Poverty and hunger are complex problems for which there are no simple solutions. Poverty affects both rural and urban areas, and is associated with social problems such as malnutrition, disease, violence and poor education. The line between cause and effects often blurs as poverty leads to hunger, which leads to violence and conflict, environmental destructions and the displacement of people which in turn lead even to greater poverty and more hunger.

It is not by chance that the first objective of the millennium Development Goals (MDG) is to eradicate poverty and hunger which is closely related with the improvement of human health goal. If the world is to achieve the targets it has set to itself towards meeting MDG, massive increases in agricultural productivity in developing countries are required. In countries where agriculture is the basis of economy, more than half of the labor force works in agriculture. Poor agricultural systems undermine development by pushing up the cost of food, capital and other commodities.

The need for rapid agricultural development for poverty alleviation is particularly pronounced in Sub-Saharan Africa ,there has been no increase in fertilizer use and crop yields ,where as the population has been increasing. Many African rural areas are now characterized by a combination of poor soil health, poor crop health and poor livestock health, all major factors contributing to poor human and environmental health.

To lift developing countries out of poverty, large increases in the scale of agricultural research and extension and environmental assessment will be required. Information concerning the soil fertility deficiencies should be readily disseminated to farmers on time through their government’s agricultural research institutions therefore enabling them to input the required fertilizers on time thus increase food production.

With soil fertility issues on check, farmers should be advised on how to use plant diversity to fuel developments. Since the farmers are well aware of the relationship between stability and sustainability of their production systems and the diversity of crops and crop varieties on their lands, their management and use of a diverse range of plants can often help them to survive under the most difficult conditions.

By growing a range of different crops, farmers will have a better chance of having enough of their right kinds of crops to meet their various needs and those of their families. These might include, for example, crops that mature at different times or that can be easily stored helping to ensure a stable food supply throughout the year.

Growing a range of crops may help farmers provide a nutritionally balanced diet for their family, exploit different environmental niches that exist on their land, or diversify their sources of income to include, for example ,medicines ,fuel, textiles, building materials,’ novelty’ foods for export etc.

Genetic resources can improve the livelihoods of poor farmers and forest dwellers by reducing their vulnerability to shocks and seasonal changes. Given access to a new variety that produces higher yielding disease-resistant crops, farmers can produce more food than their families need so they can sell their surplus crops at local markets. If they have access to the world market they can grow cash crops for export.

That will give them additional income with which to buy more clothing and house holds goods, thus stimulating other parts of the economy. Demand increases for services of food processing, storage, transportation and marketing. Thus a small increase in farm output increases demand for other goods and services and becomes a catalyst for broad-based economic growth.

The prosperity then begins to spread. The farm families, as well as those working in other parts of the economy, have more money and their demand for imported goods begins to rise. This stimulates the growth of exports from other countries. Because economic growth requires new market for goods and services, the destinies of countries are intertwined with each other.

By reducing hunger and poverty, the rehabilitation of agriculture can have an important impact on other development scourges, through its role in underpinning economic development, reducing poverty and preventing environmental destruction.

Earth Hour is a fabulous opportunity for you and your family to do something about climate change. On one night, in one hour, more will be done, more will be demonstrated, and more will be learned than through a hundred 'talk-fests'. And you can help make it happen.

What is Earth Hour?
It sounds simple, but it is very, very dramatic. At 7.30pm on March 31st 2007, we will be encouraging companies, government departments,
individuals and families to turn off their lights for just one hour. If we meet our objectives during the first Earth Hour, the savings in green
house gas emissions will be the equivalent of taking 75,000 medium sized cars off the road for one whole year! Now that's something worth doing.

Why?
The facts are alarmingly clear:
* The climate is changing! The 10 hottest years on record have occurred since 1990. In fact 2005 was the hottest year since record keeping
began.
* More than 95% of the Great Barrier Reef will have been destroyed by 2050 if carbon dioxide emissions aren't reduced. (WWF-International)
* One million species worldwide are facing extinction due to climate change.

But not everybody listens to the facts. Earth Hour is your opportunity to demonstrate how a simple change in our way of life could change, and
help save, our planet.

The goals of Earth Hour:
Households : Most of us use unnecessary electricity. Appliances on standby, old style light bulbs, lights left on when we're not using
them. Earth Hour will help us all to realise just how simply we can make a dramatic impact upon global warming (and our own power bills). We will see it in action.

Companies : We want companies to be involved. If every company turned off its lights when the buildings weren't in use, and combined it with energy saving technology, we would save between 2 and 4 million tonnes of greenhouse gasses every year. Earth Hour will show companies just how easy that is.

To make it an annual event : Out of the 8,766 hours in a year, let's give one back to the earth.

What you can do:
Sign up to Earth Hour and Pledge to turn off your lights on March 31st from 7.30pm to 8.30pm by logging onto www.earthhour.org .

You will receive all the information you need to make Earth Hour a great success (and to cut your own energy bills in the long term). Pledging is free.
Get off standby : Turn off all the electronic equipment and appliances in your home that are not being used or are on standby. Computers,
televisions, stereo equipment, phone chargers, DVD or video equipment.
Tell a friend : Spread the word about earth Hour by involving your friends, family and workmates. Get them to pledge at earthhour.org and
most importantly, turn off the lights at 7.30pm Saturday 31 March 2007.

Spread the word - Once you have signed up for Earth Hour tell a friend; spread the word at work; tell your boss; mention it at school, at your
local sports club or society group, you can even run it past your neighbours!

Make it an event. Get your family and friends to switch off their lights as well; Take some binoculars and look at the stars; sit and talk by candlelight; Explore your backyard by torchlight; Have fun with sparklers; or just do something non-electric as a family; Have a picnic-at-dusk; pretend you are camping; or have a candlelight dinner.
For more info on Earth Hour, check out www.earthhour.org

I sense a renewed confidence and determination throughout the youth organizations. Confidence to face the challenges, overcome them, and thrive in a world of fast-paced change.

It’s quite encouraging to see the youths engaging themselves in different organizations projects they have formed, most of these projects have almost the same mission or objectives: eradicate poverty and hunger, tackling HIV Aids pandemic issues, taking care of the environment, curb unemployment etc.

I appreciate that by achieving most of our missions or objectives we are also contributing towards the realization of some of the objectives of MDG.I also appreciate that different organizations projects have got different capacities towards achieving their goals.

The challenge however is capacity building. This can be achieved by the coming together of the youths who have the same mission or objectives from different organizations projects with an agenda of brainstorming so as to form a formidable combination of intelligence and determination to strategically produce the best way towards fulfilling these goals effectively without duplication of tasks in the same region hence utilizing the scarce resources efficiently.


In conclusion, I want to express my utmost appreciation to all the youths who are participating in this challenging journey. Without you our common dream of achieving our objectives and changing the world for the better can not be realized. I believe that your ideas and the support you put in your different organization projects does count globally. This is our joint process as youths. Let us all embrace it. If we do, a new and reinvigorated world with opportunities for all will be the inevitable result.

Food miles can be defined as the distance traveled by a food product from its source to the consumer’s plate. The longer the distance, the more pollution caused by the food on its transit- a combination of the fuel emissions and packaging and technology required to put the food fresh.

The term has grabbed the popular imagination, as a relatively easy concept to understand the complicated, scientific debate surrounding climate change and some environmental campaigners have come up with some nice figures to help, for example, they say flying green beans from Nairobi to London, about 6,804km ,releases at least 340 grammes of carbon dioxide in to the air.

The pack of such products will soon be faced with an aero plane symbol, telling that the product has been transported by air to the supermarket. Although this makes them a lot fresher than many other products on offer, that’s not the point .Rather; the supermarkets want to remind their customers that this product has caused more pollution on its way to the store than products delivered from the next country or locally.

The campaign is raising concern of the future of horticulture, which earns some African countries billions and employs millions of people.

On the occasion of the 12th COP of Climate Change Convention, UNEP with a range of partners launched the Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign. Under the auspicious patronage of Prof. Wangari Maathai (Nobel Peace Prize Laureate) and Prince Albert II of Monaco, this campaign will encourage the pledging, planting and caring for one billion new trees globally. The World Agroforestry Centre is proud to provide the scientific support to this initiative.

Plant for the Planet: Billion Tree Campaign is part of humanity’s collective gift to subsequent generations. It is a superb initiative to link people, trees and the environment. Planting trees is great, although using appropriate scientific knowledge to plant the right tree in the right place is even greater. Our individual priorities for tree planting may differ from habitat conservation to rural income enhancement to renewable industries, but without greater tree planting we may forego all those opportunities.

To get into the website, click http://www.worldagroforestry.org/billiontreecampaign

What have you done to support the billion tree campaign? Plant a tree on your free time this year whether timber, medicinal, fodder, fruit, oil or any other .That’s the only way your contribution will be noticed towards this campaign.

I have already planted 285 trees since last year November when the campaign was launched.150 fodder, 100 timber, 20 medicinal and 15 fruits.

” If you’re not part of the solution- you’re part of the problem. Join us now!!!”