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By 2030, India would have 600 million vehicles on their roads, three times the current numbers leading to massive air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions unless it transitions rapidly to green vehicles. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

By Manipadma Jena
NEW DELHI, Dec 6 2019 (IPS)

Dogged by intractable air pollution debilitating large northern swathes from mainly urban vehicle emissions, India earlier this year announced targets for a 40 percent non-fossil component in its fuel-mix by 2030 as part of its Nationally Determined Commitments (NDC) to the Paris accord on climate change. It aims for full electrification of public transit systems and of one-third private vehicles by 2030.

• The G20 nations are the biggest polluters collectively responsible for 78 percent of total global emissions, with the top four emitters China, United States, European Union and India contributing more than 55 percent, states United Nations Emissions Gap Report 2019 released in November.
• As the climate conference in Madrid negotiates greenhouse gas reductions, if countries expect to achieve the 1.5°C and 2°C temperature targets of the Paris Agreement, the large 7.6 percent annual emissions reduction from 2020 to 2030 would be mainly determined by these large emitters, the report has stipulated.

While the Indian government’s intent is firm and EVs multi-dimensional benefits for India widely acknowledged, its ambitious transition to clean transportation is proving far from smooth.

Why India needs Electric Vehicles

By 2030, India would have 600 million on-road vehicles three times the current numbers, dominated by two-wheelers, fuelled mainly by 40 percent population in urban centres. Road transport accounts for around 11percent of total carbon emissions from fuel combustion.

Green private and shared public transportation can ensure clean air and better health for citizens, lower greenhouse gas emission, less road congestion and importantly reduced India’s dependence on imported crude oil, currently 80 percent of total use.

India EV transition priority is on public transport buses, four and three-wheelers for commercial use and as front-runners that can create public awareness and inclination to adopt clean and cheaper-in-the-long-run electric vehicles. 

EV sector that had seen its firstborn in 2010 and then sporadic new introductions without catching the buyers’ imagination or wallet, has been revived by this year’s national budget when the government heavily incentivised its demand by a slew of subsidies.

Hustled into activity by a government that means business this time and pressurised by the climate emergency, technical experts find there are serious infrastructural and policy gaps which need bridging before EVs can come on the roads to stay.

Where is the EV infrastructure?

The first of major hurdles is a near absence of battery charging infrastructure. India plans setting up at least one electric charging station every 3 square kilometres in earmarked metropolitan, one-milion-population and smart cities in the next three years till 2022.

The proposed 2,700 charging stations have been allocated $139,000, a good chunk of the total $1.4 billion budget, which also includes subsidies in the next 3 years under the government’s major EV scheme ‘Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric vehicles (FAME)’.

“But India is seeing the chicken and egg problem of which should come first – the charging facility or the EV,” said a study from Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, a Delhi-based clean energy policy non profit. “People will not buy an electric vehicle unless there are charging facilities. At the same time facilities do not make business sense unless there are vehicles to charge.”

EVs high acquisition price tag a deterrent

Notwithstanding government incentives, upfront costs of an EV four-wheeler is between 2-3 times higher compared to the same-segment internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.

A basic EV hatchback model – the usual ICE entry level car for Indian families comes in the price range of an ICE mid-range sedan at rupees 10-12 lakhs ($13,900 – $16,700) that most middle-class Indians may never buy in their lifetime.

While the Indian buyer remains hesitant, there is an undeniable forward movement in the EV sector. Several Indian EVs have entered the market since last year. Already more international big names are readying to introduce their EVs into India – today potentially one of the world biggest markets globally, owing to its large population particularly in the 25 – 35 working age group.

Electric three-wheelers have begun plying Delhi and Bengaluru roads targeting micro-mobility or short distance needs such as 3 to 5 kilometre. An example are Delhi metro rail users commuting between the station and their homes. These 3-wheelers’ fares are low because the cost to them is much lower than diesel-run cabs and tuk-tuks.

“Though upfront cost of EVs are high they have a lower operating cost as against fossil fuel whose price have been going up. Also, EVs have only 25 to 30 moving parts as opposed to over 2000 moving parts in an ICE vehicle, thereby being more reliable, with fewer breakdowns,” argue World Resource Institute-India (WRI) researcher team of the Shakti study.

Electric vehicle batteries let down buyers, must evolve fast

A single battery charge in EVs has limited a range of less than 200 kilometres. Accustomed to long distances on a full-tank, the fear of being stranded halfway can be stressful. To compound this drawback, single recharging can take as much as 5 to 8 hours. Though fast charging in an hour is possible with another charging technique, it needs refining in India’s high ambient temperature and power grid voltage limitations.

“Increasing distance range per charge would need bigger sized batteries and end up increasing the car load, compromising its performance. A battery itself is 50 percent of the car’s weight in current Indian EV models. The lithium-ion batteries now being used has low energy density, requiring material bulk,” explain Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras researchers for the Shakti study.

The good news is battery technology is globally evolving fast.

“Car batteries will get much cheaper in 3 to 4 years as technology advances,” said Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Aayog, India’s policy think tank for achieving the country’s sustainable development goals.

“This will bring the electric car’s cost at par with the combustion engine car,” he assured. Today a battery alone costs nearly half the price of an electric vehicle.

Currently Lithium-ion battery cost per kWh (kiloWatthour) is $276 (19,760 rupees) which within 4 years can fall to $76 (5440 rupees), according to Kant.

Sector experts are not as optimistic telling IPS that battery cost cuts would take no less than 5 to 7 years, before making financial sense for traditionally price-conscious Indians to buy them.

India imports Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel, Manganese and Graphite, components needed for the car batteries. “Their prices will get pushed up as global manufacturing demands escalate in China, the U.S. and Europe,” they said.

However, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), which originally used Lithium-ion batteries for its aero-space operations, is already working on making these affordable for car use and transferring manufacturing technology to eligible car makers.

Indian start-ups too are developing a scalable technology for recovering up to 90 percent of these materials from used batteries. Bulk retrieval can be successful only if disposal regulations of cell phones, laptops and vehicle batteries are strictly implemented.

EVs running on coal vs renewable power grid

If EVs run on predominantly coal powered grid, air pollution could be worse than petroleum-based transport, experts warned.

Unless renewable energy can be adequately utilised, fossil fuel only shifts the pollution from roads to coal plant regions.

Another big question being asked is, is India’s power grid ready for EVs to plug in?

With projections of EV increase, an impact assessment finds that high uptake of electricity during peak charging hours will cause a range of power network problems, including significant voltage drops or overload disruptions on distribution feeders.

The level of impact depends not only on EVs’ charging mode, but also on circuit-specific characteristics, researchers said. Location of especially the EV fast-charging stations should be carefully analysed before setting them up, they warned.

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Rita Francke and another fisherwoman at the jetty, in front of the old crayfish factory at Witsands. A gendered perception of the fishing industry remains a challenge for key solutions. Many perceive fishing to be an industry for males, even though women make up almost 50% of the global fisheries labour market.Credit: Lee Middleton/IPS

By Samira Sadeque
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 6 2019 (IPS)

Experts gathered in November to discuss the importance of sustainable fisheries and its role in eradicating world hunger at a fisheries symposium in Rome.

At the International Symposium on Fisheries Sustainability organised by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), they held talks on strengthening policies, and understanding how to ensure that growing nutritional demands are being met while biodiversity is not being negatively impacted. 

The report noted that the demand for fish consumption has increased over the past decades — twice faster than the actual population growth, meaning that higher demands needed to be met. 

A September U.N. report stated that a bit more than 3 billion people rely on fish for their protein and nutrition — and the demand is only likely to increase with a growth in the world population. 

Fisheries and food insecurity

Sustainability of fisheries is intricately linked to food security and climate change, according to reports. More heated up oceans can negatively impact fisheries, and given that billions of people bank on fish for nutrition, especially in certain low-income areas of the world, this in turn affects their food resource. 

A September report by Inside Climate News, a non-profit climate change reporting platform, predicted that fish catch potential in some regions are expected to be affected by climate change that will “cause significant resource re-distribution, demanding adaptive management measures to minimise impacts and maximise opportunities.” 

“There are many local catastrophe scenarios that impede local fish production, especially in low-income communities that had been highly dependent on fish in their diets,” George Kent,  a researcher who in 1997 predicted how depleting fish sources could affect communities in poverty, told IPS. “That process is already underway. Stories can be found in India and all around the Bay of Bengal, and in African coastal fishing villages. In some cases the “catastrophe” results from outsiders catching fish in waters that had been the basis for local sustenance”.

In small island states, where fish can make up about 50% of animal protein consumed by humans, the results of depleting fisheries can be devastating and lead to malnutrition, experts say. 

Furthermore, food insecurity is intricately linked with poverty, and fisheries provide a “safety net” for fishers against poverty, with 97% of fishers living in developing countries, experts say.  

Women and fisheries 

But there is an overlooked part of the fisheries industry that can play a vital role in fisheries sustainability.

Meanwhile, a gendered perception of the fishing industry remains a challenge for key solutions. Many perceive fishing to be an industry for males, even though women make up almost 50% of the global fisheries labour market. Their stories — and challenges — often remain untold, and are not taken into consideration when addressing solutions and measures for the industry. 

A World Wide Fund for Nature report from 2012 detailed that the challenges of the fishing industry — such as “ lack of land ownership, high degrees of indebtedness, poor access to health, education and financial capital, and political and geographical marginalisation” often disproportionately affect women. 

Women tend to be more concerned about food security and sustainability, while male members are more focused on their market goals, experts say. As such, women tend to view their agricultural practices for long-term goals, thus garnering a plethora of knowledge in the field over time which experts say can be referred to for creating initiatives for sustainable agriculture practices.

Women’s reproductive health can also be shaped by their access to fish as a nutrition. Experts say pregnancy for women in some parts of the world can be improved with more fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Even though this link isn’t often discussed as a food security concern, experts say it should be. 

“Gendered social norms and male-dominated decision-making can lead to disparities in access to animal source foods (ASFs), often playing a role in household fish consumption patterns,” the report further points out.  

Furthermore, what often invisibilises women’s work in fisheries is the terminology — traditionally, fishing has been associated with the sole act of going into the sea and physically catching fish, while ignoring women’s preparation work or collecting small fish are not considered fishing, according to a Oceania report. 

The Oceania report points out that leaving women out of the conversation doesn’t only affect women’s inclusivity, but is further “critical to understanding the ecological impacts of fishing and developing responsible management plans for global fisheries.”

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Kristalina Georgieva. Credit: IMF

By Kristalina Georgieva
WASHINGTON DC, Dec 5 2019 (IPS)

When I think of the incredible challenges we must confront in the face of a changing climate, my mind focuses on young people. Eventually, they will be the ones either to enjoy the fruits or bear the burdens resulting from actions taken today.

I think of my 9-year-old granddaughter. By the time she turns 20, she may be witness to climate change so profound that it pushes an additional 100 million people into poverty.

By the time she turns 40, 140 million may become climate migrants—people forced to flee homes that are no longer safe or able to provide them with livelihoods. And if she lives to be 90, the planet may be 3–4° hotter and barely livable.

Unless we act.

We can avoid this bleak future, and we know what we have to do—reduce emissions, offset what cannot be reduced, and adapt to new climate realities. No individual or institution can stand on the sidelines.

Our efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through various mitigation measures—phasing out fossil fuels, increasing energy efficiency, adopting renewable energy sources, improving land use and agricultural practices—continue to move forward, but the pace is too slow.

We have to scale up and accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. At the same time, we must recognize that climate change is already happening and affecting the lives of millions of people. There are more frequent and more severe weather-related events—more droughts, more floods, more heat waves, more storms.

Ready or not, we are entering an age of adaptation. And we need to be smart about it. Adaptation is not a defeat, but rather a defense against what is already happening.

The right investments will deliver a “triple dividend” by averting future losses, spurring economic gains through innovation, and delivering social and environmental benefits to everyone, but particularly to those currently affected and most at risk.

Updated building codes can ensure infrastructure and buildings are better able to withstand extreme events. Making agriculture more climate resilient means investing more money in research and development, which in turn opens the door to innovation, growth, and healthier communities.

The IMF is stepping up its efforts to deal with climate risk. Our mission is to help our members build stronger economies and improve people’s lives through sound monetary, fiscal, and structural policies.

We consider climate change a systemic risk to the macroeconomy and one in which the IMF is deeply involved through its research and policy advice.

On the mitigation side of the equation, this means intensifying our work on carbon pricing and helping governments craft road maps as they navigate their way from brown economies dependent on carbon to green ones that strive to be carbon free.

Carbon taxes are one of the most powerful and efficient tools at their disposal—the latest IMF analysis finds that large emitting countries need to introduce a carbon tax that rises quickly to $75 a ton in 2030, consistent with limiting global warming to 2°C or less.

But carbon taxes must be implemented in a careful and growth-friendly fashion. The key is to retool the tax system in fair, creative, and efficient ways—not just add a new tax.

A good example is Sweden, where low- and middle-income households received higher transfers and tax cuts to help offset higher energy costs following the introduction of a carbon tax.

This is a path others can follow, strategically directing part of the revenues that carbon taxes generate back to low-income households that can least afford to pay. With the revenues estimated at 1–3 percent of GDP, a portion could also go to support firms and households that choose green pathways.

While we continue to work to reduce carbon emissions, the increasing frequency of more extreme weather like hurricanes, droughts, and floods is affecting people all across the world.

Countries already vulnerable to natural disasters suffer the most, not only in terms of immediate loss of life, but also in long-lasting economic effects. In some countries, total economic losses exceed 200 percent of GDP—as when Hurricane Maria struck Dominica in 2017.

Our emergency lending facilities are designed to provide speedy assistance to low-income countries hit by disasters. But the IMF also works across various fronts on the adaptation side to help countries address climate-related challenges and be able to price risk and provide incentives for investment, including in new technologies.

We support resilience-building strategies, particularly in highly vulnerable countries to help them prepare for and rebound from disasters. And we contribute to building capacity within governments through training and technical assistance to better manage disaster risks and responses.

We work with other organizations to increase the impact of our climate work. One of our most important partnerships is with the World Bank, in particular on Climate Change Policy Assessments.

Together, we take stock of countries’ mitigation and adaption plans, risk management strategies, and financing and point to gaps where those countries need investment, policy changes, or help in building up their capacity to take the necessary action.

Moving forward, we must also be open to stepping in where and when our expertise can help, and there are other areas where we will be gearing up our work. For example, we will be working more closely with central banks, which, as guardians of both financial and price stability, are now adapting regulatory frameworks and practices to address the multifaceted risks posed by climate change.

Many central banks and other regulators are seeking ways to improve climate risk disclosure and classification standards, which will help financial institutions and investors better assess their climate-related exposures—and help regulators better gauge system-wide risks.

The IMF is offering support by working with the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System and other standard-setting bodies.

Central banks and regulators should also help banks, insurers, and nonfinancial firms assess their own exposures to climate risk and develop climate-related “stress tests.” Such tests can help identify the likely impact of a severe adverse climate-driven shock on the solvency of financial institutions and the stability of the financial system.

The IMF will help push forward efforts around climate change stress testing, including through our own assessments of countries’ financial sectors and economies. Careful calibration of stress testing for climate change will be needed, because such testing requires assessing the effects of shocks or policy actions that may have little historical precedent.

All these efforts will help ensure that more money will flow into low-carbon, climate-resilient investments. The rapid increase of green bonds is a positive trend, but much more is required to secure our future. It is that simple: we all need to intensify our efforts to work together to exchange knowledge and ideas, to formulate and implement policies, and to finance the transition to the new climate economy. Our children and grandchildren are counting on us.

This article was first published in Finance & Development, the quarterly magazine published by the International Monetary Fund. Opinions expressed in articles and other materials are those of the authors; they do not necessarily reflect IMF policy

The post The Adaptive Age: No Institution or Individual can Stand on the Sidelines in the Fight Against Climate Change appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Kristalina Georgieva is managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The post The Adaptive Age: No Institution or Individual can Stand on the Sidelines in the Fight Against Climate Change appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Cozumel, Mexico, protected area along the Caribbean coast. Credit: Devin H/Unsplash

By Carolina Herrera
WASHINGTON DC, Dec 5 2019 (IPS)

Protecting and restoring natural areas in Latin America, home to fifty percent of the planet’s biodiversity and over a quarter of its forests, is critical if the world is to avert a biodiversity and climate disaster.

Scientific reports have confirmed that urgent action is required to turn back the tide on these twin crises. The best available science also confirms that, coupled with drastically cutting green-house gas emissions from fossil fuels, changing how we use land and ecosystems can help avoid a biodiversity freefall and prevent the worst impacts of climate change.

Latin America’s biodiversity has plummeted in the last forty years and the region is already experiencing the impacts of climate change first hand. Failure to protect and restore the region’s natural resources is not a viable option—for the region nor the world.

Fortunately, countries in the region are making progress on both counts and could help forge a path that supports human wellbeing by protecting natural systems.

COP25 is an opportunity for Latin American countries to demonstrate their commitment and ambition in this area.

Countries in Latin America have already shown important leadership in establishing protected areas and other conservation strategies.

Scientists recommend that we protect 30 percent of the earth’s lands and 30 percent of its oceans by 2030 (30×30) to put the world on track toward a climate resilient future and restore critical ecosystem services.

This is an ambitious, yet realistic and necessary path where Latin America can demonstrate its leadership. According to World Bank data, Latin America and the Caribbean already has a greater percentage of land (23.4 percent) under protected status than the world average (14.7 percent).

Several countries, including Ecuador, Panama, and Peru, have already met or surpassed the Convention of Biological Diversity’s (CBD) target of protecting 17 percent of terrestrial areas by 2020. Others, like Costa Rica, are very close to meeting the 30 percent goal scientists are calling for, or indeed have already met it.

 

Source: The World Bank

 

The World Bank’s data also shows that marine protected areas represent 17.5 percent of the region’s territorial waters. Several countries including Chile, Colombia, and Mexico have met or surpassed the CBD’s target of protecting 10 percent of coastal and marine areas by 2020.

However, there is still work left to do  to meet the scientific recommendation of protecting 30 percent of global marine areas. Among other things, it will be key to ensure ocean protections focus on the right places and provide the right safeguards.

 

Source: The World Bank

 

Countries in the region that already protect significant portions of their territory, or are working to expand protections, are well placed to help drive forward high ambition internationally.

At the third regional congress on protected areas held in October in Lima, Peru, participants from local governments, indigenous communities and civil society representing 33 countries issued a declaration committing to “improving the management of protected areas and other conservation strategies…to conserve what we have, and to recover what we have lost, in order to guarantee development, enhance wellbeing, health, cultural expressions and life in cities.”

The event generated inputs and recommendations for global climate and biodiversity discussions. A key contribution from the region is the experience of Indigenous Peoples who have been shown to be the best custodians of the region’s forests and biodiversity treasures.

The region has also seen a number of innovative approaches to conservation including payments for ecosystem services, agroforestry, community forestry concessions, and privately led protected areas.

The potential for nature-based solutions in Latin America is vast. The Special Report on Climate Change and Land, released by the IPCC  last August made it abundantly clear that sustainable land management is vital to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Countries in the region can lead on identifying and implementing nature-based solutions that help combat climate change, preserve biodiversity stocks, and strengthen the resilience of communities. In turn, the international community should support these efforts by directing technical and financial resources toward these solutions.

Nature based solutions focus on protecting, managing and restoring natural areas to provide environmental and societal benefits. In Latin America, preventing the degradation, disturbance and deforestation of the region’s forests avoids climate-warming emissions from entering the atmosphere, while also protecting critical local water and species.

Similarly, protecting and restoring mangrove forests in northern South America, which harbor nearly as much “blue carbon” as mangroves in Asia, brings mitigation benefits while protecting communities from storms and flooding. And in places prone to drought and wildfire, well managed natural grasslands store carbon in their root mass while also replenishing water reserves.

Latin American cities can also apply nature-based solutions, for example green infrastructure like green roofs, bioswales and permeable pavements can help clean the air, reduce excessive heat, alleviate floods, and filter water.

Failing to act with urgency is not an option. The region has lost 89 percent of its vertebrate wildlife populations since 1970 (compared to the 60 percent for the entire planet). Conservative estimates from ECLAC put the economic cost of climate change for the region at between 1.5% and 5% of the region’s GDP by 2050.

Implementing nature-based climate solutions and equitably distributing their costs and benefits are one way that Latin American countries can ensure the well-being of citizens and build more just and equal societies.

An opportunity for renewed leadership at COP25. The nature and climate nexus is poised to be an important part of the conversations at COP25 in Madrid, Spain over the next two weeks.

The COP presents an ideal opportunity for countries from the region to establish themselves as leaders—or laggards—on nature-based climate solutions and the target of protecting 30 percent of nature that science recommends, and humanity’s well-being requires.

This story was originally published by NRDC

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UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa (fourth right) at an event organized by the WTTC at COP25. Credit: UNFCCC

By External Source
MADRID, Dec 4 2019 (IPS)

The travel and tourism sector, with its significant economic and social benefits, has no choice but to transform to survive and thrive in the face of climate change, said UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa at COP25 to industry representatives.

In 2018, the industry generated 10.4 per cent of the global Gross Domestic Product—or more than USD 8.8 trillion—but climate change puts those  numbers, and more, at risk.

Whilst the travel and tourism industry generated 10.4% of global Gross Domestic Product in 2018, it also accounts for around 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to climate change.

Whilst the travel and tourism industry generated 10.4% of global Gross Domestic Product in 2018, it also accounts for around 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to climate change

“Thanks to this sector, millions of people have been able to explore new destinations, reunite with family and friends, and fulfill dreams of exploring the world,” said Ms. Espinosa at an event organized by the industry group World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). “As well, it has created jobs, most significantly in developing countries, offering people financial freedom. It is truly a global economic powerhouse.”

“With this sort of success, why should you change what you have been doing? Frankly, because you have no choice. None of us does,” said Ms. Espinosa.

“The ravages of climate change will soon require all of us, government and corporations especially, to do things differently,” said Ms. Espinosa, citing a recent open letter from heads of leading financial institutions: “If some companies and industries fail to adjust to this new world, they will fail to exist.”

In opening remarks at the event, WTTC President and Chief Executive Officer Gloria Guevara said the message is already clear to her organization’s members, and climate and environment are “top priority.”

WTTC has set as an ambition for the sector to be climate neutral by 2050, in collaboration with UN Climate Change, and many companies are already showing leadership in reducing their climate impact: “In order for us to grow, the growth has to be good for everyone; it has to be sustainable,” said Ms. Guevara.

The organization last year signed up to the United Nations Climate Neutral Now initiative with a pledge to measure its greenhouse gas emissions, reduce what it can and offset the rest, while promoting the same climate-friendly regimen to its 150 members worldwide.

And in New York in September of this year, WTTC launched a Sustainability Action Plan, meant to help the industry deliver on its climate ambition.

“We need to find a way to have climate-friendly travel [. . .] Saying simply ‘do not travel, it will help the environment’ would be very irresponsible” leading to increased poverty, increased unemployment and ultimately increased damage to the environment, said Ms. Guevara.

This story was originally published by UNFCCC

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Dr. Hanan Morsy is Director, Macroeconomic Forecasting and Research at the African Development Bank Group

By Hanan Morsy
ABIDJAN, Dec 4 2019 (IPS)

“There is no greater asset to Africa than its youth,” a statement that has been repeatedly proclaimed, but the continent still has a long way to go. Despite robust economic growth over the past two decades, a 1 percent increase in growth between 2000–14 was associated with only 0.41 percent growth in employment. This figure suggests that employment stood at less than 1.8 percent a year, far below the nearly 3 percent annual growth in the labor force. If this trend continues, 100 million people will join the multitudes of the unemployed in Africa by 2030.

Hanan Morsy

With this in mind, researchers, youth representatives, business leaders, and policymakers have joined over 350 stakeholders in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, to significantly move the needle on youth empowerment.

The annual African Economic Conference (AEC), is jointly organized by the African Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Africa and the United Nations Development Programme, to discuss pertinent issues affecting the continent.

The 2019 AEC is held in Egypt and hosted by the Bank on the theme; “Jobs, entrepreneurship and capacity development for African youth” and runs from 2-4 December.

Turning the youth bulge into opportunities has been the focus of the African Development Bank’s game-changing approach to job creation, entrepreneurship, and capacity development. In recognition of the crucial role that entrepreneurship plays in the creation of high-quality jobs, the Bank developed its Jobs for Youth in Africa (JfYA) Strategy (2016-2025). The Strategy aims to create 25 million jobs for African youth over the next decade as well as equipping 50 million youth with a mix of hard and soft skills to increase their employability and their entrepreneurial success rate.

The impact is already being felt. Since its launch in 2016, over $20 billion has been invested by the Bank across 318 projects. These investments are directly making a difference in the African youth skills, entrepreneurship, business development, and job creation.

In parallel and working closely with its partners, the Bank is helping strengthen entrepreneurship ecosystems in Africa. The flagship Youth Entrepreneurship and Innovation Multi-Donor Trust Fund (YEI MDTF) program provides interventions that equip the African youth, women-led start-ups, and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with skills and financial support to run bankable businesses.

The program also assists regional member countries (RMCs) in their implementation of economic and social reforms toward job creation.

In just one short year, the Trust Fund’s resources leapfrogged from USD4.4 million (in 2017) to almost USD40 million (in 2018). By providing technical assistance through enterprise support organizations and financial institutions, the Fund is anticipated to reach more than 480 youth-led startups in Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, and Zimbabwe.

The Bank has also been very active on the education front, supporting higher education institutions to deliver innovative training curricula that are adapted to the changing demand of the labor market and the private sector. Academic incubators—also known as innovation centers of excellence, have been established.

One great example of success is the African Institutions of Science and Technology (AIST) Program, whose mission is to deliver quality postgraduate education and build collaborative research capacity in various fields of Science, Engineering, Technology and Innovation (SETI). With funding from the Bank, a total of 1,477 PhD and MSc students have graduated, out of which 676 are women. Additionally, a total of 35 partnerships have been brokered with the private sector to enhance the quality and relevance of research.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has also been acknowledged by the Bank as one of the main drivers of human capital development alongside enhanced basic education that generates knowledge and skills more broadly. As such, the Bank’s TVET project in Tanzania, has bolstered TVET and teacher education with an investment amounting to $52 million. The expected outputs include expanded infrastructure of 13 institutions targeting about 8,000 trainees, expanded and extensive use of ICT in instruction at 53 institutions, and increased capacity for teaching, policy formulation, planning, and quality assurance.

The insights and thoughts provided by other African stakeholders, youth representatives, and political leaders on the debate on youth jobs, skills, and entrepreneurship capacities during the AEC 2019 are immensely important in helping the continent move forward.

Now, more than ever, we must listen to the voices of the African youth.

The post Fostering Jobs, Entrepreneurship, and Capacity Development for African Youth: The Time for Disruption Is Now! appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Dr. Hanan Morsy is Director, Macroeconomic Forecasting and Research at the African Development Bank Group

The post Fostering Jobs, Entrepreneurship, and Capacity Development for African Youth: The Time for Disruption Is Now! appeared first on Inter Press Service.

UN Volunteers celebrating International Volunteer Day in South Sudan where they serve the United Nations in peace-keeping, midwifery and human rights. (UNV, 2018)

By Olivier Adam and Achim Steiner
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 4 2019 (IPS)

As the world warms, as inequality widens and as an increasing number of societies suffer from instability and conflict, many people are left wondering what they can do about it.

As inspirational changemakers like Greta Thunberg show, you don’t have to start out as a world leader or a celebrity to make a difference. Standing in the street with a protest sign is not for everyone, though. And there are many ways to make a difference.

Every day, an estimated one billion volunteers make a difference to the people and communities where they live and work. They create social bonds and give a voice to marginalized and vulnerable groups. They are often the first to act in moments of crisis. They dedicate their time, skills and passion to make the world a better place.

Right now, nearly 8,000 UN Volunteers, from 18 to 81 years old, serve with over 40 UN partners through the UN Volunteers (UNV) programme, which the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) hosts with great pride — each an ambassador for the importance of volunteerism in development worldwide.

Volunteers help communities to self-organize around their own specific priorities – and support people who are marginalized to tap into mainstream areas of support and public services. That includes UN Volunteers in Asia and the Pacific who have worked at the local level to tackle violence against women and girls.

Mana, who was part of the Partners for Prevention project in Cambodia, noted that many of the participants altered their entrenched attitudes towards gender equality — observing that this, “changed heart and mind can have a long lasting and positive impact on society”.

Or in Pakistan, where the World Health Organization mobilized over 150 UN Volunteers as district monitors to support measles readiness assessment campaigns, targeting 32 million children. As one community member in China put it, volunteers, “…know exactly how to get along with the residents and handle their problems”.

Volunteering also creates relationships and improves critical connections between people. UN Volunteers worked with the UN Mission in South Sudan to create neutral forums to bring conflicted parties together to help build peace.

And in the Philippines, Christian and Muslim volunteers organized and implemented interfaith environmental protection activities — as one of the volunteers noted, this, “…was one thing that we could work on together, it was an eye-opener for us”. The solidarity, empathy and connections generated through social action comes to the fore during crises.

Naw Wan Gay, UN Volunteer providing service for refugees in Baan Mai Nai Soi Temporary Shelter Area, Thailand. (UNHCR, 2016)

During the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak in West Africa, local, national and international volunteers worked together to tend to victims and halt the spread of the disease, despite considerable and cross-border challenges.

Volunteers also strengthen community resilience by integrating refugees and displaced persons, building ownership in the peace and development process and strengthening social cohesion within; and across groups.

In Niger, for example, UN Volunteers working with UNHCR provided much-needed translation and interpretation services to refugees evacuated from Libya — helping to improve the quality of protection and assistance provided to refugees.

New ways of harnessing the power of volunteerism are emerging all the time. Soon after Ecuador experienced a major earthquake in 2016, Zooniverse, a web-based platform for crowdsourced research, utilized 3,000 volunteers and artificial intelligence to review 1,300 satellite images.

Just two hours after the earthquake, a “heat map” of the damage including road blockages was produced to accelerate the disaster response.

The United Nations keenly understands the need to harness the almost limitless power of volunteers bring to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals — a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by the year 2030.

On International Volunteer Day*, we recognize the extraordinary contribution of volunteers to this end. In every part of the globe, they are at the forefront of every major shock and stress, responding to problems big and small that benefit all people.

And as one local volunteer in Myanmar summed it up, “this work can’t be measured in financial terms”. Volunteers are also transforming preconceived notions around who is a productive member of society as volunteerism recognizes the inherent value of all people irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.

The remarkable results achieved by volunteers to shape that brighter, more inclusive future show that it is worth trying.

That is why they are a such a powerful antidote to a world in flux.

*International Volunteer Day 2019 is marked on 5 December with the theme “Volunteer for an inclusive future“, highlighting Sustainable Development Goal Number 10 and the pursuit of equality – including inclusion – through volunteerism. Learn more about UN Volunteers opportunities here.

The post Volunteerism – An Antidote to a World in Flux appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Olivier Adam is Executive Coordinator, United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme

Achim Steiner is Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

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By GGGI
Dec 4 2019 (IPS-Partners)

MADRID – 4th December 2019 – Today, the Swedish Energy Agency (SEA) and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) signed a cooperation agreement on the sidelines of COP25 to launch the Mobilizing Article 6 Trading Structures (MATS) Program, a pilot project aimed at establishing Article 6 Activities under the Paris Agreement. The objective of this joint collaboration is to catalyze international trading of mitigation outcomes in support of the increased climate ambitions needed under the Paris Agreement. 

Under the agreement, SEA and GGGI will work to identify and structure mitigation activities and support the establishment of  governance frameworks within host countries as required under the developing rulebook of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, with the goal of completing transactions of internationally transferred mitigation outcomes or ITMOs.  How countries count the transfer of carbon credits (known as IMTOs) toward mitigation targets is crucial to avoiding double counting.

Although specific rules related to cooperative approaches under Article 6 have yet to be codified, Article 6 aims at supporting the authorization of international emissions trades while avoiding double counting and ensuring environmental integrity, permitting the movement of the related emission reductions between registries, and better linking national emission trading schemes, project-level transactions, and cooperative approaches.

“The Swedish Energy Agency is committed to supporting the global effort to reduce emissions to meet the Paris Agreement’s long-term goals and contribute to its implementation. As part of that commitment SEA is working hard to usher in a new wave of national and sectoral scale mitigation activities. With everything we have learned during the Kyoto Period, we feel that we have a lot to offer in terms of knowledge and lessons learned to be pioneers in the post 2020 period. We are thrilled to partner with GGGI in order to achieve common goals and overcome some of the inevitable challenges faced by early actors,” said Robert Andrén, Director General of the Swedish Energy Agency.

The SEA-GGGI MATS program takes a holistic approach towards supporting countries to refine existing – or create new, institutional frameworks, to make them Article 6 compliant and assess the mitigation potential of activities, and test the design of the framework through practical authorization of ITMO transactions under Mitigation Outcome Purchase Agreements (MOPAs).

 “GGGI is delighted to partner with SEA on this pioneering journey to help countries achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement. The MATS program, a new priority area of work, will build on GGGI’s technical assistance   with Member and partners to support their achievement of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and further increase ambition through readiness activities, accessing climate finance and establishing Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) systems. Through its model of being embedded within government and working with partners, we feel that GGGI is well positioned to deliver the program in collaboration with SEA; leveraging on their wealth of experience in carbon markets,” said Susanne Pedersen, GGGI’s Assistant Director-General  and Head of Investment and Policy Services Division (IPSD).

The 3-year partnership builds on SEA’s work in developing capacity in low- and middle-income countries to implement mitigation activities bilaterally and via multilateral engagements.  Virtual pilots have been developed in a number of countries and core issues such as additionality, pricing, corresponding adjustments, and attribution have been studied in recent years. The MATS program was initiated and launched with intentions of building on this work to achieve implementable activities that produce transactable mitigation outcomes, which will be identified jointly by GGGI and SEA and then be developed against the emerging rulebook of Article 6. In addition, governance frameworks will be developed to establish sustainable mechanisms to allow approval of further transactions. Finally, activity stakeholders will establish the underlying architecture needed for successful signing of MOPAs and activity implementation.

GGGI is already engaged on Article 6-related activities with several donors, working with the Ministry of Climate and Environment of Norway on wider policy approaches and identifying potential transactions for the Klik Foundation program for Switzerland.

About SEA

SEA supports the Swedish Government and Society as well as external actors with facts, knowledge, and analysis of supply and use of energy in Sweden.  SEA provides funding for research on new and renewable energy technologies, smart grids, as well as vehicles and transport fuels. SEA also supports business development that promotes commercialisation of energy related innovations and ensures that promising cleantech solutions can be exported.  Official energy statistics, and the management of instruments such as the Electricity Certificate System and the EU Emission Trading System, are part of SEA’s responsibility.

Furthermore, SEA has long been the home of Sweden’s CDM and JI program; and is now actively participating in international climate collaborations under the Paris Agreement.

About GGGI

 

Based in Seoul, GGGI is a treaty-based international, inter-governmental organization that supports developing country governments transition to a model of economic growth that is environmentally sustainable and socially inclusive. GGGI delivers programs for 33 Members and partners – in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and the Pacific – with technical support, capacity building, policy planning and implementation, and by helping to build a pipeline of bankable green investment projects. To learn more about GGGI, see http://www.gggi.org and follow us on Facebook , Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

 

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Credit: United Nations

By Karin Pettersson
STOCKHOLM, Dec 3 2019 (IPS)

The news-media industry has long lamented how the digital revolution has broken its business models. Today, a majority of digital advertising money goes to Facebook and Google, and media companies are struggling to reinvent themselves through digital subscriptions.

But the disruption hasn’t only affected advertising: it has also fundamentally changed and challenged journalism itself.

Historically, journalism has played a central role in shaping public discourse. News organisations have served as gate¬keepers and chosen what to amplify. They have always been good at catching the audience’s attention and driving engagement. This has, however, also been about ethics and purpose.

But the new public sphere has a different logic from the old. Today, journalism is just one of many actors providing information on what is going on in the world — only one of many providers of content, in an ecosystem which optimises for anger, fear and other strong emotions and where lies travel faster than the truth.

In this new world, journalism needs to change, and journalists need to learn the landscape and avoid the pitfalls. If we don’t, journalism risks becoming a mirror to the anger-driven, social-network logic — instead of a counterweight on the side of truth and reason.

Given these new challenges, here are five lessons for journalism in the age of rage.

Don’t get your news, angles or sources from Twitter

Twitter is, compared with the bigger social-network platforms, a small shop. But in the news ecosystem it is hugely important, and unfortunately often in a destructive way. Politicians and pundits are over-represented on the platform; so are propagandists and manipulators.

Still, many journalists spend a disproportionate amount of time on Twitter, looking for angles and topics. Since the platform is easy to manipulate for anyone with access to money or a network of bots, this makes them easy targets for manipulation.

The architecture of the new public sphere makes life harder for journalists. But it also makes their job more important than before.

Twitter also distorts journalism in more subtle ways. Journalists love engagement. Due to the nature of the platform, the content to which journalists get the strongest reactions on Twitter tends to be variations on the big topic of the day — the stories everyone is already covering.

When journalists spend too much time on Twitter, this can lead to a dumbing down of coverage, in a time when what we need is independent, thoughtful journalism, looking for the untold stories.

Don’t be a useful idiot

The tools of social networks were built to connect people and give them means of expression. It was never the plan, as the American tech journalist and thinker Danah Boyd says, that these ‘tools of amplification would be weaponized to radicalize people towards extremism, gaslight publics, or serve as vehicles of cruel harassment’.

That, however, is what has happened. The hard part for journalists is how to learn to avoid becoming useful idiots, playing into the hands of those using the platforms to amplify their agenda. To do that, journalists need to understand how manipulation works on social networks.

Boyd uses the example of the anti-Muslim pastor Terry Jones, who in 2010 began using social networks to threaten publicly to burn the Qur’an. His goal was to attract the attention of mainstream news media to promote his congregation, which had around 50 members.

A network of bloggers started to write about him, and finally the then US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, issued a statement condemning him — which led to massive media coverage. When he finally burned the Qur’an, the event was covered by every news outlet. The incident led to riots in Afghanistan, and the deaths of 12 people.

The question is: was it necessary and important to cover this spectacle? Should the media report on intolerant provocations by marginal figures?

Distinguish political dismissal from relevant critique

The architecture of the new public sphere makes life harder for journalists. But it also makes their job more important than before.

It’s harder not only because they can’t single-handedly set the agenda but also because the undermining of journalism is a central part of the political programme of many right-wing populist parties currently on the rise.

The attacks on journalism — as ‘fake news’ — by government heads Donald Trump in the US, Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines and Viktor Orbán in Hungary are not isolated events: they are part of a pattern.

The undermining of the free press is at the centre of the political agenda for authoritarians across the globe. It is a difficult balancing act to be aware that journalism is under attack yet, at the same time, to stay open to justified criticism.

Cover Big Tech better

The rise of Big Tech is one of the most important stories of our generation. Facebook has over 2.3 billion monthly users and YouTube last year had 1.8 billion logged on. The majority of Americans get their news from social networks and the same is true of most European countries.

Individually, journalists need to find the strength and the motivation to go on, without retreating or becoming overly defensive.

Never in the history of humankind have companies existed with such reach and impact on information and human communication. These new global superpowers need to be reported on and scrutinised, not only from the ‘tech’ angle.

Some media organisations have come a long way in this regard but many are still lagging irresponsibly far behind. The tech giants’ operations affect democracy, innovation and politics here as well, and the coverage needs to reflect that.

Get used to the hatred

Journalists who learned the trade in the old days are not used to the hatred, criticism, threats and aggression, directed towards them, which flourish on social networks and elsewhere today. Since many of the attacks are politically motivated, it is unrealistic to believe they will simply go away.

Instead, journalism needs to learn how to thrive and stay focused in this new environment. On an organisational level, editors need to deal with the consequent stress and psychological pressure, and media organisations should set up smart and efficient security routines for their employees if they haven’t already done so.

Individually, journalists need to find the strength and the motivation to go on, without retreating or becoming overly defensive. While it may be small consolation, at the end of the day the attacks are testimony to the importance of the work they do.

Good journalism has never been as important as now, and never so hard. Journalism can and will survive. But it needs to learn how to navigate this new environment.

This article is a joint publication by Social Europe and IPS-Journal.

*International Politics and Society (IPS) is published by the International Political Analysis Unit of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Hiroshimastrasse 28, D-10785 Berlin.

The post Five Lessons for Journalism in the Age of Rage– & Where Lies Travel Faster Than Truth appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Excerpt:

Karin Pettersson is director of public policy at Schibsted Media Group and chair of WAN-IFRA Media Freedom Board. She is a 2017 Nieman-Berkman Klein Fellow at Harvard University and former political editor-in-chief at Aftonbladet, Scandinavia’s biggest daily newspaper.

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By PRESS RELEASE
Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Dec 3 2019 (IPS-Partners)

The African Development Bank and technology firm Microsoft today launched the ‘Coding for Employment’ digital training platform, an online tool to provide digital skills to African youth, wherever they are across the continent.

The platform, launched at the 2019 African Economic Conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, aims to promote a continuous learning culture among young people and build their capacity to shape the continent’s future.

The high-level event drew heads of state and government, ministers and leaders from the private sector and academia to discuss how this new tool and other technological innovations could be used to spur development across the continent.

“The youth employment and skills development challenge is a complex issue that requires systemic thinking and bold partnerships … to address the existing skills gap and link youth to decent and sustainable employment,” said Hendrina Doroba, the African Development Bank’s acting director for Human Capital, Youth & Skills Development.

“The skills training platform launched today is a testament to the impact that such partnerships can achieve and the Bank looks forward to strengthening similar partnerships.”

The platform teaches technical courses such as web development, design, data science and digital marketing and will be constantly adapted to respond to market demand. It is accessible on mobile devices, even in low internet connectivity settings and has an affordable, easy-to-navigate, secured and private interface.

“A defining challenge of our time is ensuring that everyone has equal opportunity to benefit from technology,” Ghada Khalifa, Director of Microsoft Philanthropies for the Middle East and Africa, said at the launch.

“Forward-thinking initiatives such as the digital training platform represent our commitment to helping drive the momentum needed. Though there is still much work to be done, we believe that through dynamic partnerships such as these, we can help build a knowledge-based economy in Africa that leaves no person behind.”

The Coding for Employment Program is a crucial part of the African Development Bank’s strategic agenda to create 25 million jobs by 2025, and to equip 50 million African youth with competitive skills. The Bank piloted the program in five countries (Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire) in partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation and Microsoft and is currently developing 14 ultra-modern centers specialized in ICT and entrepreneurship skills trainings for youth.

The goal is to scale up the program to 130 centers of excellence across the continent over a 10-year period. It will create nine million jobs by building synergies with the public and the private sector globally to deliver demand-driven, agile and collaborative skills to empower young people to become innovative players in the digital economy.

The Coding for Employment training platform can be accessed here across 54 African countries.

About the African Development Bank Group
The African Development Bank Group is Africa’s premier development finance institution. It comprises three distinct entities: the African Development Bank, the African Development Fund and the Nigeria Trust Fund. On the ground in 41 African countries with an external office in Japan, the African Development Bank contributes to the economic development and the social progress of its 54 regional member states. www.afdb.org

About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

Contacts:
Kwasi Kpodo, Communication and External Relations Department, African Development Bank. Email: w.kpodo@afdb.org

Microsoft:
WE Communication, Email: MICROSOFT-ZA@we-worldwide.com

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The post Zimbabwe Food Crisis: Time to Act Is Now, Says UN Special Rapporteur appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Busani Bafana
MILAN, Italy, Dec 3 2019 (IPS)

Global food systems are ripe for transformation if people are to be nourished and the planet sustainable, says Hilal Elver, Special Rapporteur of the Right to Food of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Hilal Elver, Special Rapporteur of the Right to Food of the United Nations Human Rights Council speaking at the 10th International Forum on Food and Nutrition convened in Milan. Credit: Busani Bafana / IPS

Elver, told delegates at the 1oth International Forum on Food and Nutrition convened in Milan by the Barilla Centre, that the world needs food citizens who will act responsibly in promoting food equality and reducing food waste, which underlie global food and nutrition insecurity in the world today.

Food citizens are responsible for protecting the right to food through multi-actor actions including promoting a conducive environment that will secure food for all while promoting dialogue around food access, production and equitable distribution.

Citing the situation in Zimbabwe, Elver said the food crisis was a blot on the right to food that the world must respond to with urgency.

“The situation in Zimbabwe in mind boggling,” said Elver who has just returned from a mission to Zimbabwe to access the situation. “We need to know what is going as we talk about the need to diet, many in Zimbabwe eat once a day if they are lucky and food aid basically maize, just one meal a day. .. This is a very serious issue that we do not know it beyond the sustainable.”

Elver spoke with IPS on her mission to Zimbabwe. Excerpts of the interview:

IPS: You have just come back from Zimbabwe, what did you see?

Zimbabwe is an amazing country but if it facing a lot of challenges. It does not have basic public services and only four hours a day electricity and I understand that and government buildings, companies and some restaurants are using generators. But also you need fuel for the generators and for your car – if you have money to buy gas (fuel). The system is collapsing. People do not have time to work, because they either have to wait for gas for hours and hours and have to wait in front of the banks to get cash and 24 hours and transportation is very expensive. It is a vicious cycle and something should give in internally and externally because this has affected the food situation in the country too.

What has these challenges mean for the right to food?

That is a major problem. The root causes are a man-made journey to starvation. Every person in Zimbabwe has a responsibility to act. It did not come from drought. Yes drought is there. Other countries had a drought. Zambia had a drought, Mozambique had a drought and Cyclone Idai but Mozambique had huge aid from outside and Zimbabwe only got ten percent of it because of the sanctions.

What has been the impact of sanction on food security?

The intentional community should consider lifting the sanction because sanctions in the 20 years have had multiple impacts on the ordinary people’s lives. They talk about the targeted sanction but the sanctions are targeted by US, UK and EU, they are living perfectly fine and they do not travel a lot outside as they are high level government officials. It is okay for them but for the ordinary people it is not. They are suffering because all the international aid is blocked in one way or another. Investment is not coming. No one wants to invest in a country under sanctions.

Ask the IMF or World Bank why they cannot give the money to them. All the money they try to help Zimbabwe with goes to the NGOs and international organisations. If you are given $100 million, the people on the ground only get 20 percent of it. This is bad and this must change.

Is lifting sanctions everything to get Zimbabwe out of its challenges?

That is an important question. The government should make some democratic reforms, the freedom of speech, and freedom of association and give the opportunities to the people because the people are peaceful. The first thing is that the government should sit together with the opposition and all parties in a democratic manner and to think about how they can help their people together.

Land reform has been done in the last 20 years gradually here and there and there has been some kind of complaints as to why white farmers need compensation and black farmers are dysfunctional, these are myths going round. Black farmers are dysfunctional because they did not get any help from the government. You need first of all credit and you need technical help and you need seed and the government is in a terrible shape to give all these things. Of course there is disfunctionality but they cannot access resources there is land but they cannot do anything with it. If people find one square metres of land they just produce on it. The main problem is this corn based reliance. People are so obsessed with sadza, who brought maize to Zimbabwe? We should think about that.

Are you saying food diversification is a solution to the food problem?

Of course. The traditional food in Africa is very much good for the environmental conditions. Traditional small grains do to need too much water like maize and they should go back to this.

The post Right to Food Denied by Poor Policies and Inaction appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Credit: Busani Bafana / IPS

By Cecilia Russell
MILAN, Italy, Dec 3 2019 (IPS)

A coffee producer will receive a cent and a half from a $2.50 cup of coffee. This one stark fact stood out as scientists, researchers, activists and grappled with solutions for change in food and nutrition practises, which would benefit the greater community.

While the solutions are many – slow food to artificial intelligence – it was clear that the delegates were united around one idea: Key to the solution is to ensure that the solutions need to be put in the hands of the broad community – not just in the hands of the powerful.

This also needs the commitment of every sector of society – from multi-national businesses to small scale local farmers.

This message was reinforced by Guido Barilla, founder of the Barilla Centre for Food and Nutrition at the 10th International Forum on Food and Nutrition. The forum had the theme of Fostering Business and Innovation while preserving Mother Earth.

He urged all stakeholders come together and educate on the importance of sustainable and virtuous food systems.

Professor Angelo Riccaboni agreed – cooperation between institutions, corporations, NGOs, philanthropic institution and academia was crucial for changing the trajectory.

Ertharin Cousin reminded delegates that biologist Paul Ehrlich once predicted large scale famines, particularly in India – but through innovation in the agricultural sector and community of actors involved in the Green Revolution, these grim visions were overcome.

Even so, she said the challenges are huge – and research suggests that by 2030 half the world’s population would suffer from some form of malnutrition, whether from a shortage of food or micronutrient deficiency.

Delegates debate at the 10th International Forum on Food and Nutrition in Milan. Credit: Busani Bafana / IPS

Jeremy Oppenheim, founder of Systemiq, who used the example of the cup of coffee pointed out how starkly pointed out how unequal the chain of production, processing, distribution, consumption and the way it is disposed of requires a radical overall.

The mixed signals were unhelpful, he said.

“We’re sending all these mixed signals, every single day to people … In the next in the run up to Christmas again in the UK, food companies, and retailers will spend, 100 billion pounds – advertising largely unhealthy food.”

Mattia Galletti , IFAD Technical specialist, pointed out 70 million people in the world belong to different indigenous people and in studies in the Amazon, for example, where indigenous farming is practised there was no deforestation.

Carlo Petrini, Founder and President, Slow Food International, agreed. Local communities had the solution in their “DNA” and had essential answers to the critical problems of climate change.

“The biggest challenge today is climate change, and politicians are still ridiculing youth asking for climate justice,” says Petrini.

However, he warned that the economy needed to change – one that was rooted in local communities and not in the hands of a few. It was only then that sustainable development could be achieved. Any other solution was just “blah, blah, blah”, he warned.

However, Galina Peycheva-Miteva suggested that the “idea of farming” had to change.

“Farming is not considered prestigious by the young generation. We have to modernize and digitize farming. We have to make farming attractive again.”

If the return to traditional technologies and systems was a big discussion, so too was the use of modern technologies and artificial intelligence as a solution to food security and diet. The technology could be harnessed for everything from testing the soil, to encouraging people, through the use of Apps, to follow healthy diets.

What is clear, though, is that there needs to be a shared agenda for the future.

“We need everyone to work together, we must travel the same road. We need lawmakers to enact clear rules,” Barilla concluded.

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“Sofia,” a 17-year-old tobacco worker, in a tobacco field in North Carolina. Benedict Evans/Human Rights Watch

By Margaret Wurth
NEW YORK, Dec 3 2019 (IPS)

Legal action against British American Tobacco (BAT), one of the world’s largest tobacco firms, could see the company punished for profiting from child labor and force the industry to finally confront its treatment of vulnerable workers.

The case, brought by human rights lawyers on behalf of hundreds of tenant farmers and their children in Malawi, contends that the company is guilty of “unjust enrichment.” Martyn Day, a senior partner at Leigh Day, the firm bringing the case, told The Guardian that the tenant farmers cultivating tobacco for one of BAT’s main suppliers are paid so little and the work involved is so labor intensive that they are forced to rely on help from their children.

The claimants are suing for compensation, and their lawyers believe it could force the company to pay more for the leaf it buys to ensure proper livelihoods for the workers and farmers at the bottom of its supply chain.

BAT said it takes the issue “extremely seriously” and makes clear to all its farmers and suppliers that exploitative child labor “will not be tolerated.”

Driven by poverty, children work in tobacco farming to help their families make ends meet, to raise money for school fees or books, or to help their parents increase their earnings or save money on hired labor

Over the last six years, I’ve interviewed hundreds of child workers involved in back-breaking, dangerous work on tobacco farms in the United States, Indonesia, and Zimbabwe. The tobacco they help to produce ends up in products sold by the largest tobacco companies in the world.

The impossibly difficult situation that tobacco farming families in Malawi face mirrors what I’ve seen in all the countries where I’ve investigated child labor in tobacco farming. Driven by poverty, children work in tobacco farming to help their families make ends meet, to raise money for school fees or books, or to help their parents increase their earnings or save money on hired labor.

In the United States, I spoke with children as young as 7 and their parents. One farmworker, a single mother of five children, told me, “What I earn is not sufficient for my family. My children have to work to buy school supplies, clothes, the things you have to pay for at school.”

Small-scale tobacco farmers in Indonesia told me they were too poor to hire laborers, so their children often helped in the fields.

Poverty has also fueled child labor in tobacco farming in Zimbabwe, where children work to raise money for school fees or food. “I am looking for money for survival,” one 16-year-old tobacco worker told me. She earned just $3 a day on tobacco farms.

Work in tobacco farming is especially hazardous for children because tobacco plants contain nicotine, which can be absorbed through the skin and cause acute nicotine poisoning. Many child workers report nausea, vomiting, headaches, or dizziness while they work – all symptoms of the poisoning. Child workers are also often exposed to pesticides, and they work long hours in extreme heat, sometimes using dangerous tools or machinery.

For years, my colleagues and I have been urging tobacco companies to eradicate child labor in their global supply chains. Though most companies have policies against child labor, none of them prohibit children from all work handling tobacco—the best policy for protecting children from harm. And year after year, investigations in the tobacco sector show persistent problems with child labor.

Ending child labor requires action by governments and companies to provide children with quality education, to enact strong child labor laws and policies with serious monitoring and inspection, and – crucially – to address family poverty. In the tobacco sector, that means companies ensuring that the price they pay for tobacco leaf lets workers and small-scale tobacco farmers actually earn a living wage.

After years of work on this issue, I still can’t comprehend how – in 2019 – big tobacco companies can profit without penalties from tobacco produced by child workers who are exhausted, overworked, falling behind in school, and exposed to toxins that could have lasting effects on their brains and bodies.

That’s why news of the lawsuit gave me hope. Though it could take years, the case could force BAT to pay workers and farmers fairly and finally eradicate child labor in its supply chain.

Children shouldn’t need to sacrifice their health and education to help their families survive.

 

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Excerpt:

Margaret Wurth is a senior children’s rights researcher at Human Rights Watch

The post Case Against Tobacco Giant Could Protect Children appeared first on Inter Press Service.

By Anis Chowdhury and Jomo Kwame Sundaram
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 2019 (IPS)

Much recent unrest, such as the ‘yellow-vest’ protests in France and the US ‘Abolish the Super-Rich’ campaign, is not against inequality per se, but reflects perceptions of changing inequalities. Most citizens resent inequalities when it is not only unacceptably high, but also rising.

Anis Chowdhury

Even in the most egalitarian society, not everyone has the same income or wealth. Some inequality is widely considered inevitable, or even desirable to incentivize effort. But even excessive inequality is widely seen as fundamentally unfair. Even President Obama described “dangerous and growing inequality” as “the defining challenge of our time”.

Take the case of two people in a country in 1980, one with an income of $1 daily and the other $10. Let us say that the first person’s daily income is now $10, while the second person gets $100. Even though both incomes have increased by the same percentage, and ‘relative’ inequality between them has remained the same, ‘absolute’ inequality has gone up from $9 to $90.

Inequality in historical perspective
Deidre McCloskey claims ‘the Great Enrichment’ over the last two centuries has seen per capita incomes rise ten-fold, benefiting most, if not all. In response, Jason Hickel has exposed the Great Enrichment’s slavery, colonization and violent displacement of indigenous peoples.

A study found that “today’s global income inequality levels are much higher than they were in 1820, irrespective if measured in absolute or in relative terms.”

Relative within-country inequality in 1929 was similar to 1820, decreasing during 1950-1970, before rising from 1975. Globally, except during 1929-1950, absolute within-country inequality increased continuously, with large increases after 1950, growing faster after 1970.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

United Nations University (UNU-WIDER) research found that both relative and absolute inequality increased substantially in North America, Europe, Central Asia, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa during 1975–2010. But while absolute inequality also rose in Latin America and East Asia, relative inequality fell.

The World Inequality Report 2018 revealed that the world’s richest 1% obtained 27% of global income between 1980 and 2016. By contrast, the bottom half got only 12%. Today, more than half of humanity still lives on US$7.40 a day or less, barely adequate for a decent life.

Oxfam’s Reward Work, Not Wealth reported that 82% of the wealth created in 2016 went to the world’s richest 1%, while the 3.7 billion people in the poorer half of humanity got next to nothing. Oxfam notes elsewhere that now, “seven out of 10 people live in countries in which the gap between rich and poor is greater than it was 30 years ago”.

The recent period has seen the biggest increase of billionaires in history, with a new one every two days, while billionaire wealth increased by US$762 billion in the year to March 2017, an increase which could end global extreme poverty seven times over if well spent.

Rising inequality’s implications
Studying long-term data, Nobel laureate Simon Kuznets suggested that economic development first raises and then lowers income inequality with the shift from agriculture, presumed to be characterized by modest income disparities, to industry, with larger income gaps.

However, the experiences of East Asian economies during their early phase of industrialization challenged Kuznets’ hypothesis. These economies grew quickly from the 1960s to the 1980s, without inequality rising. More recently, progressive redistribution lowered inequality and accelerated growth during the 2003-2011 Latin American economic boom.

Kuznets’ hypothesis also implied that rising inequality is desirable because the rich save more of their additional income than the poor. Hence, income distribution favouring the rich should lead to more savings and investments, propelling growth.

But land reforms in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan reduced inequality, enabling growth to take off. Meanwhile, over the centuries, high inequality in much of Latin America and the Caribbean – associated with colonialism, slavery and land ownership – has undermined growth.

‘Inclusive’ inequality?
Today, inequality is supposedly more ‘inclusive’, with a growing global middle class even as national inequalities rise. Others term it ‘positive-sum wealth production’, typically contrasted with ‘zero-sum wealth extraction’.

Advocates decry “the perception that billionaires make money for themselves at the expense of the wider population”, attributing their fortunes to successful investments, while highlighting their philanthropy and patronage of the arts, culture and sports.

Rutger Bregman – who chided billionaires at the 2019 Davos World Economic Forum (WEF) for avoiding tax – has argued that societies should not rely on the generosity of the rich. “Philanthropy is not a substitute for democracy or proper taxation or a good welfare state.”

Ambiguous politics of inequality
High and rising inequality is bad for sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. As the 2018 World Inequality Report warned, “if rising inequality is not properly monitored and addressed, it can lead to various sorts of political, economic, and social catastrophes”.

Some of history’s greatest thinkers – e.g., Plato and Aristotle – and classical economists – such as Adam Smith and Karl Marx – have emphasized the adverse effects of inequality on the social fabric. High and rising inequality is not only socially unfair, but negatively impacts political stability, crime and corruption, even undermining democracy.

Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz contends that economic inequality “translates into political inequality, which leads to rules that favour the wealthy, which in turn reinforces economic inequality”; rising inequality inevitably subverts democracy.

As Farhad Manjoo writes, extreme wealth “buys political power, it silences dissent, it serves primarily to perpetuate ever-greater wealth, often unrelated to any reciprocal social good.”

A recent Oxfam study has shown the many ways Latin American politics has been captured by the super-rich, with substantial financial backing for many new ethno-populist, racist and intolerant religious leaders.

The growing sense of vulnerability of many working people and seeming irrelevance of elitist social democrats have contributed to rising jingoist ethno-populisms in the rich West and elsewhere, blaming foreigners and other ‘outsiders’ for their problems.

The post Inequality and Its Many Discontents appeared first on Inter Press Service.

Credit: IPS

By Manuel Barange
ROME, Dec 3 2019 (IPS)

This is a question we need to ask ourselves but before answering we need to acknowledge the diversity of expectations and aspirations that we all have for oceans, which cover more than two-thirds of the planet’s surface.

We all need to eat, and food does not come out of a magician’s hat. It has to be harvested on land or in water, in ways that almost always imply a level of transformation of the wild environment. Agreeing on the trade-offs so that food provision is secured for current and future generations is the panacea we all search for.

According to FAO 60 percent of all exploited fish stocks are at levels that produce their maximum yield. This is the level that countries would like all exploited fish stocks to be, as agreed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and many other international agreements. The problem is that 33 percent of fish stocks are overfished, and thus capable of producing more if they were allowed to rebuild to the appropriate biomass, while a further 7 percent of those assessed are underfished – this means that just like a forest where the trees are too close together, they would need to be fished further to ensure they produce to their full potential.

Maximizing the sustainable exploitation of our fish resources has broader considerations. 35 percent of the planet’s land surface is already devoted to agriculture, using 70 percent of all the water humans use. Land ecosystems may bear a heavy toll if demanded alone to support the 60 percent more food required to feed our growing population by 2050, So let’s ask again, what do we want from our oceans?

Sustainability is critical. FAO notes that overexploitation of fisheries is worsening in developing regions, where poverty, hunger, and inadequate investments in fisheries management systems are making things worse. In contrast, it is dramatically improving in developed regions: 91 percent of fish stocks in the United States of America are not subject to overfishing, in Australia it is 83 percent, while the reduction in fishing pressure in Europe’s Atlantic waters since 2002 has resulted in the majority of fish stocks now being fished sustainably.

With political will to support data collection, policy development, management programmes and enforcement, fisheries management can be highly effective. Without shoring these up, ocean protection will become more difficult to deliver, as will feeding the world.

We must not forget climate change, the greatest challenge of our time, and its impacts on the supply and composition of food from our ocean.

The best assessment is that maximum catch potential in the world’s fisheries are projected to decline by between 2.3 and 12.1 percent by 2050, depending on the effectiveness of greenhouse gas mitigation efforts. But that global projection obscures something we know: that the most detrimental effects are expected to happen in the tropics and in small Pacific Island states, home to some of the world’s poorest and most fish-dependent communities, and where fishing rules are patchily enforced.

As many fish species are free to migrate, ocean warming will trigger a number of distributional shifts and cause ecosystem reorganizations, some of which can lead to very negative outcomes. When lionfish moved into the Caribbean, they provoked a sharp decline in native fish populations that were the customary targets of local communities. Lionfish are now in the Mediterranean, where they prosper thanks to overfishing of a potential rival, the grouper. As species move, fisheries management systems will have to adapt and evolve. This will increasingly entail negotiations between countries to deal with resources that cross or straddle national jurisdictions, as well as adaptable fishing fleets and strategies. Hands-off initiatives such as marine-protected areas have little impact on rising temperature and acidification levels and may not boost stocks as much as hoped. We should pursue very hands-on strategies. This means more and better management, not less.

Consumers will also help make the ocean sustainable by adjusting culinary preferences. Anchovies and red mullets, beloved in the Mediterranean, are proving a hard sell in Britain, where they are increasingly available. The namesake fish of Cape Cod, an elite resort in the U.S., is now imported from Iceland while locally caught dogfish struggles for recognition and ends up exported – all while the main difference for customers is the name.

It is imperative to embrace -– as many cultures have – an open mind about what is edible. And that too is eminently possible; consider how North American lobsters evolved from “trash” fed to prisoners to an icon of upscale dining. In particular, we should foster appreciation of smaller fish, which are particularly big sources of micronutrients that paradoxically are often in short supply in the tropical countries that export them.

One shorthand way to achieve a better and acceptable vision of the role of the oceans as a provider of food is to consider fisheries as part of the global food system and incorporate them into coherent strategies. Once again, optimizing the required trade-offs means more and better management, not less.

Beyond capture fisheries, it’s evident that aquaculture – the fastest growing food production system over the past half a century – is a strategic and promising tool. Aquaculture fosters smart use of animals lower in the food chain, and while largely an inland activity also accounts for more than one-fourth of the fish oceans provide us.

These and related issues will be discussed at a four-day high-level international symposium hosted by FAO, and lie at the core of negotiations to take place at COP25, the UN Climate Change Conference in Spain in December.

There are an estimated 821 million undernourished people in the world today, a figure that increased in the last four years. To change this trend, we will need all the tools in our toolbox. The ocean, occupying 71 percent of the planet’s surface, provides just two percent of our calorie intake. We will not make hunger history without changing this ratio. Appropriate recognition of what the ocean can do for us should help us focus our time, money and ideas with the clarity that the challenge demands.

The author is Director of the Fisheries and Aquaculture Policy and Resources Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

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Credit: UNICEF

By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS, Dec 3 2019 (IPS)

The greatest single climate-induced threat facing the world’s 44 small island developing states (SIDS) is rising sea waters which could obliterate some of the low-lying states, including Maldives, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Palau and Micronesia.

The Marshall Islands alone, says the UN, has seen more than a third of its population move abroad in the last 15-20 years. Many have moved for work, healthcare and education – but climate change is now threatening those who have chosen to stay.

At the Conference of Parties (COP25) on climate change in Madrid December 2, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pointedly warned that rising sea levels were twice as deadly today as it was many moons ago: while oceans are rising, he said, they are also being poisoned.

“Oceans absorb more than a quarter of all CO2 in the atmosphere and generate more than half our oxygen. Absorbing more and more carbon dioxide acidifies the oceans and threatens all life within them”, he added.

But bigger cities have not been spared either.

In an article titled “Warming Ocean Waters Have Fish on the Move”, The New York Times reported December 2 that Iceland, whose economy has depended largely on commercial fishing, has discovered that warming waters associated with climate change are causing some fish to seek cooler waters elsewhere beyond the reach of Icelandic fishermen.

Pointing out the hazards of climate change, Guterres says ice caps are melting. And in Greenland alone, 179 billion tonnes of ice melted in July. Permafrost in the Arctic is thawing 70 years ahead of projections. And Antarctica is melting three times as fast as a decade ago, he told delegates at COP25 which is scheduled to conclude December 13.

But there are two proposals before the UN, both aimed primarily at safeguarding the high seas: a Global Network of Ocean Sanctuaries and a Global Ocean Treaty.

Scientific expeditions in recent years have revealed that the high seas, 200 nautical miles from coastal shores, harbor an incredible array of species that provide essential services for life on Earth. Credit: The Pew Charitable Trusts

Louisa Casson, an Oceans Campaigner at Greenpeace UK, told IPS that scientists and governments have coalesced around the concept of a global network of fully protected ocean sanctuaries, covering at least 30% of the world’s ocean.

The creation of this network is not just realistic, but of fundamental importance to the health of our planet, she said.

A new report, “Greenpeace’s 30×30: A Blueprint for Ocean Protection” authored in collaboration with the Universities of York and Oxford, sets out a scientifically robust and clear vision for a global network of ocean sanctuaries, totally off limits to human exploitation, which would give oceans and the wildlife that calls it home the space needed to recover and thrive.

To deliver this network, she said, governments at the United Nations must agree on a strong new Global Ocean Treaty in 2020.

“This treaty would help fix the currently broken system of ocean governance, which has allowed our ocean to be exploited to the brink of collapse.”

Such a treaty, she said, would provide a clear legal duty and process for nations to protect and restore ocean health through a network of sanctuaries, and set out a robust institutional framework for creating and effectively managing the network through a Conference of the Parties.

A new treaty should also provide clear enforcement obligations for all governments, and monitoring and review mechanisms to ensure the treaty is being properly implemented by all, said Casson.

The world’s high seas, which extend beyond 200 nautical miles, are deemed “international waters” to be shared globally– but they remain largely ungoverned justifying the need for a new treaty.

The world’s oceans have steadily undergone environmental destruction, including illegal fishing and overfishing, plastics pollutions, indiscriminate sea bed mining and degradation of marine eco systems.

Dr Palitha Kohona, a former co-chair of the ‘U.N. Working Group on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity Beyond Areas of National Jurisdiction’, told IPS the concept of ocean sanctuaries and protected areas has been on the table for some time.

He said it is high on the agenda of Western NGOs and many European countries.

And there is a historic compromise in place between the Group of 77 developing countries (G77) and the European Union (EU) on the outlines of this concept and benefit sharing, he noted.

“Properly identified and policed, ocean sanctuaries and marine protected areas (MPAs) will help to protect the habitat of identified species and the breeding grounds of diverse marine life forms which took millions of years to evolve,” he said.

It is hoped that agreement on these will at least help to arrest the decline in the number of marine species, said Dr Kohona a former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations.

However, a longstanding demand for benefit sharing by developing countries also needs accommodation. A compromise can be achieved. There are precedents which can be adapted, he said.

Biological diversity in the oceans could very well provide the impetus for the next wave of innovations in the pharmaceutical industry and the developing world is acutely conscious of being excluded from it benefits.

“We know that species extinction is occurring at an unprecedented pace, including in the seas and oceans. Global warming is contributing substantially to this phenomenon”.

At the same time, species adaptation to changing weather and climate factors is threatening the livelihood of millions who depend on the oceans and seas for their living.

He said fish swim away from familiar habitats to areas where the temperature is more conducive to their existence.

Attempts to arrest global warming have received storms of verbal support but not much by way of practical action. Some in positions of power have even challenged the overwhelming scientific view in order to cultivate uninformed electoral support, he noted.

“At COP 25 in Madrid, we need to encourage thinking that would balance economic consolidation and advancement and the conservation of the environment for our children. Our future must not be left to whims of those who thrive in ignorance,” he declared.

Casson pointed out there is wide agreement on the need for a new Global Ocean Treaty.

However, governments have been negotiating on a new treaty for years now, and as industrial vested interests step up their lobbying there is a serious risk of the treaty failing to change the status quo, leaving governments unable to deliver effective ocean protection.

She said governments that are truly supportive of proper marine protection must step up when the United Nations meets next year, and fight for the strongest Global Ocean Treaty possible.

“Without a robust new treaty, the ocean crisis will only worsen, which will have wide implications for our planet’s health and for all of humanity,” she warned.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) to support efforts to reverse the cycle of decline in ocean health.

The marine realm, says the UN, is the largest component of the Earth’s system that stabilizes climate and support life on Earth and human well-being.

The impact of multiple stressors on the ocean is projected to increase as the human population grows towards the expected 9 billion by 2050.

The writer can be contacted at thalifdeen@ips.org

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Russia Ambassador Dmitry Maksimychev with WFP in April 2019. Credit: WFP

By PRESS RELEASE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Dec 3 2019 (IPS-Partners)

The Government of Russia has announced a voluntary contribution of 1 million US Dollars to the World Food Programme of the United Nations for food assistance to Kenya. WFP will coordinate with the Kenyan authorities the distribution of food supplies to reach families most in need of assistance.

“This support is an expression of solidarity of the Russian people with the people of Kenya. It will contribute to the achievement by Kenya of the Sustainable Development Goals and the Government of Kenya’s Big Four Agenda in food security,” said the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Kenya Dmitry Maksimychev. It also reflects the spirit of the recent Russia – Africa Summit, he added.

H.E. Amb. Macharia Kamau, Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kenya, said: “Kenya welcomes the cooperation and support of the Russian Federation. And particularly that this support and cooperation is in line with the Big Four priorities of the President targeting food security. This especially welcome given that it came so soon after the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, which President Kenyatta attended”.

The current floods have amplified the effects of drought experienced in the earlier part of the year, which affected at least ten counties, mostly in northern and North-eastern Kenya and rendered about 3,1 million people food insecure.

“I would like to deeply appreciate the Government of Russia for this support to the people of Kenya through the United Nations World Food Programme. We stand with the people of Kenya and remain committed to relieving those suffering from hunger,” said UN Resident Coordinator to Kenya Mr. Siddharth Chatterjee when receiving the announcement from the Ambassador of Russia. He further said that in this age, no Kenyan should suffer from hunger and pledged that the UN Kenya Country Team will continue to deliver as one support the government and all its partners to transform the county into a food-basket for the region and the world.

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