IFAD backs cassava flour in bread and confectionery initiative

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is supporting the inclusion of cassava flour in bread and other confectioneries as part of efforts to improve food security and the livelihoods of farmers especially those in the rural areas.

This follows the launching of two projects under IFAD grant: Enhancing the Competitiveness of the High Quality Cassava Flour Value Chain (HQCF) in West and Central Africa; and Improving Quality, Nutrition and Health Impacts of Inclusion of Cassava Flour in Bread Formulation in West Africa (Nigeria and Ghana).

The projects will among others support the generation, dissemination and adoption of improved technologies for cassava production and processing; develop and pilot-test a set of integrated best-bet options for HQCF production and promote market access to secondary products; and develop and promote appropriate evidence-based models for sustainable value chain development for African agricultural commodities using HQCF production and processing.

Dr Alfred Dixon, Project Leader for the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture’s project on Sustainable Weed Management Technologies for Cassava Systems in Nigeria, said the two IFAD-funded projects were timely in view of Africa’s comparative advantage in cassava production.

He described cassava as a poverty fighter, and stressed that improving the utilization of the crop, and scaling up/out processing technologies would help Africa address the issue of poverty and hunger on the continent.

“Africa has a comparative advantage in cassava production… so let us use cassava to get what we want,” he said in Lagos at the launch of the projects.

Grown mostly by small scale farmers, cassava is a source of livelihood to about 600 million people in the developing world including Africa, Asia and Latin America. However, the value chain of the root crop is under developed and coupled with the relative high perishability of the crop, farmers in Africa are yet to exploit the full potential of the crop in terms of livelihoods improvement.

In recent times, researchers from IITA and partners successfully baked bread using 40 percent cassava in wheat flour, providing an alternative source of raw material for makers of bread and other confectionery.

IFAD sees the inclusion of cassava in bread/confectionery as a major step that would address food insecurity, create jobs especially for rural youths, and incomes.

“Our expectation is that these projects will touch the lives of rural poor farmers,” Dr Malu Ndavi, Senior Program Officer, IFAD said.

He urged implementers and partners to work together towards ensuring that the project’s goals and objectives were delivered on time.

The 18-month project on cassava is for increasing nutrition and health impacts.

Global leaders hail new economic model by Ghanaian

The Omanhene of New Juaben Traditional Area, Daasebre Prof. Oti Boateng, has presented a dynamic global economic development model to fellow United Nations Commissioners to garner support for the initiative.

The concept paper dubbed: the “Root-Based Economic Development (r-BED) Model” has received a landmark boost from fellow UN Commissioners.

Chairman of the United Nations International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), Kingston P. Rhodes, received the concept paper in Rome, Italy, where the Commission is currently holding its 79^th Session.

The initiative was originally presented at the World Forum of Academics in Cambridge University, England, in August 2010 and the same year presented to the UN Secretary-General to influence a new global development order.

The initial presentation received the recognition of high-profile institutions across the world as a bold attempt to register an African creative intellectual footprint in global development.

The current r-BED Model concept which embodies multiple models and a planning framework for implementation is expected to attract major global attention upon its promotion.

The r-BED Model is to be piloted as Ghana’s home-grown economic development model to incubate community-led, entrepreneurial lessons for Africa and the rest of the developing world.

According to Daasebre, there is a global consensus for change in the direction of development from the expert-led economic growth paradigm in favour of a mass-oriented grassroots economic development regime, particularly in the African region. 

He has indicated that the r-BED Model is an African intellectual response to a critical global development need.

Mr. Rhodes said he has been personally impressed with Daasebre’s industry and enthusiasm to make a global impression from the African perspective and called for the Commissioners to promote this new model as the new theme model to introduce change in the existing growth-development order.

He pledged the Commissioners’ support for the initiative and prayed that major stakeholders in Ghana would equally embrace this new found model to make a statement for the rest of the world.

The President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Mr. Kanayo F. Nwanze, also welcomed the new initiative at a reception hosted by IFAD at its headquarters in Rome.

He noted that the r-BED Model would support the work of IFAD which invests in people and in the transformation of rural space.

Dr. Evelyn Anita Stokes-Hayford, Ghana’s Ambassador to Italy and permanent representative to FAO, WFP and IFAD, has also embraced the r-BED Model as having great potential for Africa and the developing world.

The Root-Based Economic Development (r-BED) Model is a joint intellectual endeavour between Daasebre Oti Boateng and Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, a development expert.

The Model is currently being promoted under a new institutional establishment dubbed: Oti Boateng-Azongo Development Institute (OB-ADI).

The r-BED Model is a systemic integrated communal development model utilizing time-tested indigenous institutions of governance and internalized community support systems to build self-secured local economies.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Commercializing agricultural research for high productivity in Ghana

Agricultural products and technologies developed by Ghanaian researchers under the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) are not shelved but impacting on production levels of farmers and agro processors.

Director-General of the Council, Dr. Abdulai Baba Salifu, rather contends that the challenge is commercialization and large-scale production of the improved crop varieties to increase access to such products.

“The new push now is for greater commercialization and therefore we would very much like to partner the private sector to ensure that all the nice technologies that we’ve developed come to good use to that more people can get access,” he stated.

The Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the CSIR has developed and released over 90 improved food crop varieties for Ghanaian farmers and consumers since the 1970s. These include maize, cowpea, soybean, groundnut, rice, plantain, banana, pepper, yam, cassava, sweet potato and cocoyam.

To increase awareness of the Institute’s contribution to agricultural productivity in the country, the CSIR-CRI has held as Open Day in Kumasi to showcase improved technologies developed to support increased agricultural production and nutrition in Ghana as well as deepen relationships with major stakeholders in agricultural research and development.

 

The researchers, policy makers, farmers, industrialists and other users of research results had an opportunity to interact as they visited research fields and laboratories at the Institute.

The Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, acknowledged the agricultural research activities conducted by CSIR-Crops Research Institute provide great opportunities for long term poverty alleviation and food security in Ghana.

A statement from the Ministry however says the competitiveness of agricultural products from Ghana on the world market has been low because the crops are mostly produced and processed mainly at the subsistence level and not as commercial products.

“The public sector’s efforts to commercialize these crops and their products have been minimal and not quite effective. The challenge now then is how to commercialize and improve the competitiveness of our crops and other products on the market to help small-holder farmers who depend on the crops for their livelihoods,” it said.

Ghana is self sufficient in roots and tuber crops production – cassava, yam, sweet potato and cocoyam – which contribute 46% of the agricultural GDP. Ghana currently produces over 50% of cereals – maize and rice.

The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) believes with the right policy environment, the research capacity exists within the CSIR to drastically reduce the huge annual import bill for rice.

According to Dr. Baba Salifu noted Ghanaian food crops are comparable to global brands, especially grain quality.

He observed that “some market women sometimes do bag our improved varieties, label them and sell them as imported grain,” due to the public obsession for foreign products.

“I will entreat Ghanaian consumers that most of the food commodities that you eat these days are originated by your Ghanaian scientists… there is no beans that you’re going to eat or buy from the market that was not developed by the CSIR,” said Dr. Salifu.

He added that some agro industries are also using the improved varieties as raw materials for processing.

The scientists are also concerned with “healthy seed for healthy plants” and therefore develop breeder seeds – including other planting materials – and release them to the Grains and Legumes Development Board of MOFA for foundation seed production. 

“The process continues until our farmers obtain certified seed for planting,” says Dr. Hans Adu-Dapaah, Director of the CSIR-CRI.

“We have played a part in moving the government agenda of achieving food security and improved livelihood for the people of this country forward,” noted Dr. Hans Adu-Dapaah, Director of the CSIR-CRI, adding that the Institute “would continue to put in our maximum effort for the advancement of agriculture and achievement of food security”.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

SMIDO secures financial facility towards industrial complex project

The Suame Magazine Industrial Development Organization (SMIDO) has secured a Gh₵10million financial facility towards transforming the Suame light industrial area into a top-flight industrial estate.

Dubbed ‘the Suame Magazine Industrial Development (SMID) Fund’, the private facility is from diverse corporate financial partners to develop a new site to accommodate the artisans.

Managed by the United Pension Trustees, it will also provide syndicated financial services for the development of Suame Magazine in Kumasi – an enclave renowned for production of light engineering parts as well as automobile repairs and maintenance.

The SMID Fund arrangement, according to Consultant to SMIDO, Nyaaba-Aweeba Azongo, is strictly reserved for artisans and workers within all fitting workshop clusters in Kumasi.

“Every registered SMID Fund member is entitled to an industrial space and structure, special health insurance cover, pension and life assurance, savings and investment and access to loans for enterprise development and welfare purposes as a one-product financial arrangement for all artisans,” he stated.

The ambitious comprehensive private health insurance plan – SMID Health Care – will provide an annual health insurance cover of Gh₵12,000 for all artisan members registered under the SMID Fund.

Mr. Azongo, who doubles as the Executive Secretary of the SMID Fund, has disclosed that arrangements on the first phase of the 500 acres out of the 1000 acre target land have been concluded for the commencement of the industrial complex project.

The artisan community is therefore encouraged to register under the SMID Fund to enable them access the industrial space at Kodie-Adubinsu-kese.

Mr. Azongo indicated that the project would be developed in phases for progressive resettlement of the artisans. The first phase of the resettlement scheme is expected to begin by the last quarter of 2015.

President of SMIDO, Sarpong Boateng, has called on the artisans to embrace the SMID Fund initiative “since that remains the only guarantee to a secured future for the artisans and their families and the security of their trade”.

Vice- President of the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, Nana Dr. Appiagyei Dankawoso I, has lauded the SMID Find initiative as the best financial model for the informal sector.

He called expects all stakeholders to ensure the success of the scheme since the development of Suame magazine, noting that the success of the model is key to the industrialization of the Country.

The Akyempimhene of Kumasi, Oheneba Aduse-Poku commended the leadership of SMIDO in resolving the land issue which had been a major challenge in advancing the project.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh 

Africa Must Think – changing from chicken to eagle mindset

When asked what it will take to change the face of Africa, Dr. Samuel Koranteng-Pipim’s answer is “Africa Must Think”.

The US-based Ghanaian author, inspirational speaker and leadership trainer believes “if we don’t think, someone will be doing the thinking for us”.

He therefore expects Africans to move from the chicken mindset to an eagle mindset; from mediocrity to excellence.

According to him, the solution to Africa’s problems is not for the politician, religious leader or traditional ruler but with the individual self.

“We can change the face of Africa by being changed,” he says.

Dr. Koranteng-Pipim’s Empowerment and Advisory Group for Leadership, Excellence and Service (EAGLES) is breeding “a grassroots movement of dedicated Africans who have made a commitment to being changed so that they can be agents of transformative change”.

The goal is to empower Africans to make commitment to excellence in their fields of endeavor.

“Our problem is not the African mind but the African mindset; it is not a lack of resources but a deficit of resourcefulness; the heart of the African problem is the African heart which must be changed,” he noted.

In his “Africa Must Think” book, Dr. Koranteng-Pipim, has observed that “instead of raining millionaires and billionaires, we’ve succeeded in producing nillionaires (people with a lot of nothing or people with next to nil). The richest continent in the world is inhabited by the poorest people on the globe. Mediocrity is the new standard of excellence. PHD means ‘Pull Him Down’ or ‘Pull Her Down’. We excel at hammering those who stand out. And we clip the wings of our souring eagles so they can become chickens like us. This is Africa. It is not the Africa that ought to be”.

The Africa Must Think Lecture Series has been instituted to inspire and empower a new crop of Ghanaians and Africans to be instruments of positive change in society – in thought and action.

The leadership development and empowerment program has the ultimate goal of improving the quality of solutions offered to solve socio-economic problems facing the African continent.

Dr. Koranteng-Pipim has noted that a time is coming unless Africans take time to plan intentionally, the problems would be compounded.

“Africa cannot continue outsourcing its thinking process to others, while it remains content to daydream about the past, complain about its present, and worry about its future,” he stated.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh 

From gold to ghost towns – salvaging resource rich communities in Ghana

Some extractive industry watchers are skeptical about AngloGold Ashanti’s return to mine in Obuasi after its announced two year break to restructure operations.

The mine has been put under “care and maintenance” following operational losses recorded in recent times, a situation that has resulted in the retrenchment of over 5,000 employees.

“Basically we have some challenges with the production levels and the cost of production is also high, the gold price has gone down so there is the need to re-strategize and see how the mine can become profitable in the future,” said Aboagye Ohene Adu, Senior Manager in charge of Sustainability at the AGA Obuasi Mine.

But Dr. Steve Manteaw of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC) is cynical about the company’s come back.

“In my view you could still re-strategize without closing shop; scale down your operations and then you do your re-strategizing before scaling up your operations,” he observed. “I guess it would have been more difficult for government to accept and allow them to go if they said they were closing shops for good and I think the easier way would be to say ‘we are putting the whole mine under care and maintenance’ such that, in terms of the negotiations around that it would be much easier for them to exit.”

 

The inherent danger, according to Dr. Manteaw, is that the mining concession could be opened up to illegal mining or ‘galamsey’ invasions which could affect future prospective investor’ attraction.

However, based on the existing 6.5 million ounces of ore deposits currently available at Obuasi, Mr. Ohene Adu is positive gold prospecting in Obuasi could thrive for at least 17 years if AngloGold’s redevelopment is properly undertaken.

“We are trying to put in certain initiatives in partnership with the government to ensure that the communities here also become sustainable as we move along,” he said.

The AngloGold Ashanti mine is the backbone of the economy of the Obuasi municipality and four other adjourning districts as well as a key foreign exchange earner for Ghana.

Apart from the impact of the latest development on direct employment, peripheral services that feed off and depend on the mine would be hardest hit. The company would also withdraw funding of existing social services in the areas of health, education and sports.

Woes of local mining communities

Sanso is a predominant mining community in Obuasi. Local assembly representative, Benjamin Annan, says livelihoods are negatively impacted because there are no alternatives to mining for local communities.

“When the mining was underground, we were not having problems because we are farmers, but now surface mining has affected our farms. Now Sanso is ghost town; we can’t farm, we can’t have access to the mine because we’re not skilled labour and our source of livelihood – artisanal mining – is also closed,” he complained.

AngloGold has been engaging interest groups to offer alternative livelihoods that would protect local communities from turning into ghost towns, says Mr. Ohene Adu.

“The company alone cannot take the burden,” he noted, stating that some local economic initiatives are being thought through to create employment opportunities.

Richard Ellimah, a community rights activist and Executive Director of NGO, Centre for Social Impact Studies (CeSIS), says the company’s two year break is an opportunity to begin the process of designing an alternative industrialization programme for Obuasi.

“It was a long term decision we should have made. Everybody should have understood that there will come a time when the mining company will fold up; either they will find mining no longer profitable and they’ll leave or the ore will get depleted,” he observed.

According to Mr. Ellimah, Obuasi can sail through the current crisis if sustainable small scale mining is promoted alongside agriculture.

He therefore wants the Minerals Commission and AngloGold Ashanti to consider ceding off part of the mining concession for small scale miners to begin operations.

“If we have people in town who have the requisite capital and want to do mining, there should be available land for them to do their mining because for small scale miners, their operations don’t generate so much cost and they are indigenous companies who would not just fold up because gold price has fallen and the money will stay in the town,” stated Mr. Ellimah.

The Obuasi Municipal Assembly is already looking forward to improved working relations with AngloGold Ashanti when the mine is reopened for business.

Isaac Appiah Nsiah, Municipal Budget Officer, expects that “there should be more transparency with regard to how we generate revenue and how the communities are going to benefit from that. The Assembly itself is going to open up to the communities so that they would also know what they are getting from AGA and what we are utilizing the money for.”

Integrating mining into national economy

Nana Owusu Akyew Brempong of the Adansi Traditional Council is seeking divine intervention for AngloGold Ashanti to resume operations after the downscaling exercise “because we have suffered a lot and the Lord will change things for us”.

Ghana has failed to integrate its gold resource into the national economy after over 100 years of commercial mining.

Dr. Steve Manteaw says the Obuasi experience is a bitter lesson for Ghana to ensure that the extractives sector serves as conduit for sustainable development.

“When you as a policy want to integrate the resource into the rest of the economy, then you want to make a departure from collecting your royalties in cash to collecting them in kind as raw material gold so that you supply that raw material gold to the domestic jewelry making industry; when you do that you’ll be creating jobs, you’ll also be creating tax opportunities for financing local and national development”, said the ISODEC Coordinator.

In adding value to Ghana’s gold exports, Dr. Manteaw added that there is a multiplying benefit of integrating gold into the local economy, including tourism, as people troop to Ghana to experience the reflections of the “Gold Coast”.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh 

Ghana EITI to explore impact of mining on local economy – Obuasi under spotlight

The bumpy deplorable road leading to the gold city of Obuasi in the Ashanti region depicts a worrying state of an area that has played a significant role in Ghana’s economic development.

For over 100 years, mining at Obuasi has been a major contributor to the country’s foreign exchange earnings – mining has contributed an average $2billion to government’s revenue in the past five years.

Mining communities however complain the industry has failed to deliver tangible benefits for local people.

“They should hear the communities cry,” wailed Madam Gifty Owusu Afriyie, who represents Tutuka Central electoral area in the Obuasi Municipal Assembly. “Children are suffering and women too are suffering because they have to travel a long way before they can fetch some water.”

Concerns are rife that the government has used up revenue from mining without recourse to addressing the development challenges of local mining communities.

The quality of spending minerals revenue by local assembly authorities has been questioned. For instance, the Obuasi Municipal Assembly in 2007 constructed the Obuasi Entrance Arch at a cost of Gh₵89,000 whilst local people yearn for good road network, potable water, quality healthcare and education.

The next Ghana Report on the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) would be keen on how the mining sector has negatively or positively impacted on the economy.

“If there is any community in Ghana that we all need to be concerned about the lessons, experiences and impact of mining, its Obuasi, especially in this moment that the company [AngloGold Ashanti] is in its critical state,” noted Emmanuel Kuyole, Africa Regional Coordinator, Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI).

AngloGold has put the Obuasi mine under what is termed as “care and maintenance”, following operational losses recorded in recent times.

The redevelopment of the concession has left over 5,000 workers losing their jobs – only 500 to 600 of the workforce are being maintained.

The two-year break is expected to cripple the ability of the Obuasi Municipal Assembly to generate enough revenue to finance local development projects – as much as 70 percent of the Assembly’s total property rate mobilization is from AngloGold Ashanti.

“We’re looking forward into how we can take advantage of the number of years that is left for mining to take place in Obuasi to actually develop a local economy that will be independent of the mine so that we can find jobs and grow other sectors and make sure that once mining comes to an end, the economy of this great place will also not come to an end,” stated Mr. Kuyole.

Obuasi and adjourning districts mined by AngloGold Ashanti are under the spotlight of a research by the Centre for Social Impact Studies (CeSIS), through the civil society oversight activity of the NRGI.

Under the Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GHEITI), interest groups have been analyzing the EITI reporting on sub-national revenue management and other benefits received at the local level.

The validation dialogue process involves industry players, local authorities, regulatory bodies, civil society and the media.

Major issues emanating from the discussion is the proper use and formula for sharing of mining royalties.

The consensus is that deprivation of local people of benefits from mineral resources could be disastrous as they sacrifice farms and livelihood sources for mining to thrive.

“Government must begin the process of addressing community challenges within the framework of its own development planning processes,” observed Richard Ellimah, Lead Researcher of CeSIS Study.

The EITI seeks to create the missing transparency and accountability in revenue flows from the extractive industry.

The 2012-2013 EITI Ghana Report will show the contribution of the extractives sector to the local economy, exploring how much revenue has been generated and its application.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh 

Aligning CSRs of mining firms with medium term plans of assemblies

Mining firms support community development through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, whilst expecting the government, through the local assembly, to deliver on socio-economic goods with the collected royalties.

But mining firms often bear the brunt of community agitations of deprivation – communities affected by mining would direct their concerns to miners than to the government.

Companies in the extractives industry should therefore be proactive in having inputs into the medium-term plans of local assemblies within their operational catchment, says Dr. Steve Manteaw of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC).

According to him, aligning CSR programmes with the assemblies’ development agenda will provide the impetus for coordinated project impact on communities.

“A lot of time you see abandoned projects in the name of corporate social responsibility just because the project was not thought through and not aligned with the development priorities of the districts,” he observed. “I see companies as essentially citizens and that is why they pay taxes and [individual] citizens also pay taxes; the distinction is companies are corporate citizens who also benefit from the expenditures of the assemblies; so in my view the companies ought to be part of the processes of determining the medium term priorities of the areas where they operate.”

 

Some Community social investments

Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL) between 2008 and 2012 contributed almost Gh₵30million to the Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation (NADeF) as commitment to supporting sustainable community development among the host communities.

Newmont contributes $1.00 per ounce of gold produced and one per cent of its annual net profit to the Foundation, which targets ten communities in the Asutifi North and Tano North Districts.

The NADeF has six main thematic areas of development, including Human Resources Development, Economic Empowerment, Infrastructural Development and Social Amenities. Others are Cultural Heritage and Sports, and Protection of Natural Resources.

The Foundation has completed and handed over about 60 infrastructural and social amenities including community libraries, teachers’ and nurses’ quarters, ICT centres and schools. 

A component Fund is invested as an endowment to help continue development projects after life of the mine. So far, an amount of GHC6.7million has been invested as Endowment Fund to sustain the Foundation’s activities beyond the life of the Ahafo mine.

Perseus Mining Ghana Limited in January 2012 started commercial production on its lead project, the Edikan Gold Mine (EGM) in Ghana.

The company has since established a Gh¢1.5million Edikan Fund to aid development projects in its catchment communities in the Western and Central regions.

AngloGold Ashanti also has a trust fund where the company invests 1% of its profit to drive development projects in local communities.

Aboagye Ohene Adu, Sustainability Manager at AngloGold Ashanti Obuasi Mine, says the company has already started engaging the local assembly on a regular basis to prevent duplication of projects “because it is a wasted effort if we are doing boreholes and they are also doing boreholes in the same community whilst we can channel the resources on other things”.

The CSR Guideline

The Minerals Commission has devised a Guideline to serve as a uniformed benchmark for development and assessment of corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes of miners.

But Dr. Manteaw says aligning the CSRs with the local assemblies’ medium term plans reduce social conflicts in mining communities.

 

“It could be in monetary terms or it could be part of taking up the responsibility of executing or providing some of the infrastructural needs of the society so that at least the society benefits from some of the corporate social responsibility expenditure of the companies,” he noted.

Story by Kofi Adu Domfeh

Ghana among African countries to access new Climate Investment Funds

Ghana is among nine African nations chosen to receive new funding and operational support from the Climate Investment Funds, under the CIF’s Scaling Up Renewable Energy in Low Income Countries Program (SREP).

The other countries are: Benin, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zambia – increasing the number of African countries piloting CIF climate-smart investment plans to 25, nearly half of all 55 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This was announced at the semi-annual Climate Investment Funds (CIF) governing body meetings held in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The African Development Bank (AfDB), one of the CIF’s five implementing agencies, worked with the countries to garner the support and will serve as implementing agency for the countries as they develop their new CIF investment plans.

“This move sends an impressive signal for change,” stated SREP co-chair Erastus Wahome, representative for Kenya, the first country to operationalize a CIF transformational geothermal program in Africa. “The additional donor support for energy transformation is a clear sign of confidence in the success we’ve already seen taking place in low-income countries in Africa and other regions, and a sign of developing countries’ continuing enthusiasm to commit to CIF-style transformation. I am proud that Kenya has helped lead the way for this transformation.”

An independent Expert Group selected the countries from a group of 40 countries expressing interest in joining the SREP. Some of the criteria used to select the countries included low energy access rates, existence of an enabling policy and regulatory environment, renewable-friendly energy development strategies, strong governance capacity, and capacity for implementation.

In their final decision, the SREP Sub-Committee agreed that it would provide up to $300,000 for each country to undertake development of an SREP investment plan.

At the meetings, the governing bodies also welcomed the appointment of Mafalda Duarte, the AfDB CIF coordinator, as the new global Programme Manager of the CIF effective August 4. 

Duarte also weighed in on the significance of the SREP decision, stating, “We are delighted at this vote of confidence and opportunity for starting a process leading up to new transformational investments in low-income countries’ in renewable energy. It is now incumbent on all of us to ensure that the new pilot countries can produce investment plans which are solidly linked to their own development goals and meet CIF criteria. As the new CIF Programme Manager, I am fully ready to ensure effective support to these countries at a level which meets their enthusiasm and commitment.”

First ever international conference on the Green Economy in the Global South

An international conference on Green Economy in the South is holding this week to critically examine different tools and approaches that inform Africa’s green economy strategies.

The conference is taking place at the University of Dodoma, Tanzania, hosted by the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies.

The momentum gathering behind the idea and practice of the Green Economy is coinciding with financial instability and continued economic woe in the North, but generally happier economic circumstances in the South.

Africa’s economies are growing and ‘green economic initiatives’ are part of these changes.

The three-day international conference will bring together researchers and activists mainly from the South to debate and learn different phenomena of green economic initiatives. These include carbon payments, ecotourism, community-based wildlife management, Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives and offsets by mining companies exploiting new resources which are all a part of a landscape offering new commodities, opportunities for commercialisation and integration into wealth-generating markets.

One of the aims of the event is to bring together field-based research with theoretical ideas about framing and context of Green Economy issues.

“We are convening it in Tanzania because we want the focus of this conference to be about the growth of Africa’s green economy initiatives. Africa’s expanding economy calls for initiatives that pave way for a better, more sustainable development,” says Thabit Jacob of University of Dodoma. 

This conference builds on a series of sister conferences held in Europe and North America. It is sponsored by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the UK Department for International Development (UKAID) and co-hosted by the Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), University of the Western Cape; the Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM), University of Manchester; the Institute for Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University; the Sustainability Platform, Copenhagen Business School (CBS); and the Future Agricultures Consortium.