- 22 hours ago
Decreased rainfall once meant crop failure, but solar irrigation is reshaping farming in northern Ghana. Plus: Thermal cooking bags help women in Cameroon.
Category
🛠️
LifestyleTranscript
00:17Across the world a clean and reliable water supply is becoming harder to secure as pollution
00:24spreads and ecosystems degrade that's a threat to public health and to livelihoods we'll be looking
00:32at ways to manage and protect this vital resource welcome to a new edition of eco-africa i am chris
00:40elams in lakers light area and here is my co-host malama mukande hello everyone and greetings from
00:51lusaka zambia great to have you along here's what we've got coming up in today's show how trees are
00:59beating the heat and boosting air quality in kampala uganda improving water and food security
01:07on the world's largest desert lake in northern kenya and how heat retention cooking in cameroon
01:15saves time and money and protects the environment
01:31it means failed harvest and so growing numbers of people are leaving their homes to look for work
01:39elsewhere but a shift toward a water pumping system that doesn't rely on rainfall or fuel
01:46is changing what is possible in the dry season
01:52it's a dry season in northeastern ghana but you wouldn't notice it looking at this flourishing
01:58garden the harvest for the kukwa women's cooperative is good oneos and many other vegetables are growing
02:04well on the five hectare plot from december to march the hot hamattan wind from the sahara normally dries
02:11out the land water is scarce along with income and good food in the past we were always idle during
02:21the
02:22dry season no one would have anything to do and getting money to buy food was hard but all that
02:28is in
02:29the past now this cooperative garden has changed everything for us most farmers in the region are
02:41totally dependent on the rain but for years now the amount of rainfall has been decreasing impacting the
02:48harvest and driving farming families deeper into poverty many people are migrating to find work elsewhere
02:54or they are forced to find all the sources of income at first we were just cutting down trees
03:04for wood and charcoal they told us that it was affecting the rains but we couldn't stop because
03:10we had nothing else we even cut down share trees but it didn't help us since we stopped doing that
03:18and
03:18came here everything has started getting better that didn't live car to get a caba bala mammy to some
03:23me out of one kukwa's green miracle began in 2023 they could pretty build a solar powered drip irrigation
03:30system thanks to funding from the united nations six solar panels now power a pump in a well that delivers
03:3836 000 liters of water every day the system ensures a steady water supply all year round the additional
03:45harvest during the dry season have improved the women's lives permanently the five hectares of land
03:51are divided equally between the farmers they all have access to a plot of irrigated land
04:02solar powered irrigation is still quite rare in ghana thus mainly due to their cost many small
04:08farmers can't afford expensive irrigation systems vegetable farmer adungu climate atamia uses
04:15a diesel powered pump even though fuel is expensive the money is the problem like the way we are we
04:23are here farming the market is not there last last week they came and bought about 450 ghana series so
04:34you can imagine that so how are you going to contribute the money to go and buy the solar that's
04:41our main
04:41problem but change may be coming in 2025 the ghanaan government launched a program that aims to provide
04:50solar irrigation for 400 000 hectares of land over the next three years farmers still have to pay for
04:56the system the adoption is low because of initial cost but it's quite affordable for a smallholder farmer
05:03compared to the bigger system but i think that if organization or financial institution steps into
05:09pre-finance for the smallholder farmers and they're able to farm year-round they'll be able to pay for
05:16the cost of the system the plan aims to have 3500 solar pumps with boreholes by the end of 2028
05:25that would not only allow irrigation it would also ensure the supply of clean drinking water which is often
05:32lacking especially during the dry season the women's cooperative meanwhile has had three years of
05:39solar irrigation and some a sharp rise in fields of staple foods like cassava many families in kukua
05:45now have more income and food security in the village has improved even growing staples was difficult in
05:54the dry season it used to be really tough for families but that's all in the past now everyone in
05:59this community has more than enough to eat even fresh produce every saturday the women can also
06:07deposit any additional income in a self-managed savings bank if one of them wants to invest in a
06:13business idea she can then borrow money from the bank the savings are paid out to everyone once a year
06:21we record each member's contribution when it is time to share the funds everyone gets what they
06:28contributed you see young turret level nothing ghana is especially hard hit by drought and rising
06:35temperatures without artificial irrigation it will be difficult for people to survive there long term
06:45but the conquer women's cooperative shows that communities can adapt and with relatively little
06:51investment allowing them to stay in their own homes and not be forced to migrate what is taken out clear
07:00in this report is that with access to a set of panels including land and water communities impacted by climate
07:10change can actually bounce back take kunkua for instance it was one marginalized community people
07:18had fled they have left because there was virtually nothing to do the people here became more poor more
07:24food insecure but right now they have food all year round i feel that adaptation is a very important tool
07:33tool that can help communities to fight climate shocks around the world about 2.5 billion people
07:42mainly women still cook over an open fire or makeshift stove every day it's a risk to their health and
07:50safety and it drives up carbon emissions and it contributes to deforestation on this week's doing your
07:56benefits we go to rural cameroon to check out a cleaner cooking solution designed by women for women
08:11these colorful creations by miranda quichu are lovingly handcrafted and they're an impressive piece of
08:17kit they don't just keep food warm they continue cooking it without a fire saving energy and money
08:28the way the bag works is very simple you start cooking the food on the fire bring it to the
08:34boil and then put it in the bag which we seal airtight the cooking then finishes on its own without
08:41effort or a power source to ensure they store heat for a long time the bags are lined with cameroonian
08:50cotton
08:56her boutique in yaounde sells the thermal bags which are available in a host of colors and sizes
09:01they cost between 20 and 30 euros while not cheap the subsequent energy savings make up for it
09:08cutting fuel consumption in cooking by up to 70 percent
09:15that's eight liters as stated on the label it costs 20 000 cameroonian francs okay i'll take
09:22that one i was very happy with the first one i bought thanks the entrepreneur who has a master's
09:30degree in physics also sells the bags online business is booming she sold over 2 000 to date
09:38the bags allow users to cut their firewood needs by more than half helping to protect the forest the
09:44women also breathe in less smoke reducing the risk to their life and instead of spending hours collecting
09:50wood and standing over a fire they gain valuable time
09:57the advantage of this cooker is that once you've put the food in you don't have to worry about it
10:02anymore you can do other things go to work go to the market and when you come back the food
10:08is ready
10:12and on the menu today potato stew with fish it cooked for 10 minutes and then spent 20 minutes in
10:18a thermal bag in a thermal bag and it tastes good too we head now to the south of france
10:26its coastline
10:28looks picture perfect but it hides a very toxic past this is because the city of marseille was a
10:36booming center of industry in the 19th century and its pollution washed straight into the sea today an
10:45ambitious cleanup is underway so that within the next few years the coastline should be as pristine as it
10:54looks the breathtaking calanque national park sits like a jewel on the french mediterranean shore
11:02it draws tourists and locals year-round but few visitors realize that this stretch of coastline is
11:08severely contaminated with toxic heavy metals hiking here can be harmful to your health here in samena bay
11:16excavators have been removing and disposing of contaminated soil since september 2025
11:26we're in an area of the calanque national park that paradoxically has both fascinating nature and plant
11:33life with many protected species and an industrial past with numerous former factory sites that have
11:42since become villages now home to the descendants of the workers who once lived here alamont cares deeply
11:51about the future of this park he's been working here since it was founded in 2012 and knows what caused
11:57the
11:59problem huge amounts of toxic waste the legacy of our industrial past melody grand and jeremy durand are
12:08in charge of the state-funded cleanup operations our measurements show very high concentrations of heavy
12:16metals even in the sand on the beach that's why the work will involve replacing the beach material
12:24and containing any material that can be carried away by rain or wind the pollutants come from long
12:34closed industrial plants like the escalette lead factory which operated here until 1925 the slag is a
12:42byproduct of metal processing at the time its toxicity was not known the waste was simply dumped into the sea
12:49and the natural surroundings the park is in fact on very mineral rich ground but you can see the
12:56difference here the bottom layer is old industrial slag but the upper layer is demolition material like bricks
13:06and roof tiles the rough terrain requires special equipment like this spider excavator weather permitting
13:15high waves or strong winds put a stop to the work the french government has allocated 14 million euros for
13:26the decontamination until recently few here were aware of the danger there used to be warning signs but
13:35they were quickly torn down so now there's no information at all the city hired some young people to raise
13:41awareness but maybe because they were so young the locals and tourists who came to the bay didn't
13:47take them very seriously i wouldn't have gone in the water here last summer if i'd known
13:55there were about a hundred people on the beach swimming and having picnics but there were no notices about
14:01it we grew up at it everyone from around here everyone who was my age back then all this used
14:12to be our
14:13playground we played on the slag heap up there in the tunnels in the blast furnaces
14:22the tunnels are these old factory vents built along the hillsides
14:29there was also a vent here the contaminated soil is now being sucked out so that hikers can safely rest
14:36here in the future it's still too hazardous for a picnic the studies showed that the risk is mainly
14:44linked to accidentally ingesting this soil so it mainly affects children especially if they put their
14:51hands in their mouths after touching contaminated soil but some residents think it's too little too
14:59late they also question the effectiveness of the measures there's no point we've been swimming in it
15:07our whole lives and no one's died people died at the factory what they're removing isn't even a
15:15thousandth of what's in the sea the mistral wind blows directly onto this area industries dumped tons
15:25and tons of slag here the sea to the rest collecting it all and spreading it through the marine environment
15:34malorie gros and jeremy durand hope to complete the first phase of the cleanup by spring 2026 giving
15:41hikers at least a soupçon of the area's natural beauty back to africa now in many places climate change
15:52is worsening conditions that were already tough now take the salty desert lake tokana in northern kenya
16:00which is actually growing despite the severe droughts around it now for the hundreds of thousands of
16:07people in the region managing a safe supply of water is a daily test of their resilience
16:16it's 6am close to the village of moite at lake turkana achino lubok and her friend elizabeth atapar
16:23are on their daily trek to collect water for their families
16:30they must walk more than two kilometers to reach the handag shallow wells of the moite river
16:35that are the only source of drinking water they have to scoop the water carefully to avoid collecting sand
16:46the water is not safe to drink but they have nothing else
16:54the water is not good because it's consumed by both the people and the animals and is always left
17:00uncovered the water causes health problems in children and adults like diarrhea when you go to
17:06the hospital they diagnose you with things like typhoid or amoebic dysentery
17:14not far away on the lake shore people also struggle to find something safe to drink
17:21the water may be the world's largest permanent desert lake but its water is salty and it's growing
17:29in the last 10 years it's eaten up some 800 square kilometers of land and villages along with
17:36infrastructure built by international donors
17:40climate change is causing extreme rainfall in distant catchment areas driving the expansion
17:48deforestation and farming mean the land retains less water which has compounded the problem
17:53local people especially the women spend hours each day fetching water
18:01we need help accessing clean water
18:05we are forced to close our businesses to go fetch water and during that time we lose customers
18:15the water we do get is dirty and tastes bitter
18:19i urge the government to provide clean water for the health of both children and adults
18:26a community water project was supposed to bring change
18:30but again the water is salty people use it for their animals washing utensils and clothes and if
18:38there's no other option even for drinking
18:43an aid worker interviews at chino lobok as part of a survey of local communities to find out exactly
18:50where people get their water from and how much they need project officer and lilande says such
18:57community specific experiences are vital if future projects are to succeed so right now what we are doing
19:04we are going to do a feasibility study to identify potential areas where we can intervene in terms of
19:11coming up with either bohos or is it is it feasible to treat the the the lake water
19:18fishing is a vital source of income and food for about half a million people in the lake region
19:23but it's been hard to develop a reliable fishing industry
19:28the kenya marine and fisheries research institute is studying how the water and the fish stocks are changing
19:33as the lake expands what we are doing basically is to collect fish data which will support
19:43you can call it food security collect water quality data to monitor how it changes and then link this
19:52token so the water quality data and the fisheries data to see whether if where the water quality is good
19:59how is the fish populations how is the fish species and many other things of course an increase in the
20:06fish harvest would also require infrastructure to cool and transport the catch to reach markets further
20:12away for now life on the shores of the unpredictable lake turkana remains hard the hope is that the more
20:20precisely targeted aid interventions can make it easier for people to meet basic food and water needs for
20:26their families here
20:32kampala is one of the fastest growing cities in africa as it grows so does the challenge of keeping it
20:40livable average temperatures in uganda are rising and its capital city is feeling the heat that is where
20:48these guys can help they are not just lovely to look at they are the lungs and heart of the
20:57city
20:58and of course that means it is important to keep them healthy
21:07this man's job description includes hugging trees with his measuring band
21:14nelson to yambaza is an urban forester in uganda's capital kampala and one of the people tasked with
21:21mapping the city's trees kampala started an inventory in 2016. one surprising finding was that only 20 percent of
21:30the capital's trees are native species across the city urban foresters like nelson are still busy logging
21:37existing trees monitoring their size and health when i'm examining the tree here if you get the tree
21:44look at the physical appearance its morphology how does it look like is it very green
21:51is the original color changing how is the back is the back okay how are the roots you get
22:02healthy trees play a key role in cooling down urban areas where heat can build up quickly they also
22:10improve air quality and bind co2 so trees are now seen as a vital part of kampala's infrastructure
22:18with the data collected from tree mapping researchers can assess the effect on the city and make improvements
22:25with his colleague susan nalwada nelson also assesses data collected by air quality sensors positioned across
22:33the city fine particulate matter emitted by cars open fires and kerosene stoves all intensify the heat
22:41we have what we call soot like black carbon and it is it is always on in the traposphere that
22:48is like the
22:49nearest level of the atmosphere like 8 to 15 kilometers in the atmosphere so it is it it is
22:57concentrated in the atmosphere and once the sunlight hits it gets absorbed in that suit and when it
23:04absorbs in that suit we start experiencing the heat here on on our planet and such a sensor is there
23:15to
23:15show us that and when we experience such heat stress we have to come up with interventions action is
23:22already underway kampala plans to plant thousands of trees in areas that could become urban heat islands
23:29the city wants to triple its tree cover and has introduced strict new building regulations
23:35there are guidelines on green infrastructure in case you want to put up maybe a house of such square meters
23:43there is a percentage of green that is situated there which you must leave in case that construction
23:50is going to cut more than 10 trees also the guidelines are there for every tree cut the developer will
23:59have
24:00to replace with two trees when new trees are planted it's also important to ensure they survive and grow
24:08these students have come together to plant trees as part of the roots campaign
24:12which aims to plant 200 million trees across uganda by 2026 it's getting schools institutions and members
24:20of the public involved the effort is already bearing fruit the un food and agricultural organization has
24:28named the ugandan capital a tree city four years in a row one of only two african cities i'm driven
24:36by that
24:36kind of inspiration that gave us goros that gave us marriages and i hope with more resources of which
24:45uganda is committed to advance the climate change agenda more resources will be allocated in in in green
24:53and we win the city together and nelson is passing on his drive and dedication so that kampala and other
25:04cities in uganda can become even greener
25:29and you can also write to us at ecowdw.com
25:34it's goodbye from me too chris elams in lagos nigeria see you next week
26:01bye
26:03bye
Comments