Community outreach motivates Timeabu farmers to appreciate the business of farming

Farmers at Timeabu are excited at opportunities to improve their levels of production and productivity, following a community outreach program spearheaded by the Centre for Climate Change and Food Security (CCCFS), a not-for-profit organization.
 

The predominantly cocoa production community in the Ejisu-Juabeng Municipality of Ashanti region has in years past experienced challenges in accessing information and farm inputs to enhance their cocoa operations.

“We don’t even know which district is responsible for the marketing of our cocoa produce,” lamented local chief farmer, Mohammed Haruna.

Other production challenges faced by the over 100 farmers include erratic supply of pesticides, access to improved seedlings, poor marketing systems and upholding best agronomic practices.

The community outreach event offered a platform for the farmers to get their challenges addressed whilst shaping other perceptions and practices that impede higher production.

CCCFS engaged cocoa and agricultural officers to sensitize and help address the concerns of the farmers – some of the farmers had instant solutions to their issues, whilst others received assurance of a short-term intervention.

A Senior Research Officer at the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Fuad Abubakar, encouraged the farmers to desist from over- reliance on government for support but invest in their farming as a business.

"Treat it as any business venture and give it the all attention it needs. Surely, it will pay you back," he emphasized.

Mr. Abubakar said the farmers can position themselves to reap higher returns if they see their venture as any private business entity.

Bekwai District Cocoa Officer, Abednagao Asante, commended CCCFS for the initiative and promised to make available requested inputs by the farmers.

He acknowledged his responsibility to help turn around the fortunes of the farmers.

The farmers, at the end of the session, expressed renewed hope to turn round their fortunes with increased production in the seasons ahead.

"We promise ourselves that this will be the time for us to make farming a real business. We also promise to get better organized, and budget our time and money better on farming," said one of the farmers.

The Timeabu community is also challenged with access to electricity and teachers to handle the only primary school in the area, a situation they appeal for government’s support.

A stream, serving as the main source of drinking water for the community, has also been polluted from upstream as a result of illegal mining activities.

Board Member of the Centre for Climate Change and Food Security, Kofi Adu Domfeh, cautioned the farmers against giving away their farmlands for artisanal mining purposes if they are to be financially and environmentally secured.

“Don’t be lured to sell your lands for galamsey,” he said. “Yes, you may reap the benefit now but the real consequences of the activities may stay for ages; our lands, trees and water bodies are under threat of extinction and we need to secure the future for the next generation.”

Mr. Domfeh shared his experience from other countries where farmer cooperatives thrive and enjoined the local farmers to join forces to get issues addressed collectively.

CCCFS has committed to take the community outreach program to other deprived farming communities in Ghana.

The Centre’s goal is to empower depressed farming economies to be among the resolution-makers determined to make a difference for improved livelihoods.

 

CCCFS has other uniquely designed programs to promote environmental and climate change awareness in schools, and promote farming as a lucrative venture for young people.

These include ‘Food for Africa’, which involves a group of agriculture enthusiasts across Africa and beyond sharing ideas on a common platform to promote food production.

The centre also runs the ‘Young Aspiring African Farmers’ initiative.

African non-state actors tasked to be partners in national climate actions

African interest groups in the climate change discourse have welcomed the progress made at the last United Nations climate negotiations in Marrakech, Morocco for developing the pathway for implementation of the Paris Agreement.

There is however a call on African non-state actors to enhance cooperation and partnerships with African governments and development partners to intensify national climate actions in the implementation of the Paris Agreement.

At COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco in 2016, countries of the world demonstrated commitment for shifting the focus from negotiation to implementation of the provisions of the Paris Agreement.

Due to this reality, COP22 focused on how to make Paris agreement work by setting up mechanisms and structures that would facilitate its implementation.

Dubbed ‘COP of Action’, the Marrakech Climate Change Conference affirmed the trajectory the global leaders seek to follow in the climate-constrained world when they launched the Marrakech partnership for global climate action, coming on the backdrop on rapid ratification which saw the Agreement coming into force earlier than anticipated.

The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) hosted a regional consultative forum on Post-Marrakech and the implementation of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change in Kampala, Uganda, from April 19–22, 2017.

The consultation brought together participants from civil society, private sector, regional institutions such as United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Pan-African Parliament, youth and women representatives. 

The participants underscored the remarkable effort of PACJA in the coordination of CSO climate change policy processes and interventions across Africa with focused reflection and coordinated review of the climate change conference – COP 22 Marrakech – outcome and Paris Agreement regime.

The forum upheld the continent’s conviction of moving from commitment to action with Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) demonstrated by ratifying the Paris Agreement and its subsequent entry into force.

Participants expressed deep concern about “the continuous neglecting of adaptation needs of developing countries and inadequate levels of public climate finance, limited access to adaptation finance such demonstrated by the imbalance between financing of mitigation and adaptation within the Green Climate Fund”.

Concerns were also raised about the interference by developed countries on the African-led process of operationalizing the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative.

The forum called upon the Pan-African Parliament to strengthen the work of the African Climate Change Legislative Initiative by supporting countries to develop and implement climate change legislations as part of action to enhance implementation of the Paris Agreement.

The meeting acknowledging the continued efforts to enhance the gender agenda within the climate change discourse and the championing of youth engagement.

Participants also acknowledged the continued partnership with the African Group of Negotiators, Africa Ministerial Committee on Environment (AMCEN), Committee of African Heads of State and Government on Climate Change (CAHOSCC) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Climate Change will see terrorism thrive: Report

A new report has found that the complex risks arising from climate change, fragility and conflict can contribute to the emergence and growth of terrorist groups, like Boko Haram and ISIL.

The new report: “Insurgency, Terrorism and Organised Crime in a Warming World”, by Berlin-based think tank, Adelphi, found that climate change multiplies and interacts with existing threats, risks and pressures, like resource scarcity, population growth and urbanization.

Report author, Lukas Rüttinger, said these factors together could lead to fragility and violent conflict in which these groups can thrive.

“Already vulnerable areas could get pulled into a vicious cycle, leading to the rise of terrorist groups who will find it easier to operate, with consequences for us all,” Rüttinger said.

Terrorist groups are increasingly using natural resources – such as water – as a weapon of war, controlling access to it, further compounding and exacerbating resource scarcities. The scarcer resources become, the more power is given to those who control them, especially in regions where people are particularly reliant on natural resources for their livelihoods.

For example, around Lake Chad, climate change contributes to resource scarcities that increase local competition for land and water. This competition in turn often fuels social tensions and even violent conflict.

At the same time, this resource scarcity erodes the livelihoods of many people, aggravates poverty and unemployment, and leads to population displacement. Terrorist groups such as Boko Haram gain power in this fragile environment.

As climate change affects food security and the availability of water, and land, affected people will become more vulnerable not only to negative climate impacts but also to recruitment by terrorist groups offering alternative livelihoods and economic incentives.

Sometimes, terrorist groups try to fill the gap left by the state by providing basic services to build support among the local population. As climate impacts worsen, some states will increasingly struggle to provide services and maintain their legitimacy.

The report comes as famine, drought and war threaten millions in the region around Lake Chad, in Africa. On March 31, the UN Security Council passed a resolution on the Lake Chad region – home to Boko Haram – outlining their concern about the interplay of factors leading to the crisis there and calling for better collaboration amongst UN armed to deal with the situation.

The resolution, which also calls for the UNSG to issue a report on the crisis, came after UNSC ambassadors visited the region recently.

The report echoes the UN’s findings. It finds that dealing with climate change, boosting development and strengthening governments will reduce the threat of terrorism.

It also says climate action, development, counter terrorism strategies and peace building should be tackled together holistically – rather than in isolation which they are often are at present and which risks making each of the factors worse.

Other recommendations include improving the rule of law and strengthening local institutions to help reduce the risk that climate change presents to the rise and growth of terrorist groups, as well as being a core component of adaptation and peace building writ large.

People who are vulnerable to recruitment by terrorist groups are often reliant on agriculture for their livelihoods, so development efforts should focus on ensuring those livelihoods are sustainable in a changing climate.

Lastly, cities are often the pressure valve when climate, conflict and fragility occur – building resilient cities will therefore minimize the chances of tensions spilling over.

“A broader perspective will help to better address the root causes of the rise and growth of non-state armed groups,” Rüttinger said.

Trump’s Executive Order on Climate Change a great injustice to Mother Earth, Africa CSO

President Trump’s Executive Order on Climate Change will have far reaching impacts on many developing countries, especially in Africa, that are already bearing the brunt of the negative impacts of climate change.

African Civil Society, under the umbrella of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), says reversing the Obama climate plan is one of the greatest injustices and an onslaught on Mother Earth, especially in the fight against climate change.

The Energy Independence Executive Order, signed by US President, Donald Trump on March 29, 2017, has been hailed by groups in the fossil fuels business, but condemned by environmental campaigners as over a dozen measures enacted by President Obama to curb climate change have been suspended.

“Trump’s Climate Change Executive Order is rolling back the many years of global efforts that yielded the Convention and the Paris Agreement. The global community and other world leaders should resist the temptation of following the footstep of Trump to take the world several steps back in the fight against climate change,” said Mithika Mwenda, PACJA Secretary-General.

For a safer world, countries that are party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement will urgently need to raise their ambition to increase the level of their greenhouse emission reduction targets communicated to the UNFCCC and keeping the global temperature to below 1.5^OC.

The current aggregate level of the communicated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are estimated to lead to the average global temperature increase above 3⁰C by 2030, unless radical emissions reduction targets are urgently adopted by Parties.

The NDC of the United State of America submitted to the UNFCCC on March 31, 2015 commits USA to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 26%–28% below the 2005 level by 2025.

The US effort constitutes a part to the global comity of nations’ efforts to keep the planet safe.

“As one of the major contributors to the greenhouse gas emissions, the US continues to owe a huge ecological debt that can only be paid by the demonstration that it is committed to servicing this climate debt in an equitable, fair and just manner. Such efforts should align with the principle of Common But Differentiated Responsibility and Respective Capacity (CBDRC) of the Convention,” said a statement from PACJA.

African Civil Society is worried efforts to improve people’s vulnerability to climate change are being eroded by Trump’s Executive Order.

Currently, impacts of drought and famine in the Horn of Africa have led to deaths of humans and livestock in the region. Farmers in most parts of the Africa are feeling impacts of the changing climate in their agricultural production and productivity.

According to Sam Ogallah, Programme’s Manager at PACJA, Trump's action on climate change is likely to exacerbate the current migrant crisis.

"Climate change impacts are pushing many youth out of developing countries in search of better lives in developed countries. Some of these youth in an attempt to migrate to Europe have lost their lives. Addressing climate change in developing countries can go a long way to solving migrant crisis in Europe and other developed countries,” he said.

By Kofi Adu Domfeh