The Sunday News
Vincent Gono
THERE is no doubt that Africa is one of the most resourceful continents of the world, but ironically its population remains among the poorest and most vulnerable on the globe with its subjects relying on food aid from the West.
This is despite the vast mineral resources that it has and suitable agrarian conditions that remain the envy of many as well as a hard-working human resources base. The continent wears the tag of a beggar and is regarded as one that is synonymous with poverty caused mainly by extreme famine, diseases, natural disasters, wars and internal conflicts, most of which are political.
Its tale has always been that of a rich continent with poor people or it just suffers from the paradox of plenty. And with nothing pointing to the end of its troubles, the dawning of the reality of gradual changes in global climate with its grim effects might as well add to its long catalogue of problems to deal with, with its very small financial muscle.
The developed countries have refused to allow it to industrialise up to their levels while there is still no tangible commitment to fund the continent’s mitigation and adaptation mechanisms.
And the gospel of clean development mechanisms that places emphasis on smart sources of energy, smart agriculture and smart environmental practices might as well remain a literal theory whose practicability is unattainable if no mechanisms are put in place to help those nations that are poor to curb a future global catastrophe.
This is not to say Africa should fold its hands and wait to be funded but should find workable solutions with what little it has and ensure there is movement on the positive as some of the mechanisms such as conservation agriculture are not very expensive.
The long and short of it is that Africa needs to find equilibrium between the need to industrialise and the calls to limit greenhouse gases which are two very different sides of the coin. The call to limit greenhouse gas emissions means that the economic gap between Africa and the West will remain in the good name of combating climate change and minimising any harm to mother earth.
While the idea is noble, one cannot fail to see the veneer of economics and politics that seeks perpetual subjection and reliance of Africa to the West for finished products and on that Africa no longer needs to hush its voice but to speak loudly, collectively and without ambiguity on the need for funds to adopt clean development initiatives.
Climate change is a rapidly growing global phenomenon that affects and causes unnecessary suffering even to the most innocent ones hence the need for urgent and collective action to arrest its causes, mainly the anthropogenic ones.
Its effects are beginning to manifest in increased poverty in African communities as droughts, famine and other natural disasters have become more common than before.
It is therefore likely going to be a supreme difficulty for Africa to heed the call by the developed world to embrace and implement the clean development mechanism which focuses on alternative sources of energy that does not harm or cause ozone depletion.
And for a continent of Africa’s nature the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through smart agriculture and smart sources of energy that require a strong financial muscle may be a very tall order.
Although options and strides have been made to adapt to climate change and implementing stringent mitigation activities to ensure that the impacts of climate change remain within a manageable range that create a brighter and more sustainable future, Africa’s biggest challenge remains that of lack of financial resources.
Fact is however, that Africa is faced with a depletion of sources of electrical energy even in urban set-ups caused by the global call to shun the use of ozone depleting fossil sources of energy.
The call has increased pressure on African forests that are facing extinction as deforestation is likely going to reach alarming levels as firewood has become the preferred alternative to electricity.
On the other hand the massive cutting down of trees for firewood and tobacco burning as an alternative to coal energy heavily depletes the carbon sink thereby further exacerbating the effects of climate change and so the circle remains, like that of the proverbial borrowing John to pay Peter and the debt remains.
Socially, the depletion of water sources is also a source for concern as more African women are made to walk longer distances in search of water while more young children are at risk of malnutrition as climate change is evidently amplifying existing stress on water availability for society and the natural environment.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) contends that it is critical to recognise that Africa’s growth is fragile. It says part of Africa’s vulnerability lies in the fact that recent development gains have been in climate-sensitive sectors.
The report makes a clear case that many risks constitute particular challenges for the least developed countries and vulnerable communities, given their limited ability to cope. What it therefore implies is that African societies that are socially, economically, politically, culturally and institutionally marginalised are especially vulnerable to climate change.
“Economically, many Africans depend for food, fibre and income on primary sectors such as agriculture and fisheries, sectors which are affected by rising temperatures, rising sea-levels and erratic rainfall. Demographic and economic trends in Africa mean that climate impacts will be acute.
Growing populations will increase the demand for water and food but prolonged droughts will put additional pressure on already scarce water resources and will reduce crop yields,” reads part of the report.
With most of its economies agrarian, the need to focus more on ways to boost its agriculture and make the economies remain afloat in the face of climate change effects remains critical.
And yet it seems there is no common vision and no shared values and no spirit of collectivisation in the approach to the problems that the continent is facing, more so because each of the countries is seized with its own opportunities for growth viz-a-vis the need to mitigate and adapt to the changes of climate.
It remains puzzlingly unfortunate and sad that Africa has contributed the least of greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere but is called just like any other continent to contribute to the reduction of the gases.
Limiting the effects of climate change therefore raises questions of equity, justice, and fairness and is necessary to achieve sustainable development and poverty eradication and IPCC’s Rajendra K. Pachauri’s view that many of those most vulnerable to climate change have contributed little to greenhouse gas emissions is indeed apt.
“Addressing climate change will not be possible if agents advance their own interests independently; it can only be achieved through co-operative responses, including international co-operation,” he added.
National Co-ordinator in the climate change office Mr Washington Zhakata said although a lot was being done at national level both as mitigation and adaptation measures there was a need for a global approach if results were to be realised.
“The problem with Africa is that we do not have a solid revenue base and we should force the more stable developed countries which are the biggest emitters to fund mitigation and adaptation programmes. We are however, taken advantage of because we don’t approach the problem as a unity. Africa needs to be solid and agree on the way forward but this has not been the case. There is just no unity of purpose. There is too much individualism than unity, perhaps because of different economic and political interests,” said Mr Zhakata.
He added that there was indeed a lot of politics in the whole climate change issue.
He said with the little financial resources that the country had, it was campaigning for smart agriculture initiatives as conservation agriculture. The country, he said, was putting in place other sources of energy to try and move away from thermal power and fossil energy which increases greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Mr Zhakata added that the country was implementing various hydro-power generation projects such as the Batoka and other mini hydro projects in Manicaland such as the one on Pungwe River.
The Rural Electrification Agency (REA), he said, also have a master plan for biogas as well as a lot other projects that are going to be converted into Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM).
He said ethanol can also be converted into CDM but that requires a group of people coming together and tendering their plan so that they access loans that are advanced through the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
It was Mr Zhakata’s submission that there was need for a robust legislation that ensures and enforces tobacco farmers to have woodlots so as to protect the depletion of carbon sinks through rampant cutting down of trees for burning tobacco.
He said it was sad that a single country’s efforts can just be a drop in an ocean hence the need for Africa and the world at large to commit themselves to the cause and reduce more damage to the atmosphere.
