Kaburu Anthony: Community and corporate engagement is a critical p...

Kaburu Anthony: Community and corporate engagement is a critical p...: Engaging community-members and government operation employees is a key step in advancing your community’s integrated sustainability agenda....

Community and corporate engagement is a critical part of a climate change action plan

Engaging community-members and government operation employees is a key step in advancing your community’s integrated sustainability agenda. People from every part of the community affect greenhouse gas emission levels. Community and corporate engagement is a critical part of a climate change action plan and will enhance the results of climate change strategies.

When engagement is done well, local government staff and community members have a clear understanding of the challenges, and opportunities arising from climate change. Comprehensive engagement strategies will guide individuals and groups in implementing the role they play in reducing emissions.

What is Climate Action Engagement?

Engaging people to take climate action is the process in which the community, local governments and major stakeholders are able to work together to achieve climate action goals.

 Levels of Engagement

The depth of an engagement strategy will change depending on the timeline, budget and staff capacity. Local governments can choose to involve the community or staff through successively deeper levels of involvement on a spectrum of engagement. This means informing the audience through communication channels, such as an internal or public website or print materials, consulting by asking for feedback, involving people at workshops, or open houses, collaborating on decisions and finally by supporting empowering projects that allow citizens and staff to take the lead on developing and implementing climate change projects themselves.

Before You Engage

Most engagement approaches will combine awareness building, collaboration and action. The first step is ensuring you have a clear intention of:

WHY engagement is necessary:  what is the purpose?  What are the outcomes for the initiator of the engagement process?  What are the outcomes for the participants of the engagement process?

WHO do you want to engage?  There are many “publics” that exist.  Get specific about the population that you want to learn more about?  Is it a particular sector, neighbourhood, demographic?

WHAT do you want to engage them on? There are different methods for engagement depending on the intention. Is there a

·         Decision to be made?

·         Question to be answered?

·         Problem to address?

·         Opportunity to look at?

·         Relationship to build?

HOW will you engage the public? There are literally thousands of engagement methods out there.  Rather than getting overwhelmed with methods, they key is be clear about the intention, goals, outcomes and principles.  Then, you can find the methods that suite your purpose.

Engaging Employees to reduce Corporate Emissions in Government Operations

Engaging local government staff and demonstrating leadership around taking climate action is an integral part of meeting the goals of the Climate Action Charter. Implementing an employee engagement strategy builds credibility in the public perception of local government.  It is much easier to engage wider community if your organization ‘walks-the-talk’.

The process shifts thinking and creates new social norms that can help rationalize s some of the initial financial costs associated with upgrades, retrofits and climate action programs. As leaders you may be the first to demonstrate the long-term rewards of investing in climate change strategies and actions.

Build Awareness: Senior management can build understanding around climate change issues by defining climate action and making GHG reduction activities a corporate mandate written into policies, decision – making procedures and reporting.  Make addressing the Climate Action Charter a corporate priority. Interdepartmental managers can uncover synergies across departments and provide opportunities to coordinate GHG reduction initiatives related to the Climate Action Charter.

Other awareness-building activities could include informal lunch-and -learn sessions with staff and presentations at departmental staff meetings. Consider bringing in experts such as local energy associations or non-profits or provincial sustainability facilitators to speak at the sessions with council and staff. In these sessions explain the impacts of climate change, the need for mitigation and the benefits of adaptation.

Pilot an initial engagement strategy with one specific sector or department. Continue raising awareness through ongoing communications support: such as corporate newsletters and web reminders, CAO memo to Commissioners and inter-office emails and track your progress.

Engaging your Community to reduce Community-wide Emissions

Engaging community-wide is part of carrying out the local action plan. Timing is important. If your community has created a greenhouse gas emissions inventory and forecast, set an emissions reductions target, and developed a local action plan you are ready to launch an engagement process.

Every community is unique. For this reason, engagement processes are not prescriptive. The following key elements will help you tailor your community engagement process.

Build Awareness: Begin by preparing information for your community to help them understand why the climate is changing. Include descriptions of the challenges and opportunities and the business case.

Explain the community–wide target and invite community-driven descriptions of what reaching the successful target will look like e.g. cleaner air, less traffic outside schools, lower energy bills, enhanced local tourism etc.) Prioritize the themes as a community. This process will establish a common language and clarify shared motivations. It will also help local governments deliver actions requests based on community success targets.

During the initial awareness raising activities begin to identify key stakeholders who will engage with their own business or community groups to take further action. Strategic partnerships will help build capacity towards meeting the community-wide targets, for example, local business association, or local environmental organization.

Build on existing relationships and take advantage of any special skill sets existing in the community. Another way to building capacity is to invite summer students to participate and to mentor people in your community. Once the level of awareness and interest in the community is raised; take action.

Information alone is not enough – for awareness to have impact it needs to be matched with other ingredients such as individual meaning, need to develop social links and norms to others that are taking action, it’s important to be inspired to move beyond thought to action. 

Take Action: Start the action phase of your engagement strategy by describing what you are doing as an organization then provide actionable items for the community. These actions should be based on the unique items community success targets discussed during the awareness building phase.

Plan to reach your community outside of the local government office at venues where community groups gather. Although climate change is a serious issue, use a positive upbeat message. Solutions will have better results than fear mongering. It’s OK to have fun!  

There are many options when it comes to outreach methods such as travelling road-show at schools and community events, webinars, community meetings, presentations &, speakers, film nights, distributing a mayor’s message, rural advisory groups, public meetings, design charities, open houses, task force, web polls, software to vision land use and, citizen steering committees. Your job will be to choose the right channels for your community to help the community take climate action.

Finally, if we hope to combat climate change, concerted efforts and engagements will need to be made locally and internationally by governments, public agencies, businesses, industries, communities and individuals.

When engagement is done well, local government staff and community members have a clear understanding of the challenges, and opportunities arising from climate change. Comprehensive engagement strategies will guide individuals and groups in implementing the role they play in combating climate change

Kaburu Anthony: Africa is facing a housing crisis and time is runn...

Kaburu Anthony: Africa is facing a housing crisis and time is runn...: Africa will face many challenges in the near future but curiously one of them seems to be under the radar -- not a priority item for govern...

Africa is facing a housing crisis and time is running out

Africa will face many challenges in the near future but curiously one of them seems to be under the radar -- not a priority item for governments and institutions.

To hear the experts tell it, Africa will experience a population boom in the coming years and should be reaping what many economists have termed a demographic dividend. What will be happening on the other side of this is rapid urbanization?

UN-Habitat estimates that by 2030, all developing regions, specifically sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, will have more people living in urban than rural areas. It denotes for many the progress that is being made by African economies; certainly urbanization in isolation can be seen as an indication of development and growth. The theory is that if we have people trooping to and staying in our urban centers then it must be that we have created the jobs to attract and sustain them.

The demographic dividend

Let's return to another interesting statistic that was mentioned above: Africa will experience a population boom in almost of all its major economies. Nigeria is expected to have 174 million people between the age of 15-64 by 2035; in the Democratic Republic of Congo that number is predicted to be 70 million, in Kenya that number is 45 million and in South Africa that number is 40 million. Everywhere on the continent is expected to swell in numbers in the next two decades according to a UN-Habitat State of the World Cities Report.

Another set of interesting numbers to look at is the current housing deficit in most of the major economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria the housing deficit is estimated to be 17 million units annually. In nearby Ghana an estimated 170,000 housing units are required every year over the next 10 years. The recently concluded 2013 Housing Survey by the Ministry of Lands and Housing in Kenya doesn't fare any better with the deficit estimated at 2 million houses over the next 10 years.

Population boom

All these statistics and numbers have a very real and clear implication for housing and they paint a very simple picture: on the one hand you have a young and vibrant workforce coming into its own against the backdrop of too few houses, on the other hand you have droves of new city dwellers who cannot afford or find decent affordable housing, creating new slums.

The population boom, rapid urbanization and housing deficits across the continent is a three-dimensional problem with the same end: crisis.

There is precious little that can be done about the rapid urbanization. There is a high entertainment culture attracting young people from the rural areas. It is easy to spot them on the streets of Lagos, Nairobi, Dakar, Johannesburg, Luanda, and Kinshasa. Many have bought into the new African dream and they will keep coming and we should encourage it.

But only for a moment, because the realities of daily African life are all too apparent; we are always only moments away from the next clash of communities or outbreak of widespread violence. To the casual observer it seems immediate, spontaneous without reason, but that is not the case. These crises are often fueled by the intangibles: unemployment, inadequate access to decent housing, inadequate access to basic social services and the frustration that stems from all this. The failing of the new African dream for so many.

None of this analysis is particularly ground-breaking or new -- however, it is interesting how little attention affordable housing receives as a factor to quality of life and as a possible deterrent to chaos and social disorder. Naturally, governments with limited resources and tenure and an increasingly more informed and more involved electorate shy away from long-term capital intensive projects; they want quick wins and sellable achievements.

What can be done?

These questions frame the impending housing crisis, but how should they be answered? What can be done? A myriad of things, but we must first begin with the notion that no one organization or government can solve the housing problem by itself; it will require a coming together of shared interests. We must also determine that a one-dimensional approach will not suffice.

We can then move on to tackling sociocultural impressions of home ownership and brick and mortar homes. The housing conversation in Africa has always begun and ended with home ownership, while the fact remains that most Africans cannot afford to buy a home at current market rates. Rental housing is a legitimate option and is a reality for most Africans. It is time to have it supported with government incentives and legislation. It is an option that has yielded results in countries like Germany and the Netherlands, clearly documented in a 2014 World Bank Report.

We must also combat the preference for houses built with traditional methods; alternative building technologies continue to push the boundaries and introduce efficient and effective ways of constructing at reduced cost. Materials like mud and plastic have been deployed to wonderful effect and can significantly cut the cost for constructing a unit, but we still persist with the traditional ways of home construction even when we cannot afford it.

We must also find ways to control the value chain a lot more; housing in Africa is expensive primarily because most of the material is sourced and imported. It will be interesting to see if a boom in manufacturing doesn't drastically reduce the cost of building materials.

It is always funny how often people miss the relation between transportation and housing. If African transport systems are upgraded to include rail especially, it would give a city a rebirth and allow it to expand and create various suburbs or sleeper cities that would be less expensive to live in than the city centers.

The housing conversation is a continuous one and it is one that will see a lot of changes as we witness symmetrical changes in technology, demographics and urbanization. However, it must always begin with the notion that we are running out of time to solve the housing problem and there is a new generation of Africans expecting to be housed. There are a thousand ways to approach the problem: not doing anything isn't one of them.

Creating a conducive enabling environment, adopting and implementing a comprehensive housing strategy, as well as the existence of strong political will are prerequisites for addressing the continents housing crisis.

Kaburu Anthony: Infrastructure demand in Africa: A major challenge...

Kaburu Anthony: Infrastructure demand in Africa: A major challenge...: There is clear evidence that Investment in infrastructure leads to the growth of a countries economy and the improved wellbeing of its peop...

Infrastructure demand in Africa: A major challenge in the continent

There is clear evidence that Investment in infrastructure leads to the growth of a countries economy and the improved wellbeing of its people. The McKinsey Global Institute recently estimated that over the next fifteen year the world needs to spend $57 trillion on infrastructure to realise global economic growth ambitions.

Despite Africa’s huge potential, there is a lack of expertise and investment in infrastructure, leaving millions languishing in poverty .The numbers speak for themselves. If Africa is to unleash its true economic potential, $170 billion is needed every year in infrastructure investment.

More than 1.2 billion people in the developing world still have no access to electricity; about 783 million people lack access to clean water; 2.4 billion do not have adequate sanitation; 2.8 billion people still cook their food with solid fuels; and one billion people live more than two kilometers from an all-weather road.

In both urban and rural communities around the globe, the challenge of moving people and cargo efficiently, safely, and sustainably — while providing transportation for all segments of society, not just the wealthy — remains a problem begging for new solutions in our increasingly globalized, urbanized, digitized, and environmentally compromised world. Long-established theories and techniques of planners and policymakers must evolve if they are to help sort out our ever more complex transportation infrastructure.

The problems are many. Planners and policymakers need to consider that a large number of the world’s transport systems cannot meet the needs of rapidly growing populations, and many passengers face safety, security, and accessibility issues.

Rural roads provide the minimum infrastructure to sustain and improve the socio-economic development of rural areas and make an important contribution to the development of rural communities.

Many developing and emerging economies face major constraints on rural access, such as the lack of all-season access, poor road conditions and connectivity, and the poor availability, reliability and affordability of transport services.

Financial and technical constraints are often severe, which makes improving rural infrastructure and transport services challenging. A local-resource based approach, making use of local materials, labour, skills and technologies, is a potential solution to, at least partially, overcome such challenges.

Investors also need to rethink traditional approaches to cost-benefit analysis so that investments capture as many of the different impacts of transport as possible, and do so in a way that balances rigor with innovation. A call for advanced 21st-century networks of roads, airports, shipping facilities, train routes, and public transportation is resounding in cities, small communities, and rural areas alike.

If transportation planners and policymakers can successfully address these challenges, they will make a major contribution to improving the lives of people in all types of communities — large and small, central and remote — while at the same time protecting nature and making it possible to deliver the benefits of economic growth in a sustainable, inclusive way.

Sustainable transportation in Africa means “subsidy-free, but affordable public transport for almost all”. That already comprises two parts of the sustainability triangle: the economic and social one.

There are already initiatives that start replacing informal transport with formal public transport where huge capacities are needed and that try to reorder the informal public transport in order to supply services to these big corridors.

The ecological part has to be addressed as well, for example in the form of rules that improve the technological level of public transport. The most famous example for this is the state of the vehicles used by informal operators. The average ages of these fleets often lie clearly above 20 years. Regulations regarding security standards and emissions could probably solve this problem, if they are well enforced.

However, sustainability right now is not primarily about the ecological part, but rather about the functional, economic and social issues of transport. People on the street, making their daily transport decisions – especially in Africa – are normally not being environmentally conscious in that decision. They are thinking about how they can get from A to B as fast, as cheap and as convenient as possible.

A roadmap for sustainable transportation in Africa

If the functional and social questions are solved and secure, affordable, efficient and convenient public transport systems start operating in more and more cities, the ecological side will already have experienced a substantial improvement. Technological questions can be solved in a second step.

However, non-technological solutions are the first ones to address, which means solutions that can be provided by just reorganizing transport.

These solutions are a lot faster to implement than technological improvements. They can also work as a basis for future technological solutions that will most probably provide a huge leap forward, not only at an African, but at an international scale, for example the combination of solar power and electrical drives.

In addition to that, in order to be able to come up with technological solutions, cities need to know exactly what conditions they are dealing with and that is in many cases still very unclear in Africa. There are few traffic studies, even in the bigger cities who often have no detailed knowledge of the problems that they are actually facing.

Examples of new sustainable initiatives and technologies underway in Africa. Currently, there are various interesting projects underway. Several examples of different modes of transport will be discussed in the following paragraphs.

In Nigeria, there is a big ropeway system being planned in order to keep the traffic out of Lagos Island and providing better accessibility of the island from the mainland. It will provide a better connection to the three sides of surrounding mainland. Right now, bridges to the island are completely congested and there is no working formal public transport alternative except for an insufficient BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) system.

Another ropeway project in Mombasa (Kenya) is connecting Mombasa Island to the South. There are two bridges in the North East and North West of Mombasa Island, but no connection in the South except for a very unreliable ferry.

Crossing the short gap between the island and the mainland with a cable car will most probably have a huge positive impact on the urban development of that southern part of the island.

A transport mode that needs to be treated with caution is the light rail. There is a big need in African cities to use the still existing railroad corridors that usually touch all the focal growth areas of the city. Refurbishing these corridors and using them for urban and metropolitan transport could be an interesting solution, but requires a huge financial investment.

However, the light rail needs to be part of a systematic approach. The one that is built in Addis Ababa at the moment still seems more like an isolated activity in order to get rid of road congestion along its corridor. A big network of feeder systems needs to be provided, in order to make it an artery of a comprehensive transport system.

Making public transport the most attractive mode of transport in Africa

The integration of a BRT system and the new Gautrain system in Johannesburg is absolutely worth looking at. Gautrain (the regional train) in Johannesburg and the Gauteng province connects the airport and medium-sized cities of the metropolitan area to the city center.

In urban settings, this connection is combined very well with different BRT systems which use the main corridors of the city building up a high capacity formal transport system. The informal transport is at the moment more focused on feeder services to this system, outside the center. It is a very good start of a coherent system. Especially with rail-based systems, that are extremely expensive to build, solid analyzing and planning is needed before implementation. If that much money is spent on a transport infrastructure it should be a part or the basis of a well-conceived and coherent system.

Basically, if public transport is used to get the poor off the road, so that the well-off people are able to circulate in their private vehicles, the system is not going to work. Once again public transit would be stigmatized as a transport mode for the poor, similar to what happened in Europe and the US before. Because of the lack of formal public transport systems at the moment and the extremely difficult situation of road traffic, there is a huge possibility to really make public transport the most attractive transport solution for a very big part of the society in Africa.

Affordable, reliable and safe rural access in developing economies is crucial in helping to meet the socio-economic needs of rural communities. However, rural access is severely constrained in many areas due to inappropriate design, inadequate maintenance which causes road networks to deteriorate more rapidly than expected, and a lack of affordable transport services.  This has a negative impact on local communities as it increases transport costs, reduces accessibility to essential services and limits social interaction.

The local solutions can help to address these issues since they can be sustainable and cost effective.  Such solutions include appropriate road design standards tailored to local needs; the use of locally sourced materials for road construction and maintenance, the use of alternative maintenance technologies; and the engagement of local communities in providing labour, skilled work and transport services. 

By so doing, socio-economic benefits accrue to the wider community, and help to ensure the preservation of the road networks. Consequently, the use of local solutions for rural transport may be seen as an important enabler to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals associated with No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Clean Water and Sanitation and Sustainable Cities and Communities.

Furthermore, the share of Africa’s working-age population is rising faster than any other region globally; 70 per cent of the populace is under the age of 30. By 2034, it will have a larger potential workforce than either China or India. Only accelerated infrastructure investment will harness this growth. If it does not happen it will be dramatic for Africa and traumatic for Europe since people will start migrating north for a better life; something must be done. African countries are starting to realize that many issues stem from a lack of infrastructure.

Finally, Africa’s infrastructure is improving but it is doing so from a low base. Poor-quality roads and weak transport infrastructure have long been an issue for African trade, and are considered prime reasons for the continent’s low level of competitiveness. The large majority of roads in sub-Saharan Africa are poorly maintained and a significant number – around 53% – remain unpaved #SDGS #BetterInfrastructure #SDG9 #InnovationandDevelopment #SustainableCommunities

Kaburu Anthony: Africa can still catch up with the rest of the wor...

Kaburu Anthony: Africa can still catch up with the rest of the wor...: The world is making remarkable progress in combating poverty. From 2000 to 2013, the portion of the world’s population living on less than ...

Africa can still catch up with the rest of the world in the fight against poverty

The world is making remarkable progress in combating poverty. From 2000 to 2013, the portion of the world’s population living on less than the international poverty line of US$1.90 a day fell from 28.5 % to 10.7 %. That’s about one billion people lifted out of poverty.

In 2000 the United Nations launched the Millennium Development Goals, a coordinated international effort to eradicate poverty and raise living standards worldwide by 2030.

An even more ambitious global effort to eradicate poverty, called the Sustainable Development Goals was adopted in September 2015. This also seems to be producing significant results. An estimated 83 million people have escaped extreme poverty in the first three years after the goals were adopted – between January 2016 and July 2018.

At the same time, there’s been a dramatic shift in the geography of poverty around the world.

Today, extreme poverty is mostly around Africa, where 23 of the world’s 28 poorest countries are found. These countries have poverty rates above 30%.

Poverty projections up to the year 2030 (the end of the Sustainable Development Goals) suggest that even under the most optimistic scenario, over 300 million people in sub-Saharan Africa will still be in extreme poverty. Thus success in poverty eradication under these goals will depend crucially on what happens in Africa.

According to various researches, the adoption of the goals in 2000 played a significant part in accelerating the process of poverty reduction in the world. The implementation of antipoverty programmes and poverty reduction strategies in individual countries became a routine part of national development plans. But, there was considerable disparity in how different countries responded to the development goals as well as in their capacity to implement these plans.

In the early 1990s, African countries such as Nigeria, Lesotho, Madagascar, and Zambia had similar poverty levels to those of China, Vietnam and Indonesia. Yet, this group has been successful in reducing poverty, while the African countries haven’t.

So, why this disparity and how can poverty reduction in Africa be accelerated?

Poverty trends

We looked at poverty trends in the developing world between 1990 and 2013. Using standard income poverty measures expressing the part of the population living on less than $1.25 and $1.90 a day, we found that poverty tended to fall faster in more poverty-ridden countries.

Good news? Yes, but such progress, although significant, doesn’t imply that the end of poverty is in sight everywhere. For example, if trends continue in a poverty-ridden country such as Mali, where 86.08% of people were living below $1.25 a day in 1990, it would take about 31 more years to eradicate extreme poverty altogether.

And, even a much less poor economy like Ecuador (where 6.79% people lived on less than $1.25 a day in 1990) is predicted to take about 10 more years to eradicate extreme poverty altogether.

State capacity

My research identifies a crucial role for state capacity in differing levels of poverty reduction. Sub-Saharan African states often suffer from limited institutional capability to carry out policies that deliver benefits and services to citizens. In other words, they have limited state capacity.

Building state capacity depends on many variables. It is greater when ruling elites are subject to effective limits on the exercise of their power through institutionalised checks and balances. It’s also greater in countries with a longer history of statehood. For example, China, an experienced state which is centuries old, may have developed a greater ability to administer its territory - through learning by doing. It has thus become more effective at delivering on policies compared to less experienced African states.

And our own research suggests that countries with the most effective governments reduced income poverty at up to twice the speed than countries with the weakest states.

Fighting poverty in Africa

Africa is known to be the second largest and the second most populous continent in the world. With a population of 1.2 billion (as of 2019), it accounts for 15% of world’s human population. It also houses some very important natural resources in abundance that include oil, petroleum, uranium, gold, salt, copper, silver, cocoa beans and iron to name a few. Although having a thriving population and abundant natural resources, it is still one of the most underdeveloped and poor continents.

Poverty in Africa can be attributed to many factors; from Illiteracy and unemployment, disease, mismanagement of Land, to corrupt governments to tribal conflicts and to mismanagement of funds that were provided by the international community to Africa, The lack of infrastructure and poverty has also caused the death toll to rise tremendously. Every year a lot of young children die because of water borne illness only.

The weaknesses of a state affect the fight against poverty in a number of ways. Firstly, fighting poverty requires direct policy interventions. Yet poorer African countries are less effective in reaching their poor. For example, governments in sub-Saharan Africa don’t have the data and administrative know-how necessary for reliably identifying their poor. This means they can’t target resources to them. Anti-poverty programmes in countries such as Malawi, Mali, Niger and Nigeria miss many of their poorest households.

The growing evidence on the gaps in state capacity and the importance of effective states for poverty reduction implies that, without significant improvement in governance, Africa may fall further behind in meeting the first sustainable development goal target of ending poverty.

All these reasons jointly increase the level of poverty and have made the situation in Africa very grim. It has garnered war, corruption, fatal diseases and resulted in loss of precious human life. All the international think tanks and governments review the situation time and again to lend a helping hand. These reasons for its poverty are not unchangeable. Through proper planning and execution, Africa can be helped out of this situation.

To accelerate the end of poverty, African states should focus on developing enough capability for designing and delivering poverty reduction strategies. Implementing these reforms is vital. After all, improving the quality of government is not only important to accelerating poverty reduction. It’s also a development goal in itself.

Finally, I believe that we should dedicate our time, efforts and policy-making to the removal of barriers, including corruption, cronyism, opaque processes and subsidies that prevent capitalistic mechanisms from working.

we must also encourage organizations,individuals,governments etc who have volunteered to provide facilities such as pure water, foods filled with nutrients, living places to poor people and also those who’re conducting charity services to develop their lives, by offering special rewards and admiring them in various ways would be a good way to increase the number of voluntary workers. So I believe my opinions and suggestions would be a good help to conclude poverty

Kaburu Anthony: Solutions to sustainably feed 10 Billion People gl...

Kaburu Anthony: Solutions to sustainably feed 10 Billion People gl...: There is a big shortfall between the amount of food we produce today and the amount needed to feed everyone in 2050. There will be nearly 1...

Solutions to sustainably feed 10 Billion People globally by 2050

There is a big shortfall between the amount of food we produce today and the amount needed to feed everyone in 2050. There will be nearly 10 billion people on Earth by 2050—about 3 billion more mouths to feed than there were in 2010. As incomes rise, people will increasingly consume more resource-intensive, animal-based foods. At the same time, we urgently need to cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agricultural production and stop conversion of remaining forests to agricultural land.

Feeding 10 billion people sustainably by 2050, then, requires closing three gaps:

A 56 percent food gap between crop calories produced in 2010 and those needed in 2050 under “business as usual” growth;

A 593 million-hectare land gap (an area nearly twice the size of India) between global agricultural land area in 2010 and expected agricultural expansion by 2050; and

An 11-gigaton GHG mitigation gap between expected agricultural emissions in 2050 and the target level needed to hold global warming below 2oC (3.6°F), the level necessary for preventing the worst climate impacts.

A Five-Course Menu of Solutions for a Sustainable Food Future

There is no silver bullet to close the food, land and GHG mitigation gaps. I have researched and identified 22 solutions that need to be simultaneously applied to close these gaps. The relative importance of each solution varies from country to country. The solutions are organized into a five-course menu: (1) reduce growth in demand for food and other agricultural products; (2) increase food production without expanding agricultural land; (3) protect and restore natural ecosystems; (4) increase fish supply; and (5) reduce GHG emissions from agricultural production.

First Course: Reduce Growth In Demand for Food and Other Agricultural Products

1.  Reduce food loss and waste.

Approximately one-quarter of food produced for human consumption goes uneaten. Loss and waste occurs all along the food chain, from field to fork. Reducing food loss and waste by 25 percent by 2050 would close the food gap by 12 percent, the land gap by 27 percent and the GHG mitigation gap by 15 percent. Actions to take include measuring food waste, setting reduction targets, improving food storage in developing countries and streamlining expiration labels.

2. Shift to healthier, more sustainable diets.

Consumption of ruminant meat (beef, lamb and goat) is projected to rise 88 percent between 2010 and 2050. Beef, the most commonly consumed ruminant meat, is resource-intensive to produce, requiring 20 times more land and emitting 20 times more GHGs per gram of edible protein than common plant proteins, such as beans, peas and lentils. Limiting ruminant meat consumption to 52 calories per person per day by 2050—about 1.5 hamburgers per week—would reduce the GHG mitigation gap by half and nearly close the land gap. In North America this would require reducing current beef and lamb consumption by nearly half. Actions to take include improving the marketing of plant-based foods, improving meat substitutes and implementing policies that favor consumption of plant-based foods.

3. Avoid competition from bioenergy for food crops and land.

If bioenergy competes with food production by using food or energy crops or dedicated land, it widens the food, land and GHG mitigation gaps. Biomass is also an inefficient energy source: Using all the harvested biomass on Earth in the year 2000—including crops, crop residues, grass eaten by livestock and wood—would only provide about 20 percent of global energy needs in 2050. Phasing out existing biofuel production on agricultural lands would reduce the food gap from 56 to 49 percent. Actions to take include eliminating biofuel subsidies and not treating bioenergy as “carbon-neutral” in renewable energy policies and GHG trading programs.

4. Achieve replacement-level fertility rates.

The food gap is mostly driven by population growth, of which half is expected to occur in Africa, and one third in Asia. Most of the world is close to achieving replacement-level fertility by 2050 (2.1 children per woman). Sub-Saharan Africa is the exception, with a current fertility rate above 5 children per woman and a projected rate of 3.2 in 2050. If sub-Saharan Africa achieved replacement-level fertility rates along with all other regions by 2050, it would close the land gap by one quarter and the GHG mitigation gap by 17 percent while reducing hunger. Actions to take include achieving the three forms of social progress that have led all others to voluntarily reduce fertility rates: increasing educational opportunities for girls, expanding access to reproductive health services, and reducing infant and child mortality so that parents do not need to have as many children to ensure survival of their desired number.

Course 2: Increase Food Production Without Expanding Agricultural Land

5. Increase livestock and pasture productivity.

Livestock production per hectare varies significantly from country to country and is lowest in the tropics. Given that demand for animal-based foods is projected to grow by 70 percent by 2050 and that pastureland accounts for two thirds of agricultural land use, boosting pasture productivity is an important solution. A 25 percent faster increase in the output of meat and milk per hectare of pasture between 2010 and 2050 could close the land gap by 20 percent and the GHG mitigation gap by 11 percent. Actions farmers can take include improving fertilization of pasture, feed quality and veterinary care; raising improved animal breeds; and employing rotational grazing. Governments can set productivity targets and support farmers with financial and technical assistance.

6. Improve crop breeding.

Future yield growth is essential to keep up with demand. Conventional breeding, the selection of best-performing crops based on genetic traits, accounted for around half of historical crop yield gains. New advances in molecular biology offer great promise for additional yield gains by making it cheaper and faster to map genetic codes of plants, test for desired DNA traits, purify crop strains, and turn genes on and off. Actions to take include significantly increasing public and private crop-breeding budgets, especially for “orphan crops” like millet and yam, which are regionally important, but not traded globally.

7. Improve soil and water management.

Degraded soils, especially in Africa’s drylands, may affect one quarter of the world’s cropland. Farmers can boost crop yields in degraded soils—particularly drylands and areas with low carbon—by improving soil and water management practices. For example, agroforestry, or incorporating trees on farms and pastures, can help regenerate degraded land and boost yields. Trial sites in Zambia integrating Faidherbia albida trees yielded 88–190 percent more maize than sites without trees. A 20 percent faster increase in crop yields between 2010 and 2050—as a result of improvements in crop breeding and soil and water management—could close the land gap by 16 percent and the GHG mitigation gap by 7 percent. Actions to take include increasing aid agencies’ support for rainwater harvesting, agroforestry and farmer-to-farmer education; and reforming tree-ownership laws that impede farmers’ adoption of agroforestry. Agencies can also experiment with programs that help farmers rebuild soil health.

8. Plant existing cropland more frequently.

Planting and harvesting existing croplands more frequently, either by reducing fallow land or by increasing “double cropping” (planting two crops in a field in the same year), can boost food production without requiring new land. Increasing annual cropping intensity by 5 percent beyond the 2050 baseline of 87 percent would shrink the land gap by 14 percent and the GHG mitigation gap by 6 percent. Researchers should conduct more spatially explicit analyses to determine where cropping intensity increases are most feasible, factoring in water, emissions and other environmental constraints.

9. Adapt to climate change.

The 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report projected that without adaptation, global crop yields will likely decline by at least 5 percent by 2050, with steeper declines by 2100. For example, growing seasons in much of sub-Saharan Africa are projected to be more than 20 percent shorter by 2100. A 10 percent decline in crop yields would increase the land gap by 45 percent. Adaptation will require implementing other menu items, as well as breeding crops to cope with higher temperatures, establishing water conservation systems, and changing production systems where major climate changes will make it impossible to grow certain crops. 

Course 3: Protect and Restore Natural Ecosystems and Limit Agricultural Land-Shifting

10. Link productivity gains with protection of natural ecosystems.

While improving agricultural productivity can save forests and savannas globally, in some cases it can actually cause more land clearing locally.  To avoid these results, productivity gains must be explicitly linked with efforts to protect natural ecosystems from conversion to agriculture. Governments, financiers and others can tie low interest credit to protection of forests, as Brazil has done, and ensure that infrastructure investments do not come at the expense of ecosystems.

11. Limit inevitable cropland expansion to lands with low environmental opportunity costs.

When cropland expansion is inevitable—such as for local food production in Africa and for oil palm in Southeast Asia—governments and investors should support expansion onto land with low environmental opportunity costs. This includes lands with limited biodiversity or carbon storage potential, but high food production potential. For example, analysis that applies environmental, economic and legal filters in Indonesia can develop more accurate estimates of land suitable for oil palm expansion. Governments need tools and models to estimate yields and effects on biodiversity and climate change, and they should use these tools to guide land-use regulations, plan roads and manage public lands.

12. Reforest agricultural lands with little intensification potential.

In some cases, the most efficient use of land may be to restore abandoned or unproductive agricultural lands back into forests or other natural habitats. This can help offset the inevitable expansion of agriculture into other areas. This should be limited to low productivity agricultural land with limited improvement potential, such as steeply sloping pastures in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest.

13. Conserve and restore peatlands.

Peatlands’ conversion for agriculture requires drainage, which releases large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. The world’s 26 million hectares of drained peatlands account for 2 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions. Restoring them to wetlands should be a high priority and would close the GHG mitigation gap by up to 7 percent. Actions to take include providing funds for peatland restoration, improving peatland mapping and establishing laws that prevent peatlands from being drained.

Course 4: Increase Fish Supply

14. Improve wild fisheries management.

One third of marine stocks were overfished in 2015, with another 60 percent fished at maximum sustainable levels.  Catches need to be reduced today to allow wild fisheries to recover enough just to maintain the 2010 fish-catch level in 2050. This would avoid the need to convert 5 million hectares of land to supply the equivalent amount of fish from aquaculture. Actions to take include implementing catch shares and community-based management systems, and removing perverse subsidies that support overfishing, estimated at $35 billion annually.

15. Improve productivity and environmental performance of aquaculture.

As wild fish catches decline, aquaculture production needs to more than double to meet a projected 58 percent increase in fish consumption between 2010 and 2050. This doubling requires improving aquaculture productivity and addressing fish farms’ current environmental challenges, including conversion of wetlands, use of wild-caught fish in feeds, high freshwater demand and water pollution. Actions to take include selective breeding to improve growth rates of fish, improving feeds and disease control, adoption of water recirculation and other pollution controls, better spatial planning to guide new farms and expansion of marine-based fish farms.

Course 5: Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agricultural Production

GHG emissions from agricultural production arise from livestock farming, application of nitrogen fertilizers, rice cultivation and energy use. They’re projected to rise from 7 to 9 gigatons per year or more by 2050 (in addition to 6 gigatons per year or more from land-use change, not shown in the chart below). This course addresses each of these major emissions sources.

16. Reduce enteric fermentation through new technologies.

Ruminant livestock were responsible for around half of all agricultural production emissions in 2010. Of these emissions, the largest source is “enteric methane,” or cow burps. Increasing productivity of ruminants also reduces methane emissions, mainly because more milk and meat is produced per kilogram of feed. In addition, new technologies can reduce enteric fermentation. For example, 3-nitrooxypropan (3-NOP), a chemical additive that inhibits microbial methane, was tested in New Zealand and cut methane emissions by 30 percent and may increase animal growth rates. Governments should expand public research into compounds like 3-NOP and require or incentivize adoption of the most promising.

17. Reduce emissions through improved manure management.

Emissions from “managed” manure, originating from animals raised in confined settings, represented around 9 percent of agricultural production emissions in 2010. Improving manure management by better separating liquids from solids, capturing methane, and other strategies can greatly reduce emissions. For example, using highly sophisticated systems to reduce virtually all forms of pollution from U.S. pig farms would only increase the price of pork by 2 percent while reducing GHGs and creating many health, water and pollution benefits. Measures governments can take include regulating farms, providing competitive funding for technology development, and establishing monitoring programs to detect and remediate leakages from digesters.

18. Reduce emissions from manure left on pasture.

Livestock feces and urine deposited in fields turns into nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. This unmanaged manure accounted for 12 percent of agricultural production emissions in 2010. Emerging approaches involve applying chemicals that prevent nitrogen from turning into nitrous oxide, and growing grasses that prevent this process naturally. Governments can increase support for research into such chemical and biological nitrification inhibitors and incentivize adoption by farmers.

19. Reduce emissions from fertilizers by increasing nitrogen use efficiency.

Emissions from fertilizers accounted for around 19 percent of agricultural production emissions in 2010. Globally, crops absorb less than half the nitrogen applied as fertilizer, with the rest emitted to the atmosphere or lost as run off. Increasing nitrogen use efficiency, the percentage of applied nitrogen absorbed by crops, involves improving fertilizers and their management—or the composition of the fertilizers themselves—to increase the rate of nitrogen uptake, thus reducing the amount of fertilizer needed. Actions governments can take include shifting subsidies from fertilizers to support higher nitrogen use efficiency, implementing regulatory targets for fertilizer companies to develop improved fertilizers, and funding demonstration projects that increase nitrogen use efficiency.

20. Adopt emissions-reducing rice management and varieties.

Rice paddies contributed at least 10 percent of agricultural production emissions in 2010, primarily in the form of methane. But there are less emissions- and resource-intensive rice production methods. For example, shortening the duration of field flooding can reduce water levels to decrease the growth of methane-producing bacteria. This practice can reduce emissions by up to 90 percent while saving water and increasing rice yields on some farms.  Some rice varieties also generate less methane. Actions to take include conducting engineering analyses to identify promising opportunities for reducing water levels, rewarding farmers who practice water-efficient farming, investing in breeding programs that shift to lower-methane rice varieties and boosting rice yields.

21. Increase agricultural energy efficiency and shift to non-fossil energy sources.

Emissions from fossil energy use in agriculture accounted for 24 percent of agricultural production emissions in 2010. The basic opportunities include increasing energy efficiency, which has been only modestly explored in agricultural settings, and switching to solar and wind. Reducing emissions per unit of energy used by 75 percent would reduce the GHG mitigation gap by 8 percent. Actions to take include integrating low-carbon energy sources and efficiency programs into agriculture programs and using renewable energy in nitrogen fertilizer manufacturing.

22. Implement realistic options to sequester carbon in soils.

Efforts to mitigate agricultural emissions have primarily focused on sequestering carbon in soils, but recent research suggests this is harder to achieve than previously thought. For example, practices to increase carbon, such as no-till farming, produced little or no carbon increases when measured at deeper soil depths. Important strategies include avoiding further loss of carbon from soils by halting conversion of forests, protecting or increasing soil carbon by boosting productivity of grasslands and croplands, increasing agroforestry, and developing innovative strategies for building carbon where soil fertility is critical for food security.

Moving Toward a Sustainable Food Future

The challenge of feeding 10 billion people sustainably by 2050 is much harder than people realize. These menu items are not optional—the world must implement all 22 of them to close the food, land and GHG mitigation gaps.

The good news is that all five courses can close the gaps, while delivering co-benefits for farmers, society and human health. It will require a herculean effort and major changes to how we produce and consume food. So, let’s get started and order everything on the menu!

Kaburu Anthony: Time for talking is over: A call to Take Action on...

Kaburu Anthony: Time for talking is over: A call to Take Action on...: For the last 50 years, global warming has broken recorded history. The earth’s temperature is increasing by burning fossil fuels and cuttin...

Time for talking is over: A call to Take Action on Climate Change

For the last 50 years, global warming has broken recorded history. The earth’s temperature is increasing by burning fossil fuels and cutting down rain forests. This adds an excessive amount of greenhouse gases like methane, carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide naturally occur in the atmosphere are increasing temperatures. CO2 is the greenhouse gas most commonly produced by human activities and it is responsible of global warming.

Climate change and the heightened severity of weather events will cause increased loss of human life, more frequent crop failure, and more displaced people. This will destabilize governments, increase the risk of conflict, and hurt the global economy. Meanwhile, human health is already jeopardized by air and water conditions around the globe.

Human-generated climate change is causing adverse health effects through multiple direct pathways (e.g. heatwaves, sea-level rise, storm frequency and intensity) and indirect pathways (e.g. food and water insecurity, social instability).

A recent report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change shows that current trends will take the world past the 1.5 °C goal in only a few decades. The difference between a 1.5 °C world and a 2 °C world (not to speak of a 3 °C world) is stark.

An extra half degree of warming is likely to mean food scarcity and sea level rise affecting millions more people and severe habitat loss for countless species around the globe. Current trends need not continue: reforestation, escalated deployment of renewable energy, and more sustainable patterns of diet and transportation could eliminate carbon emissions by 2050. It’s past time for an unprecedented mass movement worldwide to demand action from recalcitrant governments. The clock keeps ticking.

Climate change threatens the huge amount of progress made on health and development in the past half century; it threatens to reverse the gains made through the Millennium Development Goals; and it threatens to undermine any efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals – health related or otherwise.

The World Health Organization already predicts that between 2030 and 2050, climate change will cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year, from malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and heat stress. The direct costs to health from climate change, excluding costs in health-determining sectors such as agriculture and water and sanitation, is estimated to be between US$2–4 billion per year by 2030.

I believe we need to think about “health justice”, to ensure that ordinary people are always at the heart of health policy and that their needs are paramount above the profit motives of industry or the short-term calculations of politicians.

I have endeavored to spend my life in the service of those marginalized or made vulnerable by discrimination because of gender, race or poverty and it is clearly a grave health injustice when poor women and their newborn babies are detained in hospitals because their families can’t afford their medical bills.

But this is the reality for thousands of people in health systems dominated by private financing and weak governance. It is urgent to recognize that we are in an unprecedented emergency and to form new and global alliances in favor of humanity and common destiny to stop this saga of greed and irresponsibility. Greed and fear cannot become the deciding elements of the political progress.

Both climate and health policies need to understand the specific needs of vulnerable and marginalised groups who have been too often overlooked, including women, girls, adolescents, people with mental health issues, indigenous peoples, sexual minorities and nomadic communities.

Back to climate change; Climate change affects every person globally. It will change the way we live, work, travel, shop, eat and socialize. Planning for it, and making the changes that are necessary to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, while maintaining vibrant rural and urban communities, is all of our responsibility.

Effective climate action will require much stronger participatory democracy, where local people are actively informed and engaged in decision-making about their own communities and their own futures. People have to believe their input matters and, importantly, they must be able to trust governments and businesses to act in the public interest.

To have an impact, climate action must, therefore, have both bold political leadership and respect for democratic participation. Political will is largely underpinned by economic concerns – national governments need to realize that climate change is a global economic concern.

Government leaders need to stop twiddling their thumbs at COPs while the planet overheats. It is time to knuckle down and agree to a global plan to cut the greenhouse gases causing climate change and build our resilience to climate change impacts.

In addition to action at every level of economies, societies and governments around the world, we still need a global agreement between nations. Without the UN, some governments could just walk away from the problem. Without the UN, how will nations decide which country should do what in a way that is fair to all? We need a UN forum to check that countries’ climate plans are adequate to the scale of the challenge.

All of us here  also have the responsibility to put pressure on leaders to take climate and health seriously, to see them as human rights issues that are inextricably intertwined, and to make these leaders understand that if they do not act in concert with each other, they are damning us all to failure, if not annihilation

Let’s fight for our dignity and our right to a livable world. As we go forward today, let us all take heart and work together for a world where everyone enjoys the right to health, a thriving environment and a peaceful planet to bequeath to subsequent generations

Finally, this alarming climate change situation is a call for action to all of us for playing a positive role in our own limited capacities, as this is our planet and we must take its good care for ourselves and the generations to come. Remember: no one can do this alone, but together, we have a chance to save our only planet Earth. I call on all of us to elevate climate change in our conversations with clients, industry partners, and elected officials. Add your firm to our Call to Action. We are equal to the task. But we must not wait

Kaburu Anthony: Universal Health coverage day observation must com...

Kaburu Anthony: Universal Health coverage day observation must com...: One billion people around the world have no access to healthcare – care which could mean the difference between life and death. Furthermore...

Universal Health coverage day observation must come with actions towards a free healthcare for all

One billion people around the world have no access to healthcare – care which could mean the difference between life and death. Furthermore, hundreds of millions are forced into poverty annually by the cost of accessing their local healthcare services.

As the globe will be observing  #UniversalHealthCoverageDay on 12/12/2019 , I hope, help to focus the world’s attention on the plight of millions lacking the basic human right to have equal access to effective, quality health services without the fear of financial hardship.

Universal Health Coverage Day aims to promote the need for the international community, world leaders, policymakers, health professionals and NGOs to play their part in improving equal access to healthcare. This follows the #UnitedNations resolution passed in 2012 calling on all countries to pursue the transformation of their health systems towards Universal Health Coverage (UHC). 

It’s important for policymakers to realise that the benefits of governments investing in healthcare don’t stop with the individual; there are significant economic and social benefits. Lancet Commission on Investing in Health clearly sets out the ways in which health improvements can have a direct impact on GDP.

So while the topic of how developing countries should finance their health systems has been one of the most contentious in global development, it is still essential that improving healthcare should form a key part of any agency’s efforts to improve living conditions in a developing country.

Undoubtedly, the Ebola crisis has helped to drive these issues further up the agenda for the international development community. Three principles underpin Universal Health Coverage; equity of access, long-term sustainability and resilience, ie making sure that health systems can withstand potentially catastrophic crises and emergencies. This last principle has been blown apart spectacularly in parts of west Africa, including Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. These countries, where levels of health coverage were already some of the world’s lowest, have seen their healthcare systems completely decimated by the disease.

I am currently working on research that will help governments and organizations if at all they are interested in my opinion  on how health systems can be rebuilt, drawing on lessons from countries that have improved their health systems. One example is Indonesia, where President Joko Widodo, known as Jokowi, implemented a policy of providing all households that had no cover with a free health insurance card, after he was elected this year. If this reform continues to be implemented, it will create the biggest publicly financed single-player health system in the world.

Other countries that are making important improvements include Nepal, where universal free health care has been provided, up to district level, since 2008. In Sierra Leone, free health care has been provided for pregnant women and children since 2012, after President Koroma promoted the policy in elections that year. Effective improvements have also been made in Ethiopia, Rwanda, Nepal and Malawi, which have met the challenge of finding enough skilled health workers by providing training to community health workers.

Improving health systems isn’t easy, but these case studies show it is possible. My message to policymakers is to be brave and bold. Evidence shows that in any country it’s important that the whole population is covered, as opposed to targeting certain sections of the population.

When it comes to funding, my research suggests that the most effective mechanism is a publicly governed compulsory financing system, but of course systems need to be in place to properly manage and allocate those funds. Above all, strong political leadership, careful monitoring and strong institutions are needed to see successful implementation of health reforms. #HealthyLivingforAll #UniversalHealthCare #SDG3 

Kaburu Anthony: We must eliminate gender-based violence once and f...

Kaburu Anthony: We must eliminate gender-based violence once and f...: Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed every year on 25 November, highlights that violence ...

We must eliminate gender-based violence once and for all

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, observed every year on 25 November, highlights that violence against women and girls is still one of the most widespread and devastating human rights violations across the globe.

Violence against women touches every society on this globe. It happens everywhere: at home, at work, in schools and universities, on the street, in public transport, online, at festivals and sport events. One in every three of women worldwide has experienced either physical and/or sexual violence. Around half of women have experienced verbal, physical or online sexual harassment.

Child marriage still occurs in every region of the world. About 12 million girls under 18 marry each year - one every two seconds. Married girls often quickly become pregnant, drop out of school and are at higher risk of domestic violence than women who marry as adults. At least 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone female genital mutilation in 30 countries.

We have to change the perception in our societies that harassing or being violent to a woman is normal and accepted behaviour. We are all responsible to say no, openly reject acts of violence or harassment, and stand by the victims.

Eradicating violence against women and girls is at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is a first step towards global peace and security, a precondition for the promotion, protection and fulfilment of human rights, gender equality, democracy, and economic growth.

We must eliminate gender-based violence once and for all. A life free of violence is an inalienable and fundamental right. Violence must stop now.

Kaburu Anthony: World children's day celebration

Kaburu Anthony: World children's day celebration: Each year on November 20th, #WorldChildrensDay promotes the welfare of children around the world. The day also spreads awareness for issues...

World children's day celebration

Each year on November 20th, #WorldChildrensDay promotes the welfare of children around the world. The day also spreads awareness for issues that children face and celebrates international togetherness.
Human rights don’t just apply to adults. They apply to children as well. Children deserve the right to life, health, education, and even the right to play. Additionally, children’s rights include the right to family life, protection from violence, and not to be discriminated against. The child also has the right for their views to be heard.

Unfortunately, children around the world face many challenging issues. According to Children Incorporated, 385 million children around the world live in poverty. One in four children live in poverty in the world’s richest countries. An estimated 8,500 children a day die from malnutrition.

Besides poverty, other significant issues children around the world face include:

·         Violence through indoctrination

·         Life as refugees

·         Lack of education

·         Neglect

·         Child labor

·         Child prostitution and human trafficking

·         Internet child pornography

Children have a difficult world in which to navigate. It helps to have loving parents or other family members to help them guide the way. Unfortunately, there are millions of children who do not have someone like this in their life. According to #UNICEF, 153 million children across the globe are orphans.
What can be done to give children hope? To help their world become a better place? Having a World Children’s Day helps as it spreads awareness for the many issues facing children. It also forces leaders to come up with solutions to help some of our world’s most vulnerable individuals.

Kaburu Anthony: Observance of International Day for the Eradicatio...

Kaburu Anthony: Observance of International Day for the Eradicatio...: October 17th marks the United Nation’s #InternationalDayfortheEradicationofPoverty. Extraordinary progress has been made in reducing extrem...

Observance of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

October 17th marks the United Nation’s #InternationalDayfortheEradicationofPoverty. Extraordinary progress has been made in reducing extreme poverty over the course of the past 25 years, with over 1 billion people rising above the threshold that identifies those in deepest need.

 Despite this progress, population growth, economic shocks, food insecurity, and climate change threaten to undermine this momentum. The #WorldBank estimates that 12.7 percent of people in the developing world – or 896 million people – lived at or below $1.90 a day.

The presence of poverty, insecurity and inequalities continues to be a scandal in a world where knowledge and resources exist to ensure healthy and dignified lives for all. While a few consume in an extremely unsustainable manner and accumulate soaring wealth, billions of others have no access to adequate food, safe drinking water, proper sanitation, housing, health, education, security and justice.

Women, children and socially excluded people still comprise the vast majority of people living in poverty and face harsh discrimination – and often violence – on a daily basis. It is also worrying that women lack economic empowerment and social protection and continue to live in a context that places them in a situation of vulnerability to violence patriarchy both in home and in society. 

Poverty eradication is the greatest global challenge facing the world today and an indispensable requirement for sustainable development. Therefore all who are fortunate enough must all commit to freeing humanity from poverty and hunger as a matter of urgency.

We must all raise our voice for the world’s most vulnerable,we can start a movement to ensure every person can live with dignity, global citizens must stand together and encourage leaders to end global poverty once and for all by 2030. We have to come together, as one world, to realize the change that we seek.

The International Day for the Eradication of Poverty is a reminder that we must act together — and when we do, we can make even more progress in building a sustainable future.