REDD+ in Africa: contexts and challenges

REDD+, a climate change mitigation mechanism that values carbon in tropical forests, is expected to provide Africa with a range of environmental and socio‐economic benefits. Drawing on a vast array of literature and personal experiences, this review analyzed particular features and challenges that REDD+ implementation has faced on the continent. The distinct contexts and major challenges regarding governance, finance and technical capacities are discussed, and mechanisms to fill these gaps are suggested. Radical land tenure reform and a perfect safeguard mechanism that transfers forest land and carbon to the communities are unlikely. REDD+ should rather look for systems that respect local institutional arrangements, and allow forest‐based communities to participate in decision‐making and benefit sharing, particularly benefits from emerging REDD+. Finances for REDD+ infrastructure and the results‐based payment are in short supply. While negotiating for potential external sources in the short term, Africa should generate domestic financial resources and look for additional payments for ecosystem services. Africa should also negotiate for forest monitoring capacity building, while strengthening local community forest monitoring. This review contributes to an improved understanding of the contexts and challenges to consider in the capacity and policy development for REDD+ implementation.     

Industrial development zone and South African environmental legal initiatives post-1994: a quest for sustainable industrial development

Many developing countries are currently undergoing increased industrialization, which has accelerated environmental degradation. This study aims to examine South Africa's industrial development path as a socio-economic strategy pursued along the rill-lines of sustainable industrial development (SID) in view of the post-1994 environmental legislative initiatives. An exploratory review guided the study analysis. As industrial development zones (IDZs), environmental sustainability research is virtually non-existent, leading to the poor understanding of this programme's role in SID. This study reveals that the government political commitment, 1996 South Africa's Constitution and National Environmental Act (No. 107 of 1998) are key pillars reconciling the environment and industrial development in diffusing apartheid legacies. Non-compliances re-occur in industries outside the IDZs due to shortage of environmental monitoring inspectors and government priorities changes. Therefore, there is need to ‘green’ IDZ stakeholders for proper environmental legislation implementation. Finally, the study highlights new potential directions for research into SID zoning.     

Valuing Improvements in The Water Rights System in South Africa: A Contingent Ranking Approach1

Speelman, Stijn, Stefano Farolfi, Aymen Frija, and Guido Van Huylenbroeck, 2010. Valuing Improvements in the Water Rights System in South Africa: A Contingent Ranking Approach. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 46(6):1133–1144. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2010.00480.x Abstract: In the context of increasing water scarcity, understanding is growing that irrigation water rights are important and that a lack of an effective water rights system constitutes a major reason for inefficient water management. This study carried out a contingent ranking experiment to study how smallholder irrigators in South Africa would value potential changes in water rights. Three specific dimensions of water rights, relevant for the South African case, are considered: duration, quality of title, and transferability. Results indicate that smallholder irrigators are prepared to pay considerably higher water prices if improvements are made in the water rights system. This implies that the proposed interventions in the water rights system would improve the efficiency and productivity of the small-scale irrigation sector. The increased willingness to pay could furthermore also assist the South African government to reach the objective of increased cost recovery.     

Are exploited mangrove molluscs exposed to Persistent Organic Pollutant contamination in Senegal, West Africa?

The surface sediments, two bivalves (Arca senilis and Crassostera gasar) and three gastropods (Conus spp., Hexaplex duplex and Pugilina morio) from two Senegalese stations, Falia (Sine-Saloum Estuary) and Fadiouth (Petite Côte), were analyzed for their pollutant organic persistent contamination (polychlorinated biphenyls PCBs; organochlorinated pesticides OCPs; polybrominated diphenyl ethers PBDEs). Results revealed significant levels of PCBs, DDTs and lindane in mangrove sediments ranging from 0.3 to 19.1, 0.3 to 15.9, and 0.1 to 1.9 ng g⁻¹ d.w., respectively. Among the other POPs analysed, only hexachlorobenzene, heptachlor and trans-nonachlor for OCPs, as well as BDE47 and BDE99 congeners for PBDEs were detected at very low concentrations, generally not of concern. POP levels and patterns were in good accordance with literature data available for other tropical developing countries. A seasonal quantitative difference was highlighted with higher levels of PCBs and DDTs in sediments after the wet season, likely due to the strong wash-out of residues from inland to the marine ecosystems during the rainy season. The observed pattern of DDT and its metabolites pointed out probable recent applications of DDT for public health emergencies in Senegal. Exploited molluscs were exposed to the same POP compounds as those measured in sediments. They presented OCP levels within the same range as in sediments, while significant higher concentrations of PCBs were observed in shellfish soft tissues revealing a higher bioaccumulation potential mainly due to the lipophilicity of these compounds. Finally, the influence of the reproduction cycle on POP levels through lipid content variations was highlighted, minimizing potential differences in POP bioaccumulation between shellfish species. From an ecotoxicological and public health point of view, results from this study revealed that POPs in sediments from the Petite Côte and the Sine-Saloum Estuary would not cause toxic effects and impairments in molluscs from these regions, and that no potential risk exists for human, especially local populations, through mangrove shellfish consumption.     

Index to Volume 23, 1999

In the 'chronically vulnerable areas ' (CVAs) of East Africa a smooth linear transition away from emergency programming towards rehabilitation and long-term development is difficult, if not impossible. This makes uncritical application of the 'relief-to-development ' continuum to programming unhelpful at best, and perhaps counter-productive. This paper is the result of CARE's efforts to review its own programmes – and those of some of its sister agencies – in chronically vulnerable areas in the East Africa region, to derive important lessons learned and to identify areas where improvements are needed. The paper focuses on strategic considerations and decision-making in relation to entry, programme design and strategies for transition and exit.     

Energy transition and its implications for environmentally sustainable development in Africa

SUMMARY

Energy transition is the process whereby there is an increase in the volume and proportion of commercial energy, to the extent that it replaces traditional fuels as the main source of energy and having enormous implications for the physical and biotic environment. This energy-environment process has rarely been the focus of research investigation in Africa. Using cross-national data drawn from the African continent, this paper examines and accounts for intercountry variations in the nature and extent of the energy transition process. The empirical analysis reveals that, for the continent as a whole, the extent to which commercial energy replaces traditional fuels is quite low. It varies between 33% and 39%. However, inter-country variations were found to be as high as 90% in countries such as Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and South Africa; and less than 15% for such countries as Benin, Burkina Faso, The Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Lesotho and Uganda. The key factors explaining intercounty variations in the energy transition process are the level of urbanization and the extent of forest and woodland resources. Other factors of secondary importance include economic growth, incidence of poverty, affordability of electrical appliances, energy trade status of the country in question and the price of commercial fuel. Finally, the paper shows that the identification of these key energy transition-inducing variables is a necessary prerequisite to an effective energy and environmentally sustainable development policy formulation in Africa.     

Climate Change Impacts and Human Settlements in Africa: Prospects for Adaptation

Climate change impacts on African human settlements arise from a number of climate change-related causes, notably sea level changes, impacts on water resources, extreme weather events, food security, increased health risks from vector home diseases, and temperature-related morbidity in urban environments.Some coastlines and river deltas of Africa have densely populated low-lying areas, which would be affected by a rise in sea level. Other coastal settlements will be subjected to increased coastal erosion. Recent flooding in East Africa highlighted the vulnerability of flood plain settlements and the need to develop adaptive strategies for extreme weather events management and mitigation. In the semi arid and arid zones many settlements are associated with inland drainage water sources. Increases in drought will enhance water supply related vulnerabilities. Inter-basin and international water transfers raise the need for adequate legal frameworks that ensure equity among participating nations.Similarly, water supply and irrigation reservoirs in seasonal river catchments might fail, leading to poor sanitation in urban areas as well as food shortage. Hydroelectric power generation could be restricted in drought periods, and where it is a major contributor to the energy budget, reduced power generation could lead to a multiplicity of other impacts. States are advised to develop other sources of renewable energy.Temperature changes will lead to altered distribution of disease vectors such as mosquitoes, making settlements currently free of vector borne diseases vulnerable. Rapid breeding of the housefly could create a menace associated with enteric disorders, especially in conditions of poor sanitation.The dry savannahs of Africa are projected as possible future food deficit areas. Recurrent crop failures would lead to transmigration into urban areas. Pastoralists are likely to undertake more trans-boundary migrations and probably come into conflict with settled communities.Adaptive measures will involve methods of coastal defences (where applicable), a critical review of the energy sector, both regionally and nationally, a rigorous adherence to city hygiene procedures, an informed agricultural industry that is capable of adapting to changing climate in terms of cropping strategies, and innovations in environment design to maximise human comfort at minimum energy expenditure. In the savannah and arid areas water resource management systems will be needed to optimise water resource use and interstate co-operation where such resources are shared.Climate change issues discussed here raise the need for state support for more research and education in impacts of climate change on human settlements in Africa.     

Adaptation to Climate Change in Developing Countries

Adaptation to climate change is given increasing international attention as the confidence in climate change projections is getting higher. Developing countries have specific needs for adaptation due to high vulnerabilities, and they will in this way carry a great part of the global costs of climate change although the rising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations are mainly the responsibility of industrialized countries. This article provides a status of climate change adaptation in developing countries. An overview of observed and projected climate change is given, and recent literature on impacts, vulnerability, and adaptation are reviewed, including the emerging focus on mainstreaming of climate change and adaptation in development plans and programs. The article also serves as an introduction to the seven research articles of this special issue on climate change adaptation in developing countries. It is concluded that although many useful steps have been taken in the direction of ensuring adequate adaptation in developing countries, much work still remains to fully understand the drivers of past adaptation efforts, the need for future adaptation, and how to mainstream climate into general development policies.     

Farmers’ Perceptions of Climate Change and Agricultural Adaptation Strategies in Rural Sahel

Farmers in the Sahel have always been facing climatic variability at intra- and inter-annual and decadal time scales. While coping and adaptation strategies have traditionally included crop diversification, mobility, livelihood diversification, and migration, singling out climate as a direct driver of changes is not so simple. Using focus group interviews and a household survey, this study analyzes the perceptions of climate change and the strategies for coping and adaptation by sedentary farmers in the savanna zone of central Senegal. Households are aware of climate variability and identify wind and occasional excess rainfall as the most destructive climate factors. Households attribute poor livestock health, reduced crop yields and a range of other problems to climate factors, especially wind. However, when questions on land use and livelihood change are not asked directly in a climate context, households and groups assign economic, political, and social rather than climate factors as the main reasons for change. It is concluded that the communities studied have a high awareness of climate issues, but climatic narratives are likely to influence responses when questions mention climate. Change in land use and livelihood strategies is driven by adaptation to a range of factors of which climate appears not to be the most important. Implications for policy-making on agricultural and economic development will be to focus on providing flexible options rather than specific solutions to uncertain climate.     

Using multitemporal Landsat TM imagery to establish land use pressure induced trends in forest and woodland cover in sections of the Soutpansberg Mountains of Venda region, Limpopo Province, South Africa

Globally, tropical forests are being perturbed by human activity. Tropical vegetation constitutes some of the largest terrestrial carbon stocks against the build up of greenhouse gases. In this paper, a local-scale case study utilising remote sensing methodology in estimating forest loss is presented, for a section of tropical South Africa’s Soutpansberg Mountains where land use pressure threatens some of the last remaining indigenous forests. Landsat TM images from October 1990, August 2000 and September 2006 were used, together with municipality level demographic data. Hybrid image classification techniques distinguished forest cover on the images, which were classified into vegetation density categories. About 20% of forest and woodland cover was lost in the 16-year analysis period, mainly due to pine and eucalyptus plantation and residential housing expansions. The local-scale key drivers behind the deforestation are examined.