Committee on Sustainable Development Opens in Addis Ababa
By Andrew Allimadi, Communication Officer, ECA
24 October 2005

The Committee on Sustainable Development today opened its week-long meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the election of a new Bureau to guide its work over the next two years. The new Bureau will be chaired by Nigeria, and the first and second vice presidents are the Republic of Congo and South Africa respectively, with Tanzania serving as the rapporteur. The Bureau will guide discussions and work by African countries on managing land-based resources for sustainable development.

The state minister for agriculture and rural development of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dr. Abera Deresa, illustrated the importance of sustainable land-use to Ethiopia, by stating that the country’s highlands lose an estimated 1.9 billion tons of soil every year; and that 20,000 to 30,000 hectares of agricultural land is abandoned each year due to soil depletion. The minister called for detailed action plans for land, soil water and forestry development; and programmes for promoting alternative energy sources to combat this problem.

The Officer in Charge of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and director of the sustainable development division, Josue Dione, welcomed participants to ECA. He said sustainable land-use was a priority issue for Africa and will be crucial to attaining the Millennium Development Goals. He contrasted the continent’s resource wealth with its poverty, noting that 9.4% of the world’s oil; about 8% of the coal and almost 6% of the world gas was in Africa, yet only 23% of people in sub-Saharan Africa have access to electricity. He said the Committee faced the challenge of how to harness Africa’s land-based resources for improved livelihoods of the people and the sustainable development of Africa.

“I encourage (the Committee) to give serious thought to this paradox of want in the midst of plenty: why does Africa, with so much, continue to lag behind in development?” Dione said.

The meeting will run from 24 – 28 October 2005 at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.