Weekending Sunday, 2 December 2007

FAO LAUNCHES VOUCHER PROGRAM TO AID DROUGHT-STRICKEN FARMERS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

26 NOVEMBER 2007 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently began implementing a voucher system in drought-stricken Lesotho and Swaziland to ensure greater food security and alleviate the effects of a persistent dry spell. The FAO is distributing vouchers for amounts ranging from $15 to $75 to farmers, who use them to purchase farming inputs at mobile trade fairs. A previous FAO program distributed only a pre-selected amount of specific seeds and fertilizers. With the launch of this new initiative, the FAO is beginning to grant farmers greater freedom to choose among various seeds and agricultural tools. Small agricultural business dealers also profit from the vouchers. “The vouchers not only help farmers and their beneficiaries become more food secure, in the long term it also helps the economy, as it promotes local input dealers through the fairs,” said James Breen, the FAO’s regional emergency agronomist. This new system was first implemented successfully in Kenya and Sudan by the non-governmental organization, Catholic Relief Services. It dispenses vouchers in various colors so that farmers may choose from the fertilizer, tools, seeds and tillage services offered. The FAO has distributed agricultural materials and tools to 110,000 impoverished farmers in three drought-stricken African countries – Swaziland, Lesotho and Mozambique. This past July, the government of Swaziland declared a state of emergency following a drought that left 30 percent of its people in need of humanitarian assistance. In Swaziland, 40 percent of the population was reported to suffer from severe food and water shortages following another drought. Many are hoping this program will alleviate or prevent further environmentally induced crises. “The more we can support quality farm outputs and help diversify crops and strengthen capacities, the fewer people will need food aid and other handouts next season,” said Anne Bauer, Director of the FAO’s Emergency Operations and Rehabilitation Division.

RICH COUNTRIES CALLED UPON TO TAKE URGENT STEPS TO CURB EMISSIONS

27 NOVEMBER 2007 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has called for the rich nations of the world to begin taking effective steps toward curbing emissions. According to UNDP, the heavy carbon footprint of the developed world is contributing to the challenges facing health, education and poverty reduction across the continent of Africa. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has stated that the world has only a ten-year window of opportunity to take action against global warming before significant changes occur to sea levels and global temperatures. “The carbon budget of the 21st Century – the amount of carbon that can be absorbed creating an even probability that temperatures will not rise above two degrees – is being overspent and threatens to run out entirely by 2032,” stated Kevin Watkins, lead author of the Human Development Report and Director of UNDP’s Human Development Report Office. The state of Texas alone emits more CO2 into the environment than the 720 million residents of sub-Saharan Africa combined, and 550 million Africans do not have access to modern forms of energy. “The poor – those with the lightest carbon footprint and the least means to protect themselves – are the first victims of developed countries’ energy-rich lifestyle,” added Watkins.

GOVERNMENTS URGED TO PREVENT CHILD TRAFFICKING IN WEST AFRICA

28 NOVEMBER 2007 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: At an international meeting on the trafficking of children within armed conflict, the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Antonio Maria Costa, called on the governments of West and Central Africa to reduce the vulnerability of children to human trafficking. Many young victims of human trafficking can be found in countries of the region. Children are drugged and coerced or forced to become child soldiers, forced into sex slavery or made to work long hours in coco fields or mines doing back-breaking labor for almost no pay. Human trafficking not only harms these innocent lives but also hampers efforts to secure peace in countries recovering from conflict, says UNODC. “How can West Africa build a peaceful and prosperous future if its youth is being exploited, recycled, and scarred for life?” asked Costa. He also stressed that more attention should be given to the plight of girls in conflict situations because “they are twice as vulnerable: first, as victims of rape and sexual harassment perpetrated by armed groups; and second because they are seldom involved in disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration processes, nor provided with special rehabilitation programs.” Costa urged all governments of West and Central Africa to fight human trafficking by implementing the UN anti-trafficking protocol, improving regional cooperation and collecting data on trafficking cases and trends so that policy is evidence-based.

AIDS IGNORANCE IN WEALTHY NATIONS IS ALARMING

29 NOVEMBER 2007 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: HIV was discovered over 25 years ago, yet one-third of people in developed countries admit they know little to nothing about the global HIV/AIDS issue, and one-fourth believe the media has “greatly exaggerated” this pandemic, revealed a recent survey sponsored by World Vision. The countries surveyed were Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Bunmi Makinwa, Director of the UN program on HIV/AIDS in New York, said at a press conference at the UN Secretariat that the survey was valuable because “the more we understand the epidemic, the better we can make policies and the better we can make programs.” The study also revealed that the more people know about AIDS, the more compassionate they are towards people directly affected by it. “Most people have no idea that children are being affected by AIDS. If Americans knew how many children were orphaned by AIDS they would be horrified.” Richard Stearns, president of World Vision, told MediaGlobal. Despite the surprising level of ignorance about the disease present in these countries, 80 percent of respondents believe their governments should do more to help children who are orphaned by AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses, while 90 percent of respondents feel we have a “moral obligation” to try to prevent people from being infected with the AIDS virus.

AVIAN INFLUENZA: A PLAGUE UNDER PRECARIOUS CONTROL COULD TURN DEADLY

29 NOVEMBER 2007 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: While the efforts of governments around the world have so far succeeded in keeping the latest and deadliest strain of avian influenza, H5N1, under control, continued vigilance is needed if we are to keep this potentially deadly epidemic in check, says the Third Global Progress Report released this week by the UN System Influenza Coordinator and the World Bank. “The response has improved over the last two years” Dr. David Nabarro, Senior UN System Influenza Coordinator told reporters at the United Nations on Thursday, “[but] I don’t want complacency.” The report, titled ‘Responses to Avian Influenza and State of Pandemic Readiness,’ outlines what it describes as strong and responsible responses by governments worldwide, including the quick identification of outbreaks and the swift culling of affected animals. “It’s this capacity for rapid containment that is the key to maintaining the situation” said Dr. Nabarro. Without containment, the virus can spread among bird populations, increasing the chance that the virus will mutate in such a way that it can spread easily to, and between, humans. Currently there are six countries with areas in which bird flu is considered entrenched, or enzootic. As long as these reservoirs of disease exist, the threat of rapid spread remains. “As long as it’s enzootic in certain countries, it might, suddenly, like a fire, pick up again,” Dr. Nabarro said. While avian influenza is currently being kept in check, the report concludes that the risk of a worldwide influenza pandemic is in fact as great now as it was in mid-2005, and calls for continued world-wide vigilance against this potential killer.

ZIMBABWE FORUM ADDRESSES STRATEGIES FOR ENDING WATER SHORTAGES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

29 NOVEMBER 2007 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Low rainfall alone is not responsible for the prevalence of droughts in Southern Africa, experts proclaimed at the third Zambezi Basinwide Stakeholders Forum, held from November 27 to 29 in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. As an initiative of the Southern African Development Community, the forum intends to “facilitate social and economic development in the Zambezi River through improving management of its resources.” One of the largest in Africa, the Zambezi river basin is shared by eight countries, ranging from Angola and Botswana to Namibia and Mozambique. The river basin is also home to over 40 million people. Though many have attributed Africa’s acute food insecurity and water scarcity problems solely to the lack of rainfall, experts claim that the problems are multidimensional and drought is simply one of the causes of land degradation. Pervasive problems such as poor land management due to a lack of agricultural knowledge, coupled with low levels of farm investment, has contributed to drought and water shortages. “The Zambezi River has enough water to provide each person living in the basin with 200 liters per day. So why is it that some communities do not have enough water? It is not expensive to pump water from the Zambezi,” said Dominic Mazvimavi of the Okavango Research Centre in Botswana. There is a way to avoid droughts, explained Mazvimavi, but government resources, infrastructure and funding are needed. It is also crucial that government agendas prioritize solving water issues, he added, claiming that hydrological problems must be addressed and transformed into information that is accessible to lay individuals. Though drought is often blamed for crop failure, Mazvimavi stated, other factors such as high population density and poor land use must also be taken into account. “If land is used extensively in a non-sustainable way, land erosion occurs and soil fertility decreases. This augments the chance of failed crops. This situation worsens when a lot of people extensively use the same water source.” He added, “When crops are not suitable for a certain region, they have a chance of failing. To prevent this, people need to adapt their crops to the region and not the other way around.”

MEASLES DEATHS IN AFRICA DROP DRAMATICALLY

29 NOVEMBER 2007 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: Rarely the bearer of glad tidings, the World Health Organization (WHO) had good news for Africa this week. Measles deaths on the continent decreased by 91 percent between 2000 and 2006, the result of a concerted vaccination campaign, WHO officials announced Thursday. “This is a major public health success and a tribute to the commitment of countries in the African region,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan. The Measles Initiative, a partnership between the WHO and other international health organizations, has developed a network of volunteers reaching deep into remote regions of Africa, trained to inoculate children and provide other health services. Ample private funding was integral to the initiative’s achievements. While the measles vaccine itself costs only a dollar a dose, the success of the Measles Initiative came at a price of $475 million. The funds were spent over five years to vaccinate five million children. “If you have this amount of money, it allows countries to realize vaccination campaigns, to adopt action in the field,” Dr. Florence Fermon, director of the vaccination program at Médecins sans Frontières told the International Herald Tribune. With deaths caused by the virus down from 396,000 in 2000 to 36,000 in 2006, the WHO has reached its measles reduction target four years ahead of schedule, an uncommon success that puts the continent one step closer to achieving the health-based Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

INDIA AND UGANDA WORK TOGETHER TO PRODUCE CHEAP ANTIRETROVIRAL DRUGS

29 NOVEMBER 2007 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: An Indian pharmaceutical company has partnered with a local import firm to build a pharmaceutical plant in Uganda that will produce cheap, generic forms of antiretroviral drugs needed to treat HIV/AIDS, the Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) reported Thursday. Construction on the 15-acre plant began last month. At full capacity it will produce six million pills a day, reducing the price of antiretroviral treatment in Uganda by as much as a third, with surplus drugs benefiting neighboring countries. In a nation where two-thirds of those infected with HIV lack access to life-sustaining drugs, local production is essential. “All developing countries should become self-sufficient in drug manufacturing,” Amar Lulla, managing director of CIPLA, the Indian drug company, told the Financial Times. As wealthy nations step up their insistence that countries such as India sign treaties protecting patent laws, millions of the world’s poor, who cannot afford expensive brand-name medicines, may be left untreated. India has long been a leading producer of generic pharmaceuticals bound for Africa, but with the recent ratification of the World Trade Organization’s pact protecting intellectual property rights, a growing number of Indian businesses are setting up shop overseas, a move welcomed by African leaders. Uganda’s President Yoweri Musseveni is personally overseeing progress on the factory, which will also produce anti-malarial drugs, IANS reported.

UGANDA DECLARES FIRST EVER MARINE RESERVE

30 NOVEMBER 2007 [MEDIAGLOBAL]: This week Uganda declared a 100 square km area of Lake Victoria a Marine Reserve, reflecting a growing recognition within the government of the value of Uganda’s natural resources, including its marine habitats. With many of the species living in and around Lake Victoria threatened with extinction, this protected area, to be named the “Commonwealth Lake Reserve,” is a vital step towards maintaining the integrity and biodiversity of the unique ecosystems in and around Lake Victoria. Commercial fishing within the area will be banned, with sport fishing allowed but strictly controlled. By leaving this area undisturbed, it is hoped that fish in the Reserve will breed freely and eventually spill over into the rest of the lake. As fish are one of Uganda’s greatest export earners, this reserve represents not only an effort to conserve biodiversity, but also a long-term sustainable economic strategy. While fishing may be limited in the short term, by ensuring that fish stocks are protected now, the Ugandan government is, in effect, protecting the future of the country’s entire fishing industry.