DAILY NEWS Reporter, 4th January 2010 @ 11:00, Total Comments: 1, Hits: 1154
TANZANIA and other African countries have enough resources to meet needs of their population, but the future is bleak as the number of people increased, through reproduction and foreign demand for local resources.
A report by the Global Footprint released today said effective management of ecological assets can help address poverty and support changes to human life, as spelled out in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
"The pressure that population growth puts on ecosystems can be addressed in ways that also serve to empower people and advance their well-being.
"Ecological footprint accounting provides a novel perspective that can help stimulate practical solutions, to the growing ecological challenges now facing Africa and the world," the report said.
In general, the report noted that ecological footprint (a measure of the demand that humans place on nature) will exceed its biocapacity (resources that are renewably available) within the next twenty years.
The Global Footprint Network report which has included a number of African countries, including Senegal, Kenya and Tanzania, warned that the continent may reach that threshold in less than five years.
The report, "The Africa Factbook 2009," further noted that while the continent's population grew from 287 million to 902 million people between 1961 and 2005, the average amount of biocapacity per person decreased by 67 pe rcent during this same time span.
"Yet Africa's resource base - which contains 12 per cent of the world's biocapacity - is under increasing pressure both from within the region, by expanding population, the impacts of climate change and from abroad, as the world's nations deplete their own resources," the report noted.
"Development that ignores the limits of our natural resources ultimately ends up imposing disproportionate costs on the most vulnerable," said Mathis Wackernagel, Global Footprint Network president.
If Africa's countries are to make advances in human development that can persist, they will need to find approaches that work with, rather than against the Earth's ecological budget constraints.
The Africa Ecological Footprint Factbook 2009 reports key indicators on human development and ecological performance. Data on 24 countries across the continent are included, including Tanzania, along with guest essays by local representatives exploring on-the-ground challenges in each country.
The Factbook is a culmination of research by the Global Footprint Network, the Swiss Agency for Development and local experts and is published in partnership with the Luxembourg Development Corporation and the Deutsche Gesellschaft for Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ).
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Bleak indeed. A continent wrecked with poverty, corruption, selfish leaders, Intellectual and physical laziness, brain drain, military coups, deep seated animosity,violence, revenge and counter revenge, rebuttal politics, illiteracy and diseases. Until Africans address the above problems, the continent will continue to wallow in poverty and deprivation.
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