NEWSLETTER #2 - SOCIETY OF AFRICAN EARTH SCIENTISTS

Volume 1, Issue No. 2,  April/May

Foreword by the Acting Chair of Society of African Earth Scientists, Dr Chukwunyere Kamalu

Welcome to the second issue of the newsletter of the Society of African Earth Scientists (SAES), which will appear as a bi-monthly publication.

   On 26^th April, the Society was formally launched at the Africa Centre with a lecture on “Earth and Land in African Thought and Practice”. This was followed by a very vigorous discussion on the role of SAES and  the level of development of its concrete plans for delivering its stated objectives. Fifteen persons participating at the launch included a cross-section of enthusiastic attendees from a diversity of backgrounds, including earth science, agriculture, other science backgrounds as well as the interested  public. They included members of facebook groups: Africa technology Group and Contributions of African Scientists and inventors.

   Vigorous debate after the lecture raised the issues of land tenure and sustainable development project work in Africa. These contributions highlighted the need for SAES to have well thought out  field projects that would meet its stated objectives.

   SAES facebook  discussions have noted two main suggestions for carrying out this field project work. One requires the SAES purchase of land  and the other doesn’t:

• One contribution at the SAES launch which re-ignited the debate on field projects suggested that SAES should purchase land in Africa which is in degraded and deforested state from a local community and sell it back to the community for the same price as we bought it (after having improved the value and revitalised the land by planting trees and vegetation - using irrigation perhaps and providing access to the use of local groundwater).
• The other suggestion was that any individual members of SAES who wished to embark on a sustainable development project in his/her home village could do so with SAES support and input.

Both options for field project work remain under consideration.

      Future programmes will include workshops in a) soil and water conservation and b) solar energy (photovoltaics), still to be announced.

   From 11-15 June 2012 the world’s largest solar energy exhibition, Intersolar Europe, will be taking place in Munich, Germany. Both Yeno Thorli and Chukwunyere Kamalu will be attending. It is an opportunity to see if there are appropriate new solar technologies relevant to sustainable African community development at an affordable price. A report back on the exhibition will feature in the June/July newsletter.

   Lastly, a theme that has been resonating both at the launch and on the SAES facebook page has been the issue of African land grabs and the ominous cloud that it has cast over the African environmental, social , cultural, economic  and political  future.  As a society of Earth Scientists, we cannot ignore the threat that land grabbing poses to our work. We know that to lose land to foreign investors is also to lose our groundwater and threaten our water security and implementation of progressive sustainable development programmes. 

   Researching on the internet one will find a  number of organisations that represent themselves as anti-land grab groups. However anti-land grab groups for Africa suffer an obvious  credibility gap if they are not initiated by Africans. One exception to this is the website stopafricalandgrab.com, created by a Nigerian, Dr Emeka Akaezuwa [see selected reading and links at end of the newsletter]. In particular, the literature and video material on the site are genuinely informative on the reality and consequences of land grabbing. The African People’s Declaration stated seems to cover the key demands to be observed in securing rights to African land and resources. From this point of view, the Stop Africa Land Grab movement that Dr Akaezuwa  has tried to initiate through the website and through petition deserves the support of others also alarmed at the pace of  Africa’s effective re-colonization through these aggressive land grabs.  In this vein, SAES has formally offered its support to Dr Akaezuwa’s initiative by means of a letter from the Chair outlining areas of support such as: promotion of the African People’s Land Grab Declaration; dissemination of information from the website; the holding of events to raise awareness of Stop Africa Land Grab; SAES research to develop factual data, reasoned arguments  and a general strong case to persuade African governments of the danger land grabbing poses to future generations,  and the making of the SAES case for land conservation/sustainable development, which is being seriously threatened by land grabbing. It is surprising that at the time of writing only 281 signatures have been added to the Stop Africa Land Grab Petition. Reasons we might identify for this must surely centre on  i) lack of trust; ii) people not believing that a petition is an effective means of protest; or iii) people are simply not convinced that land grab threatens the very survival of future African generations.

   

As of 18^th June 2012, Dr Emeka Akaezuwa has formally accepted the SAES offer of support, as re-iterated in his response below:-

Dear Dr. Kamalu,
On behalf of the Stop Africa Land Grab Movement, I gladly accept your offer of support for the initiative to stop Africa land grab and save our people from re-enslavement under the guise of foreign investments.

We wholeheartedly accept the areas of cooperation you enumerated: helping to boost the number of signatories to the petition; disseminating the African People's Declaration; sharing videos and links; developing factual data; and holding events and workshops to raise awareness.

On our part, we will publish any material you have on the topic of land conservation/sustainable development. Please send me, at any time, presentations, research papers, articles, etc. that members of your organization would like to publish.

After I received your email, I went on your website where I read about the great work you are doing. As a learned society, I think your organization should play the very important role of being the Stop Africa Land Grab's scientific experts on land conservation/sustainable development. If you accept this proposition, I would like to ask you to join the Stop Africa Land Grab Movement's brain trust on behalf of the Society of African Earth Scientists. If you cannot accept the offer to join the brain trust, could you appoint someone else?

I have a couple of interviews this week but next week is less busy. If it is all right by you, I will like to schedule a phone conversation with you next week. I think we can get a lot done by phone.

I thank you for taking the initiative to reach out to us and I look forward to working with you.
Thank you very much.
Emeka Akaezuwa, Ph.D
Stop Africa Land Grab Movement.

REVIEW: LAUNCH OF THE SOCIETY AFRICAN EARTH SCIENTISTS (SAES)

By Yeno Thorli. 

The inauguration of the Society of African Earth Scientists (SAES) took place on Thurs 26 Apr at the Africa Centre in London. SAES's acting chair Dr Chukwunyere Kamalu gave its first lecture on 'Earth and Land in African Thought and Practice'. He highlighted the role of the earth and land in Afrikan society and culture, including the role of the ancestors as the owners of the land and the living as the custodians, who must preserve the land and soil for future generations. 

   There were hidden gems in the talk that were teased out further as a vigorous and challenging Q&A session unfolded. Dr Kamalu was grateful for the passionate contributions and feedback from the discussion, and assured participants of his determination for SAES to act including consideration of: SAES position on land tenure in its mission statement; Purchase of land in Afrika for SAES sustainable development including the planting of trees (and vegetation) to conserve the local environment and groundwater supply. [This suggestion was made against a depressing background of statistics given by Dr Kamalu on the growing threat of land grabbing on the continent to Afrikan development efforts.]

    Some participants felt the language and construction of the ideas was a bit 'retro' in parts and that Dr Kamalu spoke of Afrika in abstraction and almost in romantic-speak. Afrika comprises 56 countries so the use of generalities flagged up many questions. Dr Kamalu stated the Society is a work in progress and contributions are welcomed. The initial aims of the Society of African Earth Scientists are: promotion of African self sufficiency in clean water, food and sustainable energy provision; and the promotion of  land, soil and water conservation; and monitoring and writing about the effects of climatic change on the continent.

    These are to be fulfilled through: the promotion of skills sharing and ideas among African scientists on the continent and in the Diaspora; workshops and seminars on a land, soil and water conservation and renewable energy technologies; sustainable development projects in specific African countries and develop templates for its reproductions throughout the continent;  Provide independent timely authoritative research papers towards influencing   policy formulation in African states; on land, soil, water conservation and renewable technologies.

    Ideas for future SAES events include workshops on soil & water conservation and the under-utilisation of renewable energy technologies in Afrika.

For further info and membership of SAES Email: saescientists@hotmail.co.uk, or join the Facebook group on https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/saescientists/>

Earth Science Events

  

June 11 – 15, 2012

Intersolar Europe

World’s largest exhibition for the solar industry

Venue: Munich, Germany

July 13 – 18, 2012

Global problems of the state, reproduction and use of natural resources of the planet Earth

Venue: web-based

Conferences on population are ominous, and one wonders what if anything is being planned/ speculated about populations in the southern hemisphere. The XXVIII International Research and Practice Conference “Global problems of the state, reproduction and use of natural resources of the planet Earth " is held.

The subject of the event is Earth sciences, biological, veterinary and agricultural sciences.

Closing date for application is July 12, 2012

Conference organizers:The International Academy of Sciences and Higher Education (Great Britain)
All-Ukrainian Academic Union (Ukraine)
International Commerce and Industrial Union (UK)
American International Commercial Arbitration Court (USA)
Heidegger Centre of Scientific Initiative (Germany);
Association for the Study of Natural Science (Spain);
Open Philosophical Society of Existential Psychology (France);
Institute of Problems of Society Life (Israel);
Marshall Institute of Economic Analysis (USA);
Venture technologies department of Rörelse Corporation.

August 21-22, 2012

World Congress on Earth Science & Climate Change

Venue: Chicago, USA

The scientific program paves a way to gather visionaries through the research talks and presentations and put forward many thought provoking strategies in Earth Science & Climate Change.

October 22 - 24, 2012

WINDABA 2012

Venue: Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa

Windaba 2012 is the international event on wind energy in South Africa hosted by the South African Wind Energy Association.

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) is proud to introduce WinDABA 2012, South Africa's Wind Industry's Conference and Exhibition. We welcome you to join us in this exciting event taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town, South Africa.

November  19-21, 2012

International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Energy Development

Venue: Hyderabad, India

Biodiversity-2012 paves a path to move towards the nature respecting the beautiful lives comprising the diversity. The conference states a call to the scientific community to take the Social responsibility saving the Mother Nature and providing a ground to explore the survival opportunities by sharing thoughts through scientific research and applying them into social

life. Biodiversity-2012 shares the opportunity to bring together researchers from academia and corporate, activists, ecosocial organizations and NGOs to foster collaborations through the research talks & presentations to put forward many thought provoking strategies sharing the common agenda of Biodiversity Conservation

December 3 - 4, 2012

Achieving Food and Environmental Security - New Approaches to Close the Gap

Venue: Royal Society, London

THE ROYAL SOCIETY 2012 scientific discussion meetings at the Royal Society

Achieving food and environmental security – new approaches to close the gap
3 – 4 December
Organised by Professor Guy Poppy, Professor Paul Jepson, Professor John Pickett CBE FRS and Dr Michael Birkett

This meeting are free to attend, but pre-registration is essential.

For more details visit http://royalsociety.org/events

December 3 - 4, 2012

Annual International Conference on Geological & Earth Sciences (GEOS 2012)

Venue: Hotel Fort Canning, Singapore, Malaysia

Some selected Reading, Links, etc

1. Please refer to the African People’s Land Grab Declaration:   http://www.stopafricalandgrab.com/ 
2. Maathai, Wangari, The Challenge for Africa, Random House, NY, 2009.
3. Schluter, T., Geological Atlas of Africa – with notes on stratigraphy, tectonics, economic geology, geohazards, geosites and geoscientific education of each counry, 2^nd Edition, Springer-verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2008. http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=IfvKWpsISTQC&oi=fnd&pg=PA4&dq=african+geology+undergraduate+textbooks&ots=lQ7JXRkO0H&sig=Y4l2oLYNi5EVzjuxupZbpMdciz4#v=onepage&q&f=false
4. A link on “Groundwater and Rural Water Supply in Africa”: http://www.iah.org/downloads/occpub/IAH_ruralwater.pdf
5. Link to Journal of African Earth Sciences: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-african-earth-sciences/

NEWSLETTER #3 - SOCIETY OF AFRICAN EARTH SCIENTISTS

Volume 1, Issue No. 3, June/July 2012

Content

• Chair’s Foreword
• A note by the Society of African Earth Scientists on the environmental effects of land grabbing
• Earth Science Applications- Earth Now
• Earth Science Events
• Suggested Reading and links

Foreword by the Acting Chair of Society of African Earth Scientists, Dr Chukwunyere Kamalu

Welcome to the third issue of the bi-monthly  newsletter of the Society of African Earth Scientists (SAES).

Intersolar Europe June 11-14^th 2012      

In June, both Yeno Thorli and I attended the Intersolar Exhibition of solar technology, in Munich, Germany. There were nearly 2,000 exhibitors from 49 countries but the only exhibitors from African countries were one from Egypt and one from Morocco (none outside North Africa). There were some examples of appropriate technology of interest from an African rural community development viewpoint: solar pumps for boreholes and irrigation which appeared to be very effective, able to pump water from 350 m depth. It was in fact a great networking opportunity to meet Africans in the solar field and this should be kept in mind for future events.  Also to be kept in mind, was the possibility of using a similar African based event to stimulate inter-African trade among indigenous solar tech businesses.

The SAES Case against Land Grabbing

 A note of the Society of African Earth Scientists was drafted to explain the environmental   impact of land grabbing. The note will be published on the Stop Africa land Grab website. The draft of the note is here presented and members are welcome to feedback. This forms part of the responsibility undertaken by SAES as the scientific consultant to Stop Africa Land Grab to publish a concise position paper that will set out the scientific and ethical case against land grab in order to persuade African governments against the reckless giveaway of Africa’s precious land and  natural resources.

Future Activities and Events

The planned workshops in i) Soil and Water Conservation and ii) Photovoltaics are yet to be scheduled. The delay has in part been due to the cost and lack of funds. However, it is envisaged that with sufficient notice adequate workshop fees can be raised to finance the workshop events and dates for the first workshop in October 2012 will soon be advertised.

   A third planned workshop will be a Stop Africa Land Grab event, as yet unspecified; but likely to feature a workshop around the videos and  articles  on the Stop Africa Land Grab website.

Affiliation and Association with other earth/solar Science  organizations

SAES is happy to announce its affiliation to YES (Young Earth Scientists) South Africa. Other organisations to  be considered for SAES affiliation are Solar Sister and  Association of African Women in the Geosciences.

EARTH, WATER AND JUSTICE

A note by the Society of African Earth Scientists on the environmental effects of land grabbing

Introduction

Land grabbing may be defined as the buying or leasing of large areas of land by local or international corporations in developing countries; often resulting in the eviction of indigenous people from their ancestral homeland, or family land owned through customary land tenures established over generations.

   This brief note, inspired in its title and thrust by the reports of African Biodiversity Network (CDM and Africa [11]), Friends of the Earth (Land, Life and Justice [6]) and others, sketches an outline of the scientific and ethical case against land grab, specifically in respect of its ominous signs of threat to Africa’s water security, soil fertility and biodiversity, and food security. It also briefly highlights the injustice of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) scheme, proposed as part of the famous Kyoto Protocol, and noted in the report of the African Biodiversity Network as being a motivating factor in land grabbing.

   It is hoped that this note, with its essential recommendations, will help dissuade African governments from giving away the most precious birthright of Africa’s children and future generations: our land and the natural resources within it.

Land Grab Threatens Water Security

A recent report by GRAIN [1] warns that land grabbing will alter the hydrological balance of the local environment and have an adverse effect on local community water supplies in Africa. The reason for this is that the high water demand envisaged for irrigation of crops planted on land grabbed farms, is expected to exceed that available in local rivers and local groundwater [2]. In some instances the rate of groundwater exploitation will far outstrip the rate of groundwater recharge [3], leading to the significant depletion of the water table in local aquifers [4].

   There are already many documented instances where pesticides and fertilizers used on large scale farming contaminates the groundwater supplies and denies access to clean water to local communities[5].

   Some of the prevention of access to local water resources has occurred through the forcible displacement of peoples from their land of many generations (according to customary land tenure).  This has involved people being displaced away from the land from which they draw their water, or in some cases, their access to water wells being barred by force [6] under the new land acquisitions and arrangements.

Land Grab Threatens Biodiversity and Soil Fertility

Land grab farming tends to be in the pattern of large scale monoculture[7], whereby the fertile soil is more prone to be eroded and lost forever, as mono-cultural planting means that for part of the season,  the soil is not protected  from soil erosion by rainfall by the canopy of other crops;  whilst in the case of mixed cropping (where various species of crops are planted  together) there is year-round protection for the soil due to the fact that not all the crops, with canopies shielding the soil from the rain, are harvested at once[8].

Land Grab Threatens Food Security

Through land grabbing, many African people belonging to traditional farming families have been dispossessed of their land and the means to grow food for their families to survive [9]. Often the lands acquired were then used for agro-fuel crops instead of food crops [10], threatening the food security of not only the dispossessed communities, but the region through the depletion of local subsistence farming capacity.

The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) as a Motivation for Land Grabbing and a Loop Hole for Industrialised Economies to avoid direct cuts to Carbon Emissions

   Documents published by the African Biodiversity Network [11] ,  Friends of the Earth and others[12] clearly highlight  the view that CDM motivates land grabbing.

 Through the disingenuous mechanism that is CDM the industrialised north shows its reluctance to adopt

i) Its political and economic responsibility for meeting its own climate change targets

ii) Its social and economic responsibility to change its pattern of over-consumption

CDM has created a dangerous loophole for the industrial economies to avoid cutting greenhouse gases. Instead of effectively  passing on the responsibilities of the industrial north to cut greenhouse gases on to the poorer countries  of the south by  “offsetting” its carbon emissions against carbon absorbed by tree planting in Africa and other regions,  large industrial corporations should be making their best efforts to cut their own emissions . Africa and other regions are bearing the cost in the form of land grabbed for the purpose of tree planting to offset carbon emissions of large corporations. Above we see the environmental devastation resulting from this activity.

   Furthermore, as Friends of the Earth note in their report; the industrial north has the challenge of tackling its own habits of drastic over-consumption to a level that is in sync with the sustainability of the Earth and its ecosystem.

Essential Recommendations for Action by African Governments

Whilst the behaviour of investors in Africa’s land grab that results in the destruction of African livelihoods and environment is to be condemned; Society of African Earth Scientists (SAES) can only make essential recommendations that address the governments of Africa, who ultimately hold the reigns of control over the leasing and sale of African land and resources  to private corporations. The essential demands include

• African governments should protect the rights of African citizens with customary land tenure. No African citizen should be made homeless from their ancestral home.
• African governments should protect Africa’s precious water resources, both its rivers and its groundwater resources
• African governments should protect Africa’s natural forests and the rights of its indigenous peoples
• African farming must aim to be agro-ecological and sustainable, prioritising food production and avoiding the production of agro-fuels and other large scale monoculture plantations motivated by carbon emission trading, which deplete the soil’s fertility,  threaten food security,  and the long term biodiversity and sustainability of the environment

References

1. SEE http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/land-grabs-leave-africa-facing-hydrological-suicide-report/ and GRAIN. http://www.grain.org/article/entries/4516-squeezing-africa-dry-behind-every-land-grab-is-a-water-grab
2. The term “groundwater” refers to water that lies below  the natural ground surface
3. A hydrologic process where water moves downward from surface water to groundwater.
4. An aquifer is an underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt) from which groundwater can be usefully extracted.
5. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Prospects for the Environment: http://www.fao.org/docrep/004/y3557e/y3557e11.htm; Xu, Y and Brent Usher (eds), Groundwater Pollution in Africa, Taylor & Francis, UNEP, 2006.
6. Friends of the Earth: Land, Life and Justice - How Land Grabbing in Uganda is affecting the Environment, Livelihoods and Food Sovereignty of Communities, April 2012. http://www.foei.org/en/resources/publications/pdfs/2012/land-life-justice
7. Ibid. And Benjaminsen, T et al, Conservation & Land Grabbing in Tanzania, paper presented at the International Conference on Global Land Grabbing, University of Sussex, England, 6-8 April 2011: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:yOgvd-gq0vwJ:www.future-agricultures.org/component/docman/doc_download/1297-conservation-and-land-grabbing-in-tanzania+&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgHy3KlkKrUlzrt0ErzA3N7gFvz0H-OKa98Rqx2lcp7Q_DMcdoBMdH7eXSTNB5HjiuX9bTj5Gz-UTZfjt9FrjuetRAwwxcdUgxbEIJ6neNe1Q_rsn0WGfOhyhs0zYypoyv4Trzt&sig=AHIEtbQeBpvzUX1POyO2-V2xz86OPLK32w
8. International Fund for Agricultural Development, Soil and Water Conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa, Rome, 1992.
9. Friends of the Earth, Op. Cit.
10. Ibid.
11. African Biodiversity Network, The CDM and Africa: Marketing a new land grab https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:ULbMvT38_84J:www.africanbiodiversity.org/system/files/PDFs/CDM%2520Report_Feb2011_lowres.pdf+&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgZfAkp-zMecSvyxx7vzEPlKkIUOjadftPgZ-tfeF50oHIebWu3Te6mXtEI4_bCheXS3rg5ytclxEKxGpSk0aLDXtyzw11xLbuUb3ikc07DUYmhfeAdzcOekwparoHGGTvtXRL4&sig=AHIEtbRqqSY9uUuJuCHVwjdlU8RPlxGMqg
12. Friends of the Earth, Op. Cit. See also Benjaminsen, T.,  et al, Op. Cit.

Society of African Earth Scientists

September 2012

An Earth Science Application Review – “Earth Now” satellite climate monitoring

Members may be made aware of a number of applications that are available for the use of monitoring climate, which make use of satellite technology.

   You might be interested to learn that some of the earth science applications are available free from the internet and can be operated on your mobile smart-phone.

   One such application is called “Earth Now” produced by NASA² and described on the NASA site:  “Earth Now displays data on many of the key vital signs of our planet that NASA satellites track. Whether your interest is current surface air temperatures over Australia, carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide levels over Canada, ozone over Oman, water vapour over Wales, gravity anomalies in Greenland or sea level height anomalies at St. Petersburg, Earth Now brings a world of ever-changing climate data to your fingertips”

   A view of the facility for mapping and displaying the intensity of the Earth’s gravitational field shows the field to be most intense in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The reason (probably somehow related to the abundance of valuable minerals of this  region) appears to be an area for specialised geological research and the only article on this area at the time noted is  to the interpretation of Congo gravity data by Yves Shandini et al³ in selected reading.

   It is a useful educational tool. It has small drawbacks: Temperature is indicated only in degrees Fahrenheit so you must make the conversion to centigrade. Also it measures the earth’s surface temperature 10 km above ground so an adjustment must be made for that, if need be.

Earth Science Events

  

October 22 - 24, 2012

WINDABA 2012

Venue: Cape Town Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa

Windaba 2012 is the international event on wind energy in South Africa hosted by the South African Wind Energy Association.

The South African Wind Energy Association (SAWEA) is proud to introduce WinDABA 2012, South Africa's Wind Industry's Conference and Exhibition. We welcome you to join us in this exciting event taking place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town, South Africa.

November  19-21, 2012

International Conference on Biodiversity and Sustainable Energy Development

Venue: Hyderabad, India

Biodiversity-2012 paves a path to move towards the nature respecting the beautiful lives comprising the diversity. The conference states a call to the scientific community to take the Social responsibility saving the Mother Nature and providing a ground to explore the survival opportunities by sharing thoughts through scientific research and applying them into social

life. Biodiversity-2012 shares the opportunity to bring together researchers from academia and corporate, activists, ecosocial organizations and NGOs to foster collaborations through the research talks & presentations to put forward many thought provoking strategies sharing the common agenda of Biodiversity Conservation

December 3 - 4, 2012

Achieving Food and Environmental Security - New Approaches to Close the Gap

Venue: Royal Society, London

THE ROYAL SOCIETY 2012 scientific discussion meetings at the Royal Society

Achieving food and environmental security – new approaches to close the gap. Organised by Professor Guy Poppy, Professor Paul Jepson, Professor John Pickett CBE FRS and Dr Michael Birkett. These meetings are free to attend, but pre-registration is essential.

For more details visit http://royalsociety.org/events

December 3 - 4, 2012

Annual International Conference on Geological & Earth Sciences (GEOS 2012)

Venue: Hotel Fort Canning, Singapore, Malaysia

Selected Reading, Links, etc

1. A link on “Groundwater and Rural Water Supply in Africa”: http://www.iah.org/downloads/occpub/IAH_ruralwater.pdf
2. The link for the NASA “Earth Now” climate change monitoring app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.nasa.jpl.earthnow.activity
3. Shandini, Y., Gravity data interpretation in the northern edge of the Congo Craton, South-Cameroon, Anu. Inst. Geocienc., Rio de Janero, 2010:URL link is given as http://ppegeo.igc.usp.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0101-97592010000100007&lng=en&nrm=iso]

NEWSLETTER #1 - SOCIETY OF AFRICAN EARTH SCIENTISTS

Volume 1, Issue No. 1,  February/March 2012

Welcome & Foreword by the Acting Chair of Society of African Earth Scientists, Dr Chukwunyere Kamalu

At long last, as acting chairperson, I welcome all members to the first issue of the newsletter of the Society of African Earth Scientists (SAES), which we hope will appear initially as a bi-monthly publication. Suggestions for further improvement of the newsletter as we progress will be welcome.

   Let me begin by giving SAES members details of my background, as well as what led to the formation of the Society of African Earth Scientists.

   Although I work as a finance manager, and have authored a number of books on African philosophy and culture, my post-graduate experience and education was as an engineer and earth scientist.  Originally I studied Civil Engineering at the University of Wales, after which I worked for the Nigerian federal government supervising the construction of federal roads in northern Nigeria (1981-84) after completing my national service there. After completing my masters degree in Highway Engineering at the University of Birmingham, I gained my PhD in Soil Erosion from Cranfield University in 1994, by which time I was a twice published scientist. Since then, although I have not been working in the field, my work has gradually become known and has now been cited in a few international earth science journals, as well as soil erosion university textbooks¹.

   On joining Facebook, I was struck by the power of the internet to bring forums of likeminded thinkers together. Being myself an earth scientist from an engineering background, it also struck me that all of Africa’s problems of self-sufficiency were encompassed by a broad interpretation of the earth sciences to  include not only considerations such as water (groundwater), food production and climate change, but also renewable energy such as solar, wind, hydro-electricity and even geothermal energy.

    After the Facebook group had been established for a few weeks, one of the members (now a trustee), Mathada Humphrey, suggested that we establish the group as an academic society that is able to host symposiums and conferences as well as be a forum for a sharing of ideas (thanks Mathada!). The idea was popular enough among members to set me on the path to make SAES a reality.  It was obvious immediately that there exists a great necessity for this kind of scientifically guided organisation, focussed on African needs and with a broad input from African thinkers and minds.

   I was encouraged by the support I received from three members of the forum (the other trustees named below) who volunteered to assist in both trustee and executive roles to found the organisation. In addition to the vision I have shared above, other members of the board also recall what sparked their attraction to join the society as founding trustees:

 “SAES represent scientists who are working towards finding solutions to the current scientific issues facing the African continent, such as climate change. I have joined this society to contribute towards the development of our continent by investing in geosciences education as well as relevant scientific research”. Ndivhuwo Cecilia Mukhosi, SAES Trustee

“There are many initiatives, projects, NGOs and charities dedicated to 'fixing' Africa and her apparent problems. It has seemed to me that most of these will continue to fail for two reasons. 1: they cannot find lasting solutions if they do not truly understand the nature of the entity with which they are dealing. 2. If the situation is always approached from a problem/solution perspective. If an organisation sets itself the task of fixing problems then it will always fail in its ultimate goal when those 'problems' no longer exist.

   I was intrigued and excited to encounter SAES (and indeed honored when the founder invited me to become a member), because we have the opportunity to serve the needs of our continent in a more constructive and sustainable way. Immediately it struck me that the founder is focussed on meeting needs rather than fixing problems. My terminology could be considered just a matter of semantics but the distinction is subtle and powerful. The former is negative and self-limiting while the latter is positive and self-enhancing. Consider a gardener who tends a plot of land. Does he see his garden as a set of problems to be overcome? Rather he sees tasks that need to be carried out in order to meet the needs of his garden year after year.

   The other very important aspect of Dr Kamalu's work is in his use of African talent to meet African needs. SAES offers a pragmatic and dynamic way to harness the energy and intellects of thinking Africans.

   Finally, Dr Kamalu's objectives are closely related to the work of Wangari Maathai RIP, whom I greatly admired.”

Osmin Callis, SAES Trustee and Acting Company Secretary

Constitution and Bank Account

The SAES (UK) (Society of African earth Scientists – UK) was established in January 2012 with the opening of the society’s bank account at Nat West, Hendon, London.

   The organisation is now ready to host events in line with its remit and raise initial funds for its operation. The organisation is established as a society with charitable objects and powers as outlined in its constitution as:

3. OBJECTS

The objects of the Society are for the promotion of African  self-sufficiency in

<!--[ i. clean water and energy provision

<!--[ ii.  land, soil and water conservation

<!--[iii.  the monitoring and management of the effects of climatic change

by means of :

a) The exchange and sharing of knowledge, skills and ideas among African scientists on the continent and in the Diaspora

b) The completion of projects on African soil towards achieving the above objects

4. POWERS

The Society has the following powers, which may be exercised only in promoting the

Objects:

4.1 To promote the exchange and sharing of knowledge, skills and ideas among African scientists, in particular, and the general public;

4.2 To conduct conferences, seminars, lectures and workshops that improve public understanding of and raise funds for the society’s ongoing work².

Care-taker Committee & Office

The Society currently has four trustees including an acting Chair and Company Secretary who are a care-taker committee until trustees and officials of the Society are elected at the Society’s first General Meeting, to be held within 15 months of its establishment. The trustees of the Society of African earth Scientists are: Chukwunyere Kamalu (Acting Chairperson), Osmin Callis (Acting Company Secretary), Ndivhuwo Cecilia Mukhosi,  Mathada Humphrey.   

  

SAES Launch Events

The Society is to be officially launched by a series of lectures and workshops delivered by the Chair (Chukwunyere), starting with an inaugural lecture at the Africa Centre, King Street, London WC2, in spring 2012. The title of the inaugural lecture will be: “Earth and Land in African Thought and Practice”³. The details of the follow-up lectures/workshops have still to be finalised.

   The lecture, Earth and Land in African Thought and Practice, was seen as a good choice of topic for the inaugural lecture for the following reasons: i) the topic is sufficiently non-specialist to appeal to the general public, who are encouraged to attend the launch, ii) the topic will give opportunity to introduce the public to the work of the society, its aims and objectives,

The inaugural lecture topic covers the role of the Earth and Land in African society and culture from the ancient to the modern day; the role of the ancestors as the owners of the land and the living as the custodians of the land, who must pass it on to the future generations in a fit state for their continued survival. This puts into a context the great respect that African peoples traditionally have for the land and the soil, for they are custodians preserving the soil for future generations. This attitude underlies the approaches Africans have adopted in their traditional agricultural practices⁴, which strive to conserve soil, water and soil fertility for the benefit of their communities. Certain African societies practice: various methods of ash or compost fertilization; planting a mixture of crops so the soil has cover all year round and is protected from soil erosion from rain fall; crop cultivation on mounds and ridges to avoid water logging; minimum tillage and even avoiding the use of certain agricultural tools to avoid damage to the soil; a remarkable variety of systems of shifting cultivation, allowing land to lie fallow  to regenerate and avoiding over-exploitation of soil fertility. Traditional soil and water conservation methods have included stone lines, trash lines, furrows and pitting systems, terracing as seen to exist in the Mandara Mountains of the Cameroons or Djebel Marra in Sudan.

      The two soil and water conservation workshops will cover:-

1. soil erosion and its role in land/soil degradation⁵
2. the effects of degradation on soil fertility and climate change⁶
3. measures for combating soil erosion by water
4. the role of SAES projects⁷

Towards Sustainable Water Resources for African communities

The final bullet point above relates to the introduction of the practical work the society envisages undertaking on African soil. This will explore the improvement and use of groundwater resources in Africa; as groundwater is seen to be the cheapest available and most sustainable source of fresh water for African communities⁸.

   Addressing the lack of clean water for drinking and sanitation is the single most important factor in improving the quality of life for African communities. Africa’s water problem has an attainable solution if we consider the following rough estimate of the cost of achieving significant progress in meeting Africa’s water needs: There are approximately 500,000 villages in Africa. If each village was provided with a borehole with a solar energy powered pump at a cost of about £8,000 per borehole, this would give an estimated cost of solving Africa’s water problem of £4 billion. This is less than the wealth of some individuals⁹, and is therefore very much achievable. The SAES dream of water provision is that every village in Africa has access to at least one clean freshwater borehole. From there on, we will be much closer to the day when all Africans will have access to clean water as a basic right.

References

1. In Hydrological Processes (2000), Vol 14, Issue 7, p.1289-1304; Journal of the American Water Resources Association, Vol. 35,  Issue 1, p.167-176;  Earth Science Review, Vol. 94, Issues 1-4, May 2009, p.23-38; Morgan, R.P.C, Soil Erosion & Conservation, Wiley, 2009 edition; and Owens, P.N., and A.J. Collins (eds), Soil Erosion & Sediment Redistribution in River catchments, CABI publishing, 2006; etc.
2. The Society also has its draft memorandum and articles of association in preparation to apply for its charitable status and charity registration number once its annual income reaches the requisite level of £5,000 per year  to apply for charity status to the UK Charity Commission.
3. The talk is based on a chapter from the book: Kamalu, C., Person Divinity and Nature, Karnak House, London, 1998.
4. Soil and Water Conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa, IFAD, Rome, 1992
5. Morgan, R.P.C., Soil Erosion & Conservation, Blackwell Science, 2005
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. A link on “Groundwater and Rural Water Supply in Africa”: http://www.iah.org/downloads/occpub/IAH_ruralwater.pdf
9. In 1999 Bill Gates’ fortune temporarily surpassed $101 billion. In 2012 it is estimated at about $54 billion. Warren Buffet is estimated at about $47 billion whilst some unconfirmed reports put that of Hosni Mubarak former president of Egypt at about $50 billion.