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Eco Africa - How can we build the future better?
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00:00How can we build the future better so our cities, our homes, our environment can better
00:24withstand the challenges of climate change?
00:27There are many answers to those questions, and we'll be looking at solutions from Africa
00:32and elsewhere.
00:34Welcome to EcoAfrica.
00:35I am Chris Alemse, coming to you from Lagos, Nigeria, and here is my co-host, Malama Mukunde.
00:42Hello, everyone, and greetings from Lusaka, Zambia.
00:50It's great to have you with us.
00:52Here's what we've got for you in this week's show.
00:55How rainmakers in Kenya work together with meteorologists.
01:01And Rocking It, a Ugandan harnessing the power of music and the sun to spread a green message.
01:08Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, is facing considerable ecological changes like flooding, pollution,
01:15and a drop in biodiversity.
01:17Now, since 2008, the city has lost more than half of its valuable wetland areas that naturally
01:24act like sponges.
01:25Rampant construction continues to eat up other green spaces too, but they are people trying
01:31to stop or even reverse these developments sometimes, but very creatively.
01:39In the Shapungo sculpture garden, in the heart of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, nature and
01:45art are closely intertwined.
01:47And this fruitful symbiosis is expanding and growing.
01:52A tree with its blossoms, fruit and leaves is a masterpiece created by nature.
01:58It's a source of inspiration for the women and men who make their own creations from stone
02:04in its shade.
02:05In turn, the park in the artist colony of Shapungo is designed to protect nature.
02:11We decided to grow indigenous trees because some of the species might actually be wiped
02:17out due to the random felling of trees for firewood.
02:21If they vanish, they're gone for good.
02:24So we decided to grow them so people can actually come and learn about them, as they're vital
02:29for our existence.
02:33Nicholas Kadzangura is a sculptor and the manager of the sculpture park.
02:37He frequently gives guided tours for young art lovers.
02:41Many works here deal with Zimbabwe's natural environment and the threats it faces.
02:46One piece by the late artist Joseph Andandarika is especially close to his heart.
02:51He called it the friend of the rhino so that people can get closer to know the rhino and
02:57also to protect it.
02:59The more you become friends to animals, the more you don't kill them.
03:04You want them to multiply.
03:07With only some 600 black rhinos left in Zimbabwe, it's a desperately urgent matter.
03:13The Shapungo Sculpture Garden was set up in 1970 and is named after the Batalur eagle, sacred
03:19in Shona culture.
03:21The bird is considered a messenger of the gods and ancestors.
03:25This ancient indigenous knowledge is passed on during the guided park tours, which highlight
03:30the spiritual significance of nature conservation.
03:34For Marci Moshore, widow of the park's founder, many sculptures here are animistic symbols of
03:39the nature-centred faith.
03:42I'm an eland.
03:44That is my total from my father's life.
03:49I am not to eat the flesh of the eland.
03:55My role is to protect the environment of the eland.
04:00I am to nurture its life, its existence, its being.
04:10That's a traditional element in our culture, and you'll find that throughout Africa.
04:15For sprawling Harare and its 2.4 million people, the 15-acre park also serves as a green lung.
04:22The high-density suburbs, it's a big issue, pollution.
04:30Not just land pollution through plastics, plastic bottles, but the dust, there's not enough vegetation
04:37to protect people from the dust.
04:40That causes other diseases.
04:44Citizens are also engaged in saving the city's wetlands.
04:49And construction are threatening these areas, and the vital role they play.
04:54Because of these open grassland wetlands, streams are made here, and they flow down into rivers,
05:00down into Lake Javero.
05:03So if we cover the entire city in concrete, we are reliant upon runoff rainfall in the summer,
05:10and no replenishment of groundwater, very little replenishment of groundwater, to keep us going
05:17through the seven dry months of the year.
05:19At the Xopungo Sculpture Park, the hope is that by combining nature and art with relaxation,
05:25more people will be inspired to protect nature.
05:29You look around, you see the flowers, the trees, the lake behind me, the ducks that were swimming
05:36there.
05:37And then someone tells you that this environment might not survive.
05:41The climate change, global warming, these things are affecting the things behind me, the beauty.
05:46Then you become concerned.
05:48You realise, no, I can do something.
05:51The little that I can do, I can do it.
05:53You tell your friends.
05:56The artists at Xopungo are committed to passing on the message about Zimbabwe's traditional
06:01stone art with its special connection to nature and to previous generations.
06:12Nicholas Katsangura often gives sculpture courses.
06:19The educational programs that we do and the workshops are meant to share the knowledge
06:24that we received from past generations.
06:28That knowledge must not die with us, it must be passed on, because this is not just art
06:33for art's sake, there are lessons that are meant to be communicated.
06:40Lessons taught by nature with its wealth of life and forms, which, along with ancestral wisdom,
06:46the artists of Xopungo reflect in their work.
06:50Now to Uganda, where one man is really getting into the environmental group and ensuring that
06:57others get on down and get the message too.
07:01All in Biswix, doing your bits.
07:04A little music to brighten the working day.
07:20His car mechanics enjoy a break to the tunes of Wobble Kyagwa.
07:24He is a mobile DJ from Kampala, better known as DJ Decimal Point.
07:30One thing that makes his music special, it's entirely powered by the sun.
07:35Before his trips around Kampala start, he sets up his mobile DJ card.
07:41The computer and the DJ console are stored in his house.
07:45After connecting everything and a few fixes here and there, the card is ready to go.
07:54Kyagwa takes good care of the solar panels.
07:57The cleaner they are, the more energy they can produce.
08:00He uses solar to power other appliances, like phones, too.
08:04DJ Decimal Point loves to entertain people during their work.
08:11But also takes the stage at events and festivals, like Uganda's Nyaganyagai festival.
08:16Ronald Kyagwa is quite the local celebrity.
08:20As well as being a DJ, he is also an environmental activist.
08:28He urges fellow DJs to switch to solar power rather than sticking with fuel generators.
08:35They should stop using generators.
08:38They produce fumes that affect people's health.
08:41Sometimes you find DJs at events using generators and the exhaust fumes are making people sick.
08:51Ronald Kyagwa also writes his own tunes.
08:54In this song, he accuses Chinese investors of building factories in Uganda's wetlands.
09:15We have made a project of his song purposely targeting to send out the message outside.
09:22We protect our environment.
09:25Protecting the environment.
09:27For Ronald Kyagwa, that's everyday life.
09:31When I go back home, I connect all my appliances.
09:36Solar power helps me to make money and charge my gadget at home.
09:40So, it is important and has no bad side effects.
09:45So, that's what I am going to do.
09:46So, that's what I am going to do.
09:50We are off to Venice for the International Architecture Exhibition.
09:54Now, this year, the Biennial is all about climate change and in some ways about acceptance.
10:01The world has already been hit by extreme weather.
10:05So, it's important to change structures to cope with it.
10:09And there are a lot of inspiring ideas showcased there about tackling other environmental issues too, including ones from Africa.
10:18External air conditioning units heat the air in a dark, flooded room.
10:26An installation that gives visitors an experience of climate change.
10:30The central theme of the Venice Architecture Biennale.
10:35Architecture has been engaging with climate for a long time, but mostly it has been about mitigation.
10:40How we reduce emissions, which is still very important, but at the same time, the environment is changing, the climate is changing.
10:46And so, I think the key message coming out of the Biennale is that adaptation is also crucial and architecture is at the core of that.
10:53And that's the only hope for the future.
10:58Landscape architects at the Tentacle University of Munich took their inspiration from the Qazi people in the Indian state of Meghalaya.
11:05The community has developed techniques to guide the growth of rubber trees, to create extraordinary bridges.
11:20These living bridges help us span rivers and valleys.
11:26They also prevent natural disasters like landslides by holding the soil firmly in place.
11:31A building technique that's been passed down by word of mouth for generations.
11:38Researchers from the university mapped and documented over 70 bridges using 3D scanning.
11:49We're trying to help document all this knowledge because we think that it's not only especially important for these people,
11:55but that we can also learn a great deal from it too.
11:58The installation by architect Tosin Oshinowo draws from her study of the markets in Lagos, Nigeria, her home country.
12:08They've become a collection point for garbage from the west.
12:12From old cars to electrical appliances and used clothing.
12:15It's a finished product that is considered end of life in another climb.
12:20And through a process of adaptation, modification, they're able to take these products, customize them through a process that happens within the market space to the sale point, which is also in the market space, which has given the product a new lease of life.
12:37Nothing is wasted. Everything is repaired, modified and resold. A true circular economy in action with virtually no carbon emissions.
12:49I don't think that Nigerians would have wanted to be at the other end consuming and reappropriating waste.
12:58But the reality is, is that if we were not doing this, we would be contributing significantly also to the global climate crisis and carbonization.
13:08Austerity has encouraged us to understand how to extend these lives.
13:16Oshinowo's installation earned a prestigious special mention award at the Biennale.
13:21This Biennale is kind of a call for action. It's almost like a chain reaction that starts in the Arsenale, but hopefully will continue much beyond.
13:35We head to Germany now where one company has come up with an idea for building houses that seems like child's play as well as being fast and simple.
13:54It also has a number of environmental advantages. And anyway, who said building blocks are just for kids?
14:05Walls that almost grow before your very eyes. It's all thanks to building blocks made of wood. In just 15 minutes, the job is done.
14:16And it's not just walls. Entire buildings can be constructed. A whole new world for Fabio Nats.
14:23The bricklayer is now a building contractor. He's building a house with 10 small apartments for the German city of Tübingen's public housing program.
14:32It's the first time we've built a timber house. It's a hybrid construction of wood and concrete.
14:39We're bricklayers. We're used to working with concrete and solid masonry. So this is new, but it's interesting. So we decided to get involved.
14:46The city of Tübingen is getting its first house made of wooden building blocks.
14:53Concrete is used for the foundations and lower part of the walls. The dividing walls between apartments are also concrete, for better soundproofing and reduced flammability.
15:04But building blocks are used for all the walls otherwise. They will install around 2,000 blocks here in all. They're not glued together, just pinned into place with wooden dowels.
15:16The timber construction system is faster, so you need less time to finish the wall. You just have the wooden dowels as a connecting element and no mortar or glue.
15:29So it's a positive surprise for me too.
15:36The building blocks are themselves made from smaller pieces of wood. These two are held together by wooden dowels.
15:43The system was developed by a local company called Trickbrick. The company's plant in Tübingen produces the blocks. Trickbrick started manufacturing in 2021.
15:57The company has since built 15 houses, one in Italy, the rest in Germany.
16:03And May 2025 saw the first supermarket open in Germany, made entirely of wooden blocks.
16:10Demand for the building blocks is growing. The company is now looking for investors to expand the business.
16:21Our biggest problem right now as a start-up is to keep up with the ongoing demand.
16:27Our plant here in Tübingen can produce around 8,000 blocks a month.
16:31We still work partly by hand, but are in the process of moving to full automation.
16:36The wood comes from the nearby Black Forest. This keeps delivery routes short.
16:44In this area, the foresters regularly have to cut down trees that are suffering from heat stress, like this fir.
16:51But they also fell trees that are standing too close together to allow the forest to rejuvenate.
16:59The wood of coniferous trees is especially good for industrial uses.
17:05The process of felling is organised from start to finish. Even before the trees are felled, they already have buyers.
17:11The foresters harvest 15,000 cubic metres of wood here each year. But not every part of the tree is equally valuable.
17:20We divide up the wood between the customers while it's still in the forest.
17:30They all have certain demands regarding their product.
17:33We get more valuable wood from the lower trunk and less valuable wood from the upper part.
17:38We divide it up and what isn't usable stays in the forest.
17:41The lumber mills collect their wood directly from the forest.
17:48They also process trunks that are slightly damaged. They can still be used.
17:53The start-up buys parts of its wood from one of these lumber mills.
17:58Here, production is fully automated.
18:01Every day, hundreds of tree trunks are cut up and sorted.
18:04The large, long wooden planks are for furniture or housing construction.
18:09The smaller, thinner ones are used for leftovers, such as making pallets.
18:15Or the wooden building blocks.
18:18Building with wood is more expensive than with concrete.
18:22At least 10% more.
18:24This applies to the wooden building blocks, too.
18:27If we compare the blocks to reinforced concrete,
18:29we can say, depending on the static requirements for the building,
18:34a reinforced concrete wall costs between 150 and 300 euros per square meter.
18:40With trip brick, you're looking at around 250 euros per square meter in a basic structure.
18:46But what the price doesn't reveal is the product's sustainability.
18:51While manufacturing concrete produces CO2 emissions,
18:55wood absorbs CO2, and it's a renewable resource.
18:59Those are clear advantages, says Finnish architect An Sila Sila.
19:04He's been building with wood for 20 years,
19:07and says the building blocks are the right way to go.
19:10I think there's a good way to develop the solution to use the smaller pieces of wood,
19:17or that kind of wood that you can't use like a building without that kind of innovation.
19:22So I think we need that kind of thinking or solution in the future more and more.
19:27And of course, there's also a question that if what's happening after the lifeline,
19:32so more that kind of questions that can you recycle the material, can you reuse it somehow.
19:38And that's precisely where the building blocks offer another advantage for contractor Fabio Nats.
19:43There, this product is definitely better than concrete.
19:48You can almost just push it apart. There's no glue or anything.
19:52The wood is untreated, so requires no special disposal.
19:56You don't need any heavy equipment, and it's suitable for recycling.
19:59The timber construction system can also be used to convert or extend buildings.
20:06In the long term, the company hopes to grant licenses,
20:10so that the building blocks can also be manufactured elsewhere.
20:13And now let's talk about the weather.
20:19Knowing what to expect is crucial for farmers.
20:22Inaccurate forecasts can have major consequences, including crop failure.
20:27But let's be honest, the forecast isn't always reliable, right?
20:30In Western Kenya, though, one rural community has perfected the art of predicting the weather by paying close attention to subtle changes in nature.
20:43When Ruben Asitua wants the weather focus for Nganyi, he consults the local forest.
20:48If he sees ants scurrying around, building a new nest somewhere, he predicts that heavy rain is coming.
20:53He is one of the traditional rainmakers who observes the behavior of plants and insects.
21:00When trees have flowers but no leaves, for example, then they don't expect any rain.
21:06The Nganyi forest in Western Kenya lies in one of the country's most densely populated areas.
21:13It's small but rich in biodiversity and includes some of Kenya's oldest trees.
21:18The rainmakers have passed their knowledge down from generation to generation, including the art of predicting local weather patterns.
21:28Boniface Omena climbs to the treetops to get a clearer feel for the atmospheric currents.
21:37If the wind is coming from the west going to the east, that means that we are going to have rain.
21:43And if it is coming from the east going west, then that means no rain.
21:52Local meteorologists respect the traditional rainmakers of Nganyi.
21:58They themselves use modern tools to track the wind, humidity and rain.
22:03The scientists and rainmakers have been working together on swapping results for around 10 years now,
22:09especially during the rainy seasons.
22:12And the rainmakers' local forecasts are often extremely accurate.
22:17We have to get access to the two forecasts and then we try to interpret the two forecasts.
22:25The scientific forecast and then the traditional forecast.
22:29We interrogate those forecasts and then we come up with one consensus forecast.
22:38So that's the area of collaboration when it comes to seasonal forecasts.
22:42These joint weather reports are broadcast on a radio station in Nganyi.
22:46It was set up by the metrological service to provide farmers with vital information.
22:50Host Isaac Okote sometimes invites rainmaker Boniface Omena onto the show to share his tips and insights.
23:01For example, farmers, they have been advised to really visit agricultural officers to give them advice.
23:12And to give them provisional crops that they can plant or cultivate during this particular rain season according to the weather forecast.
23:25Farmer Ruth Owano tunes in every morning to catch the weather service.
23:29She knows one intense downpour can ruin her family's livelihood.
23:32In 2023 alone, heavy rainfall destroyed nearly 7,000 hectares of farmland across Kenya, about 9,500 soccer fields.
23:42And as downpours become more common, focus are more important than ever.
23:52The Nganyi elders have told us there will be rainfall next week, so we need to harvest our beans before then.
23:58The rainmakers also have a reputation for influencing the weather.
24:06To make rain, for example, they perform special rituals.
24:10As an exception, Ruben Asitua demonstrates in daylight what is normally only done in the peace of night.
24:21I blow until the wind starts coming.
24:23If I feel some light winds, I will know that it is working.
24:28If I don't feel the winds, I will not leave this place until 7 in the morning.
24:32If I start at 2 a.m., the winds come by 3.45 and by 4 a.m., there is wind all over.
24:40For the rainmakers, that is the sign that rain is coming.
24:48Scientifically, this has not been proven.
24:51However, although they have different methods, rainmakers and meteorologists in these parts of Kenya are working together for the benefit of the community.
25:00When it comes to shaping the future, it's important for us to choose the methods best suited to our specific environment, whether old or new.
25:12Thanks for watching EcoAfrica. It's goodbye from me, Crystal Lems, in Nigeria.
25:18See you next time.
25:20Precisely. It's goodbye from me, too.
25:23I'm Alama Mukonde in Lusaka, Zambia.
25:25Thank you for joining us.
25:26Now, don't forget to check us out on our socials and write to us at echo at dw.com.
25:32And that is it for more inspiring stories.
25:35See you next time.
26:02Bye.
26:03Bye.
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