Pope pleads with Madagascans to protect rainforest

Yahoo – AFP, Tsiresena MANJAKAHERY, Catherine MARCIANO, September 7, 2019

Pope Francis planted a baobab tree with Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina
at the presidential palace in Antananarivo (AFP Photo/MARCO LONGARI)

Antananarivo (AFP) - Pope Francis on Saturday made an impassioned plea to Madagascans to protect the Indian Ocean's unique environment from "excessive deforestation", on the second leg of his African tour.

Weeks after a spike of fires in the Amazon, the Argentine pontiff told his hosts they should "create jobs and money-making activities which respect the environment and help people escape poverty".

Madagascar -- famed for its immense diversity of flora and fauna -- is home to 25 million people, the vast majority of whom live in poverty on an income of less than two dollars a day.

More than half of its young people are out of work, even if many boast good qualifications.

The pope said there "were many causes driving excessive deforestation which benefits just a few people... and compromises the future of the country."

The authorities should also ensure social justice, he added.

The Pope presided over a vigil mass in the Androhibe Soamandrakizay diocesan 

grounds (AFP Photo/RIJASOLO).

'Alarm raised'

Madagascar's British ambassador Philip Boyle told AFP the country loses around 200,000 hectares of forest each year, adding that "most of the tropical rainforest could disappear by 2040".

he country's economy is largely dependent on agriculture, the export of vanilla and cocoa in particular.

"The alarm has been raised by the pope and we are ready to take on the challenge," environment minister Alexandre Georget told AFP.

He said Madagascar would do more to prevent forest fires, and use tree-planting drones and aerial seed bombing techniques to restore its forests.

"In six months we reached an objective of planting 40,000 hectares of land (98,000 acres), but this is pointless when there are forest fires" said Georget, adding that laws would be enforced and farmers made more aware of the issue.

Liberal-leaning president Andry Rajoelina was elected to a second term last year mainly on promises of jobs and housing.

"Corruption and inequality outrage us," said Archbishop Desire Tsarahazana, addressing the pope in his welcome speech.

Pope Francis waved to the crowds as he arrived for a vigil with young people

in Antananarivo (AFP Photo/Tiziana FABI)

Hope for the young

At Antananarivo's Soamandrakizay stadium, thousands of young people - mainly scouts - gathered for a vigil. They waited for hours in the heat.

"I am here to ask for the pope's blessing to face the harsh realities of life, insecurity, poverty and corruption," said 17-year old student Njara Raherimana, who travelled hundreds of kilometres for the event.

"All this gives me hope for change in my country," echoed fellow student, Antony Christian Tovonalintsoa, who lives in the outskirts of the capital.

During the vigil, Pope Francis lauded the "joy and enthusiasm" of the singing crowd.

He encouraged the youth not to fall into "bitterness" or to lose hope, even when they lacked the "necessary minimum" to get by and when "educational opportunities were insufficient".

The faithful lined the streets to welcome Francis to the Madagascan capital 

(AFP Photo/Tiziana FABI)

800,000 faithful expected

Sunday will mark the high point of Francis' visit with a huge mass in the capital expected to be attended by some 800,000 faithful.

Many had already started setting up tents on the outskirts of the city on Friday, armed with posters of the Argentine pontiff.

Prospere Ralitason, a 70-year-old farm worker, arrived with some 5,000 fellow pilgrims from the central eastern town of Ambatondrazaka, 200 kilometres (125 miles) away.

"We are tired, but it's worth making all these sacrifices to see the pope with our own eyes and receive his blessing," he told AFP,

The high point of Francis' visit will be a huge mass on Sunday attended by 

crowds of 800,000 (AFP Photo/RIJASOLO)

John Paul II

The last pope to visit was John Paul II 30 years ago.

"I was a lieutenant when I helped with the security of John Paul II in 1989. Today I am a divisional general and overseeing security for Francis' visit to Madagascar," said Samuel Rakotomalala.

Some 700 police officers will be deployed at the site, which is also equipped with 200 surveillance cameras and the 12,000 young scouts will also help out.

In June, 16 people were killed and dozens hurt in a stampede outside a sports stadium in the capital during a free concert.

Francis visited Mozambique earlier in the week. He is also due to travel to the island of Mauritius, which like Madagascar is situated off the eastern coast of Africa.

Tanzania latest African nation to ban plastic bags

France24 – AFP, 31 May 2019

More than 30 African countries have banned plastic bans as a way to tackle
plastic waste due to its non-biodegrable nature AFP

Nairobi (AFP) - A plastic bag ban comes into force in Tanzania on Saturday, as Africa leads efforts to stem the tide of plastic blighting the farthest reaches of the globe, and depths of the ocean.

Tanzania is banning the importation, production, sale and use of plastic bags, becoming the 34th African country to implement such restrictions, according to the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP).

"Let me be clear on this, once it reaches June 1, the government is not planning to add any more days and we will not tolerate anyone who will be caught using them. No plastic bag will be allowed in the country," Tanzania's vice-president Samia Suluhu Hassan said when announcing the move in April.

Tanzania -- whose wildlife is a popular tourist draw -- has also issued a notice to travellers that they will have to "surrender" plastic bags in their possession before entering the country.

"The government expects that, in appreciation of the imperative to protect the environment and keep our country clean and beautiful, our visitors will accept minor inconveniences resulting from the plastic bags ban," said the statement.

According to local media, anyone caught manufacturing or importing plastic bags and plastic wrappings could get a fine of one billion Tanzanian shillings ($430,000, 390,000 euros) or face imprisonment for up to two years.

Possession and usage can lead to a fine of $87 or imprisonment for seven days, or both.

Degrees of success

Globally, 127 countries have some sort of plastic bag legislation, 91 of which include a ban or restriction on manufacturing, importation and retail distribution, according to UNEP.

Africa has 34 of these countries, followed by Europe with 29.

Patrick Mwesigye, UNEP's regional co-ordinator for resource efficiency told AFP that the degree of success of the bans varied in Africa.

Rwanda's plastic bag ban has been in place for over a decade and is considered one of the most successful.

"But Rwanda had an advantage that there wasn't much manufacturing of plastics," in the country when the ban was implemented, said Mwesigye.

Countries with manufacturing and import industries, where jobs are impacted by bans, have struggled more to enforce them.

"In Kenya... it has been very effective. Still you have some plastic smuggled from neighbouring countries" like Uganda, he said.

Kenya's 2017 plastic ban imposed particularly harsh laws, with fines of up to $38,000 (32,000 euros) and four-year prison sentences.

However in reality, while there have been waves of arrests, fines and jail terms have been far less than proscribed.

Mwesigye said some countries put bans in place before ensuring there were suitable alternatives in place, while monitoring and practical enforcement were also a challenge.

Scourge of single-use plastics

Joyce Msuya, UNEP's Acting Executive Director, praised Tanzania for joining the nations implementing the ban.

"It is critical that bans now be complemented by efforts to identify effective alternatives to single-use plastics...".

The world currently produces more than 300 million tonnes of plastics annually, and there are at least five trillion plastic pieces floating in oceans, scientists have estimated.

Most of the items polluting oceans and landscapes and causing horrendous deaths for the creatures that live there, are made to be used once and thrown away, such as bags, straws and food packaging.

In March nations failed to agree to a timetable to phase out all single-use plastics, opting instead to "significantly reduce" their production.

Neither the United States, Canada or Australia have national plastic bag regulations -- although some American states like Hawaii or California have implemented bans.

The European Union in March voted to ban a dozen forms of single-use plastics from 2021.

Dutch courts to judge Shell in landmark oil spill case

Yahoo – AFP, Jan Hennop,December 18, 2015

Four Nigerian farmers and fishermen, backed by the Dutch branch of environmental
 group Friends of the Earth, first filed the case in 2008 against Shell in a court
case thousands of kilometres (miles) from their homes (AFP Photo/Carl Court)

The Hague (AFP) - A Dutch appeals court ruled Friday that four Nigerian farmers may take their case against oil giant Shell to a judge in the Netherlands, in a landmark ruling involving multinational corporate governance.

"The Dutch courts and this court consider it has jurisdiction in the case against Shell and its subsidiary in Nigeria," Judge Hans van der Klooster said at the appeals court in The Hague.

The four farmers and fishermen, backed by the Dutch branch of environmental group Friends of the Earth, first filed the case in 2008 against the Anglo-Dutch company in a court case thousands of kilometres (miles) from their homes.

They want Shell to clean up devastating oil spills in four heavily-polluted villages in the west African country's oil-rich Niger Delta, prevent further spills and pay compensation.

The three-judge panel also denied Shell the power to take its decision before the Netherland's top court.

Shell did not specifically say whether it would seek a review of Friday's judgement, but it said that the case over their responsibility for the spills "will be the topic of continuing litigation."

The farmers also wanted Shell to disclose a number of documents they believe could show the company's negligence in maintaining its oil pipelines and guarding against sabotage.

In return, court documents reveal, Shell wanted the judges to scrap Dutch jurisdiction over cases in Nigeria and rule the farmers' appeal inadmissible.

An aerial view of the Shell Cawtharine channels at Awoba in the oil-rich Niger 

Delta of Nigeria (AFP Photo/Pius Utomi Ekpei)

Nigeria is the world's 13th largest oil producer, pumping out more than 2.4 million barrels a day, but much of the Niger Delta region remains deeply impoverished.

In January 2013 a lower Dutch court threw out most of the farmers' lawsuit, saying the plaintiffs could not hold Shell's parent company responsible for the pollution which has for years blighted the southeastern delta system in Africa's largest oil producer.

In that ruling, judges said Shell's Nigerian subsidiary was partly responsible and ordered it to compensate farmers and fishermen in one claim, in the Delta village of Ikot Ada Udo, but not in the three other claims.

On Friday morning, the Dutch appeals judge however -- in a verdict lasting less than five minutes -- agreed with the Nigerian farmers' appeal.

"All appeals by Shell are rejected," judge Van der Klooster said as he also ordered the massive energy group to hand over the documents.

'Major victory'

"The ruling is a major victory, not only for the farmers, but indeed for the people of Nigeria," Friends of the Earth spokesman Geert Ritsema told journalists afterwards.

"It sets a massive precedent, which means that Dutch courts can make judgements about Dutch companies in other countries," he said.

None of the four farmers were at court, but a Friends of the Earth official said they followed proceedings via Skype "and were overjoyed with the verdict."

"It is vital that multinationals are made to answer for action abroad that would never be accepted in their home countries," added Amnesty International researcher Mark Dummett.

Four Nigerian farmers, seen here in court in The Hague in 2012, first filed 

the case against Shell in 2008 (AFP Photo/Robin Utrecht)

Shell reacted with disappointment.

"We are disappointed the Dutch court has determined it should assume international jurisdiction over SPDC (Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria)," the oil giant said in a statement.

"In 2013, the court found that Royal Dutch Shell has no liability in relation to these claims," it added.

"As the claims against SPDC relied on the Royal Dutch Shell claims to establish jurisdiction in the Netherlands, in our view the court should have declined to exercise jurisdiction over SPDC on this occasion," the statement said.

Judge Van der Klooster also denied leave to take the case to the Dutch highest Supreme Court for a further decision, saying the four farmers' case will be heard next year.

'Double standards'

Environmental groups have long accused multinationals of following less stringent standards in developing countries than in Europe and North America.

They want the Netherlands and other Western nations to pass laws ordering companies to enforce the same environmental responsibility standards where they operate as are used at home.

Shell has been drilling in Nigeria for the last half-century and is the country's biggest producer.

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Chinese company fights for flamingos in Angola

Want China Times, Xinhua 2015-03-27

Flamingos at a park in Nanchang, Jiangxi province,
March 27, 2003. (File photo/Xinhua)

A Chinese company is actively involved in preserving the wetlands of the southern harbor city of Lobito, Angola a key part of the migration route of flamingos from neighboring Namibia to Kenya.

Thousands upon thousands of flamingos can be seen on the wetlands during the peak time of migration though only hundreds of flamingos stopped by the wetland during the past week due to torrential rains, said Zhang Huaqiang, a project manager of China Harbor Engineering Company (China Harbor).

China Harbor, a key player in the reconstruction of harbors in the formerly war-torn African country, joined hands with local volunteers and governmental environmental protection organizations in safeguarding the wetlands, removed dustbins, and levelled the banks of the two lakes to provide a better environment for the migrating birds.

The Chinese company also organized on-spot awareness campaigns on wetlands to educate local residents and Chinese expats working in Lobito on the breeding, growth and habits of flamingos. The group also joined local volunteers to patrol the area to guard against poaching of the birds, which were a symbol of Lobito city.

Zhang said his company entered Angola in 2006 and constructed or rebuilt 16 harbors there, and the protection of flamingos and conservation of the wetlands in Lobito is part of his company's efforts to shoulder its social responsibilities and pay back to local societies.

China Harbor is not only actively involved in the post-war reconstruction process but also became a part of local society, and his company is willing to share the dividends of economic development with the local population, Zhang said.

China Harbor is now building a new oil tanker terminal in Lobito with an investment of US$120 million from the Angolan government. Before this, it reconstructed the container terminal and the terminal for bulk minerals at Lobito, 550 kilometers south of the capital city of Luanda.

Shell agrees €70m compensation deal for Nigerian village hit by oil spills

DutchNews.nl, January 7, 2015

Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell has agreed to a $84m (€70m) out of court settlement with a village in the Niger Delta as compensation for oil spills in 2008 and 2009.

Lawyers for 15,600 Nigerian fishermen whose livelihoods were ruined by the spills say their clients will receive $3,300 each.

The remaining $30m will go to the community. Thousands of hectares of mangrove swamp were polluted by the spills, ruining drink water supplies and forcing the fishermen to find other jobs.

‘From the outset, we’ve accepted responsibility for the two deeply regrettable operational spills in Bodo,’ Mutiu Sunmonu, managing director of the company’s Nigerian subsidiary SPDC said in a statement. 

Shell says that both spills were caused by operational failure of the pipelines. 

More on this

An oil spill on the shores of the Niger Delta swamps. Shell has

said the recent oil spill is likely to be worst in a decade.

Photograph: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP/Getty Images

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An organic garden of plenty in Mali's arid soil

Yahoo – AFP, December 6, 2014

An organic garden of plenty in Mali's arid soil

SATINEBOUGOU (Mali) (AFP) - In a strikingly green corner of Mali, one man is leading an agricultural revolution, using organic farming methods to get the most out of the land -- and pass his techniques on to others in west Africa.

Oumar Diabate has established a reputation for raising chemical-free vegetables, fruit and medicinal plants at his small farm about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the capital Bamako.

In a vast country where two-thirds of the terrain is desert, Diabate, 47, lovingly tends his two hectares (five acres), nudging tomatoes, courgettes, lettuce and beetroot from the ochre soil.

He and five permanent employees also grow fruit trees and plants required for traditional medicine, while dairy cows and sheep graze nearby and chickens fuss about in a separate enclosure.

Diabate acquired the small farm in the village of Satinebougou in 2005 after years away from home doing his veterinary training in Moscow.

A big man with a boxer's build, Diabate was inspired by French environmentalist and farmer Pierre Rabhi, the pioneer of techniques known as "agro-ecology".

By mixing Rahbi's methods with lessons from his studies in Russia, Diabate was soon bucking the trend in a country where agriculture usually means traditional subsistence farming with low yields.

'Even grass wouldn't grow'

"The land that I had bought here was very poor. Even grass wouldn't grow," Diabate recalls, but he had more than the soil to win over, because local peasants didn't believe in his project.

"At the beginning it wasn't easy to show other farmers this, they thought I had something, a magic potion that I was using," he said.

Diabate rejects using chemical fertilisers and pesticides on his farm -- a widespread practice in Mali -- instead he sticks to compost and manure, while rotating his crops to maintain the nutrients in the soil.

He feeds weeds to his cows and in addition to their manure, a natural fertiliser, he cultivates a range of special plants that help ward off potentially damaging insects, worms and parasites, in place of insecticides.

"Marigolds attract destructive insects to their flowers," Diabate explains.

"It means that the tomatoes can grow without being bothered. At the same time the marigolds produce a nematicidal agent in the ground and so repel parasites that were attacking the roots of the tomato plant."

Huts for trainees

Tapping his veterinary background, Diabate has experimented with cross-breeding cows. He mixed local varieties with two European types, black-and-white Holsteins and red-and-white Montbeliards, to produce what he says is an animal more resistant to disease.

"This cross also allowed us to boost milk production," he adds. "Instead of two to three litres (quarts) per cow, we have 10 to 15 litres per cow per day."

Diabate now collects about 30 baskets of fruit and vegetables a week for direct sale to consumers, just as other organic farmer increasingly do in Europe and the United States.

The aim is to support small farms and avoid losing money to middlemen. So far, Diabate has 29 regular clients in Bamako and the surrounding area, to whom he delivers once a week, on Saturdays or Tuesdays.

The baskets, prepared by Diabate's wife Fatoumata, cost 5,000 FCFA (about 7.6 euros, $9.4). Diabate said he takes home 40 percent of this -- a critical return in a nation where the average monthly salary is 50,000 FCFA (76 euros, $94).

But his other goal is to share his know-how in a land-locked nation that ranks among the world's 25 poorest and where 80 percent of the labour force works in agriculture -- mainly small-scale traditional or subsistence farms.

Diabate has built several huts and a classroom and since 2007 has welcomed trainees from inside Mali and abroad, such as Cheikh Ndour from Senegal who came to learn his techniques last year.

Government reforms

The pioneering farmer has established a Sahelian Centre for Training and Research in Agro-Ecology (CSFRA), backed by a little financial support from Urgenci, a non-governmental organisation promoting community-supported agriculture around the world.

Diabate has a place on Urgenci's committee and has joined forces with another Malian activist, Ousmane Camara, to promote agro-ecology and sustainable development.

Diabate's methods have aroused some interest, but organic production is still marginal in Mali, where subsistence farming accounts for nearly 40 percent of GDP.

Authorities have slowly introduced reforms over the past few decades and last year announced they want to make the country a regional agricultural force by 2017, in a document that resonated with some of Diabate's principles.

The goal, an official statement said, is to create jobs and revenue "following the logic of sustainable development and respect for the environment".

Victory for The Congo: Oil Company Halts Exploration in Africa’s Virunga National Park

Nation of Change, Christina Sarich, Friday 27 June 2014

Soco International will stop oil prospecting in Virunga, a world heritage site in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It’s the biggest success for conservationists in years. Hooray!

British Oil Company, Soco International, has announced a surprising decision to stop exploring in the Virunga world heritage site in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Conservationists claim this is one of their largest successes in years.

Virunga is one of the world’s oldest and most bio-diverse national parks on the planet. It offers beautiful views of the rift valley and Nyiragongo and Mikeno volcanoes. It is home to half the world’s endangered mountain gorillas, as well as elephants, hippos, chimpanzees, blue monkeys, abundant bird life, and thousands of other life forms.

Soco, which operates in Angola and Vietnam, caused outrage when it was initially given permission to conduct seismic testing in Africa for the purpose of oil prospecting. Virunga is considered one of the world’s most volatile regions, and leading conservation groups collected the signatures of more than 700,000 people to halt the company’s plans.

The company told the WWF it would:

“. . .commit not to undertake or commission any exploratory or other drilling within Virunga national park unless Unesco and the DRC government agree that such activities are not incompatible with its world heritage status.”

While the WWF meditation may have helped the cause, it is likely that the involvement of prominent figures like Richard Branson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and US financier Howard Buffett, helped to put pressure on the British government, who then leaned on Soco to halt their exploration.

Soco stated:

"We will complete our existing operational programme including completing the seismic survey on Lake Edward which is due to conclude shortly. The Company confirms its previous statements that no Block V drilling commitments have ever been made. The conclusion of this phase of work will give the DRC government vital information it will need in deciding how to proceed in Virunga national park.”

Virunga was designated a world heritage site in 1979 but intense fighting among armies and militia such as the Mai Mai rebel group have made it one of the most unstable politically as well. It is also home to tens of thousands of people who fled to Virunga from genocide in Rwanda. The violence has been so intense, that park rangers have been killed and last month, the Virunga chief warden, Emmanuel de Mérode, was shot and seriously wounded.

Furthermore, Lake Albert, which provides water to more than 50,000 families, is also now protected from pollution that would likely ensue from oil exploitation.

"If free from the threat of oil, Virunga can be a source of hope for the people of the DRC. This park can become a leading economic driver for its communities", said Raymond Lumbuenamo, country director of WWF-Congo DRC.

Natural insecticide helps diversify Rwandan economy

Google – AFP, Stephanie Aglietti (AFP), 14 February 2014

A woman harvests pyrethre flowers, which will later be dried to produce pyrethrum,

 a natural insecticide, in Musanze, northern Rwanda , on October 24, 2013 (AFP,

Stephanie Aglietti)

Musanze — Tourists flock to Rwanda's mountains to see its famed gorillas, but now the small nation is working to diversify its economy with a natural insecticide farmed on nearby fertile foothills.

Pyrethrum, a natural insecticide, is ideally suited to the climate in the foothills of the Virunga mountains where the gorillas live, in the north of Rwanda.

"It's used to make natural insecticide," explains Laher Nyirakwiha, a barefoot 70-year-old farmer as she tosses a handful of small daisy-like flowers into a wicker basket.

A woman harvests pyrethre flowers, which will

 later be dried to produce pyrethrum, a natural

 insecticide, in Musanze, northern Rwanda , on

October 24, 2013 (AFP, Stephanie Aglietti)

Few grow the plant commercially: only here, in neighbouring Kenya and Tanzania and in Australia, mainly on the island of Tasmania.

The revival of this crop, first introduced in colonial times, is one of Rwanda's recent attempts to diversify its sources of foreign currency, generated mainly by tea, coffee and tourism.

Agriculture still accounted for one-third of the economy of this densely populated central African country in 2012.

"Rwanda decided to develop pyrethrum as a cash crop, so as to get an additional source of revenue for farmers and another foreign exchange earner," Jerome Mureramanzi, production manager at the Rwanda Pyrethrum Company (Sopyrwa) told AFP.

Pyrethrum was first introduced here as a crop in 1936, but dropped off after Rwanda's devastating 1994 genocide, only being revived a decade or so later.

Tasmania is currently thought to be the world's biggest producer, industry sources say, although Kenya, another big producer, stopped publishing statistics a decade ago.

The pyrethrum is exported to the United States, Europe and Asia, while some is sold to a local company that produces organic insecticides.

Pyrethrum cultivation, like every other type of economic activity, was abandoned after the 1994 genocide in which an estimated 800,000 people died, and which left the country's social and economic life in ruins.

Environmental considerations were a factor motivating its revival.

"As the world becomes more conscious of the need to protect the environment, Rwanda has seized the opportunity to develop this natural insecticide," Mureramanzi added.

Women harvest pyrethre flowers, which will later be dried to produce pyrethrum,

 a natural insecticide, in Musanze, northern Rwanda , on October 24, 2013

(AFP, Stephanie Aglietti)

Other producing countries are also seeking to revive or expand cultivation the crop. Australia is introducing pyrethrum to parts of the mainland, and the crop is also being revived in neighbouring Papua New Guinea.

Another east African country, Uganda, recently sent a team to Rwanda with a view to growing the crop.

'Win-win' scheme

The plant, from the chrysanthemum family, contains the organic substance pyrethrin, which acts on the central nervous system of insects.

"Pyrethrum kills a wide variety of insects without any impact on the environment, as its organic compound is very quickly destroyed by ultraviolet rays," Mureramanzi said.

The flowers are dried and processed, then the honey-coloured extract is exported, mainly to the United States and to Europe.

Between 2009 and 2013, annual production of dried flower heads rose from 200 tonnes to 1,300 tonnes, according to Sopyrwa, with revenue rising seven fold to $7 million (five million euros).

The plant will not grow at altitudes lower than 1800 metres (5,900 feet) and needs cold nights and generous rainfall.

This region of rich volcanic soil where northern Rwanda meets Uganda and neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, with its lashing rain and chilly nights, fits the bill exactly.

Some 37,000 Rwandan peasant farmers live from this crop, whose cultivation covers some 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres).

Under the terms of a deal between the government and the farmers, some of the farmers have to use at least 40 percent of their land for growing pyrethrum.

Mountain Gorillas frolick in dense undergrowth at the Virunga National park

in Rwanda on June 17, 2012 (AFP/File, Aude Genet)

The remaining 60 percent can be planted with food crops, while the farmers are also obliged to alternate so that pyrethrum is not planted on the same part of every plot the whole time.

Sopyrwa's director general Gabriel Bizimungu said that the company provides its farmers with seeds and fertiliser, builds drying stations for the flowers and pays its farmers on time.

The farmers have organised themselves into cooperatives to which they sell their crops at fixed prices.

"It allows farmers to diversify their sources of income and Sopyrwa buys all of their production," Mureramanzi said, adding that farmers can access interest-free loans through the cooperatives.

"It's a win-win situation," said Jean-Claude Kayisinga from the Rwanda Pyrethrum Program.

The programme, funded by USAID and Wisconsin-based cleaning products manufacturer S.C.Johnson, has been training farmers since 2009 on how to increase yields and improve the quality of the pyrethrum flowers they cultivate.

Farmers get virtually the same profits as they do from growing potatoes and alternating crops means the productivity of food crops is improved.

Not only does growing pyrethrum help fight erosion, it also enriches the soil, meaning better crops of food staples such as potatoes or cabbages.

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Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon: I would appreciate a perspective on the following: There seems to be two opposed schools of thought with respect to pesticides and their use. One group categorically states that they are very dangerous and that they are responsible for causing cancers etc... (there's a very long list!!) The other group naturally claims that they are perfectly safe with today's technological advances etc. 

Answer: The chemicals you are using today are dangerous to your health. The more they are used, the more it will be seen over time. We have indicated before that there are far better natural scientific solutions to protecting your crops. Use biology to balance biology. It is non-toxic and simply an alteration of what already exists.

Thousands protest against Areva in Niger

Google – AFP, 12 October 2013

Trucks carry rocks containing uranium at Arlit opencast mine in the Air

desert, Niger on February 23, 2005 (AFP/File, Pierre Verdy)

Niamey — Thousands of people in Niger protested Saturday against French nuclear firm Areva, which has been mining uranium in the impoverished country for nearly 50 years, one of the organisers said.

"The aim of the protest, which has gathered about 5,000 people, is to support the government in its upcoming discussions with Areva on the subject of our uranium," Azaoua Mamane told AFP.

Several other sources confirmed the turnout number.

Last Sunday, Prime Minister Brigi Rafini vowed Niger would review its dealings with the French firm "with a fine-tooth comb" amid accusations that the partnership was unbalanced.

Rafini specified that the west African country's contracts with Areva subsidiaries Somair and Cominak, which end this year, would be reviewed.

The protesters, a mix of local elected representatives and residents, marched on the streets of Arlit in northern Niger shouting anti-Areva slogans.

They accused the nuclear giant of "polluting" the environment, "provoking radioactivity" and "not showing interest in the concerns of local inhabitants", one protester said.

"The population has inherited 50 million tonnes of radioactive residues stocked in Arlit, and Areva continues to freely pump 20 million cubic metres of water each year while the population dies of thirst," he said.

Areva is the world's second-largest uranium producer and extracts more than a third of its uranium in Niger, which is among the world's top producers of uranium but also one of its poorest countries.