LUSAKA, Zambia (PAMACC News) – Ahead of COP 22 in less than two months, Civil Society Organisations working on climate related activities in Zambia have been urged to intensify their sensitisation programmes on climate change. Speaking during the CSO Paris Agreement review meeting in Lusaka, Richard Lungu, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) country focal point in Zambia reminded delegates of their critical role in simplifying the Paris Climate Agreement to the masses. Lungu, who also announced the recent approval of the country’s climate change policy by cabinet, believes CSOs have a greater responsibility of educating the masses on the implications of the Paris Agreement in their lives. “Our economy is natural resource intensive,” he said, adding “it is incumbent upon us to make people understand the Paris Agreement provisions and what they mean for the implementation of our Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).” The UNFCCC Zambia Focal Point, who is also the Chief Environmental Officer at the Ministry of Lands, Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, said government wants to see an active involvement of CSOs especially in the implementation of the climate change policy. “Now that we have an agreement in place, COP 22 and beyond is about implementation and requires support in form of ideas from all concerned stakeholders so that Zambia, and Africa in general, continues with its push for a successful implementation of the Paris Agreement,” emphasizedLungu, stressing that Africa remains a vulnerable region to climate change with limited capacity to cope without external support. Organised by Green Enviro Watch with support from Oxfam Zambia, the CSO meeting was called to deliberate on the linkages between the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the context of the country’s development agenda. Adopted in New York in September last year, SDGs have become a foundation on which governments are anchoring their sustainability actions. However public sensitization and awareness has been low, prompting the CSOs to brainstorm and chart the way forward. “Our goal is to carry everyone on board especially youth and rural populations who are ironically the most affected by policy decisions and/or omissions,” said Abel Musumali, Green Enviro Watch Executive Director. He said “while Africa continues to push certain demands collectively especially on finance and technology transfer, national circumstances as outlined in the NDC have become a key focus area in the implementation stage of the land mark climate agreement.” Meanwhile, French Ambassador to Zambia, Emmanuel Cohet implored the CSO representatives to work in partnership with one another not only to strengthen their proposals for support from development partners, but also complimenting each other’s capacities in terms of project implementation. Cohet assured that his government remains committed to aspirations of the global community as espoused in the Paris Agreement to which France played a key role to achieve. And in amplifying the role of partnerships, Oxfam Zambia Humanitarian Programme Manager, Teddy Kabunda said there is more to be gained when working in synergies. “We know that government is making a lot…

Young people, who form the biggest part of population in Sub Saharan Africa, have little or no interest in agriculture, a sector that drives the region’s economy.And now, experts at the Africa Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) 2016 have said that it will take more than financial persuasion to hook them into the sector.“Even with donors promising subsidies to Africa’s youth in agriculture, the generation is faced with the twin problems of skills transfer and motivation,” said Ambrose Agona, the director general, National Research Organisation (NARO) of Uganda.Other experts said that the absence of youth engagement in Africa’s agriculture is due to poor policies that do not cater for the interest of the youth.“Governments must link scientists to what is happening in the industry and markets,” said Micheni Ntiba Kenya’s s principal secretary for Fisheries. “There is need to follow up research to ensure that it is incubated as a business because the youth will always want to go to where money is.”Experts further observed that some scientists were working in silos.Africa Harvest Biotechnology Foundation International chief executive officer, Florence Wambugu said pointed out that African scientists must interact with farmers to understand what kind of innovations Africa needs.According to her, Africa may be doing well with a growth path of six per cent but failure to win the youth into agriculture will not help Africa fight poverty and climate change.“Researchers must break the silos and work through value chains so as to attract the youth into the sector,” said Wambugu.Meanwhile, a new report released during the AGRF meeting accuses financial institutions of failing the youth in terms of capital access.According to the AGRA 2016 African Agriculture Status report, only 6 per cent of rural households in sub Saharan Africa are borrowing from formal financial institutions.

Ouverture ce matin au Centre Togolais des Expositions et Foires de Lomé (CETEF) au Togo de la première édition du Salon International des Savoirs Traditionnels et Bioéconomiques en abrégé SISTRA-BIOECO. SISTRA-BIOECO se veut un cadre d’inspirations, et de transfert de connaissances écologiques, technologiques, socioculturelles et sanitaires pour l’innovation et la réinvention du modèle de croissance économique et industriel. Cette première édition est placée sous le thème « Innovation et Promotion du modèle de croissance bioéconomique », ce salon est initié par le Centre Omnithérapeutique Africain (COA). Il a pour entre autres objectifs de contribuer à la vulgarisation et à la valorisation des savoirs traditionnels bioéconomiques et des innovations compatibles à la sauvegarde de la planète, offrir une opportunité d’affaire dans le domaine bioéconomique et technologique, élargir et renforcer les relations d’ affaire entre les différents exposants nationaux et internationaux. Le ministre Togolais de l’Enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, Octave Nicoué Broohm en ouvrant les travaux ce matin, a martelé : »chacun individu sur notre planète doit contribuer à la sauvegarde de notre patrimoine commune de manière responsable « Les participants sont venus d’Allemagne ,d’Amérique ,de la France ,du Niger ,du Ghana ,du Bénin, du Burkina Faso ,du Sénégal et du Togo ainsi que les institutions de formations et de recherches, les sociétés de productions et de transformations, les institutions économiques, politiques et financières, les organismes ou associations de protection de l’environnement, de la culture, des acteurs de la santé, des chercheurs ,inventeurs ,des entrepreneurs ,des industriels. Au total 256 exposants et plusieurs conférences, ateliers et projections seront également animés par d’éminents chercheurs au cours de cette période. Des rencontres d’affaires, des soirées culturelles, des jeux concours meubleront aussi le salon dont l’apothéose est fixée au 31 Août 2016 à Lomé au Togo.Le Centre Omnithérapeutique Africain (COA) est un établissement d´enseignement supérieur à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel, fondé sur la collaboration et l´interdisciplinarité entre chercheurs universitaires, médecins, pharmaciens, agronomes, religieux, juristes, des acteurs de la santé et de l´écologie. 

The opening of the Olympic Games in Rio this year witnessed a dramatic twist that brought fresh impetus to its drive to chase impossible dreams and stretching the limits of human ambition. Beneath the glitz and glamour that characterize the Rio Carnival-like atmosphere, this year ceremony showcased the most impossible sounding dream of all – Africa’s Great Green Wall. A Press Release of August 5th,2016, from United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification , UNCCD says in a Film on Africa’s Great Green Wall featured prominently as one of the highlights of the opening with Fernando Meirelles’ documentary on global reforestation efforts. The film in the Great Green Wall struck a chord as a generation-defining initiative aiming to grow an 8000km natural wonder of the world across the entire width of Africa, against all odds. “The film show efforts to restore vast swathes of degraded land in a region called the Sahel and in the process provide food, jobs and a reason to stay for the millions of people living on the frontline of climate change that may be forced to migrate,” the report stated. Once complete, the Wall will be three times the length of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. More importantly, it is expected to promote peace and strengthen resilience in a region long devastated by drought, war and famine. The Sahel region of Africa is one of the world’s most impoverished – a key reason being the degradation of enormous tracts of fertile land, which form the basis of people’s livelihoods here. Persistent drought, food insecurity, and conflicts over dwindling natural resources are some of the many consequences. Continued inaction means an estimated 60 million people could migrate to Europe from Africa’s degraded areas by 2030. According to statistics from UNCCD, about 40 % of Africa is threatened by desertification with increasing loss of aerable land. The Sahel, a semi-arid transitional zone between the Sahara desert and the savannah, is the focus of efforts to build a "Great Green Wall" to hold back the desert and provide jobs and sustainable development for struggling African nations. Meirelles’ film, which features footage from the UN Convention to Combat Desertification’s Virtual Reality experience unveiled at last year’s Paris Climate Summit, provides a stark warning of the need to restore natural resources, like land. The progress made since the initiative started a decade ago shows that land restoration efforts on a mass scale are both possible and offer hope. Senegal has already planted 12 million trees, Ethiopia has restored 15 million hectares of degraded land and Nigeria has created 20,000 jobs in rural areas. “The Great Green Wall is about far more than just growing trees. It is a mosaic of interventions weaving across the Sahel region that is helping to build community resilience and provide economic opportunity. Already, it is feeding hungry families and malnourished children, putting people back to work and growing peace and security to help communities thrive once more. Most crucially, it provides young people with a genuine alternative…