27 August to 01 September 2006
Speech
SPEECH FOR THE DEPUTY MINISTER THIRD GEF ASSEMBLY
SIDE EVENT
PERSITENT ORGANIC POLUTANTS (POPs) AND THE AFRICA
STOCKPILES PROGRAM (ASP)
Program Director
Excellencies
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Let me use this opportunity
to extend my gratitude to the GEF Assembly for
inviting me to address this gathering on behalf
of my government and further wish to welcome all
delegations present at this meeting.
Firstly I wish to commend the
GEF and all ASP partners (World Bank, African
Development Bank, NEPAD, AU, UNEP Chemicals, FAO,
WHO, other UN agencies, donor governments, national
governments in Africa, CropLife International,
WWF, Pesticide Action Network, etc) for embracing
the concept of partnership in this initiative
that seeks to coordinate the management of POPs
and removal of pesticide stockpiles in Africa.
South Africa became a Party
to the Stockholm Convention in 2002 and has started
the development of the National Implementation
Plan (NIP) which will prioritize action plans
for the management, reduction and ultimate removal
of POPs from the environment. We also signed the
Grant Agreement with the World Bank on the 4th
April 2006 to the tune of US$1,7million for the
ASP project in South Africa.
This is an important milestone
for South Africa, of delivering on our promise
made in 2002 during the World Summit on Sustainable
Development: to reduce the negative impacts of
toxic chemicals to human health and the environment
by 2020.
While the goals of the NIPs
and the ASP are to safely remove POPs and pesticides
as well as establishing mechanisms to prevent
their accumulation, these goals can only be achieved
by developing national and regional capacity to
implement the projects, and this is the challenge
facing us today.
South Africa is in the process
of addressing the root cause of obsolete pesticide
stocks accumulation, namely:
Poor pesticide management practices;
Reliance on pesticides as “wonder chemicals”
Continuing pressure on farmers to increase production;
pesticide product bans;
illegal trade through porous borders;
strategic purchasing to combat migratory pests;
and
centralized government purchase.
The removal of obsolete pesticides through the
ASP follows previous attempts undertaken by government
and the private sector to remove 1000 tons collected
from farmers, industry and the public in 1999
and 2001. While these initiatives attempted to
remove obsolete stockpiles and had a national
and regional approach, there was no strategy to
prevent future accumulation, hence we still have
stockpiles.
The current approach through
the ASP will also include a strategy to prevent
accumulation of stockpiles, pesticide management,
and reducing reliance on pesticides by using an
Integrated Pest and Vector Management (IPM/IVM)
and indigenous knowledge.
The ASP and NIPs will give us
an opportunity to strengthen our legal framework
for the control and management of these chemicals,
build capacity to manage POPs and pesticides safely,
to identify contaminated sites and reduce their
impacts on communities and environment, to raise
awareness, to participate in research and development
and identify safe alternatives to these toxic
chemicals.
South Africa will have an opportunity
to deal with the legacy of pesticides and its
association with poor communities, with its negative
impacts on human health and the environment. Poor
communities will invariably occupy contaminated
sites and may not be aware of the risks they are
exposed to. The risks far outweigh issues of food
security and the continuing pressure on farmers
to increase food production. The issue of contaminated
land has a great impact on future land use prospects
in African countries, especially for development
of human settlements.
The advent of these projects
is an opportunity to clear out these toxic chemicals
as well as to ensure that the stockpiles do not
accumulate again.
I need to congratulate all ASP
partners and donors that were involved in initiating
the Africa Stockpile Programme and committing
to its implementation. For any partnership to
succeed, each partner should accept its role and
responsibility.
We look forward to seeing each
and every African country free of obsolete pesticide
stocks. Therefore for those countries in Phase
1 of the ASP implementation (Ethiopia, Mali, Morocco,
South Africa, Tunisia, Tanzania, and Nigeria)
we’ll be able to share experiences with the rest
of the African countries still to initiate the
ASP.
I wish you a fruitful meeting
and look forward to sharing the successes with
you.
I thank you
