GB502 Week Responses
Rymario1
GB502Wk3StudentResponses.docxPatricia Cruz
There are five major environmental challenges that are happening in SSA today. The five are deforestation, soil degradation, air pollution, climate change, and water scarcity.
Deforestation is the main issue in Africa or the clearing of forests for land conversions for agriculture and for fuel needs. The majority of Africans, 90%, use wood to as fuel for heating and cooking. Africa's desertification rate is twice that of the world's, (Banda, 2008). This had led to nearly 90% of Africa’s forests to be wiped out. Deforestation also lowers the chance of rainfall; Ethiopia has experienced famine and drought due to this and 98% of Ethiopia's forests have disappeared over the last 50 years. Deforestation in Madagascar has also led to desertification, soil loss, and water source degradation, resulting in the country's inability to provide necessary resources for its growing population. In the last five years, Nigeria lost nearly half of its primary forests.
Soil degradation’s main cause is lack of manufactured fertilizers being used, since African soil lacks organic sources of nutrients. The increase in population has also contributed when people need to farm for income but cannot afford to treat or care for their land and soil. Deforestation also has an impact on the soil. Another source of soil degradation is the improper management of waste, lack of facilities and techniques to handle waste led to the dumping of waste in soil, therefore causes soil degradation by process such us leaching (The magnitude, 2013). To improve this issue, fertilizers would need to become affordable as well as other supplies.
Air pollution is caused by the use of wood and charcoal for cooking resulting in a release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, a pollutant. Also, due to the poor supply of power, most homes have to rely on fuel and diesel in generators to keep their electricity running (WHO, 2013). There are also very high levels of mercury found in SSA, Mercury is absorbed from the air into the soil and water. The soil allows the crops to absorb the mercury, which humans ingest. Animals eat the grass which has absorbed the mercury and again humans may ingest these animals. Fish absorb the mercury from the water, humans also ingest the fish and drink the water that have absorbed the mercury. This increases the mercury levels in humans, which can cause serious health issues.
Climate change in SSA is an increasingly serious threat for Africans as Africa is among the most vulnerable continents to climate change. The vulnerability of Africa to climate change is driven by a range of factors that include weak adaptive capacity, high dependence on ecosystem goods for livelihoods, and less developed agricultural production systems (United Nations, 2014). The risks of climate change on agricultural production, food security, water resources and ecosystem services will likely have increasingly severe consequences on lives and sustainable development prospects in Africa (United Nations, 2014). SSA must manage the risk in order to contain this issue.
Water scarcity in Africa is predicted to reach dangerously high levels by 2025. The main causes of water scarcity in Africa are physical and economic scarcity, rapid population growth, and climate change. Water scarcity is the lack of freshwater resources to meet the standard water demand. Although SSA has plenty of supply of rainwater, it is seasonal and unevenly distributed, leading to frequent floods and droughts. Additionally, prevalent economic development and poverty issues, compounded with rapid population growth and rural-urban migration have rendered SSA as the world's poorest and least developed region (United Nations, 2014).
References
Banda, S. (2008, October 8). Deforestation reaches worrying level - UN. AfricaNews - deforestation reaches worrying level. Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://web.archive.org/web/20081008083104/http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/18831 (Links to an external site.) .
The magnitude of the problem. Land and environmental degradation and desertification in Africa. (2013, May 15). Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://www.fao.org/3/X5318E/x5318e02.htm (Links to an external site.) .
United Nations. (2014, May 16). Africa, decade, Water for Life, 2015, UN-Water, United Nations, MDG, water, sanitation, financing, gender, IWRM, human right, transboundary, cities, quality, food security. United Nations. Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/africa.shtml.
World Health Organization. (2013). Regional burden of disease due to indoor air pollution. World Health Organization. Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://www.who.int/.
Environmental Challenges of SSA
Sub-Saharan Africa could potentially be one of the superpowers of the world, however, as Professor Lumumba (2018) discusses in his speech, many Western countries are still stifling this growth. Nations are vying for the natural resources and human capital SAA has to offer but are not properly compensating the region for these goods and services. The lower than market prices being paid are causing the region to lose billions of dollars that could potentially be reinvested into education, infrastructure, and other services that could catapult the region. The biggest social challenge for the region is the mindset that the leaders of SSA nations have a duty to obey the Western nations giving them orders. As also mentioned in the speech, the nations that once occupied many SSA nations did not leave the continent willingly.
Economically the region houses some of the fastest growing economies in the world according to The World Bank but was stifled and reversed due to the COVID-19 pandemic which ravaged the continent. It has also plunged the region into its first recession in over 25 years, with activity contracting by nearly 5% on a per capita basis. Vulnerable groups such as the poor, informal sector workers, women, and youth suffered disproportionately from reduced opportunities and unequal access to social safety nets. These inequalities could send up to 40 million people into extreme poverty (The World Bank, 2021). Like many countries and continents, the pandemic halted any economic growth momentum.
The adoption of technology by some sectors of the workforces are giving employees new skills that can adapt to other jobs. The advances in technology are critical for improving connectivity, boosting digital technology adoption, and generating more and better jobs for men and women (The World Bank, 2021).
The advancement of technology and improved skills of the workforce will ensure that SSA nations are competitive around the world. Improving education and workforce development not only benefits the worker but the economy as well. However, there are still a number of longer-term, binding constraints to economic development and growth in African countries. They include corruption, lack of human capital, power outages, financing physical infrastructure, and low labor productivity (Doing Business in Africa, 2016).
Regulatory constraints can also stifle growth in the region when it comes to new innovations. Some of the issues facing the region are that regulatory requirements can vary significantly from nation to nation or it may be difficult for a company to be able to produce a drug that can be distributed in many different countries in the region. There is also a wide gap between countries in market size, growth trajectory, macroeconomic landscape, legal structure and political complexities (Clarivate, 2018). Local organizations and businesses may find it difficult to operate under these conditions and unable to expand outside of the nation’s borders. It would be a recommendation of these businesses to come together to ensure they are able to expand outside of the country as well as get their products and innovations to multiple countries in order to help push more economic growth within the region.
References:
Clarivate Analytics. (2018, December). Overcoming regulatory challenges in Sub-Saharan Africa [Slides]. Clarivate. https://clarivate.com/cortellis/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/dlm_uploads/2019/07/2018-12-11-CMC-SSA.pdf
Doing Business in Africa: A Risks, Trends, and Opportunities Roundtable (2016, July 29). Retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/events/doing-business-in-africa-a-risks-trends-and-opportunities-roundtable/ (Links to an external site.)
Kigali Today. (2018, May 14). Prof P.L.O Lumumba: “Africa is on dinner table Eaten by Superpowers” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrohW9lhhI8&feature=youtu.be
The World Bank. (2021). Overview. World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/overview
