Changhua County turns pig waste into green gold

By Eco-Business.com

Pig slurry has traditionally been a major environmental concern for locals, but the problem can be solved by recycling the waste into clean water, organic fertilizer and biogas for power generation, Changhua County Government said June 25.

“Pig slurry can be turned into green gold,” Changhua County Magistrate Cho Po-yuan said at the launch of the Dongluo treatment plant. “This is the first facility fully funded by a local government to help pig farmers reduce costs and save efforts in handling the waste.”

Changhua has the country’s third highest number of hogs, and around 90 percent of pig raisers are small or medium operations of below 5,000 hogs. Without sufficient funds to build their own treatment facilities, they used to discharge the waste directly into the Dongluo River, creating a serious environmental problem plaguing the locals.

To find the solutions, Cho led a fact-finding mission to Europe in 2011, and subsequently cooperated with Taipei-based National Taiwan University and the Taiwan International Institute for Water Education in creating a treatment facility to turn the waste into useful resources.

Henk van Shaik, chairman of the U.N.- affiliated Co-operative Program on Water and Climate, who came to examine progress on the project, praised the cause prompting the local government to implement the plan. “Changhua will become even more beautiful,” he said.

Located next to the Dongluo River, the processing plant separates the pig slurry into solid, liquid and gaseous components. After treatment, the solid waste becomes organic fertilizer for use on farms, the biogas is stored for electricity generation to power the plant and nearby public facilities, and the liquid is filtered and purified to produce water pure enough for use in irrigation or cleaning.

Changhua County turns pig waste into green gold

African leaders determined to end hunger by 2025

By Liz Ford The Guardian (UK) in Addis Ababa

Ministers at African Union meeting pledge to boost productivity and address malnutrition, but fail to set targets or commit funds

African leaders pledged on Monday to reprioritise agriculture in their national policies and increase state spending to end hunger across the continent by 2025.

At the conclusion of a meeting at the African Union in Addis Ababa, ministers agreed to take a more holistic approach to tackling hunger. They committed to working with the private sector, farmers' groups, civil society and academia to increase productivity, while also addressing the underlying causes of malnutrition.

Despite strong economic growth across many parts of Africa over the past 10 years, nearly a quarter of the population – about 240 million people – are undernourished, of whom more than 40% are children under five.

Ministers promised to accelerate efforts to meet the targets of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which emerged from the Maputo agreement in 2003. The programme committed African governments to spend 10% of national budgets on agriculture and increase productivity by 6%. Over the past decade, only 10 countries have achieved these goals.

Leaders also pledged to give women access to more land and credit – 70% of Africa's agriculture workforce is female – and make the sector more attractive to young people by increasing the use of technology. The final declaration did not set out any concrete targets or cash commitments, and it will therefore fall to delegates at next year's agriculture-focused AU summit to put flesh on the bones.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, chairwoman of the AU commission, rejected suggestions that the declaration is just another document to be shelved alongside countless others. "What is important is the political commitment to end hunger, that we should make it our state policies and make sure the poor are taken care of," she said.

"Africa is a very different place now from the Africa that was [two decades ago] … We've spent these past days discussing these matters because we are committed to doing something about it [hunger]. We will implement, and we are already implementing, these things. We are not starting from scratch. This is just to escalate [progress] because we are troubled that people on the continent are still undernourished and don't get enough food. We are determined to deal with it. Rest assured this will not just be another piece of paper."

Asked how African governments can increase funding for agriculture when a large chunk of their money comes from international donors with their own ideas about how it should be spent, Dlamini-Zuma expressed confidence that donors will be supportive.

"What we are saying is when donors give us [money] they should be linked to what our priorities are and, if a country wants to end hunger, donors must also accept that their budgets will be used to end hunger. I do hope there is no donor that can say, 'No, I would like people to be hungry'."

She added that African countries, few of which trade beyond their own borders, need to increase their trading partners. Brazil and China were mentioned as important trading partners.

At the two-day conference, Toward African renaissance: renewed partnership for a unified approach to end hunger in Africa by 2025 – convened by the FAO, the New Partnership for Africa's Development, and the Lula Institute – ministers shared their approaches to tackling hunger domestically.

Delegates heard from former Brazil president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva about the Fome Zero (zero hunger) programme, introduced during his two terms in office. Through job creation, targeted support for farmers, an increased minimum wage and a cash transfer programme, Brazil managed to achieve significant economic growth and poverty reduction within eight years.

Lula told the conference that the Brazilian experience could be adapted to suit the needs of African countries. But the crucial thing, he said, is the commitment of politicians to see through their vision to end hunger. He urged for the needs of the poor to be embedded across all government policy.

"If the state does not take care of these people, the national budgets will be fully directed to the organised sectors of the society. Therefore, the government needs to earmark a part of the budget for the poor. If this is not done, the problem of hunger will not be solved today, or by 2025, or never."

The Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, said: "There is an enormous window of opportunity to eradicate hunger in Africa. Africa cannot afford to lose this opportune moment."

Civil society and other interest groups will try to ensure African leaders live up to the rhetoric of the past two days.

Alangeh Romanus Che, from Cameroon, chairman of the CAAPD non-state actors co-ordination task team, attended the event to represent farmers' groups. He said: "There are so many declarations and memorandums that exist, signed by heads of state. But the issue will be implementation. It's ridiculous to find that 10 years after Maputo, only 10 countries have met their 10% budgets [for agriculture] … We need to hold people to account."

Within two hours of the final declaration, Che and the co-ordination team were discussing how best to inform organisations in their countries what had been adopted, so they can hold leaders to account.

African leaders determined to end hunger by 2025

A Guidebook to the Green Economy Issue 4: A guide to international green economy initiatives

By: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA)



In this Issue 4 of A Guidebook to the Green Economy, the focus turns to the various international initiatives that are supporting countries and stakeholders to implement the green economy worldwide by providing a range of services including information exchange, data management, capacity building, finance, and technology services. In doing so, it provides a resource guide to the various existing international green economy platforms, partnerships, programs, funds and other initiatives.

The guidebook also aims to map out many of the key actors involved in implementing and supporting the various green economy initiatives, the key services that they provide to countries, and the geographical reach of these initiatives which are now spreading the green economy across the globe.

The intent is to provide useful information to practitioners, countries and stakeholders which may assist with coordination and coherence and help countries to find the support that they need. As with the previous guidebooks, the review focuses on green economy and the related concepts of green growth and low-carbon development.

A Guidebook to the Green Economy Issue 4: A guide to international green economy initiatives

Poor nations 'can take a lead' in post-2015 agenda

By Jan Piotrowski, SCIDevNet

The least developed countries (LDCs) — those nations with the lowest socioeconomic indicators — have plenty to offer the sustainable development agenda, but they must organise themselves effectively to play a significant role, a briefing paper by the LDC Independent Expert Group reports.

In particular, LDCs need two-way knowledge exchange with more developed nations to promote their expertise in innovation, environmental stewardship and local governance, according to the paper, 'Taking a lead on the post-2015 agenda: priorities for least developed countries', published last week (24 June).

It finds that although these nations lack top-down governance, they are leading in community approaches to development, with local institutions and social networks providing powerful grassroots movements to adapt to issues such as climate change.

"The traditional approach to development has always been that the technology and knowledge has to come from economically developed countries," says Essam Yassin Mohammed, a researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), and a member of the expert group, which was launched by the IIED in May.

"There are lessons to be learnt from our experiences that we feel need to be recognised," he tells SciDev.Net.

LDCs have many ideas that can meet the sustainable development agenda, such as in innovation, Mohammed says.

Examples are the use in Africa of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in mobile banking and commodity trading, and irrigation schemes that combat the impacts of climate change in Nepal. Community forestry schemes in Nepal and other countries show successful environmental stewardship by these nations, he says.

But they still urgently need input from richer countries, particularly for technology transfer, and so two-way knowledge exchange is essential, says Mohammed. Relationships with middle-income countries will be key, as they have recently gone through the same development changes that currently face LDCs.

But if these nations are to play an important role in development they must also learn to work together and with other marginalised groups, such as small island developing states, the briefing says. There must be a greater spirit of cooperation and solidarity to solve global problems.

Mohammed is positive about the ability of LDCs to work in the international community, citing involvement with the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) as evidence. "If we have spoken with a coherent voice in the IPCC there is no reason why we cannot do it with the post-2015 agenda."

As for solidarity among nations, there has been a drastic shift in outlook during the ongoing global economic crisis and since the Japanese tsunami — two events that shocked the developed world into accepting it is vulnerable as well, says Muhammad.

This has helped to shake up the traditional "us" and "them" relationship between rich and poor nations, he adds.

Sabina Alkire, director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative, United Kingdom, welcomes the many "positive aspects" of the paper, including the call for solidarity and the need to make rapid progress by leaving behind the usual aid for development one-way street.

The fact that some of the poorest countries have gone further than more well-off countries in reducing non-income poverty factors, such as schooling, healthcare and sanitation, makes an excellent case for taking these nations seriously, she tells SciDev.Net.

But it does not go far enough, she believes.

It omits the empowerment of women and their leadership as an area of LDC expertise, says Alkire, who would have like the expert group to address this issue.

Poor nations 'can take a lead' in post-2015 agenda

Green Economy Not Taking Off in Latin America

By Emilio Godoy

A year after endorsing the principles of the green economy at the Río +20 summit, Latin America is making little progress towards sustainable development models, according to experts.

The region “is generally in a precarious situation; although there have been efforts in public policy-making to integrate natural capital as an element in economic sustainability, there have been few cases,” Isabel Studer, director of the Global Institute for Sustainability (IGS) at the private Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education, told IPS. “There is no comprehensive, cross-cutting approach.

“Countries have based their economic growth on the exploitation of natural resources, and this has aggravated a situation that was not particularly promising. Environmental sustainability has not been integrated in economic policy,” she said.

The IGS is taking part in a study led by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on successful experiences in the green economy in developed and developing nations, set to be completed by the end of the year.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the green economy is “one that results in improved human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities. In its simplest expression, a green economy can be thought of as one which is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive.”

UNEP says green investment can contribute to reducing demand for energy and water while reducing the carbon footprint of production of goods and services, besides contributing to the fight against poverty and social inequality.

¨We have to understand the conditions in the economy, and later which measures can be applied,” said UNEP representative in Mexico Dolores Barrientos. “First there has to be an analysis of the methods and priority sectors for moving towards a green economy.

“The main step forward is the recognition of failures in the economic system, which can eventually be overcome by means of better public policies, and that can include the main issues of the green economy,” she said.

“The future we want”, the outcome document adopted in June 2012 by Río +20 (the U.N. Conference on Sustainable Development) in Rio de Janeiro, considers the green economy one of the most important instruments for achieving sustainability, which can offer alternatives when it comes to policy-making.

At the same time, it recognises different approaches, visions and models, based on the specific circumstances and national priorities.

Governments, universities, NGOs and companies registered 741 voluntary initiatives in sectors like energy, transport, agriculture and health with the secretariat of the conference. Brazil registered 72, Mexico 47 and Peru 25.

By 2030, Mexico will require 64 billion dollars in investment in electricity, oil and gas, agriculture and forestry, energy consumption and transport to generate fewer polluting emissions, according to World Bank estimates.

The World Bank prefers to talk about “inclusive green growth” and puts the accent on experiences that are already being applied in many countries in the region.

But some governments, academics, and civil society organisations, especially in the developing world, argue that the green economy is turning nature into merchandise, without addressing deeper problems like poverty and inequality.

In the study “Development strategies of selected Latin American and Caribbean countries and the green economy approach: A comparative analysis”, UNEP studies the cases of Argentina, Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Venezuela, whose governments “have expressed major concerns about the concept of green economy.”

The report says that “Although most of the countries analysed have integrated into their development strategies certain elements that govern the relationship of humans and communities with the environment and the pathways for achieving sustainability, there is a gap between the position of the countries, often very innovative, which is expressed in the international arena, and their current development policies.”

“The challenge is to bring about substantial changes in the national economy, in an integral manner,” Studer said. “Public policies involve macroeconomic, financial, fiscal and innovation policies. The green economy can be a motor for redressing inequalities.”

The academic said “the green economy is not optional, because today´s problems are only getting worse. It offers opportunities for development of new industries, renewable energy, recycling of materials; but it requires a gigantic effort to include externalities in prices and evaluate opportunity costs.”

Experts agree on the urgent need to adopt measures for more efficient use of energy and water, more efficient transportation, and more efficient handling of waste.

Mexico is completing a study on agriculture, natural capital, transport, water and green jobs, which could serve as input for policy-makers.

Other countries in the region are also beginning to study and analyse different sectors, from the point of view of the green economy.

“The key is for countries to accept the recommendations on the green economy and then carry out an important analysis on where the opportunities are for applying them, and do so,” Barrientos said.

The UNEP study says “it is necessary to establish international mechanisms that guarantee that a green economy will: contribute to poverty eradication, respect the sovereignty of nations, facilitate the conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity, and allow an equitable distribution of wealth”.

Green Economy Not Taking Off in Latin America

TYI (Water)

By The Water Channel

This video was created by the people of Aretika - a small village located along the Simsang river in the South Garo Hills, Meghalaya, India

Traditionally, the people of Aretika have always been dependent on fishery to provide for their daily bread. In recent years however, the Simsang river has become heavily polluted as a result of the exploitation of numerous illegal coal mines along its banks. The amounts of fish in the Simsang river have decreased severely, and the fish that are left are often found floating belly up already. The ongoing pollution of the Simsang river has forced the people living alongside its banks to find alternative sources of livelihood. Many have turned to the expanding coal mine industry to be able to provide for their families. Most families have begun to filter the coal debris flowing out from the mines into the river, in order to sell it, while others are transporting the coal in trucks or small boats, or are even working as daily labourers in the mines themselves.

"TYI" (Atong for water) shows how the people of Aretika are facing several issues, all related to water: pollution due to mining and water shortages caused by widescale deforestation.

Helen Clark on Women's Rights

Helen Clark comments on women's rights at the Women Deliver conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The conference launched a new interactive platform called "+SocialGood", part of the annual technology and human development event "The Social Good Summit".