Africa

Credit: Pixabay/surajitsinghasisir
 
Source: https://pixabay.com/photos/born-baby-mother-black-and-white-7620488/

By Sayuri Cocco Okada
BANGKOK, Thailand, Mar 12 2024 (IPS)

Maternity protection is a human right enshrined in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Income security for newborn mothers ensures their mental and physical wellbeing and contributes to the healthy development of their infants.

Though 41 countries in Asia and the Pacific have instituted statutory maternity leave benefits, just over one in three newborn mothers is actually receiving a maternity benefit. Many countries still fall short of the ILO recommended 18 weeks duration, with only 14 countries meeting this standard.

There persists a vast gap between aspiration and effective protection for newborn mothers.

Almost two-thirds of women of reproductive age in Asia and the Pacific are outside the labour force and thus do not qualify for work-related contributory maternity benefits. Even for working women, social protection remains elusive.

Contributory schemes and their accompanying income security are out of reach for female informal workers, ranging from 97.3 per cent of total female employment in Afghanistan to just over one quarter in Australia (Figure 1).

Figure 1. A large proportion of women are in informal employment in countries across Asia and the Pacific

Source: ESCAP SDG Gateway Data Explorer

Working women who may be eligible often do not meet qualifying criteria for schemes, such as number of years contributing into a scheme, due to breaks taken in their careers to attend to care duties.

There is increasing recognition that the right to minimum income security during maternity should apply to all new parents- not only working mothers- regardless of their employment status. Few countries however provide universal non-contributory maternity benefits to safeguard income security for all newborn mothers.

The newly launched and publicly available maternity module of the ESCAP SPOT Simulator enables policy makers to observe the economic value and price tag of different maternity benefits in 27 countries.

It demonstrates that introducing universal non-contributory maternity benefits at a basic benefit level for a duration of 18 weeks can ensure that a majority of newborn mothers do not have to raise their infants in poverty.

In the Maldives and Uzbekistan, it would lift every newborn mother over the national and respective international poverty lines and reduce poverty by at least half for newborn mothers in 10 countries (See Figure 2).

Figure 2. Universal non-contributory maternity benefits can have a significant poverty reduction impact

Source: ESCAP SPOT Simulator

By making these benefits universal and non-contributory, it would guarantee coverage of the high proportion of female informal worker and other mothers who were hitherto excluded. All for costs ranging between only 0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent of GDP.

As outlined in the ESCAP-ILO primer on how to design maternity and paternity leave policies, three features underscore the capacity of governments to realise the right to maternity protection and achieve its full potential.

Benefits should be collectively financed, such as through social insurance or taxes, rather than employer liability; of an adequate duration to enable mothers to recover from pregnancy and birth as well as care for their infants, without negatively impacting on their return to work; and at a minimum, provide a level of benefit to ensure that mother and their newborn child can stay healthy and out of poverty.

Extending maternity benefits of an adequate level and duration to all newborn mothers is a first step. We would do well to remember that maternity does not operate in a vacuum. Caring for an infant is not only the domain of mothers and it is vital to promote the participation of fathers in childcare to bond and co-parent their newborn.

The incremental rise in paid paternity leave and duration in the region signal that countries are increasingly acknowledging the need to balance care responsibilities and increase engagement of fathers. Promoting the role of fathers in childcare helps to normalise this shared responsibility, although uptake is still low.

Raising a child entails a continuum of care that spans pre-pregnancy, antenatal care, birth and breastfeeding to early childhood, universal childcare and universal primary education. Maternity benefits are at the initial stage in this continuum of care and should be coordinated to ensure seamless social protection is afforded to parents and families throughout this period.

This week, governments and stakeholders are gathering in New York for the 68th session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women to reflect on pathways to women’s empowerment by addressing poverty and advancing more gender-responsive social protection systems.

Investments in maternity benefits are fundamental to safeguard the wellbeing of mothers and support a continuum of care for parents and children. At a fraction of GDP, universal tax financed maternity benefits are an effective instrument to guarantee all mothers are free from poverty at this critical stage of motherhood and infant

Sayuri Cocco Okada is Social Affairs Officer, ESCAP

Footnote:
Maternity protection is a human right enshrined in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Income security for newborn mothers ensures their mental and physical wellbeing and contributes to the healthy development of their infants. Though 41 countries in Asia and the Pacific have instituted statutory maternity leave benefits, just over one in three newborn mothers is actually receiving a maternity benefit. Many countries still fall short of the ILO recommended 18 weeks duration, with only 14 countries meeting this standard. There persists a vast gap between aspiration and effective protection for newborn mothers.

This article addresses the theme which will be discussed at the 68th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women (https://www.unwomen.org/en/how-we-work/commission-on-the-status-of-women).

IPS UN Bureau

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Joshua Peter and his friend Salama Ogboshun were kidnapped last year while on their way to the farm in Kaduna. Credit: Promise Eze/IPS

By Promise Eze
ABUJA, Mar 12 2024 (IPS)

Lilian Eze still shivers when she recalls the frequent attacks by kidnappers in the Kaduna community she once lived in, in north-central Nigeria. In February 2022, she fled with her children to Abuja, the nation’s capital, to ensure their safety.

In an interview with IPS, she explained that the kidnappers would invade the community on foot and with a horde of motorbikes in the evenings with little or no resistance from security agencies.

They would indiscriminately fire gunshots into the air, instilling fear among residents, before forcibly taking their victims to remote areas in the forest, where they would be held captive until ransom was paid. But not all victims make it out alive.

“When it started, sometime around 2017, we thought it would subside but it became extremely frequent. The gunshots were terrifying; most nights, we could not sleep. After my neighbour was kidnapped, I stopped sleeping at my house. My children and I would go to a nearby community to spend the night,” Eze said.

Nigeria is currently bedeviled with a widespread kidnapping for ransom crisis. It is among the highest globally. Armed gunmen snatch their victims from highways, schools, and even their homes. According to a report from Lagos-based risk consultancy SBM Intelligence spanning from July 2022 to June 2023, 3,495 individuals were abducted in 582 incidents, with over USD 18 million paid as ransom between 2011 and 2020.

The Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit says kidnapping for ransom is one of the major sources of terrorism financing in the country. Despite several pledges by the government to bring an end to the crisis, it has continued to fester.

While the payment of ransom has been criminalised, Nigerians have no choice but to crowdfund for ransom to secure the release of their family members and relatives, as in most cases, the kidnappers would not release their victims until ransom was paid.

Trapped in Kidnappers’ Den

While Eze and her family were lucky to have escaped to a relatively safer location, others have not been so lucky.

Joshua Peter, 30, along with his friend Salama Ogboshun, were kidnapped last year while on their way to the farm in Kaduna. He said heavily armed men ambushed and bundled them into a bush, from where they were taken to a forest. He added that the trauma of his experience in the forest may never fade away.

“Many kidnapped victims were killed before my eyes. Women and young girls were frequently raped in the open. I was beaten and received death threats every day,” he said.

Peter said he was released after two weeks only after the ransom was paid but for days he could eat just a little food and did not talk to anyone as a result of the trauma he battled with. He wondered why the Nigerian security forces were unable to rescue them and track the location of the kidnappers despite negotiations for their release on the phone.

Nigerians have frequently raised concerns about the efficiency of the country’s intelligence gathering and have voiced criticism regarding the perceived shortcomings of different security agencies in employing technology to address insecurity. Critics argue that, despite security agencies effectively monitoring and suppressing opposition activities, they have consistently fallen short in tracking down criminals. The police attribute delays in addressing kidnapping cases to a “shortage of tracking machines.”

Nigeria’s Failing Technological Infrastructure

For Sadiq Abdulahi, a tech expert with Fozy Global Concept based in Abuja, there is sparse collaboration between security agencies, which hampers the fight against insecurity.

“There should be synergy among the various security agencies regarding data sharing,” he added, emphasizing the lack of awareness about the potential use of technology to combat crime in the country.

In 2022, the Nigerian government mandated residents of the country to synchronize their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs) with their National Identification Numbers (NINs) to bolster security. However, despite the policy, kidnappers continue to place untraceable calls to the families of their victims. Isa Pantami, the former Nigerian Minister of Communications and Digital Economy who spearheaded the initiative, faced criticism for seeking funds to pay ransom for certain kidnapped victims earlier this year. Pantami, however, shifted blame to security agencies, accusing them of not efficiently utilizing the policy to trace criminals.

Zainab Dabo, a Nigerian political analyst, argues that a lack of commitment and political will by the government is contributing to the crisis. According to her, the Nigerian security forces are under-equipped to confront rogue non-state actors.

“Security operatives have arms that are not as sophisticated as those of the kidnappers. While our security forces are well-trained, the lack of proper armament turns confronting terrorists into a perilous mission,” she told IPS.

Dabo also alleged that there are insiders within the Nigerian security infrastructure who are aiding terrorists. “For insecurity to persist for this long, it indicates elite connivance not only among security operatives but also among politicians and traditional rulers,” she added.

Joshua Madaki, a Kaduna resident kidnapped from his home by armed gangs on the evening of December 21, 2021, shares the same view as Dabo. Madaki, who said he spent 17 days in captivity, was abducted alongside 36 others from his community. He disclosed that while ransom negotiations were ongoing, the criminals killed six of the victims as a warning to their families.

“Insecurity in Nigeria is very complicated, but it seems the government is not ready to take action to tackle it,” said Badasi Bello, whose younger sister was kidnapped in Sokoto State, northwest Nigeria, in 2023.

Amnesty International has advised the Nigerian government to regard the kidnapping crisis in the country as an emergency and to take measures to solve the problem.

However, kidnapping continues, including the mass kidnapping of schoolchildren. Last week (Thursday, August 7, 2024), 287 children were abducted from two schools in Kaduna State. UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, said in a statement that the act was “part of a worrying trend of attacks on educational institutions in Nigeria, particularly in the northwest, where armed groups have intensified their campaign of violence and kidnappings.”

Then, on March 10, 15 pupils were abducted from the Islamic seminary in Gidan Bakuso, Sokoto State, while they slept, according to the Associated Press.

Munduate said UNICEF was coordinating with local officials and assisting parents and families with psychological support services.

“Every child deserves to grow up in an environment of peace, away from the looming shadows of threats and insecurity. Unfortunately, we are currently facing a significant deterioration in community safety, with children disproportionately suffering the consequences of this decline in security,” Munduate said.

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');   Related Articles

• Blinken’s Visit to Africa: Is US Counterterrorism Counterproductive?
• Nigerian Women Challenge ‘Colonialist’ Patriarchy
• France, Russia, ECOWAS in Battle for Soul of West Africa

Musa Garba was one of more than 280 abducted last week, but he managed slip away from his captors.

Economic Commission for Africa’s Executive Secretary, Claver Gatete. Credit: ECA

By Busani Bafana
VICTORIA FALLS, Zimbabwe, Mar 11 2024 (IPS)

With 20 percent of the global population and vast untapped natural resources, not forgetting its human capital, it is time Africa had its rightful seat at the global table, the United Nations Under Secretary and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Claver Gatete, has called.

Decrying that Africa has been on the back foot on the global stage when key political and economic decisions are made, Gatete says it is time Africa claimed its voice. Gatete told a recent conference of African finance ministers in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, that Africa is in a financial and fiscal crisis because a global financial system does not have the interests of the continent at heart.

Africa Must Be Heard

“So, what will it take for African countries to really feel heard? Gatete asked.

“It is okay for us to say that 80 years ago, Africa was not at the table. It is probably acceptable to say that when the Millennium Development Goals were adopted, we were also at the periphery,” he said, adding, “But we will not be forgiven today if we do not occupy center stage as architects of a new global financial architecture that works for us.”

Africa, he noted, was facing multiple crises that it was not directly responsible for but bore the worst impacts from the Ukraine-Russia war, COVID-19, and high indebtedness to climate change.

The financial difficulties that Africa is currently facing are not solely the result of COVID-19 or recent conflicts but also have their roots in an inadequate global financial architecture and a multilateral financial system that does not adequately serve Africa’s needs, Gatete told IPS.

The African Union is pushing for Africa to have a permanent seat in the UN Security Council. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

Referring to the creation of the UN in 1945, Gatate pointed out that the five permanent members of the Security Council—China, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Russia—made up almost 50 percent of the world’s population then, but today that figure is just 26 percent.

“While Africa now represents nearly 20 percent of the global population, it is not represented at the G7, whose proportion of the global population is only 9.7 percent. So how do you solve today’s problems with outdated 80-year old structures that do not reflect the global shifts that have occurred?”

Africa has long pushed for a seat on the UN Security Council, calling for the reform of the United Nations in line with the Ezulwini Consensus, agreed in 2022. The Ezulwini Consensus is a position on international relations and UN reform agreed upon by the African Union. Africa wants at least two permanent seats and five non-permanent Security Council seats chosen by the African Union. 

Addressing the third summit of a group of developing countries (G77) in Uganda in January this year, UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres said there is agreement for Africa’s representation on the Security Council.

“So for the first time, I’m hopeful that at least a partial reform of the UN Security Council could be possible for this flagrant injustice to be corrected and for Africa to have at least one permanent member in the Security Council,” Guterres said.

A Green Transition Good for Africa

Highlighting that a productive green finance system in Africa has the potential to generate USD 3 trillion by 2030, Gatete urged that Africa needs to move from ‘potential’ to tangible actions with bankable regional projects.

Innovative instruments like debt-for-nature swaps, regional blue bonds, natural capital accounting, and regional carbon markets can provide financing that addresses debt issues and fosters environmental action, he noted, emphasizing that Africa wants a fair price for carbon trading.

“It does not make sense for African countries to earn less than USD 10 per ton of carbon while countries in Europe earn over USD 100.”

A Call to Change the Global Financial Architecture

It is estimated that Africa spends nearly USD 100 billion on debt repayments annually, forcing many governments to defer investments in social spending on health, education, and food security.

ECA Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist, Hanan Morsy, weighed in, saying there is a need to reduce the debt burden on African countries to enable them to allocate more resources to critical sectors like healthcare and education instead of high debt service costs.

“It is imperative to enhance Africa’s voice and representation, shifting from being rule takers to rule makers,” said Morsy, adding, “This involves bolstering international cooperation on taxation and combating IFFs, including reducing tax evasion and profit shifting.”

Deputy Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Monique Nsanzabaganwa, said Africa’s potential to reclaim its long-overdue rightful treatment was materializing as the global landscape took multi-polar shapes and the African Union became a full member of the G20.

“Africa is stronger together,” Nsanzabaganwa said, adding, “I will argue that the value proposition of the African Union is indeed to foster coherence in our strategies and amplify our common voice.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');   Related Articles

• Discrimination, a Killer of Dreams for People Affected by Leprosy
• Saving Energy, Saving Forests: How Kindle Stoves Are Changing Women’s Lives
• Invasive Species, Fast-Riding Horsemen Galloping the Biodiversity Apocalypse

Whole neighborhoods have been wiped-out in northern Gaza. Credit: 2024 UNRWA Photo by Abdallah El Hajj

By Alon Ben-Meir
NEW YORK, Mar 11 2024 (IPS)

Israel must uphold its moral values and make every effort to spare the lives of innocent Palestinians as it pursues Hamas’ destruction.

The unfathomable massacre of Israeli Jews by Hamas and its insatiable thirst for Jewish blood has rightfully evoked the most virulent condemnation from many corners of the world, including many Arab states. The call for revenge and retribution by many Israelis was an instinctive human reaction that can be justified in a moment of incomparable rage and devastation.

In this case, the Israelis’ reaction transcended Hamas’ massacre because it brought to life memories from the Holocaust that the Jews foresworn to never let happen again. But it happened, though on a much smaller scale; the savagery and the cold-bloodedness that characterized Hamas’ attack was reminiscent of the Holocaust, which is etched in the mind and soul of the Jews.

Israel’s decision to crush Hamas as a political movement, destroy its infrastructure, and prevent it from reconstituting itself is necessary, and it should relentlessly be pursued with vigor. Under no circumstances and regardless of what the Jews have experienced, however, can the Israeli military justify any acts of revenge against innocent Palestinian men, women, and children who have nothing to do with Hamas’ evil act.

None of the dead or injured Palestinian women and children were asked by Hamas’ leaders whether they should go and massacre innocent Israelis at an unprecedented scale. Although Hamas knew full well the unimaginable price these ordinary Palestinians would end up paying, Hamas was more than willing let them die by the tens of thousands as the sacrificial lamb on the altar of the most vicious beasts that roam the earth.

After more than six months of fighting that inflicted horrific death and destruction on Gaza and claimed the lives of more than 30,000, two-thirds of them women and children, while laying half of Gaza in utter ruin, one must ask the question: was there a strong element of revenge that contributed to this colossal human disaster? Tragically, the answer is YES.

The role of the victim is deeply ingrained in the Jewish psyche, and the leap from being victim to victimizer is subconscious; acting on it is spontaneous. That said, the extent and the scope of the Israeli reaction calls into question whether or not Israeli soldiers have been engaged in acts of revenge beyond their legitimate right to self-defense while pursuing Hamas’ operatives.

When we see in real-time the destruction of one neighborhood after another, horrendously transcending any proportionality of collateral damage which is often unavoidable in a state of war, we see revenge and retribution.

When soldiers boast of serving in the most moral military force in the world but laugh and dance following the explosion and leveling of a residential building to the ground, killing dozens of civilians among one or two suspected Hamas fighters, it is not an act of self-defense, it is an act of vengeance that defies the logic of what’s moral.

When the entire population of Gaza is facing “catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity” and hundreds of children are dying from curable illnesses because they could not receive the medical treatment and the medicine they need, it is an unforgivable crime the whole world is watching in real-time with revulsion and disdain.

When a majority of the Palestinians are forced to evacuate their homes with women and children, and the sick are forced to walk for miles with little or no rations, not knowing where they will sleep and where the next meal will come from, it is cruel and devoid of any moral culpability.

When an entire family is buried alive under the rubble of their building that collapsed over their heads, and they die a slow death before the rescuers and medical teams can save anyone, it is inhuman and severely damages the high moral ground the Israeli army has proudly claimed.

More than 25,000 women and children have been killed in Gaza, including 258 babies who never had the chance to celebrate their first birthday. Infants and toddlers are children just beginning to discover the world. Can the barbaric and utterly condemnable attack by Hamas on October 7 justify or explain the horrific killing of innocents on this scale?

How can any people who claim to cherish life, steal it away from so many completely innocent children, who had their entire lives ahead of them? This not collateral damage, as some Israeli cynics try to explain it. This is revenge – and the cycle of revenge will continue indefinitely.

Shortly after October 7, I recall an interview with an Israeli soldier who said outright that he ‘needs his revenge.’ Does not that soldier, and everyone who thinks like him, realize that this is precisely how Hamas was operating on October 7? Is it not obvious that revenge, by its very nature, has no end?

It is a mechanical and thoughtless response to injury that repeats itself until one party has the moral strength and courage to say enough is enough: we will not go on slaughtering each other wholesale, exacting retribution on individuals who have committed no wrong, whose deaths are meant only to maximize the suffering of those who loved and cherished them.

Does not every Israeli mother realize that every Palestinian mother cares for their children with the same boundless love that they have for their own? Does Israel truly believe that a Palestinian infant has less value than an Israeli babe-in-arms? Can anyone truthfully believe that the moral response to having one’s innocent loved ones killed is to kill more innocents? And on what scale?

How many dead Palestinian children will it take to satiate the desire for revenge? There is no end, because no matter how many Palestinian children Israel kills, it will not bring back to life a single one of those Israeli younglings that were killed on October 7.

Israel is not honoring its dead by this slaughter and devastation, but just the opposite. It is disgracing the dead and themselves. Israel appears bent on demonstrating before the whole world that it has lost all sense of moral compass, proportionality, pity, and compassion. The Jewish people are better than this: it is they who taught us that to save one human life is to save the world.

The deliberate shedding of innocent blood is and will always be an atrocious act of evil that can never be morally justified. And the time has come for Israel to bring an end to this retribution before it loses its soul and whatever moral sympathy the world had for the wrong it suffered over six months ago.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is justifying this collective punishment by dehumanizing the Palestinians, deeming them unworthy of humane treatment. He is waging a merciless campaign against innocent Palestinians who had nothing to do with Hamas’ acts of terror. For Netanyahu, there is simply no moral equivalence. For him and many of his deplorable followers, the Palestinians are sub-humans, and their lives are unequal to those of Israeli Jews.

Israel will win this war; the question is, will it win it while adhering to Jewish moral values that have guided and ensured their survival throughout the centuries, or win it by leaving behind deep moral wounds that will be etched in memory and history books as one of Israel’s darkest chapters?

They must remember that just about every Arab country will quietly (and some even overtly) cheer the demise of Hamas, but they are and will continue to speak ever louder and clearer about their objection to the killing of innocent Palestinians, especially women and children, and they will scuttle any future prospect of normalization of relations between Israel and other Arab states.

The dehumanization of Palestinians will come back to haunt the Israelis simply because the Palestinians have no other place to go. And whether they are ordinary human beings with hopes and aspirations or subhuman, Israel is stuck with them. And regardless of how the war will end, Israel will have to address the conflict with the Palestinians. The depth of the scars of the war will define the relationship for years to come.

As the death toll and destruction rise in Gaza by the minute, the initial overwhelming sympathy toward Israel’s tragic losses has waned even among many of its friends. Indeed, once Israel loses its moral compass in dealing with the crisis, it will no longer be seen as the victim who rose from the ashes of the Holocaust and has every right to defend itself but the victimizer whose survival rests on the ashes of the Palestinians.

Israel’s ultimate triumph rests on its ability to rise above the fray and adhere to the moral values on which the country was founded and which are the only pillars that can sustain it.

Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.

This article is a selection from Dr Ben-Meir’s upcoming book, A Historic Point of Departure: Bringing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a close and creating a new regional geopolitical order, set to be published in April 2024.

IPS UN Bureau

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Jacque Maribe was acquitted but her ex-partner was found guilty of murdering Kenyan businesswoman Monica Kimani - and more.

News of the launch of a single currency for East Africa spread fast - but it turned out not to be true.

News of the launch of a single currency for East Africa spread fast - but it turned out not to be true.

Last month, the Nigerian bank chief was involved in a helicopter crash in California, which killed six people.

Nigeria continues to search for nearly 300 schoolchildren taken in the northern town of Kuriga.

Nigeria continues to search for nearly 300 schoolchildren taken in the northern town of Kuriga.

The levy, imposed last week, has been met with widespread condemnation from the private sector.

The levy, imposed last week, has been met with widespread condemnation from the private sector.

MMA fighter Francis Ngannou says he intends to continue in boxing despite a heavy loss to Anthony Joshua on Friday.

Twice in a week, gangs of motorcycle-riding armed men kidnapped hundreds of people in the north.

Anthony Joshua delivers the most powerful statement to the heavyweight division with a destructive second-round knockout win over Francis Ngannou.

The US says the workers were legally admitted to the country to support democratic reform.

Seaweed farming using the off-bottom seaweed farming approach—tying algal fonds or seaweed seeds to ropes attached between wooden pegs driven into the ocean sediment. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

By Joyce Chimbi
MWAZARO BEACH, Kenya, Mar 8 2024 (IPS)

Nearly two kilometers into the Indian Ocean from the Mwazaro beach coastline in Lunga Lunga Sub-County, Kwale County, women can be spotted seated in the shallow ocean waters or tying strings to erected poles parallel to the waves. It is a captivating sight to see rows of seaweed farms in the Indian Ocean.

Seaweeds are a group of algae found in seawater and come in green, red, and brown species. The seaweed farms are a predominantly female-dominated form of aquaculture and their owners can only be spotted during low tide, especially in the morning. Once the tide comes in, the women will begin their journey back to the shores as the waters slowly rise.

Saumu Hamadi tells IPS that in 2016, residents of Mwambao village along the Mwazaro beach coastline started a community-led, community-driven initiative to conserve mangroves, protect the environment, and restore their fisheries, which had been destroyed by significant mangrove forest degradation.

“We realized that the more our mangroves disappeared, the fish ran away and so did the fishermen. We rely on fish for food and money. Men sell the big fish, such as the kingfish, shark, and rayfish, to the beach hotels, and women sell crabs and prawns by the roadside or in small village markets. The situation was threatening our daily bread and we decided to volunteer as a community to restore and protect our mangroves,” Hamadi explains.

Rehema Abdalla walking to her seaweed farm, located nearly 1.7 km away from the Mwazaro Beach coastline. Seaward farming is conducted in the ocean during low tides. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

 

Rehema Abdalla and Saumu Hamadi walking to their seaweed farms, where other women are already hard at work, sorting and packing their harvests. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

 

Rehema Abdalla and Saumu Hamadi weigh seaweed using a home scale. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

 

Women at work at the seaweed farm. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

“There were too many people cutting down mangrove trees, destroying the places that the fish we depend on call home. There was also a lot of soil erosion and the water flowing along the River Hamisi that pours into the Indian Ocean within this village’s coastline carried the soil into the ocean, polluting it. We formed two community groups: Mwambao Mkuyuni Youth and Bati Beach Mwambao. Women make up 80 percent of the members in both groups.”

Abdalla Bidii Lewa, a community coordinator on mangrove restoration in Pongwe Kikoneni ward where Mwambao village is located and chair of Bati Seaweed Farmers, tells IPS, “Mangroves have protected our villages and surrounding areas from extreme weather and disasters such as those that affected large parts of the coastal region during the heavy floods in November and early December 2023. Where houses were swept away and farmlands destroyed, we were safe from the disaster.”

Seaweed farming. Credit: Joyce Chimbi and Cecilia Russell/IPS

Research shows mangroves significantly prevent the progression of climate change while also playing a major role in limiting its impact. This is critical as temperatures rise dangerously, sea level shoots to alarming levels, and coastal climate-induced disasters become frequent, intense, and severe, with catastrophic results.

To avert coastal climate hazards and secure mangrove-related benefits for present and future generations, the community undertook mangrove conservation and restoration activities in earnest.

Then, in 2017, a scientist conducting research into seaweed farming using the off-bottom seaweed farming method—tying algal fonds or seaweed seeds to ropes attached between wooden pegs driven into the ocean sediment—approached women in the community.

“Of the two seaweed strains that grow on Kenya’s south coast, cottonii and spinosum, the scientist recommended that we plant spinosum and gave us the seeds. Seaweeds do not need something to grow on. We erect sticks into the ground inside the ocean water during low tides and plant seaweed seeds by tying them to strings fastened on these sticks. We harvest every 45 days. We have to tie the strings and place the sticks properly so that they are not swept away during high tides,” says Rehema Abdalla, a seaweed farmer in Mwambao village.

On concerns that aquaculture could form the entry point for mangrove degradation, Hamadi says, “It is not the case with seaweed. The mangroves are important to the survival of our seaweeds by ensuring that we have normal, safe tides and waves. When seaweeds are swept away, they stay trapped within the roots of the mangroves and we collect them from there. It is rare, but once in a while, the tides can be very strong.”

Lewa says seaweed farming is emerging as a new and sustainable climate change mitigation strategy while offering communities adjacent to mangroves and coastlines an alternative livelihood, reducing dependency on fishing and natural resources inside mangrove forests and the oceans. Seaweeds are superfoods, highly nutritious, can be used in sushi, soups, salads, and smoothies, and are an asset in the feed industry, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.

“The amount of seaweed harvested depends on the amount planted and every 45 days, you will get a harvest. At the moment, one kilogram of seaweed goes for USD 0.22 (Ksh 35). I am currently targeting making USD 467 (Ksh 75,000) every 45 days from seaweed. We also sell seaweed seeds to other women doing mangrove conservation, such as Imani Gazi and the Gazi Women Mangrove Restoration Group, from within Kwale County,” Hamadi says.

Seaweeds compliment mangroves by absorbing nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorous, and carbon dioxide. They do not require soil, fertilizer, freshwater, or pesticides, and they significantly improve the environment in which they grow. Seaweeds efficiently absorb carbon dioxide, using it to grow and even when harvested, the carbon remains in the ocean.

Research shows that seaweed can pull more greenhouse gases from the water compared to seagrass, salt marshes, and mangroves based on biomass. Mwazaro’s beach community is on track to add seaweed as part of their blue carbon sink, setting the pace for other coastal communities.

All the same, the women are facing challenges such as a lack of mortar boats to help transport their harvest to the shore. Currently, they use a tedious process whereby they tie sacks of seaweed on their waste and wait for the onset of high tide in the early afternoon to push them from the seaweed farms to the shore. They are also struggling to access a larger market, currently relying on one major large-scale buyer and small buyers within the village and other mangrove conservation groups from neighboring villages.

IPS UN Bureau Report

This feature is published with the support of Open Society Foundations.

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');   Related Articles

• Coastal Indigenous and Minority Women Driving Kenya’s Blue Forest Conservation Efforts
• International Women’s Day, 2024 Rural Tajik Woman’s Road to Empowering Women Living with HIV
• Celebrating Tenacity of Women Farmers: an Incredible Catalyst for Socio-Economic Transformation

Excerpt:

As the world celebrates International Women’s Day, IPS brings a story of women who are both creating economic opportunities for themselves and helping to reduce the impact of climate change.

For the first time, two African documentary feature films are up for an Oscar.

As the 13th African Games begin in Ghana, BBC Sport Africa speaks to stars and key figures about the event’s potentially uncertain future.