Caravan Chat - A POTATO COUNCIL WITH AMBITIOUS PLANS

'If you are talking about the African economy you are talking about Agriculture,'  Kevin Kinusu

'We cannot claim to have won, the purpose of UNFCCC COPs is not to emerge any group as a winner and another as a loser, but to facilitate the world to agree, and we had an agreement in Durban. Let’s focus on how the agreement can move as a mile in the struggle against Climate Change and its Impacts on our people'...Kevin Kinusu

Kevin Kinusu addressing a session during the just completed COP17. Courtesy of iisd.ca

Written on the 28th November 2011

Potato Council? That is the first thing l chorused when l first heard about the organization that Kevin Kinusu, the program officer represents. My next question was, ‘what does the Potato Council do?’ It turns out quite a lot. We sat for this interview at around 1am as we had some tea in Durban, South Africa. Yes, The Caravan reoriented our work times so that interviews could take place any time.

Genesis of The National Potato Council of Kenya

Zambian Permanent Secretary Urges Global Leaders to Commit to Legally Binding Deal

A tired look flashes across his face as he tells me that he now has to irrigate his farm because the rains are failing. It is costing him more.

Flanked by PACJA continental team,  Permanent Secretary Eularia Mwale during the Meeting

‘My government therefore, including other stakeholders, stands firm in support of the need to ensure that global leaders conclude a legally binding climate change agreement during the UNFCCC conference in Durban, ‘  Said Eularia Mwale. She is the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President of Zambia, Provincial administration Eastern Province.  The PS was speaking during a welcoming a speech of the Trans African Caravan of Hope in Chipata, Zambia yesterday.

Women with children on their backs and others in their 70s ululated and sang spiritedly as the caravanites entered the event area and began to socialize with the attendees. The caravanites joined in and danced along whether they understood the words of the songs or not. It was all in the spirit of solidarity. These women had come from all over Chipata district.

The Caravan of Hope has been to 6 other countries since the 9^th November 2011. Zambia is the 7^th country on the list of 10 countries that are involved in the Caravan which is a huge awareness road trip that is headed to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting in Durban, South Africa.

During the meeting, the Hon Mwale also appreciated the input that the government of Zambia has continued to receive from the civil society that has been aimed at effectively responding to the challenges imposed by climate change. I spoke to her after the meeting and she said that her government has given priority to women farmers. Adding that through their farmer support input program, women farmers have continued to receive inputs for farming through their clubs. This program, she said, is aimed at working towards contributing to total food security for Zambia.

This has also been happening across the gender divide. This must be good news to Marksesio Ngoma, who is a maize, beans, sunflower and sweet potato farmer. A tired look flashes across his face as he tells me that he now has to irrigate his farm because the rains are failing. It is costing him more. The hot seasons seem longer than ever. That is why this COP17 is important to farmers like Marksesio.

Robert Chimambo from Zambia Climate Change Network, ZCCN, who also attended the meeting said that the failure of the global leadership to set up firm collective actions by 2009 as agreed through the Bali Process was a disappointment. He urged as he reiterated the Permanent Secretary’s call that, ‘all parties to the UNFCCC need to act with renewed urgency and determination to ensure a fair and safe legally binding deal.’ This has been the clarion call as African leaders graced the Caravan of Hope events across Eastern and Southern Africa. 

The participants who held their respective country flags also witnessed the planting of trees dedicated to all the countries that caravanites have gone through. What made it interesting was also a tree that was planted in honor of the late Prof Wangari Maathai.

By Maria Wanza

FACT SHEET - TRANS AFRICAN CARAVAN OF HOPE

What is the Trans African Caravan of Hope?

The Trans African Climate Caravan of Hope is a road show that will seek to galvanize the cross country stakeholder voices, with an ultimate aim of telling the African story while making known the demand of Africa among its inhabitants and the rest of the world. The Caravan is a huge mobilization and awareness creation opportunity for African civil society to highlight the challenges climate change poses to Africa’s efforts to extricate herself from poverty and attainment of Millennium Development Goals.

   What are the Main Objectives of the Caravan?

   ·    To mobilize and rally together African civil society towards a common advocacy and campaign demands on climate change and climate justice towards United Nations Framework Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) – Conference of Parties (COP) 17;

·         To create awareness and build momentum towards UNFCCC- COP17 among African people and the rest of the world;

·         To lobby and pressurize African leaders/policy makers to work together in support of an international climate change treaty that is responsive to the continent’s realities and reality to science;

·         To drum up support for pro-people and just responses to climate change;

·         To share civil society (and African People’s Protocol) perspectives and positions on climate justice with influential political actors, including the African Heads of State.