Photo: David Gough/IRIN

An area of forest near Mopeia, Mozambique in 2008 that was cleared to make way for agriculture (file photo)

DAKAR,  – In its biennial State of the World’s Forests 2009 report, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) notes that climate change and economic recession present both challenges and opportunities for the world’s nearly four billion hectares of forest.

While a protracted economic slump may increase illegal logging in cash-strapped areas and reduce governments’ commitment to green goals, declining demand worldwide for wood products and commercial forest-cultivated food may also save some forests – in the short term.

But as food and fuel prices increase so will deforestation in South America and Africa  as more people turn to forests for food, feed and biofuel, according to FAO. But while droughts, shrinking water supplies and floods have strained governments’ forest management efforts, renewable wood-based energies like biofuel may provide forests and their governments’ a new lifeline, FAO says.

source.www.irinnews.org

Photo: World Vision

Farmers gather for a workshop on growing acacia trees in the Sahel (file photo)

DAKAR,  – For more than 20 years scientists have tried to introduce in Niger the acacia plant typically grown by aborigines living in dry zones of Australia. Despite the perennial’s ability to withstand windstorms, heat and drought, Nigerien farmers have been slow to accept acacias or their protein-packed seeds. But with deforestation wiping out trees in Africa, agriculture experts told IRIN this aborigine import may fill a growing void.

Though Africa has only 16 percent of the world’s global forest area, from 2000 to 2005 it lost about four million hectares a year, close to one-third of global deforestation, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

Of 1,300 species of the acacia plant worldwide, more than 900 are native to Australia, according to the Australian government.

Agricultural trainer Peter Cunningham with the Australian non-profit Serving in Mission (SIM) told IRIN the acacia tree has proven itself a hardy plant in Niger over the last 20 years. People are finally starting to see the benefits of this tree, which has a high survival rate.

Food

Almost two million people in Niger suffer from moderate malnutrition as of December 2008, according to the government. While a December study it conducted showed that the number of households nationwide suffering from severe malnutrition “ seven percent “ had fallen by half from the previous year, there are still agricultural production areas like Tchintabaraden, 800km north of the capital Niamey, where one-third of the population is severely malnourished.

The government is seeking donor support to provide seeds and fertiliser to 250,000 families.

Cunningham said the acacia trees, which cost SIM about 5 US cents each and are made available at no cost to farmers, can help the country’s often precarious food situation.

Soil

In a 2008 report for the non-profit World Vision on the viability of acacias to boost food security and crop yield, Cunningham wrote that decades of improper farming techniques in Niger have depleted soil nutrients. He told IRIN acacias have the potential to boost crop yield, but only if they are planted correctly.

The report provided diagrams of how acacia trees should be spaced in rows 25 metres apart, planted five metres apart around the perimeter and combined with other crops like millet and sorghum.

Working in the semi-arid region of Maradi in southern Niger, Cunningham wrote that such an gro-forestry farming system could diversify income, lessen the risk any one crop would perish in inclement weather and better distribute income and labour year round.

More than providing nutritious seeds that can be turned into protein-packed flour for pastas and breads, Cunningham told IRIN, The trees are also windbreaks against sandstorms that dry out less resilient cash crops.

Agriculture fatalism

Since 2004 Cunningham has tried to revive farmers’ interest in acacias. He told IRIN he is working with nearly 500 farmers in 33 villages in Niger’s south. Cunningham said each farmer has about 100 acacia trees.

But the agricultural trainer said adoption has been slow. Subsistence farmers have done the same type of traditional farming for a long time. Accepting trees has come incrementally. He said most farmers in Maradi’s predominantly Muslim community are fatalistic about their barren land plots. They reason that it is God’s will. This mentality has been a barrier to the trees widespread acceptance.

Cunningham told IRIN that interest in the tree waned as donor support ended in the 1990s. The plant was part of [World Food Programme food-for-work] programmes, but after that ended [in Maradi] the trees did not survive long after. He said the trees’ average lifespan is 10 years.

Cunningham said things are changing and that research has shown how its root system helps acacia trees better withstand droughts and untimely rains. Floods in Niger in 2008 wiped out hundreds of agricultural fields, according to the UN.

source.www.irinnews.org

 Ravalomanana had earlier vowed to resist a
forcible takeover of power [AFP]

Ravalomanana had earlier vowed to fight to the death after the military seized his offices in the capital Antananarivo on Monday.

Hyppolite Ramaroson, a navy admiral and the most senior military official, was to lead the country as part of a directorate made up of high-ranking military officers,  presidential aides said.

The Madagascan military is split between these who are loyal to the president and those who support Andry Rajoelina, the opposition leader.

‘Transitional authority’

After the transfer of power, the opposition said that Rajoelina would lead a “transitional authority” and would organise presidential and general elections in the next 24 months.

It was not immediately clear how the military leadership would react to the opposition’s announcement.

“We aren’t sure about how many soldiers still support the president, we know that there is still a large presidential guard in the palace,” Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa, reporting from Antananarivo, said.

“There are also stories going around in the local media here that there are foreign troops or mercenaries in the compound.

“If the military isn’t united that could bring a lot of problems in the future.”

Colonel Andre Ndriarijaona, who became army chief after his predecessor was ousted by mutinous troops, has thrown his weight behind Rajoelina, rather than Ramaroson.

“I prefer Andry Rajoelina because if we go with the vice-admiral we will throw ourselves into another crisis,” he said.

Fanja Saholiarisoa, a journalist in Antananarivo, said there was likely to be a dispute within the military.

“There is an extraordinary meeting planned to discuss that,” she said.

Coup warning

Jean Ping, the African Union commission chairman, warned Madagascar’s military that it should not hand over power to Rajoelina.

“If the military hand over power to the mayor, it is not constitutional,” he said. “We do not know exactly what is going on.”

Rajoelina led supporters to the presidential offices in Antananarivo on Tuesday [Reuters]

He said that any taking of power by non-constitutional means would be considered a coup d’etat by the body.

Rajoelina, who had previously declared himself the de facto leader of the Indian Ocean island nation, on Tuesday led his supporters to the presidential palace captured the previous day.

He declared that eight of Ravalomanana’s ministers had resigned due to the crisis.

Tanks and scores of soldiers loyal to the opposition leader guarded the palace and the central bank on Tuesday.

The president’s spokesman said that Ravalomanana, who had been sheltering at another presidential palace about 6km outside the capital, was being moved to an undisclosed location.

Rajoelina has accused Ravalomanana of being a dictator and misusing public funds. In turn, Ravalomanana’s supporters call Rajoelina a troublemaker bent on seizing power illegally.

Under growing pressure to resign, Ravalomanana had offered to hold a referendum to let the people decide who should run Madagascar. But Rajoelina rejected the offer, saying the people had already made their opinions clear.

At least 135 people have been killed since the country’s political crisis began in January, most of them when security forces cracked down on anti-government protests at the order of Ravalomanana’s government.

source.aljazeera