Friday 9 December 2011

PR: Climate Vulnerable Countries Seek to Catalyse Action at COP17 and Beyond

PRESS RELEASE
09 DECEMBER 2011 
  • Bangladesh Environment Minister today drew attention to Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF) aims,
  • 2011 Ministerial Declaration of the CVF distributed to delegates
DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA – 09 December 2011: The Bangladesh Minister of Environment and Forests today presented the cause of the Climate Vulnerable Forum in his address to the High-Level segment of the UN climate talks in Durban (COP17).


The Bangladesh Environment Minister, HE Dr. Hasan Mahmud, articulated the importance for an immediate consensus on a mitigation agenda, supported by concrete progress on adaptation, finance and technology at Durban. Speaking on the purpose of the CVF, the honorable minister said: “The CVF is a communication and political platform of most vulnerable countries. It seeks to play a catalytic role through facilitation in reaching a consensus agreement for action here in Durban and
beyond.”


Drawing to the attention of the President of COP17 today in plenary, the Bangladesh Environment Minister said: “A group of severely affected Non-Annex-1 countries met in Dhaka last month at the Climate Vulnerable Forum-2011, attended also by the UN Secretary-General, to highlight our vulnerabilities and to articulate the imperatives for an effective, robust and durable response.”


The Dhaka Ministerial Declaration of the CVF was also circulated at the plenary.

Friday 2 December 2011

Climate Vulnerable Forum Meeting in Durban on December 6th, 2011

COFFEE AT RISK: PROTECTING WETLANDS IN UGANDA

Africa Storytelling Project


The members of the Ankole Coffee Producers Cooperative Union (ACPCU), located in the Bushenyi District in South West Uganda, are determined to tackle the problem of climate change before the business they established in 1998 is in serious trouble.

“Although we had good rains this year, drought is a big problem in this area, and if the coffee tree does not get sufficient moisture the young beans fall off too early. Disease, pests, coffee wilt and coffee berry disease have also become a big problem for us”, says John Nuwagaba, ACPCU’s General Manager.

In addition to climate change, Uganda’s population growth has also had a large impact on the farmers of the ACPCU. Over the past three years the number of people living in the country has doubled to nearly 33 million. The spike has increased the threat of encroachment on important wetlands in the region that act as water purification systems, biodiversity safeguards and provide natural flood control.

“Out of every ten traditional sources of water we had in this part of Uganda, four have permanently dried up because of drought. Farmers who belong to our cooperative are not allowed to encroach on remaining wetlands to increase the size of their coffee gardens. Instead we teach them about better farming techniques that improve a crop’s yield, such as building trenches and mulching to trap moisture”, says John.

ACPCU’s farmers’ continue to work with FairTrade to diversify these techniques, focused on improving the quality of their crops and addressing ideas for wetland protection. 67 year-old farmer Ngambe Ehab, who has been growing coffee in Mitoana in the Bushenyi district for the past 53 years, feels he has learned a lot from the process.

“At the moment I am losing half my coffee tree garden each year to coffee wilt, which is 2000 trees. I replace them every year at a cost of 500 Ugandan shillings each to buy and transport, which is expensive. I am very concerned about the rate my plants die each year”, says Ngambe.

To try and mitigate the effects of climate change, Ngambe has introduced a wide variety of practices he has learned. In addition to mulching and digging trenches, one of his most successful innovations is planting large trees in his coffee gardens to provide shade and reduce carbon dioxide. When asked if he has considered diversifying his crops to include more than coffee, the father of 18 children explains how he has seen the broad affects of climate change on agriculture as a whole in the region. He now recognizes there are no longer any safe bets when it comes to choosing a crop from which to make a guaranteed living.

Although being informed about climate change has left ACPU farmers worried about their future, it has also prompted them to embark on larger-scale projects designed to protect the environment. “The next project will involve tree planting, teaching farmers more about how to further improve their farming methods, and restore their environment if it has been affected by flooding or drought. A big part of the project will focus on protecting our wetlands, which are under threat from people”, says John.

For more information about the Ankole Coffee Producers’ story visit: http://www.fairclimatedeal.net/impact-of-climate-change-on-fairtrade-producers-2/preserving-wetlands-a-key-factor-to-tackling-climate-change-for-coffee-growers-in-uganda/

Thursday 1 December 2011

WOMEN BUILDING FOOD SECURITY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Africa Storytelling Project 

 
Lena Muller is a 52-year old mother and labourer living on a farm in Witzenberg Valley near Ceres in the Western Cape of South Africa. The effects of climate change have forced Lena to find creative ways to put food on the table each day for her 10 family members.

Lena knows first hand that women are especially vulnerable to the impacts of a changing climate. In the valley, unexpected shifts in weather patterns have changed the availability of important natural resources like water. This has caused the quality, quantity and diversity of food to markedly decrease and prices of food to rise.

Buying food is the top priority for Lena. She has had to defer all other household purchases until the family has additional money. “I put food first because if there isn’t food, children do not go to school happy and the men won’t be happy at work because they lack concentration and get sick if they have nothing in their stomachs”, says Lena.

Women in the region have begun responding to the food shortage by attempting to grow their own vegetables. But access to land remains a significant barrier, as does the changing weather patterns and poor soil quality in the areas in which they live.

Recently Lena decided to leave her job as a seasonal farm worker and join the Dynamic Agri Cooperative supported by Oxfam’s Women on Farms Project. The new organization is focused on finding an area of good land that the woman can farm together. During the start up phase, the Women on Farms Project provides Lena a small stipend once a month to ensure her and her family are able to put food on the table while the organization gets off the ground.

Lena says that the increases in food prices are much higher than the salaries earned by farm
workers. “The salaries are not adjusted as food prices go up, the farmer just gives the salary and assumes that you will cope; he does not factor in the number of payments one should make such as shop debts, children’s school fees and uniforms. He just takes it that the money is all for food”, says Lena.

Lena and other women like her have to deal with food inflation on an almost daily basis.

“Five years ago, flour was cheaper, a two kilogram packet used to cost eight rand but now it costs fifteen rand. A tin of coffee was ten rand and now it is more than twenty four rand”, says Lena.

For more information about Lena’s story visit: http://www.oxfam.org/climate

Wednesday 30 November 2011

HEARINGS: INNOVATIVE WOMEN IN NIGERIA SPEAK UP

Africa Storytelling Project


Princess Caroline Usikpedo Omoniye is a force for change in Nigeria. Founder and National President of the Niger Delta’s Women’s Movement of Peace and Development, she has empowered and mobilized hundreds of women to promote peace and take action on issues like climate change.

Speaking at the “Strengthening Voices: Search for Solutions” 2011 Women’s Tribunals on Gender and Climate Justice in Nigeria, Caroline emphasized the importance of having women, who are the primary farmers in the region, share their stories.

“The aim of the Climate Justice Hearings is to up-scale local solutions and bring the voices of those most affected – women and traditionally excluded groups – to influence negotiations and plans of action on climate change at the national as well as the international level during COP17 and Rio+20”, says Caroline. “The testimonies will explore the relationship between individual experiences with the manifestations of climate change and the action taken at the local or regional level to address the climate change issues faced by women.”

A number of impacts are of key concern to women in the Niger Delta. With 70% of the country’s population residing in rural areas and engaged in agriculture production, changes in rainfall patterns have dramatically reduced crop yields. Crops in the Delta are highly dependent on rainfall with cultivation rarely practiced. In addition, four decades of continual gas flares have made Nigeria one of the highest emitters of greenhouse gases in Africa. Oil spills, seismic blasts and discharges of untreated effluents have also deeply degraded water and soil quality and destroyed the coastal mangrove ecosystem.

“The climate is a fundamental element of the environment and a change in the climate affects other elements of the environment. Solutions should not only be made visible, they must be seen as evident and resourceful in the lives of our women, who are undoubtedly the base of any environment that yearns for growth and development”, says Caroline.

As Nigeria moves forward in the face of climate change, Caroline emphasizes the need to achieve socio-economic development in the region by managing resources in a sustainable way. She calls for authorities to hear the stories collected through the tribunal of women’s experiences of climate change and to use them as guidelines to draft necessary actions and initiatives that would work to reduce poverty and respect environmental rights.

“Policies and innovations to enhance adaptation to climate change cannot be viewed in isolation from current development priorities: indeed many key stakeholders recognize the need to focus on ‘climate resilient’ policies and innovations that address both current development priorities as well as providing greater livelihood resilience in the face of future climate change”, says Caroline.

For more information Caroline’s story and to learn more about the Women’s Tribunals on Gender and Climate Justice visit: http://cllimatejusticetribunals.blogspot.com/2011/10/nigeria.html

Tuesday 29 November 2011

TANZANIA: ENGAGING COMMUNITIES IN FOREST PROTECTION

Africa Storytelling Project

 
Ms. Rahima Njaidi is the Executive Director of The Community Forest Network of Tanzania (MJUMITA), an organization of approximately 500 community forest groups in 420 Tanzanian villages.  Rahima is dedicated to ensuring that innovative forestry initiatives in the region benefit not only the climate but communities as well.

MJUMITA’s 6,000 individual members are mostly small farmers or beekeepers and other forest users living close to government-owned Tanzanian forests. Since 2009 and with support through Southern Voices, MJUMITA has engaged its members through training workshops and community radio about the impacts of climate change. Known as a powerful network on the ground, MJUMITA plays a central role in Tanzania's policy of Participatory Forest Management (PFM).

"The key task for MJUMITA is to act as an advocacy platform for the communities living near the forest, on issues like forest management and governance", says Rahima.

One mechanism of Participatory Forest Management where MJUMITA plays a large role is through Joint Forest Management (JFM) practices. Through JFM, communities are asked to help protect government owned forests from illegal logging and other illegal activities. In return for patrolling and protecting the forest and acting as forest guards, communities receive 40% of the income from the sale of forest products.

"But that is not happening, so communities have actually been protecting the forest for nothing, as volunteers. Now that ‘REDD’ mechanisms - or ways to fight climate change by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation - are being introduced in Tanzania, MJUMITA must ensure that the forest users are involved", explains Rahima.

REDD mechanisms have been introduced in the country as a set of steps designed to use market or financial incentives to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation.

"The key objective in our advocacy is to ensure that forest communities receive a fair share of the benefits from the forests", says Rahima. "We are asking for representation on the national task force on REDD."

In addition to advocacy at a national level, MJUMITA has also been engaged in promoting REDD through international climate negotiations.

"We have joined forces with likeminded organizations in the Accra Caucus", explained Rahima. “The Accra Caucus is a loose network of Southern and Northern NGOs working on forest issues and REDD in the climate negotiations. It is important that REDD rules will commit governments and other actors to respect the rights of the people living off the forest", says Rahima.

For more information about Rahmia’s story visit: http://climatecapacity.org/news/newsletter/55


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