Documento(s) 8 de 8

Water, energy, health, agriculture and biodiversity are some the key areas where concrete results must be achieved at the World Summit for Sustainable Development, according to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. These are also key priority areas for the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Following the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) – the Earth Sumit – 10 years ago, the Government of Canada had designated IDRC as a lead organization in implementing Agenda 21, UNCED's global action plan.

A New Deal for West Africa's Farmers

West Africa

West Africa's small-scale farmers are bound to make themselves heard at the World Summit on Sustainable Development that will be held this September in Johannesburg.

More than 60% of Africa's population is engaged in small-scale farming. These people are responsible for more than 90% of the continent's agricultural output and exports, yet they labour within a system where productivity is low and farming practices are progressively degrading the soil and other resources. They are also exposed to ever-greater food insecurity, climatic hazards and the vagaries of markets for their produce.

Nevertheless, these farmers have shown their capacity to innovate and adapt whenever they are offered the chance. The spectacular development of counter-erosion farming methods (zaï, stone retaining walls) and small dams in Burkina Faso, for example, shows their commitment to making sustainable use of natural resources. The spread of rural micro-credit, informal economic activities, cross-border trade, telecentres and mobile telephone service shows the initiative and open-mindedness of rural dwellers. The current vigour of rural organizations at all levels reflects the determination of these people to take charge of their own destiny and to participate actively in economic and political decision-making.

Still, from the viewpoint of sustainable development, the major challenge facing the countries of West Africa remains that of transforming small-scale agriculture into a productive, family-based pursuit that is both competitive and sustainable.

Such a change demands bold and costly policy initiatives: decentralization and democratization of political systems, land reform, universal access to basic education and vocational training, improved social services and rural infrastructure. It therefore requires substantial public investment. The shortage of public funds has forced rural people to organize themselves to fill the gaps left by government and by the private sector's reluctance to invest in services that offer little return.

Farmers' organizations have been set up in every country, and most of them are members of ROPPA, Réseau des organisations paysannes et des producteurs agricoles d'Afrique de l'Ouest, (the West Africa Network of Farmers' Organizations and Agricultural Producers). ROPPA is insisting that more attention be paid to family farming and to establishing more equitable rules for international trade in farm products.The Johannesburg Summit will help Africa's small-scale farmers if it focusses squarely on their plight. If family farming is to make sustainable use of natural resources, subject to market disciplines, all players concerned will have to prepare and negotiate global strategies that are effective and equitable. At every level, operational plans will have be assessed by all players, and not just by governments and their organizations.

Gilles Forget
Dakar, Senegal

Preserving Wildlife Diversity

East Africa

A review of progress toward sustainable development in Southern and Eastern Africa using standard indicators suggests little has been accomplished in the 10 years since the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. However, there has been much work carried out to find solutions to concrete problems and much has been learnt.

One of the problems plaguing sustainable development efforts in the region is the lack of resources. African governments have therefore turned to the international community, with mixed results as conditions imposed on the loans sometimes run counter to African perspectives.

Wildlife management is a case in point. Rural Africans see wildlife as a resource to manage and consume, or as a hindrance to agricultural production if it is protected from exploitation. Others see it as a heritage in need of protection, especially from African users. This leads to a "fortress approach" to wildlife conservation that is at odds with the interests of the people who must sustain these efforts. The result is continued poaching, threatening the existence of some species, and a great difference in income between those who benefit from wildlife tourism and those whose crops are destroyed by the wildlife.

The good news is that community-based approaches are emerging, which promote greater harmony. These approaches acknowledge that indigenous people know what is good for them and simply need assistance to reach their goals. This approach has worked well to change the fortress mentality toward wildlife management. In a model of partnership, for example, the Center for Applied Social Sciences at the University of Zimbabwe developed the Communal Areas Management Programme for Indigenous Resources (CAMPFIRE) concept in Zimbabwe and Namibia. CAMPFIRE encourages local groups to participate in new management systems designed to benefit people and protect wildlife living on communal lands. The concepts are now spreading to other natural resources, such as soils and water.

Other approaches are also promising. In Uganda, for example, recent policies require that development budgets be given to the sub-district, where they are managed by local authorities. Funds must be provided to farmers' organizations so they can buy services such as agricultural research or inputs from the provider of choice. The competition this has created has forced the National Agricultural Research Organization to restructure itself to respond more readily to the needs of farmers.

Programs such as this empower rural communities, resulting in greater self-reliance, improved livelihoods, the preservation of resources, and better integration into national economies.

Connie Freeman
Nairobi, Kenya

Conserving Scarce Water Supplies

Middle East and North Africa

After the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, the United Nations Committee of Sustainable Development (CSD) chose management of fresh water resources as a particular area of focus. Water is likely to dominate again in Johannesburg: unless water conservation becomes a global priority, two-thirds of the world's people will face shortages by 2020.

It is ironic that the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) have the scarcest water supply in the world but most of the region's people work in agriculture, the heaviest consumer of fresh water. Fifteen of the 20 "water stressed" countries in the world are found in the region, which uses more than 75 % of its fresh water for agriculture.

Water demand is growing quickly throughout the region as a result of high rates of population growth and urbanization. Meanwhile, water availability is falling to crisis levels. From an average of 3,300 cubic metres of water per person per year in 1960, water resources fell to 1,250 in 1996, and are estimated to be as low as 725 cubic metres by 2025. Jordan, Tunisia, and Yemen are already at a crisis level.

The scarcity of water does not only impede economic and agricultural development. It is one of the issues at stake in the Middle East conflict. Throughout the region, water conflicts among competing users and countries can be expected to increase.

For the last 50 years, governments have addressed the water supply issue with large, centrally-managed projects. They have dug wells, dammed rivers, and piped water to high profile irrigation projects. This capital-intensive approach has proceeded as far as it can. It is clear that a complementary approach is needed.

One way to control water use is to place a value on it. This is unpopular as most people believe they have a right to water and that it should be shared, not sold. In reality, however, people in the region already pay for their water, buying it from trucks at inflated prices. As policymakers become increasingly aware of the problem, the concept of valuing water is now being discussed at both private and public gatherings.

In many countries, water management schemes are over-centralized. This too is changing. For example, in Egypt, water users' associations now enable farmers to influence irrigation policies and water supplies at the farm level. This has resulted in increased efficiency and higher crop yields.

Research in the region has shown that simple approaches incorporating local knowledge work best, especially when everyone in the community is involved. Ten years after the Earth Summit, most countries in the region are beginning to share this view, especially where the crisis is the most acute.

Eglal Rached
Cairo, Egypt

Meeting Energy Needs

Latin America

Ten years have elapsed since the Rio Earth Summit. The meeting scheduled to be held in Johannesburg in August will provide the opportunity for reviewing what has been accomplished since then and moving forward.

But the world has changed in the past decade. Global trends now shaping the future of fair and sustainable development include a resistance to acknowledge factors that result in climatic change.Global trade has also altered economic and financial policies. Together, these have led to social exclusion, a trend that is growing at an alarming pace. Governments are now faced with the challenge of finding ways of helping communities and civil society participate in preserving their assets and in planning for the future.

The summit in Johannesburg will thus be different from its predecessor. Not only will it review progress in poverty reduction, changes in unsustainable production and consumption, and the protection and management of natural resources, but it will also determine the role this social movement will play in the debate.

For Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), energy is a top priority for the Summit. Since Rio, energy consumption has accelerated in most countries of the region, as a result of the shift toward energy-intensive production methods, as well as by the rapid expansion of urban centres. Growing demand from other countries, such as the United States, for clean sources energy to offset their energy production shortfalls has also put pressure on the region's resources. Brazil, Venezuela, and Paraguay – among others – have had to restrict the energy consumption of their citizens.

Bolivia is now centre-stage in the debate. According to official figures, Bolivia has reserves of natural gas approaching 47.6 billion cubic feet. It is estimated that these reserves would last for 20 years if they were used to meet Bolivia's demands. However, Chile, Peru, and Brazil are competing with massive investments in infrastructure to tap and process Bolivian gas. The goal is to export it to third countries. Enormous gas pipelines are becoming the new arteries that traverse the region.

The generation, distribution, and commercialization of energy is one of the central themes that will determine the viability, at a regional level, of environmental management. Communities in Latin America and the Caribbean have been working alongside governments since 1998 to develop a common renewable energy plan that complements the Kyoto Protocol by promoting alternatives for fossil fuels. The plan, which calls for obligatory use of a mininum 10 % "clean" energy sources by 2010 could prove more palatable to some governments, including the United States. "Clean" energy means energy generated form wind, solar, geothermal, ocean waves and biomass sources as well as small hydroelectric dams. It excludes the traditional use of wood, however, which fosters deforestation.

Brazil will sponsor the initiative on behalf of the entire region. Latin America could be among the regions to benefit most from the proposed scheme of trading emission rights, a mechanism that would allow industrialized countries to meet their emission reduction goals by financing clean energy projects in other countries.

Federico Burone
Montevideo, Uruguay

The Need for Political Will

Southeast Asia

"The battle for sustainable development will be won or lost in Asia." So said Maurice Strong, Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) shortly after the 1992 Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Ten years later, there is no doubt that victories have been won on some fronts. Notable among them is the recognition by many governments that investing in the environment can yield good returns, particularly in the area of people's health. For example, Singapore, the Philippines, and Cambodia have phased out the use of leaded gasoline: other countries are likely to follow suit. After years of delays, Bangkok opened a light rail transit system: the result is less traffic congestion and less vehicular pollution.

Progress on other fronts is still much in doubt, however. Largely to blame is the failure to enforce laws against environmentally damaging behaviour. Sometimes, it is the powerful who evade the law. At others, it is the poor as governments are reluctant to enforce bans – on forest clearing, for example, or on overfishing – because doing so would deprive some of the poorest people of their livelihoods. The Indonesian government, for instance, turns a blind eye to illegal logging and burning, despite the massive forest fires of 1997-98 that blanketed the region in thick smoke – the region's largest environmental disaster in a decade, with damage estimated at US $9 million.

Tough policy measures also sometimes encounter strong resistance. Indonesia has on several occasions tried to reduce the gasoline subsidies that drain the government budget and promote inefficient use of fuel. Each attempt brought people into the streets to protest. So did the Indian government's attempt to tighten pollution regulations because it sparked fears of job losses. And Manila's garbage crisis grows day by day as dangerous landfill sites are closed but new sites and alternatives like incineration are resisted.

In these cases, as in many others, the problem is that those who pay the most don't stand to gain the most. Trade-offs are clearly needed between who pays and who benefits. A promising approach is the use of "environmental service payments." In the Philippines, for example, the Mt Makiling Forest Reserve provides a source of clean water to downstream inhabitants. People living in and around the rainforest would like to cut the trees to use for firewood. If they do, however, the forest's ability to provide clean water will be impaired. Would people downstream that use the water be willing to pay the forest dwellers a fee to refrain from cutting trees? Would it be enough to allow the forest dwellers to buy kerosene or propane instead of using fuelwood? A pilot project has shown that they would.

Similar markets whereby willing buyers and sellers of environmental services can meet could be a way forward, in Asia and elsewhere in the world.

Stephen McGurk
Singapore

Preventing Land Degradation

South Asia

South Asia is one of the most densely populated regions of the world. Here, barely 3% of the earth's surface is home to 22% of the world's population and 44% of the world's poor.

Significant progress has been made in the region in the decade since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. The empowerment of women, steady economic growth, slower population growth in some countries, and improved literacy rates have contributed to raising awareness of the environment and its relationship with development. Success stories include the introduction of pollution control measures in cities such as Delhi. Poachers have been converted into guides in forest reserves in Kerala, India. Ecotourism has brought employment to families living near conservation parks in Nepal.

Also notable successes are a ban on logging in India, reforestation programs in Nepal and Bhutan, and improved watershed management systems. But while these measures are helping to prevent landslides and soil loss, the increasing demand for more agricultural land and forest-based products poses perhaps the greatest challenge for the region where 60% of the population is involved in agriculture.

A 1994 study sponsored by three United Nations agencies (FAO, UNDP, and UNEP) estimated that the on-site costs of land degradation – such as reduced agricultural production – in South Asia reached at least US $10 billion annually. This is equivalent to 2% of the region's Gross Domestic Product, or 7% of the value of its agricultural output. This degradation also leads to other problems, including river silting, floods, and landslides.

There are major implications for food security and poverty alleviation. This is clearly evident in the Hindu-Kush Himalaya, a region, stretching 3,500 kilometres over eight countries and home to more than 150 million people. The Hindu-Kush Himalaya ecosystem affects the lives of another 450 million in the plains and river basins below. Land use in the region – already among the most intensive in the world – is intensifying under pressure from growing human livestock populations. Unsound management practices, combined with a naturally high potential for degradation – steep slopes, unstable geology, high winds and periods of heavy rainfall – unplanned urbanization, and lack of sound policies, lead to a vicious cycle of poverty-resource degradation-scarcity and poverty.

Clearly, a great deal remains to be done to maintain a sustainable ecological balance, in the Hindu-Kush and elsewhere in South Asia. Achieving this balance will require concerted action on the part of governments in the region. It will also require that industrialized countries live up to the commitments they made at the 1992 Earth Summit on finance and technology transfers. And will require greater equity between men and women: wherever women have gained equal control over natural resources in the region, sustainable growth has followed.

Roger Finan
Delhi, India

Documento(s) 8 de 8