New scientific report says a 4°C world will be devastating but avoidable

By Ochieng’ Ogodo

Journalist-Kenya

 

[NAIROBI] The world could be as much as 4°C warmer by 2060 without further action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, according to a recent World Bank report

 If this happens then it will cause severe food shortages, extreme weather and sea-level rise, according to the report: Turn Down the Heat: Why a 4°C Warmer World Must be Avoided. 

The report released 18 November and focusing on the impacts of a world 4°C hotter by the end of the century, predicts sea-levels rise by more than a meter by 2100, flooding cities in Mozambique, Bangladesh and Venezuela and devastating small island states and river delta regions when combined with projected increased intensity of tropical storms.

Increase in droughts and extreme rainfall incidences are predicted in the report to double in magnitude in a 4°C world, and will damage ecosystems, increase species extinction, and impact on food security.

“This report should be a wakeup call to the world that we must work harder and faster to combat climate change,” said Durwood Zaelke, President of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development.

“Rapid cuts in CO2 emissions are necessary to stabilize long-term temperatures, but in the near-term, aggressively addressing short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) such as black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone, and HFCs can provide rapid climate, health, and food security benefits, particularly in the critical vulnerable regions that are already suffering some of the worst impacts of climate change,” Zaelke said.

Cutting SLCPs can reduce global warming rate in half for the next several decades, cut the rate of warming over the elevated regions of the Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau by at least half, and the rate of warming in the Arctic by two-thirds over the next 30 years, while saving millions of lives per year and preventing billions of dollars in crop losses. 

Fast-action strategies to reduce SLCPs combined with necessary reductions in carbon dioxide are essential for slowing already accelerating extreme weather events in the near-term, while maintaining global temperature at or below 2°C above preindustrial levels through the end of the century.

“Reducing emissions of these short-lived climate forcers is critical for protecting the world’s vulnerable peoples and vulnerable ecosystems,” said Zaelke.  “When we talk about sustainable development,” Zaelke added, “this is precisely what we mean. These measures reduce climate change, save lives, provide access to clean energy, and improve food security all at once.”

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/2012/11/18/new-report-examines-risks-of-degree-hotter-world-by-end-of-century 

Gambia to receive US$20.28 million IFAD grant to boost rice and vegetable productivity

By Ochieng’ Ogodo

Journalist-Kenya

[NAIROBI] The Gambia will receive US$20.28 million grant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to help improve livelihoods of smallholder farmers with a particular attention to rural women and youth.  The focus will be on increased rice and vegetable production.

IFAD announced 20 December that it will provide a US$20.28 million grant to Gambia and the financing agreement for the National Agriculture Land and Water Management Development Project was signed today by Abdou Kolley, Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs of the Republic of The Gambia, and Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of IFAD.

Agriculture is an important sector for the country’s economy, employing over 72 per cent of the population and contributes about 30 per cent to the gross domestic product.

Most people living in rural areas in Gambia are extremely poor and depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. According to IFAD women in particular, who make up a large proportion of this group, lack economic opportunities and access to productive resources like credit, land, skills and services.

The project, it is hoped, will enhance rice and vegetable production nationwide through sustainable land and water management practices to help smallholder farmers increase their incomes. It will increase the productivity of limited farm land and support improvements to infrastructure such as water and roads, and also strengthen farmers’ organizations to help commercialize their activities to boost household incomes.

According to a press release by IFAD, the project aims to transform the Gambian agricultural sector from simply subsistence farming to an increasingly efficient market system. This will help meet the objectives of both the Gambia National Agricultural Investment Plan and Programme for Accelerated Growth and Employment.

Co-financed by the government of The Gambia and the Islamic Development Bank, the project will be implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture of The Gambia. About 22,000 poor rural households, including 660 young rural women and men will directly benefit from the project.

This project brings to 10 programmes and projects financed by IFAD in The Gambia for a total investment of approximately $73.9 million benefitting 149,200 households since 1982.

Global conference on plant viral disease in 2013 coming to Africa.

By Ochieng’ Ogodo

Journalist-Kenya

The 12th International Plant Virus Epidemiology (IPVE) symposium will take place in Arusha, Tanzania, between January 28 and 1 February 2013. It will bring together scientists from across the world and will provide researchers a platform to share the latest knowledge, brainstorm and come up with a road map to contain the spread of plant virus diseases.

Themed “Evolution, Ecology and Control of Plant Viruses,” the conference will take place at a time when the battle against plant virus diseases is becoming more complex and the need for food security is demanding more global attention.

It will be the first time the meeting is taking place in Africa—a continent plagued by plant viruses of key staple crops, driven by a climate that is getting warmer.

According to Dr Nteranya Sanginga, Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) plant viruses are spreading rapidly to new places, and are frustrating efforts to boost the food security and livelihoods of millions of people. 

“These viruses include the deadly cassava brown streak, banana bunchy top disease, rice yellow mottle, and maize streak virus, among others,” he said in a press release.

“Poor small-holder farmers--who are majority of the population and of the food growers, with their limited resources are bearing the brunt of these virus diseases. They are least able to invest in inputs such as pesticides and herbicides and improved disease-resistant varieties,” he said. This, he added, calls for “Science-based solutions to these challenges.”

The meeting will enable exchange of latest knowledge and technologies to control virus diseases and pave the way for an African and global strategy to combat emerging and re-emerging plant virus diseases.

The meeting is being co-organized by IITA, CGIAR, Bioversity, Mikocheni Agricultural Research Institute (MARI) in Tanzania, the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) of Uganda, AVRDC—The World Vegetable Center, and West and Central African Council for Agriculture Research and Development (WECARD/CORAF) under the auspices of the International Committee on Plant Virus Epidemiology (ICPVE).

Past hosts include the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, France, Italy, Israel, Spain, Peru, Germany, and India played host to IPVE meetings.

The IPVE is a specialist committee on plant virus epidemiology of the International Society of Plant Pathology (ISPP). The Committee has previously conducted 11 international symposia in different parts of the world. Distinguished virologists from over 40 countries are expected to attend this symposium. 

Ochieng’ Ogodo is a Nairobi based journalist whose works have been published in various parts of the world including Africa, the US and Europe. He is the English-speaking Africa and Middle East region winner for the 2008 Reuters-IUCN Media Awards for Excellence in Environmental Reporting. He is the chairman of the Kenya Environment and Science Journalists Association. He can be reached at ochiengogodo@yahoo.com or ochiengogodo@gmail.com

'Concrete proposals' for Africa to benefit from the Green Climate Fund

By  Ochieng’ Ogodo

Journalist-Kenya

The African Development Bank (AfDB), in collaboration with Vivid Economics, has come up with a report making concrete proposals to help facilitate access by African countries to the Green Climate Fund.

Launched on the sidelines of the UN climate change conference (COP18) in Doha 26 November to 7 December, the “Getting Africa Ready for the Green Climate Fund” report strongly put forward a series of recommendations for the Green Climate Fund board and African nations that will increase the possibility of African countries accessing increased flows of climate finance from this source, with the support of the AfDB.

“African countries are not fully prepared to effectively benefit from all the possibilities the Green Climate Fund might allow”, said Anthony Nyong, AfDB’s manager in charge of Safeguards and Compliance in a press release.

“This report, he said, highlights actions that will help African countries overcome those challenges, with adequate assistance from the African Development Bank.”

The report, drawing from experiences of existing funds, has identified a number of key steps for African countries to maximise the possibilities that comes by the GCF.

“While the GCF might provide domestic institutions greater responsibility and accountability for flows of public climate finance raised from international sources, the existing experience of direct access demonstrates that many countries, including some in Africa, have had challenges in realising the opportunities provided by direct access,” said John Ward, from Vivid Economics.

The report has listed ten actions on the board that should be triggered to better meet African countries’ needs. These include capacity building resources being fast-tracked while more difficult design aspects of the GCF are reviewed.

The report also makes a very strong case for direct access and project applications to be processed and evaluated in many languages, including French as opposed to the current situation in which applications for the Adaptation Fund, another global climate finance mechanism of the UNFCCC, can only be done only in English.

Where English is not the first language,” the report says, it puts off some countries from even applying.  About Some 200 million people who are most vulnerable to climate change on the continent do not have English as a main language. The GCF can learn from this.

The report also strongly encourages African countries to prepare credible, robust pipeline of funding opportunities derived from national or regional green growth or climate change action plan.

Another key recommendation is that African countries take early steps to prepare the infrastructure needed to access the GCF, and each country will have to establish a Designated Authority as the focal point for interaction with the GCF.

The report also invites African countries to build a cross-departmental dialogue, on the opportunities provided by direct access, but also engaging with civil society and the private sector and, as appropriate, link this to broader fiscal reform processes.

The report has identified six areas of action for the AfDB as a way of helping African countries overcome all those challenges. “The African Development Bank can play an important role in enhancing direct access to the GCF by African countries”, says the report.

It recommends that the AfDB puts a strong emphasis on supporting the capacity of the national bodies, before and after accreditation. “An often missed point is that this capacity building support may be required even after accreditation of a national body”, notes the report.

The AfDB, the report says, should also support the development of Africa-specific climate change growth action plans.

Ochieng’ Ogodo is a Nairobi based journalist whose works have been published in various parts of the world including Africa, the US and Europe. He is the English-speaking Africa and Middle East region winner for the 2008 Reuters-IUCN Media Awards for Excellence in Environmental Reporting. He is the chairman of the Kenya Environment and Science Journalists Association. He can be reached at ochiengogodo@yahoo.com or ochiengogodo@gmail.com

Concert on maternal & newborn deaths in Uganda

By Ochieng Ogodo

Journalist-Kenya

Each passing day, Uganda loses over 20 women from preventable pregnancy and childbirth related causes. The rate of teenage pregnancy in Uganda also stands at 30 percent, the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa

Half of Ugandan girls give birth before the age of 18; with young teenagers as young as 11 becoming pregnant.

It for this reason that the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Makindye District Youth Executive Committee has organized a youth music festival with the theme “Zero Tolerance to Maternal & Newborn Deaths, Change Starts with You!” to be held in Kampala on Sunday, 25th November, 2012.

The festival will raise awareness on maternal and newborn health amongst the youth and the community. It will be used to call on the individual youth, church leaders and role players in the community to take action and promote maternal and newborn health.

 Young people will be the target because they make the biggest proportion of Uganda population and the mothers who are losing their lives and babies every day.

Youth groups from 15 local SDA churches of Makindye District will converge at Soya Bunga SDA church along Ggaba Road, Kampala on Sunday, 25th November, 2012 from 10:00AM to raise awareness on maternal and newborn health through music, dance and drama, poetry and photography.

Messages emphasizing behavioral change amongst the youth, abstinence and delaying sex encouraging young people to stay longer in school and avoid unsafe abortions will be spread.

They hope to achieve this through emphasizing behavioral change, abstinence and delaying sex; encouraging young people to stay longer in school, avoid unsafe abortions. The youth will also greatly emphasize male involvement ensuring that every pregnancy is planned for and supported. 

The problem of maternal and newborn health in Uganda and its magnitude is big and claiming many lives that would be saved.

According to Government of Uganda statistics (Uganda Demographic Health Survey, 2011), over 20 women die every day from preventable pregnancy and childbirth related causes. The rate of teenage pregnancy in Uganda stands at 30 per cent, the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. Half of Ugandan girls giving birth before the age of 18; with young teenagers as young as 11 becoming pregnant! This is attributed to early sex, early marriages, dropping out of school, and rape among other causes, which result into unsafe abortion leading to complications, disabilities and at times death

The World Health Organization guidance on abortion-related services reveals that in Uganda, about 300,000 abortions are carried out every year.

Professor Florence Mirembe of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at Mulago hospital said that abortion related complications were one of the leading causes of admissions to gynaecological wards in hospitals across the country.

 The youth especially girls are also at a high risk of contracting HIV/AIDS, thus contributing to the 20 mothers who die daily due to preventable pregnancy and child birth related causes.

A new collaboration to help guide selection and prioritization of Malaria Vaccine Candidate

By Ochieng’ Ogodo

Journalist-Kenya

[NAIROBI] The PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI), the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) up and Imperial College London today teamed up to measure the capacity of different vaccine candidates in human clinical testing to elicit an immune response aimed at protecting against deadly malaria parasites.

“Until now, malaria vaccine scientists have struggled to directly compare the cellular immune response elicited in humans by one vaccine to that of another, and this has hampered the ability to prioritize a portfolio of vaccine candidates,” said David C. Kaslow, MD, director of MVI in a press release.

He added, “We are fortunate to have in IAVI and Imperial College London partners with a track record of developing validated human immunological assays. Through this new collaboration, we look forward to being able to make better informed decisions about if and how various malaria vaccines elicit immune responses at the cellular level in humans.”

The lack of uniform validated techniques and processes among the various laboratories used by MVI and its collaborators specifically to evaluate T-cell immunity has been one of the obstacles to comparing the cell-mediated immunity elicited by different malaria vaccine candidates.

In an effort to identify a more consistent understanding of how multiple vaccine candidates were performing at a cellular level, IAVI and its Human Immunology Laboratory (HIL) at Imperial College London refined and validated specific tests that measure vaccine-induced, cell-mediated immunity. The HIL is accredited in Good Clinical Laboratory Practices (GCLP), an internationally recognized quality standard.

In 2006, the wider scientific community cited in its Malaria Vaccine Technology Roadmap the development of a standard set of assays with standardized procedures to enable comparisons of the immune responses of vaccines. This was one of several priority areas critical to accelerating the pace of malaria vaccine development. Kaslow noted that this new collaboration directly addresses the need identified in the Roadmap as well as a critical gap faced in managing a portfolio of malaria vaccine projects—that is, the need for fully comparable data to guide transparent, objective, data-driven portfolio decisions.

“We are pleased that IAVI can contribute to informed, data-driven decisions on vaccine approaches,” said Margaret McGlynn, President and Chief Executive Officer of IAVI. “Many of the methods and strategies employed in AIDS vaccine development could be of use in efforts to develop a malaria vaccine. Our collaboration will allow investments in AIDS vaccine R&D to benefit efforts to prevent another disease of great relevance to global health.”

Under the agreement, IAVI and its laboratory partner at Imperial College London will focus on providing two types of assays for MVI and its collaborators as they move vaccine candidates into clinical trials: the Interferon-gamma ELISpot assay and a multi-color flow cytometry assay. These tests will be used to detect the disease-fighting cells, or T cells, that may be present in the blood of volunteers after vaccination.

“These tests can provide quantitative information, such as how many cells responded to the vaccine, along with qualitative information, such as the different cell types that were stimulated,” said Professor Gavin Screaton, Head of the Department of Medicine at Imperial College London. “Both types of information can be important in determining the power of the overall vaccine-induced immune response.”
“We’re delighted to be hosting this work at Imperial, which builds on our longstanding fruitful association with IAVI,” he said. “We’re also looking forward to working more closely with MVI as part of our commitment to vaccine research and international health.”

MVI’s Kaslow said the tests will help MVI prioritize investments and allow scientists to refine vaccine strategies by showing whether a particular formulation, delivery approach, or vaccine adjuvant elicits a superior cell-mediated immune response. However, he emphasized that results from the assays are just one piece of evidence that MVI will use to guide Go/No-go decisions in malaria vaccine development. He noted that while the collaboration with IAVI and Imperial College London will provide MVI with a central “reference” laboratory for measuring cell-mediated immune responses, MVI encourages malaria vaccine developers to continue performing their own tests as well.

“At MVI, we need standardization of these assays because when we analyze the results from various trials and look at the data on cell-mediated immunity, we need to be sure that any differences are not caused by variations in how the tests were done,” Kaslow said.

The different colours and fronts of the Royal Netherland's Delft City

Ochieng’ Ogodo was in Delft City in the Royal Netherlands and brings you this exciting account of the city.

[NAIROBI] Visiting the Delft city could be one of the most interesting things to do while in The Royal Netherlands. Alighting from the tram one finds that Delft is a labyrinth combining historical beauty and modernity, setting the town as one of the most thrilling places with compelling eye-catching scenes and amazing architectural works in a country renowned for traditional blue colour mark.

 

And for visitors like me, this is a city with something for everyone, all year round. It offers something for culture lover, the fun shopper, the historian, the scientist, the gourmand, and the sporty.

 

Town Hall

It has museums, monuments and churches which forms part of its tradition and culture, excellent shopping and dining outlets and exciting backdrop of events. With more than six hundred national monuments, the city is truly one huge monument. 

 

According to Delft Tourist Information Point, the sixty bridges, the merchants’ houses, the mansions and gable houses along the canals, the old shop fronts, the churches and the almshouses are shining illustrations of the Dutch architecture.

 

The many historic buildings are used in daily life by the town dwellers and can, therefore, be admired from outside. But many of the monumental buildings house museums with exciting content and offering an ideal way of enjoying the riches of this city.

One such is the Museum Paul Tetar van Elven which is a former residence of the painter and collector, Paul Tetar van Elven [1823-1896], with the period of rooms from 17^th, 18th and 19^th century. 

 

From the Technology of Museum Delft, one can meet past and present technology and the people behind it. The Vermeercentrum takes you to a fascinating voyage of discovery through life and work of the famous 17^th century Dutch painter, Johaness Vermeer.

The monuments include Maag, which is a city weighing house from 1644, the Vleeshal, a front gable with sculptured cow and sheep heads. Those who get fascinated with artillery hardware will enjoy the Armamentarium which is a former artillery house warehouse of the state of Holland and West-Friesland.

 

Where shopping is a joy.

 

Shopping in Delft city is a joy. The city center is divided into a number attractive, mostly car free, shopping areas, often with underground car park within walking distances. The old historic city center with numerous small shops gives delft a special touch.

 

Shopping for Delft blue ceramics

Most shops in the old city center are located in historical buildings and teeming with beautiful gables and appropriate ornamental stones dating back to hundreds of years. Around the market [Oude Delft, Choorstraat, Voldeersgratch, Wijnhaven, Hipolytusbuurt, Vrouw Juttenland] there are many galleries, gift shops, exclusive fashion outlets, little shops with knickknacks, and cosy cafes to relax in after all that shopping excursions.

 

On nice days here—when the temperatures are not extremely cold—there is always an outdoor café to enjoy. Even more gratifying about this place is a walk along the canals and to browse in one of the unique shops. The neat alleys are a pleasure to walk along.

 

One could also savuour the richness of two modern shopping centers in the new city center; In de Veste and Zuidpoort. Here congenial shop streets like Branbanste, Turfmark with their wide range of clothing boutiques, cheese and wine shops and speciality shops are a natural transition to modern shopping centers.

 

Dine Well

 

You can dine well here and you can tell by the number of restaurants in the city center how the people of Delft enjoy their food and drink, but more importantly by the quality of the outlets.

 

Everywhere you find a multitude of restaurants, atmospheric grand cafes and romantic eateries where one can enjoy dishes from all parts of the world on a 24 hour basis. Whether it is Greek, Turkish, Indonesian, Surinam, Thais, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, French, African or Mexican tastes, they are all there. And not forgetting traditional Dutch dishes. The many outdoor cafes found in the old city makes it a really attractive and fun to roam around.

 

Recreation in Green Spaces

 

Indiase TVploeg

Green Oasis-Delftse Houts, just a short distance from the city center, is one such space that offers an extensive wooded area with active and passive leisure for the young and old. Walking, cycling, rowing, pedalos, windsurfing, swimming, Delft has it all.  

 

There is a water playground, a city farm, a running track, a deer park and an arboretum to make your visit a maximum fun. And restaurants are never far away from which ever part of this green oasis you are in. 

 

A number of Delft tourist attractions are great fun for kids; talk of a canal trip, the horsetram, or the Delft blue train. And you can’t afford to miss Reptile zoo Serpo. Several museums often organise children’s activities. You can not miss something sporty, something on the water, a playground or a children’s paradise that thrill them to the fullest.

 

The city center which is largely pedestrianised is accessible by car, train, tram, bus and bicycles. Research has also demonstrated that Delft is the most popular Dutch city for walking. There are several themed walks-on your own, in groups, guided or combined with a trip on the Delft canals.

 

Discover the old and churches in Delft

 

The Helige Greeskerkof is one of the finest places within the city center. It houses Delfts most ancient church dating back to 1246. The Oude Kerk [Old church] is an exciting site with its charismatic leaning towers. It has a splendid interior that includes beautifully crafted pulpit dating back to 1548 and 27 very special stained-glass windows.

 

There is also the Nieuwe Kerk [New Church] which dates back to 1496 and is located in the market.

 

Delft: View of Old Church leaning tower

A magnificent  interior of a hotel