People from every walk of life in Grenada were represented in the crowd that came to see world famous South African performer Lucky Dube live at Moonlight City on Sunday. Lucky Dube’s performance in Grenada was part of a world tour to launch his new album, “Respect” which features music every bit as magical as his previous albums. The inspiring music captured the audience as they swayed, sang and danced along with Dube and his incredibly talented performance troupe.
There is something special about a performer like Dube that goes far beyond a good album or a well attended concert. It is the same kind of special that has been found in other musical legends who have been able to create music that spans generations and cultures across the globe. Performers like John Lennon, Bob Marley and Dube have something in common: Their music tends to be about things that matter. When music matters it can shape the world, such as John Lennon’s “Give Peace a Chance” and Marley’s “Buffalo Soldier”, raising the consciousness of people all over the world.
Music that is inspired inspires others; and thus is capable of touching the souls of people across the globe. For Dube, the source of that inspiration likely stems from the life experience of someone who has lifted himself out of poverty and made his dreams come true, as shared in one of the tracks of his new album titled, Touch Your Dream. For Dube, anything is possible if you hold onto your dreams, and his own life story entitles him to preach to others through is music.
He is man whose faith guides him. ‘I only worship the All Mighty, through his prophets I have learned to give respect to everything he created” and although a world famous Rastafarian, he is a man who does not drink, smoke, or consume marijuana. In fact, the societal problems the world faces today are an obvious source of musical passion and a vehicle for Dube to express things he cares about. Dube wants, “To be living in a world where there are no homeless people, to be living in a world where little children don’t have to die because their parents are poor”. While many of his social commentaries are about poverty, domestic abuse, HIV/AIDS, or love; his eyes are also on the landscape of world power. ‘We’re living in a world with a lot of crazy people, we’re living in a world with psychopaths - every one of them wants to rule the world”.
There is an abundance of music on the world market that glamorizes gangsters, drugs, violence, crime and depressive thought, but when an artist like Lucky Dube rises like a phoenix on stage, we are reminded that the universal truths that really bring people from multiple continents, cultures and age groups together; is the good in all of us, not the bad.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY HATCH
(Part 2 of 2) Last week’s article examined some of the issues and vulnerabilities associated with the H5N1 Avian Flu virus and the possible threat of a pandemic this virus presents to the world. In Grenada, the free roaming practices of chicken farming presents a number of risks if the avian flu reaches the shores of the tri-island state.
Part two is examining an economic alternative that can provide Grenada with a substantive buffer in the event that such a disaster occurs. The alternative is found in developing a practice already common in Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique. In rural areas, such as Carriacou, it is not uncommon to see a local farmer walking down the street carrying a large green iguana by its tail; a lizard destined for the dinner table.
For some of us, the thought of eating an iguana may not seem very appetizing, but for many this barrier does not exist, and for those who require adjusting to the concept, iguana meat is reportedly just as tasty as chicken, and can be used as an effective substitute for most chicken dishes.
Although commonly hunted in the wild, farming this endangered species is a relatively new practice that has been pioneered in Central America. Farming practices that have been developed there have shown that farming iguanas can produce ten times the amount of meat per hectare than cattle (making it significantly more viable for small scale farming). They have also proven to be far less labour intensive to raise, and have many other beneficial side effects, such as forest protection which can help Grenada handle other disasters which require forest cover as a first line of defence; such as flooding and landslides.
Iguana farming is quite simple in practice. It involves raising hatchlings for approximately 7 months, and then releasing them to forested areas. The fattening and maturing of the animals can be sped up using feeds such as broken rice, meat, bone, fish meal, papayas, mangoes, bananas, avocados, leaves and flowers. In addition to meats, the eggs are edible and the juvenile iguanas can often be sold as pets.
To date, iguana farming has been pioneered in Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua. Should the practice of iguana farming get established here in Grenada, doing so would result in repopulating an indigenous species that has been hunted near to extinction; provide income and meat for farmers and local markets in the event of the arrival of the avian flu; and protect Grenada’s forest cover by promoting forest based farming of iguanas and fruit bearing trees.
Count your chickens before they hatch: Iguanas are low fat, low cost, environmentally friendly and bird flu free.
Part two is examining an economic alternative that can provide Grenada with a substantive buffer in the event that such a disaster occurs. The alternative is found in developing a practice already common in Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique. In rural areas, such as Carriacou, it is not uncommon to see a local farmer walking down the street carrying a large green iguana by its tail; a lizard destined for the dinner table.
For some of us, the thought of eating an iguana may not seem very appetizing, but for many this barrier does not exist, and for those who require adjusting to the concept, iguana meat is reportedly just as tasty as chicken, and can be used as an effective substitute for most chicken dishes.
Although commonly hunted in the wild, farming this endangered species is a relatively new practice that has been pioneered in Central America. Farming practices that have been developed there have shown that farming iguanas can produce ten times the amount of meat per hectare than cattle (making it significantly more viable for small scale farming). They have also proven to be far less labour intensive to raise, and have many other beneficial side effects, such as forest protection which can help Grenada handle other disasters which require forest cover as a first line of defence; such as flooding and landslides.
Iguana farming is quite simple in practice. It involves raising hatchlings for approximately 7 months, and then releasing them to forested areas. The fattening and maturing of the animals can be sped up using feeds such as broken rice, meat, bone, fish meal, papayas, mangoes, bananas, avocados, leaves and flowers. In addition to meats, the eggs are edible and the juvenile iguanas can often be sold as pets.
To date, iguana farming has been pioneered in Costa Rica, Panama, and Nicaragua. Should the practice of iguana farming get established here in Grenada, doing so would result in repopulating an indigenous species that has been hunted near to extinction; provide income and meat for farmers and local markets in the event of the arrival of the avian flu; and protect Grenada’s forest cover by promoting forest based farming of iguanas and fruit bearing trees.
Count your chickens before they hatch: Iguanas are low fat, low cost, environmentally friendly and bird flu free.
COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY HATCH
(Part 1 of 2) Communities with free roaming chickens have been the ones hardest hit worldwide for the H5N1 virus, commonly known as ‘the bird flu’. This is because transmission of the disease requires contact with infected birds, or contaminated surfaces. When chickens roam free (particularly in urban areas), playing children come into contact with contaminated surfaces, slaughter debris is carried in the gutters, and people simply walk on contaminated surfaces while heading to school, work or the local store.
In 2003, the bird flu spread over a great deal of Asia. In 2004, it reached Malaysia. By 2005 the flu was in Russia, Mongolia, Turkey, Romania and now the bird flu has spread to so many places it is truly a ‘global disease’. It is also a disease that kills more than half of the people who catch it. Healthy people, young people - the bird flu does not discriminate.
But it is not a pandemic yet. According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) a disease is not a pandemic until it presents three characteristics. To be a pandemic, it must: Infect humans, be a serious illness and spread easily and sustainably. The bird flu scores 2 out of 3, and medical authorities say it is only a matter of time before the bird flu masters human to human transmission and becomes a major scourge for this planet.
We can only hope that a pandemic is far into the future, and take steps in the meantime to protect the country from the disease that is already out there, and heading our way. Birds need to be kept in enclosures, called ‘coops’ or ‘aviaries’ that prevent them from mingling casually with humans and other chicken stock.
Free roaming chickens not only present a major health risk to Grenadians the potential economic impacts could be catastrophic. A bird flu outbreak in Grenada would not only have a dramatic impact on Grenadians through loss of life by those who die, but gathering up the free roaming birds for slaughter would be a dangerously time consuming task. In addition to this, if the bird flu was found in Grenada, this would cause serious quarantine issues for international travellers, because it would be virtually impossible for a person travelling from Grenada to declare they had not been on a farm recently. Grenada is a farm.
A key defence for the bird flu is containing the birds. Another defence is preparing the health community to deal with an outbreak, as its arrival is inevitable. Another defence will be the subject of next week’s article, where we will explore one creative way to help Grenada withstand the social, and economic impacts of the bird flu pandemic, when it arrives.
In 2003, the bird flu spread over a great deal of Asia. In 2004, it reached Malaysia. By 2005 the flu was in Russia, Mongolia, Turkey, Romania and now the bird flu has spread to so many places it is truly a ‘global disease’. It is also a disease that kills more than half of the people who catch it. Healthy people, young people - the bird flu does not discriminate.
But it is not a pandemic yet. According to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) a disease is not a pandemic until it presents three characteristics. To be a pandemic, it must: Infect humans, be a serious illness and spread easily and sustainably. The bird flu scores 2 out of 3, and medical authorities say it is only a matter of time before the bird flu masters human to human transmission and becomes a major scourge for this planet.
We can only hope that a pandemic is far into the future, and take steps in the meantime to protect the country from the disease that is already out there, and heading our way. Birds need to be kept in enclosures, called ‘coops’ or ‘aviaries’ that prevent them from mingling casually with humans and other chicken stock.
Free roaming chickens not only present a major health risk to Grenadians the potential economic impacts could be catastrophic. A bird flu outbreak in Grenada would not only have a dramatic impact on Grenadians through loss of life by those who die, but gathering up the free roaming birds for slaughter would be a dangerously time consuming task. In addition to this, if the bird flu was found in Grenada, this would cause serious quarantine issues for international travellers, because it would be virtually impossible for a person travelling from Grenada to declare they had not been on a farm recently. Grenada is a farm.
A key defence for the bird flu is containing the birds. Another defence is preparing the health community to deal with an outbreak, as its arrival is inevitable. Another defence will be the subject of next week’s article, where we will explore one creative way to help Grenada withstand the social, and economic impacts of the bird flu pandemic, when it arrives.
Sunday, March 4, 2007
FOR THE SAKE OF THE POOR, "BUY GRENADA"
The government of Grenada is about to embark on a Country Poverty Assessment that will determine the characteristics, extent, geographic concentration, severity and causes of poverty in Grenada. The information generated by this assessment can help direct policy and decision making and possibly attract financial resources to help alleviate poverty.
However, these assessments are not without controversy. All these papers and consultations cost a lot of money, are often heavily influenced by foreign interests, and are not likely to have a great impact on poverty alleviation.
But a poverty assessment is not an optional exercise for any developing country government. It is a condition for receiving aid, obtaining country loans or being eligible for debt relief through the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The idea behind the Poverty Assessment is to conduct research that can provide information to draft a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which is also a requirement for aid, loans and debt relief. In turn, the ‘PRSP’ is supposed to be a tool for understanding poverty, engaging citizens, and directing policy with the aim of alleviating poverty.
Supporters of the PRSP’s claim that these conditionalities put poverty first on development agendas, while also encouraging participatory decision making from all sectors of society (civil society, the private sector, faith based organizations and the government). Critics claim that the PRSP is merely an extension of the Structural Adjustment Programmes, of the 1980’s and 1990’s which were also forced upon developing countries by the IMF and World Bank. Critics claim that Structural Adjustment Programmes and now PRSP’s compromise the sovereign right of developing countries to determine their own development priorities and spending.
Supporters on the other hand, argue that the foreign influence on policies, research and spending help to protect the poor from governments who may not use aid, loans or debt relief wisely. This concern may be valid for some countries, but the policies are applied with a broad brush that does not discriminate between the responsible governments and those which are less accountable to their citizens.
Structural Adjustment Programmes forced governments to embrace ‘free market’ policies and to cut social spending (such as education), privatizing public utilities, devaluing currencies and opening markets to imports. These actions have been sharply criticised for worsening the conditions of the poor, as well as hurting domestic markets. The PRSP’s are now supposed to identify ways to alleviate poverty without changing the core structure of the world market system.
Grenadians and visitors to the island who are blessed with employment and the power to make consumer choices can use their spending power to help the poor, and foster Grenada’s economic independence. When shopping for meat, milk, eggs or vegetables, purchasing locally made products before the imports will help support local employment, production and trade, which in turn, will help alleviate poverty. By buying products that are produced or made locally, consumers are protecting their domestic market. In this way, whether the Poverty Assessment and the PRSP makes a difference or not, Grenadians can engage in poverty alleviation and support Grenada on their own terms.
However, these assessments are not without controversy. All these papers and consultations cost a lot of money, are often heavily influenced by foreign interests, and are not likely to have a great impact on poverty alleviation.
But a poverty assessment is not an optional exercise for any developing country government. It is a condition for receiving aid, obtaining country loans or being eligible for debt relief through the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The idea behind the Poverty Assessment is to conduct research that can provide information to draft a Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), which is also a requirement for aid, loans and debt relief. In turn, the ‘PRSP’ is supposed to be a tool for understanding poverty, engaging citizens, and directing policy with the aim of alleviating poverty.
Supporters of the PRSP’s claim that these conditionalities put poverty first on development agendas, while also encouraging participatory decision making from all sectors of society (civil society, the private sector, faith based organizations and the government). Critics claim that the PRSP is merely an extension of the Structural Adjustment Programmes, of the 1980’s and 1990’s which were also forced upon developing countries by the IMF and World Bank. Critics claim that Structural Adjustment Programmes and now PRSP’s compromise the sovereign right of developing countries to determine their own development priorities and spending.
Supporters on the other hand, argue that the foreign influence on policies, research and spending help to protect the poor from governments who may not use aid, loans or debt relief wisely. This concern may be valid for some countries, but the policies are applied with a broad brush that does not discriminate between the responsible governments and those which are less accountable to their citizens.
Structural Adjustment Programmes forced governments to embrace ‘free market’ policies and to cut social spending (such as education), privatizing public utilities, devaluing currencies and opening markets to imports. These actions have been sharply criticised for worsening the conditions of the poor, as well as hurting domestic markets. The PRSP’s are now supposed to identify ways to alleviate poverty without changing the core structure of the world market system.
Grenadians and visitors to the island who are blessed with employment and the power to make consumer choices can use their spending power to help the poor, and foster Grenada’s economic independence. When shopping for meat, milk, eggs or vegetables, purchasing locally made products before the imports will help support local employment, production and trade, which in turn, will help alleviate poverty. By buying products that are produced or made locally, consumers are protecting their domestic market. In this way, whether the Poverty Assessment and the PRSP makes a difference or not, Grenadians can engage in poverty alleviation and support Grenada on their own terms.
Friday, February 23, 2007
GOVERNMENT PLANS FOR AN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY
Amid growing concern for the environment around the globe, the Government of Grenada has developed an ambitious environmental management plan for 2007.
With the environment and sustainable development becoming an increasingly complex and demanding portfolio, the Government of Grenada is responding by planning to advance a draft of environmental management and sustainable development legislation by year's end.
If passed, one of the key elements of the legislation will be the creation of an Environmental Management Authority.
Successfully passing this legislation will mark a critical turning point for Grenada on issues such as poverty, food security, environmental integrity, toxic waste, and climate change.
Though critics might suggest that this will increase the budgetary and administrative burden of a cash-strapped government, the benefits of pursuing this agenda should outweigh the costs.
In a recent National Capacity Assessment on environmental management in Grenada, one of the cross cutting capacity barriers identified was the lack of cohesion in policy, administration, and the chain of accountability when it comes to environmental management.
Under the present circumstances, this is partly because environmental management is being undertaken among a number of Ministries and government departments.
In addition to this timely goal, Minister David-Antoine outlined an ambitious agenda for her Ministry to the members of the Sustainable Development Council on February 16 th.
They include beautification; such as tree planting; as well as the removal of an estimated 600 derelict vehicles in Grenada.
Minister David-Antoine also presented plans to create an environmental information management framework which will house the plethora of documents, reports, data and information related to environmental management in one location. This 'environmental library' will include hard copy and digital information.
Public engagement is also on the agenda. The National Environment Policy and Management Strategy were developed through extensive community consultation, and this year's plans will continue along that vein, explained the Minister.
The Ministry plans to provide training to community groups to aide them in accessing funding available from the United Nations Development Programme and other international organizations.
Public education is also on the agenda, with a goal to raise the level of public awareness about the urgency of environmental issues as well as empowering individuals to take action in their own lives and communities.
A communications and awareness raising toolkit has already been created, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, primary and secondary schools will be the first beneficiaries of the awareness raising activities planned for 2007.
With the environment and sustainable development becoming an increasingly complex and demanding portfolio, the Government of Grenada is responding by planning to advance a draft of environmental management and sustainable development legislation by year's end.
If passed, one of the key elements of the legislation will be the creation of an Environmental Management Authority.
Successfully passing this legislation will mark a critical turning point for Grenada on issues such as poverty, food security, environmental integrity, toxic waste, and climate change.
Though critics might suggest that this will increase the budgetary and administrative burden of a cash-strapped government, the benefits of pursuing this agenda should outweigh the costs.
In a recent National Capacity Assessment on environmental management in Grenada, one of the cross cutting capacity barriers identified was the lack of cohesion in policy, administration, and the chain of accountability when it comes to environmental management.
Under the present circumstances, this is partly because environmental management is being undertaken among a number of Ministries and government departments.
In addition to this timely goal, Minister David-Antoine outlined an ambitious agenda for her Ministry to the members of the Sustainable Development Council on February 16 th.
They include beautification; such as tree planting; as well as the removal of an estimated 600 derelict vehicles in Grenada.
Minister David-Antoine also presented plans to create an environmental information management framework which will house the plethora of documents, reports, data and information related to environmental management in one location. This 'environmental library' will include hard copy and digital information.
Public engagement is also on the agenda. The National Environment Policy and Management Strategy were developed through extensive community consultation, and this year's plans will continue along that vein, explained the Minister.
The Ministry plans to provide training to community groups to aide them in accessing funding available from the United Nations Development Programme and other international organizations.
Public education is also on the agenda, with a goal to raise the level of public awareness about the urgency of environmental issues as well as empowering individuals to take action in their own lives and communities.
A communications and awareness raising toolkit has already been created, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, primary and secondary schools will be the first beneficiaries of the awareness raising activities planned for 2007.
ENVIRONMENTALISTS WERE RIGHT ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE
Happily, the climate change debate is finally over: Global warming is happening, it will continue to happen, and human activity is the cause of it. Sadly, the environmentalists who have been warning the world about this for the last 40 years were right.
On February 2nd, 2007, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or ‘IPCC’ for short (and yes, one could question whether these panels get long boring names so they are hard to quote and harder to remember) published a summary of their 4th Climate Change Assessment since it began in 1988. With the advance of satellite technology and the use of ice core samples, this is the first report capable of proving once and for all that climate change is not a natural process.
In the past, sceptics argued that climate change could be part of a natural cycle. They also argued that because earth’s processes took place over centuries rather than decades, measurements over the last hundred years or so could hardly make a case for global warming. Fortunately recent years have provided the scientific community with new tools of measurement with satellite data and ice core samples, making their conclusions much more difficult to refute and ignore.
The ice core samples can be read much like tree rings to provide very reliable data for atmospheric conditions that date back as far as 650,000 years. Satellite data has provided far more detailed and reliable observational data on just about how everything interacts on earth such as temperature, wind, dust, ocean currents, precipitation rates and more. In fact, the combined science of balloon technology and satellite data has provided evidence that global warming is not just happening on the surface of the earth, it is happening in the upper layers of our atmosphere at the same rate.
This new IPCC report may be the beginning of a new era of acknowledging climate change as a priority. The history of the world ignoring the early warnings has been long and discouraging indeed. In 1987 the Bruntland Report, was published under the title, “Our Common Future”, which not only warned the world of the things that we are seeing today, but also provided a very comprehensive coping strategy to go with it, which was called “Agenda 21”. These reports were largely ignored by industry and international leaders. In 1992 the Rio Summit generated the Kyoto Accord, which still had not been ratified by the world’s largest greenhouse gas contributor, the
Perhaps with the abundance of conclusive evidence emerging, leaders and policy makers will take the aggressive action that will be required for survival before it is too late, and create something like a “Survival Commission”. Lest we forget why all this matters, it is not just about temperatures, sea level rise, droughts, floods or storms. It is the integrity and fine balance of gasses in the atmosphere that makes this planet capable of supporting life.
Jennifer Ellard-Deveney has worked as an environmentalist for over 20 years. She has a Specialized Honours Degree in Environmental Studies and Political Science from
FIVE MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT: SECOND NUCLEAR AGE
(Part 2 of 2) The combined threats of climate change and nuclear proliferation forms the heart of concern for the keepers of the Doomsday Clock. Recognizing that climate change will threaten life support systems for humanity and the planet, which in turn will generate conflicts; the keepers of the clock turn their eyes to the likelihood of nuclear weapons being used in these conflicts to come.
During the Cold War, many scientific, military and political experts believed that the risk of nuclear annihilation was mitigated by the fact that the United States and the Soviet Union were deterred from using their cache of nuclear weapons in conflict because both sides had developed enough weapons to ensure “Mutual Assured Destruction’, or
In 1945 a relatively small nuclear bomb was used on
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, signed in 1970, has arguably failed. India, Pakistan and North Korea have tested nuclear weapons since the end of the Cold War, Israel has nuclear weapons and chooses not to declare them, and it is believed that as many as 30 countries may now possess the capacity, and increasingly the motivation, to develop nuclear weapons. Approximately 24 new nuclear reactors are scheduled to be built around the world over the next five years, 30 are scheduled to be built in
Jennifer Ellard-Deveney has worked as an environmentalist for over 20 years. She has a Specialized Honours Degree in Environmental Studies and Political Science from
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