Economic Activities: A Threat to Wetland Sustainability
By Otim Dalton
In Africa, wetlands are of great importance because they are a source of water and food necessary to the survival of microorganisms and humans alike. In their natural state, wetlands provide a range of eco-system services: they regulate water flow, store eroded materials and nutrients, and provide water, food and raw materials. Therefore, the sustainable management of swamps, marshes, floodplains and mangrove forest (which are all classified as wetlands) is of great value to the long-term welfare of many African societies.
Recently, particularly in Africa, wetlands have become a new agricultural frontier. In response, a number of agencies, both local and international, are trying to explore sustainable wetland management as a way of reducing rural poverty, improving food security and strengthening livelihood resilience in the face of climate change. However, farmers have also realized that wetlands depend on well-managed catchment areas, and measures have been identified to improve upland management. These include improving land use through soil and water conservation measures, inter-planting crops with agro-forestry trees, and maintaining areas of natural vegetation, all of which facilitate water infiltration. This water percolates through to the wetlands.
However, with the growing rural population, climate change and the degradation of upland fields due to prolonged farming, wetlands are under increasing pressure as farmers seek out fertile and moist farming sites. The increased flow of water from degraded uplands into the wetlands and the disturbance of natural vegetation by cultivation in the wetlands threatens erosion and damage to these valuable sites.
In Uganda, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) was formed in May 1995 under the National Environment Act. NEMA was established with the main intention of protecting the environment. But despite NEMA’s efforts, the wetlands are being reclaimed and degraded due to the economic needs of the people around them and those from other areas. According to the Daily Monitor of 30th August 2018, in Uganda, swamps that have been encroached on include Mpogo in MpPasaana, which lies between Kitauhuka and Kisiitia sub-counties, Karokarungi in Kisiita sub-county and Kabale swamp, which borders Kakumiro and the Hoima district. Other swamps affected are Olweny swamp and Okole swamp in Northern Uganda. In eastern Uganda, the districts affected include Kamuli, Jinja, Mutumba, Kaliro and Mayunge, where most people cultivate rice in the wetlands.
A green rice field (left) and a field that’s ready to harvest (right)
One of the key economic activities carried out in the wetlands is rice-growing, which has slowly brought about wetland reclamation. Rice yields very well in the wetlands since it requires plenty of water. Rice-growing gained prominence in the 1970s following the establishment of the Doho Rice Scheme and the Nakwasi and Lwoba irrigation schemes. These schemes were set up for commercial rice-growing and today, they are dominated by rural small-scale farmers living in areas adjacent to wetlands. Although the soils in the area have largely been described as sandy and are characterized by low organic content, the Doho Wetland is an important ecological flood plain for the River Manafwa, coming from the highlands of Bugisu, where fertile clay and volcanic soils are found.
The 2012 Uganda Bureau of Statistics Report indicated that the Busoga region of Eastern Uganda produces 70% of the nation’s rice, worth Ugx120 billion a year. This is a clear indicator that wetland rice-growing is a viable economic activity that contributes greatly to the GDP despite the devastating effect of wetland reclamations. However, environmental scientists have also noted that human activities like increasing population and urbanization are partly to blame for the alarming reclamation and degradation of wetlands and swamps even in other countries, not only in Uganda.
Through NEMA, the government must continue to educate Ugandans on the enormous importance of the wetlands, and their contribution to the environment and climate. The people should be encouraged to gradually shift from wetland rice-growing to upland rice-growing. Afforestation and good agronomic practices should be encouraged to help improve and maintain soil quality and fertility for continuous upland rice-growing. This action shouldn’t hinder the viable economic activity of rice-growing or impact its contribution to Uganda’s GDP, and it will serve the vital purpose of wetlands conservation and sustainability.
The Life of an Artisanal Miner
Artisanal and small scale mining (ASM) accounts for more than 90% of solid mining in Nigeria. The sector is informal and serves as a means of livelihood for more than 2 million people in Nigeria, including women and children. There has been a recent upsurge in workers in this sector as a result of unemployment and poverty. Artisanal miners are uneducated and unskilled, with no legal permit or qualification to work in the mines. They employ crude methods, using local or household implements for mineral exploration. For their daily sustenance, artisanal miners depend on the minerals they find, such as gold, tourmaline, silver, tin, dolomite, emerald, topaz, columbite etc.
The cool breeze brushed my face as I approached an open shed to wait for one or two miners to speak with. It was almost sunset and most miners were returning to their homes. I observed several bag-packs hung on the wall, the bare floor littered with debris and long benches that serve as beds for the miners. Then I noticed Abubakar Mamuda, a 29-year-old artisanal miner from Kebbi State in the Northern part of Nigeria, sitting on a slab of one of the stores in the market. Speaking his local dialect, I greeted him: ‘Ina wuni, yaya aiki,' and he replied, ‘lafia.’ We further exchanged pleasantries as I enquired and chatted with him about his activities as a miner.
Below, in his own words (minimally edited for clarity), is what he told me:
I had been a farmer all my life before I ventured into mining about 6 years ago. I stay with five other miners in a room rented for us by our Oga [meaning boss]. I leave the room at 6 a.m and it takes me about 25 minutes to trek to the farmland where I work. On getting there, I change into my working clothes, which l always leave at the site. I start digging and keep digging for at least four hours, after which I pack up the soils I have dug up to wash in the river. If I notice any gold deposit in the soil as I wash it, I go back to dig some more. But if the soil is washed and there is no gold deposit, I move to another spot to start the digging process all over again. Since we are into illegal mining, we go into farmlands within the community unlawfully to dig for gold deposits. Whoever is caught by the landowners is charged and sentenced to days, months or years in prison unless help comes from a dealer who’s willing to bail him out.
Before now, miners used to pay a fee of ₦200 to enter anywhere in the town to mine, but that has been cancelled. However, when we find a mineral deposit without getting caught, we inform our Ogas. Then the Ogas look for the owners of the land and buy it off them. Wherever land is bought from the owners, we are hired to sample the land for gold deposits. We are paid enough to feed us for each day of work: an average of $2.86 per miner. I have many Ogas. I was paid ₦200,000 when I found a gold deposit some time ago.
Life as a miner is full of risks and very challenging. A single mistake can end the life of a miner and those of his colleagues at the site; for example there could be a sudden fall of pits as we dig, and other times it could just be part of the pit caving in and causing serious injuries to some part of our bodies. We have lost many miners as a result of this.
There’s no rest for me; rest comes when I sleep in the night. The motto here is ‘until you get money, no rest’. I only rest when I go for lunch since I don’t take breakfast.
Sometimes I don’t go home but sleep on the bare ground at the farmland when l have a lot to do. Some of us spend days and nights on the sites while using burning wood to scare away animals at night. The last time I saw my family was a year ago.
I am not at work today because I am not feeling good.
As we interacted further, many of his friends came around to contribute to our discussion. I realised that it was getting late and I had to be on my way home. But before leaving, I asked if I could take a picture of Abubakar and his friends who had just returned from work. It was then that I noticed Abubakar’s swollen feet and a sore on one of his toes.
‘I have been carrying this wound around for the past three months,’ he lamented. He remarked that he had no money to go to the Community Health Centre for treatment. It wasn’t part of my assignment, but I couldn’t just leave him the way I met him. I offered to pay for his treatment, which he accepted joyfully. We made our way slowly to the Health Centre, where he commenced treatment after the payment of his bill. I then headed home knowing that he was in safe hands.
The story of Abubakar reflects the lives of over 2 million artisanal miners in various mining communities in Nigeria. Interventions on health and safety issues will be the key to help save people like Abubakar from danger and untimely death.
What will Uganda do if the River Nile runs dry?
By Dr. Richard Kagolobya
The recent apocalyptic environmental news headlines around the world about the drying up of the world famous Victoria Falls (shared by Zimbabwe and Zambia) in Southern Africa left me wondering what Uganda would do if the River Nile were to run dry. One such headline that caught my eyes was by Farai Shawn Matiashe, writing from Harare, Zimbabwe: ‘Victoria Falls, one of the natural wonders of the world, is running dry due to climate change.’ He reported that the long drought in Zimbabwe and Zambia has also led to relentless power cuts in the two countries because of their 50% dependence on hydroelectric power generated at Kariba Dam, which is fed by the River Zambezi. The unprecedented drought has left over five million people in need of food aid in Zimbabwe, coupled with a reduction in tourists who usually visit to have a view of the remarkable Victoria Falls.
Even though there may be a number of climate change doubters around the world, the recent dwindling water levels of the River Zambezi and the subsequent water droplets at Victoria Falls should be a glaring wake-up call to all of us to realize the dangers of climate change to all creation on planet earth.
However, as the above was happening in Southern Africa, here in Uganda, some development enthusiasts in recent days have been thinking about generating more hydro-electricity power so that the country is not caught off guard due to the increasing electricity demand in the face of population growth and foreseeable industrialization. These people have been romanticizing the idea of tinkering and destroying the magnificent Murchison Falls on the River Nile, even at the cabinet level! But these hydro-power based industrialization zealots rarely scrutinize the dangers of over reliance on hydro power in the face of climate change, which they also ironically contribute to. For example, in the case of Zimbabwe, due to the unprecedented dry spell, Matiashe reported that the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority introduced an 18-hour load shedding because Kariba Dam has fallen to its lowest water level since 1996, leading to a reduction in its electricity generation. It has also been reported that these issues have been caused by the changing rain-patterns around River Zambezi’s catchment area, which stretches to north-western Zambia, Angola and DRC, thus showing the international nature of eco-systems and exemplifying the far-reaching consequences of climate change and environmental degradation.
Comparatively, what are Kenyans, Tanzanians and Ugandans doing to Lake Victoria? This is important because Lake Victoria receives 80% percent of its water from direct rainfall and 20% from rivers and streams, and the only outflow from Lake Victoria is the Nile, which exits the lake near Jinja in Uganda. This makes Lake Victoria the principal source of the longest branch of the River Nile.
In the case of Uganda, quick places that come to my mind as far as catchment depletion is concerned are the Ssese and Kalangala Islands and the destruction of natural forests and their replacement with palm oil plantations, coupled with wanton timber harvesting and charcoal burning, which may affect the rainfall patterns around Lake Victoria. Another place that vividly comes to mind is the Rwera Swamp, which has been wantonly tampered with by sand mining and rice growing enterprises, yet it hosts several streams that eventually drain into Lake Victoria, and then later nourishes the Nile!
As we interfere with these resources, do we seriously think about the international environmental responsibility that countries that share Lake Victoria have for preserving the source of the River Nile’s water? Mind you, there are other nations like Sudan, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt that depend on River Nile for their survival.
Even though from September to December 2019, Uganda was grappling with heavy rainfall which led to multi-location floods, as well as landslides which killed a number of people, destroyed houses, farmland and road infrastructure in Bundibugyo and Bududa districts, the opposite can also be true in the foreseeable future as it was in Zimbabwe and Zambia during that period. Uganda (Tanzania and Kenya) can be bombarded by a lengthy dry spell leading to Lake Victoria releasing painful tear-drops of water into the River Nile and the later turning into it a mere trickle due to climate change! And yet, Uganda, as it is today, is not at all prepared for such a climate change induced prolonged drought because of its heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture and oversubscription to hydro-electric power. And as I write, four of the five major power stations that light Uganda’s homes and industries are on River Nile! These are Kiira Power Station (200MW), Nalubaale Power Station (180MW), Karuma Hydro Power Station (600MW) Isimba Hydro Power Station (183MW), apart from the Muzizi Hydro Power Station (44.7MW), which is along the Muzizi River in Kibaale district.
As we wonder about how Victoria Falls was running dry due to climate change, let nations like Uganda also think and plan for the worst case scenarios if nothing is done to mitigate climate change and its consequences. Nations should invest in climate change resilience programmes, one of which is to invest in other renewable energy sources rather than oversubscribing to hydroelectricity, which is at the moment susceptible to climate change. At least Kenya has made strides in that direction by unveiling the Lake Turkana Wind Power farm which consists of 365 turbines with a capacity to allot 310 megawatts of energy to Kenya’s national power grid.
Over the past decades, the mantra among nations relying on hydro-electricity power was that it is the most reliable and sustainable renewable source of energy. This is somewhat exemplified by Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited’s mission statement: ‘Sustainably generate reliable, quality and affordable electricity for socio-economic development.’ Yet such companies rarely think about hydropower’s dependence on environmental and climatic factors and scarcely invest in environmental sustainability projects in the face of climate change. However, going by the Zimbabwe-Zambia scenario, one would suggest that governments and private companies that have heavily invested in hydropower generation should be the chief advocates of environmental protection, preservation and renewal in the water catchment areas that feed the rivers on which the power stations are constructed. Otherwise, the escalating drought-spells leading to rivers and falls running to a trickle due to climate change may put to waste multi-billion hydro-power installations around the world. And for the case of Uganda in particular, one would recommend that instead of gambling with the destruction of the much beloved Murchison Falls, the time is now to think about energy source diversification rather than over relying on hydroelectricity power on the River Nile. Otherwise, what will Uganda do if the Nile runs dry this time tomorrow?
Dr. Kagolobya works with Makerere University and is a Member of Sustainable Futures in Africa; an international consortium of multidisciplinary environmental sustainability researchers and enthusiasts.
A Cry from the Wetlands of Africa
By Anthony Kadoma, PhD Student and SFA member
Wetlands oh wetlands! Here we are, the wetlands of Africa, hear us on our World Wetland Day - https://www.worldwetlandsday.org
God created us to serve the needs of humans and their surroundings. We meet almost all their needs: Fresh drinking water we give, food we give, clean air to breathe we give. This enables them not only to live healthy, but happily as well.
We have given that and more forever, diligently and without complaining. But humans seem not to value and appreciate the goods and services derived from us.
‘Why, why?’ we ask ourselves.
Humans started by encroaching on us because they wanted to expand grazing land for the domestic animals, and we accepted. We supported seasonal vegetables such as cabbages and rice which do well in our fertile soil and conserved water, now we have been over-harvested over the years. We have endured the shame of being stripped naked until it’s too much for us to bear. That was not enough to satisfy the needs of human beings: Oh, who will ever satisfy human needs?
Because of your need to expand housing and factories, we have become the first victim and now we are being denied our original role and reason for existence; you are filling and dumping in us soil and other debris as if there are no other places left for that. You don’t show any care or respect to us!
With your increased greed you have now decided to eliminate us! Completely ignoring the rights of the other peaceful and harmless organisms that live in us by directing your industrial wastes to us which chokes us badly. Oh, what did we do to you to deserve this?
Because of the pressure and burden you have placed on us, we have had to let go of some of our functions such as controlling floods, and now humans are crying that we no longer care. Harmful weeds and pests have occupied us because we can’t fight them as our capacity has reduced to fight for ourselves. However, we are blamed for that as well and some even suggest to completely do away with us in order to protect humans from vectors that cause disease, especially malaria.
We still want to exist and serve you as we have done before – you and your generations to come. All we are asking is that you show some care for us, help us to regenerate and use us wisely. Do not over-harvest us and leave our surrounding environment bare as this makes us too weak to defend ourselves and to support you well. Help us to restore and we will forever be your obedient servant, offering you your essential goods and services. Hear our cry, oh humans of Africa.
Anthony Kadoma is a University of Glasgow PhD student focusing on Environmental Sustainability and a member of Sustainable Futures in Africa Network.
Reflections from Ten Years of working in Climate Change Adaptation
By Dr Deepa Pullanikkatil, SFA Co-Director
As the year comes to an end, I realized that it has now been ten years since I began working on Climate Change Adaptation. I have an overwhelming sense of gratitude and happiness looking back at one decade of following my passion. Here, I do a self-reflection on the journey of past years; touching on experiences, challenges, growth and learning opportunities.
Ten years ago, when I was working as a Lecturer in Civil Engineering in Lesotho, my voluntary “industry attachment” at the Department of Meteorology in Maseru city, led me to be a Co-Applicant for a US National Science Foundation funded START Global Environment Change Research grant. We undertook research on how climate change impacted subsistence farmers in Lesotho. The 120 households we interviewed told us that food crops are the most vulnerable to weather particularly frost damage, hail, drought and dry spells, which reduced crop yields. Although it was a small research project, it was one of the first researches of its kind in Lesotho and gave baseline information on this subject. Today, we know that with climate change, heavy snowfalls, strong winds, floods and droughts are expected to continue to affect the country, posing a direct threat to sectors such as agriculture, forestry and infrastructure.
By end of 2009, my husband got an assignment in Malawi and we moved to picturesque Zomba city in southern Malawi. I started volunteering at the Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi and prepared a book on birds which were distributed freely through Danish funding to 400 primary schools. At the launch of the book, I met the Director of a prominent NGO; Leadership for Environment and Development (LEAD), who gave me an opportunity to work with LEAD for almost five years. It was a chance to do some varied and interesting work, such as compiling the State of Environment Report for Malawi, developing the National Climate Change Policy for Malawi, compiling a Stocktaking Report for Rio +20 for Malawi, reviewing the Decentralized Environmental Management Guidelines for Malawi, conducting studies on Advancing Green Economy through Technology Transfer, on impacts of Lake Chilwa drying in 2012/13 and on Bilharzia prevalence. Through this work, I learnt about the interlinkages between various sectors and climate change.
It was clear that Malawi needed substantial funding for climate change adaptation. Fortunately, we got a chance to successfully develop a Global Environment Facility proposal, which went on to get $6million for climate proofing of local development gains in two districts of Malawi. This has supported over 0.5 million people to receive knowledge, tools, capacities and methodologies for the adoption of an ecosystems and community based approach as well as integrating climate risks into adaptation measures.
LEAD and partners implemented the Norway Government funded Lake Chilwa Basin Climate Change Adaptation Programme, with interventions that included tree planting, training on climate change, setting up drama groups and radio clubs, building fuel efficient fish smoking kilns, solar fish dryers, weather monitoring stations, linking farmers to markets, conservation agriculture training, fuel efficient stoves promotion and setting up a radio and TV station. The experience helped me understand the importance of using an integrated approach, as communities live integrated lives, not in “siloes” of sectors. Adaptation efforts just focusing on one sector may not be as effective. Lake Chilwa communities demanded that we not only look at income generation and livelihood building activities but also to look at health and family planning.
Consequently, from the Lake Chilwa Project, we published a report on the Linkages between Population, Reproductive Health, Gender and Climate Change Adaptation and went on to disseminate this widely to funders and policymakers both nationally and internationally, including at the International Conference on Family Planning in Ethiopia to Woodrow Wilson Center and Capitol Hill in Washington DC. We are confident that this has inspired projects that came afterwards to take a more integrated approach to adaptation efforts.
We are conscious that Climate Change affects those who contributed least to it, particularly those in developing countries and this has led to a climate justice movement. The Scottish Government supports this thinking and their Scottish Climate Justice Fund (SCJF) provides funds to countries like Malawi to cope with climate change impacts. I was part of two projects funded by SCJF, one on Solar Energy Kiosks and the other on Water Resources and climate change. From the Solar Kiosk project, I understood that when piloting a technology, understanding community socio-economic status is key to make the project a success or failure. From the Water Resources project, I learnt that it is important for decentralized structures and Government officials to be involved from the beginning for the project to be sustainable. From December 2019, I am part of a new project also funded by SCJF which will look at energy issues in Malawi, coming up with a novel communal cooker using waste as input. This project is led by the University of Glasgow.
The work at LEAD also piqued my interest on ecosystem services, particularly on provisioning ecosystem services, as it impacts on the lives of natural resource dependent poor communities. I got interested in a fragile yet productive ecosystem, the “Likangala River Catchment”, and this ended up becoming my PhD study. The ecosystem provides so many benefits including edible wild animals, wild plants and fungi, medicinal plants, construction materials, ornamental flowers, firewood, honey, gum, reeds and thatch/weaving grasses. Human activities such as land use change had affected the provisioning ecosystem services and water quality. With climate change, such fragile ecosystems will be affected and the natural resources dependent communities who live off them will be affected.
In 2015, we moved to The Kingdom of Eswatini following my husband’s job and I began volunteering at the Coordinating Assembly of Non-Governmental Organizations (CANGO) Recommended by CANGO, I was engaged under a United Nations Environment funded project as the Climate Change Adaptation consultant for Eswatini’s Technology Needs Assessment (TNA) for climate change management. The TNA prioritized the sectors and technologies that the country needs as it adapts to climate change. I received support from many people particularly the stakeholders and guidance from the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, which moved me to look at this project as an “Ubuntu” inspired journey. Already some projects in Eswatini are using the information from the TNA, which is heartening to note.
In 2016, I went back to Malawi to start a non-profit organization with some friends, which we called “Abundance”, inspired by nature which is plenty and regenerating. Based on my past experiences, we used an integrated approach with deep focus on the community and activities are driven by community needs, building self-reliance. It is a completely voluntarily run organization and the dedicated team in Malawi are fantastic! The same year, I was approached by a colleague from the University of Glasgow to join the Sustainable Futures in Africa network. It appealed to me because the network uses a decolonial approach to our work and explore the relationship between social, cultural, and ecological factors in sustainability in Africa through interdisciplinary research initiatives. Co-Directing this network with Dr.Mia Perry with members from Scotland, Nigeria, Botswana, Uganda and Malawi is a pleasurable and stimulating experience. Abundance as an organization is also part of the network. Through the network, I had a chance to have a residency at the University of Glasgow in 2018 and give talks at the University on the lessons learnt from my work in Africa.
A friend in my PhD cohort linked me with a consultancy firm in South Africa (Gibb). Through them, I was able to undertake a regional consultancy work to compile the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Climate Change Year Book, covering 15 countries which was published in English, Portuguese and French. My interest in research continued to bubble within me and led me to undertake a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Rhodes University in Grahamstown (Makana), South Africa. This culminated in a few journal articles and a book on Poverty Reduction through Non-Timber Forest Products, with case studies from six continents, which was published by Springer. I am now back in Eswatini and with colleagues supporting the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) to build capacity to develop proposals tapping on to climate finance. Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation are two sides of the same coin, I have come to understand as I work with NDMA.
Ten years ago, changing my career from civil engineering to environmental science and working on climate change adaptation and global development seemed like a risky thing to do. Looking back, I know it was right move. The transition would not have happened if I had not connected with supportive colleagues and mentors who guided me through this journey; and family and friends who were understanding throughout. It is tremendously satisfying to work on climate change adaptation, which is very pertinent today. However, at the moment, I also have a sense of anxiety for the future; about climatic stressors that will make permanent and temporary changes to ecosystems and the implications for losses and damages to people and society. As we make New Year’s Resolutions, let’s make some resolutions to make personal and collective action to save the planet. Let us contribute less emissions towards climate change, let us help with adaptation efforts.
Interview with SFA Co-Director | Career Changes to Fuel your Passions
By Vanessa Duclos, Network’s Research Manager
Do you sometimes have doubts about your career choices? It is never too late to discover new passions, and to follow the necessary steps to make it a new vocation. While visiting the University of Glasgow in September, Dr Deepa Pullanikkatil, Co-Director of the SFA Network, was interviewed by Emma Smith from DEVEX about why and how she changed her career from civil engineering to environmental sciences, with a focus on climate change adaptation.
https://www.devex.com/news/q-a-how-this-engineer-began-a-new-career-in-global-development-95576
Why Volunteering is so Rewarding
By Ruth Mumba, Director, Abundance, Malawi
I read somewhere, “Volunteers are love personified”. I think that phrase truly defines what volunteering is. It’s a service beyond self. A journey that cannot be summed up in financial terms but with immeasurable returns. My volunteering journey led me to be part of the Mandela Washington Fellowship 2019. The Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, which began in 2014, is the flagship program of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) that empowers young people through academic coursework, leadership training, and networking. The Fellowship provides outstanding young leaders from Sub- Saharan Africa with the opportunity to hone their skills at a U.S. college or university with support for professional development after they return back to their home countries. Fellows engage in Academic and Leadership Institutes, meet with U.S. federal, state, and local government officials, participate in community service, visit organizations to gain professional development, and make friendships and professional contacts with Americans.
I have been volunteering since I was 17 years old. But I never imagined how key volunteering would be for my life. Back then, I did it to get enough credit hours in order to graduate high school. When I got to university, I paid more attention to why I was volunteering. I realised I did it to help other people to see a different perspective to life. We would go to a rural village every Saturday morning to teach children early childhood development skills. We played games, sang songs and had discussions on various aspects of life like education and the importance of good health. I felt so fulfilled in those few hours I spent with the children and got a new energy for the new week of classes, assignments and lecture hours back at university.
In 2016 I started working with Abundance Worldwide and became part of a larger group of volunteers on a more professional level. Abundance Worldwide is part of the Sustainable Futures in Africa (SFA) and amongst our partners and networks, we have created a platform where we can remotely volunteer and contribute to individual partner projects from activities including website development to grant applications.
There have been days I thought that I was biting more than I could chew. Communities sometimes have expectations far beyond our capability. But by working together, I have experienced an ease doing developmental work. Together, we were able to resolve conflicts in communities, help develop technical skills of the youth and built an E-Learning centre that the whole community has access to. We have engaged student volunteer to teach and mentor their peers in deprived communities.
While in the United States of America, I had a first experience of being an international volunteer, in a developed country! I had a chance to cook for the homeless, went to a farm to harvest produce for a food bank and planted trees at a local park. I realised that the world has the similar problems. We cannot sit back to wait for institutions or governments to fix them. Sometimes, it is up to us, the people, to come together, pull our resources and help those who are unable to.
I believe that one reason I made it into the Mandela Washington fellowship was due to my leadership and volunteering spirit. To see a sustainable future of Africa is to imagine the possibilities and act on it. Volunteers go far and beyond boundaries. This month at Abundance, we are hosting a Volunteer from France, Julie Charmetant. We are sharing notes on our individual volunteering journey. We want to teach, give health related advise, provide financial literacy and many more. Equipped with passion to see change, volunteers can leave a long lasting impact in individuals and communities they work in. We at Abundance are striving to do just that.
About the author
Ruth Mumba is a Geologist with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Earth Sciences and Geography from the University of Malawi, Chancellor College. She has been working for the past five years at the Geological Survey Department under Government of Malawi focusing on geological mapping and geothermal resources exploration. She is a Mandela Washington Fellow (2019) and the Director of a voluntary non-profit organisation, “Abundance” (member of SFA network) which supports a village in southern Malawi using an integrated approach. Her passion is volunteerism and supporting vulnerable communities and works towards supporting communities in Malawi use their natural resources in a sustainable manner, have access to quality education, technologies and health facilities.
Photo Essays – Public Spaces in Malawi
By Elson Kambalu, Deepa Pullanikkatil, Boyson Moyo and Stewart Paul
Are you curious about public spaces, what secrets they hold, how they are used in Africa? During Dr Deepa Pullanikkatil’s visit to Malawi hub in April 2019, the team visited public spaces to create these 4 photo essays showing the different “layers” behind use of public space.
ZOMBA BOTANICAL GARDEN
LIZULU
MEETING UNDER A TREE
Personal Reflections on SFA Co-Director's Visit to Malawi
by Stewart Paul
The SFA Malawi hub was honored to be accorded a visit by the Network’s co-director, Dr. Deepa Pullanikkatil in April this year (2019). From Lilongwe to Mzuzu, back to Lilongwe and then Zomba and finally Machinga. It was a fulfilling and exciting journey. This visit couldn’t possibly come at a more opportune time, as our hub was named to host the next SFA Symposium in 2020. Aside from facilitating development of several grant proposals, Dr. Pullanikkatil substantially led the development of a photo essay on public spaces as well as the introduction of the SFA Network to diverse key and potential new partners and members. This piece reflects on the fruitfulness of this visit by highlighting the major achievements accomplished. You can watch a short documentary of our journey here.
Lilongwe
Deepa’s engagement with us started with our visit to UNICEF Malawi head offices in Lilongwe. This meeting was set up to brief UNICEF about our Network, both local and international, among others. In the end we made new connections with 8 UNICEF staff members working in various disciplines. Further e-mail communications led to SFA Malawi hub linking up with the Drone head at UNICEF which we hope will engender a collaboration on SFA Malawi hub’s upcoming Drone Project entitled “Placing Communities at the Heart of Humanitarian and Environmental Drone Use: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities”. Funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), the project has many collaborator institutions and organizations such as Abundance Worldwide (NGO), the University of Glasgow (UK), UNICEF’s GIS and Remote Sensing Center, Malawi Civil Aviation Authority and Malawi Department of Surveys.
Next was a 2-day workshop on grant proposal writing which was held at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR), where the Hub is based. During the activity, three proposals were developed, to be submitted shortly. This was followed by a presentation on a recent paper (about the tree Faidherbia albida)written by Deepa and the Hub director Dr Boyson Moyo. Students and staff from LUANAR attended the seminar.
Mzuzu
We had a different programme for the Northern part of Malawi. First, we held meetings with Mzuzu University and University of Livingstonia (UNILIA). At UNILIA we met with the Vice Chancellor, and they showed interest to join the SFA network. We also met with Moses Mkandawire, director of Church and Society which is a governance desk for the Synod of Livingstonia of the CCAP Church. The goal of these meetings revolved around introducing the Network to these institutions and personally inviting them to join the Network. Our engagements in the “green city” of Mzuzu further involved one of our Hub members, Elson Kambalu, of Art House Africa. His project was to take photos for an essay on Public Spaces, which together with outcomes from discussions with users of such spaces will soon be published.
A final activity was a visit to Chintheche on the beautiful sandy shores of Lake Malawi. More documentation of public spaces was done. Most importantly, Dr Pullanikkatil and Dr Moyo made final edits on the Faidherbia albida paper which was submitted for publication later that day.
Zomba
Upon arrival in Zomba we headed to Sunbird Kuchawe for a dinner meeting with the mission director for USAID in Malawi. This happened to be a very successful encounter as we held discussions on a wide range of topics. We found a contact for a staff member of USAID working on drones and hopefully should be very valuable in our future endeavours. Dr Moyo agreed to have an audience or give a talk to the head of USAID Agriculture section and his team. Our Public spaces photo sessions extended to Zomba Botanic Garden which was created to promote agricultural enterprise by displaying an experimental area for newly introduced plants. Since the DC for Zomba was engaged with other pressing matters, we delivered our letter of introduction to his office. The final engagement in Zomba was a meeting with LEAD who explained their projects, including one with University of Southampton on drones.
Machinga
The climax of our journey across Malawi was our visit to Mbando village to explore the Population Health and Environment (PHE) nexus within the community. Using role plays and facilitated discussions, we were able to capture informative feedback from the community and ArtGlo has produced a report on this. Chanco TV covered the event and two documentaries were later beamed on their TV station.
SFA members later visited the E-Learning centre that was established by Abundance with funds raised through Global Giving. Relying entirely on solar energy, the centre has 8 laptop computers that are connected to the offline learning resources through a device called Rachel. A video link to a documentary about the centre is available here. We also met with Machinga District commissioner. At the end of our fruitful meeting, an opportunity arose to extend the drone project to the human-wildlife interactions at Liwonde National Park and surrounding communities. Consequently, the DC invited SFA to present their projects and updates at the District Executive Committee (DEC) meeting.
Cyclone Idai: Reflections from Malawi
By Dr Deepa Pullanikkatil, Co-Director of the SFA network
Recently, I visited the Malawi hub of the Sustainable Futures in Africa (SFA) Network to offer my assistance. With Hub Director Dr. Boyson Moyo, Research Administrator Stewart Paul and other hub members, we developed research proposals and visited many institutions including UNICEF, the University of Livingstonia, the University of Mzuzu, an NGO (Church and Society), a local government institution (Machinga District Council), a sustainable organic farm (Tikondwe Freedom Gardens), and a think tank (Leadership for Environment and Development). Several organizations joined our network and others expressed interest in collaborating with us. At Mbando village, we had fruitful discussions on an integrated approach to development based on the population-health-environment nexus. It was a busy and productive two weeks, but what touched me most were the impacts and aftermath of Cyclone Idai in Malawi. I want to share some reflections on this.
It was just two weeks after Cyclone Idai hit, that we had a chance to meet with Mandere Bester, the District Commissioner of Machinga District, southern Malawi – one of the 15 districts affected by the cyclone. Cyclone Idai was one of the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa and the Southern Hemisphere, causing widespread damage and loss of life in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. Bester explained to us that 29,000 houses had been damaged or washed away in Machinga District alone. The scale of destruction in Malawi, although less than Mozambique, was devastating, with many thousands of people relocated to schools and churches that became relief camps during the cyclone and its aftermath of floods. Malawi declared a state of disaster and the media reported that 868,900 people have been affected by the floods, with a reported death toll of 59.
Bester described a particularly moving aspect of the disaster. He said that of the 29,000 houses damaged in his district, 19,000 were women-headed households. According to Bester, men in Malawi need to be encouraged to financially support their families and advised against abandoning them when they migrate elsewhere in search of income opportunities. Listening to him, we realised that understanding culture, power, vulnerabilities and gender inequalities in rural settings is necessary in times of disaster.
The SFA team also had a chance to visit the village of Mbando in Machinga District. As we drove to the village, we could see burst stream and river banks and unusually high silt load at bridges and culverts, the aftermath of the floods. Moses Phulusa, the Community Coordinator of Abundance, explained that 105 households make up Mbando village, where 26 pit latrines had collapsed, 8 kitchens had been damaged, roads and rice fields had flooded and several trees had fallen down. The destruction of crop fields is akin to the destruction of human livelihoods in Malawi, where over 85% of people dwell in rural areas and practice farming, with the majority (95%) living off subsistence farming. The farmers and residents are now waiting for the rainy season to end so they can begin rebuilding their damaged assets. “Many farmers’ rice fields were affected, even mine. What can we do?… Ah, but God will provide”, said Moses, inspiring me with his smile, which reflected hopefulness even in this time of despair.
As we discussed the situation with the staff of UNICEF in Lilongwe, it was clear that humanitarian agencies in Malawi were very busy providing relief to displaced people and addressing the health impacts of this disaster (cholera cases were on the rise). The Government of Malawi had established approximately 60 internally displaced person (IDP) camps in the two southernmost districts which were the hardest hit: Chikwawa and Nsanje. A friend working for a private sector logistics company in Lilongwe said that they were remodelling their trucks to become mobile clinics to support communities in the affected areas.
For now, the buzz of relief work happening in Malawi was reassuring. However, it is scary to think of what the future could hold, with climate change predicted to increase the frequency of such storm events. Sadly, it’s the poor and vulnerable who are most affected, and they are the ones who have least contributed to climate change. Cyclone Idai was not just a natural disaster; it was a storm made worse by climate change, a regular occurrence worldwide. Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe recorded a combined death toll of over 1,000. Cyclones know no borders and require both a regional and continental approach to response and preparedness. In light of this sobering thought, the SFA team reflected with concern on what we could do. We agreed that reducing the vulnerability of communities and enhancing both their resilience and the landscape’s resilience to such extreme weather events is key. Collectively, the members of SFA have so much knowledge; surely it can be of use to serve communities affected by such disasters. Certainly we can strive to make our scientific work more relevant and enhance our understanding of hydrometeorological disasters and how best to prepare for them, so that we minimise loss of life in Malawi and beyond.