The Chairperson of the NamPower Board of Directors, Andries Hungamo, says the power utility will spend N$1,5 billion to develop a 200 to 400 MW transmission interconnection between Zambia and Namibia, particularly in the Caprivi Region. The link is believed to will hold various strategic supply and commercial benefits for NamPower and is likely to decrease the country's dependency on South Africa for electricity. Hungamo said the project has been made possible by Zambia's recent construction of a 220 Kilovolt line from the Zambian substation at Livingstone to the Zambezi substation at Katima Mulilo.

Delayed rains have resulted in power shortages across east Africa as falling water levels prompt hydro plant operators to curtail generation or even consider shutting plants down. An electricity shortage has gripped Tanzania due to water levels at the Mtera dam falls. With a minimum full capacity operating level of 690m, the level has reportedly dropped to 688.4m recently, leaving the 80MW facility generating as little as 34MW. The lowest possible level permitted by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals is 688m, according to the Water Power Magazine.

Elephants in Kenyan national parks and reserves are leaving their drought-stricken sanctuaries to search for water and food near human settlements, where they have attacked starving people trying to protect their crops. UN agencies have warned of hunger across the region because of drought and say the situation in eastern Kenya is particularly serious. People reportedly have died of hunger during what officials say is the country's worst drought in 22 years.

The World Trade Union Assembly on Labour and the Environment was officially opened on Sunday 15 January in Nairobi, at the head office of UNEP. Trade unions from all over the world are debating the best ways to engage in concrete action in the struggle for a sustainable environment. This meeting - a joint initiative of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Sustainlabour and the Varda group - brings together more than 160 trade unionists from all over the world. Non-government organisations and employer representatives have also been invited to take part. The primary objective of the meeting is to ensure more effective trade union action on the environment.

The world of climate change science and policy has been rocked by the discovery that plants produce up to one-third of the second most important greenhouse gas. The findings are published in Nature today (12 January) by a team led by Frank Keppler from the Max-Planck Institute in Germany. Until now, researchers thought that most methane was produced by bacteria in environments lacking oxygen, such as the digestive system of cows and Asia's flooded rice fields. But Keppler's team says plants worldwide produce millions of tonnes of the gas each year, with the greatest share coming from the tropics, reports SciDev.

On the back of record oil prices, Africa's second largest producer, Angola, has one of the continent's fastest growing economies while its people remain among the poorest.After 27 years of civil war a peace agreement signed with UNITA rebels in 2002 is slowly beginning to translate into a better life for ordinary Angolans, who increasingly blame the government for the delay in turning the oil revenue into much-needed development.

The World Bank's decision to suspend loans to Chad after the country said it would divert revenues from an oil project intended to alleviate poverty is a symbolic gesture that dodges meaningful action by the Bank in similar mining, oil and gas projects, watchdog groups say. Last week, the Washington-based public lender made good on threats to suspend 124 million dollars in loans to Chad, one of the world's poorest nations, after the government amended a law that controls the country's oil revenues, against the Bank's repeated advice.

For over 20,000 years, clans of hunter-gatherers have survived in central Botswana’s stark, desert plains. Now, a handful are left, locked in a bitter dispute over their right to remain in what has been declared a wildlife reserve. Botswana’s efforts to remove two small ethnic Basarwa communities from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve is the latest chapter in a long history of dislocation and loss. Government officials argue the Basarwas’ changing lifestyle is incompatible with wildlife conservation. They want the last holdouts – estimated at less than 30 – to be resettled where they can be provided modern services such as schools and clinics, as reported by The Star.

Uganda’s power sector is pretty well on a cliff, with the sudden announcement of a possible closure of the Kiira hydro-power dam. The government appears lost out on what exactly can be done to arrest a looming disaster. On January 5, the Minister of Water, Lands and Environment, Major General Kahinda Otafiire disclosed, shockingly, that a plan is underway to shut down Kiira, apparently to stem the unusual water loss to Lake Victoria, which is causing dangerous lowering of the lake level and subsequently weakening the River Nile's flow force.

Tanzania could start rationing power this month to cope with shortages resulting from a long drought that is causing famine and threatening east Africa's economies, officials said on Saturday (January 7). Falling water levels have cut in half the output of hydroelectric generators that power much of the east African nation, said Patrick Rutanzibwa, principal secretary with Tanzania's Ministry of Energy and Minerals.

Globally the impacts of climate change are likely to disproportionately harm developing nations despite the fact that these nations have contributed little to cumulative greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This inequity, the authors of this Tiempo article argue, is compounded by the further injustice of traditional cost benefit analyses of climate change impacts which focus on the monetary value of damage whilst ignoring issues such as distributional inequity and the value of nature or quality of life.

The Nile River, the world's longest river, travels more than 6,700 km from its farthest source at the headwaters of the Kagera Basin in Rwanda and Burundi to its delta in Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea. Today the Basin is home to an estimated 160 million people, and more than 300 million people live in the ten countries that share and depend on Nile waters. Because of its complex history, there is only limited cooperation in the development and management of the Nile, with unilateral action causing dispute, and even threatening regional security, according to the Ethiopian Reporter.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is increasingly affecting the fisheries revenues of developing countries. The global cost of IUU fishing practices is estimated to be in excess of US$ 2.4 billion annually, about US$900 million for sub-Saharan Africa alone. Research by the Marine Resources Assessment Group, UK, which reviewed the impact of IUU fishing on developing countries, found that the level of IUU fishing was inversely correlated with their state of governance. IUU fishing in sub-Saharan Africa primarily affects tuna fisheries in east African states and mixed fisheries in west African states. West Africa, the Mozambique Channel, Somalia and central Africa are particular problem areas: targeting relatively modest funds here could significantly increase government incomes from fishing, improve livelihoods and contribute to food security, although the income increase might not always equate to the full value of the IUU catch.

A study of the African power sector, co-sponsored by ECA and UNEP and presented at a stakeholders meeting in Addis Ababa, said that reforms in Africa had not resulted in sustainability of the sector in Africa. The study, "Making the African Power Sector Sustainable" says the lack of sustainability is because power sector reforms in Africa were primarily designed to bridge short term generation shortfalls and enhance the financial health of state-owned power utilities.

Once upon a time the river systems in East Africa were linked to the Congo basin - thus rivers flowed from east to west. However, tectonic earth movements resulting in the eastern and western rift valley formation caused the reversal of the drainage system to collect in a shallow basin that became Lake Victoria, a source of fresh water, livelihood and marine life. However, over the recent years, especially from 2003, there has been a marked drop in the water level. At some points the receding shoreline is prominent. Most conspicuous is at the source of River Nile, where the once old water works concrete slabs are sticking out. Several years ago they were submerged by about a metre or two, according to Sunday Vision.

“We believe that water is a sacred gift connecting all life. As the world faces a growing freshwater crisis, water is becoming a profit-maker for some—and something that’s impossible to afford for others. Every time we drain a wetland or pollute a river, we make the problem worse for everyone. In the face of this crisis, water must remain in public hands throughout the world. It should not be turned into a commodity for private profit.” Click on the URL provided to find out how you can take action.

"Rural people are very knowledgeable, but they don't have degrees. Neither do they speak the 'right' language. This study helps me to empower the community. I see myself as a voice of the voiceless, committed to the struggle for the advancement of the dignity of our people," John Blessing Karumbidza said, opening his presentation in Vitória. Born in rural Zimbabwe, Karumbidza is a Junior Lecturer in Economic History at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban. He was commissioned by Timberwatch to carry out research into the impacts of tree plantations on rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa.

Imagine an educational process that produces 200 graduates with no internal or external funding, where the institution running the course has no offices or support staff and where knowledge is viewed as a negotiated common commodity for all. Impossible? Unrealistic? Read on to find out about how The Swaziland Environmental Justice Agenda developed their course on environmental justice.

The Swaziland Environmental Justice Agenda (SEJA) is a social movement concerned with a variety of social issues. The issue of environmental injustice is central to SEJA’s concerns. SEJA has developed the Swaziland Participatory Course in Environmental Education, known as the ‘environmental course’, which uses an alternative approach to education to develop a critical understanding of environmental injustice.

According to SEJA’s viewpoint, environmental injustice is embedded in the global economic system, a system that is built around non-humanistic values. Over the years, the system has been sweet-coated by policy announcements that do not translate to sustainable support for people or the environment. The recent military actions that have been launched by the architects of the globalization process have proven that the capitalist values are still the same as those that informed the colonialisation process.

Swaziland is a society where people are not on the information super train. Many people in Swaziland, even the middle class, have no economic means to access the information in magazines and books, on the internet, etc. They are thus kept from the issues that define policy directions and programmes.

Swaziland is a country with an education system that is heavily influenced by its colonial past. It is a system which discourages the development of critical thinking. Free speech is banned in Swaziland by a 1973 decree and the education system has been able to enshrine a culture of compliance to this decree.

The Environmental Course

The SEJA environmental course is a humble act of activism to address this reality and start the process of social emancipation. It has opened up several alternatives to the way in which Swaziland society approaches issues of education.

The purpose of the course is to create an opportunity for environmental and development workers and activists to acquire the knowledge base that will allow them to critically debate the issues that define the progressive agenda. The course has been designed to make it possible for marginalized groups in the Swazi society to access tertiary-level education. The fundamental principle informing enrollment is the “open entry open exit” principle. This means that the course participants come from different educational backgrounds and levels.

Teaching a class with, for example, domestic workers, bus conductors and university lecturers is an experience that is sobering in many ways. It challenges our assumption about knowledge and the way knowledge is “developed”. It also requires alternative means on how education is conducted. The approach and methods of this course are not unique, they draw on Paulo Freire’s ideas, articulated in the book, “The Pedagogy of the Oppressed”.

The reason why we developed the course was the realization that many environmental educators and activists have no deep understanding of the issues. International groups are organizing campaigns in several fronts. Swaziland is always being left behind.

The course is structured around four key themes, namely:

- Theme 1: The Environmental Crisis: Issues, Problems and Risks
- Theme 2: The Response to the Environmental Crisis
- Theme 3: Environmental Education: Processes and Methods
- Theme 4: Curriculum and Programme Development

Each theme is introduced by a core text, which provides an overview of the issues and concepts. Every year, the tutors look at the core text and make changes based on the assignments of the past participants. This is done in an attempt to contextualise the core text to the realities of Swaziland.

In addition to the core text, there is an attachment of further readings, which include academic papers, newspaper cuttings, past participant’s assignments, case studies, reports etc. This allows the participants access to a diversity of perspectives, thus enriching the debates.

To use the first theme as an example, the core text introduces the issue of the economic system as the cause of the environmental crisis. Discussion is informed by a Theodor Shanin essay, “Idea of Progress”. The participants engage the question as to whether the international economic regimes result in improvement of the third world. They debate the availability of loans that continue to worsen the debt crisis.

Environmental education includes a four-dimensional framework for analysis of issues, namely the economic, political, social and biophysical dimensions. This framework opens up a broader spectrum for the analysis of issues. It deepens the ethos of critical thinking, which is an essential element of the development of social praxis. Praxis is the ability of participants to translate learned theory to social action and to translate the experience gained into improved theory.

What has become apparent is that most people in Swaziland have an in-built self-censorship. This is a major contributor to the reality that Swaziland is lacking literature that defines its unique political, social, economic and environmental crisis. The course, by allowing an environment of free speech, is helping to heal this problem.

Contextualization, Reflexivity, Praxis and Reflection

The course process is based on four fundamental principles. The first is the contextual principle, based on the view that a socially meaningful educational process should address itself to the issues that are relevant to that society. The course includes four assignments which act as a mechanism by which the participants discuss and review their individual context. This may be drawn from the work that the participant is engaged in, the campaigns that he or she is currently working on, etc. The course has an immediate benefit for various social programmes. It allows the participants to identify the political conditions that enable or disable social progress. It encourages the application of social praxis.

The reflexivity principle is about the internal mobilization of the participants to take appropriate action to mitigate and correct a social problem that is identified in the contextualisation of their reality. To date, Swaziland’s progressive forces have been able to narrate the political, social and economic conditions prevailing in the country. But, definite actions that can address the conditions have not been taken. This is due to a lack of reflexivity, which is embedded in an education system that discourages critical thinking.

The third principle is that of social praxis. There is a huge difference between theory and practice. An approach to social change that is led by a group of intellectuals that are excited by externally-developed theories and ideologies tends to emphasise theories without making the connection to practice. The course teaching and learning is informed by social constructivism. Knowledge is constructed by people in a social setting. This process detects that knowledge development cannot be created by academics to the exclusion of the people and the social reality. Social programmes of meaning are informed by a sound theory and that theory is continuously being informed by the reality.

Swaziland in the mid-nineties saw the progressive movement wage its greatest challenge to the state yet. The actions, including mass stayaways, demonstrations, petitions and boycotts, were informed by a particular revolutionary theory. Unfortunately the leaders of the different groups did not practice praxis. As a result, the masses lost the necessary steam to sustain the action.

It is essential that an educational process empowers the participant with the ability to take time out from the on-going activities, that he or she engages in reflection. In the social milieu, a number of processes are at play. There are many times that you find that the comrades you are working with do not share the same values as you or the movement you all belong to. The revolutionary comrade, Mphandlana Shongwe, once said during a college class boycott, “It is necessary for one to move out of a supposed straight road, in order to verify that it is still a straight road”. The reflection principle is basically about that, being able to think deeply about process. The power of reflection lies in its ability to bring clarity.

NGOs and Funding

The course is readily distinguishable from those routinely offered in the non-governmental organization (NGO) sector. Many people have been disillusioned by the reality that social programmes under the leadership of NGOs that are purported to be people driven are all too often nothing of the sort. They are conceived by NGO elites. NGO officers in executive offices in capital cities have been able to define the people’s agenda and content of programmes of action. Practice has shown that, even with NGO-driven educational programmes, the content and scope is also determined in a non-participatory manner.

These activities are entirely dependent on the availability of foreign funding. Moreover, the greatest percentage of funds that goes to NGOs is not taken by project activities but by personnel costs that go to finance the unsustainable lifestyles of the NGO elites. It is a sad reality that NGO offices are generally far removed from the problems experienced by their so-called target groups. These groups are defined in different ways, depending on the current fashionable donor description. People are defined in NGO official documents as marginalized people, Orphans Vulnerable Children (OVCs), etc. These descriptions create a barrier to meaningful consultation with them. In subtle ways, those that use these descriptions elevate themselves above their target groups.

The cost of food, accommodation and travel at many civil society gatherings limits the extent to which these programmes are accessible to the people defined by NGOs as poor and not privileged. This artificial over-costing of civil activities is in effect a marginalisation of the people. I was shocked by the paradox that emerged at the annual Environmental Education Association of Southern Africa (EEASA) conference, namely that members continuously complained about the “poor standard” of conference venues. This is not a comment about the organizational shortfalls of the conference, it is rather an indictment of the materialistic values of those that attended. This is true of many conferences of groupings that work for sustainable development and sustainable living environments. There is a related problem in that many comrades hide their true values behind politically acceptable words in fancy documents, publications, conferences, seminars and workshops, while their actions do not demonstrate a shift from the values of the corporate world.

All too often, social groups are not able to develop programmes that address their issues because there is no external funding. But the lack of financial resources is a challenge that has to be overcome. The Swaziland Environmental Justice Agenda has not received any external or internal funding to support its programmes. More than 200 people have graduated from the environment course without the course having received any funding in the NGO sense.

When SEJA embarked on this course, there was no physical office of the organisation. It was started by a small civic group of people concerned about particular issues or problems. There were eight of us, the majority of whom were not members of any political group. Environmental processes are political in nature, but affiliation to a political grouping was never an issue.

The participants brought food for tutorials and ate together. After participants graduated, many volunteered to become tutors for the next round of participants. The course has continued to depend on the ability of tutors to volunteer their time and knowledge. (By volunteering, we do not mean the existence of allowances that are far more than other people’s salaries. These are the tricks other people perform with our good hearts and intentions.)

The course provides a platform on which a new alternative approach to education can be launched. The educational process is emancipatory in a sense that knowledge is a negotiated common commodity for all. It opens up the boundaries of the course content to all stakeholders. It is truly driven by participants, giving meaning to the philosophical orientation that it a participatory course.

The true value of the course must be measured by the extent to which the participants influence people to approach their context with an attitude based on critical thinking and the degree to which it stimulates civic programmes that are no longer informed by liberal economic ideas.

Sivumelwano Nyembe, [email protected]

* Please send comments to [email protected]

Rudolf Amenga-Etego argues against the privatization of water in Ghana and introduces an example of community driven water delivery managed for the public good instead of profits. In a country where in some parts the average citizen earns only 50 cents a day, but is expected to pay the full market price for water, he argues for a water management system that “incorporates the collective wisdom of the community as an operative rule”.

The neo-liberal ideology that is driving water policy globally is rooted in the in the so-called “Washington Consensus”, which is nothing but a market fundamentalist conspiracy to corner the world’s resources to satisfy the greed of a tiny minority. It is an ideology that puts profits before people, threatens our eco-systems through excessive exploitation and turns the essentials of life into mere articles of trade.

Ghana, a country of 20 million people with 10 million of them earning less than 2 dollars a day, is a typical example of a well-endowed country reduced to begging. After decades of trying to adjust our economy to fit into a global trading system crafted by a few corporations with the complicity of the Bretton Woods institutions and spineless governments at their beck and call, we are consigned to the fringes of humanity where life is cheaper than condoms. There are parts of Ghana, the Upper East region being typical, where the average citizen earns only 50 cents a day and is now also expected to pay the full market price for water.

This is a consequence of the signing of a management service contract in November this year, handing over the management of the water service to the private sector. The signing of the contract is significant in a number of ways:

- It signals a change in the World Bank policy, which hitherto favoured leases and concessions. The assumption then was that the private sector would invest in the water sector. This didn’t happen.
- It is an indication that the water corporations now prefer management service contracts that guarantee upfront payments with little or no risks.
- The World Bank remains essentially the smokescreen behind which the corporations operate.
- To the activist, it means “not yet uhuru”.

Management service contracts are essentially attempts to take over public utilities for the purpose of making money without investment risk. The operational principle remains full cost recovery from consumers, irrespective of the ability to pay. Creative and innovative ways of providing safe water, especially to the poor, are ignored and therefore no investment flows into alternative thinking.

In Ghana, keeping water in public hands is an expression of sovereignty. The country has been declared a “highly indebted poor country” (HIPC) by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, who structurally adjusted her into debt in the first place. This is a country at the mercy of aid agencies. Surrendering her water to foreign corporate control will be the final act of capitulation.

There is no shortage of talent in Ghana. What is needed is a management system that incorporates the collective wisdom of the community as an operative rule. It is by involving people not as mere consumers but as citizens with rights, including the right to participate and to hold the management system accountable that will ensure the changes necessary for good water governance and universal access.

Certain policy interventions are key to eliminating the current neoliberal inequalities in water delivery to better achieve the ‘public good’ aspects of water services. These include:

- no prepaid meters for poor households;
- increased amounts of free water;
- better regulation of tariff structures so that they do not penalize the poor; and
- a non- discriminatory infrastructural plan that ensures that poor areas are equally served.

There should also be increased public funding for improving the efficiency of water systems and access. There should be a programme aimed at promoting public sector alternatives including community-based systems.

A celebrated example in Ghana which clearly demonstrates innovativeness is the Savelugu-Ghana Water Company partnership. In 2000, the Savelugu community and the Ghana Water Company signed an agreement to supply water to the Savelugu Township. Roles for both parties were defined, and the terms of the agreement were negotiated. The agreement involves the supply of bulk potable water to the township, which has the responsibility of retailing the water to community members. The bulk price is negotiated from time to time and a community water and sanitation board meets to set the retail price and discuss exemptions.

The success of the Savelugu experiment derives largely from its underlying principle that a community is able to work with a public utility to provide a service for its members efficiently. A recent base line survey by the Foundation for Grassroots Initiatives in Africa (GrassRootsAfrica) stated some of the ways that the township and the Ghana Water Company have benefited from the partnership as follows:

The township:
- It has guaranteed supply of potable water from a public utility.
- It is relieved from the complex process of producing and treating water as in other small towns practicing community management.
- The means exists to negotiate with the utility on price and quantity of water to be supplied.
- There is democratic decision-making among community members on tariffs and exemption procedures.
- Profits accrued from water sales are used for expansion and other community development projects.
- There is capacity to negotiate with private sector companies to provide services.
- There is the opportunity to benefit from technical support from the public utility at acceptable costs.
- Equitable access to water supply is promoted through participatory decision-making and management processes.
- Women are involved in decisions on water delivery.
- Social control measures are used to check pilfering and illegal connections and ensure prompt detection and containment of leaking pipes to reduce losses.

The Ghana Water Company:
- It saves on the cost of personnel to bill and collect tariffs from the community.
- It attains a relatively higher economic return per unit of water supplied to domestic consumers, as compared to other parts of Tamale.
- Unaccounted for water reduces to a minimum (near zero), as the community pays for all water consumed.
- It enjoys an intimate and healthy relationship with consumers.
- Pilfering and collusion with consumers to manipulate revenue due to the company is eliminated as the community pays to the company through crossed checks.

The argument that there is no efficient way of delivering safe water without the participation of the private sector peels off in the face of the Savelugu example. Shockingly, in spite of this exciting news, the World Bank is refusing to look that way. The World Bank’s privatization fixation is entirely inappropriate in the delivery of water to the people of Ghana. Activists in Ghana have argued that the government of Ghana and the donor community, if they are really serious about addressing the accountability and efficiency issues alleged to be bedeviling the Ghana Water Company, should be investing in the Savelugu model and investigating ways of replicating it. Wholly community-based systems should also be supported as alternatives to privatization.

* Rudolf Amenga-Etego is with the Foundation For GrassRoots Initiatives In Africa

* Please send comments to [email protected]

Since 1994, the South African government has embarked on an ambitious land reform programme to redistribute and return land to previously disenfranchised communities. However, many black people lack the knowledge, skills and experience needed to manage their land. Furthermore, this paper finds that the way in which the government is implementing its land reform programme is constraining many of its beneficiaries from making agriculture a more important part of their livelihoods.