DOUALA, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - An initiative by a group of Cameroon youths to produce eco-friendly charcoal made from biodegradable household waste is not only helping to fight against mangrove deforestation in the coastal town of Douala, the economic capital, but has also reduced deadly floods and high youth unemployment.According to Kemit Ecology, a non-governmental organization run by young people, the group uses household waste such as maize husks, banana and plantain peelings, fish scales, sugar cane peels and other bio-degradable waste to produce and sell 100% eco-friendly charcoal that replaces the growing demand for wood for cooking or heating.“Producing charcoal from household waste to save the forest is an enriching experience for us,” Says Muller Tankeu Nandou, coordinator of Kemit Ecology. The organisation says it has a group of over 100 youths employed to collect household waste from homes, markets and street gutters.Some households supporting the idea also prefer to deposit their waste directly at the production site of the organisation.Apart from employing youths, the organisation supplies bio-degradable coal to thousands of women selling coal in different markets in Douala and other towns in the country thus keeping women who otherwise would have been idle active.“We work most with market women and housholds who are very collaborative,” Muller says.The material gathered is later sorted, dried, compacted and burned to make charcoal. The organisation says its efforts are already helping to protect the mangrove forest and reduce the rate of floods in some parts of the city.Environment experts say the coastal mangrove forest that has suffered over-exploitation and reduced by half over the last 20 years now have some respite since the project started some four years ago. “There have been overuse and often illegal use of the forest by the growing population in Douala. Saving especially the coastal mangrove forest has become crucial,” says Samuel Nguiffo CEO of Centre for Environment and Development, an NGO that defends the rights of forest people in Cameroon.With sensitization from the Douala city councils working in partnership with Kemit Ecology the fishing community and thousands of households in the over 3 million population in the city that hitherto used wood for drying fish and cooking are increasingly switching over to use eco-friendly coal, officials of Kemit Ecology say.The team says it has considerably expanded production since they started in 2014. In 2014, they manually produced 12 tonnes of charcoal. Now, they have machinery and a factory, and, by 2016, had increased to 37 tonnes produced and sold per year . They envisage producing over 200 tonnes of charcoal per year by 2020.A kilogram of eco-friendly charcoal sells at 300 fcfa, far lower than that of wood charcoal selling at 450 fcfa.“One can save up to 25% and 40% of the money spent on firewood and charcoal respectively and above 50%with gas and electricity,” says Abu Wilson, commercial manager of Kemit Ecology. Using eco-friendly charcoal saves the environment in two ways he says. “First, they are an alternative to firewood and charcoal. Secondly, the…

GULU, Uganda (PAMACC News) - Massive animal translocation is taking place in Northern Uganda as hundreds of nomadic pastoralists comply with a presidential decree evicting them from the region. On October 20th last year, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni directed the ministry of agriculture, animal industry and fisheries to evict the nomads from northern Uganda for among others interfering with food security of the people of northern Uganda. The President also wrote that the nomads threaten the peace of the north and the economy by practicing obsolete farming method. He tasked the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal industry and fisheries to introduce the nomads to sedentary forms of agriculture, paddocking and coffee growing. The presidential decree followed repeated calls for eviction by host communities who accused the nomads of grazing their livestock in their subsistence farms after failing to fence off their hired pieces of land. Other accusations include sexual harassment of women, engaging in illegal charcoal business, theft of animals and illegal possession of firearms as well as land grabbing amongst others. At least twenty trucks laden with cows belonging to the Balaalo leave the region for Central and South Western Uganda where the pastoralists initially lived with their animals since the ministry of agriculture started implementing the decree on March 22nd. The decree affects more than 40,000 herds of cattle in the hands of more than 30 groups of nomads estimated to number some 15,000 people. Edward Kamgaene, a pastoralist herding 200 cows in a rented area of Amuru district says government is not being fair to them by asking them to leave the north of the country within just few days.“Government has been shifting the goal post all along. Initially we were told to fence our grazing land and stay. But today, we are being told to process movement permits, vaccinate our animals and leave. This is totally a different thing we were told to do earlier. How can this possible within a short time we have been given?” Kamagaene said with anger in his face. Kamgaene says his livelihoods depend on pastoralism in which he fattens animals before selling them to abattoirs in Capital Kampala. He is worried that he will not be able to fend for his family without practicing pastoralism. Kamagaene is one of the thousands of nomads who fled acute shortage of pastures and water in 2016 from South Western Uganda migrating up north to fatten his livestock in vast open savannah grassland inhabited by the Acholi and Lango ethnic groups. He says he is stuck with his livestock after learning that his home district is under quarantine due to Foot and Mouth disease. “I have 100 cows in Nwoya district which I should move to Kyankwanzi district via the districts of Nakasongola and Nakaseke and yet these districts are under quarantine for Foot and Mouth disease. How can I go to these districts to pick movement permits without infecting my animals? How can I take my animals where there is a running quarantine?” Festus…

PAMACC News - 22 mars, elles ne connaissent pas. Ce qui les préoccupe surtout, c’est la corvée d’eau et celle du bois sans laquelle le repas n’est pas prêt le soir. Le risque que le père de famille se fâche si ça arrive est grand. Des préoccupations, bien loin des fronfrons de la fête de la Journée mondiale de l’eau, célébrée à Cotonou. Il est 17heures à Torio, un village de l’arrondissement de Bogobogo, dans la commune de Banikoara. C’est habituellement l’heure où il faut remplir les jarres d’eau pour l’usage le soir. Une partie des femmes de ce village, tous âges confondus ont rendez-vous pour la corvée journalière de l’eau. Réunies autour d’un puits à grand diamètre, elles sont une dizaine à se relayer pour aller chercher au fond le précieux liquide, qui présente l’aspect d’une eau potable. Deux seaux attachés à deux cordes différentes permettent de faire l’exercice. Le liquide, une fois retiré est versé dans des bassines immédiatement convoyés à la maison par les plus petites femmes. Elles font ce va-et-vient plusieurs fois de suite en fonction des besoins. Quid de la qualité de l’eau Nomma Abdul Wahab, le Chef d’étude à la Mairie de Banikoara, doute, quand-même de la qualité de cette eau. Pour l’intéressé, ces genres de puits à grand diamètre sont légions dans la commune mais pour chacun d’eux, aucune étude n’a été faite pour la potabilité de cette eau. Il déplore la résistance de certaines femmes à utiliser l’eau des forages dont il certifie la qualité parce que leur mise en fonction est précédée de quelques études techniques. Il y a aujourd’hui dans la commune de Banikoara quatre-vingt-quatre forages pour près de douze mille habitants. Pas de justice en matière d’eau Si les femmes, comme d’habitude, n’ont pas voulu s’exprimer, c’est Djibril Amidou, un garçon, la trentaine qui prend leur défense. Au forage, souligne-t-il, la bassine est à cinq (5) francs ou vous payez cent (100) francs pour tout le mois pour avoir accès à cette eau, de l’argent dont ne disposent pas ces femmes, explique Djibril. Or, au puits à grand diamètre, l’eau est gratuite.A une vingtaine de mètres du puits à grand diamètre, justement, se dresse un forage autour duquel est réunie l’autre partie des femmes, celles qui ont les cinq (5) FCFA pour la bassine d’eau. Ici, l’or bleu est pompé. C’est moins pénible que de l’autre côté du puits à grand diamètre, en plus, à ciel ouvert où le risque d’accident est souvent grand. Qui s’en plaindrait ?

LAIKIPIA, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Two years ago, the global community drafted what is now known as the ‘Paris Agreement on climate change,’ which seeks for international interventions to hold the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2 °C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C.But according to a new study conducted in all Kenya’s 21 semi arid land counties, at least five of them have already surpassed the 1.5 °C mark, and the impact especially on cattle survival is devastating. The most worrying part of the study is the projections, which show that the temperatures are going t rise even further in the coming years.This comes just four years after the World Bank released a report synthesising scientific knowledge on global warming, which warned that the earth was on a path to a 4oC warmer by the end of the century - with huge implications for humanity. According to the new study commissioned by the Canada based International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the UK Department for International Development (DFID) – through a project known as Pathways to Resilience in Semi-arid Economies (PRISE), West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet are the most affected counties with temperature rise of 1.91oC in the past 50 years. Others include Turkana (1.8oC), Baringo (1.8oC), Laikipia (1.59oC) and Narok (1.75oC). The most startling fact is that the study also found out that the overall population of cattle in all the 21 semi arid land counties has decreased by more than 26 % in the past 38 years, and the scientists who carried out the study are attributing this to the constantly rising temperatures due to global warming, and reduced or unpredictable rainfall patterns.So far, Turkana County is the most affected in terms of cattle population reduction, recording a drop of near 60 % in the past 38 years ending 2015, followed by Machakos, Garissa, Kitui and Kajiado counties according to the study conducted by scientists from Kenya Markets Trust (KMT). This is bad news particularly for Turkana, Garissa and Kajiado because livestock is the main source of livelihoods for residents in those counties.However, all is not lost. While the cattle population was on the decline, sheep and goats’ overall population in the 21 semi arid counties increased by 76.3% during the same period, with some counties like Laikipia and Lamu recording 256.6% and 458% increase respectively.According to the scientists, cattle can thrive well if the temperatures do not surpass 30oC and not below 10oC. But small animals like sheep and goats, and also camels can tolerate warmer temperatures, hence the reason why they were able to multiply exponentially in the wake of the rising temperatures. These findings should therefore be a wake-up call for all counties. They should use such scientific information to reevaluate what is happening in terms of rising temperatures and rainfall variations and the projections in the next few years in order to come up with sound policies that are responsive to…