The Axe affect....

IIPM PUBLICATION

Sawing off the supporting branch

It is said that if there is one community that knows how to convert a ‘boon’ in to a ‘bane’, it is the Africans. Take a look and you shall find that almost each and every nation south of Sahara has been blessed with abundance of natural resources. Nevertheless it’s nothing short of an irony that almost all of them (barring a few around Cape of Good Hope) have been ravaged by one or other politicoethnic problems. Liberia and Ivory Coast possess generous deposits of diamonds but still, substantial portion of population in both the countries is malnourished. The same goes for Malta, Zimbabwe and Uganda. In the north, Nigeria displays the classic example of how to destroy one’s own environment. In a famous incident in early 90s, tensions arose between the natives of the Niger Delta and Shell over environmental damages caused by Shell's practices. Dan Chandler, spokesman of CUSU Green (Cambridge University Students’ Union working for environment and social justice), told B&E, “The government does not bother as it is busy pocketing dollars. The people who suffer are the one who were dependent on the delta for their livelihood.”

Nigeria is not a lone case. One can find similar problem across Africa. The power conflict and the blatant disrespect for environmental concerns are only making the situation worse. And if that was not enough, the latest report by IUCN (The World Conservation Union) on climate change in Africa has brought more bad news. The report suggests that the severity of current impacts (many communities have lost almost all their crops this year due to climate hazards, and, currently, there are high levels of hunger, malnutrition and diseases) will only increase if concrete steps are not taken. Its high time Africa sits and ponders upon how to stop fighting & preserve natural heritage.

B&E edit bureau: Saurabh Kumar

For Complete IIPM Article, Click on IIPM Article

Source : IIPM Editorial, 2007

An IIPM and Professor Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist) Initiative

Rashmi Bansal Publisher of JAMMAG magazine caught red-handed, for details click on the following links.

• Hindustan Times Article - Publisher goes underground
• Rashmi Bansal (Editor of JAMMAG)
• Rashmi Bansal (Publisher of JAMMAG)