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Eco Africa - Protecting the environment
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00:00Change can start out small in your own neighborhood or big affecting the whole country.
00:24Today on EcoAfrica we have stories covering everything from small-scale initiatives
00:29to large-scale programs. When it comes to protecting the environment, every lead to help matters.
00:37My name is Chris Alems, a warm welcome to you from Lagos.
00:46Hello everyone, welcome from Me Too. I'm Malama Mukonde here in Lusaka Zambia. It's great to have you with us.
00:52Here's what we have in store for you on this week's show.
00:57How a big afforestation project in Ethiopia is helping young people.
01:04How buzzing bees enchant people in Serbia.
01:10And how solar energy is preserving vaccines in Kenya.
01:15Scorching heat in narrow, densely packed alleyways and not a breath of air. That is the daily
01:21reality of millions of people living in Egypt's capital, Cairo. By 2050, Cairo could have more
01:27than 40 days in summer where temperatures exceed 45 degrees Celsius. An international team of architects
01:34and urban planners is working with residents in one of the neighborhoods to find simple,
01:39eco-friendly solutions to heat stress that can be implemented locally. And they have come up with some great ideas.
01:45A densely packed neighborhood. A team of architects, researchers and a local craftsman. Plus simple,
01:57everyday building materials from the streets around them. What brings them together? They are in Ardalliwa,
02:04one of Cairo's most crowded informal housing developments and home to an estimated half a million people.
02:12The various experts have joined forces to find low-tech ways of beating the summer heat.
02:19Temperatures in Egypt's capital have been rising due to climate change.
02:24Heat waves now last longer and often peak at over 40 degrees. And in places like Ardalliwa, it can feel even hotter.
02:34The way streets and buildings are designed really affects how you feel the heat.
02:38Heat. And with a population the size of Greater Cairo and the associated conditions,
02:43you can actually feel temperatures that are five to six degrees higher than what's officially recorded.
02:50Ahmed Mokhtar has been living and working here for years. Some time ago,
02:55the local craftsman and visual artist found his own way of staying cool in his rooftop premises.
03:01I started taking apart the conventionally built wooden ceiling. Then I began adding openings like
03:11ventilation gaps placed in the direction of the wind. And it worked great. The temperature dropped
03:17considerably and the atmosphere completely changed. But as buildings around him rose taller,
03:25the air stopped flowing and the space became stifling again. Fortunately, Mokhtar is part of the cluster team,
03:34the group of architects and urban planners from Egypt and further afield. With financial support
03:40from partners and a Netherlands-based cultural program, they develop green and affordable solutions
03:46for combating heat stress, with one example being Mokhtar's studio. Electricity keeps getting more
03:55expensive and most people simply can't afford to install an air conditioner. So there's definitely
04:01an important economic side to it, but there's also an environmental aspect. Mechanical solutions might
04:09give you better indoor comfort, but they also push more heat, pollution and CO2 outside.
04:16We've done through an initial analysis, even previous to the workshop, where we've walked through the
04:21neighborhood and analyzed all the, I guess, interventions people have made to cool and shade
04:27their housing, which a lot of it is done actually through textiles and canopies, etc.
04:33So instead of eco and friendly technology, how about making the most of existing options?
04:39The Mashrabia, for example, is a wooden lattice screen that blocks direct sunlight while slowing
04:46the airflow. Traditionally, people would place clay jugs full of water next to it in order to cool the
04:54incoming breeze. The idea now is to update the concept with modern materials. We're designing screens that can
05:02be placed in front of balconies and windows and through incorporating also ceramics and which can be
05:10watered and then through evaporated cooling can help cool the units on the inside.
05:17As for the heat management in Ahmad Mukhtar's rooftop studio, the cluster team ended up choosing a design
05:25based on the solar chimney principle, a technique used in ancient times by Persian and Roman architects
05:32to create passive cooling.
05:37It works like a greenhouse. The sun heats the metal, the air inside warms up and stays trapped.
05:45Then it starts to rise and escape through the opening we made for it.
05:49This is where the experimental part of the undertaking begins. The team starts scouting local stores and
05:59workshops for materials that are both low-cost and low-key, such as wood, old corrugated metal
06:06sheeting and plastic, all for a prototype. By the end, it has taken almost eight months from the initial
06:17idea to completion of the solar chimney, until the moment arrives when the structure is hoisted up
06:24and installed in the artist's studio. It might not look perfect, but the point here is not form,
06:31but function and an affordable solution.
06:34I hope this prototype
06:36that will improve the overall climate of the space. Projects like this can be extremely effective.
06:44They offer real, lasting solutions. And the cultural mindset here is, don't waste time
06:50overthinking an idea that works. So the model could easily spread to other buildings or neighborhoods.
06:58One rooftop, one artist,
07:01one prototype, built for a specific space, but probably transferable to many others like it.
07:11We stay in the city, but cross now to Europe and the Serbian capital, Belgrade. The city is
07:18astonishingly green and has become a hotspot for urban beekeepers. But for some of them, it's not just
07:25about producing honey. This week's Doing Your Bits shows some unusual ways in which people are benefiting
07:33from the busy bees.
07:43A hive with a view. Perched atop a hotel in Belgrade, beekeeper Sanko Raric checks on his charges every
07:51morning. It's not just about harvesting their nectar.
07:54Our main goal was not to produce tons of honey with urban beekeeping, but to bring the life of
08:01the bees closer to the public and educate them. We want people to appreciate the importance of bees,
08:08not just because of what they produce, but also as pollinators.
08:14The bees are thriving in the Serbian capital, which is one of the biggest cities in the Balkans.
08:19In Belgrade, there's always something blooming. Belgrade is a beautiful city with two rivers,
08:28the Sava and the Danube. There are countless green areas and big parks, not to mention the
08:34flowers on the terraces and window boxes of many homes. A steady supply of forage and lower exposure
08:41to pesticides creates a bee-friendly environment.
08:48Back on the ground, brothers David and Dario Maricic run a hidden bee paradise with several
08:54thousand plants right near the city centre. They offer bee-based wellness treatments inside this cabin.
09:00One is bee-hive inhalation, which can support the immune system and respiratory health.
09:11In the other room, you lie above 80 to 100,000 bees absorbing their vibrations,
09:18which is incredible for the nervous system. It can help with stress, burnout, insomnia and anxiety.
09:24There are often arguments over who gets to lie down first, both among our team members and the visitors.
09:33Keeping bees in urban environments is more than just a trend. They support biodiversity and agriculture,
09:40as bees are important pollinators. Urban beekeeping plays a key role in boosting their numbers,
09:47as industrial farming and habitat loss are a danger to the insects.
09:51People ask us, what will we do if we lose the bees? I say, let's not even talk about it. Let's all make an effort.
09:59Let everyone who watches this video plant a flower this summer or a tree this autumn,
10:03and together we'll move forward in the right direction.
10:11Here at EcoAfrica, we often report on waste. The ever-growing amount of trash is not just choking
10:17our cities here in Africa, but also in Europe. A lot more recycling and repairing would help,
10:22especially in the global north. Now, the Italian town of Capanori has set itself on an ambitious goal.
10:28It aims to become a zero-waste city. So let's see how far they have come.
10:36500 kilos of trash per person per year. That's the European average. And the waste piles up every day.
10:45But one town in Italy is saying stop, and showing us there's another way.
10:51We're a family of five. Three kids, two adults. We produce about three bags of waste each year.
10:58That's around 30 kilos.
11:0330 kilos a year? It might sound unbelievable. But in the Tuscan town of Capanori,
11:07families living almost waste-free is normal. Step by step, using a system that Martina lives by.
11:15This is the bin for waste. Everything that can't be recycled ends up here.
11:23For example, these cotton pads I use at work. Unfortunately, these disposable rubber gloves
11:30are also waste. I also need those for my work. The same principle extends to the furnishings.
11:38Nothing new, everything is reused. All part of becoming a zero-waste family.
11:45The mattress, the bed frame, and this closet came from a house in town that was being renovated.
11:51They called us and asked us for help and gave us this wardrobe. It's from the 1920s.
11:59Giving things a second chance is a lovely idea, and it should be more than a theory. It should be a way of life.
12:09Behind the Capanori revolution is Rosano Ecolini.
12:13Here, waste is regularly weighed and sampled. He's interested in what's left over. 86.5% of Capanori's
12:21waste is already being recycled, thanks to a door-to-door collection system. To him, trash isn't waste. It's a design flaw.
12:31Zero waste means repair, reuse, analyse. The average citizen can recycle. But if something can't be
12:39recycled, the responsibility lies with the manufacturer. It's a design flaw. Products should be made to be recyclable,
12:46or reusable, not tossed as trash. His research centre studies waste. Any items that show up too often
12:56as waste ends up on a list, and the research centre contacts the manufacturer. Companies often respond,
13:03interested in working together to find recyclable alternatives. After all, if waste is a mistake,
13:09it can be fixed. Here are 107 products that we can say are either easily recyclable,
13:17partly recyclable, or sensibly reusable. That's how it should be. 46,000 people live in Capanori.
13:30Each household sorts their garbage in different bags and places them by the front door.
13:35Waste collectors also check if they have been sorted properly. These warehouses at the edge of town show
13:41us what zero waste living looks like. The municipality has six, right next to the recycling centre. Here,
13:47clothes, furniture and much more are given a second life, with the help of Annalisa Pace from De Capo.
13:53What looks like trash is actually a valuable resource. People donated items directly to us. Unfortunately,
14:04about 10% of it winds up in the landfill. The rest, though, 90%, gets a new life. Either through free
14:12redistribution or the social thrift store. What looks like a warehouse is a treasure trove for thrift store
14:23lovers. Items here get a second life. So do the staff. Currently, there are 30 employees working
14:29here. More than 100 families a year benefit directly from the project. If they meet our criteria,
14:38people with low incomes can take what they need for free.
14:41While there are social benefits, it's a concrete measure against climate change.
14:52When I repair something, I don't need new raw materials for it. And there's no manufacturing
14:57pollution. More than 300 cities in Europe are already following this example. Caponori might be the first,
15:05but it certainly won't be the last zero waste city. We head now to Kenya, where rural communities
15:14often face tough challenges in accessing reliable medical care. Vaccines save four to five million lives
15:21every year worldwide. Yet a huge amount goes to waste because of inadequate refrigeration in the supply chain.
15:29With Kenya's abandoned sunshine, solar-powered equipment could help to reshape the country's health care inequality.
15:38Who would have thought that solar power could lead to greater health equity? Take this mobile clinic in Kenya.
15:46All its equipment is solar-powered, so it can serve people for whom a regular clinic is too far away.
15:55Or this box, which can transport medicines to health care providers in remote regions and still keep them refrigerated.
16:03Two examples of how green innovations are revolutionizing health care in rural Kenya.
16:10The mobile clinic has arrived. People are queuing up to be examined.
16:15That's because here in Bongoma region, the nearest regular clinic is 20 kilometers away. And that's not the only attraction.
16:27I've come here for breast cancer screening and a post-cesarean checkup. I am here because the health care is free.
16:34If I had gone to a normal hospital, they would have charged me.
16:38If I had gone to a normal hospital, they would have charged me.
16:42Inside, mammograms are performed behind a curtain. The mobile clinic's machines are all solar-powered,
16:49including the air conditioning. It's this autonomous power supply that makes it possible
16:55to provide services out in the field. The truck is provided by the NGO AMREF,
17:02financed by the Kenyan government and international partnerships.
17:07We were able to reach over 15,000 people whom we screened for hypertension and diabetes.
17:14For the women's cancer screening, we were able to reach around over 3,000 women whom we screened for
17:21the cervical and breast cancer and more than 2,000 men whom we screened for breast cancer.
17:27But the small island of Ringiti in the Kenyan part of Lake Victoria is impossible to reach,
17:35even for the mobile clinic. The population of around 5,000 lives mainly on fishing. Ringiti is not
17:43connected to Kenya's national power grid, and power from the local solar company is unreliable.
17:50Nonetheless, Little Blessing is about to get vaccinated against diphtheria,
17:55hepatitis B and rotavirus. The health clinic on Ringiti can keep its vaccines refrigerated despite
18:02power cuts. Its so-called vaccine box can keep jabs for up to three days thanks to its battery.
18:09Now for that vaccine to stay potent, it has to be kept at a temperature of positive 2 and positive,
18:17between positive 2 and positive 8. And that is the reason why we must have collagen equipment.
18:22The vaccine for blessing has had quite a journey to get to her. Once a month, head nurse,
18:30Kazmel Mirinda, fetches vaccines and other medicines from neighbouring island Mufangano, a four-hour round trip.
18:38The vaccine box is crucial in keeping the inoculums cold during the long trip.
18:49We switch now to the Kenyan capital and economic hub, Nairobi. This is where Drop Access is based,
18:57the manufacturer of the miniature fridge. The vaccine box can be operated and charged using either solar power
19:06or mains electricity. At its heart are the batteries. The vaccine box was invented by Nora Magero,
19:14the first Kenyan woman to win the UK's Africa prize for engineering innovation. It was a personal
19:22experience that inspired her to come up with a solution. I faced some challenges trying to get
19:30my daughter vaccinated because I go to the clinic and I find that the vaccines are not available,
19:35especially after there has been a very long blackout. So I decided to seek a solution that will help
19:41mothers like myself just have vaccines for the child whenever they needed it. Back to the clinic on the
19:47island of Ringiti. Thanks to the vaccines from the mini fridge, little blessing can finally be vaccinated.
19:54A few months ago, this would not have been possible.
20:01This is the first time I can say their services are good. We inquired in advance and were able to get
20:07the vaccines here. It would have been stressful otherwise because the nearest hospital is in Mbita,
20:13which is quite far. I used to do immunizations one in a month because we didn't have any
20:20cold chain equipment where we could store our vaccines. So we would just assemble the mothers
20:24on one particular day and do the immunization. But since we got the vaccine box, we were able to
20:30now keep our vaccines here and we are able to do our immunizations on a daily basis.
20:36Since 2021, stainless steel boxes like this one have delivered over one million vaccines for humans
20:45and even livestock. They've ensured regular vaccinations for 250,000 children under the age of five.
20:56How can we get young people interested in protecting the environment? Well, certainly not by lecturing
21:02them. But if there's something in it for them, it's a different story. Ethiopia has launched a huge
21:07reforestation project. The plan is to plant 7.5 billion saplings this year alone. And the Green
21:14Legacy Campaign is leading to new green jobs. It almost looks like a religious pilgrimage,
21:21but the crowds are heading up Alamura Mountain for a different reason.
21:24These people are taking part in a massive reforestation effort. The region has experienced
21:34deforestation and erosion. Now, with the rainy season just around the corner, conditions are
21:41ideal for planting trees. The volunteers are contributing to the Green Legacy Initiative,
21:47a nationwide program launched in 2019. Its goal? To restore degraded landscapes and combat
21:54climate change. Our village often experiences flats and soil erosion. Sometimes, the flats are so
22:03severe that they even wash away the new trees. But the ones we planted recently on the terraces are
22:10growing well. Across Ethiopia, 32 billion trees have been planted in five years. Mature trees prevent
22:18soil erosion and stop the land drying out, as well as providing a habitat for wildlife. This area used to
22:26be a plain and hilly landscape with no trees. Since the campaign began, the environment has become
22:31greener and beds are returning. The initiative has helped raise awareness of the importance of trees
22:38and led to new businesses too. Plant nursery are booming. They help create jobs with a stable income,
22:45especially for young people. I had no money to support my parents who were sick. I had to drop out of
22:56school due to financial problems too. Now, since getting a job at the nursery, I can support my parents
23:04and continue my education. Once mature enough, the supplements go to government institutions,
23:19NGOs and private customers. We mainly grow fruit trees, including avocado, papaya and mango. In addition
23:27to their importance for protecting the climate, the trees are also used for food when they grow.
23:32The avocado tree varieties are specially selected and are suitable for the local climate. In this nursery,
23:4120 unemployed workers have been given permanent jobs and 70 to 80 other workers have been given temporary jobs.
23:51In 2025, the Green Legacy Initiative is once again on track to achieve its reforestation goals.
23:57The trees are vital in the fight against climate change. They store CO2 and help cool the atmosphere
24:04by providing shade and releasing water vapor into the air. The survival rate of the supplements varies.
24:11While some studies report rates just above 50 percent, official figures claim an overall success of 80 to 90 percent.
24:20The village administration and the local community are working together to hire people to protect the young
24:34supplements. My friends and I have also found employment by caring for the trees and protecting them
24:40from damage caused by people and domestic animals. The scale of the campaign is certainly remarkable.
24:52It's an investment in Ethiopia's future that aims to improve the climate in the region
24:57and raise awareness of the importance of trees. The initiative is creating jobs and boosting food security,
25:04and bringing the whole community together one tree at a time.
25:11Thanks for watching. I hope you enjoyed this week's edition of EcoAfrica. You won't have to wait long for more.
25:19We'll be back next week. In the meantime, it's goodbye from me, Krista Lems in Nigeria.
25:24And all the best from me to Malama Mukonde in Lusaka, Zambia. Thanks for joining us. Don't forget to follow us on our social
25:32channels and write to us at echo at dw.com. For more interesting stories, just search for
25:38Echo Africa Online. See you next week.
26:08Bye.
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