HIGH AFLATOXIN LEVELS INVITE SCARE IN UGANDA
International trade among African countries witnessed a set back few year ago when Kenya rejected 600 000 tons of maize from Uganda in 2018 due to poor quality and aflatoxin contamination. A report , by E Gourd published in The Lancet early in 2023, further raised te alarm in Uganda. At the Kansas State University, researchers hinted of a rise i aflatoxin levels due to high temperatures ad drought, two conditions readily available in Africa. For more, please visit the 2 resources hereunder
Rising temps, drought likely to increase incidence of aflatoxin …
Kansas State University
https://www.ksre.k-state.edu › news › stories › 2023/04
17 Apr 2023 — Researchers estimate losses to triple by 2040 under current trends. April 17, 2023. By Pat Melgares, K-State Research and Extension news service.
Dele Fapohunda
May 4, 2023
BIOFUELS TO MITIGATE CLIMATE CHANGE ? CONTROVERSY RAGES ON
Controversies still rage on the inclusion of biofuels from monocultures , as a way to mitigate the effect of climate change. Those against this step maintain that ‘’large scale biofuels do not mitigate global warming, but make it happen even faster as rainforest and other ecosystems are rapidly being destroyed to make way for vast monocultures to grow crops for cars in rich nations.’’
Campaigns have been held and awareness programmes put in place over the years. The Aberdeen Campaign Against Climate Change held in 2007 was one of such outings designed to oppose the rich nations belief that biofuel expansion is a positive response to global warming. Activists recognise the genuine contributions of wind, solar and marine energy sources as solutions to climate change. But NOT biofuels !!!. According to them, it’s the global South that suffers, insisting that intensive agriculture and deforestation are major contributors to global warming and biofuels threaten to greatly increase those emissions. Poor countries already suffer extreme weather conditions and rising temperature caused mainly by fossil fuel emissions from rich nations. Now, they are seeing their farmlands, forests and pasture lands transformed into vast monocultures as Europe and the US try to solve their energy problems at the expense of the global South. Some of the captions of protesters include ‘’Deforestation for biofuels fuels climate chaos’’, ‘’Biofuels destroy forests and fuel climate change’’ and ‘’One tank of fuel is equal to one year ‘s food’’. For example, US demands for biofuel from corn increased the price of corn in the world market, just as the price will rise sharply as the demand for soya biodiesel grows
What steps are being taken by the global South to ward off devastation and danger on their land , that fuel comfort in the North ??
What’s your take ???
Source=Aberdeen Campaign Against Climate Change, 2007
CLIMATE CHANGE=GERMANY MAY CONSIDER TAX ON ANIMAL PRODUCTS
Meat and dairy farming is more damaging to the environment than producing cereals, fruits or vegetables. Germany’s Federal Environment Agency (UBA) has called for higher taxes on animal products, but the idea is controversial. EurActiv Germany reports.
Agriculture is a big contributor to climate change. In a recent study, the UBA highlighted the fact that farming is the largest emitter of nitrous oxide and methane, a greenhouse gas around 25 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.
This conclusion led the UBA to a controversial conclusion, namely that VAT reductions on animal products such as meat and cheese amount to environmentally harmful subsidies. It put the current value of this tax break at €5.2 billion.
The agency criticised the fact that animal products benefit from a VAT rate of just 7%, the same rate as cereals, fruits or vegetables, despite the fact that they are far more damaging to the environment.
For example, one kilo of beef can generate up to 28kg of CO2 equivalent. For the same quantity of fruits and vegetables, emissions are typically less than 1kg.
Not only are meat and cheese resource-intensive to produce, but animals like cows also emit large amounts of methane when digesting food. According to environmental groups, the production of animal feed is also a big contributor to the greenhouse effect, as virgin forests are often cleared to make space for soya production.
“In future, animal food products should be taxed at the regular 19% rate. In return, the state could use the billions this would generate to further lower the 7% reduced rate. This could help cut the cost of fruits and vegetables or public transport. Both would be good for the climate and benefit citizens,” said UBA President Maria Krautzberger.
For the UBA, environment and climate-damaging subsidies in other sectors are still far too high, endangering Germany’s Paris climate commitments. In 2012, Berlin handed out €57bn in climate-harmful subsidies.
According to the UBA, most of these subsidies are given to the transport sector (€28.6bn), followed by the energy sector (€20.3bn). Transport is responsible for 18% of all German emissions and energy for more than one-third, making them among the most environmentally unfriendly sectors in the German economy.
Source+ euractiv.com