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March 2003 Newsletter

IES Recognised as a Centre of Excellence on Environmental Research, Training and Networking

The Southern Africa Development Community's (SADC) Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Directorate, (FANR) has officially recognised the Institute of Environmental Studies as a Centre of Excellence on Environmental Research, Training and Networking. The recognition followed a visit by the Director of the Institute of Environmental Studies and the coordinators of two regional networks, the Air Pollution Information Network for Africa (APINA) and the Southern Africa Network for Training and Research on the Environment (SANTREN), during which they presented the networking activities of APINA, SANTREN and the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT), all of which are coordinated by the Institute.

In their recognition letter, the FANR Directorate indicated that they found the activities of IES:

• relevant and contributing to the long-term sustainable development of the region;
• conforming with one of the objectives of the SADC Treaty, to achieve sustainable utilisation of natural resources and effective protection of the environment; and
• bringing together various expertise from the SADC region in a network to tackle issues on environmental research and training.

The Institute of Environmental Studies and members of the three networks APINA, SANTREN and ACT thank the SADC -FANR Directorate for this recognition and looks forward to future cooperation in tackling the issues of Natural Resources Management within the SADC Region.

New Appointment at IES

Mr Manyewu Mutamba joined the Institute as a Research Fellow from 1st of March 2003. His appointment is for three years. He holds a Masters Degree in Agricultural Economics and a Bachelors Degree in Agriculture (Honours) from the University of Zimbabwe. Mr Mutamba has been employed by the Institute on various projects since 1997, initially on a part time basis while finishing his degree studies and then as a full time Research Associate.

In the past five years he has been part of a multi-disciplinary team that was working on various research projects with the broad objective of identifying, developing, testing and promoting appropriate strategies for sustainable management of natural resources in semi-arid areas so as to improve livelihoods and alleviate poverty. His main area of interest is in identifying policy levers and other interventions that could be used to achieve significant improvements in rural livelihoods without undermining the natural resource base that includes, forests, soil and water.

The Zimbabwe National Environmental Policy Project Kicks Off

As was reported in the September 2002 issue, the Institute of Environmental Studies has been contracted by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to facilitate the development of a National Environmental Policy. The policy should fully and accurately reflect the interests, concerns and preferences of all key stakeholders in the country on issues of environmental conservation, management and protection.

Financial support is being provided by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DANIDA). The Process was initiated in January 2003 with a series of stakeholder consultative workshops. Participants to the consultative workshops came from various sectors of the economy, government departments and civic society as environment cuts across all sectors of society and the economy, directly and indirectly affecting their functioning. The environment provides a range of goods and services, including clean water, food, fibre, places in which to live and has the capacity to purify polluted soil, water and air. Social and economic changes in turn can impact the environment by altering the demand for goods and services, sometimes to the extent of overwhelming its capacity to sustain this demand.

The results of the stakeholder consultations are:

• draft environmental policy principles;
• objective and goals; and
• a comprehensive draft document on current and emerging issues in Zimbabwe requiring a policy response.

A drafting team has been engaged to conduct reviews on the current and emerging issues, existing policies and their environmental impacts and to eventually draft the National Environmental Policy.

A first National workshop to consider the first Draft of the National Environmental Policy will be held in July. After incorporating comments from this workshop, the draft Policy Document will be extensively circulated and consultative workshops and meetings will be held at local, district and provincial levels. Associations will be encouraged to invite the drafting team to their meetings to present the draft document. Views from these consultations will be incorporated to come up with a second Draft Policy

Document which will be considered at a second National workshop. The final draft will include comments from this workshop and will be submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism for consideration by Government.

For further details on the National Environmental Policy Process please contact the Project Manager, Doreen Vhevha on: Email address: doreen@ies.uz.ac.zw , Tel: 263-4-302603.

Mine Closure Planning Workshop

Mining is a temporary land-use that requires planning and managing of the process so as to minimise:

• the negative impacts on the physical environment;
• the safety, health, social and economic aspects of the mine workers; and
• society at large.

While it will be a continuous process, planning for mine closure should begin as early as possible, preferably before mining begins. The concepts of designing and planning for closure should therefore be an integral part of a mine plan.

The workshop will cover the issues of:

• abandoned/disused mines;
• legislation on mine closure, mine closure planning;
• mine closure accounting and financial provisions;
• mine closure rehabilitation, land reclamation & post closure monitoring; and
• mine closure and the human factor.

The workshop is aimed at senior mine management staff, government departments, journalists among others

Date: 5-7 May 2003
Venue: Harare
Fees: Z$100 000

For more information on the course, please contact the Course Administrator, Felicity Nengomasha at felie@ies.uz.ac.zw or telephone: +263-4-302603

Stakeholders Workshop to Prepare "Africa's Input" to the 2nd World Congress on Conservation Agriculture

The workshop is a voluntary initiative to collectively prepare the "African input" to the World Congress on Conservation Agriculture scheduled for August 2003 in Brazil. Participation in this workshop and in the preparatory process for the "African input" is therefore also voluntary. The initiative is driven by the conviction that there are common issues and approaches that unite Africa in issues of Conservation Agriculture even if Africa is diverse in both natural/physical and socio-economic/cultural factors.

The workshop is meant to:

• Collectively finalise and refine documents developed by selected persons (individuals/small teams) on common identified issues and concerns that will be presented at the World Congress.
• Develop a strategy, framework and logistics for the African presentation and for members' participation at the World Congress. This will include development of a detailed programme for the special meeting on "Non-inversion Conservation Agriculture technologies."
• Discuss/identify the thrust which the continent should adopt after the 2nd World Congress including preparations for the 3rd World Congress.

The main output of the workshop will be final documents with detailed information on Conservation Agriculture in Africa to be presented at the 2nd World Congress. The Papers will include:

• Characterisation of Conservation Agriculture Issues and parameters (socio-cultural, climatic and environmental, financial-economic, technical and management) unique to Africa and critical to the definition and application/adoption of conservation agriculture;
• Within the context of Africa's major agro-ecological zones, identification of critical practices that would result in sustainable use of soil-water resources, at the same time ensuring reduction in costs and stable higher yields;
• Major constraints and limitations, as well as opportunities for the widespread adoption of Conservation Agriculture practices in Africa.
  

The workshop will run from 19th to 23rd May 2003. Participants are expected to arrive on 18th May and depart on 24th May 2003. For more information on the workshop contact:
Email: actsecre@ies.uz.ac.zw

Special Seminar on Conservation Farming in Zimbabwe - the situation and feasible options - 13 March 2003

A special seminar on Conservation Farming in Zimbabwe - the situation and feasible options was held on 13 March 2003 at St. Lucia Park in Marlborough, Harare. The seminar was organised by the African Conservation Tillage Network (ACT). It was attended by 26 participants from government departments, private institutions and non governmental organisations (NGOs) in Zimbabwe.

The main objectives of the seminar were to:

• Facilitate the sharing of information and experiences on conservation farming;
• Identify strategies for the effective integration of conservation farming into the agricultural systems of Zimbabwe;
• Facilitate the development of conservation farming linkages and partnerships between and within different sectors.

Three papers were presented at the seminar. The titles were as follows:

• Why Conservation Farming for Zimbabwe? Issues and concerns.
• Soil Fertility: the situation and trends in communal areas of Zimbabwe.
• Technical and organizational strategies and options for enhanced development and adoption of CF in Zimbabwe.

In addition to the technical papers, two farmers from Masvingo District presented their experiences in conservation farming. For more information on the seminar, please contact the Act secretariat on actsecre@ies.uz.ac.zw