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Lifting MDGs Through Corporate Partnerships(AllAfrica Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) As the world looks forward to 2015 when the Millennium Development Projects (MDGs) are expected to have taken some villages in sub-Saharan Africa out of poverty and environmental degradation, Raheem Akingbolu analyses the place of corporate partnership in the scheme The projection of the world leaders at the Millennium Summit in year 2000 to prepare Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) achieve the MDGs by 2015 is beginning to yield results. Compared to the condition of the identified villages before the intervention, things are currently looking up for them in almost all areas of their lives, especially agriculture, health, education and infrastructure. Team Leader and Operations Manager of Pampaida Millennium Village Project, located in Kaduna State, Mr. Bala Yunusa, scored the project high during a recent encounter. He commended some corporate organisations for consistently providing facilities to aid the project. According to Yunusa, the Pampaida MVP has enjoyed intervention from Ericsson and Airtel through installation of communication mast, provision of ICT centres, donation of internet cards and phones, among other contributions. Specifically, stakeholders from the communities are said to have lauded Airtel's mobile-health service, an intervention that has significantly reduced the mortality and morbidity rate of infants and mothers in several villages in Kaduna State. How it all started At the millennium summit in September 2000, world leaders set forth quantified and time bound goals -The Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) -to cut extreme poverty, hunger, diseases, gender inequality, environmental degradation, lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Although the MDGs had been generally accepted as the world's goals, there were questions and controversies about how to attain them. SSA was the only region still severely off-track to reach the MDGs by 2015. Several biophysical and economic constraints impede SSA's escape from extreme poverty. These constraints include: extremely low productivity of food production, heavy burden of infectious disease, and insufficient core infrastructure in water, roads, power, and telecommunications. However, by targeting investments in agriculture, education, health and infrastructure, Millennium Villages are demonstrating that it is possible to escape extreme poverty that results from the extreme shortage of productive capital in the rural areas, where 70 per cent of the population live. The Millennium Villages focus centrally on the delivery of the MDGs and the promotion of human security in impoverished rural areas through community -based investments and capacity building supported by an investment of $110 per person per year over a 5-10 year period. They are proof of concept for achieving the MDGs in hunger hot spots of rural Africa and subsistence farm communities in other parts of the world. In Nigeria, two of such villages, Pampaida in Kaduana State and Ikaram-Ibaram in Ondo State, are being taken out of poverty to assume the status of self-sustainable communities. Operations According to the team leader in Pampaida, Yunusa, the programme was flagged off on the 23rd of May 2006, by Professor Jeffrey Sachs, in collaboration with the then Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, the late Patrick Yakowa. Yakowa, who later became the governor of the state died in plane crash in 2012. Pampaida is located in north-western part of Kaduna State and comprises 57 settlements with a total population of 26,660 divided into 4,050 households. Villagers' livelihoods are mainly based on pastoralism and small-scale agriculture. Pampaida represents the agroforestry parkland system, characterised by crops and trees with a strong presence of livestock. The community is predominantly made up of Hausa's and Fulanis. The Hausas are mainly farmers while the Fulanis are cattle raisers. Sixty per cent of the population is Muslim and the rest 40 is Christian. Both groups are said to have co-existed peacefully for over a century. Villagers practice a mixed cropping system, growing cereals (millet, tomatoes, onions, sorghum and maize) and raising cattle in the upland, rainfall areas. During the rainy season (June to September), the rivers spill over their banks, creating low-lying seasonally flooded areas, which the villagers use to grow rice. Despite these methods, there is a yearly food shortage in Pampaida, which ranges from three months of hunger in a good year to five months in a drought year. Drought is frequent in this area, occurring every three to four years. Until the United Nation's intervention, Pampaida lacked the basic infrastructure that is critical to development. The nearest market is about 15 km away. No source of electricity exists except for a few private generators. Firewood is the main source of energy which is becoming very scarce due to the high depletion rate of the vegetation. Airtel's contribution However, things have changed for better for these villagers, compared to their living conditions of the past. Among other areas, key advancements in infrastructure have been made in Pamapaida, including 10 boreholes, a local clinic, a storage house for grain, road construction, electricity and mobile telephoning. Airtel Nigeria has been applauded by stakeholders of the village project for its contribution towards the realisation of the MDGs. Health workers in the communities, residents and other beneficiaries, while expressing their gratitude, urged the GSM service provider not to relent in its genuine commitment at improving the quality of life of Nigerians as demonstrated by the smooth operations of the M-health service. The M-health initiative sees Airtel providing critical telecommunications Infrastructure, including a 3G mast, smartphones, toll free lines and Closed User Group (CUG) services for health workers in the villages. According to the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Airtel Nigeria, Segun Ogunsanya, the company is providing communications solutions that will help to improve the quality of life of people in one of the remotest parts of Nigeria. His words, "the communication solutions that have been deployed will enable the people of Pampaida to make calls, access health services and education and improve their economic status. "We are creating enormous opportunities for these communities and we expect the impact of this project to outlive our generation. At Airtel Nigeria, we are convinced that the attendant benefits and potential of this project will fast-track transformation of the lives of many of the residents of Pampaida from their current status," he said. Meanwhile, Yunusa stated that the role played by Airtel Nigeria is vital and indispensable when it comes to achieving the key goals of the Millennium Villages Project. He said: "After conducting a rapid diagnostic test, the Village Health Workers are able to capture and send real-time information on their mobile phones to a server which provides automatic response and guidance for the health workers on the field. "The mobile data provided by Airtel is used to send required details to the remote server, while the CUG allows smooth communication among the team of health workers. This is made possible by our partner Airtel Nigeria in collaboration with Ericsson." Also speaking, the Coordinator, MVP, Dr. Clement Woje, who highlighted some of the achievements recorded by the health project, said it has resulted in increased access and utilisation of health care services, decreased malaria prevalence rate and influenced a general decline in child and maternal mortality. Reaffirming Woje's position, a health facilitator under the project, Ojo Adedotun, who is a medical doctor, said the project records a monthly average of 30 to 40 child deliveries out of which 10 to 15 are home deliveries while the remaining occur in the clinic. He stressed that the M-health service supported by Airtel Nigeria plays significant roles in the success of these deliveries. Copyright This Day. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). |