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03:44Last update on: 12 Aug 2013
The Namibian
Mon 12 Aug 2013
SMS Of The Day * MINISTRY of Gender and Child Welfare, TEARS are rolling down as I write this SMS. The killing of women in Namibia is now like reciting a poem. Are we really getting the protection we deserve while women not being treated as part of this c Food For Thought * SO the Zimbabwe elections were free and peaceful and not free and fair? Bouquets And Brickbats * NURSES at Katutura Hospital must stop wearing those big plastic sandals at work because they are not the official working shoes. We want to see you looking smart and beautiful with your full uniform. SMS Of The Day * THIS nation is in dire need of a massive conference on housing. When we experienced a crisis in the education sector a crisis-control brain-storming conference was organised which resulted in the best deal ever for the Namibian child, nam Food For Thought * BOURGEOISIE has become a daily occupation if not the order of the day of the upper-echelons, President Hifikepunye Pohamba we urge you to revisit this unpatriotic geocentricism among your staff and the well-connected, for everybody to r Bouquets And Brickbats * COMMISSIONER of Prisons, can you please explain the strategies you use to appoint officers to certain positions? It is my observation that you are being fed with wrong information then you just promote individuals without making p SMS Of The Day * I THINK Paulus ‘The Rock’ Ambunda lost his belt because of this promoter and trainer. How can a world champion still be training at the Katutura Youth Complex where there is not enough equipment. I think they must follow the example of Ha Food For Thought * NAMIBIA Dairies are unable to match low prices of imported milk and this ultimately means the consumer will have to pay more for local milk. Look at the prices of the local chicken. All these profits are going in the pockets of a few in Bouquets And Brickbats * I AM pleased to hear that Cabinet has responded positively to the proposal of Namibia Dairies to support the industry. The restrictions which support the industry by reducing competition to ensure the survival of the industry is a SMS Of The Day * CEO’s golden handshakes. Somewhere on our statute books there must be a provision that if a board of directors suspends/dismisses a CEO without due regard to legal provision (substantive/procedural law) such board must carry the costs for Food For Thought * JACKY Asheeke was so right with her last column- why are the fathers of the dead children not being prosecuted? (Reference to the children who died in shack fires last week) Our justice system still protects men over women. In this cont Bouquets And Brickbats * ALEXACTUS Kaure, your column in Friday’s newspaper opened my eyes. One hardly finds impartial case study analysers in Namibia. Let’s not destroy the Polytechnic’s strong foundation (Tjivikua) as yet. At least wait until the transf
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NEWS - ENVIRO
| 2013-08-08
Understanding the value of drylands
ABSALOM SHIGWEDHA
DESERTIFICATION is largely driven by the expansion of agricultural land and in drylands, 12 million hectares of land is lost every year due to desertification, says the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Luc Gnacadja said Africa is the most vulnerable continent to desertification, land degradation and droughts as 43% of the continent is dryland. Globally, he said, 27 species of micro-organisms are lost each year due to land degradation.
Gnacadja gave a talk entitled ‘Towards last solutions to desertification, land degradation and drought – the role of the UNCCD’ in Windhoek last week.
He said soil is an important commodity in poverty alleviation as poverty is 70% rural, especially in Africa. Gnacadja said if the current rate of land degradation continues, two-third of agricultural land in Africa will be lost by 2025.
The Benin-born Gnacadja said mechanisms need to be put in place to restore degraded land, as this problem has led to many armed conflicts by people who fight for few natural resources.
Gnacadja said some of the main challenges facing the UNCCD in addressing desertification include recognition of the convention, weak scientific basis, lack of understanding of the impact of desertification and land degradation and inadequate finances.
Namibia will host the 11th Conference of Parties to the UNCCD next month. The country is a party to the UNCCD and made great strides towards the fight against desertification and land degradation.This will be the third time an African country will host the conference.
So, far it has only been held in Kenya and Senegal. The decision for Namibia to host the conference was endorsed at a meeting of Parties to the UNCCD held in Bonn earlier this year. The conference will be from the 14-28 September 2013.
The UNCCD is one of the three UN Conventions that emanated from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. The other three are the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Namibia ratified the UNCCD in 1997. The objective of the UNCCD is to fight desertification and land degradation, especially in those parts of the world experiencing serious drought such as Africa.
*Absalom Shigwedha is a freelance environmental journalist. E-mail: absalom.shigwedha@gmailcom
DESERTIFICATION is largely driven by the expansion of agricultural land and in drylands, 12 million hectares of land is lost every year due to desertification, says the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
Luc Gnacadja said Africa is the most vulnerable continent to desertification, land degradation and droughts as 43% of the continent is dryland. Globally, he said, 27 species of micro-organisms are lost each year due to land degradation.
Gnacadja gave a talk entitled ‘Towards last solutions to desertification, land degradation and drought – the role of the UNCCD’ in Windhoek last week.
He said soil is an important commodity in poverty alleviation as poverty is 70% rural, especially in Africa. Gnacadja said if the current rate of land degradation continues, two-third of agricultural land in Africa will be lost by 2025.
The Benin-born Gnacadja said mechanisms need to be put in place to restore degraded land, as this problem has led to many armed conflicts by people who fight for few natural resources.
Gnacadja said some of the main challenges facing the UNCCD in addressing desertification include recognition of the convention, weak scientific basis, lack of understanding of the impact of desertification and land degradation and inadequate finances.
Namibia will host the 11th Conference of Parties to the UNCCD next month. The country is a party to the UNCCD and made great strides towards the fight against desertification and land degradation.This will be the third time an African country will host the conference.
So, far it has only been held in Kenya and Senegal. The decision for Namibia to host the conference was endorsed at a meeting of Parties to the UNCCD held in Bonn earlier this year. The conference will be from the 14-28 September 2013.
The UNCCD is one of the three UN Conventions that emanated from the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. The other three are the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Namibia ratified the UNCCD in 1997. The objective of the UNCCD is to fight desertification and land degradation, especially in those parts of the world experiencing serious drought such as Africa.
*Absalom Shigwedha is a freelance environmental journalist. E-mail: absalom.shigwedha@gmailcom
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(August 12)
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