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Science Newsbriefs from Around Africa
[LINK] AFRICA: Five countries top deforestation
list
[LINK] MALAWI: Pest outbreak threatens timber industry
[LINK] SOMALIA: Rabies outbreak in central Somalia
[LINK] SOMALIA: Flood alert issued
[LINK] UGANDA: Plans to make HIV/AIDS tests mandatory
[LINK] LESOTHO: Project to benefit water-starved households
[LINK] COTE D IVOIRE: Yellow fever death toll mounts to 20
[LINK] HORN OF AFRICA: New tools for predicting epidemics
[LINK] ZAMBIA: Cereal deficit threatens household food security
[LINK] NAMIBIA: Malaria kills record number this year
[LINK] MALI: Thousands affected by floods
[LINK] GUINEA: Up to 70,000 affected by floods
[LINK] RWANDA: Foot-and-mouth disease reported in northwest
[LINK] KENYA: WFP buys local high-nutrient food to feed malnourished
AFRICA: Five countries top deforestation
list
ABIDJAN, 5 October (IRIN) - Five African countries were among nations with the highest net loss of forests between 1990 and 2000, FAO
said. The report, 'State of the World's Forests' contains findings based on FAO's Global Forest resources assessment for 2000. It warns that tropical countries continue to lose their forests at a very "high rate". The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe are the African countries on its critical list. Others are Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Myanmar and
Mexico.
"During the 1990s, the loss of natural forests was 16.1 million hectares (ha) per year, of which 15.2 million occurred in the tropics," FAO said. This corresponds to the annual losses of 0.4 percent globally and 0.8 percent in the tropics. "Deforestation was highest in Africa and South America," it noted.Of the 15.2 million ha of natural forest lost annually in the tropics, 14.2 million ha were converted to other land uses and 1.0 million ha were turned into forest plantations, FAO said. It noted that outside tropical countries, 0.9 million ha of natural forest were lost per
year.
According to FAO, the 1990s were marked by periods of severe drought, setting the stage for devastating wildfires in practically every corner of the world. "Hundreds of thousands to millions of hectares burn annually in West Africa, large areas of Africa south of the Equator, central Asia, southern South America and Australia," it
said.
The report noted, however, that the concept of sustainable forest management continued to gain momentum around the world. As of 2000, some 149 countries were involved in international initiatives to develop and implement criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management, it
said.
The full report is posted on http://www.fao.org/forestry/FO/SOFO/sofo-e.stm
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MALAWI: Pest outbreak threatens timber industry
JOHANNESBURG, 5 October (IRIN) - Malawi's lucrative timber industry has been threatened by a pest outbreak that has attacked trees across the country's northern forest reserve, AP reported on Friday quoting foresters. "The fast multiplying pest, called Aphids of Cypress, is wreaking economic havoc for Malawi's second largest industry, said forester Amadeus
Nyondo. Scientists were attempting to control the outbreak which, if left uncontrolled, threatened to destroy the entire forest, the report said. This could cost the country millions of dollars in export losses, according to Nyondo. Large portions of the troubled forest were destroyed last year when disgruntled laid-off workers set fire to it. The jobs of some 1,200 workers in the northern forest reserve could be at risk if the current crisis was not checked, the report said.
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SOMALIA: Rabies outbreak in central Somalia
NAIROBI, 5 October (IRIN) - At least seven people have reportedly died of rabies after being bitten by large rodents in the town of Harardhere (4.39N 47.51E), in central Somalia, the BBC reported on Thursday. The attacks of the rodents, which reportedly look like large rats, started 40 days ago, when an 80 year-old woman was attacked and later died. Since then, another 10 people had been attacked, said the BBC. Local authorities are complaining that the local hospital does not have drugs to treatrabies, and some of the victims had to be evacuated to Mogadishu for treatment, according to the BBC. Those most at risk are people who sleep outside at night. The rodents normally attack chickens, small cats and rabbits.
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SOMALIA: Flood alert issued
NAIROBI, 2 October (IRIN) - Serious floods are likely to occur between October and November this year in southern Somalia. The
USAID-funded Famine Early Warning Systems (FEWS) in a report issued on 29
September, warns that the floods could be expected if predicted heavy rains in Ethiopia's highlands materialised. Rivers in Somalia reach peak flood levels twice a year - usually in May/June and again in October/November. Prior to the civil war the government had "regularly dredged the rivers to control flooding", but over the past 10 years river management has
broken down making floods "more frequent and devastating".
According to the report, the 1997-8 El-Nino rains wiped out the even the biggest embankments in Somalia's two main rivers, the Shabelle and Juba, with no major rehabilitation work carried out since. Widespread flooding in 1997 led to a major relief effort when villages were
inundated and thousands made homeless. This year, there had been minor flooding in mid-August in Lower Shabelle Region, and this was "symptomatic of the level of disrepair that river embankments, sluice gates and dikes are in", the report said. However, A.H. Shirwa, a FEWS representative, told IRIN that the 29 September report was "just an alert for aid agencies and local authorities" to be prepared.
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UGANDA: Plans to make HIV/AIDS tests mandatory
NAIROBI, 28 September (IRIN) - The Ministry of Health is considering plans to make HIV/AIDS tests mandatory for all pregnant women in an effort to reduce mother-to-child transmission of the disease, the "Monitor" reported on Friday. The newspaper quoted the Ugandan director-general of health services, Francis Omaswa, as saying that women found to be HIV-positive would then be provided free of charge with drugs designed to prevent mother-to-child transmission. Omaswa told a parliamentary committee on social services that the ministry was drafting a programme which, if implemented, would establish HIV/AIDS testing centres in all district hospitals, and allow them to administer HIV/AIDS drugs to HIV-positive pregnant women.
Meanwhile, Minister for Health Jim Muhwezi told parliament on Thursday the government was planning to distribute anti-malaria drugs free on selected days, 'The New Vision' reported. He added that there would be special malaria prevention and treatment packages distributed to mothers and children, according to the government-owned newspaper.
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LESOTHO: Project to benefit water-starved households
About 15,000 households would benefit from a US $8.7 million water supply
project launched in June, news reports from Lesotho said on Wednesday. The
Maseru Peri-urban Water Supply Project was expected to serve at least 85,000people and would be conducted in two phases, one report said.
According to the report, the first phase would include a new pumping station at the Maseru water treatment plant. Communities from at least 13suburbs were expected to benefit, the report said. It added that the
second phase would involve the installation of a reticulation network of pumping
stations, a transmission line reservoir and house connections to at least seven other areas.
Launching the project, Prime Minister Mosisili said the government intended to provide potable drinking water to poor inhabitants. He
was quoted as saying that the project would deliver treated water from Maseru to
the Lesotho Sun water reservoir, and then through a 380 km network to peri-urban areas in the Maseru district. Minister of Natural
Resources, Monyane Moleleki, was quoted as saying that the project was vital because
it would go a long way towards meeting the World Health Organisation's (WHO)
requirement that a human being should not walk more 150 metres to fetch water.
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COTE D IVOIRE: Yellow fever death toll mounts to 20
ABIDJAN, 26 September (IRIN) - Twenty people have died of yellow fever in Cote d'Ivoire out of a total of 169 infected with the virus so far, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. Seven of the deaths have occurred in the economic capital, Abidjan, where a total of 42 cases have been reported, WHO said.
WHO has launched a campaign to vaccinate some three million people in Abidjan so as to stop the disease from spreading. The campaign started on Friday in health facilities across the town, including primary schools. Up to Monday, 775,000 people had been vaccinated, WHO said. However the current stock is expected to run out at the weekend and an additional 600,000 doses are needed to complete the campaign. The agency said it was closely working with partners to purchase the vaccine.
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HORN OF AFRICA: New tools for predicting epidemics
NAIROBI, 25 September (IRIN) - The USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) project and the US-based aid agency CARE have announced new tools for predicting disease epidemics. In the latest issue of the Greater Horn of Africa Food Security Update, FEWS and CARE say their growing realisation that many epidemics are triggered by climatic anomalies rather than malnutrition will create new opportunities for the early warning and forecasting of epidemics. Increased temperatures and modified rainfall patterns observed in the Horn of Africa over the last decade which have been attributed to the global-warming phenomenon could have a significant effect on the range of both vectors and the diseases they carry.
Many of the major diseases affecting the Horn of Africa, such as malaria, Rift Valley fever, dengue fever, yellow fever and cholera, are all strongly influenced by climatic factors. Arguably the most important of these is malaria - and the most predictable, and dramatic upsurges of the disease are seen in places where it is normally regarded as non-endemic during periods of abnormally wet and/or warm conditions. When this information is combined with population data, then populations at risk to epidemics can more easily be identified. The Highland Malaria Project has already adopted such a model for the highland areas of Africa, and it indicates large populations at risk in Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi. Populations in these areas are particularly vulnerable, because they do not have high levels of immunity, and local malarial control programmes are poorly resourced. The establishment of models such as this therefore make it easier for health professionals to prepare for and deal with projected epidemics.
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ZAMBIA: Cereal deficit threatens household food security
The cereal deficit Zambia has been experiencing threatens household food security, the acting director of Programme Against Malnutrition (PAM), Helen Samatebele, was quoted as saying by the 'Post' newspaper on
Monday. Samatebele said on Sunday, during the launch of the 2001/2002 agricultural inputs distribution programme for targeted food security packs (FSP), that this season would determine the success of the FSP, the Zambian newspaper reported. The FSP is a government-funded programme to provide household food security to about 200,000 vulnerable but viable small scale farmers, the report said.
Samatebele said one of the ways of reducing the negative impact of the last farming season was to distribute inputs early this season. The country this year has a food deficit and has to import about 300,000 mt of maize, according to the report.
Samatebele said PAM would immediately start distributing inputs to all districts, beginning with those which are cut off during the rainy season.
"This project will promote crop diversification and soil conservation methods," she was quoted as saying. Community Development and Social Services Minister Jane Chikwata reminded the target beneficiaries that the inputs were loans and not free hand-outs. They had to be paid for to ensure the programme's continuity, she said. The report said the FSP would help reduce the number of people on public welfare assistance.
IRIN-SA - Tel: +2711 880 4633Fax: +2711 447 5472
e-mail: irin-sa@irin.org.za
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NAMIBIA: Malaria kills record number this year
Malaria in Namibia has killed a record 608 people in the first six months of this year, while 177,613 cases were reported.
Health Minister Libertina Amathila told the cabinet the deaths this year represented a significant increase - around 70 percent compared to last year, while reported cases had shown a 32 percent increase. Amathila informed cabinet that investigations revealed that the malaria crisis was caused by inadequate funding, poor vector control measures and poor epidemic preparedness and response. Cabinet approved the allocation of additional financial resources for malaria control programmes in the Caprivi, Omaheke, Otjozondjupa, Kunene, Oshikoto, Oshana, Omusati and Ohangwena regions in preparation for the malaria spraying season. The spraying of houses is expected to start in the middle of this month.
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MALI: Thousands affected by floods
ABIDJAN, 26 September (IRIN) - Two people have died and 2,350 others have been affected by floods in Mali that have destroyed 1,817 houses and washed away 870 ha of farmland, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Tuesday.
The floods have been caused by heavy rains which began in May. The affected areas are in the capital, Bamako, the northern region of Kidal, Koulikoro and Mopti in the centre and Sikasso in the south, OCHA reported in a situation report. It said there was a high risk of waterborne diseases such as cholera, yellow fever and malaria in the affected areas, and the risk could increase as floodwaters receded.
So far Mali's government, which has provided 65 mt of cereals, 200 mats and medicine for the affected population, has not appealed for international assistance, the report said.
OCHA said it was informed that 2,320 blankets, 774 tents, 2,320 mats and 52 mt of cereals, corresponding to three months worth of supplies, were needed. Long-term needs, it added, included the resettlement of displaced families and sanitary issues.
[The full report is available at http://www.reliefweb.int
]
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GUINEA: Up to 70,000 affected by floods
ABIDJAN, 21 September (IRIN) - Tens of thousands of people have been affected by the worst floods in 10 years in the Kankan region of eastern Guinea, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said on Friday in a situation report.
The floods occurred after the River Niger and its tributaries – the Sankarini, Fie, Milo and Djon - overflowed. They have affected up to 70,000 people, 40,000 of whom have been displaced, OCHA reported the Guinean authorites as saying. The worst hit prefectures are Mandiana, Kouroussa, Kankan, Siguiri and Kerouane. Many areas are still inaccessible and distribution of aid to the population has been suspended, OCHA said.
Flooding in low-lying areas has caused extensive damage to agriculture and crops: some 1700 ha are submerged. There are reports of food shortages and an increase in the price of staple foods. There is no health threat so far but, OCHA reported, the situation could change as flood waters recede. A sensitisation campaign on waterborne diseases is being planned by the Guinean Red Cross in collaboration with NGOs.
The Guinean government has provided 150 mt of food and medicines, worth some US $27,000, to the affected areas. The local Red Cross plans to distribute non-food items, mainly soap, to 15,000 affected people in Kankan on 24 September, OCHA reported.
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RWANDA: Foot-and-mouth disease reported in northwest
NAIROBI, 18 September (IRIN) - Foot-and-mouth disease was reported last week in the northwestern province of Gisenyi, Rwandan Director of Animal Husbandry in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Isidore Gafarasi announced in Kigali on Monday, according to Rwanda News Agency (RNA). "The disease has been identified in the district of Mutura, Gishwati sector in Gisenyi province," Gafarasi said, adding that the Ministry of Agriculture has enacted quarantines in the region to halt the spread of the disease.
The outbreak of the disease follows another that occurred in northeastern Umutara province five months ago, resulting in the doubling of the prices of milk and beef due to the quarantine imposed on cattle and their products.
According to the Gisenyi Director of Animal Husbandry Francois Kamanzi, the outbreak is linked to an affected cow that was transported from the neighbouring province of Ruhengeri. "As of now, 16 cows have been found with the disease," Kamanzi told RNA, noting that security personnel have been deployed to prevent any movement of cattle and their products.
Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious, acute viral infection that affects cloven-footed mammals, causing small blisters and erosions in the mouth and on the feet and udders. The disease may be spread over great distances by inhalation or ingestion with movements of infected or contaminated animals, products, objects and people. It causes production losses due to abortion and subsequent infertility. Veterinary officials told RNA that although people can be affected by foot-and-mouth through skin wounds, handling of diseased stock, or by consuming infected milk or meat, the human infection is temporary and mild, and not considered a public health hazard.
While all cattle markets in the affected areas have been closed, Gafarasi urged that "people should not take advantage of the calamity that befell their colleagues to skyrocket prices."
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WFP buys local high-nutrient food to feed malnourished
NAIROBI, 12 September (IRIN) - The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced on Thursday that it had acquired 130 mt of a highly nutritious
blended food used to feed malnourished children and adults. Known as UNIMIX, the
blended food is produced by the DUHAMIC company of Kigali. It is made from maize meal and soya fortified with essential vitamins and
minerals, and can be used to make porridge or biscuits to restore the strength of
the malnourished. "Our beneficiaries are happy with the taste of UNIMIX, as it is made from foods that they are used to because they are grown right here
in Rwanda," WFP representative to Rwanda Mustapha Darboe said.
Since last year, WFP has been working with DUHAMIC and other Rwandan
companies with the potential to produced specialised foods that are easy
to prepare and contain essential nutrients. WFP noted that by buying the
local mix, it was supporting the development of local production of blended food. "WFP has the unique ability to combine aid and trade. This
is a powerful combination for the promotion of sustainable development,"
Darboe said. "WFP undertakes a stringent and detailed analysis of the likely impact of food purchases on local agriculture, farmers, food prices
and markets to ensure that these are not disrupted by our food assistance
programmes. It is a careful balancing act that depends on close monitoring of markets and the collaboration of other food-buying agencies to ensure
that we are all not running after the same scarce commodity."
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These newsbriefs all courtesy of IRIN
[This Item is Delivered to the "Africa-English" Service of the UN's
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