By United Nations Environment Programme
Clean air is a human right and a necessary pre-condition for addressing climate change as well as achieving many Sustainable Development Goals. Air pollution does not only damage human health, but it also hampers the economy in many ways. Read more…
By United Nations
Bonn, 6 May 2019 | The third edition of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Global Festival of Action wrapped up on the weekend, completing three days of inspirational exchanges, learning and co-creation by over 1,700 participants from all over the world, once again organized by the UN SDG Action Campaign. Pushing for accelerated action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, activists and high-level participants advocated for change and committed to concrete action, as we approach the ten-year countdown to the 2030 target date for the Goals next year. Read more…
Sustainable Development Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns have been the recent topic of discussion in many nations. During the fourth session of the on-going United Nations Environmental Assembly, 2019 (UNEA 4 2019) – (whose theme was #SolveDifferent)- placed emphasis on the topic and most leaders especially in Africa committed to ensuring achievement of the goal to avoid an economic crisis in their countries.
The economic crisis has been experienced in most countries in the world. Factors such as global warming and energy crises change the habit and living standards of the consumers. On the other hand, factors like goods, services, brand, and the income level of the consumer, habit, and provident education lead the consumer towards expenditure other than their needs.
A consumer is a person or entity that purchases attain or invests in a product or service. Consumer education is the process of a buyer learning about the products and services she is considering to attain.
Our consumption choices are powerful decisions that we make in our everyday life; they shape markets and production patterns and have tremendous impacts on our natural resources and ecosystems as well as on our global community -contributing to issues such as climate change and human rights.
Education for sustainable consumption, an integral part of education for sustainable development, is essential to empower individuals and social groups with appropriate information on the impact of their daily choices as consumers.
Promoting sustainable consumption and production are important aspects of sustainable development, which depends on achieving long-term economic growth that is consistent with environmental and social needs. Most government policies in this area focus on stemming the environmental impacts of unsustainable industrial production practices primarily through regulations and taxes. Sustainable consumption is equally important to limit negative environmental and social externalities as well as to provide markets for sustainable products.
Sustainable life and development processes focus on conscious consuming attitude. To meet this behavior, consumer education concept is key. It is important in gaining the perspective of different customers.
It includes the education program and tools for every individual in the society to be a clever and conscious consumer, as well as a responsible citizen. Every buyer has a different consuming attitude. They learn new perceptions every day. Changing negative attitudes and thoughts is only possible through education.
Many factors have contributed to the need for sustainable consumption. Environmental degradation, whose primary driving force is population consumption and technology has reached proportions that require immediate action. Poverty remains rampant. Consumption by some people increases at the expense of others due to disproportionate distribution.
The globalization of media has revealed that the materialistic lifestyles of the most affluent groups in society are influencing attitudes and consumption patterns globally.
Marginalization is on the rise. Economic difficulties due to financial overextension and dependency increase. Crime is on the rise. Physical and mental health problems related to lifestyle choices have become global concerns.
Consumer education prepares people for life; for job security; for demands of a rapidly changing society; for technological changes. It provides knowledge, values, and skills to enable individuals and social groups to become actors of change towards more sustainable consumption behavior.
It further provides citizens with the appropriate information and knowledge on the social and environmental impacts of everyday work.
The main objective of utilizing consumer education is to ensure the basic needs of the community are met, quality of life is improved, inefficient use of resources and environmental degradation is minimized.
In Africa, Tanzania is among the countries that have adopted the initiative. Based on the success of Here and Now! Education for Sustainable Consumption-Recommendations and Guidelines, UNEP implemented a pilot project on the Institutional strengthening of Education for Sustainable Consumption between 2011 and 2015 in Chile, Indonesia, and Tanzania.
In the three countries, the project was successful and implementation was initiated. With its main aim being “promoting the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development.” It also serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. UNEP, therefore, urges member countries to adopt the system to ensure sustainable consumption.
Countries are encouraged to support communication campaigns for information and awareness-raising among consumers. They should be aimed at encouraging eco-friendly consumption habits among its citizens. The inclusion of consumption programs into education schemes is another way countries can foster sustainability.
Teaching and developing curricula on sustainable development, which generally include material for promoting sustainable consumption is however the most effective. Some countries such as Italy and the United Kingdom, are supporting the development of sustainable schools to prepare young people for a lifetime of sustainable living through teaching and day-to-day practices.
Achieving sustainable consumption requires an understanding of consumer behavior and attitudes. People have different needs with respect to the information and their potential to be influenced by instruments and tools varies. Most have a positive but passive view of sustainable consumption. Consumer education is very important. It means protecting, giving confidence and enhancing the accountability of tomorrow’s consumers.
When one has malaria-related symptoms, they are likely to rush into a chemist and get the right antibiotics in order to treat it before a necessity to visit hospitals. One may get the medicine and it may fail to treat the symptoms and in some instances accelerate the illness. This may be attributed to the counterfeit medicines making their way into Kenya and Africa as a whole. This slows the achievement of sustainable development goals in the health sector.
As most people tend to curb the unemployment rate, they venture into easy money making ways. This has led to an increase in quack clinics and briefcase pharmacies and chemists. Most of these clinics and pharmacies operate illegally in Kenya’s private sector making it hard to ascertain the standard and non-standard. Selling of counterfeit medicine by these clinics has been a problem for most governments in Africa. This has raised concerns by experts in the health sector as thousands of people die as a result of consuming these non-standard drugs.
The counterfeit drugs are said to have the wrong ingredient sizes and at times no ingredients at all related to treating the disease they are intended to. This poses danger to individuals and at times can cause deaths of patients.
Kenya malaria indicator survey conducted a survey in 2015 that indicated that about twenty-five percent of children attend private health care facilities in relation to malaria treatment. These children are most threatened by the ailment due to weak immune systems. In urban areas, the figure was shown to be at forty percent. The issuance of malaria medicines such as artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) is said to exist in a large number in private sectors. These medicines lack international and local approval.
In 2014, the pharmacy and poisons board (PPB) conducted thorough surveillance that saw the closure of many illegal pharmaceutical shops around Kenya. Suspects totaling up to 926 were arraigned in court regarding this issue.
However, in 2017 the malaria journal published a study in line with the malaria treatment medicines. In the study, it was still found that artemisinin combination therapies were still thriving in the private sector. Approval from world health organization (who) and the global fund to give a subscription of the medicine was not given at the time. In fact, its popularity had risen from twenty-one percent to forty-one percent. Kenya has made a progressive step in incorporating technology to control the increase of fake drugs due to concerns in the health sector.
A majority of medicines that are used in Kenya are either from Japan or India. Opportunistic medical practitioners and those operating chemists take advantage of medicine shortage to introduce fake drugs. The government has however teamed up with pharmacy and poisons board (PPB) to include technological innovations that will see the end of fake drugs.
A spectrometer has been introduced as a technological device to reduce the spread of counterfeit medicine. This is a tiny portable device with the ability to scan medicine ingredients. It scans the active ingredients and if none is found it issues an alert making it easy to differentiate between the standard and non-standard drugs.
Mobile use in Kenya has increased over time. A majority of the present population has access to mobile phones as compared to a decade ago. Pharmacy and poisons board has come up with mobile-based innovations that will see people have the ability to identify genuine and fake drugs. This is through the creation of a code that is accessible to people at chemists and will aid in identifying the quality of medicines. In addition to this, the code scans through and identifies various side effects caused by various medicines and if medicines are registered or not. Online licensing of drugs and pharmaceutical shops have also been incorporated in order to meet the standards centered on drugs that make their way into hospitals and chemists.
Regardless of incorporating the use of technology to identify the counterfeits, the main problem remains untapped. Health care in Kenya if faced with a lot of problems which should be solved before tackling the big problems. There is limited access to health care facilities. This leads to the increase in the purchase of over the counter drugs which in most cases are not genuine.
The lack of adequate personnel in hospitals also leads to an increase in the rise of counterfeit drugs. imagine going to a hospital and finding a long queue at the consultation room waiting for one doctor to treat all patients. This would prompt to seek fast services at a pharmaceutical clinic especially when one can attribute the symptoms to a particular illness. Health care financing is also low and most public hospitals, for instance, prescribe medicines that one has to look for elsewhere. This leads to searching the drug in a chemist and without the knowledge of identifying a fake or genuine drug one ends up purchasing as most share similar names.
Despite the government finding a solution to ending counterfeit medicines, the problems seem to resurface in a unique way as time goes by. It is wise to solve the problem from the root. Once a farmer notices a problem with a crop he diagnoses the root, not the branch. Diagnosis of the problem in counterfeit drugs without the health sector as a whole will lead to temporal solutions that are not beneficial in the long run.
Urbanization alone will not automatically and naturally translate into an improvement of living conditions and economic growth. It requires a number of accompaniments if it is to gear positive change in terms of growth and development of a country. Research by the UN shows that 50% of Africa’s population will be living in urban areas by the year 2040. One of the mistakes that most urban planners make in their work is treating urbanization as a crisis rather than a tremendous opportunity to better a society’s economic growth. This is the reason as to why they provide short term solutions that are not effective or productive.
Understanding Urbanization
What drives urbanization? This question has answers that seem impossible to solve. The reality of the matter is that it involves more push than pull factors. The push factors include poverty, unemployment, civil wars, climate change, and famine. The perception that there are better economic and social opportunities in the cities is one of the major pull factors.
The first thing governments and urban planners should recognize is that urbanization is here to stay. Most countries in Africa are already overwhelmed by urbanization and struggle to cope with it. They fail to focus on the positive effects. Picture the number of social services ranging from schools to hospitals available in an urbanized area. They tend to be higher and easily accessible compared to those in rural areas. In a world that is full of creativity and innovations, urbanization plays a key role as most resources needed for growth to take place are within the urban areas.
Treating urbanization as a crisis leads to short term implementations of curbing it. In Kenya, for example, reclaiming of public land from the people by the government so as to curb urbanization has led to the growth of informal settlements and slums such as Kibera and Mukuru Kwa Njenga. Africa must understand that no region in the world has prospered without developing their cities. What we should now work on is making urbanization work towards yielding positive results rather than negative results. However, urbanization alone is not sufficient to regenerate the future of most countries.
Most African societies are rich in natural resources, such as oil and minerals. This offers them a huge source of revenue that serves as tremendous potential in the growth of a city. Government investment in urban infrastructure will not only create employment opportunities but also open markets for both Producers and consumers. Rapid population growth offers a great consumer market for investment. Foreign investors, for example, are looking into Africa as a source of its future growth as most countries in the west have remained stagnant in term of population growth. This will create more opportunities for Africa while at the same time growing its economy. The governments should formulate a policy that integrates management and city planning.
Lessons From China
Some lessons can be borrowed from China to help make urbanization yield positive results. China raised its capital investment which entails housing and infrastructure from 35 percent of GDP in 1980 to 48 percent in 2011. This was accompanied by a rapid increase in urban population from 18 percent in 1978 to 52 percent in 2012. In deviance, capital investment in Africa has stagnated at 20 percent of GDP for over four decades. China’s transformation was championed by urbanization in its large cities. They played a role in raising investment and job opportunities by drawing low-skilled manufacturing industries which profited from economies of scale and market connections.
African governments and should work with communities to improve their situation from the ground. New skill sets of working with the community should be improvised instead of doing things for the community. There should be co-operation for example between stakeholders’ interests and that of the people in the cities for any sort of transition to take place. Businesses should be provided with capital that enables them to create quality jobs for people moving into urban centers. This will improve the ‘Working Environmental condition.’
More capital should be geared towards household and private investment in housing. Strengthening the foundations and systems that make urban areas competitive and sustainable and rational. This will greatly enhance the ‘Living environment. If inhabitants have sources of income, productivity in their professions and socialization with housing which is of good quality, access to a good working and living environment, Urbanization is highly welcome.
Rural areas are affected by urbanization as well despite its growth in terms of population. They experience a massive drain in terms of the youth as they move more compared to the old in the urban areas. The government should be able to come up with strategic and applicable methods to strengthen the linkages between the rural and urban areas. For example, a farmer in the rural area should be able to access the market for their produce in urban areas. This will act as an incentive for those seeking opportunities in urban areas. Moreover, it will lead to the growth and development of rural areas as well.
There should be a shift in perception of urbanization concept and solutions offered so as to control it. This will help in developing an economic strategy that deals with urbanization.
Within the span of just a few decades, the term sustainability has made an extraordinary rise to fame as it has become one of the defining features of the 21st-century reality. Today, the term sustainability encompasses a whole paradigm shift to our understanding of the world and our place within it. This new paradigm of sustainability is set to have a fundamental effect on how we manage and design systems in the 21st century as it will affect all aspects of our economy.
Increasing uncertainties on environmental issues in our societies have fostered differing opinions that can be resolved by embracing sustainability. It is a broad discipline which gives insight into most human world from business to technology to the environment and the social sciences.
Defining sustainability
Sustainability is a big concept that is easier to understand than to succinctly define. However, hundreds of definitions exist and often share similar views. The Brundtland Report of 1987, states that sustainability is the development that meets the needs of the present generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It is a desirable healthy and dynamic balance between human and natural systems. Central to this definition is the sustainable applicability to the three elements of life; social, economic and environmental. The concept of sustainable development is the result of the growing awareness of the global links between mounting environmental problems, socioeconomic issues to do with poverty and inequality and concerns about a healthy future for humanity.
Pillars of sustainability
Sustainability seeks new ways of addressing relationships between societal growth and environmental degradation- to allow human societies to grow without destroying or over-exploiting the environment or ecosystem in which they exist. In 2015, the World Summit on Social Development identified three core areas that contribute to the philosophy of social science of sustainable development that forms the backbone of tackling the main challenges of sustainability.
The three pillars- economic viability, environmental protection, and social feasibility. Economic viability entails; financial feasibility, long-term management of resources and balance of the global economy. Social feasibility, on the other hand, focuses on; promotion of community resilience, eradication of poverty and ensuring human equality. Lastly, environmental protection encompasses; the conservation of resources, protection of nature and preservation of wildlife. In order to successfully achieve sustainability, these three pillars need to be incorporated efficiently with the goal of preserving and maintaining resources.
Why sustainability?
The nature of human socio-ecological systems has changed fundamentally as we have developed new technologies, institutions, and new energy sources. Subsequently, this has affected our environment- the whole ecosystem that the society depends upon for various resources.
To counter this change, sustainability has been encouraged to foster the change in public policies and individual behavior towards conserving nature and resources. Sustainability encourages and provides incentives for change rather than mandating change. It is far the most important conversation in Africa and the world at large.
Africa today majorly relies on natural resources for its development and sustaining lives. However, the global supply of these resources is declining while the resource demand is escalating leading to a lack of balance in the ecosystem.
Challenges such as pollution, resource depletion, loss of biodiversity, climate change have significantly shown a growing human footprint which is not sustainable raising alarm for Africans to act differently and embrace sustainability.
According to the Living Planet Report of 2012, nature is described as the basis of our well-being and our prosperity. However, biodiversity has declined globally by 30% from 2007 to 2018. This raises the need for practices such as smart agriculture, water stewardship, climate action, circular packaging, and entrepreneurship – embedded within the concept of sustainability- to influence people’s opinions and attitudes towards sustainability and hence will see Africa positively scale its economy higher and successfully achieve its sustainable development goals. The media can be used as a tool for sensitizing the public and making known the skills, values and behaviors needed for sustainability.
Amid all the gloom surrounding the future, the promise of science shines brightly. Optimists hope that new technologies and urban infrastructure, built with environmentally sound practices, can support a sustainable, happy population. The motivation behind sustainability is often complex, personal and diverse. It is unrealistic to create a list of reasons why so many individuals, groups and communities are working towards this goal. Yet for most people, sustainability comes down to the kind of future we are leaving for the next generation.
Sustainability as a value is shared by many individuals and organizations who demonstrate this value in their policies, everyday activities, and behaviors. Individuals have played a major role in developing our current environmental and social circumstances. The people of today must, therefore, create solutions on how to preserve the earth and ensure the continued survival of future generations and adapt them.
Related article; https://africasustainabilitymatters.com/the-kenyan-sustainability-practitioners-are-walking-the-talk
Sports news tends to air last in most news broadcasts. Our heroes are only prominently featured if there are medals and jackpots involved. Sports coverage in Kenya is mostly assigned to programs that run during the weekends such as ‘THE SCORE” by Radio Africa. There are sport exclusive channels such as Kwese sports but their numbers are dismal. The value adds that sports bring to the national economy is not fully recognized in Kenya. More so female sports compared to their male companions
The first time female athletes took part in modern Olympic games was in 1900. In the second Olympic games, only 12 female athletes participated out of the 1066 athletes from 19 countries. Today’s women have made a name for themselves in the sports world- Serena Williams, Dutee Chand, Portia Modise, Brigid Kosgei, Caster Semenya and Maria Mutola. It is without a doubt that sports are a huge potential to women empowerment. African women, in particular, have made a name for themselves in the athletic world. Derartu Tulu was the first African black female athlete to win an Olympic title. When Kenyan, Brigid Kosgei and Vivian Cheruiyot garnered gold and silver respectively in the recent London marathon, there was an uproar on social media platforms. All sort of memes were created and shared. Some described the rest of the athletes as chasing the two ladies while they were running.
However, there could be a possible threat. What does the future of sports hold for women? Caster Semenya, a South African double champion and triple champion in the 800 distance lost her appeal against the International Associations of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on testosterone regulations. This reminded me of the allegorical novella by George Orwell, with “The pigs who were an outstanding character came up with commandments for the rest to follow”. In the case of the IAAF ruling, “all animals are equal but some are more equal.”
Based on the scientific knowledge of genes and anatomy, mundane defined as binary “male” or “female.” This has been a clear way of categorizing women and men who participate in sports. However different people have different sex developments compared to others. Some have higher testosterone levels compared to others thus giving them an ‘advantage’ when it comes to sports.
In Africa, women with high testosterone levels have in the past competed in athletics championships such as Maria Mutola popularly known as Maputo express from Mozambique. Going by the ruling Semenya will have to take medication reducing her testosterone levels if she wants to participate in events between 400m and a mile. This will have an effect on the women taking part in sports. We have heard of athletes taking drugs to have an advantage such as Marion Jones but not taking drugs ‘to lose.’
But what are the long term effects? Regulation of participation of women with differences of sex development will stigmatize women athletes by labeling, categorizing and eventually excluding them without scientific evidence or ethical consideration. The complexity of gender revolving around genes, anatomy, hormones, and biology cannot be simply classified with a binary definition of male or female. This will lock out any potential athletes who relate to Caster Semenya’s situation. Sports gives women a voice, empowers them and at the same time generates income for countries. Regulating the bodies of some because they seem like a ‘threat’ to the competition is like asking the tallest basketball players in a game to kneel so as to level with the rest.
Women participation in sports is a pathway to sustainable sports in Africa but if being different is enough to exclude you or force you to make changes within your body then positive impacts of sports in women will soon be a phrase we cannot relate to. IAAF should seek other alternative solutions in the name of fairness and equality.
If you could do anything, what would you do? Are you willing to sacrifice in order to do it? Everyone desires a clean and healthy neighborhood, but how much do we put to achieve a cleaner neighborhood?
The internet globe is at the rife to ensure a cleaner environment with new hashtag trashtag challenge moving individuals to take up a role and restore the beauty of nature. Most viral challenges revolve around making fun through memes and funny videos but the trashtag comes with the whole benefit of ensuring trash is out of sight.
For this particular challenge, one is required to identify a polluted area, take a photo of it, take a clean-up action and then take a photo of the clean-up area, post the image of the before and after to social media and inspire several others to take responsibility.
The challenge dates back to 2015 through an outdoor clothing company OCU, who dropped a receipt in a pretty location but out of guilty decided to collect some 100 more receipts. The noble act gave birth to the #Trashtag project, which seeks to raise awareness on litter pollution and the rise in ocean plastic, as it inspires people to be better stewards of the environment.
The challenge revived through a Facebook post encouraging bored teens to pick up litter. The post by Byron Roman featured an Algerian environmental activist Cruiz who posted photo of a littered woodland area and an after photo of the area after garbage collection.
“Here is a new #challenge for all you bored teens. Take a photo of an area that needs some cleaning or maintenance, then take a photo after you have done something about it, and post it. Here are the people doing it #BasuraChallenge #trashtag Challenge, join the cause. #BasuraChallengeAZ”
The challenge captured a multitude gathering over 340,000 shares and 94,000 likes. As at 18th, March the #Trashtag Instagram account had 37,342 posts of countless volunteers who had photos of cleaned up parks, roads, and beaches around the world.
Unfortunately, Kenyans seem as not stricken by the viral challenge, compared to recent challenges like the #10 years challenge, Presidential inauguration challenge in 2017 and 2018 among others. The challenge seems a greater challenge in its self. Would it be the Practical role holds us back? Are we lacking intrinsic motivation despite the littered streets and rivers in the country? Would it be a too busy schedule?
Viral challenges are mostly short-lived, with the fun fading in a week, or a month’s time. New trends are born and the old is gone. They say out of sight out of mind. But how can this noble task retain relevance as the globe seek to reduce pollution? Does it build the intrinsic value to refuse, reduce, reuse, and recycle products that litter the environment?
How can governments and leaders sustain the initiative? It is high time they join the challenge and post their challenge too! Offer support programs for garbage disposal once collected and celebrate those involved.
The global response is fantastic, accepted and many participants hope that it sticks around. One wrote
“#Trashtag is awesome, never thought I’d support one in a non-sarcastic fashion. I sure hope this challenge sticks around.”
Another wrote, “I like this #trashtag challenge a lot more than kids choking on cinnamon or eating TidePods.” “Way to go, humanity.”
Kenya faces a reemerging series of cholera outbreaks since 2015. In 2017 alone, an estimated 4000 cholera cases were reported across the country, with the country’s capital accounting for 70% of the cases. In the WHO epidemiological week 13 report 2019, the country accounted for 35.4% of the 3,385 total cholera cases reported within the Eastern and Southern Africa Region (ESAR) since the year began. The cyclone- hit Mozambique came second at 31% ≈1048 cases.
Cholera is a disease of global significance, accounting for approximately 21,000-143,000 deaths worldwide every year. Children stand as major victims of the cholera outbreak incidences. Transmitted through consumption of food and water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, the disease is associated with unsafe water sources, poor hygiene, and sanitation. Untreated cases can lead to death within hours to patients who were otherwise healthy, due to severe diarrhea and body dehydration.
However, formally attributed to the informal settlements (slums and refugee camps), famous of congestions, clogged drainage systems, and water scarcity, cholera is now a common snare in Kenyan prominent joints, learning institutions and social gatherings. In 2017 a team of prominent health officials in for a health conference fell victims. This was after consuming contaminated food at a high end joint, that hosted the conference. The incidence left 47 victims hospitalized in various hospitals within the capital.
Most recent is the outbreak at Nairobi Hospital that saw the facility record 52 cases and one death. The victims comprising of doctors, nurses, and attendants at the facility cafeteria. Cholera outbreaks have also been reported in premier estates like Nyayo Estate, Tassia, Avenue1-3, Pipeline, South B, Donholm, and their neighborhoods.
The continued endemicity of the otherwise preventable disease puts Kenya’s preparedness to fight the otherwise preventable disease at the spotlight. But why the huge burden? Are the concerned parties doing enough? Is there a sustainable solution to the snare disease?
Response
Cholera incidences are first slammed with denial from the concerned health authorities. The cholera outbreak in the 2017 health conference serves as a clear example. Similarly, the recent supply of contaminated water in Umoja estates and some Central Business District(CBD) commercial buildings was greatly refuted despite residents in the localities taken ill with diarrheas cases on consuming the water unknowingly. At some instances the tap water smelling sewer. “The water we are getting in our taps is raw sewage. My baby has become sick after drinking the water.” Mary Wacuka told the Daily nation team out to survey the situation. The claims coming in amidst the county health director alarming alert in the city.
The health sector has also been more reactive than proactive. Outbreaks come as a surprise. Inadequate contact tracing, see most cases go unsuspected, lack of a consistent public health campaign on hygiene and sanitation also deter the concerted efforts to curb the emergence of the disease.
A preventive approach to reducing cholera cases is achievable and sustainable!!
Unclean water
Contaminated water is a major predisposing factor to a cholera outbreak. Unsafe water is estimated to cause 502 000 diarrheal deaths each year, globally. According to UN statistics, 18 million Kenyans lack access to clean water. Recent surveillance in cholera-stricken Kajiado and Narok Counties revealed contamination of Environmental samples taken in a river shared by the two counties. The surface water runoff soiled with human waste, due to widespread open defecation in the vicinity.
Investing in management of freshwater ecosystems and sanitation facilities will go a long way in curbing water-borne diseases.
Improved infrastructure, that can deliver safe drinking water in nature of design and construction, is necessary and a key indicator of the Sustainable Development Goal 6 .1, that builds on the quality of the drinking water. To meet an improved water source threshold, any source should be in close proximity, supply water when need, and free of fecal and others contaminants.
Policy
Lack of a political will put Kenyans at unnecessary risk. Preparedness is influenced and a mandate of government institutions that are mandated to ensure right infrastructures are put in place. Illegal constructions, clogged drainages and open sewer lines in slums are a major threat to disease outbreaks. This settlements house two-thirds of Nairobi inhabitants.
Provision of health education and maintenance of sanitation facilities are mandated solely enclaved on the policy. Absence of legit health policy is a major fallout in the fight of cholera. A ban on streets and food hawking in 2017 was for instance short-lived though the country still poses a huge burden.
Cholera is preventable let’s kick it out before it does!
Wildlife crime is unfortunately estimated to be among the most lucrative illegal trades in the world. It causes multiple threats that erode biodiversity, destroys their national assets, and local communities of income-earning possibilities from tourism and sustainable use. Its revenue is sometimes used to fuel corruption and conflict.
The 2018 London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade agreed on a renewed global commitment to tackle wildlife crime. It recognized the importance of increased political support at the highest levels to combat illegal trade in wildlife. Leaders from over 80 countries recognized illegal wildlife trade as “highly organized, sophisticated criminal activity” that takes place on an industrial scale and threatens regional and national security
Crawford Allan, Senior Director, America, and Wildlife Crime, stated that Wildlife crime goes beyond conservation issues, it is also a threat to national and regional security, a barrier to sustainable human development and fuel for corruption. In Africa, wildlife crime has been a conservation scourge for decades. Poaching and illegal harvesting, particularly in Africa, continues to devastate wildlife populations. Threatening survival of rhinos, elephants, pangolins, rosewoods and a wide variety of other species.
The African Elephant
This is the largest animal walking on the Earth. Their herds wander through 37 countries in Africa. They are easily recognized by their trunk that is used for communication and handling objects and their larger ears that look somewhat like the African continent. There are two sub-species of African elephants- the Savanna elephant and the Forest elephant. Savanna elephants are larger and their tusks curve outwards. In addition to being darker, forest elephants are darker and their tusks are straighter and point downward.
The presence of African elephants helps to maintain suitable habitats for many other species. In central Africa forests, up to 30 percent of tree species may require elephants to help with dispersal and germination. They play a pivotal role in shaping their habitat because of the enormous impact they have on factors ranging from freshwater to forest cover.
Trunks and Tusks
An elephant’s trunk contains about 100,000 different muscles. They are used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking and for grabbing a potential meal. At the end of each trunk, they have a fingerlike feature that they can use to grab small items.
Poaching
African elephants are one of the most heavily poached mammals in the world. Historic and current demand for ivory is the leading reason behind their slaughter. Habitat destruction, fragmentation, and rapid human development pose significant threats too.
Numbering three to five million in the last century, African elephant populations were severely reduced to its current levels. Thousands of elephants are killed every year. Those that have shown promising signs of recovery are also at risk.
African elephants are disappearing. According to the Elephant Protection Initiative, 20,000 elephants are killed each year- that’s 55 every single day-mostly for the illegal ivory trade. The overall number has declined by about one third over the last decade. Many of these elephants now live in small and isolated populations; if current trends continue, they will be wiped out in the next decade.
But why?
The illegal demand for ivory is the biggest driver of elephant poaching. Despite a global Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) ban on international sales of ivory since 1990, thousands of elephants are killed to meet this demand of ivory in the Far East. Asia stands behind steadily increasing trend in illegal ivory and there are still thriving domestic ivory markets in Africa.
As the human population grows exponentially, habitat loss and fragmentation renders elephants homeless. Expanding human populations convert land for agriculture, settlements, and development. Commercial logging, mining, and biofuel extraction not only destroy habitat but also opens access to remote elephant forest for poachers. This hinders the elephant’s freedom to roam.
Human-elephant conflict due to the contact between the human population and elephants results in chaos that elephants invariably lose. Loss of life on both sides is also tragic. The increasing conflicts of elephants with people have been a contributor to the deaths of elephants.
Insufficient anti-poaching capacity, weak law enforcement, and corruption undermine efforts to stop the poaching and trafficking in Africa.
Limited resources combined with remote and inaccessible elephant habitats make it difficult for governments to monitor and protect elephant herds. To reduce the illegal trade in elephant products, WWF supports anti-poaching efforts within and around protected areas to provide safe havens for elephants.
To reduce the illegal killing of elephants through improved protection and management, there is a need to equip and train law enforcement teams so they can conduct regular and effective anti-poaching patrols.
African elephants are fast disappearing from the wild. Without urgent action, they could be gone within a generation. African leaders need to collaborate with anti-poaching organizations like Save The Elephants, Elephant Crisis Fund to support the most effective projects designed to stop the killing and also change the community’s perspective of elephants the importance of elephants.
