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AFRICA: Local rice is nice

AFRICA: Local rice is nice



Photo: Jaspreet Kindra/IRIN Rice production is growing in AfricaADDIS ABABA, 21 May 2010 (IRIN) - "Local is best" for Africa, said a leading rice research centre as it announced on 21 May that it would focus on improving an indigenous species more than 3,500 years old to feed the continent's rice consumers.

The Oryza glaberrima rice species, found only in Africa, was better suited to the continent's hostile growing conditions than the Asian species, Oryza sativa, the only other species to adapt to Africa, said AfricaRice, a Benin-based intergovernmental research organization, also known as Africa Rice Centre.

"The growing conditions will become even more harsh as the impact of climate change unfolds, and the Oryza glaberrima is highly adaptable," said Koichi Futakuchi, an eco-physiologist at AfricaRice, one of two researchers developing the African species.

The decision to focus on Oryza glaberrima is quite significant, as AfricaRice has devoted the last decade to developing a new variety of rice called NERICA - an acronym for New Rice for Africa - from cross-breeding the African and Asian types.

"Our research shows that ... the African rice species is able to compete better with weeds, infertile soils, even with toxic levels of iron," said Futakuchi.

Our research shows that ... the African rice species is able to compete better with weeds, infertile soils, even with toxic levels of iron

NERICA has had a fair amount of success - more than 80 NERICA varieties that could thrive in rain-fed conditions have been developed and adopted by farmers in about 20 African countries. The best NERICA varieties combine the stress tolerance of O. glaberrima with the high yield potential of O. sativa.

"African rice was initially ignored by mainstream research," said Futakuchi. "Later, when scientists realized that it had valuable characteristics, they began using it as a source for desirable traits to improve the higher-yielding Asian rice."

Although varieties of the African rice are still grown in small pockets on the continent, the species was abandoned by most African farmers, who preferred to grow varieties of Asian rice brought in by traders about 450 years ago, bringing the African species to the brink of extinction.

"But now, for the first time, we're reversing the gene flow, extracting desirable traits from the Asian rice and transferring them into the African rice," Futakuchi said.

Tewolde Egziabher, head of Ethiopia's Environment Protection Authority and a global campaigner for protecting biodiversity, welcomed the initiative on the occasion of  the International Day for Biological Diversity, saying: "It makes sense to start with work on the local [species], which are already adapted to local conditions." The introduction of foreign species was only justified if work on local species had been exhausted, without result.

In a paper by AfricaRice, Futakuchi's collaborator, Yoboué N'Guessan, cited two reasons for devoting attention to the African species: "I liked the taste so much that I didn't wait for the sauce! The second was, during trips I took to collect various rice varieties from farmers' fields in 1982, farmers told me, 'glaberrima is farmers' rice, sativa is for office workers'."

The African species still has problematic traits that reduce yields: the plants tend to fall over when the grain is ripe – known as lodging - and also suffer from shattering, or shedding ripe grain.

In 2009 AfricaRice began work on its entire O. glaberrima collection of 2,500 samples, which are being screened for major diseases and environmental stresses such as acidity, iron toxicity, cold, and salinity.

"I think it will take at least five years to have a line [of the rice variety] ready," said Futakuchi. There is a tremendous need to boost production, as Africa currently imports 40 percent of its rice needs - at an estimated US$3.6 billion in 2008 - leaving most of the main rice-consuming countries with big import bills.

Rice production in sub-Saharan Africa increased by between 16 and 18 percent in 2008, and a further 4.5 percent in 2009, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). During the food crisis in 2007/08, rice production rose by 44 percent across the Sahel, and by a huge 241 percent in Burkina Faso.

The NERICA varieties led a boom in West African countries like Nigeria, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali and Togo, but AfricaRice noted that in the five years from 2002 to 2007, Uganda and Ethiopia also reduced their rice imports.

jk/he



Source: IRIN - Burundi

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WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: Ending the silence on violence in schools

WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: Ending the silence on violence in schools



Photo: Nancy Palus/IRIN Sexual violence causes girls to drop out of school says report (file photo)DAKAR, 20 May 2010 (IRIN) - Bullying, sexual violence and corporal punishment are still rife in West and Central African schools, according to an 18 May report which calls on governments to harmonize laws on child protection and education, and impose stricter standards on schools to reduce violence.

Violence against children hardly features in justice or governance debates, and governments focus more on women’s rights than children’s rights, say child protection agencies.

“The violence against children debate has been here for a while but there hasn’t been sufficient follow-up, especially here in West Africa,” West Africa UNICEF protection adviser Joachim Theis told IRIN. “You light a match and it doesn’t always catch fire… Structures here are weak; here you can push and things don’t always happen.”

Violence in school leads to high drop-out rates, and reduces the chances of the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on gender parity in primary and secondary schools being achieved, according to NGO ActionAid.

Violence can also destroy children’s psychological well-being; impact their grades; and has health consequences, while sexual violence can also cause early pregnancy and affect children’s future sexual behaviour, says the report entitled Too Often in Silence: Addressing the Roots of School-Based Violence in West and Central Africa, by NGOs Save the Children Sweden, ActionAid, and Plan International, alongside the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).

In Benin, Senegal, Central African Republic and Gambia, over half of primary school children were victims of corporal punishment in schools, according to studies. Evidence from Mauritania, Senegal and Gambia reveals Koranic students are at particular risk of being beaten - in Mauritania 76 percent of Koranic school teachers admitted they beat their students.

Sexual abuse occurs on the way to and from school, in school, and in teachers’ houses, according to the report. Perpetrators are almost always male school staff or students while the vast majority of victims are girls, though boys are also abused.

“It’s only girls”

Most educators are now aware of the problem of sexual violence against girls in schools, ActionAid’s Education Research and Policy Coordinator Victorine Kemonou Djitrinou told IRIN. “But it’s `only girls’ so people don’t do much about it. Violence against girls it not always a priority. Girls are all alone.”

There is little information on violence against children in general in the region, says UNICEF’s Theis, and the evidence there is, does not portray girls’ own experiences of sexual, psychological and physical violence, says ActionAid’s education research and policy coordinator Akanksha Marphatia.

Schools tend to mirror surrounding social structures and relationships so solutions cannot be found in isolation, said the report. Violence against girls is linked to gender relations in which male violence is sometimes accepted, as is female submission and passivity, it said.

UNICEF surveys in Benin, Togo and Mauritania have shown many parents support corporal punishment as an integral part of education; while some see sexual relations between students and teachers as a viable way for the child to get ahead, according to Theis.

Weak institutions, scattered laws

Partly because of these norms, the political will to tackle violence against girls is not high, said ActionAid’s Marphatia.

Furthermore, the justice, social affairs, women and development, and education ministries have separate policies and do not work together to stamp out violence.

Of the states in the region, only Ghana, Gambia, Liberia, Nigeria and Togo address school-based violence in their national education plans; just six West or Central African states have national codes of conduct for schools against sexual abuse and violence; while Southern Sudan is the only African state to have outlawed corporal punishment in schools, according to Save the Children Sweden’s Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children’s 2009 global report.

The ministries leading the fight are not always the strongest “and the institutional response is just not there,” said ActionAid’s Marphatia. National child protection systems are in general weak in West and Central Africa.

However, responsibility also lies with international policy-makers who have to date not yet stressed violence in schools, said ActionAid. Not a single MDG mentions violence.

Opportunities

The UN Girls' Education Initiative, which pushes MDG attainment, is currently meeting in Senegal and violence is one of its three central themes.  This presents an opportunity for specialists in education, women’s rights and child protection to start working together, said Theis.

These specialists are developing country action plans - albeit legally non-binding ones - on how to reduce violence in schools. “We need to come at this from all angles - legislation, standard-setting, setting up complaints mechanisms,” he said.

Child protection agencies suggest these action plans include: Recommendations for schools to recruit more female teachers; improved teacher training on violence and children’s rights; a push for governments to improve child protection systems by training legal professionals; and a start to the monitoring and reporting of violence against children.

International donors including the World Bank also have a “huge role” in insisting on compliance in reducing violence as part of their education aid packages, said Theis.

Several NGOs in the region are working with teachers’ unions to develop codes of conduct. “We can’t victimize teachers - only a small percentage of teachers are abusers,” stressed Marphatia.

Save the Children and teachers’ unions have developed a teachers’ code of conduct in Côte d’Ivoire, which has been presented to the Ministry of Education; ActionAid has done the same in Ghana; while in Mauritania, religious groups have enacted a `fatwa’ against corporal punishment in the school and home.

aj/cb



Source: IRIN - Burundi

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Analysis: Ten years of talks - and still no resolution to Nile controversy

Analysis: Ten years of talks - and still no resolution to Nile controversy



Photo: Gabriel Galwak/IRIN Sudanese children remove sand from the banks of the Nile: The Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework was signed by Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, but was left open for a yearENTEBBE, 19 May 2010 (IRIN) - Contrary to the controversy it has engendered, the Nile river agreement should allow for more equitable water use and minimize potential conflicts between the riparian states, says an analyst.

"The problem with the River Nile is lack of cooperation in water management," Debay Tadesse, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) in Addis Ababa, said. "There is enough [water] for all the riparian states and this agreement opens the way for more equitable management."

The 14 May Nile River Basin Cooperative Framework was signed by Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, but was left open for a year. It followed a meeting of water ministers in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, where Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda agreed to it.

Egypt and Sudan have rejected it, saying the accord only reflects the views of seven, not nine, states that share the resource. They suggest more talks.

"For Egypt and Sudan, as well as the other eight riparian countries, the question of how much water they can use to irrigate their agricultural land and sustain their growing populations [has] become [an] existential [matter] that dwarf the other political conflicts plaguing the region," Nadia Anne Zahran wrote in The Middle East Channel on 19 May.  

On 6 May, the International Crisis Group warned the dispute could polarize the region. It could also harden Egypt’s resolve to maintain the status quo by rallying behind Sudan and against the other countries.

The new agreement, signed in Entebbe, Uganda, after 10 years of talks, also transformed the Nile Basin Initiative into a permanent Nile River Basin Commission and will facilitate its legal recognition in the member countries.

Kenya signed on 19 May. “Nothing now stops us from using the waters as we wish,” Kenya’s Water Minister Charity Ngilu said. “It is now up to Egypt and Sudan to come on board in the spirit of cooperation on the basis of One Nile, One Basin and One Vision. Two states out of nine cannot stop us from implementing this framework.”

For ratification, the agreement now needs to be signed by DRC and Burundi.



Photo: Mohamed Boraie/IRIN

A ferry crossing from one side of the Nile to the other in the Egyptian city of Rashid (file photo)

Binding law

"What will underpin the usage of the Nile River resources is equitable and sustainable use in the best interests of all members," a source at the Entebbe talks told IRIN. "The new agreement binds only those members that have signed, which means that unless Egypt and Sudan sign, it does not bind them... [but] the main thrust is to give equal opportunity to all members without anyone claiming 90 percent leverage over the river."

Egypt's current monopoly, he added, was untenable. "This was not acceptable to many members; that is why the new agreement was negotiated," he added. "There is going to be a formula followed while exploiting the river resources. The agreement has not invented anything new, but it codified already existing international law governing waterways."

Egypt has so far stuck to its guns. "Any project that takes away from the river's flow has to be approved by Egypt and Sudan in accordance with international treaties," Reuters quoted Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Mohamed Nasreddin Allam as saying on 18 May. "Egypt is closely watching energy generation projects in the [Nile] basin."

Tadesse said Egypt and Sudan had no option but to negotiate with the other riparian states. "They have one year to decide, but they will have to," he told IRIN on 19 May. "They will only be able to monitor what is happening in the Upper Nile riparian states if they sign. Not knowing what is happening in those states would be a threat to Egypt and Sudan. For example, if Ethiopia or Kenya build more dams, Egypt will want to know what is happening."

The Entebbe source said: "Nobody is going to cut off water to countries downstream, but we shall have equal opportunities in its utilization. Disputes will arise and will be resolved through the Nile Basin Commission ... but even when they cannot be resolved at that level, third parties like the International Court of Justice could be resorted to, but I think this will not be necessary."

According to Kithure Kindiki of the School of Law at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, neither the unilateral claims of Egypt on maintaining the status quo on the Nile, nor the threat by upstream states such as Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya to obstruct the Nile-Victoria system are supportable in law.

“The legality of the Nile treaties should be understood from the viewpoint of the principles of international law on state succession as and how that affects treaty obligations,” he noted in a December 2009 paper. “All these treaties, except the 1959 Agreement, were adopted when all co-riparians of the Nile (except Ethiopia) were ruled by foreign colonial powers.”

The paper recommends three approaches to resolving the Nile impasse: the conclusion of the negotiations and adoption of a new treaty binding all riparian states; the promotion of ratification of the 1997 UN Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses; and the referral of the issue of the legality of the Nile treaties to a judicial or arbitration forum.

Still time

Uganda's Water Minister Mary Mutagambwa said negotiations were not over. "The agreement will be ratified after members sign it, and it is open for signature for a year," she told IRIN at Entebbe. "[It] offers all of us the opportunity to unite and develop. [Egypt and Sudan] do not want interruption of the current usage. It is a matter of convincing them and I hope that within this year we can bring them on board."

The agreement attempts to review two deals signed in 1929 between Egypt and its former colonial power, Britain, and in 1959 with Sudan. The accords give Egypt and Sudan the biggest share of the water, totalling up to 87 percent of Nile flow. Egypt also has the power to veto dams and other water projects in upstream countries. To monitor the water levels, it maintains teams of engineers along the river including at its source in Jinja, and in Malakal in Southern Sudan.

Critics say the agreements are pre-colonial because they were signed before the other riparian states became independent, but Egypt insists they were done to safeguard its interests. "Egypt's historic rights to Nile waters are a matter of life and death. We will not compromise them," Reuters quoted Moufid Shehab, Egyptian Minister of Legal and Assembly Affairs, as telling parliament recently.

As climate change continues to affect an already parched region, reliance on the Nile, which flows through 10 percent of Africa and is shared by 10 countries, is only increasing

In Khartoum, Sudan's legal counsel to Nile Basin Initiative Ahmed Al-Mufti told a news conference on 11 May that his government's position was not to sign the agreement until all the nine states reached a solution to the issues in dispute. This position, observers say, could change if Southern Sudan voted for independence in a 2011 referendum.

The view from Cairo and Khartoum was echoed by Eritrea, which had observer status at the negotiations. In a statement issued by the Eritrean information ministry, President Isaias Afwerki said the upstream states had made "wrong agreements and regulations" on the use of the Nile river. He told Egyptian television that this "not only aggravates the situation but also creates tension”.

Increasing demand

Flowing 6,825km from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean, the Nile is the longest river in the world. It discharges about 300 million cubic metres of water daily and provides Egypt, which receives almost zero rainfall, with about 90 percent of its water needs. Four hundred million people live in the countries that share the river.

Experts say Egypt's population could reach 130 million in 40 years, thereby increasing its demands. On the other hand, Ethiopia wants to build more dams on the Blue Nile, while Sudan has promised foreign farmers vast pieces of land. In Kenya, farmers want to expand irrigation while Uganda is planning dams and Tanzania intends to build a 170km pipeline from Lake Victoria to supply dry areas.

According to the ISS, almost one in two people in Africa will, within 25 years, live in a country facing water scarcity or “water stress” because of rapid population growth and economic development. By 2025, some 12 African countries will have joined the 13 that already suffer from water stress or water scarcity.

"There is a lot at stake for all the players in the region and perhaps for Arab-African relations as a whole, already strained by years of neglect and outright conflict in Sudan," Zahran noted. "As climate change continues to affect an already parched region, reliance on the Nile, which flows through 10 percent of Africa and is shared by 10 countries, is only increasing."

eo/vm/mw



Source: IRIN - Burundi

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AFRICA: Ten countries desperately seeking doctors

AFRICA: Ten countries desperately seeking doctors



Photo: UNMIL The continent is severely short of skilled medical personnelNAIROBI, 19 May 2010 (IRIN) - Shortages of medical staff have been identified as one of the major impediments to achieving the health-related UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). For example, one of the poorest countries in the world, Mozambique, has just 548 doctors for a population of more than 22 million, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

The WHO's baseline estimate for achieving health-related MDGs is at least 23 health workers per 10,000 people - against an average of 13 in Africa. IRIN/PlusNews has compiled a list of 10 African countries - in no particular order – that are critically short of skilled personnel:

Chad - With fewer than one doctor for every 20,000 people and just four hospital beds for every 10,000, Chad has one of the worst health-worker shortages in the world. Many countries are bolstering their staff with community health workers, but according to WHO's World Health Statistics Report 2010, Chad has just 154 of these.

The country requires 300 percent more health workers because of increased healthcare needs and a reduction in the medical workforce from HIV-related illness or death.

Burundi - Malaria is responsible for 40 percent of health-centre consultations and 47 percent of in-patient deaths in Burundi, but there is just one doctor per 34,744 people and two nurses per 10,000.

The government provides free maternal and child healthcare and free treatment and care for people living with HIV, but the country's lack of skilled health professionals has severely hampered this programme.

Ethiopia - One of Africa's most populous nations, Ethiopia is extremely short of doctors, with fewer than one doctor for every 36,407 people.

Research shows that Ethiopia's public health sector is losing as many as 26 percent of its physicians to private healthcare and to other countries.

To cope, the Ethiopian government has rolled out a "health extension worker" programme, training an estimated 30,000 lay health workers to improve primary services in rural areas. Today, there is one health extension worker per 2,500 people.

More on health

The worst places to be a mother

Does health aid let governments off the hook?

Treatment failure going undetected

Learning how to stop children dying

Neglected diseases: drug resistant TB

Tanzania - The Ministry of Health reported in 2007 that the country had 1,339 physicians, mostly in the Dar es Salaam region, which had at least one doctor per 10,000 population, six times the national average. Many regions have a ratio as low as 0.1 doctors per 10,000 people.

The country has trained "assistant medical officers" (AMO) to cope with the shortage. There are about as many AMOs as there are physicians in Tanzania.

 

Somalia - Ravaged by civil war for nearly two decades, it is unsurprising that Somalia has one of the worst health-worker shortages in Africa. A poor road network and limited number of health facilities compounds the lack of access to healthcare.

A 2009 study of three districts in south-central Somalia found just 11 doctors serving a population of about 600,000; the same population was also served by 161 nurses and auxiliary nurses and 32 community health workers.

Liberia - Still recovering from a 14-year civil war that ended in 2003, Liberia has just 51 doctors, according to the WHO.

Fewer than half of all births are attended by a skilled health professional, and maternal mortality is very high, at 994 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

NGOs such as Merlin are training midwives and community health workers to boost numbers, but the situation remains critical.

Sierra Leone - In March 2010, health workers in Sierra Leone won a six-fold pay rise from the government to cope with a likely deluge of patients seeking treatment following the introduction of free medical care for pregnant women and lactating mothers and children under five.

Nevertheless, Sierra Leone has a serious health worker gap, with about three doctors per 100,000 people. The country is using Cuban and Nigerian doctors to fill part of the personnel gap, but concerns remain that the limited health workforce will not cope with the burden of free healthcare for large sections of the population.

Malawi - With an estimated two doctors for every 100,000 people and a 60 percent vacancy rate for nurses in rural areas, Malawi has turned to “task-shifting” - the use of less qualified health workers. A new cadre of health worker, called a health surveillance assistant (HSA), carries out tasks usually handled by highly trained physicians. In 2007, for example, 95 percent of 625,000 HIV tests were performed by non-medical counsellors.



Photo: Hugo Rami/IRIN

Treatable illnesses such a malaria and tuberculosis often result in death

Malawi's task-shifting seems to be paying off, but there has been some criticism of the short training period of 10 weeks for HSAs, and suggestions that rigorous selection is being sacrificed in the attempt to meet recruitment targets.

Mozambique - The country has fewer than three doctors per 100,000 people, half of whom operate in the capital, Maputo. Political instability and economic structural adjustment programmes in the 1980s hit Mozambique's health system hard, forcing the closure of up to 50 percent of public health centres.

The country relies largely on “técnicos de medicina” - non-physician clinicians who undergo training for 30 months - to provide the clinical and managerial tasks carried out by doctors. It aims to have trained close to 1,000 técnicos by the end of 2010.

Mozambique has been able to significantly scale up its antiretroviral rollout through técnicos, but a 2007 evaluation found that their training had not adequately prepared them for clinical responsibilities, while existing health-system resources were inadequate for providing care. The government is re-evaluating the técnicos scope of practice.

Niger - The country has just 288 doctors for a population of 14 million and one of the worst health crises in the world. Niger is in the grip of a severe food crisis, and health centres are struggling to cope with high numbers of cases of severe malnutrition.

Almost 90 percent of health workers are in cities - leaving rural areas with 885 medical staff, according to 2008 Health Ministry data; 40 percent of all health workers operate in the capital, Niamey.

kr/eo/mw



Source: IRIN - Burundi

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AFRICA: Plugging the technology gap with help from India

AFRICA: Plugging the technology gap with help from India



Photo: LCD International Harnessing the power of technologyDAR-ES-SALAAM, 14 May 2010 (IRIN) - Investment in information technology can help Africa to improve governance, overcome poverty and deal with critical infrastructure gaps, taking India as an example, the co-chair of the World Economic Forum on Africa 2010 (WEF) said.

“There is no need to reinvent the wheel,” Ajai Chowdhry, also chairman and chief executive officer of HCL Infosystems in India, told IRIN on the sidelines of a recent WEF conference in Tanzania. “India and Africa have similar problems so we can apply similar solutions. It’s all been tried and tested in India, and the software is readily available to transfer knowledge and experience.”

While mobile phone usage in Africa has ballooned – by almost 550 percent between 2003 and 2008, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) – and Kenya, for example, has led the way with the M-Pesa payment system and Ushahidi information-sharing platform, the continent has been lagging behind other developing regions in internet use and broadband connectivity, according to UNCTAD. Financing fast broadband networks will require cooperation between national governments, donors and the private sector.

One example is Rwanda, which is working with donors, UN bodies and private companies to realize its "Vision 2020" with ICT at its heart. Ten years ago, only one school had a computer; by 2006 more than half of primary and secondary schools were equipped with computers, and over 2,000 teachers had been trained in ICT, according to a World Bank report.

Enabling computer use, especially in far-flung areas, requires creative financing, says Chowdhry; the government of India provided a subsidy of $100 per computer from donor funding, thereby "taking computers to the village".

Catalyst for change

In the early 1990s, India's government had only US$1 billion left in the kitty. The International Monetary Fund proposed deregulation and opening up the economy. On the plus side the country enjoyed a strong financial system, which took banking to the unbanked, building urban infrastructure in rural areas.

In addition, knowledge centres were created in the villages, focusing on health, agriculture and education, thereby creating inclusive growth and discouraging rural-urban migration. While there have been a few hiccups, notably the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, the country is on target for 10 percent growth in 2011, a rate that should eradicate absolute poverty.

At the same time, the government was focusing on building effective institutions, and improving transparency by harnessing the power of technology. The result is every person’s fundamental right to information, whereby every citizen can question every facet of government. After initial, strong opposition, officialdom and government ministers alike are adapting to the scrutiny.

“Information is key to overcoming poverty,” Chowdhry said. “Effective governance means electronic governance in India; our goal is internet access for all, we should make it as much a right as we now have the right to education for all.”

Investing in the future

Broadband penetration is only 3 percent in Africa but recent investment in undersea cables should boost that, bringing easier access to information on agriculture, healthcare, education and banking. The challenge of increasing access in homes and businesses will require massive investment, says Chowdhry, but the $5 billion low-interest rate credit line extended by the Indian government through the Export-Import Bank of India (EXIM) to Africa has hardly been tapped in the past 18 months.

Only large projects need apply, preferably for developing ICT in schools and universities to boost capacity, as tertiary education in particular is vital for the continent’s development and stemming the brain drain. Given that almost half the continent's population is younger than 15, providing education and entrepreneurial opportunities is imperative.

"E-technology entrepreneurship will make as big a difference in Africa as in India," he told IRIN. All the investment coming from India was private, he added, and private-public partnerships were a key element to investment that India could bring to the continent. India already offers more scholarships to African students than any other country while the EXIM Bank runs several policy initiatives, including the Pan-African E-Network, India-Africa Partnership Conclaves and the annual India-Africa Summit, to encourage closer ties.

At this year's summit held in New Delhi in March, $9 billion-worth of projects were under discussion, focusing on infrastructure development and IT.

mw/eo



Source: IRIN - Burundi

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AFRICA: Changing technologies to keep up with climate change

AFRICA: Changing technologies to keep up with climate change



Photo: Jaspreet Kindra/IRIN Food production is projected to become increasingly difficult because of the variability associated with climate change NAIROBI, 10 May 2010 (IRIN) - Technological innovation is key to helping African farmers cope with the increasing challenges posed by climate change, say specialists.

“Temperatures have increased and the danger is that agriculture is the backbone of [Africa’s] economies,” Lindiwe Majele Sibanda, chief executive officer of the South-African based Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN), told IRIN. “The increase in temperatures means we have less water in some places and we are already a drought-prone region.”

“The technologies that we have on the shelf… like the seeds, may not be compatible with the increased temperatures,” she added.

“Malawi recorded world renowned success in terms of food security because we have experienced a fairly stable climate regime over the last 100 years. The technologies that were there [such as] the hybrid seeds… could be taken in, planted. As long they were accessible to the farmers, we could then register increases in yields.

“But the challenge we face now is that there will be new diseases, new vectors and pests that we have not known or seen before …. All these challenges are being superimposed on a system that has not been food-secure,” she said.

Africa spends at least US$19 billion on food imports annually yet it has the capacity to be the global breadbasket, she said. “Most of our farmers are smallholders and they are in the business of subsidizing the urban population [but] for as long as we are not creating an environment where they can increase their income and step out of poverty, we will always have [more] poor people yet we have the potential to be food-secure.”

About one billion people worldwide were food insecure in 2009, according to estimates, with the food price crisis hitting millions. The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) Executive Director, Achim Steiner, told the conference, organized by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research and the Earth System Science Partnership, that the response to the crisis was similar to the cause of the problem. “We are reducing soil fertility, continuing to bank on water, increasing reliance on fertilizer… the emphasis cannot just be this both from an environmental and cost basis,” he said.

“We need to rethink agriculture as a platform from which the world will learn to ensure that 50 years from now we can produce food to feed nine billion,” he said.

“Clearly increasing yields is paramount, but we cannot look at the development of agriculture driven by the horizontal approach; slash-burn, moving to new frontiers ... this paradigm is deceptive. You only have so much for horizontal expansion.”

He proposed the “vertical expansion of agriculture” through methods such as plant breeding with perennial food crops, and improved farm management practices to increase soil fertility and moisture retention. Perennial crops are less disruptive to the soil structure as there is less tilling and they help trap nutrients.

If we can prove that a certain farming system is better at reducing carbon emissions, what is there to stop farmers from being paid for their efforts five to 10 years from now?

“Farming in the future will not just be about food production but other services rendered captured in an economic model. If we can prove that a certain farming system is better at reducing carbon emissions, what is there to stop farmers from being paid for their efforts five to 10 years from now?" Steiner posited. “By all means let us have a green revolution but let us give it a capital 'G' this time."

India’s experience

India saw food production rise from about 65 million tonnes in the 1960s to 230 million tonnes in 2008 due to higher yielding varieties, said Pramod Aggarwal of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. But large yield gaps remain, with India accounting for 25 and 40 percent of the world's hungry and malnourished women and children, respectively.

Aggarwal said improved crop, pest and risk management as well as changes in sowing dates, improved crop varieties; irrigation and fertilizer efficiency could further mitigate climate effects while increasing production.

William Clark, professor of international science and public policy at Harvard University, called for more field-based experimentation. “The world is changing in timescales faster than programmes and feedback. There is a need for safe spaces [for researchers] that encourage innovation,” Clark said.

“We need to acknowledge that work like this will be inefficient. We don’t have the map; we are inventing it as we go along… we should agree on a target rate of failure in R&D [research and development].”

He added that research ownership was crucial. “What research we can do reflects the power structure. When knowledge influences decisions, knowledge is power. Who sets the research agenda, who says what evidence counts, whose interests are science programmes actually and appearing to serve? Those who feel that their interests have not been taken into research are unlikely to accept the findings …”

Learning by doing

“We are at a stage where we need to learn quickly. Climate adaptation is a classic case of learning by doing,” Saleemul Huq, a senior fellow at the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), said. “We used to think of adaptation as localized. We are now thinking in-situ in the short term. Planned migration due to rising sea levels, where people may move further inland, may have to be considered in the long term. [We] need a new way although we don’t know what this new way is.”

He also urged climate and agriculture researchers to link up with universities to train practitioners. “Climate change is a vast area, no one can deal with it alone," he said.

At present, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development under its Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme has prioritized agriculture in four themes: sustainable land and water use, markets and infrastructure, food security, research and technology adoption, with countries expected to commit at least 10 percent of national budgets to agriculture.

FANRPAN’s Sibanda said: “We are excited by the new commitment [to agriculture] but time will tell whether there will be[an] impact and the impact will be to reduce the number of people going to bed hungry.”

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Source: IRIN - Burundi

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AFRICA: MPs push for continent-wide FGM/C ban

DAKAR Wednesday, May 05, 2010 (IRIN) - Parliamentarians from all over Africa are pushing for a continent-wide ban on female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and are calling on the UN to pass a General Assembly resolution appealing for a global FGM/C ban, as it violates human rights, they say.

Source: IRIN - Burundi

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BURUNDI: Returnees find a new place to call home

BURUNDI: Returnees find a new place to call home



Photo: Judith Basutama/IRIN A lack of land for farming is among the key challenges facing the returnee population in Nyakazi village, Makamba Province BUJUMBURA, 26 April 2010 (IRIN) - Just 2km from the Tanzanian border, the “integrated” rural village of Nyakazi in Kibago commune, Makamba Province, houses 198 families, 80 percent of whom are landless returnees.

The village is one of several set up in the southern region of Burundi to help in the reintegration of thousands of 1972 civil war returnees.

One, Phenias Gisahara, was repatriated from Tanzania in 2009, with his wife and four children, and returned to his village of origin in Bubanza (in the west) only to find his land occupied; a primary school and a hospital stood where his home used to be. He eventually found his way to Nyakazi.

Cases such as Gisahara's led to the creation of the integrated villages, said the UN Refugee Agency's (UNHCR) representative in Burundi, Clémentine Nkweta-Salami.

"They [the returnees] were happy to repatriate, but had no relatives. To them, Ruyigi [in the northeast], or any other area for that matter, does not mean anything," said Nkweta-Salami.

The villages are built on the concept of peace villages, which were meant to foster healing and reconciliation among the country's three ethnic groups - Hutu, Tutsi and Twa - at the end of a prolonged civil war.

Shared social facilities such as schools are provided in the villages to encourage integration with neighbouring communities. Sports and meetings are also organized.

However, there have been challenges, such as lack of access to health facilities and water due to implementation delays.

"The idea behind the rural integrated villages was to make them development poles for returnees and the communities surrounding them. They were meant to facilitate peaceful cohabitation with services accessible to residents and others; we therefore have to honour our pledges," Marceline Bararufise, Rutana Governor, said.

Access to land has also proved an obstacle to reintegration. At Nyakazi, about half the households have access to land for farming, said the site head, Boniface Rambo.

But even the available land comes with challenges. "We went to farm and some people brought machetes. If you plant cassava they uproot the crop. We fled an ethnic conflict but now we may face land conflict," said Gisahara.

This is leading to hopelessness, he said. "If we are begging now knowing that we will harvest one day or another we would keep the courage," he said.

Lack of work

A lack of jobs is also a concern. Uzia Nishimwe arrived in Nyakazi from Rogombo commune in the northwestern Cibitoke Province in early April and fears her food ration is running out.

"I don’t know what I will do after [the food runs out]. It seems here they live on petty jobs but we do not know where to go since we are new," said the mother of two.

Some of the returnees cross into Tanzania in search of work.

Planned income-generating activities have yet to start pending the release of funds, said a UN Development Programme (UNDP) field adviser, Matteo Frontini. The list of expected beneficiaries has also still to be validated.

Health matters

Returnees are forced to walk at least 12km to the nearest health centre or across the border into Tanzania. A lack of birth certificates is preventing children under five from accessing free treatment.

The International Medical Corps organizes weekly mobile clinics in the villages, said the Rutana promotion of health coordinator, Aloys Ndikuriyo.

Four hospitals have been identified in the southern provinces of Bururi, Makamba and Rutana to offer free medical care to the returnees, Chantal Hatungimana, the director of repatriation in the Ministry of National Solidarity, said.

At present, only three hospitals in the capital, Bujumbura, offer free care, locking out many returnees and vulnerable people in the provinces.

Work in progress

The villages are encouraging those without relatives in Burundi to repatriate.

"They raise hope and motivate people to repatriate. They [the returnees] see that even if there are still problems, they will get shelter. Otherwise where would they go?" the head of UNHCR in Makamba, Kouyou Wella said.

Nyakazi is one of 10 rural integrated villages, housing not only returnees but also vulnerable community members identified by the local administration.

A 6ha village is under construction at Nyabigina area, also in Makamba, which will host 200 families once completed in May.

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Source: IRIN - Burundi

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In Brief: IRIN named Webby Honoree for film series

In Brief: IRIN named Webby Honoree for film series



Photo: David Gough/IRIN HIV Hero: Catholic Bishop Kevin DowlingNAIROBI, 14 April 2010 (IRIN) - IRIN has been named a Webby Honoree in the 14th Annual Webby Awards.

Hailed as the "Internet's highest honour" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards are the leading international accolade for excellence on the Internet.

IRIN was recognised for its series, Heroes of HIV, profiling people involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Their stories are sometimes sad, sometimes uplifting, always inspiring.

IRIN Director Ben Parker said: "It's great to get the recognition - our team works hard to make a difference covering difficult places and topics - but watch the films to meet some real heroes."

Webby Award winners are selected by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, whose members are the industry’s leading experts; this year the academy received over 8,000 entries.

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Source: IRIN - Burundi

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AFRICA: Donors spend more for health, governments less

AFRICA: Donors spend more for health, governments less



Photo: Gnerk/Flickr Whose money is behind health care spending? DAKAR, 8 April 2010 (IRIN) - In Africa government spending on health care, as a percentage of national expenses, rose just 0.3 percent from 2001 to 2007, while donor funding of the sector during the same period increased from 15.3 to 20.1 percent, according to a review of 52 African countries’ health spending by The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

In the 1990s donors spent US$7.5 billion on health care worldwide, $21.8 billion in 2007.

Below are some highlights from the report:

Donors covered 43 percent of health care expenses in Ethiopia in 2006, up four times from 2002. Over the same period donor backing for health care in Benin dropped 10 percent to 13.4 percent

Donors spent $43.74 per person in development assistance to health (DAH) in Namibia in 2007 versus 65 US cents in Mauritius

DAH increased the most in East Africa from 2002 to 2006 (19.6 to 28.4 percent), versus 22 percent in West and Central Africa, 20.3 percent in Southern Africa and 11.5 percent in North Africa

In 2007 half of African countries set aside at least 5 percent of their national income for health care

 In 2007 seven African countries spent less than 5 percent of total budgets on health care, compared to eight in 2001

Patients in Africa’s lowest income countries paid out-of-pocket for more than half their health care, with governments pitching in 46 percent

By 2007 four countries had met or all but met the Abuja Declaration goal of spending 15 percent of annual budgets on health: Burkina Faso (14.8 percent), Botswana (17.3 percent), Djibouti (15.1 percent) and Rwanda (18.8 percent). Liberia and Malawi had exceeded the target in 2006 at 16.4 and 18 percent, respectively, but then dropped to 6.4 and 12.1 percent in 2007

 Botswana and Rwanda had the biggest jumps in health care spending as a percentage of overall expenses from 1999 to 2007 – 8.9 and 9.7 percent, respectively, while Ghana and Benin had the largest drops – 6.1 and 3.6 percent

Nigeria spent 3.5 percent of its 2007 budget on health care, a nearly 2-percent drop since 1999. The oil sector has accounted for more than 80 percent of government revenue, according to Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative  

Report authors note that a failure to report by some donors and governments (latest data available for Somalia from 2001) precludes accurate and complete analysis.

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Source: IRIN - Burundi

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In Brief: Get free life-saving information on child health

In Brief: Get free life-saving information on child health



Photo: Guy Oliver/IRIN Health for mother and childJOHANNESBURG, 8 April 2010 (IRIN) - The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has launched the fourth edition of "Facts for Life", a handbook filled with information that could save the lives of some nine million children across the globe who die from preventable and treatable illnesses every year before they reach the age of five.

"Through simple messages, Facts for Life aims to bring vital knowledge to parents and caregivers, who are the first line of defence in protecting children from illness and harm," Ann Veneman, Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said at the launch in Maseru, capital of Lesotho, on 7 April.

Since its initial publication in 1989 some 15 million copies in 215 languages have been circulated worldwide, providing practical advice on pregnancy, childbirth, common childhood illnesses, child development, early learning, parenting, protection, care, and support for children.

"Pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria, measles and AIDS together account for half of all deaths of children under age five," Veneman said. "These diseases are largely preventable, and sometimes it is a simple lack of knowledge that causes these deaths. Facts for Life helps bridge that information gap."

The new version of Facts for Life, a co-publication by UNICEF, other UN agencies and the World Bank, has added a section on newborn health, and a new chapter on child protection. The book is available here: www.factsforlifeglobal.org.

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Source: IRIN - Burundi

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In Brief: Earthquake early warning toads

In Brief: Earthquake early warning toads



Photo: Karamell  The common Toad (Bufo bufo) is said to sense seismic activityJOHANNESBURG, 1 April 2010 (IRIN) - Keeping an eye on the toads in your neighbourhood could give you a five-day head start in the event of massive seismic activity, says a new study published by the Zoological Society of London in the Journal of Zoology, but don't put one in a jar on your desk just yet.

Researchers from the UK's Open University reported that 96 percent of common male toads (Bufo bufo) in a population had abandoned their breeding site five days before a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck L'Aquila in central Italy in 2009.

"Our study is one of the first to document animal behaviour before, during and after an earthquake. Our findings suggest that toads are able to detect pre-seismic cues such as the release of gases and charged particles, and use these as a form of earthquake early warning system," said Dr Rachel Grant, lead author of the report.

Other environmental changes that affect toad behaviour, like lunar phases and changing weather conditions, were accounted for during the mass exodus from the breeding site, 74km from the earthquake's epicentre.

Michelle Grobbelaar, Seismology Analyst at the South African Council for Geoscience, said reports of animals exhibiting unusual behaviour before a catastrophic natural disaster were not uncommon, but the practical implementation of using animals for forewarning would be tricky. "How reliable is it going to be? There are lots of things that make animals react in strange ways," she told IRIN.

Most of the evidence for animals exhibiting strange behaviour - anywhere from weeks to seconds before an earthquake - has been anecdotal.

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Source: IRIN - Burundi

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EAST AFRICA: Cassava comes in from the cold

EAST AFRICA: Cassava comes in from the cold



Photo: African Crops Agronomists who hope to unlock casava's potential by capitalising of its utility as a source of products such as animal feed, glue, bio-fuel, and glucose syrupNAIROBI, 8 June 2010 (IRIN) - Perishable, poisonous if mishandled and reputedly fit only for the plates of the poor, the cassava plant is set for an east African makeover by agronomists who hope to unlock its potential as a cash crop with a host of industrial uses. The key, they say, is to add value locally.

A programme led by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Farm Concern International (FCI), and various partners aims to improve the food security of small-scale farmers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The hope is also to capitalise on cassava’s utility as a source of products such as animal feed, glue, bio-fuel, and glucose syrup. New varieties with higher yields, less cyanide and better resistance to drought and disease are part of the project.

“We are planning to set up 120 village processing units [which chip, dry and grate] within the next three years and to reach about 30,000 farmers who will learn how to increase commercial cassava production and to process it,” Kennedy Okech, programme manager of FCI, told IRIN.

Farmers will be encouraged to switch from growing maize to cassava, with up to half the tuber crop going to industrial use.

While cassava copes with drought and poor soil better than other crops, in east Africa “it has been marginalised because of its perishability if improperly treated. It also requires extensive processing to eliminate poisonous potassium cyanide,” Stefano Sebastaini Kuoko, of Tanzania’s Horticulture Research Institute (HRI), told IRIN. Cassava cannot be stored safely without drying and processing.

The project will benefit from the work of Joseph Kamau, who has developed more than a dozen improved varieties of cassava at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute. His team is developing varieties that mature quicker and contain more proteins.

Kamau explained that the concentration of cyanide in cassava increases as temperatures fall and decreases as the tuber dries. As a result, cassava is particularly poisonous during rainy seasons.

“We are working on crops with less cyanide to support the safety of consumers. Through our improved seeds, farmers have seen the advantages of generating income from selling cassava produce,” Kamau told IRIN.



Photo: Hugo Rami/IRIN

A woman sells cassava at a market: Cassava requires extensive processing to eliminate poisonous potassium cyanide - file photo

Paying for school fees

At the Nairobi launch of the project, Karen Nasubo, a Ugandan farmer, told IRIN she was already a convert.

“I’d always thought that when there is maize in the markets, cassava doesn’t sell. [But] for the past two years I have been using the improved crop variety, MH97/2961, resistant to drought, pests and with a maturation period of eight months. In one year I produce 7MT to 8MT of cassava per acre [0.4ha] from which I earn about 1,500,000 Tanzanian shillings [US$1,034]. With the money I make from the commercialization of cassava, I could send my kids back to school.”

Kenyan farmer Everlyne Oswat said cassava had suffered from the lack of a sustainable market. “Farmers used to sell individually and at their own prices. In some [times] of the year there is a surplus while in others there is nothing. This programme will help farmers learn the times to plant and harvest for more sustainable production.”

While the village-owned processing units are designed to deliver advantageous economies of scale to buyers, savings schemes partnered with commercial banks will also be established to offer the credit required to purchase inputs.

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Source: IRIN - Burundi

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In Brief: Starved for Attention

JOHANNESBURG Friday, June 04, 2010 (IRIN) - Don't wait for severely malnourished children to turn up at therapeutic feeding centres in a developing country, rather prevent this by providing them with nutritious food aid, international medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) told donors and governments this week.

Source: IRIN - Burundi

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CHAD: X-raying the desert for water

CHAD: X-raying the desert for water



Photo: IRIS Instruments Hunting for waterGOZ BEIDA, 3 June 2010 (IRIN) - Geologists are using technology known as magnetic resonance sounding (MRS) to take "x-rays" of the ground to find new water sources in eastern Chad, where more than 300,000 refugees from neighbouring countries have arrived in recent years.

"Given water shortages, we do not have time to search for water with only classical methods," said Jean Bertrand, president of France-based IRIS Instruments, which manufactures the equipment and has trained experts working in Chad to use this technology to find water.

Methods used to search for groundwater typically look at how rocks react to radar and electrical currents, which could lead to false readings of the presence of water, said Bertrand.

"This [magnetic resonance sounding] is direct prospecting, whereas with other geophysical studies we get indirect signs on whether or not there is water. Here, a sign of water means there is water, which means less unnecessary drilling," said Pierre Michel Vincent, a hydrologist who recently worked with the Ministry of Water and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Chad.

"Only one out of three boreholes drilled in Chad produces water," he told IRIN. Magnetic resonance sounding sends electrical currents through the earth in search of hydrogen atoms, which gives a reading of how much water rocks hold. "This technique identifies where water is more quickly than traditional geophysical studies."

Need

Refugees who have fled Sudan and Central African Republic constitute 35 percent of eastern Chad's estimated 700,000 population, according to the most recent census. Hydrologist Vincent said there was not enough information on half of the 4,000 recorded water points in the area to know if they still produced water.

We could drill 500 more wells now and still not have enough water

People from local communities as well as refugees struggle to find half the recommended 15 to 20 litres of water per day for drinking, cooking and bathing, and many were only able to secure six litres a day on average, said UNHCR.

"There is not enough water to provide for the expanded population - we could drill 500 more wells now and still not have enough water," Vincent told IRIN in October 2009.

Erratic and insufficient rainfall in 2009 meant Chad produced 34 percent less food than in 2008, which has wiped out livestock and placed two million at risk of hunger in the country, the government noted.

The eastern town of Iriba, which hosts 55,000 refugees, received 135mm of rainfall in 2009 compared to 1950, when it received three times as much, according to state records.

Constraints



Photo: IRIS Instruments

Searching for water through sounding in Goz Beida, October 2009

Equipment manufacturer Bertrand told IRIN the entire sounding kit weighed around 350kg, required training, and cost US$180,000. In the past five years, groups in Mauritania, Algeria, Morocco, Rwanda, Niger, Burkina Faso, South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia have purchased magnetic resonance sounding equipment.

Its drawbacks are that it can only read 150 metres into the ground, and readings are sensitive to electromagnetic signals and power lines, which made readings in cities difficult, Bertrand said.

After training in Goz Beida last October, IRIS Instrument and aid workers identified a promising location for water right outside the city, located 200km south of the eastern town Abéché. Oxfam Intermonde, a global relief NGO, is studying drilling prospects.

Bertrand said sounding complemented current groundwater search techniques, and might not be right for all situations. "If you can cure an illness with an aspirin, then there is no need to order the x-ray. But with worsening water shortages, different techniques need to be considered. The challenge and goal of groundwater exploration is to use the least amount of money to find as much water as possible."

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Source: IRIN - Burundi