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Africa: Interlinked Solutions Key to Tackling Biodiversity, Water, Food, Health and Climate Change, Says IPBES

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Windhoek & Bulawayo — Biological diversity is on the decline worldwide, and current approaches to address its loss have been piecemeal and ineffective in tackling the crisis facing nature–this is despite estimates that over half of global GDP (USD 58 trillion of economic activity in 2023) is generated in sectors that are moderately to highly dependent on nature, a new report by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) finds.
The Thematic Assessment Report on the Interlinkages Among Biodiversity, Water, Food, and Health–known as the Nexus Report–finds that biodiversity, water, food, health, and climate change are connected crises.
Recognizing and leveraging the connections between biodiversity, water, food, health, and climate change is the way to go about solving the crises, says the report approved at the 11th session of the IPBES Plenary being held in Namibia this week.
IPBES is a global science-policy body providing science evidence to decision-makers for people and nature.
The report, a product of three years of work by 165 leading international experts from 57 countries, finds that existing actions to address these crises fail to tackle the complexity of interlinked problems and result in inconsistent governance.
The front cover of the IPBES Nexus assessment report. Credit: IPBES
Integrated Solutions Needed
Prof. Paula Harrison (United Kingdom), co-chair of the assessment with Prof. Pamela McElwee (USA), highlighted that policymakers should decide and act beyond single-issue silos.
“Our current approaches to dealing with these crises have tended to be fragmented or siloed, and that’s led to inefficiencies and has often been counterproductive,” she says.
“If we try to address climate change, for example, by planting trees, we have to be really aware about what trees we are planting (to ensure they) are not actually making problems for biodiversity,” Harrison says, citing an often-implemented solution to reduce greenhouse gases.
Instead, the report offers response options, actions, or policies that can help advance governance and sustainable management of one or more elements of the nexus.
“What the report also offers is this suite of solutions. It stresses that we have over 70 response options available now that different actors can use in different context-dependent situations.”
The assessment also highlighted the unintended consequences when issues of nature are addressed in isolation.
For example, when the bat population in the United States declined due to a fungal disease known as white-nose syndrome, farmers increased their use of pesticides. This caused unintended health impacts, with an 8 percent rise in infant mortality reported in affected areas.
However, where a problem is tackled holistically, it can have positive impacts, as in bilharzia, a parasitic disease that affects more than 200 million people worldwide but is especially prevalent in Africa.
“Treated only as a health challenge–usually through medication–the problem often recurs as people are reinfected. An innovative project in rural Senegal took a different approach–reducing water pollution and removing invasive water plants to reduce the habitat for the snails that host the parasitic worms that carry the disease–resulting in a 32 percent reduction in infections in children, improved access to freshwater, and new revenue for the local communities,” says McElwee.
“The best way to bridge single-issue silos is through integrated and adaptive decision-making. ‘Nexus approaches’ offer policies and actions that are more coherent and coordinated–moving us towards the transformative change needed to meet our development and sustainability goals.”
The High Cost of Inaction
Warning of the high economic costs of inaction and the significant cost of biodiversity loss and climate change impacts, the report highlighted that biodiversity has been the loser in the tradeoffs where short-term gains are implemented and often neglect long-term sustainability.
“Policies informed by Nexus principles can create “win-win” solutions across sectors,” the report says.
According to the report, unaccounted-for costs of current approaches to tackling the multiple crises of biodiversity, water, health, food, and climate change are at least USD 10-25 trillion per year.
McElwee stressed that unaccounted-for costs, alongside direct public subsidies to economic activities worth about USD 1,7 trillion a year, have negative impacts on biodiversity. These subsidies have enhanced annual private sector financial flows estimated at USD 5.3 trillion, which are directly damaging to biodiversity.
“Delayed action on biodiversity goals, for example, could as much as double costs–also increasing the probability of irreplaceable losses such as species extinction,” McElwee warned, emphasizing that delayed action on climate change adds at least USD 500 billion per year in additional costs for meeting policy targets.
The Nexus report, building on previous IPBES reports that identified the most important direct drivers of biodiversity loss, states that indirect socioeconomic factors such as increasing waste, overconsumption, and population growth have intensified the direct drivers of biodiversity loss.
“Efforts of governments and other stakeholders have often failed to take into account indirect drivers and their impact on interactions between nexus elements because they remain fragmented, with many institutions working in isolation–often resulting in conflicting objectives, inefficiencies, and negative incentives, leading to unintended consequences,” says Harrison.
The IPBES Nexus assessment has recommended a shift to more integrated, inclusive, equitable, coordinated, and adaptive approaches as a solution to biodiversity loss.
Tapping Opportunities
The Nexus Report recommends a shift from the ‘business as usual’ approach to direct and indirect drivers of change, spelling doom for biodiversity, water quality, and human health. Furthermore, it warns that maximizing the outcomes for only one part of the nexus in isolation will result in negative outcomes for other nexus elements.
For example, a ‘food first’ approach prioritizes food production with positive benefits for nutritional health, arising from unsustainable intensification of production and increased per capita consumption. But this has negative impacts on biodiversity, water, and climate change.
“Future scenarios do exist that have positive outcomes for people and nature by providing co-benefits across the nexus elements,” Harrison says. “The future scenarios with the widest nexus benefits are those with actions that focus on sustainable production and consumption in combination with conserving and restoring ecosystems, reducing pollution, and mitigating and adapting to climate change.”
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Noting that current governance structures and approaches are not responsive enough to meet the interconnected challenges from the accelerated speed and scale of environmental change and rising inequalities, the report has recommended a shift to more integrated, inclusive, equitable, coordinated, and adaptive approaches.
The work of IPBES provides the science and evidence to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and the Paris Agreement on climate change, says Harrison.
Inger Andersen, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), commented that the IPBES Nexus Assessment is the first comprehensive global assessment that looks at the interlinkages between crises and identifies solutions.
“Biodiversity is vital to the efforts to meet humanity’s growing need for food, feed, fiber, and fuel while protecting the planet for future generations,” Andersen says. “We need to produce more with less, through the Four Betters: better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life–leaving no one behind.”
While Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), added that actions to address global challenges affecting biodiversity, water, food, health, and the climate system are often taken without sufficient regard to the interlinkages between them. She says such actions result in shortcomings and adverse impacts on biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people.
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AllAfrica publishes around 600 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.
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AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa – aggregating, producing and distributing 600 news and information items daily from over 100 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC.
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Africa: Martin Luther King Jr's Legacy On Health Equity Through the Eyes of a Black African Doctor

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Washington DC — Every year, January 20 is celebrated as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. He was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement who fought for equality and justice, especially for Black people, through peaceful protests and powerful speeches. The day is observed annually on the third Monday of January, close to his birthday on January 15. It is a time to remember his work, reflect on his message of fairness and nonviolence, and engage in acts of service to help others in our communities.
As a global health equity advocate, MLK Day holds special significance for me as a day to remember him as a health equity champion. He rightly identified health inequity as the worst form of social injustice. In his 1966 speech at the Second National Convention of the Medical Committee for Human Rights, MLK stated, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman”. I couldn’t agree more.
Globally, health inequities are numerous and mostly preventable. Neglected Tropical Diseases, maternal deaths, and malnutrition vividly reflect the global health injustices MLK foresaw
Growing up in Nigeria as a high school student in the 1980s, I was introduced to MLK through reading editions of Ebony magazine. I remember with nostalgia how I walked to roadside book sellers to buy old copies of the magazine.
These magazines introduced me to Black American social justice debates, including the works of MLK and Thurgood Marshall. It was an opportunity to connect spiritually with Africans in the diaspora – Black Americans – and their struggles. What struck me most as a child was MLK’s nonviolent demand for racial justice.
After high school, I went on to medical school in Nigeria to begin my training as a doctor. By the time I graduated in 1998, it was clear to me that patients’ rights must be respected in healthcare delivery. As health workers, we must prioritize preventive care while providing the care our patients need.
At the time, I did not know the right term for my convictions. Decades into my work in global health, I came to understand the term for my beliefs: health equity. In 2018, I delivered my first TEDx talk titled “Without Health We Have Nothing“. This is why MLK’s assertion that health injustice is the worst form of inequality resonates deeply with me. Healthcare – or its absence – is truly a matter of life and death.
Globally, health inequities are numerous and mostly preventable. Neglected Tropical Diseases, maternal deaths, and malnutrition vividly reflect the global health injustices MLK foresaw.
Neglected Tropical Diseases
Want to see a perfect example of diseases that disproportionately affect poor people? Look no further than Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs). These diseases affect 1.6 billion people globally, primarily in Africa and Asia. Many people do not realize some, like those mentioned in the Bible, still exist today.
A prime example is leprosy – a slow-growing bacterial infection that affects the skin, nerves, and sometimes the eyes and nose. Surprisingly, in 2024, the U.S. saw a significant rise in leprosy cases, particularly in the southeastern region, with central Florida identified as a hotspot.
Data reveals that approximately 34% of new cases reported between 2015 and 2020 were locally acquired. Without treatment, leprosy causes numb patches and potential deformities. Fortunately, leprosy is completely curable with antibiotics when caught early.
Other NTDs include river blindness, trachoma, and noma. Noma, in particular, is heartbreaking – it predominantly affects children between and six years who are malnourished, live in unhygienic conditions, or have weak immune systems.
Noma starts as a sore in the mouth but can destroy facial tissues, leaving severe deformities if untreated. Proper hygiene, nutrition, and healthcare can prevent noma, but it remains a reality in the poorest parts of the world.
Maternal Mortality
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) captures the essence of safe motherhood with its statement: “No woman should die while giving life“. Tragically, for many women in low- and middle-income countries, and even wealthier nations, this isn’t the case.
In Nigeria alone, over 80,000 women die annually during pregnancy, childbirth, or shortly afterward. A professor once likened Nigeria’s high maternal mortality to filling a commercial jet with pregnant women every day and letting it crash – a haunting image. This huge injustice should not be allowed to continue.
In contrast, the United States of America has a higher maternal mortality rate compared to other wealthy countries, largely due to the disproportionately high maternal death rate among Black women. Black women are still 2 to 3 times more likely to die from pregnancy and childbirth than White women, regardless of their education level or socioeconomic status.
The solutions to stopping maternal deaths are not rocket science. Prenatal care must identify high-risk pregnancies, and women need access to proper nutrition to reduce the risks of postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal deaths. With proper planning and preparation, including access to cesarean sections and emergency services, these deaths are preventable. Addressing these gaps would save countless lives.
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is a double-edged sword – it manifests as undernutrition (not enough nutrients) or overnutrition (eating too much). Both forms can be deadly, especially for children under five. Undernourished children fail to grow properly (wasting) and suffer impaired brain development, leading to stunting.
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Globally, 22% of children are stunted, with 90% of cases occurring in Africa and Asia. On the other hand, overnutrition causes obesity, increasing the risk of non-communicable diseases like diabetes.
The solutions are simple: Support mothers to breastfeed exclusively for six months, educate communities on using affordable, local foods to prepare nutritious meals, and invest in school feeding programs. These steps would dramatically reduce malnutrition’s toll.
MLK’s vision for health justice shapes my global health equity journey. On MLK Day, let us reflect on global health injustices and commit to ending them. Identify one health issue you are passionate about and take meaningful action to address it.
MLK was right – health injustice is the worst form of inequality because without health we have nothing.
Happy MLK Day!
Dr. Ifeanyi M. Nsofor, a public-health physician, global health equity advocate and behavioral-science researcher, serves on the Global Fellows Advisory Board at the Atlantic Institute, Oxford, United Kingdom. You can follow him @Ifeanyi Nsofor, MD on LinkedIn
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Read the original article on IPS.
AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 110 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.
Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.
AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa – aggregating, producing and distributing 400 news and information items daily from over 110 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC.
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Africa: Holders Zamalek Lead Star-Studded TotalEnergies Confederation Cup Quarter-Finals

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The TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup quarter-final line-up has been finalised with defending champions Zamalek leading a formidable array of clubs into the knock-out stages.
Eight teams from six nations will battle for continental glory when the quarter-finals commence on March 30, with the return legs scheduled for April 6.
Zamalek, who topped Group D with an impressive 14 points, are joined by fellow Egyptian side Al-Masry in the knockout stages.
The White Knights sealed their progress with a convincing 3-1 victory over Nigeria’s Enyimba on Sunday on the final matchday.
Tanzania’s Simba SC emerged as Group A winners, with Algeria’s CS Constantine securing second place.
Morocco’s Renaissance Berkane, previous winners of the competition, topped Group B ahead of South African debutants Stellenbosch.
USM Alger’s dominant Group C campaign saw them accumulate 14 points, while ASEC Mimosas of Cote d’Ivoire dramatically claimed the final quarter-final berth with a convincing victory on the last day.
The quarter-final draw will prevent teams from the same group meeting, meaning Egyptian rivals Zamalek and Al-Masry cannot face each other until at least the semi-finals.
Zamalek will face one of CS Constantine, Stellenbosch, or ASEC Mimosas, while Al-Masry could meet Simba, Berkane, or USM Alger.
The tournament’s knockout phase structure ensures home advantage will be crucial, with group winners hosting the decisive second legs. The semi-finals are scheduled for April 20 and 27, with the two-legged final set for May 17 and 25.
The presence of former champions Zamalek and Berkane, alongside ambitious clubs like Simba and USM Alger, suggests an intriguing battle lies ahead for Africa’s second-tier club crown.
Read the original article on CAF.
AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 110 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.
Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.
AllAfrica is a voice of, by and about Africa – aggregating, producing and distributing 400 news and information items daily from over 110 African news organizations and our own reporters to an African and global public. We operate from Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Johannesburg, Nairobi and Washington DC.
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ConCourt dismisses bid to block Petauke by-election

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By Hannock Kasama

The Constitutional Court has dismissed the application for a Conservatory Order to halt the PETAUKE Central Constituency by-election.

The application was recently filed by Governance Activist, ISAAC MWANZA and Zambia Civil Liberties Union.

However, the Constitutional Court has ruled that the application by Mr. MWANZA and the Zambia Civil Liberties Union has not outweighed public interest to hold the PETAUKE Central by-election.

Constitutional Court Judge, MATHEWS CHISUNKA has also ruled that Mr. MWANZA and the Zambia Civil Liberties Union have not demonstrated any prejudice they would suffer on account of the holding of the PETAUKE Central by-election.

Mr. MWANZA and the Zambia Civil Liberties Union had filed a petition in the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of National Assembly Speaker NELLY MUTTI’s declaration of the PETAUKE Central seat vacant.

The post ConCourt dismisses bid to block Petauke by-election appeared first on ZNBC-Just for you.

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