Why African countries need to transition to the green economy

What you need to know:

  • We to improve in terms of our production and consumption and our lifestyles, so that we can use sustainably the resources available to us.
  • One of the important constraints we have noted in terms of even trade is the fact that most of the production and trade is based on raw material.
  • We are working very closely with some agencies like the Economic Commission for Africa of the United Nations and other organisations, including the African Union to see how we can really provide support to countries to improve in terms of their land tenure policy.

World Environment Day is commemorated on June 5 every year. In 1972, when it was first marked, the harm that poisonous chemicals were causing to the natural environment were the immediate concern. Forty-three years later, climate change and sustainability also loom large, though the earlier concerns remain.

The Daily Nation spoke to the United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) regional director for Africa, Mr Mounkaila Goumandakoye, to find out how African countries can expand economies to cater for rapidly growing populations while using natural resources sustainably and ensuring peaceful coexistence between communities.

What is the theme for this year's World Environment Day and why has Unep chosen this theme?

Thank you very much for this opportunity for Unep to reach out to the wider public and provide more analysis on the environment and its importance for this continent and its population.

Indeed, we are having for this year an important theme, which is more related to the issue of sustainable consumption and production: "Seven billion dreams, one planet, consume with care".

As you know, we have reached, worldwide, seven billion, but in reality, in terms of our footprint, the use of natural capital or natural resources to cater for the needs of the population, we moved from 0.5 of (our) planet in 1950 to now 1.25 of the planet, meaning that we are using more than what the planet can really provide to us.

So we cannot continue business as usual. This is why we need to see how to improve, in terms of our production and consumption and our lifestyles, so that we can use sustainably the resources available to us.

Many developing countries have rapidly growing populations. How can governments ensure development is sustainable, and that business is taking the environment into account?

From Unep's perspective, and also based on the different analyses that we have made, the important approach that we can use, particularly when it comes to Africa, where (there are now) more than one billon (people and) moving to two billion, is to build in our economies a green approach. So what we are really proposing is for countries to engage in transitioning to a green economy.

That will ensure that we use sustainably the resources available, so that despite the growing population, we'll be in a position to satisfy the needs of livelihood, continue to maintain the GDP, which is relatively high in terms of the growth for Africa, and ensure in future that resources are not being destroyed.

We have been working with a number of countries now I can say more than 15 and even the continent at the ministerial level. Ministers of environment but also ministers of finance have really decided to green the key sectors of the development of this continent.

What support does Unep offer countries looking to be more sustainable?

There are basically three types of support, if I can summarise. The first one is policy advisory services, providing analysis to the countries and technical support in terms of understanding what a green economy is, and making assessments of some of the sectors so we can really analyse the potential for a green economy in different countries and provide some kind of policy framework that the country can use in terms of transition to the green economy.

The second one is mainly to work with the country in terms of developing concrete action plans for a green economy and also be in a position to provide the capacity-building needs, because this is a new area where in fact many countries do not have the expertise in particular aspects, so we are providing this.

The final support is to work closely with all the partners like the African Development Bank to provide the implementation means in terms of concrete programmes on the ground.

What do you see as Kenya’s sustainability challenges?

In Kenya, like in many African countries, there are really many challenges, particularly related to the fact that we have very rapid population growth, very high urbanisation rates so our cities are growing, but not really in the conditions that we want, with many slums, and also living conditions becoming very difficult.

In a nutshell, if I take the case of Kenya, I see the biggest challenge, if I can summarise it, particularly when we did an analysis in terms of the availability of resources.

In1950, in Kenya we had on average 9.6 hectares per person in terms of land and what it can provide, forests, water, biodiversity, etc. With the current population growth we are expecting that when we reach 2050, instead of 9.6 hectares it should be 0.3 hectares.

So this is a big challenge, which really summarises the need for the country to find really sustainable ways in terms of using the resources (for) consumption, (and) also economic development, so that the footprint on the environment will not really increase the risk in terms of destroying our natural capital base.

How does a developing country safeguard its ability to be sustainable when faced by external factors like global supply chains and international trade?

I think we, in fact, are facing a serious challenge particularly with regard to this continent, which has, in terms of natural capital, huge assets.

One of the important constraints we have noted (regarding) even trade is the fact that most of the production and trade is based on raw material.

It is important in terms of ensuring a greater value chain of this continent to see to what extent these resources can be exploited and transformed here to improve the value chain. The second thing is that we are providing support to countries in terms of ecoLabelling.

Sometimes there are considerations that the quality of the products from this continent are not really at the standard required. So we are providing support for norms and standards of production, and also for marketing, and also in negotiations to make sure that the subsidies provided by developed countries in terms of some of the resources and products that are competing with us are phased out.

That is a very tough negotiation, but these are some of the aspects that we are looking at.

How, going forward, should we be thinking of producing enough food for Africa?

The good news is that the continent which has available arable land is in fact Africa, with around 60 per cent of where we can access additional arable land.

But we need the continent to move in some kind of agricultural production that takes into account some of the key constant factors. One factor is climate change.

We need to develop an important adaptation program, because what we are seeing in terms of emissions in the entire world is, the increase in temperature will likely be more than 2 degrees Celsius in the next 100 years.

Maize on a farm in Matuu, Machakos County. One-third of all food produced globally each year — 300 million tonnes — is wasted. PHOEBE OKALL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

This continent, in terms of water, despite the fact that we have rivers etc., is in fact one of the driest, because we have only nine per cent of the fresh water of the world, while the population continues to grow.

So the approach we are really putting forward as Unep is to do climate smart agriculture, but also to engage in organic agriculture, which really builds on not really using the fertiliser which comes from outside but building on the natural resources, particularly what ecosystem-based adaptation agriculture can provide, and managing natural resources so that we can stabilise the fertility of the land and increase production.

For example, we did a study here in Kenya in terms of greening the agricultural sector. If Kenya were to green its agricultural sector, by 2030, instead of what we are witnessing in terms of decrease in fertility, the yield would increase by 15 per cent.

Competition for resources has been a source of conflicts in this country. Where do the best solutions lie?

I think this is a very important issue, because when we talk about peace and security, people think that it has nothing to do with the environment.

We are working very closely with some agencies like the Economic Commission for Africa of the United Nations and other organisations, including the African Union, to see how we can really provide support to countries to improve in terms of their land tenure policy.

Also in terms of ensuring that fertility of the land is not decreasing , because if fertility decreases, land which can feed one million people will not be able to do it, even if we have less than that population. Providing access to credit to the population so that they can also invest in the land.

These are some of the measures we have been providing to countries, including countries that have been coming from conflict including Sudan or DR Congo.

In many African countries there are indigenous populations that often depend on pastoralism, or hunting and gathering and have lived that way for very long. Must they adapt to urbanisation or large-scale crop production, or can their way of life be protected?

This is one of the challenges many regions are facing particularly in this continent, and I must say we have not been very successful because of issues of urbanisation, encroaching on lands that are supposed to be for these indigenous people, but I have at least seen in some countries they have really taken some laws that really protect the land of these people.

Members of the Ogiek community from Tinet settlement scheme in Kenya's Rift Valley display land documents during a protest at the Kuresoi District Commissioner's office on December 12, 2014. They boycotted the Ogiek vetting exercise conducted by the interim coordinating committee to establish their numbers, saying many had been locked out. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

So in fact it means there are specific lands that are the lands of these people (and) are protected by the law in terms of avoiding the risk of encroachment, even from agriculture or urbanisation, and providing also access to education, access also to a better livelihood.

What I have seen is in these areas generally they go for a local sustainable development plan. In this local sustainable development plan, they ensure really that the needs, concerns and priorities of these local populations are taken into account and also they are fully also integrated into the decision-making process.

But I must be honest to say that in the effective implementation of such plans we have seen really many challenges, in terms of difficulty of ensuring provisions of the law, also what has been planned in terms of concrete activities and deliverables are not really in line with what has been agreed upon.