Building a New Africa With its Soil and People
October 24, 2009 by admin
Filed under Uncategorized
2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai
The new Africa starts here: how to make the people prosper. If Africa is to thrive, a revolution in thinking is needed — and it must begin out in the farmers’ fields.
By Wangari Maathai
The Times (London)
June 6, 2009
Not long ago I was in Yaoundé, Cameroon, as part of my work as Goodwill Ambassador for the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem, a position to which I was appointed in 2005 by heads of state of the ten Central African nations. I was meeting the secretariat of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership and the Commission for the Forests of Central Africa (Comifac) based in Yaoundé, as well as economic and environment ministers from the region.
As I stood outside the hotel in a light rain I looked across to one of the seven hills that surround the city. My eyes focused on a woman in the distance who was making rows of small depressions in the soil parallel to the gradient of the hill. “She shouldn’t be making furrows in that direction on such a steep slope,” I thought, “because when the rains come, very quickly all that soil will be lost.”
But when I asked a hotel security guard why the woman was cutting furrows downward, instead of across, he explained that the rain would run along the furrows and therefore not disturb the crops.
This directly contradicted every principle of soil conservation that I know, because when the rains fell the soil that the woman farmer had so carefully formed, and so desperately needed to make her bananas, maize or yams grow, would be swept down that hillside — in the very furrows she had just dug. She was creating the perfect environment for soil erosion, making it less likely that anything would grow on that hill in the future.
There was an added irony to the situation. I was waiting for a car to take me to meetings to discuss safeguarding the Congo Basin forest — an ecosystem of 700,000sq km (270,000sq miles) that is the largest intact expanse of forest in the world after the Amazon.
Yet I realized, no matter what else we were doing, unless those of us who would assemble at the Comifac headquarters could work with that farmer, multiplied several million times in Cameroon, the Congo region, and indeed throughout Africa, not only would we not save the Congo forests, but we might also be unable to halt the rapid desertification under way across the continent.
Of course that woman farmer and others like her are not the primary threats to the forests of the Congo Basin. Mining and timber concessions that feed the seemingly insatiable global demand for raw wood, as well as residual conflict, are more directly destructive. But once the timber Lorries and mining companies have made their inroads and cleared the trees, it is people such as this subsistence farmer who follow — completing the cycle of destruction.
Soils in tropical forests are often not well suited to agriculture. Unless farmers practice good land management, when trees are cut down the land is degraded, further increasing the risks of soil erosion and desertification. When the rains fall, the topsoil is washed into rivers, leaving the land behind barren.
No blame should be apportioned to the woman on the hillside for attempting to eke out a living. But as I stood there that morning, she came to represent for me the collective challenges that face agriculture and development as a whole in many African nations. I wondered how much of the revenue of the luxurious hotel where I was staying — owned by a foreign corporation — was making its way into the Government’s coffers and, in turn, how much of that the Government was investing in its agricultural extension service to assist that woman to farm in a sustainable manner. Probably not enough.
I also reflected that if African states’ agricultural extension services had not been under-funded or neglected in the decades since independence, that woman farmer could not only have learned the right way to prepare soil for planting, but might also have had access to information, modern equipment and governmental support that would have enabled her to grow crops more efficiently and less destructively.
If, in turn, development practitioners and international agencies had, in their work with national governments, given more priority to investing in Africa’s farmers, the continent’s agricultural systems might not be in such poor condition today.
If the continent’s governments had set development priorities so that productive land had been distributed more equitably and used more wisely, natural resources conserved and suitable urban planning undertaken, that woman might not have been forced up that hillside. If they had addressed the inequities of land distribution left from the colonial period and taken advantage of by the ruling elite, then this farmer might not have been tilling such unproductive soil.
If African leaders had invested more in education and the creation of sustainable employment options and inclusive economies, and if they had been more concerned with the welfare of their people and not their own enrichment, then perhaps this farmer would have had more opportunity. Today she might be in another profession altogether, or be managing a larger, more efficient farm that could have freed her from grinding poverty.
It is my many experiences similar to that encounter in Yaoundé that lead me to believe that if Africa, particularly south of the Sahara, is to progress so that it no longer depends on aid or remains a byword for poverty, conflict and corruption, it is on hillsides such as these, and with women such as that farmer, that we must work.
For too long Africa has been on its knees: whether during the dehumanizing exploitation of the slave trade or under the yoke of colonialism or seeking aid from the international community or servicing illegitimate debts or praying for miracles.
To change the life of that farmer, and millions like her, a fundamental revolution in leadership is needed. This would ensure that Africans experience good governance, respect for human rights, development that is equitable and sustainable, and, eventually, peace. The most important quality that African leadership needs to embrace, and that is desperately lacking across the continent, is a sense of service to the people in whose name leaders govern.
But this revolution cannot be confined only to the ruling elites. Even the poorest and least empowered of African citizens need to rid themselves of a culture that tolerates systemic corruption, inefficiency and mismanagement of state affairs. Such a system also privileges one ethnic or socio-economic group over another. This, too, should be unacceptable.
For decades African elites have ignored small-scale agriculture because it is assumed that it is only for the uneducated. But much of Africa is represented by that woman farmer on the hillside. Clearly African governments need to invest in making small-scale farmers more productive, especially as the effects of climate change intensify and growing sufficient amounts of food becomes even more challenging.
At the same time, other regions have increased food production and have used subsidies, fertilizers, mechanization and sheer hard work to not only feed themselves but also to produce food so cheaply that it undercuts local African markets. Because of corruption, mismanagement and unstable international commodity prices, the cash-crop economy has not enriched ordinary Africans.
At the very least one would want to see co-operatives that provide farmers with accurate and timely information about their crops and weather. Affordable inputs and vibrant local and regional food markets that are sustainable would be a better option. Governments should institute and enforce policies that ensure fair prices for their farmers in the global economy.
Governments and individuals in Africa need to do all they can to improve land management — principally, preventing erosion. Africans should continue to welcome the international agencies, donor nations and private ventures that have an interest in helping the continent to develop in a manner that is sustainable and just.
But, ultimately, the fate of Africa depends on its own leaders and its own citizens. Only Africans can resolve to provide leadership that is responsible, accountable and equitable. It is Africans who must decide whether they will manage their natural resources responsibly and distribute them equitably, using them for the good of fellow Africans. It is they who must determine whether they will continue to allow outside forces to seduce and bully their governments into arrangements that allow those resources to be siphoned from the continent for a pittance.
It is for Africans to choose whether they will work hard to build up their own talents and abilities, strengthen their democracies and institutions of governance, and foster peoples’ creativity and industry.
Can Africa take a different path so that her future generations will not look back and shake their heads at the expanding deserts and degraded lands? Or lament the large numbers of people migrating in search of water, land, food and work, and the inevitable conflicts over scarce resources? This is the challenge for Africa, including that woman on the hillside in Yaoundé.
Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, is founder of the Green Belt Movement and the author, most recently, of The Challenge for Africa: A New Vision
BSRC 10K Run, October 11, 2009 Race Results
October 22, 2009 by admin
Filed under Uncategorized
Photo Caption – 10K Champs: Kirt Joseph of Bedford Stuyvesant (center) was the top winner at Restoration’s annual race, last Saturday. He’s flanked here by 2nd to 5th places winners, from left to right: Jesse Horst, 25, a 10th-grade social studies teacher at Wingate H.S.; Gideon Mornix, 37; Manuel Plascincia, 46, and Patrick Stewart, 34, of Union , N.J. Joseph, 38, who clocked in at 0:33:10.24, last ran this race 10 years ago and promises to run it again next year. Horst, who trailed Joseph by 9 seconds, said, “It was a surreal experience running down Bedford Avenue and Throop Avenue and there were no cars. Beautiful!”
BSRC 10K Run, October 11, 2009
Place Time Name Age
1 0:33:10.24 Kirt Joseph 38
2 0:33:19.81 Jesse Horst 25
3 0:34:22.68 Gideon Mornix 37
4 0:35:03.84 Manuel Plascincia 46
5 0:35:27.68 Patrick stewart 34
6 0:35:33.71 Daniel Odria 26
7 0:36:05.08 Walter Dupont 53
8 0:36:05.37 Frank Morris 24
9 0:36:06.71 Jason Don Corley 42
10 0:36:08.62 Bernardo Hernandez 48
11 0:36:13.68 Nigel Noel 20
12 0:36:17.30 James McFarlane 53
13 0:36:20.34 Haibo Lu 23
14 0:36:28.74 Lewis Santoni 51
15 0:36:38.74 Paul Nelson 28
16 0:37:59.87 Osei Doyle 29
17 0:38:01.84 David Crawford 25
18 0:43:05.52 Matthew Fraser 54
19 0:44:23.46 Sarah Scott 32
20 0:44:29.96 Winthrop Jacobs 53
21 0:44:48.43 Anthony Watson 51
22 0:44:59.74 Christopher Hrones 37
23 0:45:04.52 Bryan Drew 31
24 0:45:09.43 Arthur Vendryes 41
25 0:45:37.87 RebeccaRosenberg-Beran 27
26 0:45:56.96 Justin Steil 31
27 0:46:04.08 Kevin Glover 55
28 0:46:13.30 Alejandro Amaro 48
29 0:46:24.46 Peter McGuire 23
30 0:46:29.84 Cinthya Sandoval 25
31 0:46:38.30 Charles Williams Jr. 34
32 0:46:44.11 Louis Governaca 35
33 0:46:44.58 Mishka Vertin 30
34 0:46:51.90 David Hamilton 42
35 0:46:55.93 Justin Bragg 27
36 0:47:00.02 Ariel Buda-Levin 30
37 0:47:03.78 Philip Brown 53
38 0:47:12.71 Patrice Dodson 41
39 0:47:14.05 Reggie Rasch 39
40 0:47:30.87 Rebecca Sterrett 30
41 0:47:32.58 Joseph Behnke 26
42 0:47:33.84 Mark Price 32
43 0:47:42.02 Andrea Pryce 38
44 0:47:48.99 Lynette Henry 41
45 0:47:51.27 A-Born Etchison 46
46 0:47:52.99 Karriem Wardlow 36
47 0:48:05.02 Wendell DaSilva 59
48 0:48:05.52 Ike Goodman 63
49 0:48:09.14 Cynthia Vredenburgh 31
50 0:48:12.27 Andrea White 31
51 0:48:27.71 Greg Maher 48
52 0:48:34.52 Greg DiGesu 44
53 0:48:36.18 Carl Hixson 36
54 0:48:36.99 Olister Lorde 54
55 0:48:37.46 Robert Hester 30
56 0:48:53.05 Cornelius Rountree 25
57 0:48:53.37 Elizabeth Lynch 34
58 0:49:03.81 Jessica Freeman 23
59 0:49:04.18 Charlotte VanWagenen 23
60 0:49:07.52 Asmeret Berhe-Lumax 32
61 0:49:08.05 Jill Merenda 47
62 0:49:14.62 Troy Grady 37
63 0:49:17.11 Arturo Rosales 31
64 0:49:20.46 Theodore Hamilton 40
65 0:49:24.93 Don Hodge 59
66 0:49:26.46 Ainveyburris Burris 21
67 0:49:32.24 Tanya Mays 30
68 0:49:32.55 Kim Harper 36
69 0:49:32.93 Rodney Slmmons 49
70 0:49:39.24 Mahshadul Alam 31
71 0:49:53.87 Rashad Smith 22
72 0:49:54.78 Bill Schleining 51
73 0:50:00.14 Pernall Duncan 25
74 0:50:01.99 Rickey Deadwyler 54
75 0:50:06.71 Jaimewn Obanao 37
76 0:50:08.74 Victor Cruz 31
77 0:50:09.27 Richard Lowe 53
78 0:50:15.46 Michael Weippert 27
79 0:50:15.87 BIas Abadia Jr 54
80 0:50:17.68 Heidi Reijm 31
81 0:50:21.78 Q Ostendorf 32
82 0:50:22.43 Mark Griffith 46
83 0:50:23.24 Fernando Coyoltecatl 43
84 0:50:24.40 Jay Meisel 32
85 0:50:29.46 Angel Santiago 41
86 0:50:30.21 Lothar Jaeger 59
87 0:50:32.81 Pierre Downing 28
88 0:50:35.90 Suzan Harry 26
89 0:50:36.71 Kevin Smith 35
90 0:50:40.65 Matthew Klein 38
91 0:50:44.18 Pedro Lugo 60
92 0:50:48.37 James Klett 21
93 0:50:52.08 Anthony Riojas 21
94 0:50:55.96 Jacqui Detwller 25
95 0:51:05.58 Dana McLoughlin 27
96 0:51:05.84 andrew langham 36
97 0:51:08.40 Letisha Jenkins 25
98 0:51:23.87 Courtney Wolf 30
99 0:51:24.52 Andre Matthews 49
100 0:51:25.58 Kevin Edwards 39
101 0:51:28.18 Jan Vaughn 44
102 0:51:33.46 Eric Smlth 50
103 0:51:39.84 Amy Rustan 28
104 0:51:43.78 Melvin Stokes 61
105 0:51:45.96 Jal Paul Haughton 51
106 0:52:10.55 Fred Moore 61
107 0:52:14.21 Gordon Hatchett 53
108 0:52:16.65 Karenga Arifu 38
109 0:52:21.27 Anthony Asiaghi 55
110 0:52:27.11 Addranna Montgomery 40
111 0:52:29.27 Lee Trotman 26
112 0:52:32.65 Aubertus Brever 41
113 0:52:37.49 Michael West 56
114 0:52:40.49 Robert Unger 62
115 0:52:42.05 Arnold Gore 68
116 0:52:52.37 Malecia Walker 34
117 0:52:54.14 Bruce Bowman 62
118 0:53:03.43 John Maher 13
119 0:53:08.99 Richard Brooks 38
120 0:53:10.27 Sophie Anger 36
121 0:53:12.90 Liz Washington 38
122 0:53:17.11 Ryan Kim 33
123 0:53:20.68 Meridith McDonald 25
124 0:53:22.43 Sara Steenrod 32
125 0:53:26.99 Mario Tumax 30
126 0:53:27.99 Nadine Dechausay 31
127 0:53:29.52 Simon G 36
128 0:53:48.93 Melissa Axelod 28
129 0:53:59.46 Anishea Williams 27
130 0:53:59.78 Ulysses Irey 46
131 0:54:01.08 Wendi Leggitt 24
132 0:54:01.62 Anna Bullett 25
133 0:54:01.96 Marguerite Zampini 28
134 0:54:02.24 Abdur Rahman 59
135 0:54:02.78 Norman Miller 47
136 0:54:03.49 Jerry Deadwyler 55
137 0:54:06.46 Karen Kallmeyer 27
138 0:54:21.62 Nancy Campbell 31
139 0:54:22.27 Susanna O’kula 22
140 0:54:30.43 Garth Trotman 41
141 0:54:39.87 Monroe Morton 49
142 0:54:47.55 Bkaskar Skivastava 36
143 0:54:54.18 Alex Fietzer 29
144 0:54:56.11 Tu Harris 32
145 0:54:57.49 Elisa Kim 25
146 0:55:03.08 Avery Gaskin 27
147 0:55:07.52 Walter Moseley 64
148 0:55:11.02 Hunter Armstrong 34
149 0:55:11.58 Roger Thomas 41
150 0:55:33.87 Billy Mitchell 55
151 0:55:36.90 Aja Williams 25
152 0:55:38.84 Lavern Walsh 43
153 0:55:41.74 Jeff Wilkins 28
154 0:55:43.81 Katie Henry 28
155 0:55:47.43 Corey McFarlane 24
156 0:55:50.46 Judith Reiberg 59
157 0:55:57.71 Katherine Levy 22
158 0:55:58.08 Lauren Bauder 25
159 0:56:05.84 Edward Colemith 58
160 0:56:06.87 Glenn Hill 37
161 0:56:08.37 Francisco Rivera 53
162 0:56:12.68 Jeff Weiss 30
163 0:56:14.74 Tracey Lewis 36
164 0:56:32.71
165 0:56:41.55 Edward Jackson 44
166 0:56:45.27 Michael Taliaferro 47
167 0:57:01.93 Carly Wilkins 27
168 0:57:22.96 Brendalyn King 26
169 0:57:27.93 Bruno Sanchez-Andrade 28
170 0:57:29.74 Noah Katz 42
171 0:57:35.87 David Feibusch
172 0:57:37.78 Janine Thomson
173 0:57:45.52 Michelle Gedney 23
174 0:58:02.84 Philip Kedney 44
175 0:58:09.18 Lance Anderson Jr 34
176 0:58:09.96 David Pinto
177 0:58:20.52 Irasema Rivera 46
178 0:58:20.81 Carmen Ayola 48
179 0:58:24.71 Drema Brown 37
180 0:58:28.93 Laki Taylor 31
181 0:58:54.24 Daniel Fountenberry 31
182 0:58:57.68 Johana Carter 60
183 0:59:04.81 Veronica Antoine 53
184 0:59:11.93 Carin Clary 26
185 0:59:12.49 Osmany Cabrera 28
186 0:59:15.87 Kendra Cabrera 25
187 0:59:17.21 Meghan Jewett 26
188 0:59:22.84 Herbert Johnson 48
189 0:59:37.58 Erica Waters 34
190 0:59:37.93 Greq Felice 39
191 0:59:42.24 Racnel Marcus 28
192 0:59:55.21 Craig Deardorff 30
193 0:59:59.84 Vilasinec Bunnag 36
194 1:00:00.14 Meredith Bergman 33
195 1:00:01.34 Randi Hatchel 37
196 1:00:07.43 Kemba Dunham 37
197 1:00:11.08 Margot Brandenberg 30
198 1:00:21.18 Folake Oguntebi 30
199 1:00:23.18 Lela Moore 33
200 1:00:33.99 Beverly Reese 40
201 1:00:34.27 Tanasia Mclaurin 24
202 1:00:45.78 Garlando Howard 24
203 1:00:46.14 Kimberly Ryan 29
204 1:00:48.68 Truong Pham 32
205 1:00:50.46 Robert Smith 53
206 1:00:57.02 Melissa Bhana 31
207 1:00:57.52 Erika VanDam 29
208 1:00:58.55 Opic Snow Heyermen 33
209 1:00:58.87 Allyson Cole 30
210 1:01:02.14 Pechseda Nak 23
211 1:01:03.11 Omar DeJesu 30
212 1:01:04.02 Antonio Bengochea 24
213 1:01:05.87 Shantelle Benton 39
214 1:01:07.49 James Emery 47
215 1:01:07.71 Willie Brooks 61
216 1:01:11.58 Rafael Frias 18
217 1:01:12.68 Shannon Gaviana 38
218 1:01:13.21 Kesone Himmasone 31
219 1:01:19.27 Cleo Godsey 36
220 1:01:31.65 Michael Ferguson 60
221 1:01:36.30 Melanie Harris 30
222 1:02:06.87 Lana Hum 40
223 1:02:15.43 Carline Bennett 30
224 1:02:17.05 Robert Holmes 38
225 1:02:26.96 Patrick May 31
226 1:02:27.49 Megan O’Meara 30
227 1:02:29.27 Jeff Niblack 28
228 1:02:37.68 Veronica Gether 43
229 1:02:41.71 Suzette Cox 35
230 1:02:43.65 Debbie Richardson
231 1:02:50.96 Antoinette Lucas 40
232 1:02:53.49 Sommer Browning 33
233 1:03:20.46 Alexandra CroSier 33
234 1:03:20.87 Paul Thomas 52
235 1:03:34.34 Alexandra Goncalves 31
236 1:03:45.68 Ayisha Doyle 35
237 1:03:46.34 Caz Blumhagen 33
238 1:03:48.52 Phillip LeFevre 40
239 1:03:49.37 Brittany Freese 24
240 1:03:51.96 Calvin Myers 66
241 1:03:54.52 Stacey Piculell 27
242 1:04:00.18 Amy Febinger 33
243 1:04:01.27 Jennifer Martin 27
244 1:04:14.55 Ryan Delorge 28
245 1:04:28.18 Robert Rodriguez 45
246 1:04:28.49 Rebecca Cella 28
247 1:04:32.68 Steve Larosiliere
248 1:04:52.14 Ashley Cross
249 1:04:52.43 Charlene Kohler-Britton 58
250 1:05:01.21 Dathonie Pinto
251 1:05:01.74 Natasha Wolkoff 35
252 1:05:02.18 Saron Harry 31
253 1:05:02.52 Judith George 52
254 1:05:27.52 Anthony White 32
255 1:05:43.55 Erwin Samuels 27
256 1:05:44.08 Robert Marceda 39
257 1:05:44.58 Martha Stone 26
258 1:05:45.24 Jill Crocker 27
259 1:05:48.74 William Rojas 21
260 1:06:16.11 Michelle Robertson 49
261 1:06:21.34 Michael LeGrand 43
262 1:06:29.58 Dalphine Smith 58
263 1:06:29.93 Jorge Chacon 33
264 1:06:39.71 Josie Rodberg 27
265 1:07:17.05 Jennifer Barros 32
266 1:07:24.71 Cheryl Ching 31
267 1:07:39.18 Jim Isaacs 68
268 1:07:55.93 Carey Shea
269 1:07:56.65 Nykia Wharton 35
270 1:08:09.68 Shirley Brown 51
271 1:08:09.96 Anthony White 32
272 1:08:12.71 Gaten Bryant 64
273 1:08:28.55 Dana Worthy 34
274 1:08:37.27 Brandi Haynes 35
275 1:09:06.11 Cara D’Arco 22
276 1:09:06.43 Cleon Moseley 40
277 1:09:09.37 Clark Aycock 40
278 1:09:09.90 Henry Plnckney 63
279 1:09:10.65 Alex Anselmo 26
280 1:09:19.78 Susan Epstein 66
281 1:09:22.43 Lisa Witler 45
282 1:09:29.71 Leona Lewis 16
283 1:09:30.78 Joseph Pottanat 32
284 1:09:41.81 April Isaacs 29
285 1:09:57.84 Karlene Wint 40
286 1:10:19.05 Cidra Sebastien 30
287 1:10:37.02 Meghan Huppuch 23
288 1:11:00.52 Elana Fogel 21
289 1:11:21.84 Madeleine Whittington 54
290 1:11:22.30 Timothy Mahoney 22
291 1:11:22.81 Daisy Okas 36
292 1:11:33.96 Tyeslha Delk
293 1:11:36.46 Robyn Kennely 46
294 1:11:37.68 Julla Snyder 24
295 1:11:40.08 Kathleen Fallon 37
296 1:11:49.37 Yaffa Reyeu 52
297 1:11:50.49 Chi Iregbulem 36
298 1:11:51.65 John Plata 46
299 1:11:55.24 Nancy Pease 48
300 1:12:03.21 Kimberly Abbage 32
301 1:12:11.62 Stacey Blissett-Saaved 31
302 1:12:22.65 James Barnett 56
303 1:12:23.74 Doris Lloyd 52
304 1:12:24.05 Deli Walsh 46
305 1:12:35.08 Stephanie Washington 40
306 1:12:36.21 Dawn Hardy 35
307 1:13:31.90 Alonzo Miles 55
308 1:13:32.43 Davindor Kaur 23
309 1:13:40.81 Andrea Clinton 48
310 1:13:45.43 Kimberleigh Smith 42
311 1:13:51.34 Elsie Aldahondo 32
312 1:14:06.37 Leila Richardson 55
313 1:14:20.34 Malivia Oyo 35
314 1:15:00.37 Louis Lopez 42
315 1:15:07.40 Nicki Fietzer 27
316 1:15:29.30 Yvonne Mullings 54
317 1:16:17.30 Olga Rapalo 60
318 1:16:27.62 Ferdinand Aague 59
319 1:16:46.49 Maggie Bodo 60
320 1:17:41.02 Truong Pham 32
321 1:17:49.37 Debleena Roy 30
322 1:18:38.46 Niama Oyo 34
323 1:18:58.78 Min Chia 35
324 1:19:32.24 Lani M’cleod 29
325 1:19:32.55 Jane Northy 33
326 1:19:33.08 Daryl Hugglns 39
327 1:19:33.65 Aurona Sandoval 43
328 1:20:15.37 Tiffany Anderson 40
329 1:20:15.68 Maggie Bodo 60
330 1:20:38.55 Anthony Alvareuya 38
331 1:20:41.99 Rafael Pinto
332 1:21:00.37 Rosa Pinto
333 1:21:34.21 Anasa Scott 30
334 1:22:25.18 Sher Lokhandwalla 39
335 1:22:26.65 Sherrese Clarke 33
336 1:25:23.58 Sandra Patterson 44
337 1:25:24.37 Shanae Cloud 17
338 1:26:01.71 Peter Buffington 74
