Mr. H.K Leventis, a trustee of the AG Leventis Foundation and a director of the Nigerian Bottling Company, in this interview with Festus Akanbi says in spite of the poor state of infrastructure in the country, Nigeria remains one of the best markets in the world. He also speaks on the family business and other issues
How will you rate the investments of Leventis family in Nigeria's economy?
It is very important because investing in Nigeria and Ghana has created the Leventis fortune. The business we had here led to everything else. If we hadn't been in Nigeria, I don't know where we would be, somewhere else probably. Nigeria especially is very important for the Leventis family and everything that followed on. From the time when AG Leventis, the founder of the business died, we have expanded into bottling operations abroad, manufacturing of glass bottles and all that after he died because I think Coca Cola trusted us to be able to manage larger businesses. And then we expanded into Eastern Europe when the Soviet Empire collapsed and became a franchise bottler that has now reached 28 countries. I think in volume, we are the second largest bottler in the world.
In the early 70s and 80s, we had the Leventis Stores and the Technical Division, what led to the closure of these businesses?
I think businesses have to change depending on their situations and the Nigerian economy went through a very difficult path during that time and we decided that a number of our businesses that were not profitable should be closed down. Leventis Stores and Leventis Technical were some of them. Basically, we reduced the trading businesses that were not making profit and went into new businesses like making and selling generators and AG Leventis is now doing very well. We have gone into different types of businesses just to survive; we could not just continue to do business as usual. We used to sell three or four hundred vehicles every month and more sometimes, now we sell the same number in a year. That drop meant we had to go into other lines to survive and we had to create new businesses.
What lessons should other entrepreneurs learn from the Leventis family?
I think because we have been here as a family from the early twenties and it's nearly been a hundred years in Nigeria, I think you just have to persevere and you have to be very flexible in what you do. You have to be able to decide on what you are best at and if it doesn't work, you try something else. Things were probably easier at that time because there weren't that many possibilities but now there are so many other possibilities and we have to survive by deciding on what we are going to go into and if it doesn't work, we go into something else.
How do you think the government can assist manufacturers?
I think the area of infrastructure is the most important thing. When you are deciding where to go to, or want to manufacture something, you want to find somewhere which provides you with electricity, water, and other infrastructure, which generally don't exist in Nigeria. However, because we have always been in Nigeria, this is the place we want to do business. So we have to survive by generating our own electricity, providing our own roads and water. The idea is that roads should be provided by the states for businesses to grow and to expand. It is relatively high doing business in Nigeria when you generate your own electricity and have to use diesel. Diesel is very expensive, so basically the cost of doing business in Nigeria is very high. So that really has got to be improved. I can see the government is trying to improve it and I hope it succeeds because that's the only way Nigeria can move forward.
Do you think Leventis' investments in Nigeria have been worth it?
It's a large population and educated to a large extent and I think the future of Nigeria is very good as long as it can sort out the problem of infrastructure. And I think there will be more investments if everything is done well. If you can be certain you are going to be treated the same way as everybody else, then you could be more secure in investing. If I was coming here for the first time and I came on my own and saw the infrastructure and heard about the problems of corruption and all that, I will be very skeptical about moving here. But we are not because we know the country. However, I think it is necessary for Nigeria to really do something to provide anybody who wants to invest here with the certainty that they will be treated properly and they will be treated the same way as everybody else will be treated which is the most important thing.
What led AG Leventis to seek the Coca Cola franchise?
He first wanted to set up a big business empire basically. So he started the small way and very quickly it expanded. AG and my father very much understood the system because they came from an island also under the British colonial rule; they were very much in tune with the indigenous people, wherever they went including Nigeria and Ghana. AG was very close to the natives of Ghana and my father was very close to many of the original fighters for freedom in Nigeria and from all parts of the country: north, east, west and mid-west, everywhere. He knew everybody who later on became the first batch of politicians in Nigeria. Basically, they wanted to set up a large business which included eventually motor vehicle distribution, manufacturing and of course the soft drinks business which came about ten years after the initial business was set up. The philosophy was to do things for the good of the local people, grow a successful business which would expand, employ the local people, and be good for the country where they were set up.
Tell us what led to the introduction of Coca Cola franchise?
I think AG decided that because there were no soft drinks apart from two small producers, he wanted to see it happen in a big way and he went and got the franchise. I think he was given the option of either Coke or Pepsi, either one would have supported him, but he decided that Coke was the best one to begin with. He got the franchise for both Ghana and Nigeria beginning in the 1950s. We set up the first bottling plant where the main first plant is now and it was the first bottling plant we set up in Nigeria.
What were the steps taken to expand the company?
The expansion took place from the profits that we made. We borrowed funds as well from banks but at that time the business was booming, so we could build one or two new bottling plants every year for a number of years during the seventies. And in some places, we had more than one bottling plants; if the one we had was too small we then built another one. Now, we have rationalised the number of plants because the competition in the soft drinks market and the economy hasn't been so good recently.
How did the company deal with the reluctance by banks to finance manufacturers?
The banks have different guidelines. I think they still believe in reliable companies which have been here for a long time and which they trust to repay. We normally don't fund the financing of these new plants alone; we receive funds from our sister companies that are in other parts of the world in the group. Nigeria is one of 28 companies in the group that was set up by the Leventis family. Leventis is a very big family and the brothers themselves are shareholders in the group which is based in Greece and they help a lot in providing financing for our expansion. Nigeria is a very important part of that group. We now have a situation where we are able to build at the expense of 28 countries and to get help whenever we need help.
What has Coca Cola benefited from NBC?
I think it is very important that Coke has the concentrate. I mean in the past, they would supply the concentrate and help us with the marketing but they weren't involved with the rapid expansion of the company and of the bottling group of which Nigeria is a major part. They were able to ask Coke to become shareholders in the global group, which means that we are in a better position to achieve the answers that we both want which is the expansion of the business.
What are the factors that work against family businesses?
When my generation came in - we were the second generation and we were actually running all the various companies as directors. So when we relinquished direct control, we installed professional management in all our companies. As such, we are not directly involved in the day to day management but we maintain oversight over the companies. None of us or our children is involved in the day to day running of our businesses and so the next generation is maintaining oversight over the company. However, we visit all the time, we go round and we talk to the managers and to some Nigerians because they are part of our businesses. So we advise and we try to make sure they do the right thing. But the day to day running of the business is done by other people.
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Africa. Show all posts
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Love forgives all sins – the gospel according to Ngozi Onyegbule
by Joachim Ezeji
The fictional novel ‘’Love forgives all sin’’ reflects life and every day love, pains, ambitions, plans, and disappointments that often moves in tandem with it.
In this novel, Ngozi Onyegbule a freelance writer, poet, comedian and author used a combination of African, European and Caribbean Island scenes to espouse the immense effects of and enduring impacts of love, destiny, forgiveness, faith, culture, compassion and tolerance on the human person hence my decision to tag it a ‘’gospel’’ .
In a no-holds bare the story recounts the experiences of Kenneth, a hitherto village school teacher in the hands of Sybil, the girl he had planned to marry. However Kenneth’s ability to quickly rise above that emotional and love gone sour setback; quickly sort himself out and transiting from his humble village teacher station to that of a new life in the UK as a scholar underscores the strength of success as a sure bus stop for hard work, determination, focus and resilience; all being vital and germane basics in shaping robust futures. Ordinarily, weaklings would have mourned for life the jilt by a loved one; but certainly not Kenneth.
Kenneth’s willingness to forgive Sybil and ability to effectively proceed to resuscitate their already comatose wedding plans speaks volume. Going ahead to eventually marrying Sybil underscores true love beyond measure. It is germane to point out that forgiveness is never an easy virtue. People who exude it are not ordinary. In our world there is ubiquity of revenge, violence and hatred. But Kenneth despite his new orientation, contacts and opportunities in the UK espoused this scarce virtue of forgiveness and still extended optimal love – marriage to a woman who ‘dumped’ him when her own ‘’sun shined’’.
Another important point to stress here is the certainty of destiny. This is evident from the web of intrigues that effectively played out in the coming together of these erstwhile lovebirds. Who could have imagined that Kenneth and Sybil would eventually meet several years after in such a strange afar Trinidad, West Indies at an International Christian Convention? The meeting at the Robert Marley Hall that evening was much more than a coincidence, but destiny in action.
Ngozi Onyegbule’s recount of everyday life and nuances in the typical African community where both Kenneth and Sybil originate from espouses the traditionally uncommon African communal nexus that binds people together even in the severest midst of myriad deprivations. In these communities, locals know each other, sympathising and mourning with those who mourn, while rejoicing with those who suffer loses. The story of Kenneth and Sybil encapsulates this and much more. It also throws a challenge of juxtaposing scenarios of yesteryears in those communities with what exists today even with new and so called appropriate technology. Are they still the same or are there surprises?
As with all worthy activity, readers will benefit from reflecting upon the points raised in the story and take a stand as it affects them individually. Every paragraph provides opportunity necessary for such reflection. Readers especially the new generation will certainly relish the story of Kenneth and Sybil, stopping where necessary and considering the relevance of the issues to their own stations and relationships in life. This is a very important message from this fiction which must not be lost. It offers readers a worthy opportunity to pause and consider the implications of the ‘gospel’ in order to facilitate an understanding of the message to their own lives. For squeezing out the time to write in spite of his very ever busy schedules, Ngozi Onyegbule has underscored his fit for structure personality- an all-rounder. This is evident in his foundations in the art of reading, writing and speaking. These streaks shape a full man and remained tools vital for the 21st century voyage and beyond.
I recommend this book to all men and women who desire love in its truest form. Kenneth and Sybil’s story as told by Ngozi Onyegbule ‘’gospel’’ offers emotional grease for those who desire love.
The fictional novel ‘’Love forgives all sin’’ reflects life and every day love, pains, ambitions, plans, and disappointments that often moves in tandem with it.
In this novel, Ngozi Onyegbule a freelance writer, poet, comedian and author used a combination of African, European and Caribbean Island scenes to espouse the immense effects of and enduring impacts of love, destiny, forgiveness, faith, culture, compassion and tolerance on the human person hence my decision to tag it a ‘’gospel’’ .
In a no-holds bare the story recounts the experiences of Kenneth, a hitherto village school teacher in the hands of Sybil, the girl he had planned to marry. However Kenneth’s ability to quickly rise above that emotional and love gone sour setback; quickly sort himself out and transiting from his humble village teacher station to that of a new life in the UK as a scholar underscores the strength of success as a sure bus stop for hard work, determination, focus and resilience; all being vital and germane basics in shaping robust futures. Ordinarily, weaklings would have mourned for life the jilt by a loved one; but certainly not Kenneth.
Kenneth’s willingness to forgive Sybil and ability to effectively proceed to resuscitate their already comatose wedding plans speaks volume. Going ahead to eventually marrying Sybil underscores true love beyond measure. It is germane to point out that forgiveness is never an easy virtue. People who exude it are not ordinary. In our world there is ubiquity of revenge, violence and hatred. But Kenneth despite his new orientation, contacts and opportunities in the UK espoused this scarce virtue of forgiveness and still extended optimal love – marriage to a woman who ‘dumped’ him when her own ‘’sun shined’’.
Another important point to stress here is the certainty of destiny. This is evident from the web of intrigues that effectively played out in the coming together of these erstwhile lovebirds. Who could have imagined that Kenneth and Sybil would eventually meet several years after in such a strange afar Trinidad, West Indies at an International Christian Convention? The meeting at the Robert Marley Hall that evening was much more than a coincidence, but destiny in action.
Ngozi Onyegbule’s recount of everyday life and nuances in the typical African community where both Kenneth and Sybil originate from espouses the traditionally uncommon African communal nexus that binds people together even in the severest midst of myriad deprivations. In these communities, locals know each other, sympathising and mourning with those who mourn, while rejoicing with those who suffer loses. The story of Kenneth and Sybil encapsulates this and much more. It also throws a challenge of juxtaposing scenarios of yesteryears in those communities with what exists today even with new and so called appropriate technology. Are they still the same or are there surprises?
As with all worthy activity, readers will benefit from reflecting upon the points raised in the story and take a stand as it affects them individually. Every paragraph provides opportunity necessary for such reflection. Readers especially the new generation will certainly relish the story of Kenneth and Sybil, stopping where necessary and considering the relevance of the issues to their own stations and relationships in life. This is a very important message from this fiction which must not be lost. It offers readers a worthy opportunity to pause and consider the implications of the ‘gospel’ in order to facilitate an understanding of the message to their own lives. For squeezing out the time to write in spite of his very ever busy schedules, Ngozi Onyegbule has underscored his fit for structure personality- an all-rounder. This is evident in his foundations in the art of reading, writing and speaking. These streaks shape a full man and remained tools vital for the 21st century voyage and beyond.
I recommend this book to all men and women who desire love in its truest form. Kenneth and Sybil’s story as told by Ngozi Onyegbule ‘’gospel’’ offers emotional grease for those who desire love.
Sunday, 26 June 2011
Communicating Adaptation in Africa
By
Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji
Does it bother you that most discussions of how to address climate change in Africa has focused much more on adaptation(e.g. coping with the storms, floods, drought, sea- floor rise and other impacts that climate change will bring) than mitigation (e.g. reducing green house emission etc)?
Not to worry, both adaptation and mitigation are very crucial in addressing the challenges of climate change. However, the onus of addressing mitigation is common with countries like China, USA, Russia, India, Japan, Germany, Canada, UK, South Korea, Iran, Italy, South Africa, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, France, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Ukraine and Poland etc whose expanding economy has a huge feed demand for fuel. For these countries, mitigation is a central concern they constitute the top 20 CO2 emitters per capita (measured at metric tonnes per person). Apart from South Africa, no other African country made this list.
However, it is germane to note that in Marrakech in Morocco in November 2001, at the Seventh Conference of the Parties, delegates focused their minds on both adaptations to climate change and mitigation measures and, for the first time, formally recognized the dilemmas of adaptation for the developing nations. This recognition took the form of funding mechanisms to assist countries to adapt. The Delhi Declaration from the Eight Conference of the Parties in November 2002 reinforced the importance of adaptation. The Delhi Declaration, in effect, has linked the participation of the developing world in mitigation of emissions to actions and funding on adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
While developing countries with lean economies and who no doubt suffer the negative impacts of a changing climate are still struggling to define and adopt an adaptation pathway peculiar to its milieu, those in the top 20 CO2 emitting bracket have long set out in setting emission reduction targets.
In August 2008 Brazil launched the Amazon Fund, aimed at protecting the rainforest so vital to the world’s climate and combating climate change. In December 2008 Brazil also launched a national climate change plan which proposed to cut the country’s deforestation rate in half by 2018. For South Africa, an emission reduction strategy was drawn in July 2008. A final domestic policy is likely to be adopted by the end of 2010, likely to involve mandatory targets for reducing transport emissions and plans for increasing the carbon price.
Countries in the EU such as Germany and the UK are part of the European Union’s Climate Action Programme. The EU is committed to reducing its overall emissions to at least 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, and is ready to scale up this reduction to as much as 30 per cent under a new global climate change agreement when other developed countries make comparable efforts. Barack Obama has set out initial overall ambitions on climate change; and these are to return US emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and reduce them by 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. A key tool will be a cap-and-trade system like the EU’s Emission Trading System.
In April 2007 Canada released an action plan to reduce green house gases. The Canadian government committed to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (relative to 2006 levels) by 20 per cent by 2020 and by 60 per cent to 70 per cent by 2050. In June 2007 China released a three-pronged national climate change programme, the first by any developing country. Its aims are to control greenhouse gas emissions, stimulate research and development, and raise public awareness. It has a renewable energy target (15 percent of total energy by 2020), and a plan to increase forest coverage rate to 20 per cent by 2010.
The IPCC proclaims that there is now little doubt that human induced climate change is happening. All societies consequently need to learn to cope with the changes that are predicted such as warmer temperatures, drier soils, changes in weather extremes and rising sea levels. The vulnerability of a system to climate change is determined by its exposure, by its physical settings and sensitivity, and by its ability and opportunity to adapt to change or otherwise. To illustrate these categories, sensitivity will be high where the system in question includes, for example, settlements built on flood plains, hill slopes or low-lying coastal areas.
What this means is that some sectors will be more sensitive and some groups more vulnerable to risks posed by climate change than others hence underscoring the urgency to build resilience through adaptive capacity required to face the evolving challenges in the years ahead. Peoples vulnerability to the risks associated with climate change is feared to likely evolve many other tight challenges such as poverty, especially in places like Africa where dependence on resources that are vulnerable to changing climate such as farming, fishery, water supplies etc is very high.
In terms of action, adaptation may take the form of reducing dependence on vulnerable systems such as diversifying food production away from a limited number of drought-prone crops, of decreasing sensitivity by avoiding building settlements and infrastructure in high-risk locations, or by strengthening existing systems so that they are less likely to be damaged by unusual events.
It also includes the need to mainstream into adaptation projects the recognition that people of developing countries are not just passive victims. Indeed, in the past they have had the greatest resilience to droughts, floods and other catastrophes etc. Pastoralists in West African Sahel have been known to adapt to cope with rainfall decreases of 25-33% in the twentieth century.
However, as efforts to develop and diffuse adaptation mechanisms in Africa and elsewhere grows in momentum, one major constraint has been the failure to develop an effective communication strategy to drive the process. Effective communication as a sub-set of development needs to be developed in order to get the message down to the bottom of the pyramid where those most affected agglutinate. The concept of information in general and of climate change adaptation information in particular, as a resource for effective adaptation and development needs to be domesticated well beyond current cosy confines of conference rooms and research hubs.
In Guinea, rising sea levels linked to global warming is feared to likely result in stronger coastal currents, higher tides and sea encroachment of land. Guinea’s coastal region, home to West Africa’s largest and richest mangroves, would therefore bear the brunt of global climate change. The region’s entire economy is now under threat. It is feared that the main victims of all these climate variations would be people living near the coast. An estimate of 2 million people is likely to suffer income losses.
In an effort to limit the foreseeable damage, Guinea has launched a national plan of action for climate change adaptation (PANA-CC), which sets out priorities, among them measures for protecting coastal areas. It outlines vigorous action for saving the mangroves and reforesting the region, planting teak and cashew trees. Faced with rising water levels, communities are being advised in Guinea to build sea walls and plant trees along the coast in order to protect the rice fields that have taken the place of the mangroves.
Other recommendations include enforcing laws on coastal settlements and tackling pollution. For these adaptation measures to work, it is crucial that local people be provided with environmental education and prepared for possible catastrophes in the future. Efforts such as those in Guinea need to be supported and diffused into other countries in the region as quickly as is possibly.
As measures such as those in Guinea and elsewhere get developed, it becomes urgent to educate people including government officials on what mitigation is, and how it differs from adaptation. Local policy makers, planners and administrators need to recognize that information is indispensable to the adaptation process. This is apparent with due cognizance of the fact that in most parts of Africa, the essential information mechanisms and infrastructural facilities are not yet sufficiently developed to foster the generation, storage, preservation, retrieval, dissemination and utilization of information.
However, effective communication is seen as an essential tool for the establishment and maintenance of good social and working relationships and it enables people to exercise control over their environment. The purpose of communication is to bring about change of attitude, knowledge, skills and aspiration of the receivers. In Nigeria, various communication media are commonly used to transmit all sorts of information to people. Some of these include magazines, leaflets, newsletters, newspapers, pamphlets, radio, internet, telephone (GSM) and television, among others.
Among these lot, radio rates higher and is often the most preferred tool of mass communication in Nigeria. Radio programs are usually timely and capable of extending messages to the audience no matter where they may be as long as they have a receiver with adequate supply of power. The absence of such facilities as road, light and water are no hindrance to radio. Similarly, such obstacles as difficult topography, distance, time and socio-political exigencies do not hinder the performance of radio. Illiteracy is no barrier to radio messages since such messages can be passed in the audience own language.
Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji
Does it bother you that most discussions of how to address climate change in Africa has focused much more on adaptation(e.g. coping with the storms, floods, drought, sea- floor rise and other impacts that climate change will bring) than mitigation (e.g. reducing green house emission etc)?
Not to worry, both adaptation and mitigation are very crucial in addressing the challenges of climate change. However, the onus of addressing mitigation is common with countries like China, USA, Russia, India, Japan, Germany, Canada, UK, South Korea, Iran, Italy, South Africa, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, France, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Ukraine and Poland etc whose expanding economy has a huge feed demand for fuel. For these countries, mitigation is a central concern they constitute the top 20 CO2 emitters per capita (measured at metric tonnes per person). Apart from South Africa, no other African country made this list.
However, it is germane to note that in Marrakech in Morocco in November 2001, at the Seventh Conference of the Parties, delegates focused their minds on both adaptations to climate change and mitigation measures and, for the first time, formally recognized the dilemmas of adaptation for the developing nations. This recognition took the form of funding mechanisms to assist countries to adapt. The Delhi Declaration from the Eight Conference of the Parties in November 2002 reinforced the importance of adaptation. The Delhi Declaration, in effect, has linked the participation of the developing world in mitigation of emissions to actions and funding on adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
While developing countries with lean economies and who no doubt suffer the negative impacts of a changing climate are still struggling to define and adopt an adaptation pathway peculiar to its milieu, those in the top 20 CO2 emitting bracket have long set out in setting emission reduction targets.
In August 2008 Brazil launched the Amazon Fund, aimed at protecting the rainforest so vital to the world’s climate and combating climate change. In December 2008 Brazil also launched a national climate change plan which proposed to cut the country’s deforestation rate in half by 2018. For South Africa, an emission reduction strategy was drawn in July 2008. A final domestic policy is likely to be adopted by the end of 2010, likely to involve mandatory targets for reducing transport emissions and plans for increasing the carbon price.
Countries in the EU such as Germany and the UK are part of the European Union’s Climate Action Programme. The EU is committed to reducing its overall emissions to at least 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, and is ready to scale up this reduction to as much as 30 per cent under a new global climate change agreement when other developed countries make comparable efforts. Barack Obama has set out initial overall ambitions on climate change; and these are to return US emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and reduce them by 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. A key tool will be a cap-and-trade system like the EU’s Emission Trading System.
In April 2007 Canada released an action plan to reduce green house gases. The Canadian government committed to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (relative to 2006 levels) by 20 per cent by 2020 and by 60 per cent to 70 per cent by 2050. In June 2007 China released a three-pronged national climate change programme, the first by any developing country. Its aims are to control greenhouse gas emissions, stimulate research and development, and raise public awareness. It has a renewable energy target (15 percent of total energy by 2020), and a plan to increase forest coverage rate to 20 per cent by 2010.
The IPCC proclaims that there is now little doubt that human induced climate change is happening. All societies consequently need to learn to cope with the changes that are predicted such as warmer temperatures, drier soils, changes in weather extremes and rising sea levels. The vulnerability of a system to climate change is determined by its exposure, by its physical settings and sensitivity, and by its ability and opportunity to adapt to change or otherwise. To illustrate these categories, sensitivity will be high where the system in question includes, for example, settlements built on flood plains, hill slopes or low-lying coastal areas.
What this means is that some sectors will be more sensitive and some groups more vulnerable to risks posed by climate change than others hence underscoring the urgency to build resilience through adaptive capacity required to face the evolving challenges in the years ahead. Peoples vulnerability to the risks associated with climate change is feared to likely evolve many other tight challenges such as poverty, especially in places like Africa where dependence on resources that are vulnerable to changing climate such as farming, fishery, water supplies etc is very high.
In terms of action, adaptation may take the form of reducing dependence on vulnerable systems such as diversifying food production away from a limited number of drought-prone crops, of decreasing sensitivity by avoiding building settlements and infrastructure in high-risk locations, or by strengthening existing systems so that they are less likely to be damaged by unusual events.
It also includes the need to mainstream into adaptation projects the recognition that people of developing countries are not just passive victims. Indeed, in the past they have had the greatest resilience to droughts, floods and other catastrophes etc. Pastoralists in West African Sahel have been known to adapt to cope with rainfall decreases of 25-33% in the twentieth century.
However, as efforts to develop and diffuse adaptation mechanisms in Africa and elsewhere grows in momentum, one major constraint has been the failure to develop an effective communication strategy to drive the process. Effective communication as a sub-set of development needs to be developed in order to get the message down to the bottom of the pyramid where those most affected agglutinate. The concept of information in general and of climate change adaptation information in particular, as a resource for effective adaptation and development needs to be domesticated well beyond current cosy confines of conference rooms and research hubs.
In Guinea, rising sea levels linked to global warming is feared to likely result in stronger coastal currents, higher tides and sea encroachment of land. Guinea’s coastal region, home to West Africa’s largest and richest mangroves, would therefore bear the brunt of global climate change. The region’s entire economy is now under threat. It is feared that the main victims of all these climate variations would be people living near the coast. An estimate of 2 million people is likely to suffer income losses.
In an effort to limit the foreseeable damage, Guinea has launched a national plan of action for climate change adaptation (PANA-CC), which sets out priorities, among them measures for protecting coastal areas. It outlines vigorous action for saving the mangroves and reforesting the region, planting teak and cashew trees. Faced with rising water levels, communities are being advised in Guinea to build sea walls and plant trees along the coast in order to protect the rice fields that have taken the place of the mangroves.
Other recommendations include enforcing laws on coastal settlements and tackling pollution. For these adaptation measures to work, it is crucial that local people be provided with environmental education and prepared for possible catastrophes in the future. Efforts such as those in Guinea need to be supported and diffused into other countries in the region as quickly as is possibly.
As measures such as those in Guinea and elsewhere get developed, it becomes urgent to educate people including government officials on what mitigation is, and how it differs from adaptation. Local policy makers, planners and administrators need to recognize that information is indispensable to the adaptation process. This is apparent with due cognizance of the fact that in most parts of Africa, the essential information mechanisms and infrastructural facilities are not yet sufficiently developed to foster the generation, storage, preservation, retrieval, dissemination and utilization of information.
However, effective communication is seen as an essential tool for the establishment and maintenance of good social and working relationships and it enables people to exercise control over their environment. The purpose of communication is to bring about change of attitude, knowledge, skills and aspiration of the receivers. In Nigeria, various communication media are commonly used to transmit all sorts of information to people. Some of these include magazines, leaflets, newsletters, newspapers, pamphlets, radio, internet, telephone (GSM) and television, among others.
Among these lot, radio rates higher and is often the most preferred tool of mass communication in Nigeria. Radio programs are usually timely and capable of extending messages to the audience no matter where they may be as long as they have a receiver with adequate supply of power. The absence of such facilities as road, light and water are no hindrance to radio. Similarly, such obstacles as difficult topography, distance, time and socio-political exigencies do not hinder the performance of radio. Illiteracy is no barrier to radio messages since such messages can be passed in the audience own language.
Saturday, 18 December 2010
Questioning the Land reform in Imo
By
Joachim Ezeji
All over the world there is a universal crave for good democratic governance mainly because of its immense advantages and by necessary implication, because of the negative consequences of bad governance. There is no doubt that Nigeria is, and must inevitably be part of, or join this universal crave. This aspiration or crave necessarily has to be guided by awareness, knowledge, reason and purpose that promotes sustainable development.
According to the UNDP, Nigeria is one of the twenty-five poorest countries in the world with about 48.5 per cent of the entire citizenry living below poverty line. Again, according to the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International (TI), Nigeria as at year 2000, was virtually the most corrupt in the world. Thus, Nigeria as at today, is paradoxically a country rich in immense natural resources but with her citizens lacking most of the basic needs of life like three square meals a day, adequate shelter, potable water and access to basic health care facilities.
Inadequate shelter attracts my attention today because of the growing insensitivity and seemingly outright greed by those whose job includes protecting and serving the interests of the poor in our midst. Among this concern is the current land reform happening in the Imo State Ministry of Lands and Urban development.
From most indices, the reform aims to open up Owerri, that is the Imo State Capital city, by deforesting, clearing , demarcating and allocating virgin plots in and around Owerri. Virgin areas such as areas ‘V’ and ‘W’ as well as Nworie and Otammiri layouts in Owerri are already massively being exploited in this regard. Also, land owners in various parts of Owerri in particular, and Imo in general have been directed to process /reprocess their Certificate of Ownership (CofO) under a new computerised system which is currently being implemented by a consultant for the Imo State Government.
However, the reform of Owerri lands by the government and its agents needs to be properly done to guide against hazards, and these includes hazards of corruption, graft and environmental mismanagement. This emphases needs to be further underscored because of the likely temptation to abuse the process simply because somebody wants to generate income for the government. Persons pursuing this objective should ponder awhile and understand that it is foolish to sale all the lands in Imo simply to generate funds for today, and in the process ignoring that there is a future whose needs and challenges must also be put into scope. For example, if our leaders past; particularly those of 1976 had sold all the lands in Imo State, what would we have had done today with our grown population?
It is germane to recall that the African Ministers responsible for housing and urban development had while meeting in Bamako, Mali, from 22 to 24 November 2010, discussed and considered the role of land in the process of sustainable urban development in Africa. Recalling the Durban Declaration of the inaugural conference of African Ministers of Housing and Urban Development in 2005, which resolved to champion and support innovative urban development and land management practices in Africa; the meeting also recalled the Abuja Plan of Action of 2008 which urged governments to use land for leveraging resources in the provision of housing and infrastructure.
The African Ministers’ meeting therefore committed themselves to promoting housing reforms that can make land available for sustainable urbanization and bring housing opportunities at scale as a key element in slum prevention. The meeting also recognized the centrality of land as primary base of sustainable urban development and as providing linkages between the economic, social and environmental developmental processes in our countries and the African region as whole.
Aware of the efforts being made by respective governments to introduce innovations and reforms for improving systems of land management and providing secure access to land for all segments of society; the meeting recognised the commitment of the African Union, working with the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, which adopted the Land Policy Initiative Framework and Guidelines to encourage African member states to pursue land policy development and implementation, in order to eradicate poverty.
Four emerging concerns from the meeting are issues of poverty alleviation, innovation, environmental sustainability and overall sustainable development. In the Imo State context, all these concerns are apparently lacking, and therefore exposes the urgency and need to review the on-going land reform in Imo State in order to correct the inherent weaknesses.
I am keen to find out how the interest of the poor in Imo State is being taken into scope. The poor here includes all those currently trapped in the low income bracket such as informal traders as well as all low income civil servants. What plans have the government put in place to assist them access and own plots of land as well as developing same in other to own their own housing. From the look of things only the rich and elites are the ones buying up and developing all the available spaces in Owerri. The Imo poor have been relegated to mere spectators in this regard.
But, Governor Ohakim needs to be reminded that he owns Imo people the commitment to facilitate access to urban land for all citizens and to ensure security of tenure for the urban poor in line with the Millennium Development Target of improving the lives of slum-dwellers by 2020. Anything short of this tantamount to insensitivity and poor governance. One glaring consequence of this is the inevitable sprawl of slums.
In 1990, almost half the urban population in developing regions were living in slums. By 2005, that proportion had been reduced to 36 per cent. Slum conditions are defined as lacking at least one of four basic amenities: clean water, improved sanitation, durable housing and adequate living space. Despite some advances, sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the highest prevalence of slums. Both slums and urban areas in the region appear to be growing at an equally rapid pace, and the living conditions among impoverished populations are severe, often involving multiple deprivations.
Also, the rate of deforestation currently moving in tandem with the so called land reform contrasts with the government’s slogan of ‘clean and green’. The prevalent felling of trees and associated vegetation, runs foul of global efforts to adapt to climate change. There is need to allow some of these undeveloped urban areas to remain as protected areas by conserving and leaving them unexploited. Over half the area of Sweden (especially Stockholm, its capital city) is so reserved as forest reserves, and that is the authentic ‘clean and green’. Protected areas are the cornerstone of efforts to conserve the world’s species and ecosystems as well as a key component in climate change mitigation
Even in Africa, despite economic and other pressures, many developing countries have managed to protect vast stretches of both land and water. In 2007, for example the Democratic Republic of Congo established one of the largest protected tropical rainforests in the world. However, the number of species threatened with extinction worldwide continued to grow. According to the Red List Index of the International Union of Conservation of Nature, mammals are more threatened than birds. But both groups are more endangered in developing than developed countries. Sustained investments and strategies are needed to effectively conserve biodiversity in Africa, starting from Owerri, Imo State.
Land reform in Imo State that merely derives its legitimacy from the mere use of exotic consultants whose competence is limited to electronic data base of allotted plots of land is grossly parochial. We need much more than that in order to build an egalitarian society that will not short-change generations yet unborn, leaving them in utter stupor, shock and anger.
Governor Ohakim should show leadership in this regard now!
Joachim Ezeji
All over the world there is a universal crave for good democratic governance mainly because of its immense advantages and by necessary implication, because of the negative consequences of bad governance. There is no doubt that Nigeria is, and must inevitably be part of, or join this universal crave. This aspiration or crave necessarily has to be guided by awareness, knowledge, reason and purpose that promotes sustainable development.
According to the UNDP, Nigeria is one of the twenty-five poorest countries in the world with about 48.5 per cent of the entire citizenry living below poverty line. Again, according to the Corruption Perception Index of Transparency International (TI), Nigeria as at year 2000, was virtually the most corrupt in the world. Thus, Nigeria as at today, is paradoxically a country rich in immense natural resources but with her citizens lacking most of the basic needs of life like three square meals a day, adequate shelter, potable water and access to basic health care facilities.
Inadequate shelter attracts my attention today because of the growing insensitivity and seemingly outright greed by those whose job includes protecting and serving the interests of the poor in our midst. Among this concern is the current land reform happening in the Imo State Ministry of Lands and Urban development.
From most indices, the reform aims to open up Owerri, that is the Imo State Capital city, by deforesting, clearing , demarcating and allocating virgin plots in and around Owerri. Virgin areas such as areas ‘V’ and ‘W’ as well as Nworie and Otammiri layouts in Owerri are already massively being exploited in this regard. Also, land owners in various parts of Owerri in particular, and Imo in general have been directed to process /reprocess their Certificate of Ownership (CofO) under a new computerised system which is currently being implemented by a consultant for the Imo State Government.
However, the reform of Owerri lands by the government and its agents needs to be properly done to guide against hazards, and these includes hazards of corruption, graft and environmental mismanagement. This emphases needs to be further underscored because of the likely temptation to abuse the process simply because somebody wants to generate income for the government. Persons pursuing this objective should ponder awhile and understand that it is foolish to sale all the lands in Imo simply to generate funds for today, and in the process ignoring that there is a future whose needs and challenges must also be put into scope. For example, if our leaders past; particularly those of 1976 had sold all the lands in Imo State, what would we have had done today with our grown population?
It is germane to recall that the African Ministers responsible for housing and urban development had while meeting in Bamako, Mali, from 22 to 24 November 2010, discussed and considered the role of land in the process of sustainable urban development in Africa. Recalling the Durban Declaration of the inaugural conference of African Ministers of Housing and Urban Development in 2005, which resolved to champion and support innovative urban development and land management practices in Africa; the meeting also recalled the Abuja Plan of Action of 2008 which urged governments to use land for leveraging resources in the provision of housing and infrastructure.
The African Ministers’ meeting therefore committed themselves to promoting housing reforms that can make land available for sustainable urbanization and bring housing opportunities at scale as a key element in slum prevention. The meeting also recognized the centrality of land as primary base of sustainable urban development and as providing linkages between the economic, social and environmental developmental processes in our countries and the African region as whole.
Aware of the efforts being made by respective governments to introduce innovations and reforms for improving systems of land management and providing secure access to land for all segments of society; the meeting recognised the commitment of the African Union, working with the African Development Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, which adopted the Land Policy Initiative Framework and Guidelines to encourage African member states to pursue land policy development and implementation, in order to eradicate poverty.
Four emerging concerns from the meeting are issues of poverty alleviation, innovation, environmental sustainability and overall sustainable development. In the Imo State context, all these concerns are apparently lacking, and therefore exposes the urgency and need to review the on-going land reform in Imo State in order to correct the inherent weaknesses.
I am keen to find out how the interest of the poor in Imo State is being taken into scope. The poor here includes all those currently trapped in the low income bracket such as informal traders as well as all low income civil servants. What plans have the government put in place to assist them access and own plots of land as well as developing same in other to own their own housing. From the look of things only the rich and elites are the ones buying up and developing all the available spaces in Owerri. The Imo poor have been relegated to mere spectators in this regard.
But, Governor Ohakim needs to be reminded that he owns Imo people the commitment to facilitate access to urban land for all citizens and to ensure security of tenure for the urban poor in line with the Millennium Development Target of improving the lives of slum-dwellers by 2020. Anything short of this tantamount to insensitivity and poor governance. One glaring consequence of this is the inevitable sprawl of slums.
In 1990, almost half the urban population in developing regions were living in slums. By 2005, that proportion had been reduced to 36 per cent. Slum conditions are defined as lacking at least one of four basic amenities: clean water, improved sanitation, durable housing and adequate living space. Despite some advances, sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the highest prevalence of slums. Both slums and urban areas in the region appear to be growing at an equally rapid pace, and the living conditions among impoverished populations are severe, often involving multiple deprivations.
Also, the rate of deforestation currently moving in tandem with the so called land reform contrasts with the government’s slogan of ‘clean and green’. The prevalent felling of trees and associated vegetation, runs foul of global efforts to adapt to climate change. There is need to allow some of these undeveloped urban areas to remain as protected areas by conserving and leaving them unexploited. Over half the area of Sweden (especially Stockholm, its capital city) is so reserved as forest reserves, and that is the authentic ‘clean and green’. Protected areas are the cornerstone of efforts to conserve the world’s species and ecosystems as well as a key component in climate change mitigation
Even in Africa, despite economic and other pressures, many developing countries have managed to protect vast stretches of both land and water. In 2007, for example the Democratic Republic of Congo established one of the largest protected tropical rainforests in the world. However, the number of species threatened with extinction worldwide continued to grow. According to the Red List Index of the International Union of Conservation of Nature, mammals are more threatened than birds. But both groups are more endangered in developing than developed countries. Sustained investments and strategies are needed to effectively conserve biodiversity in Africa, starting from Owerri, Imo State.
Land reform in Imo State that merely derives its legitimacy from the mere use of exotic consultants whose competence is limited to electronic data base of allotted plots of land is grossly parochial. We need much more than that in order to build an egalitarian society that will not short-change generations yet unborn, leaving them in utter stupor, shock and anger.
Governor Ohakim should show leadership in this regard now!
Monday, 14 June 2010
Communicating Adaptation in Africa
By
Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji
Does it bother you that most discussions of how to address climate change in Africa has focused much more on adaptation(e.g. coping with the storms, floods, drought, sea- floor rise and other impacts that climate change will bring) than mitigation (e.g. reducing green house emission etc)?
Not to worry, both adaptation and mitigation are very crucial in addressing the challenges of climate change. However, the onus of addressing mitigation is common with countries like China, USA, Russia, India, Japan, Germany, Canada, UK, South Korea, Iran, Italy, South Africa, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, France, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Ukraine and Poland etc whose expanding economy has a huge feed demand for fuel. For these countries, mitigation is a central concern they constitute the top 20 CO2 emitters per capita (measured at metric tonnes per person). Apart from South Africa, no other African country made this list.
However, it is germane to note that in Marrakech in Morocco in November 2001, at the Seventh Conference of the Parties, delegates focused their minds on both adaptations to climate change and mitigation measures and, for the first time, formally recognized the dilemmas of adaptation for the developing nations. This recognition took the form of funding mechanisms to assist countries to adapt. The Delhi Declaration from the Eight Conference of the Parties in November 2002 reinforced the importance of adaptation. The Delhi Declaration, in effect, has linked the participation of the developing world in mitigation of emissions to actions and funding on adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
While developing countries with lean economies and who no doubt suffer the negative impacts of a changing climate are still struggling to define and adopt an adaptation pathway peculiar to its milieu, those in the top 20 CO2 emitting bracket have long set out in setting emission reduction targets.
In August 2008 Brazil launched the Amazon Fund, aimed at protecting the rainforest so vital to the world’s climate and combating climate change. In December 2008 Brazil also launched a national climate change plan which proposed to cut the country’s deforestation rate in half by 2018. For South Africa, an emission reduction strategy was drawn in July 2008. A final domestic policy is likely to be adopted by the end of 2010, likely to involve mandatory targets for reducing transport emissions and plans for increasing the carbon price.
Countries in the EU such as Germany and the UK are part of the European Union’s Climate Action Programme. The EU is committed to reducing its overall emissions to at least 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, and is ready to scale up this reduction to as much as 30 per cent under a new global climate change agreement when other developed countries make comparable efforts. Barack Obama has set out initial overall ambitions on climate change; and these are to return US emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and reduce them by 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. A key tool will be a cap-and-trade system like the EU’s Emission Trading System.
In April 2007 Canada released an action plan to reduce green house gases. The Canadian government committed to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (relative to 2006 levels) by 20 per cent by 2020 and by 60 per cent to 70 per cent by 2050. In June 2007 China released a three-pronged national climate change programme, the first by any developing country. Its aims are to control greenhouse gas emissions, stimulate research and development, and raise public awareness. It has a renewable energy target (15 percent of total energy by 2020), and a plan to increase forest coverage rate to 20 per cent by 2010.
The IPCC proclaims that there is now little doubt that human induced climate change is happening. All societies consequently need to learn to cope with the changes that are predicted such as warmer temperatures, drier soils, changes in weather extremes and rising sea levels. The vulnerability of a system to climate change is determined by its exposure, by its physical settings and sensitivity, and by its ability and opportunity to adapt to change or otherwise. To illustrate these categories, sensitivity will be high where the system in question includes, for example, settlements built on flood plains, hill slopes or low-lying coastal areas.
What this means is that some sectors will be more sensitive and some groups more vulnerable to risks posed by climate change than others hence underscoring the urgency to build resilience through adaptive capacity required to face the evolving challenges in the years ahead. Peoples vulnerability to the risks associated with climate change is feared to likely evolve many other tight challenges such as poverty, especially in places like Africa where dependence on resources that are vulnerable to changing climate such as farming, fishery, water supplies etc is very high.
In terms of action, adaptation may take the form of reducing dependence on vulnerable systems such as diversifying food production away from a limited number of drought-prone crops, of decreasing sensitivity by avoiding building settlements and infrastructure in high-risk locations, or by strengthening existing systems so that they are less likely to be damaged by unusual events.
It also includes the need to mainstream into adaptation projects the recognition that people of developing countries are not just passive victims. Indeed, in the past they have had the greatest resilience to droughts, floods and other catastrophes etc. Pastoralists in West African Sahel have been known to adapt to cope with rainfall decreases of 25-33% in the twentieth century.
However, as efforts to develop and diffuse adaptation mechanisms in Africa and elsewhere grows in momentum, one major constraint has been the failure to develop an effective communication strategy to drive the process. Effective communication as a sub-set of development needs to be developed in order to get the message down to the bottom of the pyramid where those most affected agglutinate. The concept of information in general and of climate change adaptation information in particular, as a resource for effective adaptation and development needs to be domesticated well beyond current cosy confines of conference rooms and research hubs.
In Guinea, rising sea levels linked to global warming is feared to likely result in stronger coastal currents, higher tides and sea encroachment of land. Guinea’s coastal region, home to West Africa’s largest and richest mangroves, would therefore bear the brunt of global climate change. The region’s entire economy is now under threat. It is feared that the main victims of all these climate variations would be people living near the coast. An estimate of 2 million people is likely to suffer income losses.
In an effort to limit the foreseeable damage, Guinea has launched a national plan of action for climate change adaptation (PANA-CC), which sets out priorities, among them measures for protecting coastal areas. It outlines vigorous action for saving the mangroves and reforesting the region, planting teak and cashew trees. Faced with rising water levels, communities are being advised in Guinea to build sea walls and plant trees along the coast in order to protect the rice fields that have taken the place of the mangroves.
Other recommendations include enforcing laws on coastal settlements and tackling pollution. For these adaptation measures to work, it is crucial that local people be provided with environmental education and prepared for possible catastrophes in the future. Efforts such as those in Guinea need to be supported and diffused into other countries in the region as quickly as is possibly.
As measures such as those in Guinea and elsewhere get developed, it becomes urgent to educate people including government officials on what mitigation is, and how it differs from adaptation. Local policy makers, planners and administrators need to recognize that information is indispensable to the adaptation process. This is apparent with due cognizance of the fact that in most parts of Africa, the essential information mechanisms and infrastructural facilities are not yet sufficiently developed to foster the generation, storage, preservation, retrieval, dissemination and utilization of information.
However, effective communication is seen as an essential tool for the establishment and maintenance of good social and working relationships and it enables people to exercise control over their environment. The purpose of communication is to bring about change of attitude, knowledge, skills and aspiration of the receivers. In Nigeria, various communication media are commonly used to transmit all sorts of information to people. Some of these include magazines, leaflets, newsletters, newspapers, pamphlets, radio, internet, telephone (GSM) and television, among others.
Among these lot, radio rates higher and is often the most preferred tool of mass communication in Nigeria. Radio programs are usually timely and capable of extending messages to the audience no matter where they may be as long as they have a receiver with adequate supply of power. The absence of such facilities as road, light and water are no hindrance to radio. Similarly, such obstacles as difficult topography, distance, time and socio-political exigencies do not hinder the performance of radio. Illiteracy is no barrier to radio messages since such messages can be passed in the audience own language.
Joachim Ibeziako Ezeji
Does it bother you that most discussions of how to address climate change in Africa has focused much more on adaptation(e.g. coping with the storms, floods, drought, sea- floor rise and other impacts that climate change will bring) than mitigation (e.g. reducing green house emission etc)?
Not to worry, both adaptation and mitigation are very crucial in addressing the challenges of climate change. However, the onus of addressing mitigation is common with countries like China, USA, Russia, India, Japan, Germany, Canada, UK, South Korea, Iran, Italy, South Africa, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, France, Australia, Brazil, Spain, Ukraine and Poland etc whose expanding economy has a huge feed demand for fuel. For these countries, mitigation is a central concern they constitute the top 20 CO2 emitters per capita (measured at metric tonnes per person). Apart from South Africa, no other African country made this list.
However, it is germane to note that in Marrakech in Morocco in November 2001, at the Seventh Conference of the Parties, delegates focused their minds on both adaptations to climate change and mitigation measures and, for the first time, formally recognized the dilemmas of adaptation for the developing nations. This recognition took the form of funding mechanisms to assist countries to adapt. The Delhi Declaration from the Eight Conference of the Parties in November 2002 reinforced the importance of adaptation. The Delhi Declaration, in effect, has linked the participation of the developing world in mitigation of emissions to actions and funding on adaptation to the impacts of climate change.
While developing countries with lean economies and who no doubt suffer the negative impacts of a changing climate are still struggling to define and adopt an adaptation pathway peculiar to its milieu, those in the top 20 CO2 emitting bracket have long set out in setting emission reduction targets.
In August 2008 Brazil launched the Amazon Fund, aimed at protecting the rainforest so vital to the world’s climate and combating climate change. In December 2008 Brazil also launched a national climate change plan which proposed to cut the country’s deforestation rate in half by 2018. For South Africa, an emission reduction strategy was drawn in July 2008. A final domestic policy is likely to be adopted by the end of 2010, likely to involve mandatory targets for reducing transport emissions and plans for increasing the carbon price.
Countries in the EU such as Germany and the UK are part of the European Union’s Climate Action Programme. The EU is committed to reducing its overall emissions to at least 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, and is ready to scale up this reduction to as much as 30 per cent under a new global climate change agreement when other developed countries make comparable efforts. Barack Obama has set out initial overall ambitions on climate change; and these are to return US emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, and reduce them by 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050. A key tool will be a cap-and-trade system like the EU’s Emission Trading System.
In April 2007 Canada released an action plan to reduce green house gases. The Canadian government committed to reducing emissions of greenhouse gases (relative to 2006 levels) by 20 per cent by 2020 and by 60 per cent to 70 per cent by 2050. In June 2007 China released a three-pronged national climate change programme, the first by any developing country. Its aims are to control greenhouse gas emissions, stimulate research and development, and raise public awareness. It has a renewable energy target (15 percent of total energy by 2020), and a plan to increase forest coverage rate to 20 per cent by 2010.
The IPCC proclaims that there is now little doubt that human induced climate change is happening. All societies consequently need to learn to cope with the changes that are predicted such as warmer temperatures, drier soils, changes in weather extremes and rising sea levels. The vulnerability of a system to climate change is determined by its exposure, by its physical settings and sensitivity, and by its ability and opportunity to adapt to change or otherwise. To illustrate these categories, sensitivity will be high where the system in question includes, for example, settlements built on flood plains, hill slopes or low-lying coastal areas.
What this means is that some sectors will be more sensitive and some groups more vulnerable to risks posed by climate change than others hence underscoring the urgency to build resilience through adaptive capacity required to face the evolving challenges in the years ahead. Peoples vulnerability to the risks associated with climate change is feared to likely evolve many other tight challenges such as poverty, especially in places like Africa where dependence on resources that are vulnerable to changing climate such as farming, fishery, water supplies etc is very high.
In terms of action, adaptation may take the form of reducing dependence on vulnerable systems such as diversifying food production away from a limited number of drought-prone crops, of decreasing sensitivity by avoiding building settlements and infrastructure in high-risk locations, or by strengthening existing systems so that they are less likely to be damaged by unusual events.
It also includes the need to mainstream into adaptation projects the recognition that people of developing countries are not just passive victims. Indeed, in the past they have had the greatest resilience to droughts, floods and other catastrophes etc. Pastoralists in West African Sahel have been known to adapt to cope with rainfall decreases of 25-33% in the twentieth century.
However, as efforts to develop and diffuse adaptation mechanisms in Africa and elsewhere grows in momentum, one major constraint has been the failure to develop an effective communication strategy to drive the process. Effective communication as a sub-set of development needs to be developed in order to get the message down to the bottom of the pyramid where those most affected agglutinate. The concept of information in general and of climate change adaptation information in particular, as a resource for effective adaptation and development needs to be domesticated well beyond current cosy confines of conference rooms and research hubs.
In Guinea, rising sea levels linked to global warming is feared to likely result in stronger coastal currents, higher tides and sea encroachment of land. Guinea’s coastal region, home to West Africa’s largest and richest mangroves, would therefore bear the brunt of global climate change. The region’s entire economy is now under threat. It is feared that the main victims of all these climate variations would be people living near the coast. An estimate of 2 million people is likely to suffer income losses.
In an effort to limit the foreseeable damage, Guinea has launched a national plan of action for climate change adaptation (PANA-CC), which sets out priorities, among them measures for protecting coastal areas. It outlines vigorous action for saving the mangroves and reforesting the region, planting teak and cashew trees. Faced with rising water levels, communities are being advised in Guinea to build sea walls and plant trees along the coast in order to protect the rice fields that have taken the place of the mangroves.
Other recommendations include enforcing laws on coastal settlements and tackling pollution. For these adaptation measures to work, it is crucial that local people be provided with environmental education and prepared for possible catastrophes in the future. Efforts such as those in Guinea need to be supported and diffused into other countries in the region as quickly as is possibly.
As measures such as those in Guinea and elsewhere get developed, it becomes urgent to educate people including government officials on what mitigation is, and how it differs from adaptation. Local policy makers, planners and administrators need to recognize that information is indispensable to the adaptation process. This is apparent with due cognizance of the fact that in most parts of Africa, the essential information mechanisms and infrastructural facilities are not yet sufficiently developed to foster the generation, storage, preservation, retrieval, dissemination and utilization of information.
However, effective communication is seen as an essential tool for the establishment and maintenance of good social and working relationships and it enables people to exercise control over their environment. The purpose of communication is to bring about change of attitude, knowledge, skills and aspiration of the receivers. In Nigeria, various communication media are commonly used to transmit all sorts of information to people. Some of these include magazines, leaflets, newsletters, newspapers, pamphlets, radio, internet, telephone (GSM) and television, among others.
Among these lot, radio rates higher and is often the most preferred tool of mass communication in Nigeria. Radio programs are usually timely and capable of extending messages to the audience no matter where they may be as long as they have a receiver with adequate supply of power. The absence of such facilities as road, light and water are no hindrance to radio. Similarly, such obstacles as difficult topography, distance, time and socio-political exigencies do not hinder the performance of radio. Illiteracy is no barrier to radio messages since such messages can be passed in the audience own language.
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