Beesfor Development Journal 76
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD
NEWS AROUND THE WORLD BURKINO FASO Stimulating policy dialogue about Africa's dry forests The three-year project, funded by the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA), aims to determine the best ways to alleviate poverty in the communities that rely on dry forests, without jeopardising the forests themselves. Under the leadership of Swedish forester Daniel Tiveau, CIFOR has opened a project office in Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou: "In the past decade, world attention has tended to concentrate on the destruction of tropical rainforest, even though world-wide degradation and conversion of dry forests is far more advanced than that of wet forests," says Tiveau. Dry forests also occupy more area than wet forests. They exist in all developing regions of the world, but are most prominent in Africa. In fact the wide variety of dry forests in Africa - from the desert margin scrub through to closed woodlands and deciduous forests support the majority of the people and livestock of all the continent's ecosystems. The resources drawn from these forests are intricately interwoven with all aspects of the locals' lives and the national economy, in ways that are not always considered in either local or national planning. Dry forests provide construction material for farm structures and homes for millions. They also provide the bulk of dry-season fodder for vast livestock populations, without which this sub-sector would often not be viable. "They provide fuelwood for domestic and rural industry uses, including drying major agricultural crops and fish. They actually protect the water and soil resource base for agriculture, yet they are seen as far less important than agriculture because they do not produce timber of great monetary value," Tiveau said. Many species have medicinal value, bark for curing diarrhoea, roots used for treating malaria and the leaves of species such as the baobab can be used for human food. Most villagers appreciate the forest's myriad uses and avoid harvesting many species for fuelwood. They use traditional axes and their cutting methods encourage the vegetative reproduction that maintains the resource. But the pressures of increasing population, overgrazing, clearing for agriculture and ongoing droughts may be increasing the rate of desertification. The challenge is to find ways to both preserve the resource, and use it better. One option might be to develop the honey industry. But while the honey industry has been very successful in Zambia, and
could possibly be further developed in Burkina Faso, the team knows circumstances vary across Africa. "Differences in vegetation affect the prospects of an industry like honey, but there are also big differences in development" Tiveau said. "Burkina Faso, for instance, still has virtually no electricity outside the main cities." Options such as eco-tourism could also be considered, but again, West African drylands have a lot less wildlife than southern Africa. "There is really no bush in western Africa without villages" Tiveau said. "You only have to drive for a couple of minutes and you will see a village, and they are all desperate for resources. They will also look for solutions completely outside the forests. For example, until two or three years ago, the price of propane gas for cooking fuel was subsidised in Burkina Faso. When the subsidy ended, most people, even in the cities, went back to wood for fuel, increasing the pressure on the dry forests once again." Whatever options they explore, the team will be very wary of past pitfalls. "Most of the ideas in the past have been 'technical fixes' that did not work, like the many donors who began huge fuelwood planting projects during the 'Sahelian' drought of the late 1970s and 80s, which coincided with the energy crisis," Tiveau said. "The land is simply too dry and the seedlings died. The efforts should have been concentrated on protecting the naturallyregenerated dry forests."
CIFOR News Online
LEBANON A story of hens, bees, herbs and landmines is part of an initiative by the World Rehabilitation Fund (WRF), an American non-profit humanitarian organisation with a base in Lebanon. With funding from USAID and the Leahy War Victims Fund (LWVF), the project consists of agricultural production and food processing programmes, including the production of free-range eggs, honey and medicinal herbs, under the brand name 'B Balady'. The farm projects are complementary to the WRF's General Mine Action de-mining programme. With the help of the volunteerbased Development Co-operative in Jezzine, which takes care of the processing and marketing of the final products, these projects aim to help landmine survivors to become self-reliant. From the clucking of hens, buzzing of bees to growing herbs, whatever the landmine survivor chooses to do, they all seem to agree 10
on one thing: it feels good to feel useful. Fouad Habib was given 15 hives. "I love bees, and thank them every day for giving some meaning to my life," says Fouad Habib, who must travel to hospital every 15 days because of complications from a landmine injury to his legs and abdomen. "Before this I felt useless". Two different kinds of honey are produced dark and light. Wax is extracted, and some 70 different beeswax figures are produced, from angels to pine cones to Santa Claus. Fouad Habib visits his bees twice a day, early in the morning and later in the afternoon, and says he has learned many things about the insects. "Sadly, when we first approached the survivors or victims of landmines, they did not believe us," says Gilbert Aoun, Project Manager. "They have been interviewed so many times by the media, they pose and smile for pictures and then nothing ever comes out of it. They were fed up." According to local organisations, there are about 365 landmine survivors in the Jezzine area, but due to limited funds only 127 survivors are being helped. "It is difficult assessing who needs assistance. We analyse it on a social, economic and technical basis and give it to the ones with the greatest need. But it is really hard, for they all need help," says Aoun. When the project was first implemented in 2001, US$2.5 million (€2.1 million) was allotted for a three-year period by WRF, USAID and LVWF. Contracts were signed at the end of 2004 providing funding for an additional 18 months. "There is no help from the local government, so we are glad to have had this help from outside. There is still so much need and so little help for the survivors of landmines," says Aoun.
Special to The Daily Star, by Rym Ghazal
SOCOTRA (Yemen) World's most coveted honey When two French beekeepers, husband and wife Thierry and Camille Sergent, heard rumours about a mythical wild honey gathered on a tiny island somewhere in the Indian Ocean, they knew adventure was beckoning. Famous throughout the Arabicspeaking world for its alleged virtues as a medicine and an aphrodisiac, the honey in question sells for upwards of €150 (US$180)
