Africa

Rangers have killed a lion on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, after it strayed out of the nearby national park.

How vulnerable are Africa's airports to terror attacks?

Photos explore the aesthetics of albinism

Outcry as medics shun dead woman and her unborn twins

Why South African students are angry

Every Easter, Ghana's "masquerade clubs" hold technicoloured parades in cities across the country. Journalist Suzanne Vanhooymissen attended this year's celebration in Sekondi.

Islamic militants from Boko Haram pushed back from the territory they were holding in North East Nigeria are targeting neighbouring countries.

In a bid to attract more visitors and investors, Mauritius has turned to medicine.

Peter Wainaina, member of Aberdares Community Forest Association (CFA), at the forest farm harvesting Irish potatoes. Credit: Moraa Obiria/IPS

By Moraa Obiria
NJABINI, West Central Kenya, Mar 23 2016 (IPS)

Peter Wainaina’s focus is on the fresh Irish potatoes he has just harvested. He assembles them into a 90-kilogramme bag while sorting out the unmarketable ones like sliced and tiny tubes. He lives on a small plot of land in Njabini, 600 metres away from a farm in Aberdares forest, west central Kenya, where he has been growing this fast-maturing crop for the past three months.

Communities living in forest ranges depend mainly on farming to raise household incomes and feed their families. Some locals own less than two acres. Others, who include domestic migrants in search for a better avenue of income, access land through rental or leasehold agreements. “I harvest not less than 60 bags of potatoes per acre in the forest farm. This is four times what I get from a quarter of an acre back home,” says Wainaina who harvests an average of 15 bags from his plot.

A bag sells between Sh 1,200 (USD $11.8) and Sh 2,000 (USD$19.7) depending on the season. Fetching better prices is a major problem since brokers largely dominate the crop market. Nevertheless, these returns constitute the backbone of survival for households. The focus must to be to raise productivity to increase earnings. This is where the Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme (PELIS), a community participation programme to promote forest conservation while enhancing food security, comes into the picture. .

PELIS is a Kenyan government scheme recognised under the Forest Act (2005), managed by the Kenya Forest Service (KFS). Its implementation targets communities with access to the forest for short-term cultivation and ensures achievement of the 10 per cent forest cover target as provided for in the Constitution. The regulations stipulate the creation of CFAs which draws membership from communities living adjacent to forests. Only members one can benefit from PELIS.

Wainaina is one of the 300-member Aberdares CFA which has been operating since 2011. Now, he is a happy father able to comfortably meet the expenses for his two children in high school. “I don’t know how possible it could be for me to raise Sh 60,000 (USD $ 591) a term without this enhanced productivity. Combined harvests from the forest farm and my plot are enough to pay their fees, buy food supplements and save at least Sh 2, 000,” he noted.

The CFAs enter into an agreement with the KFS so that members proactively protect the forest against any destruction, including forest fires, illegal logging and burning logs for charcoal. Members become the watchdogs of the forest reinforcing the vigilance of forest guards. Under PELIS, KFS is bound by law to allocate CFA members acres of land where commercial trees have been harvested by industrial timber traders. The farmers are allowed to intercrop short-term crops such as Irish potatoes, beans, maize and green peas with tree saplings for a period of three to four years.

KFS provides farmers with the certified tree seedlings for replenishment. During the cropping duration, farmers strictly take care of trees as this is an obligation under the CFA-KFS agreement. “I have seen many lives changed through PELIS,” says Anne Wanyoike, chairperson of the Aberdares CFA. “Some of our members are landless. They have rented houses around to do business. I am happy they have progressed. Some have bought motorbikes for business and others expanded their enterprises,” she reveals further. The scheme guarantees households access to a balanced diet since farmers have surplus for sell and purchase of nutritious food, she added.

“We summon a meeting to ballot soon after KFS informs us of the available land. If you choose a Yes ticket you win for the season and No means waiting for the next season. Each member agrees on the portion he or she needs,” Wanyoike.explains. The forest land is exceptionally cheap and highly productive due to fertile soils compared to private rent. An acre in Njabini, where Wainaina and Wanyoike reside, goes for between Sh 8,000 and Sh 10,000 (USD $98.6) Meanwhile a member pays Sh 125 (USD 1.2) for a quarter an acre to KFS through the CFA, doubles the amount to farm on a half of the acre. An acre goes for Sh 500 (USD $4.9).

PELIS, which rolled out in 2007, is pivotal to ending food insecurity in the country according to Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI).The scheme generates annual revenues of Sh 14 billion based on its own estimates. Simiyu Wasike, deputy director in charge of Plantation and Enterprise at KFS says the scheme has been instrumental in making farmers millionaires. He said there are more than 150 CFAs in the country with a total membership exceeding 11,000. “We have CFAs which have formed Saccos and cooperatives and they are exporting their produce,” he says.

By 2013, a total of 9,939 hectares were under PELIS, a tremendous increase from 2,933 hectares according to available data from KEFRI. Wasike says PELIS offers a 75 per cent survival rate for the seedlings, thereby effective in increasing forest cover. However, more sensitisation is necessary to recruit more members into the scheme since many living adjacent to the forests are unaware of the benefits and significance of joining the CFA, as the officer indicated.

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A Somali woman in Garowe drawing water from one of the many man-made ponds dug through a UNDP-supported initiative to bring water to drought-affected communities. Credit: UNDP Somalia

By Jeff Williams
MOMBASA, Kenya, Mar 22 2016 (IPS)

While the United Nations marked this year’s World Water Day on March 22 focusing on the connection between water and jobs, a new report has rung loud alarm bells about the heavy impact of corruption on the massive investments being made in the water sector.

Each year, between 770 billion and 1,760 billion dollars are needed to develop water resources and services worldwide — yet the number of people without “safe” drinking water is about as large as those who lack access to basic sanitation: around 32 per cent of the world’s population in 2015, Transparency International on March 22 reported.

And asked how can so much be spent and yet such massive shortfalls still exist?

“One answer: About 10 per cent of water sector investment is lost to corruption.”

This striking information came out on the occasion of World Water Day 2016, as the Water Integrity Network (WIN) released a new report that documents the legacy of corruption in the water sector.

The WIN report reveals corruption’s costly impact on the world’s water resources. It also shows the degree to which poor water governance negatively affects the world’s most vulnerable populations – specifically women, children, and the landless.

Women carry gravel from the river to be taken to a construction site in Indonesia. Credit © Maillard J. /ILO

While access to water and sanitation were formally recognised as human rights by the UN General Assembly in 2010, the reality is far from this goal, says WIN, a network of organisations and individuals promoting water integrity to reduce corruption and improve water sector performance.

“According to the World Health Organisation and UNICEF, some 663 million people lack access to so-called “improved” drinking water sources globally… this contributes to 1.6 million deaths annually, most of whom are children under 5 years old.”

Although the UN’s new 2030 Agenda includes a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 6) on water and sanitation as well as a mandate for accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels (SDG 16), action is needed so that pervasive and systemic corruption do not continue to seep from the water sector, according to the report.

The study cites some specific cases. In 2013, Malawi’s reformed public financial management system was misused to divert 5 million dollars in public funds to the private accounts of officials.

Another case: in 2015, an audit of the 70 million euro phase II national water programme in Benin, which included 50 million euro from the Netherlands, revealed that 4 million euro had vanished. Dutch development cooperation with the Benin government was suspended thereafter to safeguard additional funds.

Corruption is, however, not limited to developing countries. In fact, WING cites an example from the United States. “In California, a member of the State Senate in 2015 declared a system of permits that allowed oil companies to discharge wastewater into underground aquifers to be corrupt.”

Further more, the Water Integrity Global Outlook 2016 (WIGO) shares examples of both corruption and good practices at all levels worldwide.

In this sense, WIGO demonstrates how improved governance and anti-corruption measures can win back an estimated 75 billion dollars for global investment in water services and infrastructure annually.

It therefore highlights and draws lessons from those examples of where governments, companies, and community groups have won gains for water consumers and environmental protection.

“The report proposes to build ‘integrity walls’ from building blocks of transparency, accountability, participation and anti-corruption measures,” says Frank van der Valk, the Water Integrity Network’s executive director. “Urgent action by all stakeholders is required.”

WIN works to raise awareness on the impact of corruption especially on the poor and disenfranchised assesses risk and promotes practical responses. Its vision is a world with equitable and sustained access to water and a clean environment, which is no longer, threatened by corruption, greed, dishonesty and willful malpractice.

Formerly hosted by Transparency International, the WIN global network is formally led by the WIN association and supported by the WIN Secretariat in Berlin.

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By PRESS RELEASE
NEW YORK, Mar 22 2016 (IPS)

More than 35 leading media outlets commit to increase women’s representation in the newsroom and in news content

Media Contacts:
Oisika Chakrabarti, Ph: +1 646 781-4522; Email: oisika.chakrabarti[at]unwomen.org
Sharon Grobeisen, Ph: +1 646 781-4753; Email: sharon.grobeisen[at]unwomen.org

At the United Nations Headquarters’ in New York, during a packed side event of the 60th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, UN Women today launched an innovative partnership with leading media houses to galvanize attention and concrete action towards the 2030 Agenda. The Step it Up for Gender Equality Media Compact brings together a broad coalition of media outlets from every region who work in print, broadcast and online news media to ensure wide reach and robust efforts towards women’s rights and gender equality.

Recognizing the influential role media can play in driving women’s empowerment and gender equality, the Step it Up for Gender Equality Media Compact facilitated by UN Women will function as an alliance of media organizations who are committed to playing an active role in advancing gender issues within the framework of the Sustainable Development Goals. The outlets will implement the compact by scaling-up the focus on women’s rights and gender equality issues through high-quality coverage, complemented by gender-sensitive corporate practices. Leading up to the launch event, more than 35 leading media outlets signed up as founding members of the Media Compact. From grass-roots to national and international media players, the diverse group of initial members reach millions of readers and viewers in Africa, Arab States, Asia-Pacific, Europe and Latin American regions.

“Media have great influence over how we perceive and understand the world around us. That influence has many dimensions. Even when reporting is entirely factually accurate, if it is reported predominantly by men, about men, it is actually misrepresenting the real state of the world. At UN Women, we want to address this through partnership to change the media landscape and make media work for gender equality,” said UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. “This level of support and leadership from media houses and newsrooms alike is what is needed to ensure that we can achieve gender equality and women’s rights by 2030,” she added.

By signing up to the Media Compact, the outlets are committing to a range of concrete change actions: championing women’s rights and gender equality issues through editorial articles; ensuring inclusion of women as sources in stories produced, aiming for gender parity; adopting a gender-sensitive Code of Conduct on Reporting; ensuring women journalists are provided mentors and guidance for career advancement, and many others.

Speaking at the New York launch event, which was moderated by the Under-Secretary-General of the UN’s Department of Public Information, Cristina Gallach, media representatives from South African Broadcasting Corporation, Good Housekeeping and TV Azteca, all founding members, were unanimous in their support of the newly launched partnership, underlining that they will engage continuously through the Media Compact to push for gender equality in their news coverage and their newsrooms.

Step it Up for Gender Equality Media Compact’s founding members include: AllAfrica, AMARC (World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters), Al Wasat (Bahrain), Cambodia Centre for Independent Media, Care2, Citizen News Service (India), Dawn (Pakistan), Devex, El Telégrafo, (Ecuador), Eurovision Regional News Exchange for South East Europe – ERNO, France 24, Good Housekeeping, Guatevision (Guatemala), Gulf Daily News (Bahrain), Instituto Patrícia Galvão (Brazil), Inter Press Service, Marie Claire, Monte Carlo Doualiya (MCD), Naewna Group (Thailand), Nómada.gt (Guatemala), Philanthropy Age, Pravda, Reportaje De (Guatemala), South African Broadcasting Corporation, Siempre Mujer, Teen Voices, The Daily Star (Bangladesh), The Express Tribune (Pakistan), The Jakarta Post (Indonesia), The Jordan Times, The National (UAE), Thomson Reuters Foundation, Radio France Internationale, TV Azteca (Mexico), UN Dispatch, UN News Centre, Voice of Democracy (Cambodia), Women’s eNews, Women’s Feature Service (India). Many more are expected to join the Media Compact in the coming months.

Watch the archived webcast at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/csw/webcasts

Photos of the event are available at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/csw/photos-and-videos

By Ali Sheikh
Mar 22 2016 (Dawn, Pakistan)

Water has become Pakistan`s number one development and governance issue. While water availability in our river systems has remained fairly stable, per capita water availability has diminished from about 1,500 to nearly 1,000 cubic metres, owing to a fast-growing population.

On World Water Day, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has an opportunity to set the direction for Pakistan`s water economy. We will need to lay foundations for the blue economy. We will need water to fuel our economy, create water jobs, invest in water efficient technologies, create water markets for water savings and systems. It is critical for Pakistan to make water the central planl< of our development agenda, if we are to meet our SDGs targets. Action on five issues to set the direction is needed.
 
Water policy: Pakistan has no water policy. The ministries of planning & reforms and water & power circulated two different drafts. Both have been withdrawn quietly. The Council of Common Interests is perceived as a spoiler and not an enabler.
 
Hence there is visibly weak resolve to convene the CCI meeting and present the draft policy for approval. Meanwhile, some provinces have started working on their own provincial policies. The best of provincial policies cannot be a substitute for a comprehensive national water policy.
 
Groundwater: The country`s groundwater reserves are not regulated. Pakistan`s agriculture meets about 40pc of its water needs by extracting groundwater. But the water table is fast depleting and getting contaminated both in agricultural and urban areas. Our cities will not be habitable, nor will our agriculture be tenable if the present rate of groundwater depletion and contamination continues. It is a poorly governed area that has seen no meaningful legislation in decades. In fact, the subsidy for solar energy-run tube wells will accelerate depletion unless clubbed with drip irrigation.
 
Groundwater reserves should be seen as strategic assets. Significant investment must be made in mapping, recharging, pricing and regulating individual and commercial use. It has serious implications for our ecosystems, cropping patterns, terms of trade, and transboundary aquafers.
 
Transboundary water institutions: Water resources are shared with three of our four neighbours in very significant ways. Any upstream devel-opments can have adverse implications for us. Our neighbours have elaborate plans for infrastructure development. While it is sometimes suggested we seek their concurrence on our plans, we do not engage with them about theirs. We have failed to engage proactively or to explore benefit-sharing on shared basins. Afghanistan and China still offer opportunities for collaborative approaches.
 
Focus on India or the Indus Waters Treaty is important, but should not be at the cost of other neighbours. In fact, the IWT has provisions for collaboration but a zero-sum approach, pursued both by India and Pakistan, spoils the atmosphere for additional instruments of collaboration. As the lower riparian we cannot afford this and must generate additional policy options for better collaboration.
 
The Pakistan Commission for Indus Waters (PCIW) has failed us more than once in negotiations and court cases; we must reconstitute it by converting it into an independent constitutional authority, with a strong capacity for technical and legal studies and with partnerships with universities and think tanks in such areas as hydrology, meteorology, climatology, early warning, etc. The Commission`s mandate needs to be expanded to cover all transboundary water issues with all neighbours.
 
Interprovincial trust: All provinces are entangled in subtle water wars. KP aspires to construct more dams than it will need. Punjab feels it is surrendering its due share to the lower-riparian, smaller provinces that led by Sindh accuse Punjab of non-transparent transaction. The seeds of mistrust are also sown by early varieties of water-intensive crops in the pre-monsoon months when canals run empty and dams are at low levels.
 
Even a rational conversation on constructing uncontested reservoirs has become hostage to political bickering. The institutions have failed to generate trust. Telemetry or other instruments at locations where water shareholders change hands have remained an elusive dream despite availability of technologies and funds. Irsa has shrunk to a small club of well-regarded but retired officials who, among other things, lack the sense of urgency to translate Irsa`s mandate into action to manage water as a shared national resource. As part of the Ministry of Water & Power, it has failed to get the same atten-tion that energy issues get. Water deserves a separate ministry, or at least an independent commission with constitutional status.
 
Climate change: Climate change poses a more serious threat to Pakistan`s water supply than India`s. India cannot stop Pakistan`s water beyond a certain number of days even if it wanted to. At the risk ofinternationalisolationitcansuddenlyrelease water in some of our rivers and cause damage, or deny water to some crops by exploiting timing.
 
These issues can be handled by our water diplomats.
 
But climate change poses more existential challenges. The changing monsoon pattern is making water supply erratic. It has started reaching the upper reaches of our Himalayan ranges and parts of Balochistan not traditionally covered by monsoon rains. Karachi and other coastal areas have begun to receive more frequent warnings about cyclones.
 
Changes in rain patterns raise questions about food security and the need to invest in climatesmart agriculture. While we have a greater incidence of hydro-metrological droughts in parts of Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh, urban and rural flooding is becoming a recurrent phenomenon. In fact, torrential rains in the Jammu region and the upper reaches of the Kabul river basin have flooded Sialkot in Punjab and Nowshera in KP, drawing attention to emerging transboundary risks. As the glaciers recede, we face the threat of permanent reduction in our water lifeline.
 
Economic growth: The prime minister should take a fresh look at Pakistan`s institutional landscape.
 
The mandates and governance of water-related institutions such as PCIW, Irsa etc should be revisited. He may want to constitute a national commission to look at water as a source of national cohesion and trust between the provinces. Water should also be an essential component of regional foreign and economic policy. We need to base our energy, food, and disaster risk reduction policies on climate change projections. We must address the issues of water access, water equity, and water as a hazard to our development as a national priority. Our vision for Pakistan as a middle-income country can only be fuelled with water.
 

The writer is CEO, LEAD Pakistan, an think tank focusing on climate and water issues.

This story was originally published by Dawn, Pakistan

Vessels make way through the murky water of the Shitalakkhya river in Narayanganj. Mindless dumping of chemical waste from nearby factories has turned the river water unusable. There is an urgent need to strengthen the efforts to save rivers from rampant pollution and ensure safe water for everyone, as Bangladesh, like all other countries across the globe, observes World Water Day today. The photo was taken yesterday. Photo: Anisur Rahman

By Anisur Rahman
Mar 22 2016 (The Daily Star, Bangladesh)

This photo was originally published by The Daily Star, Bangladesh

By Monique Barbut
BONN, Germany, Mar 22 2016 (IPS)

For three consecutive days this week, we gave thought to our future. On International Forests Day, Monday, 21 March, we were reminded that forests are vital for our future water needs. On Tuesday, 22 March, World Water Day, we learned that half the world’s workers are involved in the water sector and some 2 billion people, especially women and girls, still need access to improved sanitation. World Meteorological Day, on Wednesday, 23 March, concluded with the warning of a hotter, drier and wetter future. A reality that is already evident and frightening, as productive land turns to sand or dust.

Monique Barbut

Is anybody listening?

The overall message of this week is: we have developed a reckless appetite for resources and we are not doing enough to meet future demand. But nature is neither kind nor forgiving. When the resources are exhausted or destroyed humans will lose, and lose big.

Few of us can visualize a future without trees, fresh water or productive land while the resources are still flowing and politicians muddle the science. Denial and inaction have prevailed – except in countries like Rwanda and Ethiopia where land degradation has already led to economic ruin, poverty and political conflict.

Ethiopia’s history offers us a glimpse into what our own future might look like if we fail to act now. Its story of recovery should inspire us to act – while we still can.

In just one century, Ethiopia reduced its forest cover from 40% to below 3%. It is easy to see why. In a country where agriculture is the main source of livelihoods for 85 percent of the country’s 90 million people, and also makes up 90% of the exports, it seemed like there was little choice.

Following decades of deforesting and converting forests into farmland, the land’s vulnerability to recurrent and longer droughts grew. By the 1980s, food and water shortages were severe. The political situation worsened in tandem. But Ethiopia is rising, and her people are doing the unimaginable.

For the 2007 World Environment Day, Ethiopia signed up for a 60 million tree-planting campaign. Success led to a bolder target. In late 2014, Ethiopia announced to the world that it will recover 22 million hectares of degraded lands and forests. That is an area more than one-sixth of the entire country. Recently, Ethiopia took the bolder step of becoming land degradation neutral by 2036. Under this scheme, it plans to recover and rehabilitate, voluntarily, up to 33 million hectares of degraded land to ensure the country’s productive areas remain stable thereafter.

Ethiopia is re-covering the power to feed itself and replenishing its ground water sources, but has gained much more than it anticipated. It is creating new jobs every day, by paying its population to restore degraded lands. It is re-building the means to shield itself or recover from the future drought risks. And there is a global bonus. Ethiopia’s highlands are nourishing River Nile, a lifeline for the drier countries downstream. Ethiopia’s experience is rich, with lessons for everyone.

Restoring degraded land, is a revolutionary, yet counter-intuitive, way to create formal jobs, eradicate poverty, replenish ground water sources, revive dying lands, manage disaster and climate change risks, and channel resources to the neediest.

The Bonn Challenge, which aims to restore 350 million hectares of degraded forests, is also built on inspiring stories of land restoration. Costa Rica doubled its forest cover in 25 years, and boosted its tourism industry. In just 15 years, land users in the Shinyanga area of northern Tanzania restored 2 million hectares of land, and household incomes doubled. The Republic of Korea restored more than half its forest cover and now earns up to US$50 billion in ecosystem services every year.

We are treading a dangerous path with a bleak future, but that path is not fated. We can change the trajectory of our history by our choices as individuals, organizations and countries.

At the UNCCD, we have chosen to follow the example of countries like Ethiopia. We are working with countries, UN partners, civil society organizations and women and youth groups to recover 500 million of the 2 billion hectares of land we have degraded in the course of our development.

Since the adoption of the global Goals for sustainable development last September, 65 countries have expressed interest in our programme to set out voluntary targets to become land degradation neutral by 2030. This is a sea-change that few people could have visualized five years ago.

We may never know the true value of the International Days. But they offer unique moments to share inspiring stories that are too often lost in the clutter of political negotiations. If we listen to the stories and act on them, we can influence hearts and minds, and inspire action.

Monique Barbut is Assistant Secretary General of the UN and Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification

Jomo Kwame Sundaram was the Coordinator for Economic and Social Development at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and received the 2007 Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought.

By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Mar 22 2016 (IPS)

Creating healthy and sustainable food systems is key to overcoming hunger and all forms of malnutrition (undernourishment, micronutrient deficiencies, obesity) around the world. Food production has tripled since 1945 while average food availability per person has risen by 40 per cent. Current food systems are not delivering well on ensuring healthy diets for all. We have to fix the problem. The most efficient and sustainable approach will be to reshape and strengthen food systems that support healthy diets for all.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram. Credit: FAO

The international community is facing several nutrition-related challenges. The health of more than half the world’s over seven billion people is compromised by malnutrition. Despite abundant food supplies, almost 800 million people (or one in nine) still go hungry every day. The health of at least another two billion people is compromised by various micronutrient deficiencies. Another 2.1 billion people are overweight, of whom about a third are obese, consuming more food than their bodies need, and exposing themselves to greater risk of diabetes, heart problems and other diet-related non-communicable diseases.

Malnutrition in all its forms is an intolerable burden, not only on national health systems, but on the entire cultural, social and economic fabric of nations. It is a major impediment to development and the full realization of human potential. Many developing countries now face multiple burdens of malnutrition, with people living in the same communities—sometimes even within the same households—suffering from hunger, micronutrient deficiencies and diet-related non-communicable diseases.

Increased food output has put greater stress on natural resources, degrading soils, polluting and exhausting fresh water supplies, encroaching on forests, depleting wild fish stocks and reducing biodiversity. More intensive farming, combined with massive food wastage, have also made the problems worse.

Healthy and sustainable food systems for healthier people

Current approaches to food production are simply not sustainable today, let alone in 2050, when we will have to feed nine billion people. Fortunately, we have the means to transform our production systems and consumption patterns to ensure nutrition-sensitive food systems.

A food system approach – from production to processing, storage, transportation, marketing, retailing and consumption – is key to promoting healthy diets and improving nutrition as isolated interventions have limited impacts. Creating strong and resilient food systems is the most practical, cost-efficient and sustainable way to address all forms of malnutrition. It must recognize that the vast majority of family farmers today are women, typically also the primary caregivers in homes.

We need to reshape food systems to sustainably produce foods and enable consumption conducive to better health while protecting and promoting the capacity of future generations to feed themselves. Nutrition must become one of the primary objectives of food system policies, interventions and investments, ensuring access to diverse and balanced diets.

Poor and monotonous diets—high in carbohydrate-rich staples, but lacking in diversity—are a major contributing factor to malnutrition. Since food systems have become increasingly complex and strongly influence people’s ability to consume healthy diets, coherent action and innovative food system solutions are needed to ensure access to sustainable, balanced and healthy diets for all.

These solutions should include the production, availability, accessibility and affordability of a variety of cereals, legumes, vegetables, fruits and animal source foods, including fish, meat, eggs and dairy products. Healthy diets contain adequate macronutrients (carbohydrates, fats and protein), fibre and essential micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) in line with World Health Organisation’s recommendations.

Consumption of meat, milk and eggs is growing rapidly in developing countries, providing more nutritious diets to populations than was previously the case. In addition, the livestock sector improves livelihoods and contributes to economic growth and incomes in rural economies. We must manage livestock production sustainably, since it contributes to climate change, environmental stress, transmission of diseases and other health issues due to increasing meat consumption. At every stage, resources must be used more efficiently, with less adverse impacts. Getting more and better food from water, land, and labour saves resources for the future and makes food systems more sustainable.

Greater commitment, better governance

All key sectors and players throughout the food system must be involved to make better use of food systems for improved nutrition. This requires better governance, a common vision and, above all, political commitment and coherent leadership, fostering participation and consultation among all stakeholders.

Globally, about a third of the food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted. In developing countries, most losses occur at the farm level and along the supply chain before reaching consumers. Reducing such losses, by improving harvesting, storage, processing and distribution practices, could increase food supplies, reduce food prices and reduce pressure on land and other scarce resources. In developed countries, the bulk of food waste occurs after purchase, so greater focus should be placed on consumer education and information.

There is the need to create an enabling environment to make it easier for consumers to make healthier food choices. Promoting healthier lifestyles through nutrition education, information and examples must be more effective. Changes in practices can reduce food waste and contribute to sustainable resource use.

Investing in better nutrition offers high economic returns. If US$1.2 billion per year is invested for five years to reduce micronutrient deficiencies, thus ensuring better health, less child deaths and stunting, as well as increased future earnings, generating annual economic gains to society worth around US$15 billion – a benefit to cost ratio of almost 13 to one.

The Second International Conference on Nutrition, held in Rome in late 2014, galvanised political commitment to enhance nutrition for all through better policies and international cooperation. Broad participation by all interested stakeholders in a coordinated and sustained effort over the next decade can be decisive for success.

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By Tharanga Yakupitiyage
UNITED NATIONS, Mar 22 2016 (IPS)

“No child in Colombia today knows what it is like to live in a country at peace,” said UN Children’s Fund’s (UNICEF) Representative in Colombia Roberto De Bernardi during the launch of a new report.

The new report, titled ‘Childhood in the Time of War: Will the children of Colombia know peace at last?’, illustrates the profound impacts of the country’s 50-year conflict on youth.

According to national data, collected since 1985, approximately 2.5 million children have been affected by war. Of this population, 2.3 million have been displaced, 45,000 children have been killed, and 8,000 have disappeared.

Children under the age of five comprise of 1 in 10 of those killed, abducted, disappeared and tortured, and 1 in 5 of the total number of displaced persons.

Indigenous and Afro-Colombian children have been especially vulnerable during the conflict, representing 12 percent of the displaced, 15 percent of sexual violence survivors, and 17 percent of those tortured.

“It is time to turn the page,” De Bernardi remarked.

Though there has been some improvement since peace talks were initiated in 2013, people under the age of 18 continue to bear the brunt of suffering.

Persistent fighting between rival groups have displaced 230,000 children, killed 75 children and injured another 180. The UN also estimates approximately 1,000 children—or one child per day–were recruited by non-state armed groups.

Children have also been unable to attend school due to threat of physical and sexual violence, recruitment, and the presence of mines in and around schools.

As peace negotiations inch towards a final agreement, ending one of the longest wars in modern history, UNICEF urges parties to consider and prioritize children’s interests first.

“Even if the peace agreement were to be signed tomorrow, children will continue to be at risk of all kinds of violations including recruitment, landmines and sexual exploitation,” De Bernardi stated.

Though the main parties to the conflict are the country’s Government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP) who are currently involved in ongoing talks, other armed groups remain active in the country including the National Liberation army (ELN) which threaten sustained violence and instability.

UNICEF stressed the importance of providing social and psychological support to children affected by conflict, helping them reunite with families and reintegrate into society.

This is especially needed for vulnerable communities with few resources and even fewer options other than to join an armed group in order to survive.

“Unless more and better resources are invested in creating opportunities for children and young people to thrive, long lasting peace in Colombia will continue to be an elusive dream,” De Bernardi concluded in the report.

UNICEF has made an appeal of $52 million to provide essential services to children in Colombia.

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A narrow dirty trail snakes through what used to be a small dam in Mpudzi Resettlement Scheme south of the eastern border city of Mutare. And what remains of this once perennial dam is just a small puddle of mudded water; the dirty water is completely covered with thick green algae. The dam used to […]

Divisions over race, language and identity shows how many black people still feel marginalised at universities in South Africa, as Karen Allen reports.

Escaping Boko Haram