PEMBA, Zambia (PAMACC News) - Grace Moonga harvested 115 by 50 Kg bags of maize last season. And it was enough for family food consumption and sale for income generation to support her second year University student son. But she is afraid that this year’s farming season is turning out negative—a prolonged dry spell affecting her 3 hectare maize field. “Just look at this crop,” lamentsMoonga, pointing at her severely wilted crop. “It has been 22 days since it last rained here. This is a serious disaster for a widow like me whose only source of income is farming, I don’t even know what will become of my son at the University.” Since 2007 when her husband died, Moonga has been supporting her six children through smallholder farming. So far, her first born son has completed his teaching course, while the university student was only in primary five when his father died. However, dependency on rainfall is increasingly becoming a risky business for smallholder farmers as erratic rainfall punctuated with prolonged dry spells has become the norm rather than an exception. For instance, the 2015/16 farming season was characterized by the El Nino induced drought. While 2016/17 season restored some hope with normal to above normal rainfall, the 2017/18 season is turning out negative—a prolonged dry spell which according to the Zambia Meteorological Department, has caused substantial moisture deficits and an increased likelihood for adverse crop production. According to Zambia Meteorological department, the prolonged dry spell being experienced over Lusaka, Southern, Western and Southern parts of Central and Eastern Provinces have been largely due to atmospheric systems – the consecutive occurrence of deep low-pressure systems and tropical cyclones over the Mozambique channel and the Indian ocean. Unfortunately, the forecast up to March 2018 remains negative as abnormal dryness has strengthened and expanded, placing additional moisture stress on crops, especially at critical stages of growth. Nevertheless, good as this forecast maybe, it largely remains generic and scientific for smallholder farmers to easily interpret. It is for this reason that climate change development actors have been advocating for improved climate information and other climate resilient services such as insurance for smallholder farmers. In Zambia, one such institution working in this area is the World Food Programme (WFP). Under its R4—Rural Resilience Initiative, WFP has installed automated and manual weather stations in selected project areas to facilitate improved meteorological information for smallholder farmers. Mosco Hamalambo is a trained rain gauge attendant at Sibajene village, one of the 20 manual rain gauge stations dotted around Pemba district. He believes the weather stations have improved farmers’ knowledge especially on the time to plant. “With this facility, we now have readily available information when we should plant our crops,” Hamalambo told PAMACC News. “Even as we are experiencing this dry spell, we have the information on how much rainfall we have received and how poorly distributed it has been.” Hamalambosays such information is helpful for comparison with satellite data on which weather index insurance is based—another…

PAMACC, Abidjan, COTE D'IVOIRE The Africa regional director of United Nations Environment, Julliette Biao Koudenoukpo has called on African countries that have ratified the Bamako Convention to work in synergy with the private sector to better reinforce and drive actions against toxic waste dumping in the continent.She noted that waste dumping in Africa has become a major concern necessitating synergy of actions, innovations and strong political will for more positive results.« There is need to strengthen cooperation between the public and private sector, with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of the actions on ground, » she said in an interview on the sidelines of COP2 meeting to the Bamako convention in Abidjan-Ivory Coast January 31st, 2018.The director enjoined state actors to deepen cooperation with civil society organisations and business partners as part of a broader effort to raise the profile in the fight against toxic waste dumping, poverty and promoting green growth.She lauded some countries like Ivory Coast that are already heightening efforts to increase the political priority accorded to sound management of chemicals and other waste dumping.Other UN officials also shared the view of strong partnerships and cooperation to better push the Bamako convention and ensure its effective implementation on the ground by countries that have already ratified the treaty.“Strengthening synergies between all the different development stakeholders will certainly give a boost to the effective application of the Bamako convention,” says UN Environment Deputy Executive Director Ibrahim Thiaw said.He also highlighted the different challenges countries face protecting the planet's critical ecosystems from contamination by hazardous chemicals and waste and the need for joined support and innovative strategies to overcome them."At this critical stage it is important for development stakeholders to commit to providing financial support to help countries address these important challenges,” Ibrahim Thiaw said.Countries were also called to mainstream sound chemicals management in national agendas, create an integrated chemicals and wastes focal area, and expanding engagement with the private sector.The youths were challenged to lead efforts at preventing Africa from becoming a dumping ground for toxic waste because environmental issues are concern for the future and better livelihood.“The youths must make their voices heard and front actions on the ground. They are called to increasingly show commitment to get things change for the better because environmental issues are concerns for the future and for improved livelihood,” says Julliette Biao.She recalled that African nations have long been at the center of incidents involving hazardous waste dumping and that it was time to bring this unfortunate situation to an end.Important toxic waste dump incidents include the leaking barrels of toxic waste in Koko, Nigeria in 1988 and the Probo Koala scandal in Cote d’Ivoire in 2006, to the current piles of e-waste threatening the health of West African communities.In an effort to prevent incidents such as ‘Koko’ and ‘Probo Koala’ from happening again, and to reinforce existing international treaties surrounding the shipment and disposal of hazardous waste as established in the Basel Convention and Bamako Convention African states meeting…

PAMACC, Abidjan-COTE D'IVOIRE La consommation énergétique de l’Afrique est plus faible que celle de tous les autres continents et la consommation par habitant n'a pratiquement pas changé depuis l’an 2000 comme l’indique l’Atlas des Ressources en Energie de l’Afrique, un rapport publié conjointement par l'ONU Environnement et la Banque Africaine de Développement.La production énergétique actuelle en Afrique ne répond pas à la demande du marché. Environ un tiers de la population africaine n'a toujours pas accès à l'électricité et 53% de la population dépend de la biomasse pour la cuisine, le chauffage et le séchage. L’énergie nécessaire à deux utilisations d’une bouilloire électrique par une famille britannique correspond à plus de cinq fois l'électricité consommée par un Malien en une année.Préparé en collaboration avec l’Environment Pulse Institute, le United States Geological Survey et l'Université George Mason, l'Atlas consolide les informations disponibles sur le paysage énergétique en Afrique.Au cœur du développement d’infrastructures énergétiquesIl fournit ces informations sous forme d'images, de cartes, et d'autres données satellitaires sur les 54 pays africains à travers des visuels détaillant les défis et les opportunités de fournir à la population des services énergétiques fiables, abordables et modernes.« L'Atlas démontre que l’investissement dans des infrastructures d'énergie verte peut soutenir le développement économique de l'Afrique et favoriser la réalisation des Objectifs de Développement Durable. Il s'agit donc d'un guide important pour les gouvernements africains qui s’évertuent à catalyser leur développement national en utilisant leurs ressources énergétiques propres », a déclaré Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo, Directrice Régionale etReprésentante pour l’Afrique de l'ONU Environnement.L'Atlas met en avant à la fois le potentiel et la fragilité des ressources énergétiques de l’Afrique qui sont au cœur du développement socio-économique du continent. Il met en lumière quelques exemples de réussite en matière de développement du secteur de l'énergie durable sur le continent, mais aussi les principaux défis environnementaux associés au développement d’infrastructures énergétiques.L'Atlas aborde les échecs ainsi que les bonnes pratiques de la gestion des déchets dangereux et de la pollution associée aux explorations pétrolières et gazières dans divers pays africains. Il propose également des recommandations sur les opportunités à saisir grâce à l'implication du secteur privé et à la mise en place de partenariats dans le domaine la gestion durable des déchets du secteur de l'énergie.Un aperçu complet des ressources énergétiques« L'Atlas fournit un aperçu complet des ressources énergétiques de l'Afrique. Un accent particulier est mis sur les défis liés aux changements climatiques et à la pollution, notamment la pollution atmosphérique, qui entravent la réalisation des ODD », selon Amadou Hott, Vice-Président chargé de l’électricité, de l'énergie, du climat et de la croissance verte à la Banque Africaine de Développement.Les réserves de charbon, de gaz naturel et de pétrole représentent respectivement 3,6%, 7,5% et 7,6% des réserves mondiales. Une population croissante, une industrialisation soutenue et une urbanisation grandissante signifient une augmentation de la demande en énergie en Afrique.Seule une fraction minime du potentiel énergétique existant est actuellement exploitée causant un énorme retard du continent dans le secteur de l’industrie en raison d'un accès…

ABIDJAN, Cote d'Ivoire (PAMACC News) - Early intervention and strong political will to fight against environmental harzards have helped Ivory Coast avert what would have been a damaging toxic dumping tragedy, says a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) audit report.The audit report presented today at the Bamako COP 2 assembly in Abidjan, lauded the timely intervention of the Ivorian government with measures to mitigate what would have been the worst environmental disaster in the country.“It is reassuring to see that with early intervention and strong political will, a disaster like the chemical contamination incident in Côte d’Ivoire can be mitigated over time,” UN Environment Deputy Executive Director Ibrahim Thiaw said.“This independent and scientific environmental audit of the sites gives us access to a vault of best practices and pitfalls of the disaster response, and allows us to learn from a tragedy like this,” he added.The UNEP regional director for Africa Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo noted that though there was general lethargy in most African countries to implement the Bamako Convention on preventing Africa from becoming the dumping ground for toxic waster, the example from Ivory Coast shows that innovative pathways can bring lasting solutions once there is a clear political will."We are proud of the measures put in place by the government of Ivory Coast to fight against toxic waste dumping and environmental pollution," she noted. It should be recalled that national and international civil society organisations decried the illegal dumping of toxic waste in and around Abidjan, Ivory Coast, six years ago, by a multinational company, Trafigura.Different organisations had published reports including documentation of various illnesses people in the areas where such dumping were taking place have been suffering from as a result of the dumping of toxic waste in their communities.But the good news is that the Ivorian government reacted promptly to ward off what experts say would have been the worst environmental disaster in the entire West Africa.The UN Environment thus conducted an independent audit of the sites affected by the 2006 waste dumping from the Probo Koala in various parts of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.According to the audit, multiple innovative actions were put in place just on time by the government.The audit noted that in reality on 19 August 2006 the Probo Koala, chartered by shipping firm Trafigura, offloaded 528 cubic metres of liquid waste in the port of Abidjan. The waste was then transferred onto tanker trucks operated by a local contractor and dumped in 12 different locations around Abidjan.Hours after the dumping, residents reported being overwhelmed by a strong smell and experiencing detrimental health effects such as respiratory difficulties and skin irritations.As a precautionary measure, the Ivorian government ordered the closure of schools in affected areas and the destruction of fruits and vegetables grown near dumping sites.Livestock raised in proximity to some sites was also culled while fishing was banned in the bays of the Ébrié Lagoon.In other measures the government provided medical assistance and facilities to over 100.000 people affected just weeks immediately following the…