By
Anita Powell
Scientists
and lawmakers meeting in Cape Town discuss ways
of promoting sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa . But as I learned first-hand, the challenges
are many.
I
attempted to interview an expert ahead of the Future Earth conference about
ways of boosting sustainable development in Africa .
As
if to illustrate the point, though, the electricity in my Johannesburg home went out as I was about to
make the late-night call - plunging my entire neighborhood into darkness and
knocking out my equipment.
When
we finally caught up the next day, Tanya Abrahamse said electrical power is one
of the challenges the panel is discussing as they meet this week in Cape Town . Abrahamse is
CEO of the South African National Biodiversity Institute.
Energy
is a major issue, she says, given the rise of African megacities - like Lagos in Nigeria
- and the fact that not every nation has the same resources or needs.
Future
Earth is an international 10-year initiative that brings together scientists, academics
and policymakers to research sustainable solutions that will address the
challenges of development and environmental change.
It
sounds complicated, and this week’s meeting is just one step in what will be a
long process, but Abrahamse says it boils down to some very basic needs.
“So
for example, we’ve identified water, and all the elements around water: water
management, water quality, water quantity, water analysis, understanding
groundwater, understanding water under the ground, understanding rainfall
patterns, water flow, degradation of waterways, use of water for energy, etcetera,
etcetera," she said.
Water
is serious business in Africa and can have
major effects on societies. A drought
last year killed tens of thousands of people in Somalia and other East African
nations. Nine African nations have spent
more than a decade negotiating over rights to the Nile River . And Africa
experts have long warned of the potential of major conflict over water on the
continent.
Abrahamse
stresses that this meeting in Cape
Town is only one step, and one that takes into account
complicated factors in the fields of social and natural science.
But
the end goal is one that is easy to understand.
It’s a higher quality of life for Africans, a future with sustainable
solutions on food, water, health - and yes, energy - for all. ---VOA News
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