Microfinance and Ecosystem; A sustaiable economic and environmental practice

Affordable Green Solutions for Vulnerable Population: Microfinance and Ecosystem-based Adaptation present at COP20

According to  UNEP, private sectors have venture into schemes that can ameliorate climate change in Casimiro. 

Active private sector participation in adaptation to climate change of the most vulnerable populations is constantly increasing. This is the case of Casimiro, a farmer and entrepreneur from Santander, Colombia, who received a credit of 2,000 US dollars to install a drip irrigation system. The credit was delivered by a partner institution of the Microfinance for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (MEbA) project, which is implemented in Colombia and Peru by UNEP and Frankfurt School with funds from the German government.

The drip irrigation system makes efficient use of water resources and adds to a series of other measures that Casimiro applies in his farm, such as organic fertilizer production and use, crop diversification and terracing. These are ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) measures promoted by the MEbA project, aimed at increasing resilience of small farmers through better use and management of ecosystems and their services. There are five microfinance institutions (MFIs) associated to the project: Bancamía, Contactar and Crezcamos in Colombia, and Fondesurco and Solidaridad in Peru.

On 10 December, to make their commitment more tangible to climate policy stakeholders and to portray the existing potential of this type of public-private partnership, partner MFIs of the MEbA project made public their challenge to allocate, in the next five years, approximately 20 million US dollars to ecosystem-based adaptation, as well as to deliver 24,000 credits and to train 14,000 clients. This also implies that within the same period there will be approximately 14,000 hectares managed under EbA criteria and 600 MFI employees will be trained.

Casimiro’s story could be replicated in many places in Peru and Colombia, as well as in most countries in the region. Inclusion of these alternative financing sources in countries’ pathway towards adaptation depends on oriented public policies. Plans, strategies, regulations and programmes are some of the instruments that governments may use to promote increased private sector participation as well as the implementation of sustainable and cost-effective adaptation options. The roles played by different stakeholders – e.g. Government, private sector, civil society and academia – are key to define the rules of these partnerships. To address these issues and explore the different alternatives available to governments, private sector and donors, on 12 December the MEbA project will also host the event Inclusion of alternative sources for adaptation in policies aimed at vulnerable populations.

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- A-Z of UNEP

Society and Environment: How To Start and Grow Agribussines in your Commun...

Society and Environment: How To Start and Grow Agribussines in your Commun...: By Madison Ayer, Executive Chairman of Farm Shop and Chairman and CEO of Honey Care Africa Smallholder farmers working in rural areas do...

How To Start and Grow Agribussines in your Community

By Madison Ayer, Executive Chairman of Farm Shop and Chairman and CEO of Honey Care Africa

Smallholder farmers working in rural areas dominate agribusiness in Africa. The need around the world for more food and more diverse types of foods gives these small farmers great opportunity, but the challenges they face are significant also.

At Honey Care Africa, we partner with smallholder farmers across East Africa to strengthen incomes and expand Africa’s honey output through sustainable beekeeping.  We understand the problems facing small producers and have a rich history in helping them overcome these challenges.

We have discovered that understanding both inputs and outputs distribution is key to success in agribusiness, so we work to support farmers in learning about and adapting to these methods.

Inputs. Poor inputs — seeds, plant material, water, fertilizers and pesticides — and farming methods keep African smallholder farmers far below the world averages for agricultural productivity.

• Working with smallholders: It is common practice for small-scale producers to enter contracts for product delivery to the companies who use and market raw agricultural products. These arrangements are called “outgrower” schemes or direct buying. These agreements make smallholder farmers critical components for agribusinesses. Both partners need to make efforts to build trust and loyalty in their relationships and to work effectively in a network of producers.
• Quality strategy: A farmer must produce something of value to have a competitive advantage in his market. People want to eat good, nutritious food that has been sustainably produced. Agricultural products must be good quality, and the grower must know how to control that quality. The grower must also be well-versed in understanding and meeting any certification requirements. Meeting those standards is the best way for the grower to establish product quality and credibility with buyers and other contractual partners.
• Logistics, transport and storage: Most farming is done in rural areas, far from the established infrastructure of city centers. Farmers must establish supply sources and routes for all those things they need to produce a crop. They must identify and account for the costs of transport and develop backup plans for those occasions when weather and conditions might impede delivery.
• Modern farming methods: Many high-productivity and sustainable agricultural practices have been developed in the world, but most African production is still very traditional. Farmers need to have information sources to better understand regional or global trends in their specialties. They need to stay up-to-date with the latest training and production techniques.

Outputs. Farmers must have a keen vision of their customers, what they need and how to communicate with them.

• Customer insights: Producers can’t assume that a great product will have buyers lining up at the door. Farmers must clearly identify their customers’ needs and the types and volumes of products that they are likely to buy. The farmer needs to understand why customers are interested in their raw materials and what they’ll be doing with the commodities.
• Product-market fit: By studying needs and behaviors of your prospective buyers, you can get to market acceptance of your product faster. Remember that changing behaviors is difficult, time-consuming and expensive. It is easier to change your product. The successful farmer will offer a product that a chosen customer thinks is truly valuable.
• Distribution channels: Once a target customer is identified and the marketability of the product is established, the producer needs to figure out how to get the product to the customer. This is hard work, scrapping in the streets to build distribution systems and convince buyers to buy. A producer must assess the distribution of customers and the difficulties of delivery conditions and decide how marketing, advertising and promotion might aid sales.
• Unit economics: Once the producer identifies the customers and how to reach them, ensuring that the delivery systems are affordable is critical. The successful farmer is going to be obsessive about the unit economics of the product. To succeed in agribusiness, the producer must scale production and distribution and make a profit. Consider everything: cost of goods, packaging, wastage and product replacements.

At Honey Care Africa, we see an exciting future as we lead Africa into the global honey market. The same opportunities are available to other African agricultural sectors.

Madison Ayer is the chairman and CEO of Honey Care Africa, producing and distributing trusted, pure honey through a network of thousands of smallholder farmers in Kenya, South Sudan and Tanzania. Ayer is also the executive chairman of Farm Shop, providing smallholders with farm inputs through a modern retail platform and with franchised shops in villages in rural Kenya.
  
      An extract of  YALI

The Role of Citizens in Containing Oil Spillage; A Lesson For Niger Delta

As the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico continues to affect wildlife, people around the world are looking for ways that they can help animal rescue efforts. Here's how the Aquarium is supporting response efforts and what you can do to help.

What the Aquarium Is Doing

An endangered Kemp’s ridley sea turtle being cleaned at a rescue field station. (Photo: Dr. Charles Innis)

• Senior rescue and veterinary staff from the New England Aquarium were among the first experts sent to field stations in the Gulf to help with sea turtle rescue efforts.
• The Aquarium has a long history of rescuing and rehabilitating sea turtles. Now we're preparing for an increased need for rescue and rehabilitation facilities for these species by constructing a new $500,000 sea turtle rescue facility in Quincy, Massachusetts.
• Aquarium educators are teaching the public about the oil spill and its effects, with an emphasis on simple steps people can take to reduce consumption of fossil fuels.
• Aquarium sustainable seafood experts are tracking fisheries closures related to the spill so that they can advise seafood companies on alternative sources.
• Aquarium researchers are helping to develop contingency plans to protect the breeding grounds of the North Atlantic right whale off the coast of the southeastern US.

What You Can Do

The partially completed sea turtle rescue facilities at the Aquarium's Animal Care Center in Quincy, Mass.

• Write and call your elected officials to make your views about energy policy issues such as offshore drilling clear. Support increased fuel economy standards for cars and trucks – these standards will decrease our dependence on oil and save consumers money.
• Support an organization, such as the Aquarium, that is working to save marine animals and their habitats. You can make a donation to the Aquarium and help to support our new sea turtle rescue facility using this form.
• Reduce your use of fossil fuels by taking public transportation, walking or biking. If you do drive, use the most fuel-efficient vehicle available and organize your errands and trips so you can drive the fewest number of miles.
• Make sure your automobile, lawnmower, snow blower and other motorized products are not leaking oil. Dispose of used oil at gas stations, not down storm drains.
• Join the Aquarium’s Live Blue Initiative and pledge to live blue. Educate yourself and your family, friends and co-workers about the ocean-friendly practices you can adopt to live blue for a better planet.

Society and Environment: Great Green Wall; 1,500km habitat protection

Society and Environment: Great Green Wall; 1,500km habitat protection: By Chidimma C. Okeke The Great Green Wall (GGW) project which was recently flagged off in Bachaka, Arewa Local Government of Kebbi State ...

Society and Environment: UNEP and Ogoniland

Society and Environment: UNEP and Ogoniland: UNEP Ogoniland Oil Assessment Reveals Extent of Environmental Contamination and Threats to Human Health Reposted from United Nations Envir...

Records of World Biggest Oil Spills

Effects of oil spills

Originally published November 2007, last updated August 2010
 
The recent Deepwater Horizon BP oil leak disaster in the Gulf of Mexico well and truly eclipsed the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989 and now has the dubious distinction of being one of the largest oil spills on record. Latest official estimates (August 2, 2010) state approximately 4.1 million barrels of oil contaminated the ocean.
Effects of oil spills
When oil is spilled or leaked into in waterways and the ocean, it spreads very quickly with the help of wind and currents. A single gallon of oil can create an oil slick up to a couple of acres in size! The BP oil slick had spread over 580 square miles in just three days.
When oil starts mixing in water, it can change composition and becomes what’s known as “mousse”. This is a sticky substance that clings even more to whatever it comes in contact with. Many marine animals don’t know to avoid a slick and some fish may even be attracted to it as it can resemble food.
Some of the many effects on animals coming into contact with crude oil include:
- hypothermia and drowning of birds as the oil breaks down the insulating capabilities of feathers, makes them heavier and compromises flying ability
- hypothermia in some seal pups as the oil destroys insulating fur
- if oil is ingested, it can either poison the animal outright, make them extremely sick or create a level of toxins in their system that then causes poisoning further up the food chain. Birds and other animals often ingest oil when trying to clean themselves. Shellfish and corals are particularly at risk in these scenarios as they cannot escape from an oil slick.
- damage to the airways of birds and animals.
- damage to animal immune systems
- interruption of breeding and fouling of breeding grounds
- thinner bird and turtle egg shells and also damage to fish larvae, causing deformities
- damage to sea grass beds and other shelter/feeding areas
- tainting of algae, which perform a vital role in waterway ecosystems
Even once the oil appears to have dissipated, it can still lurk beneath the surface of beaches and the sea bed, severely affecting marine organisms that burrow, such as crabs, for literally decades. These burrowing creatures are also food for other animals, so the cycle of poisoning continues for many years.
There’s really no aspect of a marine and coastal environment that is not in some way adversely affected by an oil spill. The closer the spill occurs to the shoreline, the more pronounced the damage will be due to coastal zones being home to more concentrated and diverse populations of marine, bird and animal life than far out to sea.
World’s biggest oil spills.
Here’s five of the biggest marine spills in history.
Persian Gulf – January 23, 1991 – up to 1,500,000 tonnes
Gulf of Mexico – 2010 – approximately 574, 000 tonnes (August estimate)
Gulf of Mexico – June 3, 1979 – 454,000 – 480,000 tonnes
Trinidad and Tobago – July 19, 1979 – 287,000 tonnes
Fergana Valley Uzbekistan – March 2, 1992 – 285,000 tonnes
There have been a total of 15 known marine oil spills consisting of over 100,000 tonnes. One tonne of crude oil is roughly equal to 308 US gallons; so in the Persian Gulf incident, approximately 462 million barrels were spilled – 20 times more than the USA consumes in a day, over a year’s worth of consumption for Australia and enough to supply the entire world’s crude oil needs for around 5 days.
It’s interesting to note that the Exxon Valdez disaster, isn’t among the “100,000” club – it wasn’t even close at approximately 35,000 tonnes – but previous to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster, it was the largest spill in U.S. history and given where it occurred, one of the biggest ecological disasters the nation has experienced. That spill killed hundreds of thousands of sea birds, thousands of otters, hundreds of seals as well as killer whales, bald eagles and fish. It’s not just how much oil is spilled that plays a role in the devastation that occurs, but where it is spilled.

Oil leaks and spills don’t just affect marine life – they have a direct impact on humans too long after the initial media frenzy has died down. Some Alaskan communities were affected by the Exxon Valdez disaster as important commercial fishing and hunting grounds were contaminated for an extended period. Tourism was also affected.

Unfortunately the people, creatures and ecosystems of Louisiana and other states are now experiencing the same..

Michael Bloch
Green Living Tips.com

Effects Of Oil Spillage on Sea turtles

Sea turtles

A nesting Kemp's ridley sea turtle at South

Padre Island. (Photo: Jessica Lavash)

Five of the world’s seven sea turtle species can be found in the Gulf. The region is the only major habitat for adult Kemp’s ridley sea turtles, which are the most endangered species of sea turtles. When sea turtles surface in oil-covered water, they can breathe in the oil vapors and residues, which can get into their lungs and cause major respiratory problems. Oil can get into the animals’ eyes, potentially causing damage to vision. If oil gets into sea turtles' mouths and they ingest it, it can potentially damage their internal organs.

This oil spill happened at the beginning of the breeding season, when adult Kemp’s ridleys had started to migrate across the Gulf to critical breeding beaches near the Texas/Mexico border. Hatchling and juvenile turtles are small enough that thick oil may prevent them from surfacing to breathe. These young turtles drift in currents and will congregate in the same areas where spilled oil c, amplifying the risks they face.

Dolphins and whales; Amazing creatures.

•  Wildlife and Habitats
• Every kind of marine animal in the Gulf of Mexico, from dolphins, turtles and seabirds to single-celled plankton, could be affected by the oil contamination in the Gulf. Images of oiled sea turtles, pelicans and dolphins continue to provoke public outcry. These charismatic animals are among the most visible, yet they are really just the signature species that represent an entire ecosystem under threat. This page highlights likely effects of the oil spill on cetaceans (dolphins and whales), sea turtles, birds, fishes, coastal wetlands and intertidal zones, and the overall ecosystem.

Cetaceans (dolphins and whales)

Dolphins in the bow wave of a

NOAA vessel in the Gulf of Mexico

(Photo: NOAA)

When whales, dolphins and porpoises surface to breathe, oily water can cover their blowholes and enter their lungs, making breathing difficult. Oil can get into the animals’ eyes, potentially causing damage to vision. It can also enter their mouths, where it can be ingested, potentially damaging internal organs. Oil contamination is likely to have detrimental effects on cetacean reproduction and long-term health.

Great Green Wall; 1,500km habitat protection

By Chidimma C. Okeke
The Great Green Wall (GGW) project which was recently flagged off in Bachaka, Arewa Local Government of Kebbi State by President Goodluck Jonathan entails planting of wall of trees, an exercise aimed at combating desertification in frontline states. This, it has been noted is capable of revamping the economic status of the 11 frontline states through the provision of employment and empowerment to millions of youths and women.
The programme which aims at fighting desert encroachment in the affected areas, is receiving a boost to help accommodate the projection of the federal government, which is for the programme to benefit over 40 million people in the northern parts of the country.
The president said the implementation of the GGW is to enhance the economic transformation of the nation and improve the livelihoods of the citizenry which requires that the risks and vulnerabilities in the drought and desertification affected states are addressed.
He said the GGW will cover about 1,500km-long (East-West) and 2km-wide (North-South) parts of the country, using both economic and forest tree species to be based on community-driven, integrated rural development approach as agreed for the Nigeria segment.
"The idea is that the project will principally check the advancement of desertification and erosion as well as restore eco-balance even as it creates sustainable jobs for thousands of our youths who are without jobs," he said.
He noted that GGW will be a vehicle in the determination to eliminate poverty, and create wealth for the people and help to reduce unemployment and rehabilitate over two million hectares of degraded land and improve agricultural productivity.
The Minister of Environment, Mrs. Laurentia Mallam, also noted that the project will positively enhance the livelihoods of residents in the affected states, as desert encroachment was becoming a menace in the areas.
Mallam said the project will provide shelter cover for the affected communities and will create an ozone friendly environment in the region.
She noted that 5,000 additional jobs were targeted by the GGW project in each of the affected states, and this will include jobs for tree planters, forest guards and citizens who sell vegetables.
She said: "Mr. President has provided funds for the 2015 framework. So all together he has provided N16 billion for this project.
"Since trees take carbon dioxide from the air, planting large scale trees will help absorb excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, thereby contributing its quota in checking ozone depletion and global warming."
Mouktar Lugga, Commissioner for Environment, Zamfara State and Chairman, Nigerian Frontline States Action Initiatives on Desertification (NIFSAID) said the beauty of the GGW is that it has actually created a lot of jobs for people within the host communities and reduced the rural urban drift experienced before.
He said: "After harvesting season, lots of young men go into cities to look for menial jobs but right now this programme is employing them and they are remaining within their communities."
According to Lugga, many people look at the programme as mere tree planting campaign but it is not; it is a whole economic programme targeted to settle, rehabilitate and to revamp the economy around the fringes of northern Nigeria.
"You are going to see a lot of programmes coming that will point to the fact that northern Nigeria is actually going back to the period of economic boom," he added.
He noted that the programme has started impacting on the youths as hundreds of both men and women actually took part in the planting of the trees and serving as forest guards to better their economic status.

UNEP and Ogoniland

UNEP Ogoniland Oil Assessment Reveals Extent of Environmental Contamination and Threats to Human Health

Reposted from United Nations Environment Programme Ogoniland, Nigeria UNEP Ogoniland Oil Report Reveals Extent of Environmental Damage Read full UNEP Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland Abuja, 4 August 2011 – The environmental restoration of Ogoniland could prove to be the world’s most wide-ranging and long term oil clean-up exercise ever undertaken if contaminated drinking water, land, creeks and important ecosystems such as mangroves are to be brought back to full, productive health. A major new independent scientific assessment, carried out by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), shows that pollution from over 50 years of oil operations in the region has penetrated further and deeper than many may have supposed. The assessment has been unprecedented. Over a 14-month period, the UNEP team examined more than 200 locations, surveyed 122 kilometres of pipeline rights of way, reviewed more than 5,000 medical records and engaged over 23,000 people at local community meetings. Detailed soil and groundwater contamination investigations were conducted at 69 sites, which ranged in size from 1,300 square metres (Barabeedom-K.dere, Gokana local government area (LGA) to 79 hectares (Ajeokpori-Akpajo, Eleme LGA). Altogether more than 4,000 samples were analyzed, including water taken from 142 groundwater monitoring wells drilled specifically for the study and soil extracted from 780 boreholes… …Next Steps Recommendations Through a combination of approaches, individual contaminated land areas in Ogoniland can be cleaned up within five years, while the restoration of heavily-impacted mangrove stands and swamplands will take up to 30 years. However, according to the report, all sources of ongoing contamination must be brought to an end before the clean-up of the creeks, sediments and mangroves can begin. The report recommends establishing three new institutions in Nigeria to support a comprehensive environmental restoration exercise. A proposed Ogoniland Environmental Restoration Authority would oversee implementation of the study’s recommendations and should be set up during a Transition Phase which UNEP suggests should begin as soon as possible. The Authority’s activities should be funded by an Environmental Restoration Fund for Ogoniland, to be set up with an initial capital injection of US$1 billion contributed by the oil industry and the government, to cover the first five years of the clean-up project. A recommended Integrated Contaminated Soil Management Centre, to be built in Ogoniland and supported by potentially hundreds of mini treatment centres, would treat contaminated soil and provide hundreds of job opportunities. The report also recommends creating a Centre of Excellence in Environmental Restoration in Ogoniland to promote learning and benefit other communities impacted by oil contamination in the Niger Delta and elsewhere in the world. Reforms of environmental government regulation, monitoring and enforcement, and improved practices by the oil industry are also recommended in the report. Full article image: UNEP Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland Public meetings staged throughout Ogoniland during each phase of the study helped to build understanding of UNEP’s project and to foster community participation,

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Oil Spills Destroy My Village in Nigeria

Shell has admitted liability but has a long way to go to make amends

Oil spills destroyed my village in Nigeria and decades of environmental and social injustice are still to be addressed

by Patrick Naagbanton, Thursday 4 August 2011 Reposted from guardian.co.uk                       Shell’s admission of liability for two massive oil spills in 2008-09 in my village of Bodo in the Niger Delta is a step forward in the long struggle for corporate accountability. An impoverished village that yesterday lay in ruins has today felt a welcome glimmer of hope and justice. We are happy with the news that Shell could be forced to clean up the environmental devastation it has caused and to pay more than $400m in compensation. But our jubilation is overshadowed by more than five decades of environmental and social injustice yet to be addressed. Bodo village is a fishing community in the minority Ogoni region of the Niger Delta. Shell was forced out of Ogoni in 1993, following mass protests led by writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed on 10 November 1995 alongside eight other campaigners. Shell’s vast network of oil wells, pipelines, flow-stations and gas flares remained in Ogoni and are an everyday reminder of what we have suffered. Many of Shell’s rusty, leaky pipelines date back to the 1970s and have been poorly maintained ever since (see pages 31-36 and 43 of Friends of the Earth Netherlands report). It was equipment failure that caused Shell’s high-pressure Trans-Niger pipeline to rupture on 28 August 2008, gushing an estimated 2,000 barrels of oil per day into Bodo for weeks. The land and water was covered in thick layers of crude. Shell was also responsible for a second spill from the same pipeline on 2 February 2009. Oil spills have effectively destroyed my community. Local farmers and fishers were forced to abandon their traditional ways of life. Bodo Creek is, ecologically speaking, dead. The fish that were not killed by the heavy pollution now reek of petroleum and cannot sustain a village population of 69,000 people. Shell has violated our basic human rights to food, water and livelihood. The compensation Shell offered us – £3,500 plus bags of rice and sugar – was insulting and wholly inadequate. Full article Image: Ogoni Spill-Amensty International photos

Cattle Extinction!

Climate Change a threat to human existence!

“Climate change…is the fundamental threat to humankind…If we fail to act, climate change will intensify droughts, floods and other natural disasters. Water shortages will affect hundreds of millions of people. Malnutrition will engulf large parts of the developing world. Tensions will worsen. Social unrest—even violence—could follow. The damage to national economies will be enormous. The human suffering will be incalculable…We have just four months. Four months to secure the future of our planet.”     —Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General, prior to the 2009 climate conference in Copenhagen, UN News Centre, Aug. 11, 2009

Renewable Energy; The hope for sustainable development

But to truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy. So I ask this Congress to send me legislation that places a market-based cap on carbon pollution and drives the production of more renewable energy in America.”     —Barack Obama, US President, remarks to joint session of Congress, Feb. 24, 2009

Fundamental reason of carbondioxide

Society and Environment: “The fundamental reason why carbon dioxide in the ...: “The fundamental reason why carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is critically important to biology is that there is so little of it. A field ...

Carbondioxide; how important

“The fundamental reason why carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is critically important to biology is that there is so little of it. A field of corn growing in full sunlight in the middle of the day uses up all the carbon dioxide within a meter of the ground in about five minutes. If the air were not constantly stirred by convection currents and winds, the corn would stop growing.”     —Dr. Freeman Dyson, Edge website, Aug. 8, 2007