MARALAL, Kenya (PAMACC News) - The United Nations has called on the international community to support drought response in Kenya to a tune of $27 million (Sh2.7 billion), as the Kenya Red Cross begin giving emergency feeds to vulnerable livestock animals in the north.“It has not been business as usual for some residents in the northern part of the country,” said Wilfred Kinyua, the Samburu County Commissioner. “In the past one week, four people have been killed in this county as they tried to search for pastures in the neigbouring communities that have received some rainfall,” he told the PAMACC News in an interview at his Maralal office on September 28. Though many parts of the country have been enjoying a prolonged short rainy season for the past two months, arid and semi arid counties especially in the northern part of the country are yet to see a single drop for three years in a row, prompting humanitarian organisations to change strategy for drought response.For the past eight weeks towards the end of September, the Kenya Red Cross in collaboration with UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have been intervening in Samburu, Marsabit, Mandera, Garissa, Tana River and Turkana counties, where they have been buying animals from those who have excess as a way of de-stocking, and using meat from those animals as food aid for the most vulnerable households on weekly basis.In the same period, the two organisations have been providing routine livestock feed inputs and veterinary drugs to a total of 1,210 very vulnerable households in all the six counties, with a total of 10,800 animals receiving animal health services. “This is a very new approach, where we decided to include vulnerable livestock animals in our emergency aid programme so that they can continue providing livelihoods to hard hit communities in the entire drought stricken six counties in the north,” said Dr Joseph Mathooko, the Field Coordinator/Technical Officer (livestock) at the UN FAO. Though the eight week emergency programme has come to an end, the UN insists that there is need for more interventions to save lives and livelihoods for the remaining months in 2017.“Most urgently, there is need for $12.7 million (Sh1.27billion) for purchase and distribution of hay and concentrates to rescue vulnerable animals owned by the most poor, and also for fodder production,” said Piers Simpkin the Head - Livestock /animal health and production sector at FAO. “There is further need for $7.2 million (Sh720 million) for livestock offtake and distribution of meat as food rations to the vulnerable population,” he said.According to a statement released early this month by World Vision International, drought in north and eastern Kenya is already affecting 3.4 million people who require food assistance and clean water, with more than 420,000 children requiring urgent treatment to address acute malnutrition, with 83,000 struggling with severe acute malnutrition.“The climate is truly changing, because since my childhood, it has never come to this level where even animals have to receive aid as well,” said…

PENJA, Cameroon (PAMACC News) - Andrew Kombe in Penja village happily combs his 4-hectare Penja Pepper farm, discarding unwanted weeds and clipping off parasitic plants. For the 49 year-old farmer, the health and quality of his new climate friendly crop are of prime importance following a disappointing slump in prices of the traditional cash crop in the area, coffee and cocoa, blamed partly on extreme weather. “I have to work hard to reap good yields and make maximum gains from my new crop,” he PAMACC News Agency. Coffee and Cocoa farmers across Cameroon say they have been facing a bleak future, amid heavy rains and biting drought that has taken its toll on these traditional cash crops and reverse the gains since 2013.For the past five years, Kombe and his family have incurred pain and hardship due to dwindling harvest and income from his coffee farm. Not anymore. The farmers say the special white and black pepper dubbed Penja Pepper, a more extreme climate-tolerant cash crop is holding out the hope of much-needed relief for thousands of farmers in the region. “We are left with no choice than switch to Penja Pepper. Now with the Pepper farming, I can raise enough money to feed my family and send my kids to school,” Kombe says. Afraid of continuously reaping poor harvest and paltry income from coffee and cocoa, many more farmers in Penja and neighboring villages both in the Southwest and Littoral regions in Cameroon are increasingly switching to the more paying, reliable and climate friendly Penja Pepper agriculture officials say. “The farmers now prefer to concentrate their efforts on Penja Pepper that thrives well in the region,” says Amos Ngolle, agriculture technician at the divisional delegation of agriculture in the Moungo division. Grown on the flanks of the Kupemuanenguba Mountain,the Penja Pepper has since gained national and international fame after the Penja Pepper Farmers Association,PPFA, with support from French Development Agency, sought and obtained in 2013 the certification of their product from the African Intellectually Property Organization. Farmers of the association say the certification has significantly transformed their lives and the economy of the region, attracting other farmers whose traditional cash crops are threatened by extreme weather. “Growing Penja Pepper has now become the attraction of farmers in the region,” says Emmanuel Nzenewo, PPFA Executive Secretary. The farmers blame the cyclical uncertainties on coffee and cocoa not only to climate but also to pests and diseases that is bringing heavy losses. Losses from diseases and pests claimed between 30 and 40 percent of Cameroon´s harvest in the 2014-15 season, according to the National Cocoa and Coffee Board, which regulates cocoa and coffee production. A slump of more than one third in the prices paid for both coffee and cocoa beans by exporters, following a downward trend in prices on the international market in the past two years has made the situation of farmers even more perilous.According to government data, coffee yields for the 2015-2016 season stood at just over 16,000…

ABUJA, Nigeria (PAMACC News) - Ms Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, Senior Special Assistant to the President on SDGs, says Nigeria is steadfastly committed to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Orelope-Adefulire stated this at Nigeria’s side event at the 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly tagged: `Localising SDGs Through Partnership Innovation and Resource Mobilisation’. The presidential aide enumerated several progress made by the various arms and tiers of the Nigerian Government to the attainment of the global goals by 2030. The SDGs, otherwise known as the Global Goals, are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. The successor programme to the Millennium Development Goals, has a set of 17 global goals with 169 targets, which implementation commenced on Jan. 1, 2016 to Dec. 31, 2030. Orelope-Adefulire said: “In order to strengthen the institutional mechanism for SDGs implementation, the Presidential Council on SDGs was recently inaugurated with President Muhammadu Buhari as the Chairman. “This signifies unwavering commitment at the highest level of Government to the Global Goals. “The Presidential Council will provide direction and support the overall implementation of the SDGs Agenda. “To deepen stakeholder engagement, Nigeria has already established standing committees at both the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly to provide oversight function for SDGs implementation. “The Private Sector Advisory Group on SDGs as well as the Donors’ Partnership Forum on SDGs has since commenced work after their inauguration. “Synergies are also being built with sub-national Governments to ensure that global policy translates to action at the grassroots.“Similar partnerships are being envisaged for other groups within the Nigerian development space in order to leverage resources and mobilise the critical mass needed for the successful implementation of the SDGs”. She said Nigeria’s affirmation of the SDGs Declaration was backed with action as government provided the leadership required to ensure the agenda delivers the intended impact without leaving anyone behind. According to her, the SDGs align with Nigeria’s development priorities, having been integrated into its planning and budgeting frameworks through its “robust mainstreaming” into Nigeria’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan. “Nigeria has defined a clear path to the successful implementation of the 2030 Agenda as succinctly underscored in the MDGs End-Point Report, the Country Transition Strategy on SDGs and its Implementation Plan. “Nigeria has made significant strides in meeting data requirements needed to benchmark progress by mapping existing SDGs data and by establishing baseline statistics for more than 126 SDGs Indicators. “In view of the magnitude of the resources needed for success, Nigeria is expanding the fiscal space for SDGs implementation.“This is by conducting a Needs Assessment and Costing exercise in order to provide evidence for effective resourcing of the 2030 Agenda,” she said. Orelope-Adefulire said as the world marked the second anniversary of the SDGs, it has now become urgent to scale up implementation efforts for success. The presidential aide stated that there was no effort too great to spare in the drive to…

OPINION At the heart of efforts to slow climate change and build a more sustainable development future lies the often overlooked and shameful fact that, today, 1 billion people live without access to electricity and 3 billion without access to clean cooking. The challenge for those governments where there are significant energy gaps is a complex one: how to produce cleaner, affordable energy for far more people, far more quickly.This is a challenge we must, and can, overcome. But if we’re to do that, we need to help countries unpack one of the key obstacles – lack of finance.New SEforALL Energizing Finance research released during the UN General Assembly, done in partnership with the World Bank, the African Development Bank, Climate Policy Initiative, Practical Action Consulting and E3 Analytics, targets countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia with the biggest gaps in access to electricity and clean cooking countries. It analyzes what countries are committing to energy access, how quickly and effectively the finance is being disbursed and financial challenges energy enterprises are facing in delivering modern energy services.Overall investment in these countries is not nearly at the levels needed to meet key parts of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 – universal access to affordable, reliable and, with Paris Climate Agreement now in place, clean energy for all by 2030. Estimates indicate that $45 billion a year in investment is needed to achieve universal electrification access, but the latest data shows that finance commitments in the high-impact countries, representing 80 percent of the global electricity access gap, average only $19.4 billion a year.A significant increase in investment is especially needed in Sub-Saharan Africa countries where roughly half a billion people are living without power, most of them in hard-to-reach rural areas. Decentralized renewable energy such as solar, offers a promising solution for these people, but precious little financing – only 1 percent of the finance we tracked - is going into services for them.Perhaps more shocking, despite 3 billion people worldwide lacking access to clean cooking, investments in clean fuels and technologies for cooking are even lower. Finance commitments for residential clean cooking in the high-impact countries – representing 84 percent of the global clean cooking gap – averaged about $32 million during the two-year period we analyzed. Estimated annual residential clean cooking investment needs are at least $4.4 billion a year. We are orders of magnitude off the pace needed to ensure we leave no one behind.But our research also shows myriad encouraging indicators, including modest gains in several countries that have made access to electricity and clean cooking political priorities. We’re also seeing early stage shifts in financing strategies by governments and development finance institutions that will target energy access solutions more effectively.Bangladesh and Kenya, in particular, are making gains in urban and rural areas with more integrated electrification strategies that include centralized electric grid infrastructure and decentralized solar services, which are already powering millions of rural households. They’re also enacting policies to spur diverse types of public…