Category: Environment

Climate change takes Centre stage at water congress in Kigali

umuringanews

As the 2023 Water and Development Congress began in Kigali on Sunday, December 10, officials said climate change was “the biggest” hindrance to universal access to water and sanitation in both developed and developing countries. The congress organised by the International Water Association (IWA), the Rwandan government and the Water and Sanitation Corporation Group (WASAC) has attracted up to 1,000 delegates, including policymakers, water utilities corporations, academics and technologists and private sector and civil society players. It takes place as 26 per cent of the world’s population (two billion people)…

SOMA INKURU

GMO: One of the pillars of food security

umuringanews

BY NIKUZE NKUSI Diane   Many of us have heard the term “GMOs,” but how many of us know what they are as well as their benefits to the food supply and the environment? GMO (genetically modified organism) technology uses specific scientific innovation to genetically alter plants and promote desired characteristics. For example, these characteristics can help fruits and vegetables grow better under environmental stresses like drought, ward off crop diseases and pests and even forgo browning in fruits once they are sliced. This technology also decreases food waste, gives…

SOMA INKURU

Fighting malnutrition: Golden Rice and the EU’s GMO conundrum

umuringanews

“This rice could save a million kids a year”, read the July 2000 cover of Time Magazine, referring to a genetically modified rice, “Golden Rice”, that had been biofortified with life-saving nutrition.  But in the nearly two decades that have passed since then, the cultivation of genetically biofortified crops, such as Golden Rice, to help solve the global humanitarian crisis of “malnutrition” remains elusive. One major reason for the delay has been the systematic opposition to all forms of GMOs and genetic engineering by radical interest groups including Greenpeace and…

SOMA INKURU

Ikoranabuhanga mu buhinzi n’ubworozi niyo nzira yahisemo

umuringanews

NISHIMWE Aimable ni umuhinzi mworozi wabigize umwuga ku myaka 23, nyuma yo kurangiza amashuri yisumbiye muri scince (PCB), akaba afite Company “PRE EMINENT Ltd” ikora ubuvumvu mu karere KARWAMAGANA,  umurenge wa KARENGE,  akagari ka  BICACA. umudugudu wa RUNZENZE agamije gufasha abaturage bo mu RWANDA kubangurira ibihigwa hakoreshejwe inzuki bityo umusaruro w’ibihigwa ukiyongera ari nako umusaruro w’ubuki uboneka ku isoko.   NISHIMWE yatangaje ko yatangiye n’ubworozi bw’ingurube anabufatanya no gutanga serevisi zo guhugura urubyiruko mu gukoresha imirasire y’izuba mu kuhira, anahugura urubyiruko uburyo bwo gukoresha ikoranabuhanga mu buhinzi anabahishurira amahirwe ari mu…

SOMA INKURU

Youth, key actors on strengthening the use of biotechnology in agriculture- Dr NDUWUMUREMYI

umuringanews

By Diane NIKUZE NKUSI The growth rate of the world population continues to increase day by day. World population projected to reach 9.8 billion in 2050 as United Nations revealed. It means that the resulting in a serious need to increase agricultural production by all means, among them there is the use of modern biotechnology in the production of genetically modified crops. This will mean obtaining sufficient, healthy, safe and nutritious food needed to feed the world’s growing population. Since Rwanda’s population is made up of young people, they can bring innovative…

SOMA INKURU

How GMO crops could boost yields, save crops from pests and diseases in Rwanda

umuringanews

By Diane NIKUZE NKUSI   Genetically modified crops known as GMOs could increase agriculture production, address pests and diseases that attack crops and scientists have assured that they don’t pose threats to human health. GMOs are products of Agricultural biotechnology-an area of agricultural science involving the use of scientific tools and techniques, including genetic engineering, molecular markers, molecular diagnostics, vaccines, and tissue culture, to modify living organisms namely plants, animals, and microorganisms. Dr Athanase Nduwumuremyi, Coordinator of Roots and Tubers Program at Rwanda Agriculture and Animal Resources Development Board (RAB)…

SOMA INKURU

In Rwanda, the impact of climate change on agriculture is questionable

umuringanews

By Gaston  RWAKA The whole world continues to worry about climate change, in Rwanda, farmers have started to face a lack of rain when they should have started planting seeds. The expansion of large-scale energy-intensive industries and the lack of forest conservation are some of the human activities that pollute the environment and have a significant impact on climate change. In an interview with umuringanews.com, Ngarukiye Athanase, a resident of Kayonza Sector, Musumba Village, who earns his living from agriculture, says that if the weather does not rain, hunger will…

SOMA INKURU

DR Congo: Indigenous Communities claim Justice in loss of their forests due to climate change  

umuringanews

By Diane NKUSI NIKUZE    Indigenous communities in the DR Congo have decried threats to the forests of the Congo Basin, which has increasingly come under pressure from timber merchants from around the world. While deforestation in Democratic Republic of CONGO is on the steady rise, the autochthone communities fear soon they may not have anything left of their heritage. The Democratic Republic of Congo contains around 60% of the forests of the Congo Basin, and contribute to the carbon storage capacity. There are three groups of indigenous peoples in…

SOMA INKURU

Climate Change: Youths protest in solidarity with the suffering pastoralists and farmers

umuringanews

By Diane NKUSI NIKUZE   Climate activists in Kenya and around Africa take to the streets today demanding action against loss and damage due to climate change impacts. Coalesced under the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), climate activists, mostly driven by thousands of youths have chosen to make a statement by holding street matches demanding that states compensate for losses pastoralists and smallholder farmers in the country suffer due to the ongoing drought which has been described by locals as the “worst in 40 years”. “It unimaginable that communities…

SOMA INKURU

Kilifi CSOs urge Government to Conserve the Mangrove Forests along the Coastline  

umuringanews

By Diane NKUSI NIKUZE   The conservation of the Mangrove forests could influence the magnitude and duration of Kenya’s benefit from her planned blue economy, the Kenya Platform on Climate Governance (KPCG) has said. In a statement released on the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem, Anne Tek, the National Coordinator for the KPCG said conserving the mangroves will improve the coastal environment and boost the contribution of the blue economy to the national GDP. “Mangroves provide breeding grounds for the fish, which contributes to the national…

SOMA INKURU