Kaburu Anthony: Solutions to global environmental issues

Kaburu Anthony: Solutions to global environmental issues: Our planet is plagued by environmental problems that deplete natural resources and strain livelihoods, many of which are exacerbated by poo...

Solutions to global environmental issues

Our planet is plagued by environmental problems that deplete natural resources and strain livelihoods, many of which are exacerbated by poor industrial practices, the major environmental problems that face our planet did not appear overnight. They are the result of several forces working together: our technological innovation, our consumptive habits, and our pursuit of wealth, along with the exponential rise in the human population over the last 200 years.

These forces have worked together to transform the face of Earth to create economic opportunities and increase the standard of living for many people throughout the world.  If left unchecked, environmental problems will negatively impact businesses both directly, as in supply chain disruptions, and indirectly, as in health hazards that lead to loss of man-hours and efficiency.

As time has passed, however, scientists have discovered that if population growth and the ravenous consumption of the planet’s natural resources continue unabated, they would pose serious threats to the survival of our species, as well as to the survival of millions of others. Look deeper into the underlying causes of Earth’s environmental problems and consider how each one contributed to create the challenges of global warming, pollution, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss.

Our current lifestyle will have to change if we want to stop further environmental destruction. We must find solutions that would enable maintenance of our current lifestyle without further destruction of our environment, and the key for this lies in sustainability. Sustainability, however, requires completely different way of thinking and installment of new values into our society in order to encourage people to improve the environmental conditions in their communities

Outlined are some of the issues affecting our environments;

Environmental Accidents

Some man-made accidents threaten wildlife and the ecosystem. Although these accidents are relatively rare because of increased safety procedures, accidents still occur, sometimes with devastating effects. Examples include oil spills, radioactive leaks, tanker spills, pipeline bursts and drilling accidents. The best solution for accidental spills and leaks is to create additional safety protocol using both computerized and human detection systems.

Water Pollution

Water pollution is a growing problem globally; large industries including those that make chemicals and plastics dump a large amount of waste into the water. Human waste and rubbish also ends up in the oceans and lakes. Governments should enforce restrictions on those who dump trash and waste. To address the problem, individuals can improve recycling and waste disposal, and they can volunteer to clean up shorelines and nearby public locations. Businesses should develop ongoing protocols to reduce the amount of chemicals and other waste they put into the water supply.

Hazardous Waste

The mishandling of hazardous waste materials poses immediate and long-term risks to plants, animals, humans and the environment. Hazardous waste is any liquid or solid that contains carcinogenic or teratogenic compounds, including pesticides, paint strippers, solvents, paint, gasoline, bleach, ammonia, industrial cleaning agents and drain cleaners. Individuals and businesses should make sure that hazardous-waste disposal experts handle all hazardous waste, and should never dump hazardous waste with regular trash or into rivers or ditches.

Ozone Depletion

There are several airborne materials that can lead to ozone pollution. Ground-level ozone, particulate matter, lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide are all dangerous when released into the air. These pollutants can cause human health problems and damage to plants and animals. Governments should enforce laws controlling the release of these substances into the atmosphere. Controlled air quality leads to less stress on the outer ozone layer of the planet that helps protect us from the sun.

Soil Contamination

Man-made chemicals released into the dirt either by accident or through poor disposal techniques cause soil contamination. Rupture of underground storage tanks, acid rain, leaching of hazardous waste from a landfill, pesticides and herbicides, and discharge from industrial chemical wastes all can contaminate the soil in which farmers grow crops or graze livestock that people eventually eat. Laws against such contamination need to be stringent, and the appropriate agencies have to be tough in the enforcement of those laws to help keep soil safer for humans and animals.

Education is also one of the keys in solving environmental issues. Better education and improved literacy rates should be a main foundation to create the adequate level of environmental conscience in many countries of the developing world.

The world also needs to find a way to alleviate poverty because poor people think only how to survive. To more than one billion hungry people in the world environmental issues mean very little and we must show more care for this people.

Going green is not a choice anymore, it is a responsibility. That is why it is so important to try and do the small things that can help change the outlook of the planet. In fact, many of the things we can do, we actually already do! Just a little thing such as sorting our garbage into what can be recycled, or using less water, and generally consuming fewer resources does not require much effort on our part.

The challenges posed by these environmental problems and the forces that drive them seem insurmountable. The effects of these problems have shown up at regional and global scales, and the prospect of overcoming the differences between countries, between factions within countries, and even between individuals seems insurmountable at times.

Environmental problems make it apparent that solving complex issues requires the cooperation of all sectors. Environmental issues affect every individual, organization, community and country, and by becoming environmental stewards, it keeps the economy moving, which is necessary for growth and long-term viability.

Political leaders, policymakers, businesses, and everyone else must come together to protect environmental resources such as air and water quality, natural habitat, preserving forestry and building a sustainable future for all of us. If we do not take action, the quality of our ecosystem, environment, and the habitat of aquatic and wildlife will continue to deteriorate.

The human race has achieved distinction in fields of culture, traditions, beliefs and inventions, but has grossly failed to secure their future or even plan for it by ignoring the signs nature has been throwing at them. We know how to build, use electricity, run huge machines and even go to space, but we fail to instill small measures like turning off lights when not in use or even throwing paper in the bins.

There is plenty we can do to reduce the negative impacts on the globe. We can all reduce our dependency on carbon based fossil fuels to reduce emission. Use of clean reusable energy sources is already gaining popularity around the globe. Using clean energy would significantly reduce carbon emissions and air pollution, improving our health and environment. Air quality and human health are closely related, and so reducing air pollution can lead to a healthier sustainable human race.

Finally, we’re not struggling to find ideas to solve problems either globally or locally. It’s action we’re lacking, in government and beyond, as individuals and together as a species. If we act now we may be surprised at how these seemingly vast problems diminish quicker than we imagine. #Environment #SDG15 #SDGS #Sustainability #Ecosystems #Biodiversity

Kaburu Anthony: Africa water solutions

Kaburu Anthony: Africa water solutions: Recent discoveries of water reserves under some of Africa’s mightiest deserts raise hopes for quenching African thirst. But the reality is ...

Africa water solutions

Recent discoveries of water reserves under some of Africa’s mightiest deserts raise hopes for quenching African thirst. But the reality is much more grim. From parched desert to tropical forest, roughly 40 percent of Africans, mostly the rural poor, will not get access to clean water any time soon, a fact that exacerbates poverty, hunger, and disease. Indeed, every year, dirty water kills an estimated 750,000 African children under the age of five.

And while rich countries worry about obesity, recent droughts in the Sahel and Horn of Africa have forced millions of Africans to flee their ancestral lands in search of food. To complicate matters further, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expects climate change to hit Africa harder than anywhere else.

Meanwhile, a doubling of the continent’s population in the first quarter of this century is set to significantly increase demand for Africa’s water too, risking groundwater depletion and a gradual destruction of precious ecosystems.

My first take is that we need to get serious about water, which is central to several critical challenges from health and hunger to energy and security. Water is more than a commodity – it’s a source of life and livelihoods. Every culture in the world recognizes water as the source of all life, and yet the international community has held back from giving access to water the prominence and backing it deserves.

The #UnitedNations took a major step forward when it officially recognized water as a fundamental human right in 2010, but aid still falls far short of the levels required to deliver clean water for all.

Besides killing Africa’s children, dirty water can reduce school attendance, especially for girls, cause political instability, and constrain productivity. As we note in recent Africa Progress Report, Africa loses an estimated $28 billion every year through lack of access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. European governments realized in the 19th century that failing to invest in clean water and sanitation was the ultimate false economy. But, in urban slums across Africa, unclean water and lack of sanitation is still a source of disease.

Water inequalities compound social tensions too. Poor households in the slums of cities such as Lagos or Nairobi are paying more for their water than the rich, who are served by water utilities. Unequal access means that poorer urban residents pay as much as 50 times more per liter of water than their richer neighbors. In the Nairobi slum of Kibera, for example, some of the world’s poorest people buy some of its most expensive water. Meanwhile, sprinklers water the greens of Nairobi’s nearby golf club.

That brings me to the second priority. Over recent years, we have seen whole swathes of Africa’s agricultural land and water resources bought up by foreign investors. Governments in the region must stop the land grabs and put Africa’s food security front and center of their national priorities.

With oil and food prices rising, many foreign investors have viewed Africa’s unused agricultural land as a high-profit opportunity for food and biofuel production. One influential recent report told investors that Africa has as many as 600 million hectares of uncultivated arable land – 60 percent of the global total. Indeed, between 2000 and 2011, Africa saw 948 land deals, covering 124 million hectares, an area larger than France, Germany, and the United Kingdom combined. Many of these land deals involve countries along the Nile and Niger rivers, whose water will be used to irrigate thirsty agricultural schemes.

But for communities throughout Africa, land is more than just an economic asset. It represents life, livelihoods, culture and identity. And modern history is littered with disastrous attempts to maximize agricultural production by diverting major rivers and lakes. In the middle of a Central Asian desert, ships sit abandoned where the Aral Sea used to be before Soviet planners diverted its tributaries for cotton.

Africa’s farmers and communities need protection against large-scale speculative land purchases, which often result in the eviction of smallholders, sometimes by force, and typically with minimal compensation.

Land deals should be carefully assessed and a moratorium considered until legislation can protect smallholder farmers and communities. The African Union should develop a framework for managing foreign investment in agriculture. African leaders should also invest in water management systems to reduce waste and inefficiencies.

Throughout Africa, women and girls often carry responsibility for a household’s water supply and sanitation. In several countries, most notably in East Africa, more than a quarter of the population spends more than half an hour per round trip to fetch water. More time finding water means less time and energy for other activities such as childcare, income generation, and school attendance.

Water is the ultimate trans-boundary resource, flowing across national borders. Throughout Africa, countries share water sources such as rivers, lakes, and groundwater. Countries that build dams or invest in large-scale irrigation schemes need to recognize that their actions will have consequences downstream. As the stresses on water systems mount, the risk increases that competing claims will fuel a drift towards water wars.

Is Anyone Doing Anything?

Certainly, organizations somehow, somewhere, are doing something about this? Right? This is the natural response of those of us who unthinkingly use clean water to flush our toilets and allow grey water to be piped into the sewer systems of our communities.

Actually, that thought many of us have when we read about water-distressed systems worldwide is right. Well-meaning help of all kinds, from missionary groups to hundreds if not thousands of non-government organizations to the #WorldBank and the #UnitedNations to the #WorldHealthOrganization to inter-agency coordinated efforts to private foundations with substantial granting means to individual governments to the largess of western countries—all of them are players in attempting to solve the water problems of the world.

However, even the best laid plans of sophisticated systems often go awry. Evidence of this is the estimated 50,000 wells in Africa dug by well-meaning organizations that now lie broken, abandoned and non-functional; a dismal testament to good intentions gone bad. Really bad.

Navigating the logistics and issues around providing access to clean water is overwhelmingly complex and challenging, but the basic facts are clear. There is a limited amount of this precious resource—and for many, what’s available is either unclean, or inaccessible.

Africa needs significantly more than the roughly $ 2.6 billion it gets at present. That may be a tall order in these fiscally straitened times. But it will be a small price to pay for investments that could protect millions from hunger, poverty, and disease and help put the world’s poorest region on a pathway to greater self-reliance.

Furthermore, Governments must build relationships with each other to prevent water stress from turning into conflicts; no single intervention is more likely to have a significant impact on global poverty than the provision of safe water. Safe and readily available water is a human right and an important contributor to public health. Improved access to safe water and sanitation boosts economic growth, contributes to poverty reduction, and is fundamental to achieving the goals of improved health and education, greater food security, and improved environmental sustainability.

Finally ,Let’s all Imagine a world where everyone has access to clean water… where mothers can provide safe water to their children… where sickness doesn’t rob those children of their education and childhood. Let’s imagine a world where money doesn’t have to be spent purchasing medication for preventable diseases, but is, instead, spent feeding their children. Finally let’s imagine a world where parents can feel healthy enough to work and earn a living so they can help change their world for the better. #WaterAccess #Sustainability #SDG6 #SDGS #HumanityandInclusivity #AfricaWaterSolutions #SustainableCommunities

Kaburu Anthony: Democratic Republic of Congo: "Africa's deadliest ...

Kaburu Anthony: Democratic Republic of Congo: "Africa's deadliest ...: The civil war in Congo is the deadliest conflict since World War II, and it created the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. DR Congo ...

Kaburu Anthony: Democratic Republic of Congo: "Africa's deadliest ...

Kaburu Anthony: Democratic Republic of Congo: "Africa's deadliest ...: The civil war in Congo is the deadliest conflict since World War II, and it created the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. DR Congo...

Democratic Republic of Congo: "Africa's deadliest nation"

The civil war in Congo is the deadliest conflict since World War II, and it created the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. DR Congo is a vast country with immense economic resources and, until recently, has been at the centre of what some observers call "Africa's world war", with widespread civilian suffering the result.

The people of the DRC have endured more than two decades of civil war, and conflict has claimed as many as 6 million lives, 4.6m people displaced, 13 million desperate for aid, and 1 in 10 children will not live until 5years old, Average life expectancy at birth is 48 years, and close to 80 percent of the population survives on less than $2 per day. Various armed groups, including the Congolese army, are committing horrific human rights violations, especially in the eastern part of the country.

The situation in Congo keeps deteriorating even though its civil war has officially been over for years and the United Nations’ second-largest peacekeeping mission is based there. The international community has failed to help Congo achieve peace and security because it fundamentally misunderstands the causes of the violence.

Women and children are often most affected by the conflict, as is the case with many crises. More than 2 million children suffer from severe acute malnutrition. One in 10 women and girls experienced sexual violence in 2016. In some cases, women and their children have no choice but to flee the violence and hunger. Women often leave their homes with very little but their children and the clothes they were wearing. Men too are frightened of being killed or forced to join armed groups.

Africa and Western diplomats, along with U.N. officials, actively supervised negotiations to end the war in 2002, they brokered a peace deal, and in 2006 they organized the first democratic elections in Congo’s history.  To this day, the peacekeeping mission they set up is the only force capable of protecting the population from the ongoing violence.

Bottom of Form

International programs have since emphasized three priorities: regulating the trade of minerals, providing care to victims of sexual violence and helping the central government extend its authority. This approach has provided a simple narrative that was easy to sell to audiences and donors in the West.

It has also backfired. Perversely, attempts to regulate the trade of minerals — like Section 1502 of the U.S. 2010 Dodd-Frank Act and a temporary mining ban imposed by the Congolese government from September 2010 to March 2011 — have enabled armed groups to strengthen their control over mines.

These measures focused on stopping the illegal trade of minerals but did nothing to destroy the actual power base of armed groups. In the absence of any broader political, economic or social reforms, local military leaders have managed to remain the principal power brokers in the rural areas of eastern Congo. In some cases, they have even expanded their mining operations while vulnerable populations lost their livelihood.

The international community’s disproportionate attention to sexual violence has also raised the status of sexual abuse in a dangerous way. Some combatants now use it as a bargaining tool by threatening to commit mass rape if they are excluded from negotiations. And state-reconstruction programs have done little more than boost the capacity of the authoritarian central government and of administrative officials at all levels, to oppress the population.

Since the end of the country’s transition to peace in late 2006, living conditions in the country (formally the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire) have become the worst in the world; the situation in the East of the country continues to be worrying. Ethnic fighting continues in the Ituri region between the Hema and the Lendu.

The DRC situation has been a case of misguided intervention. One reason is that foreign diplomats, U.N. peacekeepers and many NGOs tend to view the fighting exclusively as a consequence of national and international tensions — especially power struggles among Congolese and foreign elites — and a spillover from the Rwandan genocide. And they typically consider intervention at the national or regional levels to be their only legitimate responsibility.

They neglect to address the other main sources of violence: distinctively local conflicts over land, grassroots power, status and resources, like cattle, charcoal, timber, drugs and fees levied at checkpoints. Most of the violence in Congo is not coordinated on a large scale. It is the product of conflicts among fragmented local militias, each trying to advance its own agenda at the village or district level. Those then percolate and expand.

The country’s massive resource wealth—estimated to include $24 trillion of untapped mineral resources—also fuels violence. The mineral trade provides financial means for groups to operate and buy arms.

The United States passed legislation in 2010 to reduce the purchase of “conflict minerals and prevent the funding of armed militias, but complex supply chains in the DRC mineral sale business have made it difficult for companies that purchase resources from secondhand buyers to obtain certification. As a result, multinational companies have stopped buying minerals from the DRC altogether, putting many miners out of work and even driving some to join armed groups to gain a source of livelihood.

Despite the establishment of an elected government in 2006 following the implementation of a series of peace agreements, the country still faces challenges in consolidating peace throughout its territory. The eastern regions of the DRC have consistently experienced high insecurity and repeated incidences of violence, often as a result of interference of neighbouring countries.

Solutions

The U.N. Security Council should now refocus its efforts on supporting grassroots projects directed at resolving local conflicts, especially over land. If the international community continues to address the consequences of the violence in Congo rather than its most important causes, it will only add to the death toll.

Addressing the consequences of sexual violence and these other abuses is important, of course, but donors should do more to address their underlying causes. Most important, they should approach the resolution of conflicts in Congo from the bottom up. They should assist local groups — official authorities, NGOs and civil-society representatives — with the funding, logistical means and technical capacity necessary to implement narrowly tailored programs.

The ongoing violent crisis in the DRC threatens to reverse gains made in the peace process and through the implementation of peacebuilding efforts. The current interest by regional and international actors in the crisis provides an opportunity for laying a framework for the resolution of the underlying structural issues that have plagued the DRC for a long time.

Furthermore, the reality is that historical issues will take a long time to resolve and that the peacebuilding process in the DRC cannot be tied to a timeline. The actors and stakeholders interested in consolidating peace in the DRC must focus on transformative strategies that are aimed at ensuring the development of infrastructure for a stronger and more peaceful DRC. This will involve coalesced efforts and context-specific long-term peacebuilding strategies by multiple stakeholders whose interests are entrenched in reconciliation and wellbeing of the people of the DRC.

Finally, the conflict within the DRC can be solved only with a political will in Kinshasa and internationally that has long been missing. No amount of new border-security, billion-dollar UN stabilizing forces, or NGOs can bring the needed reform within the DRC that, in reality, only central government can implement. And while the continuing distraction of how to respond to M-23 hogs the political limelight and international attention; the underlying problems remain - as does the daily hardship and violence suffered by citizens of this failing state.

The current crisis is catastrophic for Africa. It is also a call for the Africa Union and International Community to renew their efforts to address the source of the conflict. The solution is political one, and it must be resolved peacefully through dialogue. What is now desperately need is not deployment of more troops to the region, but increased capacity for diplomatic work, and emergency humanitarian relief assistance for people who were forced to flee.

For now, I am keeping a close eye on developments in the Kivus and on any renewed violence in Ituri. I am hoping for a long lasting solution for this very long lasting conflict. I hope that someday DRC will have an accountable and transparent government able to provide peace, security and a hopeful future for Congolese men and women, girls and boys #EndConflicts #PeaceBuilding #PeaceforSustainableDevelopment #DRCPeace #EndWar #Humanity #UnitedNations

Kaburu Anthony: Drug abuse and Illicit Trafficking: problems and s...

Kaburu Anthony: Drug abuse and Illicit Trafficking: problems and s...: Today marks the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking which happens every 26th of June. The global observance of Int...

Drug abuse and Illicit Trafficking: problems and solutions of this global issue

Today marks the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking which happens every 26th of June. The global observance of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking aims to raise awareness of the major problem that illicit drugs represent to society.

Forty years ago, the world declared war on drugs. Today, after decades of failing to adequately control drug consumption, an even graver problem has emerged: violent drug traffickers have taken the industry hostage and will stop at nothing to preserve their power.

Drug abuse is a contemporary version of slavery. It destroys autonomy and free will, a foreseeable outcome of using chemicals that artificially suppress and supplant natural brain reward systems in vulnerable people. Addiction especially threatens young people, as the vast majority of addictions can be traced to initiation during adolescence.

This is a period of rapid brain development, with particular risk to the enduring harms of drug use. An essential priority is to protect the brains of children and youth, by discouraging use of all drugs. The international epidemic is led by a globalized network of criminals and legal business interests, with children and youth as their primary targets. They have driven exponential growth of potent forms of cannabis, developed unclean highly addictive cocaine preparations, and created unregulated new psychoactive substances. Prescription drug diversion for non-medical misuse is rooted in different origins, but the risks of medication misuse can be as great or greater than illegal drugs.

I recommend the following actions to be taken:

·         Support the three UN treaties governing licit and illicit drugs, which are signed by virtually every nation. These treaties permit medical use of drugs, with tight regulations to prevent diversion for non-medical use and which criminalize the nonmedical sale and use of these same chemicals.

·         Governments have a moral and ethical responsibility to secure and defend the common good of their citizens. As trafficking of drugs imperils the health, security and the rule of law in nations, any compromise can be viewed as complicity.

·         Governments must unequivocally pursue drug trafficking at every level. They have a responsibility to denounce and criminalize corrupt banks, bankers and money launderers that profit from the drug trade, and thwart large scale and local drug trafficking.

·         Governments must not engage in any public, private or covert agreements to gain financial support for political or personal reasons from drug traffickers or industries. Such agreements  subvert the common good, trust, health and safety of their people, especially, their youth.

·         Instead, governments have a public health, legal and moral responsibility to confiscate the gains of these traffickers/industries and to use these proceeds to fund assistance programs for the victims, which include providing treatment, prevention and medical services, family support, as well as educational and employment opportunities.

·         Governments should not use any ill-begotten gains from drug trafficking or sales to generate political messages, regulations or laws that foster use of abusable drugs and subvert public health and safety laws and regulations.

·         Reject drug legalization for recreational purposes as a hopeless, mindless strategy that would consign more people, especially the disadvantaged, youth, the poor and the mentally ill, to misery or even death while compromising civil society, social stability, equality, and the law.

·         Create a balanced drug strategy, coordinating public health and criminal justice systems to curtail supply, discourage drug use and promote recovery – as a more effective method to treat addiction than incarceration. The primary goal of addiction treatment is long-term care and recovery.

·         The foundations of this balanced strategy are fundamental human rights, that include drug prevention and recovery among the world’s diverse faith communities, with a special focus on the goal of protecting youth from drug sales and drug use,  in accordance with Article 33 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

·         The prevention of addiction among youth (less than age 21) is a high priority, and achievable by rejecting the use of marijuana and other rewarding substances.

·         The underlying reasons for this priority need to be conveyed to youth and their parents in collaboration with health, educational and local communities.

·         Educate the public with up-to-date scientific information on how drugs affect the brain, body and behavior,  to clarify why legalization of marijuana and other drugs for recreational use is poor public policy, poor public health policy and poor legal policy.

·         Harness religion to support substance abuse prevention and treatment. Drug use can devastate the soul and a loving relationship with God. Drug use in our communities tests our faith. The faithful have a precious opportunity to engage in preventing this tragic form of modern chemical slavery. For those now enslaved, they can confront the challenge of addiction and achieve their emancipation.

Finally, we need to reduce the demand for drugs within our borders. The truth is that if we don’t cut down the demand for #DrugUse among our people, then drug cartels in foreign nations will always find a way to get drugs in.

We also have to find a way to shift our nation’s focus to one where we address the reasons why people seek out drugs in the first place. This will take considerable educational efforts, a shift in focus as a society and culture, and a major change in how we deal with difficult scenarios (difficult life crises being the main reason why most people turn to drugs in the first place).

Furthermore, it is very crucial that both Governments and NGOs need to work hand-in-hand in the fight against this menace and initiatives like greater information exchange and sharing of experiences between NGOs and community organizations and the authorities is indeed most welcome. #EndDrugAbuse #DayAgainstDrugAbuse #HealthforJustice #JusticeforHealth

Kaburu Anthony: Housing crisis and solutions for sub-Saharan Afric...

Kaburu Anthony: Housing crisis and solutions for sub-Saharan Afric...: Africa is on the brink of a major housing crisis unless it can carve a targeted approach to housing, lending and land policies. Estimates s...

Housing crisis and solutions for sub-Saharan Africa

Africa is on the brink of a major housing crisis unless it can carve a targeted approach to housing, lending and land policies. Estimates suggest that by 2050 Africa’s population will have doubled reaching 2.4 billion which will stretch the cities to beyond breaking point due to inadequate housing and associated infrastructure needs such as roads and clean water. One just has to visit any major urban center in Africa to be met by roads that are chocker blocked with traffic, water rationing and the ever present power cuts.

One of the key results of Africa’s housing crisis is the degradation of human dignity as the population is pushed to the informal settlements where water and basic necessities are scarce. These young urbanites have in recent years become restless resulting in flare-ups and clashes that can be in part attributed to frustrations at their living conditions.

Few people disagree that Africa is entering the throes of a housing crisis as demand for decent housing far outstrips supply. This situation is as a result of a bludgeoning population which has been exacerbated by a high migration of the population to urban centers.

The result of the combined influences of a ballooning population, housing deficit and urbanization have created what some would call a perfect storm which if not curbed could result in a reversal of economic gains in the decades ahead because quality of life is intrinsic to economic development.

 Five key messages emanate from my research. First, Africa is facing a looming housing crisis as the affordable housing supply dwarfs demand, particularly in the formal sector. This annual shortage is adding to the existing large deficits observed in many cities across the continent. This has led to the proliferation of slums.

Second, while addressing the affordable housing shortage will be a huge challenge, it also presents an opportunity for structural transformation and inclusive growth in Africa.

Third, creating an enabling environment for the supply of affordable rental housing should be part of any national housing strategy.

Fourth, strong political leadership is crucial for transforming the sector. Governments need to effectively implement their role as regulators, input providers, and facilitators. Last but not the least, we argue that development financial institutions have a catalytic role to play by assisting governments in fulfilling their various roles, as well as provide long-term financing needed for the development of affordable housing finance markets.

Several factors explain the large housing deficits observed in the continent. Rapid urbanization fueled by rural to urban migration and endogenous population growth is raising the demand for housing. However, the supply of housing has been insufficient for several reasons.

First, poor urban planning is hampering urban expansion through limited supply of land and infrastructure. Second, multiple land tenure regimes, and inadequate land administration and governance systems contribute to land tenure insecurity and the high costs of urban land.

Third, high construction costs make housing unaffordable to the majority of low and middle-income households.  Furthermore, underdeveloped housing finance markets imply that most Africans can only rely on self-financing and incremental construction mechanisms to acquire housing.

In order to address the housing challenges, a number of possible approaches have been put forward. The need for integrated solutions to affordable housing problems is key. The relevant government institutions, financial institutions, developers, stakeholders and community representatives need to collaborate and discuss the unique needs and possible solutions relevant for cities and rural homesteads.

Possible solutions should take into account country specific challenges. However, comprehensive policies should simultaneously address constraints on the supply and the demand sides. The challenge on the supply side is how to increase the availability of affordable housing. Actions that will have great impact include updating urban plans, taking into account recent socioeconomic developments; reforming land administration and governance systems with the aim of improving tenure security, increasing the supply of well-located plots and lower overall land costs; and lowering construction costs.  On the demand side, financing mechanisms, including guarantees, are needed to enable households to undertake the acquisition of housing overtime

Various housing strategies have been implemented over the years to ensure that the poor and middle class have access to finance for affordable housing. Unfortunately, housing subsidy programmes have barely been able to meet the rising need for housing. The 2015 #WorldBank report points out that most subsidy programmes are extremely costly to the government, are generally out of reach for the poor, and have not significantly increased the amount of affordable housing being delivered.

Recommendations have also been made that governments should rather consider reviewing the various policies and National Development Plans to set up working regulations that support affordable housing delivered by the private sector. Land tenure polices, taxation regulations, land servicing, infrastructure development, and planning regulations are some of the key areas to be focused upon, all of which would encourage greater private sector participation in low-income markets.

While there is substantial debate around mortgages, more still needs to be done to make mortgages accessible to majority of the poor and middle-class population in Sub Saharan Africa. According to the #WorldBank report 2015, only 15 % of adults in Sub Saharan Africa are eligible to apply for formal financing and in 2014, only 5% of adults managed to secure a mortgage loan from a formal bank. Majority of the poor and middle class are informally employed which makes it difficult for the current mortgage systems to consider their application as they would not meet the standard formal requirements of the system. More consideration, deliberation and innovation regarding lending to the informal borrowers needs to be considered. Most low-income households have resorted to self-construction and incremental housing in Sub Saharan Africa which strive more when backed by affordable housing micro financing products.

Recent case studies of the impact of Housing Micro financing products in countries like Kenya and Uganda support the need to for more scale of such products which seem to be unlocking access to housing finance and contribute to improving the quality of houses of low-income households. Innovation in housing finance systems which are customized to the unique housing problems across Sub-Saharan Africa will contribute greatly to solving the current situation.

The financing of affordable housing projects remains a major challenge, given the low levels of income of a significant part of the population in many African countries. Developers and governments should therefore look at designing innovative schemes to finance affordable housing projects. Public-private partnerships are one way to address the challenge, but the devil lies in the detail. What is problematic from the perspective of the private developers is that they do not always trust the governments to abide with the agreed upon arrangements. Having said that, however, it is clear there is a trend that shows that the middle class is growing steadily, which creates a grouping of African consumers that would be able to fund their own housing. The challenge again lies with the large group of consumers at the bottom of the pyramid who cannot.

As Sub-Saharan African population rapidly grow, and income per capita and industrial growth remain low, serious deliberations around understanding the unique and complex housing crisis must be prioritized. Productive collaboration between the politicians, private and public sectors, financial systems representatives, service providers and the community representatives is crucial. Most African cities need to reflect not only on the possible solutions to address the housing crisis but also ways of upgrading the infrastructure and improve city planning to ensure that African economies benefit from urbanization.

Africa could look at the Singapore model, where affordable housing is one of the central tenets of a stable society, politically and economically. The Housing Development Board in 1964 introduced the Home Ownership for the People Scheme to give citizens a tangible asset in Singapore and a stake in nation-building. In 1968, to help more become home owners, the government allowed the use of Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings for the down-payment and to service the monthly mortgage loan installments.

This, together with other schemes and grants introduced over the years, has made home ownership highly affordable and attractive. Over the years, various CPF housing grants, such as the Additional CPF Housing Grant (AHG) and Special CPF Housing Grant (SHG), have also been introduced. These housing grants ease the financial burden of low-income and middle-income households in buying their first apartment. The challenge is obviously how to apply this model to Africa.

There is dire need for a clear understanding of the unique challenges faced by all stakeholders involved in the value chain. It is important to understand the challenges which developers in Sub Saharan Africa face, including land tenure, the availability of serviced land, excessive taxation, tedious administrative processes, and the high cost of developer funding. Perhaps this is a call to take a step back and deliberate on possible solutions to ease these challenges if ever the housing problem is to be solved soon. 

By recognizing what is working, empowering at the grassroots and finding ways to mobilize existing resources to scale these successes, we can ensure that Africa makes progress towards meeting the UN’s #SDG11 (Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable) and achieve inclusive growth.

In my final view, 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. #BetterHousing #SustainableCities #Sustainability #HousingSolutions #Safe #Inclusivity #SDGS #SDG11 #BetterLivingforAll 

Kaburu Anthony: Solving Africa’s inequality headache

Kaburu Anthony: Solving Africa’s inequality headache: In the last two decades, developing countries have outstripped developed countries when it comes to economic growth. In many places around ...

Solving Africa’s inequality headache

In the last two decades, developing countries have outstripped developed countries when it comes to economic growth. In many places around the world, that economic growth has fueled reductions in poverty levels. And yet, many countries around the world continue to suffer from high poverty rates even as the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within their borders, or gross domestic product (GDP), continues to grow.

Today, the disparity in education, skill, and income continues, further reports show that the gap is not only widening, it is intergenerational. The circumstances that exacerbate Africa’s inequality are both historical and a result of years of policy uncertainty, making it harder for ordinary Africans to claw their way out of poverty.

Goal 10 in the proposed SDGs states: “Reduce Inequality Within and Among Countries,” with its key relevant target: “By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 percent of the population at a rate higher than the national average.” Importantly, income growth is not the only important measure for this goal. The roles of fiscal, wage, and social protection policies are noted as key contributors to this goal of increased equality. The World Bank’s notion of inequality of “opportunities” is also recognized as critical.   

Inequalities based on income, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, class, ethnicity, religion and opportunity continue to persist across the world, within and among countries. There is growing consensus that economic growth is not sufficient to reduce poverty if it is not inclusive and if it does not involve the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental.

In thinking about a strategy that could start to change the status quo, it is necessary to unpack the main areas of inequality. In this paper Wealth, Income and Opportunity have been chosen as the main areas of focus. Health care, town planning, public transport, sport, access to justice, urban versus rural development and other areas are also important – space does not permit of addressing them all.

In the pursuit of reducing income inequality (setting aside inequality of opportunities for the purposes of this blog) on the assumption of reaching the 7 percent economic growth target in Goal 8 of the SDGs, we must remember the three vital results from the relevant developing country literature relevant for our understanding of growth, poverty, and inequality dynamics in a society.

 First, economic growth accompanied by a rise in income inequality will reduce the growth-poverty elasticity (defined as the sensivity of poverty reduction to a rise in economic growth) of a country. Put simply, income inequality is the thief of the poverty-reducing effect of growth.  Hence, economies that yield to a highly unequal growth path will produce lower income-poverty-reduction outcomes. 

Second, higher initial levels of income inequality will reduce the impact that economic growth has on poverty.  In the jargon of economics, the higher initial levels of income inequality, the lower the growth-poverty elasticity of an economy is likely to be. 

Third, income inequality-growth elasticity’s are inertial over time, suggesting that it takes a much longer period of time to reduce income inequality amid growth, when compared to reducing poverty.

However, within the above context, at least four immediate areas of policy are obvious, in a bid to aspire towards a growth and development trajectory for Africa, which induces lower levels of inequality. 

The first of these is to pursue a growth trajectory that is far more intensive in the use of low-wage employment.  A more labor-intensive manufacturing-centered growth trajectory is thus essential for a more inclusive growth agenda.  Data shows that for all regions of sub-Saharan Africa, manufacturing as a share of GDP has in fact declined in the period 2000-2012. Ultimately, the fact that manufacturing has contracted during one of Africa’s most sustained periods of economic growth must serve as a threat to a more inequality-reducing growth trajectory for the continent.

Second, Africa’s growth boon has been predominantly resource-driven, especially amid China-fuelled global commodity super-prices.  However, resource-dependent economies present a number of potential channels through which inequality may increase, such as the political capture of rents; ineffective and unprogressive tax systems; and the overly complicated ownership structures of global extractive industry companies.  The capital-intensive nature of the resources sector also means that its growth contribution will not realize huge employment (and potentially inequality-reducing) gains.  At a minimum then, ensuring that corruption and governance transgressions are eradicated in these economies together with a more carefully constructed tax regime—will ensure that gains from resources are more evenly distributed.  

Third, in the midst of commodity booms, governments should be considering well-targeted anti-poverty and anti-inequality cash transfer programs.  Such resource-based social transfer funds, can be a key intervention in the pursuit of a more inclusive growth trajectory.  

Finally, it is obvious that the long-run solution to reducing income inequality is through improving both the supply and quality of graduates coming through the schooling and higher education system.  In many ways then, Goal 8 and Goal 10 are inextricably linked.  Current evidence for the continent shows that, apart from very poor performance outcomes on all standardized test scores, progression is a huge challenge.  Hence, for every 100 African children entering the schooling system, only four will make to a tertiary institution—the lowest outcome in the world. 

Inclusion, Inequality and its effects still disproportionately affect Africans especially women. While some previously disenfranchised may have escaped poverty, the country’s inability create jobs and find a sustainable solution means the ranks of the impoverished are swelling far faster than those able to climb out.

We can think of having an economy that indeed is geared for a growth process that benefits the poor, then we can expect pretty good progress in poverty. In some sense, if you look at the Chinese situation, much of the investment has been in the area of a labor-intensive type of production. That means a lot of people are employed—there’s no doubt about that. Also, Governments and all its development partners have to think about transferring resources so that people can engage in meaningful economic activity. If we just let the process lead itself, the outcome might not be as desirable. We can look around and if we, for example see significant growth from, say, natural resources, it should be reinvested into infrastructure to make business easier to undertake. States have to also be sure the poor have the human capital to participate in the economy. #SDGS #ReduceInequality #EqualOpportunities   #PovertyReduction #SDG10 #SustainableIncomeGrowth

Kaburu Anthony: The entire globe should get together and take a st...

Kaburu Anthony: The entire globe should get together and take a st...: World Refugee Day is held and every year on 20 June. It is a special day when the world takes time to recognize the resilience of forcibly ...

The entire globe should get together and take a step in solidarity with refugees

World Refugee Day is held and every year on 20 June. It is a special day when the world takes time to recognize the resilience of forcibly displaced people throughout the world. Around the world more than 71 million people have fled their homes. Each day thousands more follow.

We live in a world where violence, war and crime control ninety percent of our lives and we have been forced and reduced to enjoy only ten percent and most of this lawlessness is perpetuated by people who think that they can change the world by using violence.

The #WorldRefugeeDay observed today honours the courage, strength and determination of women, men and children who are forced to flee their homes under threats of persecution, conflict and violence. On this day, the international community seeks to draw attention to the plight of refugees and celebrate their courage and resilience, this year’s theme is "Take a Step with Refugees.”

The violence and wars we are witnessing in the world leaves a trail of destruction and it is forcing people to flee their homes and seek shelter elsewhere and most of the times this people seeking refuge are faced with worst challenges and there is nothing worse in life than seeking help and the person you thought you can get help from turns out to be your worst nightmare worse than even the one you are running away from.

Most people think that people flee their homes because they want to get the money from UN which is not the case because this people are fleeing because of conflict and other human challenges they are facing and we need to help this people get over this problems.

The system protecting the rights of refugees in the world is broken and world leaders should come up with a comprehensive legal framework that can protect all this people seeking asylum. Refugees seeking asylum are faced with serious transportation challenges and some have been smuggled into different countries in the world and some of this refugees are not lucky because others drown in the ocean crossing to other countries and this mode of transportation has caused us innocent lives of innocent people seeking help and others are killed and others are kidnapped and others are forced to become sex slaves and others become prisoners of war.

Real people care for other people and despite our differences in opinion, race, color, tribe, religion and countries we need to remember that humanity comes first in everything we do even if we don’t have any similarities or same ideologies or same opinions or because we have been raised in different parts of the world should not be a reason we should not be there for one another.

Another challenge facing refugees is the difficulty in speaking the same language of the host community or country and also learning English or any other local language and this is a challenge people seeking help are faced with and it is hard to get help when you can’t understand what the other person is saying.
Getting a place to sleep is another challenge refugee’s face and for them to secure a decent housing is a challenge and they rely on our help to accommodate them. Giving this refugees a place to stay can help them overcome the trauma of the horrible things they have faced from where they come from and what they are still currently facing and this can help them recover quickly and this people expect us to be human enough and welcome them to our homes. Where they come from there is a problem which forced them to flee and where they are coming to, they see hope of a better life for them and their children.

Raising children in such a situation is a challenge because your children depend on you as a parent and you as a parent doesn’t have any option to provide for your family and accessing humanitarian services or securing work in a foreign land may seem practically impossible especially in countries where humanitarian aid is restricted, human rights violation is high, freedom of movement is restricted, unstable government and where cultural or traditional believes deny a specific group of people a right to be employed.

Being there for a person in need is good but sometimes the help we are providing might not appropriate to the person we are helping because of, traditional believes, customs, cultural barriers and many more reasons and when we are offering to help someone in need, we should put into consideration, if what we are offering is appropriate to the person we are helping and also we must always remember that aid must and should be based on need only.

Forceful transfer of population is a human right abuse and forcing people to flee to a distant place not suited to their way of life cause a lot of human rights abuses and during this period families are separated and uniting families and protecting young children can be a challenge especially if there is no specific mode of tracing lost or missing people.

Providing aid is good for a short term plan and helping refugees rebuild their livelihoods and empowering survivors can have a long term impact and this will benefit them and reduce over dependence on aid thus this will help them in restoring their freedom, dignity and independence. I was watching CNN recently and the situation in the world is getting worse every day from Syria to south Sudan, from Nigeria to Somalia, from Yemen to Iran and other different countries.

We blame terrorist for killing people which is true but we forget that we are also killing people by denying them food and also by denying them shelter and by refusing to sign those important document they need to seek asylum and also by denying them a safe passage and also by kicking them out of our countries because they are not our citizens or because we are not related to them and many more reasons.

We can all save lives by opening our doors and offer to help, and when we open the doors, it may seem like nothing but, by just opening the doors we can save lives. Please open the doors and welcome refugees, they need our help and we are their hope and no matter how little our help may seem, it can save a life. We can support the refugees through UN refugee agency or international federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent society.

Words cannot express my gratitude and appreciation to all the human rights organizations, volunteers, donors, individuals and countries, who put the lives of other people first, before theirs and who work day and night to ensure the safety of all refugees and all I can say is thank you, for your commitment to give those In need a chance to live in dignity by restoring hope and providing them with tools and resources they require to rebuild their lives. Thank you so much for standing with refugees. I continue to be encouraged and inspired by the outpouring of support. #StepWithRefugees #RefugeeRights #HumanityandInclusivity #WorldRefugeeDay #ReachOuttoRefugees

Kaburu Anthony: Let’s observe International Day for the Eliminatio...

Kaburu Anthony: Let’s observe International Day for the Eliminatio...: Tomorrow the world commemorates the #InternationalDayfortheEliminationofSexualViolenceinConflict. This international day presents the oppor...

Let’s observe International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict-June 19th 2019 with Preventive Actions

Tomorrow the world commemorates the #InternationalDayfortheEliminationofSexualViolenceinConflict. This international day presents the opportunity to come up with real solutions to eliminate sexual violence in conflict. It is also a chance to provide protection and support for victims of sexual abuse.

Sexual violence in conflict, as well as all forms of violence and discrimination against women, girls, men and boys is a flagrant and unacceptable violation of human rights. Every person, who has suffered from sexual violence, must have the right to comprehensive services, justice and reparations. It is the primary responsibility of all States, to support and assist the victims, as well as to hold perpetrators of sexual violence to account, to prevent and deter these crimes.

It is important to note that while these atrocities are used as a weapon of war, they do not occur in a vacuum. States have failed to put mechanisms in place that ensure the safety of particularly young girls and women in conflict situations. Fortunately, many organizations fight the different variations of sexual violence

 Sexual violence is mostly indiscriminate and is committed by only some conflict actors. Some of the key findings showed that not all armed actors in African conflicts engage in sexual violence. Even in conflicts with high reported levels of sexual violence, some groups seem to refrain from such acts. It also showed that government forces, rebels and militias seemingly commit sexual violence without a clear purposeful selection of victims. The violence seems indiscriminate. Most armed actors also perpetrate sexual violence in periods when they are largely inactive on the regular battlefield.

Sexual violence in conflict is a threat to our collective security and a stain on our common humanity.Its effects can echo across generations, through trauma, stigma, poverty, poor health and unwanted pregnancy. Children conceived through wartime rape often struggle with issues of identity and belonging for decades after the guns have fallen silent.

They may be left in a legal limbo, or at risk of becoming stateless. They are vulnerable to recruitment, trafficking and exploitation, with broad implications for peace and security, as well as human rights. Their mothers may be marginalized and shunned by their own families and communities. These women and children are sometimes seen as affiliates of armed and violent extremist groups, rather than as victims and survivors.

Every person suffers during war and conflict. However, women and girls are the most prone to experience sexual violence during these times. This can include rape, sexual slavery, forced prostitution, pregnancy, marriage, abortion, sterilization, and more. Sexual violence can even be used as a tactic of terrorism. We see these abuses constantly in situations of conflict. However, they are often unreported and almost always unresolved. The protection systems are themselves not functioning, victims are not heard, and perpetrators are not punished.

The effects of conflict-related sexual violence, including poverty, poor health, unwanted pregnancy, and extreme trauma, can endure across generations. The alternative for women who have been impregnated in conflict is abortion – with unsafe abortion the leading cause of maternal mortality in settings affected by war conflict.

Children born as a result of sexual violence are often stigmatized as “children of the enemy”, are sometimes ostracized from their communities for their entire lives.  The women who have been assaulted in armed conflict and children born to them are frequently considered as “partners” with extremist groups, rather than as victims. This stigma of association has severe consequences - children left stateless, in a legal limbo, and susceptible to human trafficking and exploitation.

In summary, conflicts are breeding ground for many atrocities, which often have long lasting effects on people’s physical, social and economic lives. Chief among these atrocities is sexual violence suffered majorly be women and girls.

And the answer to all this atrocities lies in international law and policy. Sexual violence as a weapon of war during conflict and post-conflict is a direct violation of #HumanRights and #InternationalHumanitarianLaw (IHL).  We must ensure that humanitarian facilities comply with the medical care mandates of #IHL while providing medical workers who treat war victims with immunity from prosecution if they violate local abortion restrictions. #IHL is the superior legal regime which can supersede national laws with lower standards and protections, including national abortion laws. Victims of sexual violence in armed conflict are afforded international legal protections.

Social media has been a great tool for raising awareness of sexual violence in conflict zones. In the battle against sexual violence, social media allows for a relatively level, non-political platform to engage in the conversation about the most serious of issues. More importantly, there is a need for states in collaboration with the International community to have explicit policies that will prevent sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict situations. 

Finally, International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict is an important date when we can raise awareness on this issue. It is also an opportunity to stand together with the victims of conflict-related sexual violence. As we commemorate the day, let us think about how we can prevent this injustice in our communities, States must continue to work to ensure that survivors of sexual violence in conflict are at the heart of international efforts to combat these crimes and that our ultimate vision that every person has the chance to lead a full life can be recognised. #JusticeforVictims #JusticeforSurvivors #EndRapeInWar #EndConflicts #EndSexualAbuse #HumanRights #EliminationofSexualViolenceinConflict

Kaburu Anthony: Let’s grow our Future together by Fighting Deserti...

Kaburu Anthony: Let’s grow our Future together by Fighting Deserti...: Over 250 million people are directly affected by desertification and drought, and about one billion people in over one hundred countries ar...

Let’s grow our Future together by Fighting Desertification and Drought

Over 250 million people are directly affected by desertification and drought, and about one billion people in over one hundred countries are at risk. These people include many of the world‘s poorest, most marginalized and politically weak citizens. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development declares that “we must all be determined to protect the planet from degradation, including through sustainable consumption and production, sustainably managing its natural resources and taking urgent action on climate change, so that it can support the needs of the present and future generations”. Specifically, Goal 15 states our resolve to halt and reverse land degradation.

The #WorldDaytoCombatDesertificationandDrought observed tomorrow on 17^th and annually since 1995 is meant to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification. It’s also a unique moment to remind everyone that land degradation neutrality is achievable through problem-solving, strong community involvement and co-operation at all levels.

Causes of desertification;

·         Climate change

So much could be said about the effects of climate change on the health of our lands, as climate change can lead to land degradation for many reasons. As the days get warmer and periods of drought become more frequent, desertification becomes more and more eminent. Unless climate change is slowed down, huge areas of land will become desert; some of those areas may even become uninhabitable as time goes on.

·         Overgrazing

Overgrazing and desertification have been always closely linked together. Animal grazing is a huge problem for many areas that are starting to become desert biomes. If there are too many animals that are overgrazing in certain spots, it makes it difficult for the plants to grow back, which hurts the biome and makes it lose its former green glory.

·         Farming 

Farming is one of factors that cause desertification all around the world. Farmers are clearing average land, and using it which takes away the richness in the soil. People should let the average land replenish itself before farming.

·         Deforestation

Deforestation is one of the main human causes of desertification. When people are looking to move into an area, or they need trees in order to make houses and do other tasks, then they are contributing to the problems related to desertification. Without the plants around, the rest of the biome cannot thrive. Forests are being cut down at much larger scale than ever before, to be used as fuel, to provide products we use in our daily life.

The effects of desertification

·         Soil becomes less usable

Topsoil is crucial for plant growth because it contains most of the organic matter and 50 percent of important nutrients such as phosphorus and potassium. The soil can be blown away by wind or washed away rain. Nutrients in the soil can be removed by wind or water. Salt can build up in the soil which makes it harder for plant growth.

·         Hunger

The food will become much scarcer without farms in these areas, and the people who live in those local areas will be a lot more likely to try and deal with hunger problems. Animals will also go hungry, which will cause even more of a food shortage.

·         Causes famine

Desertification is a serious form of land degradation that results in the destruction of natural ecosystems. Places that have war and poverty are most likely to have famine occur. Drought and poor land management contribute to famine.

·         Flooding

Desertification can cause flooding, without the plant life in an area, flooding is a lot more eminent. Not all deserts are dry; those that are wet could experience a lot of flooding because there is nothing to stop the water from gathering and going all over the place.

Practices that can be applied to those acts that may be causing desertification and drought;

·         Alternative farming 

It’s difficult to try and prevent desertification from happening. Alternative livelihoods that are less demanding on local land and natural resource use, such as dryland aquaculture for production of fish, crustaceans and industrial compounds, limit desertification.

·         Land and water management

Like farming, water management is so important. Sustainable land use can fix issues such as overgrazing, overexploitation of plants, trampling of soils and irrigation practices that cause and worsen desertification.

·         Education

Education is a very important tool that needs to be utilized in order to help people to understand the best way to use the land that they are farming on. By educating them on sustainable practices, more land will be saved from becoming desert.

We must all be reminded that desertification can be effectively tackled, that solutions are possible, and that key tools to this aim lay in strengthened community participation and co-operation at all levels. The world has long known that people need trees. At this critical time in history, it is now time to know, and to act on the fact that more than ever, trees need people, for the sake of the earth, and for the sake of all the earth’s inhabitants, including human kind. It is time to move beyond comprehension of, and remorse for the damage we have done. It’s time to act. Knowledge and sentiment will not save us from this impending peril of our own making.

Fortunately, at the very time when unparalleled action is called for, we have a tool commensurate to the task of countering the enormous challenges before us. It is time for decisive action. We can ensure that we don’t turn the entire world into a desert, Let us unite our efforts to achieve a sustainable future and better tomorrow for the World Day to combat Desertification and Drought! #FightingDesertification #SustainableDevelopment #LandManagement #Environment #WorldDaytoCombatDesertificationandDrought