THI~DAY,
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Vol. 16, No. 5883, Page 47
development ''Deat Nigerians~ the time for lamentationis ov~r. This jsthe ~ra of transformation. This is the time for action. But Nigeria can only 'be transformed if we ali play our parts with commitment and sincerity. We all need to give Nigeria , . anoQIer chance" - President Goodluck Jonathan, speqking in an address at his swearing-irias the newly-ele~ted President a/Nigeria in Ahuja
~' . ,tEssONSrnOM OlliER
Rising Food Prices Increase Squeezes on Poor - Oxfam ising food prices are tightening the squeeze on popBy Chinazor Megbolu with aK"'" "parl, ulations already struggling 10 buy adequate food, demanding radical refonn of the global food sys- hardest hit. tem, Oxiam has warned, Among the many factors continuing to drive rising By 2030, the average COSI of key crops could increase food prices in the Coming decades, Oxiam prediclS by between 120 per cenl and 180 per cenl, the charitY thaI climate change will have the most serious impact. forecaslS, according 10 a BBC News report, Ahead of the UN climate summil in South Africa in It is the acceleration of a (rend, wruch has already seen December, il calls on world leaders 10 launch a globfood prices double'in the last 20 years, Half of the rise 10 al climate fund, "so that people can prolecl themselves come will be caused by climate change, Oxiam prediclS. from the impaCIS of climate change and are bener It calls on world leaders 10 improve regulation,of food equipped 10 grow the food they need" . markelS and invesl in a global climate fund . The World Bank has also warned thaI rising food "'The food system must be overhauled if we are to prices are pushing millions of people inlO extreme oven:ome the increasingly pressing challenges of climate poverty. In April , il said food prices were 36 per cenl change, spirnlling food prices and the scarcity of land, above levels of a year ago, driven by problems in the warer and energy," said Oxfam's chief executive. Barbara Middle East and North Africa. Slacking. In ilS repOrt, Oxfum says a ' broken' food system World food prices have already more than doubled causes "hunger, along with obesity. obscene waste. si nce 1990, according 10 Food and Agriculrural and appalling environmental degradation'. It says Organisation (FAO) figures , and Oxiam prediclS thaI this llpower above all detennines who eats and who does trend will accelerate over the next 20 years. nOI", and says the present system was "constructed by In ilS report, 'Growing a Bener Future' , Oxfarn says and on behalf of a tiny minority - ilS primary purpose predictions suggest the world's population will reach 9bn to deliver profit for them". by 2050 bul the average growth rate in agricultural yields II highlighlS subsidies for big agricultural produchas almOSI halved since 1990. ers,powerful investors "playing commodities markelS According 10 the charity'S research, the world's poor- like casinos". and large unaccountable agrilxlsiness est people now spend up 10 80 per cent of their incomes companies as destructive forces in the global food on food - with those in the Philippines spending propor- system. Oxfam wants nations [0 agree new rules to govern tionately four times more than those in the UK, for instance - and more people will be pushed inlo hunger as food markeIS, 10 ensure the poor do not go hungry. II said world leaders must "We are sleep-walking food prices climb. . The report highlighlS four ' food insecurity hOlSpolS", IOwanls an avoidable age of crisis,' said Ms SlQCking. areas, which are already struggling 10 feed their citizens: 'One in seven people on the planet go hungry every Guatemala, where 865 $XX) people are said 10 be al risk of day despite the fact that the wprld is capsble of feedfood insecurity because of a lack of state investment in ing everyone.n However, th~ report's emphasis on the importance smallholder fanners who are highly dependenl on of small fanners was challenged by Nicola Horlick, a importe<l food; and India, where people spend more than leading British investtnem fund manager who has twice the proponion of their income on food than invested in fumlland in Brazil, in a debate with Ms Others are Azerbaijan, where wheat production fell 33 SlOCking on the BBes Today programme. per cent last year because of poor weather, foh:ing the She said large mechanised fanns still provided country 10 import grains from Russia and Kazakhstan; some job opportunities for local workers and created food prices were 20 per cent higher in December 2010 spiJH>ff industries. She said the markel worked than the same month in 2009; and East Africa, where because shortages increased potential profilS from eighl million people currently face chronic food shortages investing in food, which would in time being supply because of droUghl, with women and children among the , and demilnd back into balanoe.
R
Explore Minerals for Sustainable Devt, Experts Urged eclor of the Kaduna Polytechnic, Dr. (Mrs.) Yuwana Mivanyi, has charged experlS in the solid minerals seclor to explore ways in which the abundant mineral resources could be used for sustainable growth, development and poverty alleviation. [n a keynole address at the Teams Meeting of the Centre of Excellence for Solid Minerals Research and Development, which held in ' Kaduna, Dr. Mivanyi noted that Nigeria is endowed with substantial variety of mineral resources, which, if properly harnessed, could boost the nation's soun:es of revenue and reduced the heavy dependence on oil. She stressed the need for effective participation of aU stakeholders in the seclor in order to promote research and development of the mineral sector, stressing Ihal this would go a long way in optimising the contribution of mineral resources to s~stalnab le
R
From John Shiklam
in Kaduna
development and poverty.reduction: According to her, the collaboration of the research team members from the universities, the polytechnics and the private sector, will bring. about syrrergy, which will support efforlS aimed al boosting the solid minerals seclOr. The Centre for Excellence for Solid Minerals Research and Developmenl is being funded by the World Bank under the Science and Technology Education Project at the post- Basic (STEP-B) project. The team members were drawn from Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna, the Nigerian Instirute of Geosciences, l os, the Federal University of Technology, Yola, the Federal Polytechnic , Nasarawa and the Federal Polytechnic, Nekede.
Health Insurance Scheme for Communities Soon - NHIS
T
he National Health [nsurance scheme (NH[S) has confirmed that soon the scheme will inlroiluce a Community Social Health Insurance Scheme that would cover those li vi ng in the local communities. The Deputy General Manger Enforcement of Ihe Scheme Dr. Kabir Mustapha, stared this while talking to newsmen at a workshop organised for the stakeholders of NH[S on the aClivities and enforcemenl of the scheme HMO for the north east region in Bauchi , saying rhat this is in view of Ihe growing acceplability of the NHIS among Ihe people. ' He said NHlS has registered over six millions Nigerians, in Iheir quest for accessing good health care services and promolion of Iheir heallh system. Dr. Muslapha said Ihe introduction of Ihe sc heme by the federal government has contributed immensely in allev iating the suffering of civil serva nts of the heavy burde n of funding heailh ca re services in [he country. He sa id. "reports across [he p.ation indicate th i.Jl the impleme ntatio n of the scheme has so
From Segun Awofadeji in Bauchi far been successful", adding that "many states across the counlry are yearning to embrace the health insurance system for the overall benefit of thei r cilizens". Mustapha said Ihat the Act establishing the scheme would soon be amended by the National Assembly towards addressing loopholes in the implemenlation df the scheme 10 reach oul to all 'the segments of the society ' He then appeal 10 enrollees to always have the courage 10 report short coming from the part of health ~roviders HMO to NH[S for necessary aCtio n and imprOVed service delivery. Al so speaking , the North-East Zonal CoordinalOr of the scheme Alhaji Abd ullsalarn Bala , urged stales that are yel to join Ihe scheme to do so for the benefit of the citizenry. He also asked HMOs 10 mainrain the spirit of delivering good health services to people .
LANDS
L~E,!!!,~.!!~d~~~ ~~r.~~,1
L
become a new weapon of chOlce If governmenl forces opllO starve coastal cities that heavily rely on free flowing freshwater. With'only five per cenl of the country gelling alleasl 100 millimetres of rainfall per year, Libya is one of the driest countries in the world, according to an Inler Press Service (IPS) , report in Cairo. His~ric~y, ~taI aquifers or ~ation plan~ located Ul Tnpoh were pf poer quality due 10 conlalrunation with sall waler, resultin~ in undrinkable water in many ClUes ux:luding Benghazi. Oil exploration in the southern Libyan desert in the mid-1950s revealed vasl quantities. of fresh" clean groundwater - this could meet · growing national demand and development goals. ScientislS estimate thaI nearly 40 $XX) years ago when the North African climate was temperate, rainwater in Libya seeped underground forming reservoirs of freshwater. In 1983,Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi initiated a huge civil water works projecl known as the Great ManMade River (GMMR)-a massive irrigation project that drew upon theundergrourid basin reservesof.the Kufra,
aquifer syslem, covering some two milli, n square \ kilometres and estimated 10 CQntain 150,000 cubic kilometres of groundwater. . Fossil water is groundwalerthat has been lrapped in underground fossil aquifers for thousands or even milUons of years. Unlike most aqUIfers me NSAS is a non-renewable resowce, and over extraction or ~/ater mining could cause rising sea levels. With an estimated cost of nearly 30 billion dollars, . the GMMR's network of nearly 5$XX) kilometres ,'f, pipeline from moro;.than 1,300 wells drilled up 10 5(X~ metres deep inlO' the Sahara was also intended 10 increase Ih\' amount of amble land for agricultural pmduction. !' In the Middle Easl and North Africa (MENA) water has created a growing regioi\aJ crisis and could be an imperus for further unrest. Demand is increasing as populations s~)'IOCkel - reserves are rapidly depleting, and food inflation has taken ilS loll on cash-slJ1lpped ' countries dependenl on imported food staples. Last month, Libyan officials warned that'NAlU airstrikes on the GMMR's pipelines could cause a Sine, Morzuk, Hamada and the Nubian Sandstone humanuanan and envIronmental disaster. But proAquifer - to deliver more than five million cubic. metres government forces could also disrupt the GMMR's of water per day to cities 'IIong Libya's coastal belt. flow if th~y WISh, leav~g o~posmon-held regiOns III Lying beneath the four African counaies Chad, the east With, only the Ajdablya reservOir -thIS holds Egypt, Libya and Sudan, the Nubian SandsloneAquifer JUSI a month s supply of water. , \
I
Sierra Leone: Planting Trees for Nature
A
s the World Environment Day draws closer on according 10 Ishmael IGndanla DU,mbuya .. June 5,2011, the Sierra Leone Environment The head of [nfomlatron Educatron and Prolection Agency and the School Nature Communication al the Environment. Proleclion Clubs in the city in collaboration with the Agency, Mr. Bendu , said the tree planung exetClse Environment Forum for Action undertoOk the plant- started at the Sugar Loaf and IS expecled 10 be ing of 500 Gmelina-aborea trees along the Western extended at vanous lacatrons III a way 10 help pmArea Peninsular Forest Reserve on May 28, 20 11 . teel the Western Area Perunsular Foresl Reserve. The tree planting ceremony comprised of officials He also added that by the end of the eXetClse, they from the Environment Prolection Agency, the are gOUlg 10 plant more than five thousand trees Ul ENFORAC and school pupils from the Ani Walsh the western area forest. Mr. Bendu also noted that If . I S' ~.n' Sch I Ii S odary I the Western Area Pentnsular Forest Reserve IS Memona eco~~~ 00, reel0wr:' eco afforested with trees,itwill add 10 thesecurityoflh\: School for Guls, Prince of Wales, Samt Edwards city and give benefilS 10 the communilies around the Secondary. School, Ahmadiyya Secondary School peninsular and the country as a whole. and the Samt Josephs Convent. It lOOk place al the [I could be recaJled that the Western Area Sugar Loaf mountain; few meters from the Regenl Peninsular Forest Reserve is presently facing extincSettlement. . . : tion and il has caused the government of Sierra The EnvlrOnmenl scbool nature clubs tS com- Leone and the international partners on the environposed of vanOllS school children belllg. sportSOred , menl a whopping sum of €3 .1 million projecl for and nurtured by the EnVIrOnment Proteebon Agency the preservation and reslOration of the lust nature in 10 undertake issues of the environment in the future, 2014.
I'
,Africa: Lessons in Bicycle 'P
Olilicians may tell us that bicycles are a sign thaI we are not advancing:' says Patrick ' Kayemba, managing director of the First African Bicycle Infonnation Organisation in Uganda, "bul we ourselves have seen that cycling is a socio-economic 1001. [I works now - we don't have to wait fOI someone to rescue US wilh bener public transport, belter this, or bener that .. ." Bicycles areexpensivecommodities, however,so Kayemba's orgaru'sation operates a bicycle tTU,'cro-.. credit scheme in Uganda as well as a bicycle boda boda savings scheme. (Boda boda also refers 10 molOrcycie taxis - but enterprising Ugandans also use pedal-powered two-wheelers, with a pillow on the carrier for the passenger's comfort.) Like Ugandans, most Namibian cyclislS also rely on affordable, refuIDished 'second-hand bicycles, donated by international agencies and distributed via local organisations, according to an Inter Press Service (IPS) report in Cape Town. The Bicycling Empowermen'l Network of . Namibia, which faciiita/eS importation in that country, bas implemented 25 local disaibulion stores across the . cOuntry, known as Bicycling Empowennent Centres (BECs). Conceprualised by Michael Linke and Clarisse Cunha-Linke, BEN Namibia bas now imported almost 20,000 bicycles, and is able to teU mOltiple stories of how bicycles have changed the lives of the recipients for the better. Michael Linke, from the Bicycling , Empowennent NetwOtk of Namibia, describes an HIV/AIDS support group in Walvis Bay, which runs a Bicycle Empowennent Centre - the WelwilSChia Bicycle Shop - and uses the profilS 10. support members with small enterprise funding. Bicycles save lives in Zambia (through the inlple-
mentati~n
of bicycle ,?rganisatiQn Zambikes' innovallve zambulance. trailer proJect), and save money III South Africa (and everywhere else, of , course.) Dusbn McBnde, who runs. Zamblkes III t L~saka, Zambulances, says these bicycle ~Iers t WIth a mattress and pnvacy curtatn save one hfe for I every nine days in which they are used. I' The.re's no doubl that for utili ty cyclislS in much of Africa, ~people who cycle as a means of transport), cyclUlg IS nol a step backward but a step for- ~ ward. Artd as Gil Penalosa, Ultemauonal hveable ClUes consultant, pomlS oul, Copenhagen and "". Amsterdam are among the wealthiesl cities in the world, and the~ have . the highesl wban cycling rates. In these Ctues, bicycle transport has neither "loser" nor "elite" Starus; it's simply the cheapest and most convenient way in which 10 get amutld. As Cape Town commuter Edward Zozi explains, he rides because "I save a lot of money. Five hundred rand per month (80 dollars). Before, I used a (minibus) taxi ... each and every day. Now I'm saving aU that." Commuter W~liam Jim, in his 50s, bas been riding bicycles for "maybe five years:' · he says' "Before that [ was using taxis. BUI the taxis were : 100 expensive . .." .: Similar success stories can be found in Malawi. ~: Zambia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania,. Botsw-.ma and r Zimbabwe: bicycles bave an immediate cost-saving,life-enhancing and poverty-reducing impact on the lives of everyone who rides them. There are also shaned challenges. The roads are dangerous, aUlhorities don'l wke Ihe needs ofbicycle commurers inro account, and new bicycles are priced beyond the pockel of lhose who need Ihem .
j
• Compiled by Abimbola Akosile