My many years of working across southern Africa have taken me to amazing countries, and I have had the fortune to work in all 18 SADC member states, from Angola to Zimbabwe and now Kenya. The wildlife is incredible, the scenery is breath-taking and the sheer natural beauty of these landscapes is awesome.
BUT the one feature now so common across millions of hectares is the barren, dust-blown degraded land where humans have destroyed the natural harmony of nature, with thousands of goats, sheep and cattle stripping the grass, the leaves, the bushes and trees leaving only bare earth, baking under the harsh sun and blowing away in the wind. This landscape is now torn apart with gulleys and dongas where the rain washes away the topsoil and removes millions of tons of eath from formerly productive land.
Just in Kenya alone it is stated by the UN delegation that 480 million tons of soil are being lost every year in this fashion. The main culprits in this destruction are the goats, but the agents responsible are the people themselves. Sadly these people are un-educated, simple pastoralists lacking the education necessary to get out of the poverty trap.
My conclusion : Africa is running headlong down the path of self-destruction and is not even aware of this situation, with politicians blindly ignoring the situation on the ground and disregarding the plight of their people, despite the scenes in front of their own eyes.
Tragedy, YES. Sad, absolutely, Critical, WITHOUT A DOUBT!
My Plea : Who can offer a solution to the crisis facing Africa?
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