African People

In an effort to generate employment and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the battle against climate change, Cameroon has opened its doors for higher education training in renewable energy with the establishment of departments in that sector at all 11 state universities.

The action was confirmed by a press release issued on August 14, 2023, and signed by Higher Education Minister, Jacques Fame Ndongo. According to the statement, studies in renewable energy will start in the academic year 2023–24, which begins in October.

Ndongo claims that the action is in keeping with a choice made by higher education officials in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) zone to guarantee that the area has the necessary workforce to handle anticipated investments to accelerate growth and speed up integration. He pointed out that renewable energy is one of these focused investment areas.

Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, and the Central African Republic make up CEMAC, and to foster regional integration, Cameroon long ago opened its doors to all CEMAC countries for higher education training in different professional fields. 

“We are glad to offer this opportunity in renewable energy training and hope this will help accelerate investments and economic growth in the region,” Ndongo said in a briefing on state radio shortly after the news statement was released.

At the 15th ordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State in Yaounde, Cameroon, on 17 March 2023 presided over by Cameroonian President Paul Biya, the leaders renewed their commitment to accelerate sub-regional integration and fostering growth in investments in different sectors, including energy.

Cameroon, like other countries in the region, faces urgent problems of energy shortages, rural poverty, and climate change, which require investment in people and infrastructure development, Ndongo said. As climate change challenges such as drought and floods worsen entrenched poverty, countries in Africa are multiplying efforts to meet the SDGs.

According to a 2021 World Health Organization report, sustainable solutions to SDGs must target African countries left behind in the quest for global energy access.

“Unless efforts are scaled up significantly in countries with the largest deficits, the world will still fall short of ensuring universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy by 2030,” according to the report.

Energy experts say the growing demand for off-grid, decentralized renewable energy solutions in the CEMAC zone is challenged by a shortage of skilled professionals to design, finance, sell, install, operate, and maintain systems, thus the need for training.

“We need advanced training to tackle renewable energy solutions in Africa. We can no longer rely on imported labor when our youths are in dire need of employment,” Dr Augustine Njamnshi, executive director of the African Coalition for Sustainable Energy and Access and chair of political and technical affairs with the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance told University World News.

Higher education officials in Cameroon say such training will not only encourage self-employment with skills in the entire renewable ecosystem but also lead to reduced cost and greater access to energy by the local population.

“The problem of persistent blackouts and rise in hydro-energy costs is making access difficult and stalling business in our communities. The training in alternative energy will encourage local investments and improve affordability,” Professor Maurice Aurelien Sosso, rector of the University of Yaounde I, told University World News.

“The need to embrace renewable energy as an enabler to a sustainable energy future in Africa in general, and CEMAC in particular, is progressing and this is imperative. To achieve this, the different countries need to have the right manpower and the enabling environment to attract investors in the sector,” Njamnshi said.

Much of the rural population across Sub-Saharan Africa where local clinics are frequently unable to provide adequate diagnostic and treatment services due to unreliable power supply, face this climate change-induced predicament, he said.

Environmental experts, however, caution the population and other stakeholders to not relent in their drive to protect the environment and achieve sustainable energy production.

“The energy crisis is linked partly to the depletion of our natural resources, especially trees. When persistently felling our trees, we encourage drought and, without water, the energy supply is at risk,” said Martin Etone, a coordinator at the Cameroon-based environment protection NGO Community Action for Development.

Linus Mofor, a senior environmental affairs officer at the African Climate Policy Centre in the Technology, Climate Change & Natural Resource Management Division of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, applauded the training initiative at the university level. He, however, said the training in renewable energy may not be as impactful as integrating sustainable development in all university courses.

In order to combat the growing food insecurity in Sudan, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has developed an Emergency Livelihood Response Plan, which will supply local populations with emergency seeds, animal treatment kits, veterinary assistance, and equipment for fisheries and fishing.

The Plan expands on the work done by FAO to address the severe vulnerabilities brought on by the ongoing violence in communities of small-scale farmers, herders, and fishermen. It complements the recent FAO operation to provide emergency seeds. This program assisted farmers in increasing cereal production, preventing asset depletion, and fostering seed diversity. For the approaching 2023 harvest, the anticipated production will help to cover the grain demands of at least 13 million and maybe as many as 19 million people. 

According to FAO Representative in Sudan, Hongjie Yang, “Millions of people across Sudan are facing a battle for survival as the food security crisis worsens. “This emergency response plan aims to provide farming, herding, and fishing families with the basics they need to keep production going and feed themselves and their communities.”

The FAO plan aims to assist 50,000 people (10,000 fishing households) with fishing inputs (such as fishing boats and gear) and related training, to ensure steady access to high-protein, quality foods and maintain functional local economies.

It also plans to support a total of 10.1 million people who would receive certified quality seeds of cowpea, groundnut, millet, okra, and sorghum for the 2024 summer season, and chickpea, cucumber, pigeon pea, tomato, and watermelon for the 2023 winter season. They will also be trained in good agricultural practices, such as better handling of farm commodities after harvest.

FAO will need $123 million to carry out the plan over the following 12 months and reach the targeted farmers, herders, and fishermen in 17 of Sudan’s most food-insecure states.

More than 3.8 million people have been forced to flee the nation due to the ongoing bloodshed, and more than 960,000 people have been compelled to seek safety abroad.