III. Thematic Overview: Environment
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Cross-cutting factors such as population growth, urbanization, endemic poverty, and inappropriate development practice constitute some of the major factors affecting and influencing the state of Africa’s environment. At the same time, there is a growing recognition at regional and sub-regional levels that a degraded environment is a threat to those who depend on land and the natural environment for their livelihood.
This has led Africa’s leaders, governments, institutions, and communities to make a number of regional and global commitments. As far back as 1980, African leaders adopted the Lagos Plan of Action (LPA), a wide-ranging policy framework that included commitments to incorporate environmental issues into development planning. Since then, many governments have mainstreamed the environment in national Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs). With the advent of NEPAD, there is a clear commitment across Africa to the belief that safeguarding the environment constitutes a strategic and critical development imperative.
This commitment has been reinforced by the establishment of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) whose primary objective is to deepen cooperation on environmental policy making to realize sustainable development. AMCEN has provided impetus to the Africa Environment Outlook (AEO) project, a research-based publication that has helped highlight the continent’s successes as well as outstanding challenges on the environment.
AEO has been instrumental in the development of NEPAD’s Action Plan for the Environment Initiative, or Environment Action Plan (EAP), which asserts the centrality of the link between safeguarding Africa’s environment and advancing its development. The EAP is a strategic framework that seeks to enhance Africa’s economic prospects through sustainable management of environmental resources. A number of sub-regional centers of excellence have played a key role in developing the NEPAD framework, and are set to shape implementation of the NEPAD EAP. In addition to the NEPAD initiative, African countries have signed more than 30 conventions and protocols addressing different aspects of environmental management. The existence of these norms and standards has had reinforced a broad consensus on the necessity and significance of environmental management in fighting poverty and advancing Africa’s development. This has created room for greater coordination in the areas of energy, mineral resources, food, agriculture, animal resources, agriculture, forestry, water, and environmental protection. There also exists a clear division of labor between the AU and the RECs with regard to implementing identified priorities, including combating land degradation, drought, and desertification.
NEPAD EAP
Priorities for RECs
Arab Maghreb Union: Conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in the Maghreb countries; watershed management; rehabilitation and development of oases ecosystems and implementation of a long-term ecological monitoring network.
ECCAS region: Raising awareness on bushfires in the ECCAS region; water harvesting in arid and semi-arid zones; raising awareness on combating desertification targeting schools.
IGAD region: Environmental education and awareness raising; capacity building on integrated water management; enhancing capacity for community-based management of natural resources; rehabilitation and management of degraded rangelands; promotion of sustainable agricultural practices.
SADC region: Capacity-building for integrated rangeland management; protection and strategic use of groundwater resources. ECOWAS region: Integrated management of the Lake Chad basin, Senegal River basin, Gambia River basin and Fouta Djallon highlands.
On paper, Africa is clearly committed to pursuing development on the basis of ecologically rational, economically sound, and socially acceptable policies. Yet despite the existence of a multiplicity of policy and institutional frameworks at various levels, environmental conservation remains a huge challenge. As the situation deteriorates in some areas, levels of compliance to regionally and internationally agreed norms and standards continue to be less than satisfactory.
Some key issues for Africa within the environment theme are discussed briefly below.
Land Degradation, Drought, and Desertification
The heavy reliance by Africa’s population on land for agricultural livelihood and sustenance means that land is a critical natural resource. Agriculture is the continent’s economic mainstay accounting for 20–30 percent of GDP in sub-Saharan Africa and representing up to 55 percent of Africa’s total exports . Africa is the continent most threatened by the spread of desertification, with 39 percent of Africa’s land mass affected. In response, Africa is now a key player in implementing the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)—ratified by all 53 African countries and now at various stages of implementation. The Convention addresses desertification from the perspective of sustainable development, emphasizing the involvement of local communities and CSOs. Priority actions in combating land degradation, drought, and desertification are identified and spelled out in detail in the NEPAD EAP (see RECs box above).
Land degradation is a key factor of rural poverty. As soil fertility declines so does agricultural productivity, which must in turn be compensated for by costly fertilizers. Hence land degradation undermines livelihoods for small farmers, who are often caught in a downward spiral of declining agricultural activity, less subsistence, and flight from the villages—a major cause for the growing urban slums. This is exacerbated by the historical problem of community access to land.
As the profiles demonstrate, a number of organizations have sought to address land-related livelihood concerns. The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), for instance, has introduced new agricultural technologies to enhance food security by developing insect-resistant seedlings for subsistence and cash crops and supports farmers’ access to markets and intellectual property protection. KickStart, an Africanized international NGO, has promoted small-scale enterprises in agriculture, irrigation, and marketing for sustainable growth.
Biodiversity and Livelihood Security
Africa currently has six of the world’s 25 biodiversity hotspots , making it one of the most extensive ecosystems in the world. However, the hotspots are underutilized, poorly protected, and currently being lost at a high rate, with serious implications for the livelihoods of African communities dependent on natural resources. For these and other reasons, the conservation and protection of biodiversity is urgent. Many African countries are party to agreements and protocols on the protection, conservation, and sustainable use of biodiversity. These include the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, and the African Convention on the Conservation of Nature. Africa’s biodiversity, a potential source of food and medicine, represents significant potential to accelerate economic growth and poverty reduction. However, a key concern is that it has not been harnessed to realize its true economic value. On the contrary, it has been expropriated primarily by northern entities conferring limited benefit to African farmers.
Effective conservation of biodiversity is closely linked to the preservation of Africa’s wealth of indigenous knowledge. Traditional farming is an important pillar in safeguarding biodiversity given its emphasis on the intercropping of different crop varieties . In reality, however, the protection of indigenous knowledge is generally weak, and local communities are poorly linked to research institutions involved in prospecting biodiversity. This has increased their vulnerability and led to a rapid loss of indigenous knowledge.
Biotechnology, Biosafety, and Food Security
Despite concerns that biotechnology led to loss of biodiversity and soil degradation, and despite the danger of over-dependence on outside expertise and products at the expense of local capacity that is implied by biotechnology, NEPAD sees greater investment in science and technology—especially through the expansion of research and scientific innovation—as key to the conservation and use of Africa’s rich biodiversity .
Africa’s chief priority is to achieve food security without undermining the environment or compromising biodiversity. The uncertainty created by genetically modified crops heightens the need for biosafety regulations. The main concerns raised by GM crops relate to their potential impact on human health, poverty and hunger, livelihoods and food security, trade, and environment . As a protocol to the UN CBD, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety calls for effective laws and regulations to safeguard human health and the environment from these emerging technologies. The AU has spearheaded the development of a model law on biosafety and regulation of GMOs aimed at addressing a number of gaps in the Cartagena Protocol . However, for many African countries, participation in the Protocol has been a challenge, due to a lack of capacity for biosafety activity at the national level. Despite these constraints, several countries in Africa have developed national biosafety networks. The pressing need to support the livelihoods of small farmers is reflected in the work of several think tanks focused on biotechnology. These include the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), which provides high-quality, insect-resistant cowpea varieties expected to benefit farmers in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in West Africa; the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), which made a significant policy contribution by focusing on laws that regulate access to genetic resources and promote fair and equitable sharing of benefits and implementing the CBD provisions; and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), an advocacy, innovation, and capacity-building organization that promotes the use of new and appropriate agro-technologies in fisheries, aquaculture, and livestock development (see profiles for more details).
Nevertheless, African CSOs remain divided as to whether they should embrace or reject biotechnology. Some have voiced concern over various initiatives proposed to boost agricultural production that have significant implications on biodiversity. One controversial initiative is the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), established by the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations and chaired by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. CSOs are concerned that AGRA will undermine Africa’s biodiversity by promoting an agricultural model dependent on agro-chemicals, monoculture of hybrid seeds, and introduction of GMOs . Similar concerns have been expressed over a G8-led initiative to popularize biotechnology in African agriculture.
Further, CSOs warn that public-private partnership agreements between western companies involved in research of new agricultural technologies and national agricultural research centers in Africa pose a threat to biodiversity conservation because of their emphasis on monoculture. On the other hand, some argue that biotechnology consists of a very broad spectrum of tools and approaches of which genetic engineering is only one of a number of biotechnology methods widely used and accepted in science as a whole. A minority believe that Africa has no choice but to embrace biotechnology, although ethical and safety concerns are cited.
Genetic Resources
The push to recognize Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) on genetic resources is one such threat. Nearly 1,000 patents have been taken out on rice, wheat, soybean, and sorghum—predominantly by the world’s largest agrochemical corporations. As a result, food security is moving away from the control of poor farmers as multinationals wield influence over the world’s food chain. To stem this threat, the NEPAD Framework on Science and Technology has proposed developing an African databank on indigenous knowledge and technologies, promoting the integration of indigenous knowledge and practices in education curricula, and establishing an African network of regional gene banks, among other measures. African priorities therefore include enhancing collaboration at the sub-regional and regional levels in enacting laws and policies regulating research on biotechnology to safeguard human and environmental health; encouraging robust debate to determine prioritization of GMOs and other agricultural technologies; building capacity on the scientific, legal, and policy aspects of risk management of GMOs; and strengthening national regulatory and monitoring frameworks on biosafety guidelines.
Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action offers diverse means of dealing with the issues of biodiversity and biosafety among others. So far, NEPAD has established the African Biosciences Initiative, a network of leading centers with hubs and nodes throughout the continent . These hubs possess the necessary physical infrastructure to develop and implement regional and continental biosciences projects.
Energy
Energy is critical to poverty reduction and economic transformation in Africa. Yet a sizeable part of Africa’s population lacks access to reliable, affordable, and socially acceptable sources of energy , and an estimated 80 percent lack access to electricity. Consequently, high reliance on wood fuel in many parts of Africa is destroying forests and natural vegetation, in the process interfering with water-catchment areas that feed rivers and streams. Renewable sources of energy are therefore critical to environmental conservation, especially in marginal and dry-land areas. Under the NEPAD framework, African countries have committed themselves to developing affordable energy systems and reversing the environmental degradation caused by reliance on wood fuel. At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002, the international community pledged to support and work with Africa to increase the use of renewable energy and other efficient and cleaner sources of energy in order to stem environmental degradation. Under this framework, an increasing share of Africa’s energy will be sourced from renewables, such as biofuel and biodiesel.
Several institutes are undertaking serious research in the area. Among them is AFREPREN, which has contributed to formulation of NEPAD’s energy strategy and worked with the African Development Bank to identify priorities on renewables in Eastern Africa. Through its network, AFREPREN has contributed to the formulation of energy policy in the region. It has developed an excellent database on energy in Africa accessible online. Other organizations in this field include SolarAid, ZERO, FEMA, and AfriWEA, among others.
Climate Change
Africa’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is low compared to those of China and the industrialized world, but the continent remains susceptible to the impacts of climate change due to factors of poverty, drought, inequitable land distribution, and over-reliance on rain-fed agriculture.
The major concern is that while Africa is the continent most vulnerable to the negative impact of climate change, it is the one least able to adapt. Indeed, the biggest challenge in relation to climate change is the short timeframe within which adaptation must take place to overcome its anticipated impacts—which are expected generate irreversible economic and socio-political problems with adverse impact on food security and other areas. It is estimated that climate change will reduce crop yields in Africa by an estimated 10 percent.
Despite the urgency, few initiatives and organizations have been active in the area . Nevertheless, several AROs, including the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), CILSS, and UMA, are addressing climate-change issues. The following profiled organizations are active in integrating climate-change issues in their wider programs: ACTS, ARCE, AYICC, CEDARE, CARPE, ELCI, IELRC, ZERO, and the Fossil Foundation. Meanwhile, CNA deals explicitly with the issue.
Water
Africa is endowed with significant sources of fresh water and is home to more than fifty significant international river basins. Yet over 300 million Africans lack access to safe drinking water. Population growth and the demands of growing economies means that demand for water in Africa will continue to rise. Africa also faces the challenge of ensuring environmental sustainability in the use of its water resources, which necessitates containing the over-exploitation of ground water and developing adequate environmental safeguards against pollution and contamination of existing fresh water sources.
Management of fresh water resources is also a major threat to peaceful coexistence between communities and among states—as evidenced by the Nile treaties, which have denied the upper riparians’ rights to use the river’s waters without Egypt’s prior approval. In addressing the potential of conflict in the use of trans-boundary water sources, a number of ARO initiatives have emerged. The creation of the African Ministers’ Council on Water in 2002 attests to the growing importance of managing water resources, as do such initiatives as the Nile Basin Initiative, Nile Basin Discourse, Lake Victoria Commission, Regional Water Initiative for Middle East and North Africa, Waternet, CEDARE, and the West African Water Initiative.
Agro-Forestry
Forests and woodlands, occupying an estimated 21.8 percent of Africa’s total land area , constitute a vital resource for Africa’s environmental and economic sustenance and are also critical in combating desertification; conserving wetlands and coastal and freshwater resources; and limiting the impact of climate change. Forests and natural vegetation are intricately linked to human health in view of the high dependence on traditional medicine in many parts of the continent. Conserving endangered and economically useful medicinal plants widely available in tropical forests and woodlands therefore becomes a priority. Nevertheless, the absence of a clear legal and policy regime on the use and exploitation of forests has resulted in the unsustainable harvesting of forests leading to overall decline.
Institutions working in this area include: ANAFE, which strengthens the content and delivery of tertiary education in agro-forestry; AFORNET, which provides a platform to African forest scientists to facilitate the identification of key national, sub-regional, and regional forestry research problems; CARPE, which seeks to mitigate the impact of climate change by helping preserve the region’s vast carbon sinks; and CAODN, a network spanning Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda, which builds awareness in public environment and the consequences of deforestation.
Gender and Environment
The importance of gender mainstreaming in environmental and poverty eradication policies has been recognized in a wide range of global agreements and forums , and several African governments have sought to mainstream gender in policies and strategies. Yet most environmental policies in Africa fail to acknowledge the fact that women play a substantially greater role in relation to environmental conservation and stewardship. Some research organizations have taken up this challenge by advocating not only for the empowerment of women but also for the institution of gender-sensitive policies in African countries. For instance, CODESRIA, a research-focused think tank, has worked with others to enhance the role of women in Africa’s policy discourse.
With few exceptions, environmental organizations profiled in this survey fail to mention of gender in their mission, vision, or program objectives. Similarly, organizations working on peace and security miss the link between conflict, environmental destruction, and gender. At the same time, there are few women’s organizations that deal specifically with environmental issues at a sub-regional and continental level. UNEP itself has only recently (in October 2006) developed a Gender Plan of Action aimed at mainstreaming gender in its work. There is room for much more to be done on gender and environment issues.
Energy, climate change, and water issues will dominate debates about the environment and resource allocation in the next two decades. Renewable sources of energy will become even more critical to environmental conservation, especially in marginal and dry-land areas, and as a means of mitigating the drastic effects of climate change. Extractive resources such as oil could well aggravate the continent’s environmental problems, unless managed well and harnessed toward wealth creation and development. While this constitutes a critically important area for CSO advocacy and lobbying, it is also an area in which strong networks and social movements can bring about policy and social change. As such, enhanced focus by private foundations on continental policy and advocacy networks could be decisive in ensuring a sustainable African ecosystem.
