cet état de
faits. “Lorsque nous étions à l’école, on nous disait que le Logone est l’un des fleuves
les plus poissonneux d’Afrique. Or, le fait que les femmes se sentent obligées d’aller
acheter du poisson à Maga pour revenir vendre à Kousseri est la preuve que rien ne
va”. De nombreux pêcheurs rencontrés à Kousseri, n’en disent pas moins. “Autrefois,
nous faisions des recettes de 25 000Fcfa par jour. Actuellement on atteint à peine
3000”, soutient Moussa Ngwoun, l’un des pêcheurs interrogés.
Source: Le Quotidien Mutations
Page 7
Southern Africa: Power shortages vs MDGs
The Southern African region is at risk of not meeting the millennium
development goal on poverty eradication, as power outages become a daily
occurrence. Countries including Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa
experience regular electricity cuts, leading to outages at clinics and
schools -- key public facilities essential to meeting the goals.
Eradicating poverty is chief among the aims of the Southern Africa
Trust, an independent, regional, non-profit agency, and supporting
regional integration is key to its policy formulations. The organisation
is committed to identifying knowledge and policy gaps that could help
governments build infrastructure that is geared to improving the working
and living conditions of the poor in the region.
In its January policy briefing, “Building Bridges Out of Poverty”,
the trust examines transport, energy and water infrastructure in the
subcontinent. It identifies these three sectors as necessary props to
“facilitate intra-regional trade and investment, and address the
special needs of landlocked countries to access the rest of the
world”.
Roads
A major challenge faced by Southern Africa is to build rural access
roads, the trust says. New and improved roads will make it possible for
the rural and urban poor to “participate in development
opportunities”. In particular, proper roads will provide access to
jobs, markets, social services and health facilities.
But integrated development planning is lacking. While the Southern
African Development Community “corridor” approach is potentially
useful, weak organisation within the secretariat hampers the roll-out of
effective transport programmes.
Energy
In the majority of the region’s countries, biomass such as fuel wood
and cow dung remain the main sources of energy for families and informal
traders. This is especially so in the rural areas. Up to 80% of the
region’s total energy consumption is dependent on these energy
sources, the policy think-tank says.
But while initiatives, such as the SADC biomass energy programme,
promote the use of energy-efficient devices, investment in additional
generation and transmission capacity is an imperative because demand is
outstripping supply. “South Africa is already experiencing power
outages, which are likely to increase unless investment in expansion *
is prioritised,” the trust says.
A spin-off to the more efficient use of fuel wood is that it will save
forest areas. Energy-efficient technologies will also reduce carbon
emissions.
Water resources
Rain-fed crops and livestock are at the heart of Southern Africa’s
rural economy. Food production is “often adversely affected by floods
and droughts indicating lack of investment in water harvesting, storage
and distribution infrastructure,” the trust says.
While recent floods and bursting river banks are an urgent concern in
Mozambique and Zimbabwe, the trust predict that there will be water
shortages by 2025, especially in South Africa, Malawi and Zimbabwe. It
urges that remedial measures be put in place to prevent the distinct
possibility that the region will have to implement water rationing.
Developing the infrastructure in water harvesting, storage and
distribution will be critical in overcoming the “looming water
shortage”.
Regional integration adviser at the trust, Dr Themba Mhlongo, says:
Some of South
Africa’s coal mines
have resumed
production after
being shut down
on Friday 25th
because of power
cuts.
Coal is used to
generate about
90% of electricity
supplies at state
power company
Eskom.
“Southern Africa needs to invest in the management and development
of water resources, including irrigation infrastructure technologies and
efficient use of limited water resources.
“Inadequate water control infrastructure is one of the key factors
limiting the productivity and competitiveness of agriculture in Southern
Africa.”
The trust suggest that inter-basin water transfers from the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Zambia and Angola to the southwestern parts
(Botswana, Namibia and South Africa) could be the long-term solution to
an impending water crisis. Alternatively, desalination could be an
attractive option for water-scarce countries such as South Africa.
To finance all of this, it recommends that a SADC bond market be
created for regional savings that are earmarked for investment.
Public-private partnerships may be another avenue to explore to fill the
gap in infrastructure finance.
But the absence of appropriate legislation binding the different states
in the subcontinent to the SADC project is a major stumbling block to
effective regional integration across the transport, water and energy
sectors.
“SADC countries are struggling to address the lack of investment in
energy infrastructure. The objective of providing affordable energy
services to rural communities as a basic right through increased access
to modern energy technologies therefore remains only a distant hope,”
Mhlongo says.
“It is imperative for SADC countries to prioritise investments in
generation and transmission capacity in order to ensure regional energy
security.”
Where to Now?
The SADC’s regional infrastructure development “master plan” must
be implemented.
“However, the financing of regional infrastructure development
remains a key constraint to realising that potential.” The regional
grouping needs to identify more creative ways to finance cross-border
infrastructure. Development finance institutions could be a possibility
to secure the loans that are required to build the regional
infrastructure. Another is to leverage private sector resources through
public-private partnerships.
While the policy briefing focuses on infrastructure development, the
trust suggests that they are insufficient on their own to provide relief
to poor people in Southern Africa. Many other “complementary
poverty-focused initiatives are necessary to overcome poverty”.S
ource: Mail and Guardian 28th Jan 2008
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