Category: Public & Private Sectors

There in increasing attention for a private sector that can help developing countries to promote economic growth and to reduce poverty by building private enterprises, membership organizations to represent them, and competitive markets. In this context, there are business development services to improve the performance of individual enterprises, e.g. training, consultancy, marketing, ICT and technology/knowledge transfer. However, self-sustainability is necessary, also having interactive links between the poor and the market so as the focus shifts from individuals to overall markets. Issues such as industrial policies, e.g. selective government interventions to promote specific economies, competitiveness, innovation, structural changes and infrastructure developments as well as climate change mitigation and gender equality are some examples.

The public sector (public ownership), however, is part of the economy that provides various government services and its composition varies by country. Generally this sector may involve military, police, public transport, roads, education and health care. It provides services that benefit all of society and not just individuals who use the services. Businesses and organizations that are not part of the public sector are part of the private sector. However, there are publicly owned corporations and borderline outsourcing businesses with mixed private operation with public ownership.

The public sector is generally funded by taxation and for this reason the developing countries may lack the necessary capital not only for supporting public services but also for building the necessary infrastructure for such services. Many economic systems in developing countries have problems for creating strong private sectors on the top of healthy public services that can provide the basic society and population needs.

Shaping “Career-Development-Plans” to suit public and private sectors requires taking in consideration the dynamics between private and public sectors in order to implement suitable and sustainable instruments for proper navigation in the economic structures.

Promoting ‘ESG’ in Egypt – MOGTAM3i.TECH Plans to Achieve 2030 SDGs.

Already before the Paris Agreement several major structural changes emphasizing the importance of social value and the use of technology to serve the community have taken roots in Egypt after a very long period of recession. Though the path has been full of obstacles and not at all straightforward many technology serving communities have succeeded to be developed and established. Using science and technology as instruments for overall economic and social developments and for better services to the citizens has been among national policies. Also, for increasing the socio-economic empowerment of youth, women, people with disabilities and vulnerable segments, and opening new horizons for social entrepreneurs and new ventures for job creations, and for achievements of the global sustainable development goals.

A leading organization, ‘ACSR’ The Arab Council for Social Responsibility, with the mission to transform its programmes and activities from concept to value for the society and economy, has taken major and serious steps to implement actions on different sectors and levels (https://mogtam3i.tech). The mogtam3i.tech has a Facebook page demostrating their activities (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=500962601093480&id=345832539939821&sfnsn=scwspwa).

MOGTAM3I.TECH is a Technology Serving Community for light on the impact of technology on the overall economic and social development towards the provision of better services to the citizens and to empower the social fabrics of the society across all sector activities. See more at (https://mogtam3i.tech). This is indeed among the growing interest to strengthen ESG ‘Environmental, Social, and Governance’ https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/environmental-social-and-governance-esg-criteria.asp; https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/esg-environmental-social-governance/).

See how ESG is taking roots in Egypt mogtam3i.tech
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Part II of the ‘Sustainability in Science and Technology’ – The Human Performance.

The performance of humans is driven by diverse needs for food and security to overcome the challenges for decent live on Earth. 

This is an introduction to Part Two of the WEBINARS on “Sustainability in Science and Technology” – The Performance of humans’, hosted by sustain-earth.com.

Africa is the origin of homo sapiens and the renewables helped their evolution during millions of years and their migration out of Africa 70 000 years ago.

During the hunting gatherer era humans started to master artefacts and simple tools, also to build small communities and settlements. They domesticated animals, plants and learned to cultivate land and build shelters for their living.

The agricultural era that started 10 000 years ago culminated in an outstanding ancient Egyptian civilisation that lasted 3000 years. During this era people used water to promote agriculture, farming and to produce food. These achievements were made possible by taking advantages of renewable resources only, the sun (heat and light), water from the Nile and limited use of natural resources.

The mechanisation of agriculture in the 18th century during the first industrial revolution triggered increasing use of artificial pesticides and fertilisers. However, the limited water resources on Earth caused new needs for diversification of water production and management in order to have clean, affordable and accessible water for the growing population and the increasing urbanisation. The first industrial revolution involved various manufacturing processes supported by water and steam power.

The second industrial revolution in Britain was based on increasing electrification and use of combustion engines, rapid standardisation and industrialisation of many sectors in the 19th and 20th centuries. The widespread developments of the first and second industrial revolutions created huge pollution and waste in the atmosphere, the hydrosphere and the biosphere that continued and continued until now. New but limited renewable technologies, however, with zero net emission of green house gases started to appear by the end of the 20th century. This was due to the fear that fossil fuels are limited and have negative impacts on life. These developments were possible by more affordable access to renewable energies and the expanding use of alternating and direct current motors. Indeed, there are still several environmental challenges for scaling-up and scaling-out the renewables. Among these are the storage of renewables and integrating them in well-established grids. However, renewables and batteries require needs for new materials and further expansion of mining and processing that are dependent on heavy consumption of water and energy.

The third industrial revolution of digitalisation started by the end of the 20th century and opened new possibilities for increasing efficiencies and volumes of communication not only between humans but also between humans and machines, and between machines and machines as well.

The Information-Communication-Technologies and the Internet of Things will allow extensive and intensive expansion of Science and Technology with new gates for innovation worldwide on all levels and in many sectors. We have now many examples around the world which demonstrate that the boundaries between science fiction and technological realities are vanishing very very fast. We are, now, in urgent needs to proceed with the 4th industrial revolution and to continue with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning but with careful attention to the demands of renewables, preservation and protection of life.

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Pre-announcement for Forthcoming WEBINARS 2021: Sustainability in Science and Technology.

The WEBINARS on Sustainability in Science and Technology will be hosted by sustain-earth.com. and will appear in 2021. They are coordinated by Professor em Farid El-Daoushy (Uppsala University, Sweden) and will be given by many professionals and professors from around the world. It is based on trans-disciplinary and trans-sectoral approaches to explain and detail several patio-temporal yet complex, wicked and interactive problems that piled-up over very long periods of time and caused the evolution of a new geologic era, i.e. the so-called anthropocene.

In part one, the natural drivers of life on planet earth, in the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and lithosphere, will be explained to give the necessary bases for understanding the boundary conditions of the natural climate and environment systems of the Earth. In part two the life-styles of humans ‘homo sapiens’ on planet since their evolution on Earth, and migration out of Africa 70 000 years ago, i.e. during different transitions and changes from the hanter gatherer era until now will be followed. Part three will give the impacts of the combined spatio-temporal interactions between human life and the planets’ own drivers on the global economic systems. Further part three will involve issues related to growth economy versus circular economy. In part four analysis of the performance of sustainability with reference to the first three parts will be done. In this context, resilience in human knowledge versus science, technology and innovation will be examined. These four parts together will give background information on ‘what, why and how’ what regards sustainability can be put together in a resilient framework to scale-up and scale-out science, technology and innovation to meet the UN-SDGs in order to achieve prosperity on planet Earth.

In summary the forthcoming WEBINARS can be described as follows:

Part One: The performance of planet Earth.

Part Two: The performance of humans ‘Homo Sapiens’.

Part Three: The performance of world economic systems with consideration to growth economy versus circular economy.

Part Four: The performance of sustainability. Resilience in knowledge versus science and technology.

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The Magic of DIY – How to Make Your Own IPHONE 📱

What would Steve Jobs (https://sv.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Jobs) says if he would have seen his life-time invention to be RECYCLED in the second-hand market in tiny small pieces, parts and components? Reverse Engineering ‘RE’ doesn’t leave any product, what-so-ever until it is copied, re-engineered and put together again and again even in its best original form. Every piece, part, component and/or even the smallest screws and contacts of any smart phone, including Iphone, or/and Ipads are now re-coded, re-sorted, put on shelfs, re-packed and sold in thousand of streets of China 🇨🇳. Also, for that matter anywhere else around the world. No wonder how curiosity, needs and motivations to survive van turn people to use their imagination to re-cycle and re-use even what we still define as SMART. It is the enormous, constant and pressing needs for reparation and maintenance of even the modern HIGH-TECK electronic devices and appliances have created new markets, series of supply chains and self-made employment around the world. High-speed production by automation in factories can be RE as needs and demand for services are huge and can save the economy of users. AI will also be copied no matter the level of intelligence and the recycling of intelligence will grow and flourish. Humans will always find ways to win over AI as the instinct of survival is an important attribute for search for better life. Intelligence is a key component for the survival of the fittest and it is why humans keeps expanding their intelligence specially with the accelerating access to knowledge and know-how through the Internet-Of-Things ‘IOT’. With the growing need and imperatives of sustainability, Recycling, Re-using and Re-creating can make our planet Great Again.

Yes we can, see here how you can build your own Iphone https://youtu.be/leFuF-zoVzA

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SWAS 16th International Annual Conference, Genève 12-16 April 2018.

The World Association for Sustainable Development “WASD” will organize its 16th International Annual Conference in 12-16 April 2018, Palais de Nations, Genève, Zwitzerland. To be co-organized and hosted by the United Nations Joint Inspection Unit (JIU).

The Theme is “Public private partnerships for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda  for sustainable development”. 

See more at: http://www.wasd.org.uk/books/palgrave-studies-of-sustainable-business-in-africa/tt-sudan/

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Korean’s Sustainability Concept for Water Resourse Management – Smart Water Grids 

The increasing pressures and competition on water resources on different spatio-temporal scales require developing more friendly and sustainable approaches to meet the increasing constrains from population growth, uncertain energy production and accelerating threats from global warming. 

Among newly emerging solutions is Grid-concept “water production-distribution-consumption” which is described in the attached Link that describes “Sustainable Water Distribution Strategy with Smart Water Grid” (http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/7/4/4240/htm).

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UN-SGD – Last Emergency Call For Intensive Care of Mother Earth

Indeed, UN-SDG can be regarded as the last call, after a series of regular and continuous calls on several regional and global levels, for meeting pressing and urgent needs for implementation of effective, practical and immediate solutions and measures of the pilling threats and degradation on earth’s environmental and climate systems.

Now the UNEP releases its recent GEO-6 Regional Assessment documents, May 2016. The Networking of “sustain-earth.com” got this information also from Hussein Abaza, an excellent Reporter on sustainability issues and Director at Centre for Sustainable Development Solutions “CSDS”, Cairo, Egypt.

A series of regional reports on the state of the planet’s health deliver the message that environmental deterioration is occurring much faster than previously thought and action is needed now to reverse the worst trends. The ‘Global Environmental Outlook (GEO-6): Regional Assessments,’ published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), is a compilation of six reports examining environmental issues affecting the world’s six regions: the Pan-European region, North America, Asia and the Pacific, West Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), and Africa.
The release of the regional assessments coincides with the second session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-2), which is convening in Nairobi, Kenya, from 23-27 May 2016. The Pan-European assessment will be launched at the eighth Environment for Europe Ministerial Conference in Batumi, Georgia, on 8 June 2016.

The assessments found that the regions share a range of common environmental threats, including climate change, biodiversity loss, land degradation, population growth, rapid urbanization, rising consumption levels, desertification and water scarcity, which all must be addressed in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The assessments involved 1,203 scientists, hundreds of scientific institutions and more than 160 governments, and are based on scientific data and peer reviewed literature. The regional assessments will inform GEO-6, which will be released before 2018 and will provide an assessment of the state, trends and outlook of the global environment.
The GEO-6 LAC assessment notes the strong impact of emissions from agriculture in the region, including an increase in nitrous oxide emissions of about 29% between 2000 and 2010 from soils, leaching and runoff, direct emissions and animal manure, and an increase in methane emissions of about 19% due to the plethora of beef and dairy cattle. Regarding air pollution, the assessment points to particulate matter (PM) concentrations above World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. In addition, Andean glaciers, which provide water for millions, are shrinking. The LAC region has eliminated lead in gasoline and made headway in reducing ozone-depleting substances.
Approximately 41% of all reported natural disasters over the last two decades have occurred in the Asia and the Pacific region, according to the regional assessment. In Southeast Asia, more than one million hectares is deforested annually. Other environmental issues discussed in the report reference that: approximately 30% of the region’s population drinks water contaminated by human feces; water-related diseases and unsafe water contribute to 1.8 million deaths annually; uncontrolled dumping is a significant source of disease; and population growth, a growing middle class and urbanization have led to higher emissions, ill-managed waste and increased consumption.
In West Asia, an increase in degraded land and the spread of desertification are among the region’s most pressing challenges, as they lead to an increase in water demand, over-exploitation of groundwater resources and deteriorating water quality. In addition, conflict and displacement are having severe environmental impacts, such as heavy metals from explosive munitions and radiation from missiles leaching into the environment, and increased waste production and disease outbreaks. Almost 90% of municipal solid waste is disposed of in unlined landfill sites and is contaminating groundwater resources. The report estimates that air pollution alone caused more than 70,000 premature deaths in 2010.
In Africa, air pollution accounts for 600,000 premature deaths annually. The report also highlights that 68% of the population had clean water in 2012. In addition, inland and marine fisheries face over-exploitation from illegal, under-reported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. According to the report, around 500,000 square meters of land in Africa is being degraded by soil erosion, salinization, pollution and deforestation. African megacities, such as Cairo, Kinshasa and Lagos, have inadequate sanitation services.
In North America, environmental conditions, including air pollution, drinking water quality and well-managed protected areas, have improved due to policies, institutions, data collection and assessment and regulatory frameworks. However, aggressive hydrocarbon extraction methods can lead to increased emissions, water use and induced seismicity, while coastal and marine environments are experiencing, inter alia, ocean acidification and sea-level rise. Climate change is exacerbating the drought in California by approximately 15-20%, and Hurricane Sandy, in 2012, was directly responsible for approximately 150 deaths and US$70 billion in losses. However, mitigation efforts are having a positive impact; for example, solar deployment made up 40% of the market for new electricity generation in the US in the first half of 2015, and solar now powers 4.6 million homes. In the Arctic, warming has increased at twice the global average since 1980, and over the past twenty years, summer sea ice extent has dramatically decreased, which has, inter alia, created new expanses of open ocean, enabling more phytoplankton to bloom and alter the marine food chain.
Overall, recommendations of the assessments include, inter alia: strengthening intergovernmental coordination at the regional and sub-regional levels; improving gathering, processing and sharing data and information; enhancing sustainable consumption and production (SCP); harnessing natural capital in a way that does not damage ecosystems; implementing pollution control measures; investing in urban planning; reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and diversifying energy sources; investing in environmental accounting systems to ensure external costs are addressed; and building resilience to natural hazards and extreme climate events. [UN Press Release] [UNEP Press Release] [UNEP Knowledge Repository] [Factsheet for GEO 6 Regional Assessment for Africa
] [Factsheet for GEO 6 Regional Assessment for Asia Pacific]
 [Factsheet for GEO 6 Regional Assessment for Latin America and the Caribbean
] [Factsheet for GEO 6 Regional Assessment for North America] [
Factsheet for GEO 6 Regional Assessment for West Asia] [
Full Regional Assessment for Africa
] [Full Regional Assessment for Asia Pacific] 
[Full Regional Assessment for Latin America and the Caribbean
] [Full Regional Assessment for North America
] [Full Regional Assessment for West Asia].

Now it remains to see how these “SMART GOALS” will be further put in an effective and fast implementation agenda of actions. They are still many unclear details as what, when, how and where these goals will be dealt with in particular who will do what, how and when. Though the UN-SDG seem to be more or less specific in general terms, they need to be successful and instruments have to be put in place to measure such success as what you can not measure is does not exist and what you can not measure you can not control. Unless these goals become successful they will be gone with the wind as many other smart UN goals.

2016-05-30 08.22.08

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Education, R&D and Public Awareness are Imperative for Sustainable Policies 

Understanding existing pressures and constrains for implementation and performance of successful sustainable policies requires tight and continuous involvement of all citizens on large-scale and long-term socio-economic policies. 

Planet Earth is a complex living organism with delicate balance that makes possible the unique functioning and metabolism of all life forms on earth. Water, energy and natural resources are essential and basic components that contribute in the earth’s delicate balance. Modern neccessities and future challenges are becoming more and more clear and require from us and future generations to keep such balance in tact with nature’s own dynamic processes. Our consumption of water, energy and natural resources needs to take in consideration the nature’s own delicate balance. 

Visit, share and contribute in “Sustain-earth.com” to inform and be informed on our growing needs for understanding the basic of APPLIED SUSTAINABILITY. An introduction is given at ABOUT (http://sustain-earth.com/about/).

  

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Why Sustain-Earth.Com?

If you can not measure it, it does not exist and if you can measure it properly you would not be able to control it.

What is sustainability and how can we measure it, below are some information. To know more follow, share and contribute in: http://sustain-earth.com to know more

http://computingforsustainability.com/2009/03/16/more-sustainability-diagrams/

 

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Urbanized Water – Evolution, Threats and Feedback Impacts on Natural Water

Natural fresh water, does it exist? We used to have high quality natural waters but this was probably more than a couple of thousand of years ago, i.e. just before the Roman Empire. Natural fresh waters are very hard to find nowadays, only in remote regions far away from human impacts, e.g. frozen water in polar areas or some fossil water somewhere underground.

The Romans invented the culture of urban water systems that exist today in our cities around the world. Gravity-fed systems distribute water, from water treatment plants, around cities and ultimately dispose wastewater in underground sewer networks. From the Romans time until today urban water systems went through major transformation forced difficulties originated from: water shortages during the Romans; cholera outbreaks in the Industrial Revolution; and most recently polluted surface water systems (lakes, rivers, …… ), e.g. in Europe and the US that accelerated shortly after WWII. We are now facing more and more complex web of serious threats on natural waters due to the rapid technological and economical advances of the past century, the growing world population and an accelerating “production-consumption” wheel as a result of many emerging economies. Climate change, pile-up of pollution and waste, aging urban water systems (both water and wastewater), various types of peaks in particular energy- and water-related ones, constrains in world economy and geo-political conflicts. You name it.

In this post “Sustain-earth.com” gives some background information of the evolution of urbanized waters and problems associated with wastewater treatment. In coming posts other urbanization-related issues will be given, in particular water treatment processes and the importance of the quality of natural waters on such processes.

Here is some description of how urbane water systems developed and the situation many cities are facing today. Urban water systems are starting to break down with these problems: 1) water infrastructure needs costly upgrades; 2) many sewer systems are becoming overloaded; 3) water scarcity appearing in drought-prone areas. Some possible fixes are, also, given: Water recycling, desalination, decentralization: http://www.vox.com/2014/10/6/6900959/water-systems-pollution-drinking-water-desalination

Wastewater Treatment Plants have impacts on the water quality of natural waters and there are growing fears that they are acting as pollution factories: http://www.riles.org/musings.htm

Also additional background information on how typical wastewater treatment plants work: http://water.usgs.gov/edu/wwvisit.html see also this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OocKzAowo_0&app=desktop

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Sustain-Earth.Com – Connecting People For Healthy and Wealthy Future

Professionals in all sectors and on all levels around the world are corner stones in shaping the future on our planet; they are, also, leaders that can direct its path. However, for our fellow citizens to be safe, secure and share their responsibility the conservation and sustainable management of our collective natural resources on the earth requires innovation, engagement, transparency and full participation in “serve and get served”. With these objectives we can turn past difficulties, existing obstacles and future threats to solutions, admittance and prosperity.

http://sustain-earth.com/about/

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Invitation – A NEW Logo For Sustain-Earth.

http://sustain-earth.com is a platform and a BLOG for integrating and marketing sustainability in education and research, and popularization of sustainability in science and technology. It supports “Open Access”. It has built-in functions and instruments for coupling education, research and technology with society, market and population needs on national and international levels. It, also, acts for promoting “Business-to-Business” and creating “Career-Development-Plans” for professionals and graduates in the emerging applications of sustainability and socio-economic developments. http://sustain-earth.com is an instruments and vehicle for developing and implementing applied sustainability in all sectors and on all levels.

LOGO of "sustain-earth.com" has three colours. Main colour of "earth" is green a product of "blue" for clean water and "yellow" for clean energy.

LOGO of “sustain-earth.com” has three colors. Main color of “earth” is a dynamic green-product of “blue” for clean water and “yellow” for clean energy. A green main arrow representing the functioning and metabolism of “sustain-earth” through fueling life by constant clean water “blue” supported by clean energy “yellow”.

To learn more and get introduction on “http://sustain-earth.com” please visit “ABOUT”. We welcome any questions and inquiries through “CONTACT”. You are, also, most welcome with innovative posts at “CONTRIBUTE”.

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China’s Renewable Challenges for Efficient and Optimized Grid

China’s need for energy to serve its citizens and industries will accelerate tenfold in the period 2000-2035, i.e. from 1TWh to 9.6 TWh. Until now the share of renewables in China’s energy mix is about 17% while the major part of its energy, about 80%, is provided through fossil coal.

China’s challenges are related to its relatively very young renewable programs, and that the regions of highest energy demands are not matching China’s geographic distribution of its renewable energy production. Another challenge for China is the integration of its regional grids to a more efficient and optimized grid especially with consideration to the additional emerging renewable energies and the associated needs for storage. With these challenges a clear energy saving policy is needed for integrating renewable energy into China’s system. This is not an overnight and easy task especially if sustainable policies have to be taken in consideration for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions which will remain to be one of the most serious difficulties for China not only from climatic view point but also from environmental and air quality prospective.

http://www.managementism.com/2012/integration-of-renewables-in-china/

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Lessons to be learned – The Sustainability Program of North Ireland

While there are no “standard maps” for achieving successful sustainable socio-economic developments everywhere in the world, yet we can learn from exiting strategies and solutions. Naturally, nations around the world have own conditions, structures, needs and may exist in different stages of development with complex internal and external political, economical and trade relations. Assessing the existing models and strategies helps formulating short and long-term roadmaps that are appropriate and suitable to the socio-economic needs and conditions. Successful socio-economic developments can’t be based on random actions and have to follow robust strategies emanating from effective, collective and coherent interactions between all sectors and on all levels. In this context, cloudy and conflicting interesting “within and between” nations can be major obstacles for achieving sustainable socio-economic developments.

An example on how to build national roadmaps for bring about successful socio-economic developments even under economic constrains is given here.

http://www.sustainableni.org/index.php

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GREEN POLITICS ANSWER TO GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES

The green ideology is a philosophy practiced and advocated for by a coalition of political leaders and activists, whose goal is to advocate for peace, security, unity, preservation of the environment and ecosystem for socio-economic development, all over the world. These political leaders and activists are called “The Greens”. The Green ideology rests on solidarity that can be expressed in three parts: Solidarity with all the people of the world; Solidarity with animals, nature and the ecological system; Solidarity with future generations. For more information on this Political Platform, please, visit: 

http://www.robinahknanyunja.com/robk/?page_id=16.

The fact that the green ideology puts environmental responsibility at the same level like other development sectors, means that it provides the necessary political will to curb environmental degradation, which is more often lacking with conventional governments.  

ABOUT the author: ROBINAH K. NANYUNJA, is the President General, Ecological Party of Uganda, which is Uganda’s Green Party. She is a Green MP Candidate for Kawempe North Constituency 2016 in Kampala Uganda. Full BIO: http://www.robinahknanyunja.com/robk/?page_id=38 
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Mechanized Agriculture in Sudan – Collapse of Sustainable Land-Water Management.

UNEP along FAO, ICRAF and a number of Sudanese NGOs and institutes describe how and why the agricultural sectors in Sudan were gradually degraded and moved rapidly towards more or less total collapse because of environment over-taxation. Since the introduction of mechanization of rain-fed agriculture by the British in 1944 several negative impacts, due to lack of control and planning, were piled up during the last half of the 20th century. This has caused large-scale destruction of environment and triggered severe negative impacts in other sectors as well. The traditional and mechanized agriculture account for 55 and 45 percent respectively of the rain-fed cultivated area. The importance of the irrigated sub-sector is reflected in the fact that while it makes up only 7 percent of the cultivated area, it accounts for more than half of the crop yields. However, irrigated land has own problems. Rapid, uncontrolled privatization, random investment and failure to couple education and research to market and society needs are major causes.

Management of land-water resources in Africa is IMPERATIVE. However, past experiences show not only major failure but the great threats of the blind and random implementation of imported technologies, e.g. Sudan where its cultivable land is about 42 percent with frequent claims that it is the potential ‘breadbasket’ of Africa and Middle East. Agriculture, the largest economic sector in Sudan, became the heart of some of the country’s most serious environmental problems: wide-range of land degradation, riverbank erosion, invasive species, pesticide mismanagement, water pollution and canal sedimentation. Also rangeland’s vulnerability to overgrazing is high and its overlap with cultivation is a major source of potential conflict. The significance of these threats cannot be underestimated: not only are 15 percent of the population partly or wholly dependent on imported food aid, but the population is growing, per hectare crop yields are declining and the enhanced competition over scarce agricultural resources.

The agricultural sector in Sudan is the main source of sustained growth and backbone of Sudan’s economy. Unfortunately, the sector’s economic stake is declining more and more with the emergence of the oil industry. Sudan continues to depend heavily on agriculture, whose share fluctuates around 40 percent of the GDP. The crop and livestock sub-sectors together contribute 80 to 90 percent of non-oil export earnings. With these trends the country will face more unemployment and famine as fifty-eight percent of the active workforce is employed in agriculture and 83 percent of the population depends on farming for its livelihood.

Global warming adds new threats as the agricultural sector in Sudan is highly vulnerable to shortages in rainfall and there has been substantial decline in precipitation and climate change models predict that this trend will continue. Without major action to stop the wave of de-gradation and restore land productivity, the natural resource base will continue to shrink, even as demand grows. Resolving this issue is thus central to achieving lasting peace and food security.

Click to access 08_agriculture.pdf

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