THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS AND THE SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF RIVERS

Tyhra Carolyn Kumasi (Miss)

2nd African Science Communication

Conference, 2009

Kwame Nkrumah University of Science &Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (WCED, 1987).

Sustainable water use is: the use of water that supports the ability of human society to endure and flourish into the indefinite future without undermining the integrity of the hydrological cycle that depends on it (Gleick, 1995).

The availability of water in adequate quantity and quality is crucial for sustainable development. Water is at the centre of sustainable development and essential for poverty reduction.

THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALSThe eight MDG’s break down in to 21 quantifiable targets that are measured by 60 indicators.

Goal 1 Eradicate extreme poverty and hungerGoal 2 Achieve universal primary educationGoal 3 Promote gender equality & empower womenGoal 4 Reduce child mortalityGoal 5 Improve maternal healthGoal 6 Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria & other diseasesGoal 7 Ensure environmental sustainabilityGoal 8 Develop Global partnership for development

GOAL 7: ENSURE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY Integrate the principles of sustainable development into

country policies and programmes; reverse loss of environmental resources.

Reduce biodiversity loss, achieving, by 2010, a significant reduction in the rate of loss.

Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water & basic sanitation.

Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.

INDICATORS OF TARGET 2 & 3

Proportion of land area covered by forest.CO2 emissions, total, per capita and per $1 GDP.Consumption of ozone-depleting substances.Proportion of fish stocks within safe biological limits.Proportion of total water resources used.Proportion of terrestrial and marine areas protected.Proportion of species threatened with extinction.

Proportion of population using an improved drinking water source.Proportion of population using an improved sanitation facility.

CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTPopulationPoverty and inequalityFood and AgricultureFreshwaterForestsEnergyClimate changeWater and HealthHealth and Air Pollution

WATERWater is intimately linked to health, agriculture, energy and biodiversity. Without progress on water, the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be difficult if not impossible.

Explicitly unless sustainability levels can be vastly improved, the Millennium Development Goal target to halve the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe water by the year 2015 will not be achieved (Harvey and Reed, 2005) making the fight against poverty reduction a mirage.

FRESHWATER

In a growing number of areas, limited freshwater resources are a major constraint on sustainable development, requiring difficult decisions regarding water allocation among various users.

Nearly half of the world's people will experience water shortages by 2025.

SERVICES PROVIDED BY FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS ARE THREATENED

Many freshwater systems are being degraded through excessive water withdrawals, water pollution and introduction of invasive species of plants and animals.

Worldwide, about half of all wetlands have been lost and more than 20 per cent of the world’s 10,000 known freshwater species are extinct, threatened or endangered.

HEALTH AND WATER

Over one billion people in developing countries do not have access to safe drinking water, and 2.5 billion lack adequate sanitation facilities.

Most deaths in the least developed countries are readily preventable.

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTThe attainment of a more effectual and sustainable balance between human and environmental needs for fresh water is one of the great challenges of this century but dependent on community participation.

The objectives of this study was to highlight the attitudes of the catchment area inhabitants towards their involvement in the sustainable exploitation and management of the Barekese watershed as a natural resource. And explore ways of sustainably managing the Barekese catchment area to ameliorate the deteriorating water quality.

STUDY AREAIn Kumasi, the Barekese reservoir provides 80 percent of the total public pipe borne water to the Kumasi metropolis and its environs.

However over the past two decades the watershed has seen persistent degradation through anthropogenic activities along its catchment area which also raises concern on the deteriorating water quality.

Slush and burn is the main practice in clearing land for agricultural purposes, activities of vegetable crop farmers most of whom pump water from the dam for irrigation and the use of agrochemicals all contribute to the degradation of the watershed.

STUDY AREA

STUDY METHODS Informal village appraisals were conducted in seven

towns and villages of the catchment area. Participatory Rural Appraisals (PRAs) tools were used to collect the local perceptions on the involvement of the local communities in the sustainable exploitation and management of the reservoir, reasons for the non involvement in management of the reservoir and ways of ameliorating this.

The PRA tools used were focused group discussions and participant observations. Additionally, various levels of consultation with key informants and desk study were used in gathering data.

A survey involving 370 respondents was conducted in seven communities along the Barekese catchment area.

FINDINGS Farming was the dominant

occupation (70.3%). Farmers farming within 5-15m of

rivers were 57.3%.

Most (49.5%) of the communities were farming on watercourses with reasons being scarcity of land, non payment of compensation and as a form of protest.

Respondents (50.3%) indicated that they do farm, hunt and fell trees in the reserve.

FINDINGSSources of energy

FINDINGS

Farmers admitted using fertilizers & agrochemicals (34.1%).

In all the communities % did not have access to Kumasi Ventilated Improved Pit (KVIP).

LAND USE CHANGE IN THE BAREKESE CATCHMENT AREA FROM 1973 – 1986 - 2003

1973 1986 2003

PROJECTED LAND COVER IN THE BAREKESE CATCHMENT AREA FOR THE NEXT FORTY YEARS

IS THERE A SOLUTION?What can (we): Experts Civic groups, Policy makers, Journalist Academia.

We can employ sciencecommunication to link scienceand policy in order to strengthenthe decision making on a local level and achieve global results.

COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

WILL COMMUNITIES PARTICIPATE?

COMMUNITIES EXPECTATION FROM DEVELOPMENT

TAKE HOME MESSAGE 1Projects are often designed without local input and consultation and efforts to gain local acceptance are sought later (Sharpe, 1998; Campbell and Vainio-Mattilia, 2003). This is not different from the situation of the local communities along the Barekese catchment area. 

Contrastingly, local cooperation should be central, not peripheral, as local objections can override the best conservation intentions. Joint objective-setting, planning and implementation can decrease conflict and thus reduce costs. Rather than viewing the local communities as part of the conservation challenge, to be educated, compensated or given economic alternatives, local priorities for conservation should be placed at the centre of joint conservation strategies (Vermeulen and Sheil, 2007).

Conservation is something that most people are willing to support to some degree. Even those penalized by conservation projects accept the need for conservation interventions more generally (McLean and Stræde, 2003).Working with the local communities efficiently utilizes both insider and outsider knowledge (Sheil et al., 2006).

Local communities’ needs must be taken into consideration especially those that affect their livelihoods and resource base. Active participation of the affected communities in all stages of a project is needed for the sustainability of a project in question.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE 2 The refusal of government to pay outstanding

compensation to the farmers who lost their farmlands has compelled most of these communities to farm on the fertile lands in the reserve and on watercourses.

The issue of paying compensation to local communities who lost their lands under the provisions of the State Lands Act (1962) has to be amended.

This is because the payment of compensation is not sustainable, every generation of the local communities will keep demanding for realistic compensation packages perpetuating a vicious cycle of poverty.

There is the need in making the local communities shareholders to the project in question. This could be in the form of dividends paid to the communities yearly or it could be channelled into developmental projects and the award of scholarships to brilliant children of the local communities.

This will make the communities feel that they are part of development ensuring social equity and the ultimate sustainable use of the natural resources.

TAKE HOME MESSAGE 3Researchers and the academia must learn to

communicate the findings of science and technology in a language that can be understood by everyone. In view of the fact that science communication is currently used as a pillar for the democratisation of science in Africa.

This is an colossal task but greater part of moving this continent forward rest on the shoulders of science and technology. However the findings become futile if the communication is appalling.

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR ATTENTION

WORLDWIDE THIRSTWATER ,WATER EVERYWHERE, BUT ARE WE DOING ENOUGH?