Ochieng' Ogodo
Journalist-Kenya
[NAIROBI] Ghanaian-born
musician and humanitarian activist Rocky Dawuni is scheduled to
perform for the world’s top environmental dignitaries and policymakers at the
upcoming Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) in Nairobi
29 - 30 August.
The musician,
who is currently based in Los Angeles and Ghana, was nominated for a 2015 Grammy Award for
Best Reggae Album, “Branches of the Same Tree,” which
features original tunes, including Afro dancehall mashup "African Thriller.” It was released
with a striking video.
The singer
has long been a supporter of human rights initiatives aimed at alleviating
poverty and other social inequalities, speaking out on environmental concerns,
health issues, rights for women, clean water and international peace efforts.
He also backs
a Cadbury-sponsored “Bicycle Factory," which has shipped more than 30,000 bicycles to help
children travel long distances to school in Ghana, where the company sources
much of its cocoa for chocolate products.
Dawuni will
headline at the two-day GLF in Nairobi, which will be held on Aug. 29-30,
performing at UN Environment headquarters for a crowd of
about 1,000 people, including landscape restoration experts, policymakers,
financial experts, indigenous and community leaders tackling continent-wide
challenges related to land degradation.
Erik Solheim, U.N. Environment
executive director and environmental activist Wanjira Mathai, daughter of 2004 Nobel Peace Prize laureate
and founder of Kenya’s Green Belt Movement Wangari
Maathai, will speak at the forum.
Dawuni
received an early introduction to the international music scene through his
father who -- despite his royal status as chief of the Konkomba tribe in Bunbon
Nayili village in northern Ghana -- was stationed for a period of time as a
cook at a U.N. peacekeeping forces base in Egypt.
In Ghana,
Dawuni was exposed to a range of local musical styles, and while attending the University
of Ghana in the capital Accra, he formed his first band.
He has played
alongside widely known musical giants Peter Gabriel, Bono and Stevie Wonder.
SEEKING
SOLUTIONS
Almost a
third of Africa’s landscape is degraded due to human exploitation and related
climate change, including farming and resource extraction activities, which
cause damage to the climate, the environment, and increase poverty-related
risks, including hunger, poor health and migration. Worldwide, 2 billion hectares – a land mass larger
than South America – is degraded.
Landscape
restoration has proven effective at reversing damage, can mitigate climate
change and lead to improvements for communities, helping to meet the U.N.
anti-poverty Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),
key to the GLF mandate. Co-coordinated by the Center
for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), UN
Environment and the World Bank, with funding from
Germany’s environment and international
development ministries, GLF campaigns for landscape restoration.
Swirling
speculation has hinted at the possibility that a U.N.-sponsored Decade of Ecological Restoration could
be launched among several major announcements and agreements to be sealed at
the Nairobi event.
A formalized
global spotlight on restoration would shore up country level efforts to
achieve SDG 15, Life on Land and SDG 13, Climate Action, among other targets.
