African sun splits piece by piece

Africa is still battling with darkness which presents itself to the continent in various anarchic ways. Despite the deep stance of defense and strong arms that do not want to let go its sharpest weapons and shields, it is slowly loosing its brightness and warmth.

Africa has brave soldiers namely, scientists, doctors, scholars and even social workers putting in all efforts to restrict death from crossing the line which could mean the extinction of lives.

Equivalently, darkness has its own soldiers specially trained to manifest themselves through poverty, disease, unsafe drinking water, poor sanitation, insecurity and unemployment with the commander- in -chief named, climate change.

Poverty and climate change

According to International Labor Organization, poverty is deeply entrenched in the world with nearly three billion people living on the equivalent of US$ 2 a day or less, 500 million in Africa, making up roughly three-quarters of the African population.

According to UNICEF, 22,000 children die each day due to poverty in the some of the poorest villages on earth away from scrutiny and public eye of the world. They lack needs like proper diet, proper shelter and proper medical care.

On the other hand, the soldier named poverty and lack of access to alternative fuel sources makes 80 percent of Africa’s population to rely on bio-mass to meet domestic needs. Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia are good examples whose majority rural population relies on wood for fuel while over 80 percent of urban population depends on charcoal.

Dry lands in dry times

This trend sets a catalyst for climate change to open fire when trees are fell and none are replaced or rather what the scholars name, reforested. These trees are felled down for economic reasons in most African nations culminating from the long-term effects since the bombing by poverty. Forest management practices are facing endless hurdles especially when majority of the population depend on these forest resources.

Disease and climate change

Even though it is expedient not to generalize issues that are not duly proven, disease has been implicated by many writers as a problem enhanced by climate change. Infectious diseases continue to blight the lives of the poor across the world.

Health implication of climate change is essential in Africa where control of diseases has been and is still awkward in some nations because of poverty prevalence, inadequate health facilities, availability of few health practitioners and poor administration.

Health decay in these places may be exacerbated by climate change impacts. An increase in temperature along with adequate rainfall, for example, enhances the spread of malaria and dengue.

Malaria is one of Africa’s worst endemic diseases of the tropical and poor countries. According to UNDP, every year there are 350–500 million cases of malaria, with 1 million fatalities: Africa accounts for 90 percent of malarial deaths and African children account for over 80 percent of malaria victims worldwide.

On the other hand an estimated 40 million people are living with HIV/AIDS.

Water, sanitation and climate change

World wide, water problems affect half of the human population.  In developing countries, one billion people have inadequate access to water. Rivers are running dry, rainfall is hardly predictable and when it rains, the disaster at hand is inevitable.

The World Health Organization has estimated that climate change over the past 30 years may have led to the death of 150,000 annually and posited that climate change may lead to malnutrition, infectious diseases and diarrhea.

Millions of women spend several hours day collecting water for domestic use while close to half of all people in developing countries suffering at any given time from a health problem is caused by water and sanitation deficits. Many households in Africa lack access to clean piped water.

Sadly to say, Africa sees close to two million children dying yearly as a result of water borne disease specifically diarrhea.

Just alike, education is a key asset in gaining employment value as well as economic development; 443 million school days each year are lost due to water related cases.

Relatively, slum dwellers experience the worst kind of problems related to disease due to lack of proper sanitation and drainage systems. When rainy seasons begin, cases of cholera, typhoid and diarrhea are widely common, with alarming rates of infections and deaths.

Insecurity and climate change

Political scientists say that in order for a state to function efficiently and effectively, it needs to coordinate four capabilities namely; Regulative, defensive, rejuvinative, symbolic and extractive functions.

Mostly, in Africa, failed states have always been able to foster one or two of these functions while those that are still fighting their way to being stable lack one or two of these functions.

The functioning of each state depends on its people and resources. Therefore, unfavourable impacts on the people and resources will affect state functioning.

When climate change elicits food insecurity, drought, diseases, and poverty, state and regional stability must also be affected.

For example, according a UNEP report on the Sudan-Dafur conflict, it suggests that the conflict has been catalyzed by climate change and environmental degradation. Changes in climate resulting to desertification have tremendously increased pressure on land and water resources.

Consequently, historical enmity on religious or racial grounds has emanated forcing people to migrate into areas occupied by others. Thus, even though climate change may not be the direct cause of conflict, its contributory role must be understood and avoided.

While the African sun still shines each day, it is only a matter of time before cracks of darkness start clouding the rays of hope that illuminates each person’s hopes. It is inevitable that we find solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change based on the realities of the people on the grass root level.