Lazarus Sauti

Lazarus Sauti A United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) report, issued on the sidelines of UN climate talks in Warsaw that are working towards sealing a global deal by 2015 to reach the 2 C target, said Africa will need between $200 and $350 billion a year by 2070 to shore up its defences against climate change. The report also said the $200-billion figure is a best-case scenario, based on meeting the goal of limiting average global warming to 2.0 degrees Celsius. It states that the higher figure of $350 billion assumes warming of 3.5 – 4.0 Celsius, which will cause much greater damage to Earth’s climate system. UNEP chief Achim Steiner said in a statement: “Missing the 2.0 C window will not only cost governments billions of dollars but will risk the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people on the African continent and elsewhere. “Even with a warming scenario of under 2.0 C by 2050, Africa’s undernourished would increase 25-90 percent.” Steiner ...

Lazarus Sauti Chris Whitty, chief scientific adviser and director of research at the UK Department for International Development believes science for Africa is critical for Africa – and for the rest of the world. He also believes that the ‘remarkable recent economic growth’ in many African countries may be able to sustain science through domestic funding (rather than through external sources) — but a lack of scientists and research capacity is threatening to reel back that economic growth. Whitty noted: “The gross domestic product (GDP) of many African countries has been growing at a rate of 6–8 per cent each year, amounting to almost doubling of GDPs every decade. “Unlike in China, South Asia, and South-East Asia, where there was a surplus of scientists, engineers, doctors and teachers trained at the early stages of countries’ development, in most African countries there are up to 1 000 times fewer scientists than in Asian countries in the equivalent state of developme...

Lazarus Sauti The book, ‘Diamond: Nature and Man’s Treasure’ by Tamuka Magwenzi is a diamond reference book which orients readers of all ages to diamonds. Magwenzi said diamonds are a topical issue of concern for social and economic purposes. Therefore, the book is a guide with basic information as to how diamonds originate; their uses; their importance and other basics. “The book gives a hint and highlight that the diamond industry is diverse and a wide choice of specialty,” Magwenzi said. He also said the book is a general orientation booklet to encourage and inspire those who may want to take up specialised careers in the diamond industry. Diamonds: Nature and Man’s Treasure carries 12 chapters. The 62 paged book is Magwenzi’s first publication which he started working on in 2009. The author is a Zimbabwean with charisma and passion to see the growth of the Zimbabwean Diamond industry. He is a trained Diamond Evaluator who trained at Corlia Roberts Diamo...

Lazarus Sauti Eric Schmidt, Google boss said that the technology giant had developed new technology that makes it harder to find child sexual abuse images on the web. Schmidt, writing in British newspaper the Daily Mail, also said more than 100,000 searches would no longer feature such material in their results. He said the restrictions will initially apply to English-speaking countries but will be expanded to the rest of the world and 158 other languages within six months. The announcement comes ahead of Monday’s Internet Safety Summit at Prime Minister David Cameron’s Downing Street office, where Google and Microsoft will be joined by other Internet firms. In July, Cameron threatened to introduce legislation to block access to illegal images if search engines failed in their ‘moral duty’ to do it voluntarily. Cameron said ahead of the summit, “Since then, we have worked closely with both Google and Microsoft and they have made significant progress in preventing ...

Lazarus Sauti Margaret Oliver, a visiting fellow at the University of Reading’s Soil Research Centre in the United Kingdom believes local farming knowledge can be used instead of expensive technology. Oliver said farmers in developing countries could take advantage of the emerging field of precision farming without needing the expensive technology usually associated with it. The geostatistics expert noted, “Crop yields could be improved by applying traditional knowledge to mirror precision techniques such as using the satellite Global Positioning System (GPS) to analyse farm land.” In a research paper, she said geostatistical analyses of data from sensors both on land and from satellites are ‘becoming increasingly standard for all kinds of crop production and will be of crucial importance in the near future as the world faces increasing issues of food security’. Such data can be used to build a map of soil biochemistry, which can help farmers improve crop yields and ...

Lazarus Sauti Indigenous Knowledge is the local knowledge – knowledge that is unique to a given culture or society. It is the basis for local-level decision making in agriculture, food preparation, education, natural resource management and a host of other activities in rural communities. More so, IK encompasses the skills, experiences and insights of people, applied to maintain or improve their livelihood. Collence Chisita, a Harare based researcher believes that IK is the social capital of the poor. Therefore, he urged African countries to embrace it since it is part of the lives of the rural poor. Chisita comments: “IK is dominant, easily accessible, and safe for men and animals. It promotes social cohesion and thus, Africa must embrace indigenous knowledge systems to improve the livelihoods of her citizenry since indigenous knowledge and practices are useful in enabling farmers to compete and respond to global opportunities and challenges.” He goes on to say...

Lazarus Sauti Countries within and across the great African continent still suffer from a lack of good quality data on livestock that could be used to measure and improve progress as well as inform policymaking processes. This is so because good data are crucial for identifying effective public and private sector investment opportunities. More so, good data help to improve the livelihoods of smallholder livestock producers in Africa. Ugo Pica-Ciamarra, Food and Agricultural Organisation livestock economist, says improving the quantity and quality of livestock data can make the sector economically sustainable. Pica-Ciamarra said, “Improving the quantity and quality of livestock data for decision-makers, better policies and investments, will not only ensure livestock sector development and bring benefits to many livestock keepers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), but also make the sector economically and environmentally sustainable.” Kiama Stephen Gitahi, professor of an...