Abuja (Nigeria) – Two seemingly innocuous news stories about the rising cost and shortage of fire wood, at different times, in Katsina and Kaduna states should be of concern to all those who think that our well being is tied up to that of the environment in which we live. The gist of the stories is that an acute shortage of firewood in the two cities is affecting most families who rely on it for use in cooking.

In the Kaduna story, firewood sellers are also blamed for its rising cost. To underline the nature of this growing problem, it is worth quoting the Kaduna State Commissioner of Environment, Alhaji Yusuf Aliyu Bature who said “We discovered that people from neighbouring Katsina , Kano and Plateau states, who are a little disadvantaged in forestry, are coming to Kaduna State to exploit our resources without regard for law and order.” What the commissioner’s remark suggests is that as sources of firewood continue to disappear, where they are available, those who have them see them as a scarce resource. It may not be far-fetched to say that there may well be clashes over fire wood in future, in the same way that there have been predictions of wars over water resources.

The problem here is the way our forests are fast-disappearing because of the indiscriminate felling of trees for use as firewood or charcoal, both of which are the means of cooking for most families. It is obvious that with no alternative means of cooking and heating, most families in Nigeria can only afford firewood instead of kerosene or gas for their cooking. In the not-so-distant past, many parts of the neighbouring states the commissioner was referring to also had lush forests with a variety of trees that supported many animals as well. Those forests have since fallen to the relentless and indiscriminate practice of tree-felling in order to produce firewood. Such activity has now led to the disappearance of forests and also grazing reserves giving rise to more friction between farmers and animal rearers who have seen many lush savannah turn into empty barren land. It should worry us all that the problem is not regional thereby limited to those states close to the Sahara desert. Already many thick and previously impenetrable forests in Southern Nigeria are also disappearing because of the activities of loggers, charcoal merchants etc. It is sad that a country like Nigeria with huge oil and gas resources and which actually flares millions of cubic metres of gas, has not developed a way to use that resource as fuel for domestic purposes, thereby saving its forests for other uses.

Daily Trust believes that it is not too late to do something about the situation. Nigerian authorities need to fashion out and promote an affordable and sustainable alternative to the use of firewood. Our oil and gas could easily come to the rescue here. There is a lot to be gained if an appropriate policy that delivers gas and kerosene to end users for domestic use, at affordable prices is fashioned out. As things stand now, the pricing of gas and kerosene does not encourage their use by low-income families in Nigeria.

This raises the need to find more alternatives to the use of firewood for cooking. Along this line, the use of efficient cooking stoves should be encouraged. Similarly more enlightenment campaign should be mounted to make people understand the implication of indiscriminate felling of trees on the environment. A more aggressive tree-planting campaign that ensures that the trees planted are nurtured should also be done. In addition, a moratorium on tree-felling in some areas could give some of the disappearing forests the chance to regenerate themselves naturally.

source.Daily Trust (Nigeria)- February 9, 2009.

Lagos (Nigeria) Nigeria and other oil producing countries are yet to overcome the confusion emanating from the sinking prices of oil, their major source of revenue as the commodity failed at the weekend to climb the $40 mark.

Oil, which last July surged to $147, crashed further to $38 a barrel before the end of weekend’s transaction, recording a $7 deficit on every barrel of oil sold from Nigeria. The country, it would be recalled, benchmarked its oil proceeds at $45 per barrel in its 2009 budget.

Although the oil producing nations under the auspices of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has announced a 4.2 million barrels cut in supply since September, 2008, as parts of measure to save their economies from the jaw of the recession caused by the falling prices, the commodity sold for $38.60 on Friday as the United States government reported that U.S. employers slashed more than a half million jobs last month, the most in 35 years.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery dropped a dollar to settle at $40.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Retail gas prices rose to almost $2 a gallon as refineries took units temporarily off-line for seasonal maintenance.

Crude prices traded as low as $38.60 a barrel earlier in the day while investors digested a government report that said 598,000 jobs were lost in January. The Labor Department report also said unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent, the highest since 1992.

Oil traders are particularly watching for possible further production cuts by the OPEC. So far the cuts haven’t noticeably depleted crude inventories on the West Coast, a region that is heavily dependent on OPEC for oil, Newedge analyst Antoine Halff said in a research report.

Halff said ‘it is possible OPEC’s influence has faded on the West Coast because imports from Ecuador might not have been cut as expected. Also, supertankers carrying Saudi Arabia’s reduced shipment may still be making their way across the Atlantic, and West Coast inventories may be receiving increased amounts from other foreign sources like Canada, he said.

Whatever the reason, “OPEC restraint is not making a dent on West Coast stocks yet,” Halff said. If current production cuts don’t boost demand as hoped, OPEC leaders may slash production targets again at the group’s meeting in March.

Oil traders see layoffs as an instant drag on oil demand. People have less need for gasoline when they no longer have a daily commute. They also stop buying toys, nonstick pans, raincoats and millions of other products that are made with petroleum.

“The economy’s ugly, analyst and trader Stephen Schork said.”We know it’s ugly.”

Schork said he expects traders will eventually push crude prices back to the $50 range. For the past few weeks, crude oil hasn’t found much interest when the price per barrel drops below $40.

“You get the sense the market wants to go higher,” he said. “Those who sell at $40, they’re going to get tired of doing that. Eventually they’re going to hop on board and push this thing to $50.”

For all of 2008, the economy lost a net total of 2.9 million jobs, according to revised figures. That marked the biggest annual loss on record and was worse than the 2.6 million initially estimated last month. Many more are likely to come. Chrysler LLC said Friday it will temporarily close four assembly plants next week because of weak U.S. sales. Spokesman Max Gates said additional closures are possible because the company reviews its production schedules every week.

With millions of people out of work, drivers are logging billions of miles less compared with last year. Still, gas prices have frustrated motorists. With fewer cars on the road, gas prices should go down. Instead they’re on the rise.

Retail gasoline prices on average rose less than a penny to $1.91 a gallon Friday, up from $1.73 a gallon a month ago but still less than the $2.97 a gallon average of a year ago, according to AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.

Andrew Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates in Houston, explained that unlike crude oil, gasoline prices are rising because supplies are under pressure this time of year as refineries take units offline for maintenance.

source.Daily Independent (Nigeria) – February 9, 2009.

Cape Town (South Africa) Jobs at risk from the global economic meltdown could not be saved if the companies at risk were not saved, President Kgalema Motlanthe said yesterday, giving the clearest sign yet that the government will devise a strategy to rescue businesses in trouble.

In an unprecedented move, Motlanthe held a free-ranging news conference, fielding questions on the content of Friday’s state of the nation address. In the past, the president has given an interview only to the national broadcaster.

Taking pains to stress that the task team of representatives of the government, business and labour was still working on the plan, Motlanthe said there would be no specific fund to bail out companies or sectors at risk, but the team would look at ways to save companies and jobs. The task team’s report was expected late this month or early next month.

Motlanthe said that if a company was lost, then clearly the jobs it offered would also be lost. There has already been a request from the motor vehicle industry for a R10bn package to save jobs and companies as domestic sales and international order books shrink.

In his state of the nation address, Motlanthe reassured the nation that the government had not been idle on the effects of the global economic crisis, and a task team was already in operation, considering options for mitigating the fallout. Among issues being looked at were maintaining the level of state spending in public infrastructure, longer leave, short time, and accessing development funds from pension funds.

Motlanthe said SA would not simply follow the US and the UK in dealing with the crisis by making large amounts available to bring liquidity back to the markets. As a developing country, SA would reposition itself to build infrastructure and keep people in their jobs so that the country could take advantage of the upswing when it came.

On the accessing of pension funds and concern expressed about putting retirement benefits of workers at risk, he pointed out that all pension funds were run by boards of trustees comprising half of employers and half of representatives of organised labour.

He said, however, that if a particular sector was at risk of going under, an “injection” could help it to survive, implying that a pension fund serving workers in a particular sector could approve such an injection in the interests of saving the sector and jobs.

Asked if his speech contained a warning that political parties’ election manifestos were unaffordable, he said he was merely saying that the full extent of the meltdown had not been quantified, and “when confronted by such uncertainty, it is better to be conservative and prudent”.

source.

Business Day (South Africa) – February 9, 2009.

(United Nations) – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today urged all parties in Madagascar to resolve their differences peacefully, while condemning the violence that erupted in the island nation’s capital yesterday reportedly killing at least 25 people and injuring dozens.

“He deplores the violence and lack of restraint on all sides that led to this tragedy,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.

“The Secretary-General calls upon all concerned parties to resolve their differences through peaceful and democratic means and through the exercise of responsible leadership,” the statement added.

Prior to Saturday’s events, at least 68 people died in riots that erupted a week ago amid a dispute between the country’s President, Marc Ravalomanana, and Andry Rajoelina, the Mayor of its capital and largest city, Anatananarivo.

In the wake of the crisis, Mr. Ban dispatched senior United Nations political aide Haile Menkerios to assess the situation in the country and explore what the world body could do to help avert further violence and contribute towards peace and stability.

Mr. Menkerios is scheduled to meet with Government officials and others concerned during his 7 to 10 February visit.

Mr. Ban urged the Malagasy authorities to urgently initiate a fair process by which those responsible for the violence will be brought to justice.

“The Secretary-General stands ready to provide all the necessary support for the rapid and peaceful resolution of this crisis,” according to today’s statement.

source.

(UN News Service) – February 9, 2009.

Nairobi (Kenya) – When, recently, Rwanda detained the Kivu-based rebel leader General Laurent Nkunda, nearly everyone else was caught by surprise and confused.

Nkunda, whose National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) was making rapid advances in eastern Congo, was seen as Rwanda’s man. And, indeed, Rwanda had been the only country to acknowledge that Nkunda had a cause, although it consistently denied that it was arming his forces.

However, in a move that caught the UN peacekeeping force Monuc by surprise, Rwandan troops entered Congo and, together with the Congolese army, they launched operations against remnants of the Interahamwe and ex-Rwanda Armed Forces (FAR) which committed the 1994 genocide, and the CNDP. According to the official account, a cornered Nkunda tried to flee through Rwanda, where he was arrested. Now speculation is centring on whether Rwanda will hand Nkunda over to the Congolese authorities, on exactly where he is, and what caused Rwanda to turn on him.

Nkunda is probably still in Gisenyi in northern Rwanda. He is definitely not in some prison, but is being watched.

Rwanda made common cause with Nkunda when his political agenda was limited largely to stopping the killings of the Banyamulenge  the Tutsi of Congo. Rwanda, therefore, is unlikely to hand Nkunda to Congo, because it would be seen as a political victory for the anti-Kigali forces in the DRC.

Nkunda’s problems began when, flushed with military success, he became overly ambitious and threatened to march on Kinshasa. Rwanda preferred the focus to remain on eastern Congo, from where anti-Kigali dissidents had managed, as late as September 2008, to cross into Rwanda and launch attacks in the Busasamana area.

Rwanda, it is now known, was also worried that the rebels, who had been rearmed by Kinshasa to help fight Nkunda, possibly had the ability to reoccupy their former positions along the Congo-Rwanda border.

At the height of the latest round of fighting in eastern Congo, the Southern Africa Development Community, of which Congo is the newest member, voted to come to the country’s aid. That, according to sources, emboldened President Laurent Kabila to take a harder line on Nkunda and to up his criticism of Rwanda. In the end, however, SADC didn’t send troops to Kabila’s rescue. Eager to cut his losses, Kabila did a deal with Kigali on joint military action in the east of his country.

One of the immediate results of the joint Rwanda-Congo action was to scatter the ex-FAR and Interahamwe. While Nkunda’s CNDP easily walked over demoralised and undisciplined Congolese troops, the ex-FAR and Interahamwe were more formidable opponents.

With them in disarray, little else would have stopped Nkunda reaching the capital. Except, of course, the Rwandans. The price was not cheap.

This writer has it on fairly good authority that beyond allowing joint military action with Rwanda, the Kabila government has also given Kigali a long-term role in some kind of security buffer in eastern DRC. Nkunda will probably be re-inserted in this security zone, where the Rwandese would continue to keep him on a short leash. It would also be a good deal for Nkunda, give Kabila peace of mind, and allow Kigali to have its cake and eat it.

* Charles Onyango-Obbo is Nation Media Group’s managing editor for convergence and new products.

source.The East African (Kenya), by Charles Onyango-Abbo* – February 9, 2009.

Kampala (Uganda)  The Uganda Dairy Processors’ Association (UDPA) has started campaigns to promote consumption of processed milk and other dairy products.

Uganda’s per capita milk consumption of about 50 litres is below the per-capita consumption rate of 200 litres recommended by the Food and Agricultural Organisation and the World Health Organisation.

Dr. Nathan Twinamasiko, the executive director of the Dairy Development Authority (DDA), said the campaign, which starts with the central region, would run for three months.

“We want to sensitise the public to understand that the cost of treating infections from unprocessed milk is higher than the cost of processed milk,” he said at the launch at DDA’s offices in Kampala on Friday.

Dr. Twinamasiko said they were working on a policy to outlaw consumption of unprocessed milk.

The policy, he said, would first be piloted in the Greater Kampala Area before it is rolled out.

UDPA is working with DDA, the dairy sector watchdog and Land O’ Lakes, a US-based agency.

Land O’ Lakes, which provides technical and financial assistance to the sector, has boosted the campaign with $70,000 (over sh130m), according to the firm’s country director, Paul Kimbugwe.

Tom Opio Oming, the UDPA chairman, said 80% of milk produced in the country remains unprocessed, leading to wastage and contamination.

“Of the 1.5 million litres of milk produced in the daily, only 20% is processed,” Oming said.

The campaign promoted under the theme: “Why Processed Milk”, targets parents, children and care-givers and will involve 20 schools in the Greater Kampala Area.

Oming advised the public to be aware of expired dairy products and to report them to concerned processors.

source.New Vision (Uganda) – February 9, 2009.