Plus de trois millions d’enfants menacés de famine dans la Corne de l’Afrique, prévient l’UNICEF


Le Fonds des Nations unies pour l’enfance (UNICEF) a déclaré vendredi que trois millions d’enfants vivant dans la partie supérieure de la Corne de l’Afrique risquent de mourir de famine.

Selon un communiqué rendu public par le Fonds vendredi à Nairobi, les enfants sont gravement touchés en raison de la hausse des prix des denrées alimentaires et du carburant dans le monde mais aussi du manque d’eau.

Selon le directeur régional de l’UNICEF pour la région de l’Afrique de l’est et australe, Per Engebak, 1,3 millions d’enfants sont menacés parla famine au Kenya dont la plupart exclus de l’école surtout ceux vivant dans les zones arides et semi-arides.

Parmi les autres pays sévèrement touchés par la crise figurent l’Ethiopie, la Somalie et l’Erythrée, a précisé le document.

L’UNICEF a sonné l’alarme sur le nombre croissant d’écoliers qui abandonnent l’école au Kenya et les filles qui optent pour la prostitution.

Article de presse de l'UNICEF :

http://www.unicef.org/media/media_45506.html

Photo jointe : Girls herd goats and sheep in Kirisia forest, Samburu West District.


Goat plague ruining herders’ livelihoods

The Ministry of Livestock Development has stepped up its fight against the dreaded goat plague (peste des petits ruminants or PPR) that is killing thousands of animals in most arid areas in the country.

The Nation has learnt that a Cabinet meeting was called recently to discuss ways of containing the plague and to source emergency funds.

The meeting also discussed the impact of the disease on the livelihoods of the vulnerable groups in the North Rift and north eastern Kenya. The issue of food security in the affected regions was also tabled.

In addition, the Cabinet highlighted the proposed necessary measures to contain the spread and eradicate the disease to safeguard the livelihoods and arrest the associated food insecurity.

According to Livestock Development permanent secretary Patrick Khaemba, about 23 million sheep and goats valued at Sh16.1 billion were likely to die of the disease. More than 58 per cent of the animals are in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (Asal), which are most susceptible to the plague.

Mr Khaemba said that about 10 million people depended on the animals for their livelihood. The animals were the source of meat, milk, blood and income.


Source et article complet :

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/467218/-/item/0/-/ssfh9y/-/index.html

La florissante industrie horticole nuit à la santé des ouvriers agricoles et à l’environnement

La floriculture est en plein boom au Kenya. En quelques années, le pays est devenu le principal fournisseur – en majorité de roses– de l’Europe. A tel point que cette activité est en passe de détrôner le tourisme et la culture du thé, qui ont fait les beaux jours du pays. Mais cette opportunité économique comporte un pendant inquiétant : la protection de l’environnement et des populations est sérieusement menacée.

...///...Lire article complet :

http://www.afrik.com/article14946.html

High-Level Event on the MDGs

World leaders will come together in New York on 25 September 2008 for a high-level event convened by the UN Secretary-General and the President of the UN General Assembly to renew commitments to achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 and to set out concrete plans and practical steps for action.

What's Going On?

Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Africa
The MDG Africa Steering Group, convened by the UN Secretary-General, issued its recommendations, laying out practical steps, strategies and costed programmes needed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals in Africa, in a landmark report produced and endorsed by the United Nations and other major development institutions.
Acheiving Millenium Development Goals in Africa

The Challenge of Rising Food Prices
Steep food price increases are reducing nutritional levels and placing pressure on the budgets of poor households, thereby undercutting progress on the first Millennium Development Goal and its targets of cutting in half the share of the world’s population suffering from hunger and from extreme poverty, between 1990 and 2015. In early 2008, the UN Secretary-General assembled a food crisis task force of UN agencies, which put together and is carrying out a coordinated action plan to improve agricultural capacity and access to food. The UN also convened a Rome meeting on world food security in June.

Making Aid More Effective
From 2 to 4 September, ministers from over 100 countries, heads of bilateral and multilateral development agencies, donor organizations and civil society organizations from around the world will gather in Accra, Ghana, for the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, to help developing countries in their fight against poverty by making aid more transparent, accountable and results-oriented.

High-level Meeting on Africa’s Development Needs
On 22 September, the UN General Assembly will hold a high-level meeting that will bring together world leaders to renew their commitments to Africa’s development and focus attention on how to address the challenges. The high-level meeting will also be attended by civil society organizations, intergovernmental organizations, UN agencies, funds and programmes, as well as the Bretton Woods institutions, the World Trade Organization, the regional development banks and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

Stand Up Against Poverty
From October 17 to 19, people all around the world will be invited to Stand Up and Take Action, to be a part of the growing global movement determined to stamp out poverty and inequality. Last year, more than 43 million people all over the world stood up and spoke out sending a clear and powerful message to governments: Keep your promises to end poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

International Review Conference on Financing for Development
As a follow-up to the 2002 Monterrey Consensus, an International Review Conference on Financing for Development will take place in Doha, Qatar, from 29 November to 2 December, to address progress made, reaffirm goals and commitments, share best practices and lessons learned.

SOURCE :

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/


VIDEO ON YOU TUBE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vddX4n30sXY&NR=1

Au Samburu District...Comment aiguiser un couteau de maniere efficace...

Informations generales sur le Kenya :

http://www.google.com/Top/World/Fran%C3%A7ais/R%C3%A9gional/Afrique/Kenya/R%C3%A9f%C3%A9rences/

Tired of rustling, herders turn to beekeeping







Cattle rustlers may not fear the guns of home guards who try to repel them, but they may be wary of bee stings.

That could be the wisdom behind a new project that strives to convert pastoralists in Samburu District to beekeepers.

Every year, lives are lost in cattle rustling attacks and hundreds of livestock stolen, leaving a region frustrated and fatigued by survival tactics.

But now, deep in the scrublands of Samburu, residents are slowly exploring bee-keeping as an alternative way of livelihood.

Honey supply

Farmers are getting into the national limelight through the bee-keeping project that supplies hundreds of tons of honey to leading retail outlets in Nairobi.

"Due to persistent drought and cattle rustling, we felt it was important to introduce locals to a new way of earning a living that is neither affected by drought nor targeted by bandits," says Mr Steve Lelegwe, the bee project manager.

The bee project is slowly converting the semi-arid land into a gold mine for residents from the sale of honey.

Currently there are about 1000 bee farmers in Kisima, Poror, Loosuk, Kirisia, Pura, and Malaso.

"We teach the people how to engage in bee keeping. We also have a refinery where we produce pure honey that is packaged and sold to the local people and the surplus taken to Nairobi, Lelegwe says.

He adds: "The farmers are able to produce up to 10 tons of honey a month. We are targeting 50 tons a month once the project picks well."

Lelegwe, a graduate of the University of Nairobi where he studied Bio Chemistry, says he is dedicated to teaching farmers on bee keeping as a way of life.

"Bee keeping offered me an opportunity to give back to my people what they gave me in education," he says.

He argues that since the arid area cannot support other agricultural practices like growing of crops, bee keeping provides the best alternative from cattle keeping.


Long lasting product

"Honey has a long shelf life and can last for several years," he says.

Lelegwe says the Samburu region has excellent conditions for bee keeping because it is rich in tree varieties, which are a prerequisite for the activity.

"I always wanted to do something else since bandits stole all my animals but I had no money to start a business. Today I am happy for this bee-keeping project because it does not require money to get started," said Ms Mary Nasieku, a resident of Kisima.

Locals are optimistic that the support the project has received from the African Wildlife Foundation will change their lives.

"With the knowledge we have and the support we receive from the African Wildlife Foundation, we believe this project will take our people very far," Nasieku adds.

Lelegwe says they are happy locals have embraced bee keeping and are more aware of the benefits of the trade.

"Initially it was hard to convince people to start bee keeping because they believed those who keep bees are poor and lazy," he adds.

But today this mentality has changed and many people have embraced bee keeping as a way of life.

Challenges faced

Since many locals are nomadic pastoralists, beekeepers in the semi arid area face the challenge of moving with their hives when they relocate in search of pasture.

"They put their hives on their donkeys and move with them to new destinations. But when they harvest their honey they bring it to the refinery," the manager says.

At the refinery pure honey, royal jelly, bee venom, and bee wax are produced using scientific methods.

Technical assistance offered by agricultural extension officers and experts from local NGOs help the beekeepers learn more about the trade.

The NGOs hope that the projects will help in poverty alleviation in the area.

"We target all stakeholders in the community. That is why we encourage everyone’s participation in the project. This helps our people break away from the vicious cycle of poverty," Steve Lelegwe says.

Source :

http://www.eastandard.net/InsidePage.php?id=1143993435&cid=4

...Les traditions ne se perdent pas au Samburu District...

Public Toilets in the Fight to Achieve World Wide Sanitation


......In the case of Kenya, 14,000,000 people—half of its population—lacks access to adequate sanitation facilities. 60% of the population in Nairobi, what many consider to be an “international city,” suffers from this same lack of toilets as well

□ In consideration of the local residents of Kenya, Nairobi who live without sanitation facilities, the World Toilet Association will build public restrooms in the Korogocho and viwandani regions. Despite the fact that they comprise 60% of the population, these slums are considered as illegal settlements and receive little or no government support. Moreover, residents there survive on less than a $1 salary per day, which is primarily used for drinking water. They are therefore unable to afford using the pay toilets that are available.

□ In particular, women and the 20,000 children there are the victims of these unsafe sanitation conditions. Infectious diseases are the major cause of deaths. The World Toilet Association Pilot Public Toilet Building Project will provide toilets for approximately 560,000 residents, this will go a long way to provide improve sanitation and reduce the incidence of infectious diseases in the area.........

Source :

http://www.modernghana.com/news/179827/1/public-toilets-in-the-fight-to-achieve-world-wide-.html