EcoWorldly

Arguably, April 22, 2008 will pass as a non-event in Africa, because celebrating Earth Day on this day will be a celebration of the ecological disasters and sustainability failures of a continent believed to be the cradle of mankind.

As a dual citizen of both the Earth and Mother Africa, I am inclined to think that 2008 AD should have heralded a better world for every single human being. But, sadly, that is not so. Earth Day 2008 will be a celebration of the ugly in Africa.

For we cannot justify the fact that majority of the world’s poor are Africans, surviving on less that US$ 1 a day, living in gigantic slum neighborhoods awash with tons and tons of filth, without adequate clean water, and without access to basic health care. A great irony for a continent so richly endowed with natural resources.

• » See also: Mistaken Identity: Hunters Kill Endangered Pygmy Hippo During Pig Hunt!
• » Get EcoWorldly by RSS or sign up by email.

What on earth can justify the fact that a child in Africa will die today because his parents cannot afford a dish of grain and soup? What on earth can justify the fact that billions of people, most of them in Africa, lack basic sanitation and are forced to employ “flying toilets” and other demeaning things? What on earth can justify the fact that a mother will die today because of bringing another life unto the world? What on earth can justify the fact that an African child is illiterate because basic education is a luxury his country cannot afford to provide him?

On this day, the world will not only celebrate ecological triumphs on protection and conservation of the earth’s vulnerable resources but also the great achievements of humanity in small but globally impacting ways. But there can never be a sustainable earth in the midst of poverty, ignorance and disease. And a sustainable environment is about people. These people must be empowered to care for the environment to improve their lives.

Has Africa suffered a raw deal from the modern environmental movement? Is eco-imperialism real where social and economic improvement projects are opposed merely to protect the environment and deprive millions of safer water, electricity, sanitation and health facilities? Is Earth Day a day for reflection or another of false promises and empty pledges?

The first Earth Day 38 years ago conceptualized environmental teach-ins, as a way to educate people about the state of our environment and ways of conserving it. We as citizens of the earth have allowed this simple concept to die. In its place, we focus on economic wealth derived from the earth’s resources without much regard to the effects of our destructive activities.

Communities in Africa as elsewhere must be empowered to come up with better designs and widely distributed social innovations as the means to make any radical changes that would sustain their environment, embracing new technologies in the process. That is why the Green Movement must now focus on Africa.

The world’s biggest polluters are China and America, alongside others in the developed world, but African farmers are the worst affected by global warming and climate change. Crops are failing due to a shortened rainy season and famine is threatening Africa’s children with death from starvation. More and more of Africa’s wars are now being fought over the ecology more than out of political expediency.

The continent has to take bold steps toward achieving a secure food supply, improving health and attaining economic growth as well as restoring the environment to a sustainable, productive and healthy state.

As already stated, Earth Day 2008 will be marked with pomp and merry at numerous events around the world but will be a non-event in Africa; the only celebration of the day will be a beauty pageant in South Africa in support of its national parks. The other event is a by-gone, when the US embassy in Sierra Leone feted school children in an art contest.

Photo Credit: Azrainman via Flickr

Tweet This Post

You might also like: