Climate Ethics and Policy in Africa

In this article, I use case studies from some African countries to determine whether or not African climate management policies have been guided by ethical principles. I argue that although climate change is fundamentally an ethical issue, African policymakers have not paid sufficient attention to ethical principles in this regard. I argue that the major ethical principles embodied in different African traditions can assist African and non-African countries to address the challenges occasioned by climate change. Finally, I suggest that technological societies whose current emissions most exceed their fair share of emissions ought to give attention to justice, and play their respective roles in averting the most extreme effects of climate change. KeywordsAfrican ethics, climate ethics, climate change, climate policy, inter-generational justic

Laboratory studies on the outbreak of Gangrenous Ergotism associated with consumption of contaminated barley in Arsi, Ethiopia

Background: Ergotism is caused by the fungus Claviceps purpurea, which parasitizes cereal grains and is ingested by man through flour milled from contaminated cereals. An outbreak of ergotism in Ethiopia in 1978 resulted from exposure to ergot alkaloids from C. puruprea sclerotia. Objectives: The objective of this study was to investigate consumption of cereal grains grown locally as the most likely cause of the outbreak of gangrenous ergotism so that control measures could be applied. Methods: During June to August, 2001, there were reports of a large number of cases of gangrene in Arsi Zone, Ethiopia. A multi-disciplinary team assessed the outbreak of the decease. Non-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with heads of households of the affected, and each of the patients was also interviewed. Grain samples were then collected from the interviewed households and analyzed for ergot alkaloids. Acute toxicity studies were also conducted by feeding male, non-pregnant and pregnant Swiss albino mice with the collected grain samples. Results: Mycological cultures of grain samples yielded ergot alkaloids. All the grain samples contained ergot alkaloids, but with varying concentration. The highest concentration of ergotamine was observed in grain samples No. 4 (2.51 mg/100 g) and No. 6 (2.66 mg/100 g). Grain samples No. 2 and 7 had similar concentration of ergotamine, but more than four-fold higher than in grain sample No. 3. In contrast, the concentration of ergometrine in grain samples No. 4 (1.15mg/100 g) and No.6 (1.21mg/100 g) were two-fold lower than ergotamine. The highest death (55%) of mice was observed in those test groups fed on grain samples No. 4 and No. 6. Cases of abortion were noted after 3 days of feeding in all pregnant mice with the exception of those allocated to grain sample No. 3. Conclusion: We conclude on the basis of these results that the outbreak of gangrene in Arsi Zone, Ethiopia, is attributed to the ingestion of barley containing ergotized wild oats. [Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2002;16(3):317-323

Animal rights and environmental ethics in Africa : From anthropocentrism to non-speciesism?

The claim is frequently made on behalf of African moral beliefs and customs that African cultures do not objectify and exploit nature and natural organisms, unlike Western (or Northern) moral attitudes and practices. Through exploration of what kind of moral status is reserved for other-than-human animals in African ethics, I argued in my recent book Animals and African Ethics that moral perceptions, attitudes and practices on the African continent have tended to be resolutely anthropocentric, or human-centred. Although values like ubuntu (humanness) and ukama (relationality) have, in recent years, been expanded to include non-human nature, animals characteristically have no rights, and human duties to them are almost exclusively ‘indirect‘. Taking into account the brutal and dehumanizing ravages of colonialism, racism and political, cultural and moral apartheid that Africans have historically been subjected to, it does not seem to be wholly off the mark to invite people in sub-Sahara Africa, especially, to reflect on an even longer, more deeply-entrenched historical process of discrimination, oppression and exploitation, namely that of species apartheid. Yet, adoption of a more enlightened stance vis-à-vis the non-human world and animals in particular would almost certainly involve giving up the moral anthropocentrism that characterizes many attitudes and practices on the African continent. This need not entail surrendering what is arguably at the core of sub-Saharan morality – the emphasis on community and harmonious communal relationships. ‘I am because we are’ could reasonably be interpreted as not being confined to the human realm, as transcending the species barrier. I have in mind here something like a relational approach to animal rights and environmental ethics that is neither anthropocentric nor speciesist. The multifarious historical and geographical relationships we have with other-than-human animals give rise to a multitude of moral obligations that differ according to the kinds of relationships we find ourselves in. There is an increasing awareness among African scholars of the untenability of a rigidly species-governed ‘us-against-them’ thinking, that anthropocentrism shares many relevant features with ethnocentrism, and that speciesism is relevantly like racism. It is my aim in the proposed contribution to explore these ideas and conceptual tools in more detail

Data from: Current and future potential distributions of three Dracaena Vand. ex L. species under two contrasting climate change scenarios in Africa

Forest undergrowth plants are tightly connected with the shady and humid conditions that occur under the canopy of tropical forests. However, projected climatic changes, such as decreasing precipitation and increasing temperature, negatively affect understory environments by promoting light-demanding and drought-tolerant species. Therefore, we aimed to quantify the influence of climate change on the spatial distribution of three selected forest undergrowth plants, Dracaena Vand. ex L. species, D. afromontana Mildbr., D. camerooniana Baker and D surculosa Lindl., simultaneously creating the most comprehensive location database for these species to date. A total of 1223 herbarium records originating from tropical Africa and derived from 93 herbarium collections worldwide have been gathered, validated and entered into a database. Species-specific Maxent species distribution models (SDMs) based on 11 bioclimatic variables from the WorldClim database were developed for the species. HadGEM2-ES projections of bioclimatic variables in two contrasting representative concentration pathways (RCPs), RCP2.6 and RCP8.5, were used to quantify the changes in future potential species distribution. D. afromontana is mostly sensitive to temperature in the wettest month, and its potential geographical range is predicted to decrease (up to -63.7% at RCP8.5). Optimum conditions for D. camerooniana are low diurnal temperature range (6-8°C) and precipitation in the wettest season exceeding 750 mm. The extent of this species will also decrease, but not as drastically as that of D. afromontana. D. surculosa prefers high precipitation in the coldest months. Its potential habitat area is predicted to increase in the future and to expand towards the east. This study developed SDMs and estimated current and future (year 2050) potential distributions of the forest undergrowth Dracaena species. D. afromontana, naturally associated with mountainous plant communities, was the most sensitive to predicted climate warming. In contrast, D. surculosa was predicted to extend its geographical range, regardless of the climate change scenario