Re -Greening Addis Ababa Mountain Ranges

Aaron yancho kaah

  

The Horn of Africa Re- Greening projects were  established  to promote valuable ecosystems and the bio diversity  in the Horn of Africa Regions through the rehabilitaion of degraded areas  and to enhance  the  the benefits of ecosystem good and services among its people and communities.

 Over the years the Horn of Africa region  had face alarming levels of environmental degradation as a result of unsustainable land mangement  and natural resource use. This led to the dwindling of the natural forest cover  for years leading to an enviromental deterioration according to the Re greening program cordinator Dr. Almaz Tadesse. "While contributing to the poorer livelihood conditions, they was increased vulnerability  to the climate change  impacts  that brought terrible consequences on the people  and their resources" Dr Almaz remarked.

Ahead of COP21, New guide helps LDCs prepare Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs)

By Arison TAMFU

April 21: As preparations intensified worldwide for COP21 in Paris, a new publication titled Guide to INDCs that provides practical guidance to Least Developed Countries (LDCs) on how to prepare their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been released.  The guide is a joint publication of The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and Ricardo-AEA Ricardo-AEA.

The INDCs are essentially the building blocks for the 21st Conference of the Parties in Paris where the targets will hopefully be agreed and solidified. At this stage of the negotiations procedure other countries are expected to follow suit and submit their INDCs ahead of Paris 2015.

Climate Change impacts: Prolonged drought worries farmers, Government in Zambia

By Friday Phiri

 

“We have had both heavy rains as well as a prolonged drought within a month”, says Neva Hamalengo, a small scale farmer of Pemba district in Southern Zambia.

Hamalengo lost an entire hectare of market-ready tomato worthy 15, 000 Zambian Kwacha (about $2500), to a heavy storm and later suffered crop failure in his field due to a prolonged drought that followed three weeks after the storm.

“We expect very poor yields this season. About 50 of us in this area representing over 100 hectares, suffered crop damage during the one day heavy storm and when our crops needed the rains to recover, we had a prolonged drought”, lamented Hamalengo.

THE ROAD TO PARIS. AGENDA OF SOLUTIONS

By Aaron yancho kaah  in Addis Ababa

 

In  December 2015, Paris will host the 21st conference of parties, the biggest UN sponsored international event  to be hosted by that country for decades. (195 countries and 40.000delegates) . The French  government has already unveiled the conference logo  which was enugurated  by the french foreign minister Laurent Fabius a month ago in Paris.

           

Six years after the UN talks failed  to yeild any friuts in Copenhagen, the Paris summit is expeted to strike a workable deal that will start from 2020 to 2035 under the new climate policy agreement. The French authourities are now drumming up support  for a globally, universally  and ambitious agreement which will reduce or maintain the 2°C.

Ahead of the 2015 New Climate Change Agreement, CSO,s press for a Gender Sensitive Policy

By Aaron Yancho Kaa

Drawing from a multiplicity   of challenges  that women face inthe rural communities around Africa, some close to50 participants representing some civil society organizations within  the net work of the pan African Media Alliance  for climate Change talked this idea through  that a Gender Responsive Climate policy was  needed   in the new climate change Agreement to be enacted in cop 21 to take place in Paris at the end of this year, so as to give adaptation a community face in Africa.

Solar water system douses risks in Cameroon's arid north

A girl waits in line for water at the Minawao refugee camp, northern Cameroon

By Elias Ntungwe Ngalame

A pioneering solar-powered water distribution system is improving access to potable water in a region of Far North Cameroon beset by drought, water-related illness and an influx of refugees fleeing Boko Haram attacks.

The system, in which water is collected in a large dam built amid the region's hills and piped to a series of underground community wells, aims to cut the distance women need to walk to collect water and improve access to safe water.

"Scarcity of potable water in this area has been a major problem because of the hilly but excessively dry landscape. That is why government thought it imperative to invest in this water collection and supply (system using) solar energy," said Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, Cameroon's Ministry of Econony, Planning and Regional Development during a recent visit.

Cameroon's National Water Company, SNEC, supplies water only to Mokolo, the main town in Diamare division. That means only about 20 percent of people in the division have access to potable drinking water, Nganou said.

Harsh weather cripples fishing and tourism on Cameroon's coast

A man plays in the sea at Kribi Beach in southern Cameroon

By Elias Ntungwe Ngalame

KRIBI, Cameroon, March 30 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - For over 15 years, Raoul Meno has been fishing the waters off the coastal town of Kribi in southern Cameroon. He has sometimes had to face down storms and high seas to bring home a catch to support his family. But now, he is scared.

"I go for days without going to sea for my catch because of the frightening weather," he said. A bout of persistent heavy rains and surging tides this year has made fishing in Kribi increasingly difficult and left fishermen like Meno struggling to make a living.

"This is the first time we are witnessing such aggressive weather," he said. "I wonder what is really going wrong with nature."

As Kribi struggles to cope with hard times in its fishing industry, the weather is also hitting tourism, simultaneously threatening to destroy the town's two main sources of income.

With its sandy beach, seaside resort, and beautiful lowland scenery, Kribi contributes significantly to Cameroon's tourism industry. It is the country's second most popular destination after the Waza and Bouba N'Djida parks in the north of the country.