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African farmers "struggling to access the Clean Development Mechanism"

7 Nov 2011

The New Age reports that, as South Africa prepares to host UN climate talks, to be held in Durban from 28 November to 9 December 2011, African farmers say they are struggling to access the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM is billed as a key programme meant to help them take part in the fight against climate change by letting industrialised countries and their companies fund green projects in the developing world in exchange for credits toward their emission-cutting targets under the Kyoto Protocol.

African farmers "struggling to access the Clean Development Mechanism"

Farmers in Africa complain that the CDM's complicated paperwork puts the emissions trading programme out of their reach. "Small-scale farmers do not have the knowledge to present projects," Effatah Jele of the Zambia National Farmers Union is reported to have told AFP.

"My major concern is that it affects the small farmer, who is usually a woman. I'm a dairy farmer and I want to know how to feed my cattle so they produce less gas," she said.

Zanele Phiri, director of Swaziland's farmers union, said applying for CDM projects is too expensive for ordinary farmers. "Why was it made in that way? It costs a lot of money," Phiri said.

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