1.

Prof Wangari Maathai’s keynote address during the 2nd World

Congress of Agroforestry

By Wangari Maathai
Nairobi, Kenya
August 24, 2009

The Chair, 
Your Excellency, the Vice-President, Hon. Kalonzo Musyoka,Dr. Achim Steiner, UN Under-
Secretary General and Executive Director of UNEP,
Dr. Dennis Garrity, Executive Director of ICRAF, 
Mr. Romano Kiome, Permanent Secretary of Agriculture
Government Ministers and Senior Civil Servants, 
Honourable Delegates and participants, 
Ladies and gentlemen, 
It is with great pleasure that I join you, on the opening day of the 2nd World Congress of
Agroforestry. This key global event is organised by two institutions that I have a close and special
relationship with – the World Agroforestry Centre and the United Nations Environment
Programme. My affiliation with these two organisations goes back to their beginning when the
world decided to honour Kenyan and Africa and established the headquarters here in Nairobi.
One of my fond memories is of visiting the World Agroforestry Centre and planting a seedling that
was presented to me in a biodegradable casing. I immediately wanted to replace the plastic
containers distributed by the Green Belt Movement for its tree planting campaign with such
biodegradable casings. This would make a big contribution in reducing flimsy plastic bags that are
also used to package goods. They end up as waste that we later see on trees and hedges, in rivers
and soils, at dumpsites and even in the stomachs of domestic animals. The Green Belt Movement
urges the government to increase the gauge of flimsy plastic bags so that the industries produce
bags with a thicker gauge that make it possible to re-use, recycle and reduce. This is the 3R
campaign. Without laws to demand the thicker bags from the industry, millions of flimsy plastic
bags continue to be thrown into the environment. We have been impressed by the government of
Rwanda, which perhaps taking a cue from the 3R campaign, embraced a no-flimsy plastic policy in
Rwanda. It has already made the country cleaner and safer from diseases like malaria associated
with filthy waste and stagnant water. 
In respect of the 3R campaign, allow me to introduce to you a Japanese concept known as
Mottainai, which embraces not only the 3Rs, but also urges respect, gratitude and utilisation of
resources without wasting or over-consuming. The Mottainai concept is embedded in Japanese
tradition and faith based practises. Japanese children learn to be respectful, grateful and accountable
to future generations even as they grow up. Such intergenerational responsibility is important and
should guide our political and socio-economic decisions.
It is partly this sense of responsibility and accountability that makes both UNEP and ICRAF
special. They value knowledge and capacities that fill crucial technical and scientific gaps. It is
important that they be accessible and that the knowledge they gather and package be distributed to
those who need it. Partnering with these organisations around the Billion Tree Campaign has been
especially inspiring. UNEP has provided the leadership and has been the engine that has continued
to drive the campaign with unbelievable commitment and success. The World Agroforestry Centre
has provided the science and technical expertise in understanding, testing and promoting the right
trees for the right place. The Green Belt Movement provides the grassroots link and advocacy, and
as you probably know, HSH The Prince of Monaco and I are honoured to play the role of patrons. I
wish to thank both organisations through their leadership led by Dr. Achim Steiner and Dr. Dennis
Garitty.
Now, over the next couple of days, you will be discussing topics that are critically important to the
development of Agroforestry science. These are important discussions which will focus on 1) Food
Security and Livelihoods, 2) Conservation and Rehabilitation of Natural resources and 3) Policies
and institutions. These areas need immediate and determined attention. 
Faced with the challenges of climate change, environmental degradation, food shortages, worsening
poverty and the global financial downturn, it is ever more important that we double our efforts to
protect and rehabilitate the environment, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, and provide
especially the smallholder farmers around the world with sustainable ways of increasing their
production and meeting their livelihood needs. 
The overall theme of this Congress is Agroforestry, which is the future of land use. For the last
three decades, the Green Belt Movement has urged citizens to plant appropriate trees on small
holders farms. Recently the Minister of Environment advised farmers to get rid of eucalyptus from
riverside areas, while the Green Belt Movement has been campaigning to have them, and indeed the
Shamba system, banned also from gazetted forests that also serve as watershed areas. The value,
role and contributions of Agroforestry and protection of endemic habitats, in light of current global
environmental challenges, cannot be over-emphasised. It is encouraging that the FAO statistics
indicate that the planting of trees on farms is increasing even as trees in forests are decreasing due
to deforestation. 
Promoting rain water harvesting and planting appropriate trees on farms would make a huge
positive impact on the environment and related global problems. In this connection I wish to
commend the Minister of Environment in Kenya, who recently adopted a suggestion that was
originally suggested during the constitutional conference in Kenya to make it a constitutional
requirement that 10% of all land be put under appropriate trees. This translated to about 25 trees per
ha irrespective of species and format of planting. Such an initiative would reduce risks and diversify
options for farmers. However, unless markets, policies and institutions are put in place, such
ministerial directive can be turned around by a future leadership. All of us, scientists, extension
workers, policymakers, academicians, students and civil society have a vital role to play in
addressing, and providing practical and sustainable solutions for this challenge.
On Food Security and Livelihoods, I remember growing up in the Central highlands of Kenya at a
time when complete lack of food was rare. This was partly because the community had diversity of
foods some of which, like cassava, sweet potatoes, arrowroots and perennial food crops like
bananas and sugar cane served to cushion communities during droughts and crop failures. There
were also wild fruit trees to supply tasty and nutritious fruits, wild vegetables, honey and roots.
There were two monsoon rain seasons that gave the land adequate water to grow enough to eat and
store in granaries, which were part of the infrastructure of every household. Today a significant sign
of food insecurity is the disappearance of granaries and diversity of food crops at household level.
Farmers have been encouraged to plant cash crops like tea, coffee and sugar cane on every piece of
their available land, leaving no space for tree farming and growing of food crops. Even when
available such land is allowed to lose top soil and water through soil erosion, becoming degraded
and unable to support food crops. Therefore, when rains fail and drought strike, such as is
happening in Kenya, there is not only an ecological, but also a human disaster. Agroforestry science
and practices should respond to such challenges and reduce the suffering. 
I mentioned Mottainai in Japan above, but in many of the world traditions people developed
mechanisms that allow them to reduce their vulnerability. For example, amongst the Kikuyu
community here in Kenya, hungry vulnerable groups and travellers were permitted to feed off the
farms as long as they did not carry any of the food away. One was required to sit down and eat and
satisfy hunger, but not carry food away. It was a common law that people obeyed to prevent death
from hunger. For these groups there was a special granary of God (ikumbi ria Ngai), which was
supplied by the public. As members passed by from the field with a harvest (magetha), they would
throw some of it into the granary of God. This was a good sign of community sense of
responsibility to others and very much an equivalent of the biblical tithes or 10%. Such common
laws and coded wisdom, on local biodiversity and other agricultural issues, is largely being replaced
by greed, selfishness and complete lack of sense of community good. We are more likely to be our
brothers’ killers, rather than our brothers’ keepers! 
One of the promising areas of research in agroforestry is the domestication of wild fruit trees. By
selecting superior trees from the wild - tree maturity times can be shortened and fruit appearance,
yield, taste and nutritive value can all be greatly enhanced. Smallholder farm families in some
countries in Africa are applying this approach and are benefitting from planting these domesticated
varieties of highly nutritious fruit trees in their small plots. Some small-scale farmers in Western
and Southern Africa, are diversifying into higher value enterprises that involve production,
processing and commercialisation of fruits from indigenous fruit trees and their products. By
linking farmers and communities to markets, their capacity to learn and adopt new innovations is
enhanced. These families and communities are in urgent need of the knowledge science generates,
and the policies and practices governments and technocrats help legislate and implement. The goal
is to assist farmers produce sufficient crops, and sustain their livelihoods in a changing climate.
For sure, some African farmers are benefitting from research on sustainable ways of improving soil
productivity. In rural Malawi, for example, lack of food security is directly linked to declining soil
fertility, with nitrogen being the main limiting factor. I am informed that funded by Irish Aid and
coordinated by the World Agroforestry Centre, in partnership with a consortium of national
institutions, the Malawi Agroforestry Food Security Programme has enabled thousands of families
to increase food production and enhance nutrition by improving soil fertility and restoring degraded
farmland. This has been achieved by encouraging farmers to use new agroforestry technologies that
increase productivity while reducing the use of chemical fertilisers. 
I was happy to hear that research on Faidherbia Albida in Southern Africa is yielding very
promising results. Faidherbia albida is an excellent nitrogen fixer and source of fodder. It sheds
leaves during the rainy season and retains them in the dry season so that it does not compete with
cops for light. Research with Faidherbia albida conducted in Zambia over several years shows
mature trees can sustain maize yields of as much as 4 tonnes per hectare as opposed to 1 tonne per
hectare in traditional systems. This is an area where donor agencies should be encouraged to
upscale. This was also supported by the African Union Ministers of Agriculture, Land and
Livestock, who at their meeting in Addis Ababa in April called for a scaling up of conservation
agriculture and agroforestry. They also called for the development of a climate change adaptation
framework for African agriculture. If the principles of agroforestry are to be applied to several
countries in Africa through a massive up-scaling with real impact, it will require training and a huge
extension effort with serious donor commitment. 
As we work with farmers in Africa, we are also learning about constraints to adopting
environmentally sustainable ways of farming. We have especially learnt to recognise and respect
rural livelihood priorities and focus on providing not just a scientific solution but a stream of
benefits, one of which is Agroforestry tree planting. This especially with fertiliser trees, which
improve the soil, provide fruits, medicines, fodder, timber, shade and beauty, not to mention the
benefit to the ecosystem, pollination, biodiversity, and protection of watersheds, rivers and
wetlands. 
It is now critical that we expand existing proven and integrated tree-based practices such as
combining conservation agriculture with agro forestry — what we might call "evergreen
agriculture". This would make it possible to achieve environmental benefits and sustainable food
security and livelihoods. To achieve this will need sound decision support mechanisms from
researchers — supported by policymakers for effective implementation — that builds on
knowledge, partnerships and capacity. It also involves providing start-up inputs of quality seeds,
nursery, training and extension materials, payment for environmental services and other financial
stimuli for farmers. Extending the lessons to other countries will require strong partnerships with
donors, national research and extension systems, civil society organisations and the private sector. I
believe all those groups are represented here, and I am sure you will use your time together to forge
strong partnerships that are so critical to our cause.
Scientists, even as you select trees for fruit, medicine, fodder and soil services, select them also for
climate change. I know the World Agroforestry Centre is considering the effects of climate change,
adaptation and vulnerability in its research. This ties up closely with other Centre research on how
seed sources and tree ecology will be affected by climate change, and the evaluation of the carbon
value (sequestration) of different Agroforestry species. 
Here in Kenya we have been involved in long term campaigns to urge farmers and government
alike to respect and protect, conserve and restore biodiversity in forests so that we can benefit from
environmental services they provide. Also, to ensure that practises that maximise on carbon
sequestration are embraced. Therefore, we continue to be strongly opposed to the idea of re-
introducing the very destructive shamba system into our gazetted forests. This system, not
withstanding claims that it is coming back in an improved format; it is a system that destroys
biodiversity and reduces the capacity of forests to harvest rain water, retain it and releases it
gradually through rivers and streams. The shamba system causes forests to lose the capacity to
control rainfall patterns and climate as forests are turned into commercial farms and grazing
grounds mostly covered by Kikuyu grass. The presence of this Kikuyu grass also encourages
grazing by farmers close to the forests, who often keep more animals than their land can support
and therefore depend on grazing in the forests. 
Once forests are opened up in the name of the shamba system, there is no capacity or even the will
to police and protect forests. Even if foresters gained the will and the desire to protect forests, the
political will to support with resources and infrastructure needed to protect forests is not available.
It will only take the next political leadership ready and willing to use forests as they have been used
in the past, to dish out forests and settle their friends, supporters and tribesmen. Nobody will be able
to keep away charcoal burners, poachers of trees and wildlife, marijuana growers, human
settlements and other destructive activities that often lead to forest fires and destruction. With the
increasing population and the challenges of climate change it is suicidal to succumb to pressure
from pulp and building industries and re-introduce a system that was largely responsible for the
destruction of forests in the past. It is extremely unwise to use watershed areas as farmlands for
commercial trees to keep private or unviable public companies in operation. 
There is a lot of free land, which companies can lease and grow the trees they want at their own
expense and without undermining water systems. Why should the government provide commercial
trees at subsidised prices and at the expense of watershed areas? Environmental challenges facing
us require understanding, decisions and practises that will prevent disasters such as we are
experiencing here in Kenya. Science can help, but only leaders can make the decisions that citizens
should follow. Focus in Kenya is currently in the Mau Forest Complex but none of five water
towers are really safe. Smaller forests too like the Marmanet, Samburu area and Kabiru-ini in Nyeri
are still threatened with deforestation and land grabbing. The only reason why the Central Show
Ground has been moved into the very important corridor for the elephants migrating from the
Mount Kenya and Aberdare forests was to have an excuse to grab Kabiru-ini forest. Without the
political will and commitment, not only are we endangering our water systems, biodiversity,
tourism and agriculture but also, in not such a distant future, pyrethrum, wheat, tea and coffee
industries.
As we all know, it is the poor people in developing countries who will bear the brunt of climate
change and suffer most from its negative impacts. Climate change is increasing inter-annual rainfall
variability and the frequency of extreme events, leading to accelerated rates of degradation of soil
and water resources upon which farming communities depend for their livelihoods. The agricultural
systems most vulnerable to climate change are those already affected by unsustainable
management, and land and resource degradation. Yet, even as climate change, food production,
environmental services and rural livelihoods must improve, and not just be maintained – if we are to
meet the demands of the current exponential population growth rate. 
Trees have an important role not only in climate change mitigation but also in reducing
vulnerability to climate-related risks. The Green Belt Movement is working closely with institutions
such as the World Agroforestry Centre to improve the resilience of farming systems and livelihood
strategies of smallholder farmers to current climate variability. Also, long-term climate change is
being pursued through the increased use of trees for intensification, diversification and buffering of
farming systems. The joint work will contribute to improved and sustained agro-ecosystem
productivity in the face of climate change, as well as enhanced income generation from smallholder
carbon sequestration projects. We must halt unsustainable agricultural practices and embrace
mitigation strategies. But we can also do simpler things. Here in Kenya we have huge areas of road
reserves – large treeless tracts of land on either side of all roads. We could plant indigenous trees
there to bring back biodiversity. 
In this country, and indeed in many other countries, there is a destructive culture of removing
vegetation, including trees and shrubs, from road reserves, riverine areas and local green spaces.
The potential of road reserves being large reservoirs of biodiversity, slowing down water run-offs
and therefore reducing soil erosion and road destruction especially during the rain seasons, is
greatly under-estimated. Indeed the culture of road maintenance encourages clearing of vegetation
on road reserves and thereby promotes destructive practises that force the Ministry of roads to have
to spend much money repairing roads after every rain season. In areas where land is highly
cultivated such as in highly populated areas of Central and Eastern Kenya, road reserves, riverine
and local hills are the only areas where wilderness and genetic reservoirs are still available.
Protecting the vegetation and maintaining their wilderness is essential for sustainable agriculture
especially for pollinators, honey production and food security. Therefore, policymakers need a new
education and mindset so that they appreciate and accept that trees and bushes on road reserves are
good for the environment, eyes and mental health. The argument that vegetation in cities promotes
insecurity is unbelievably simplistic and misleading: We cannot turn the country into a desert in the
mistaken believe that we shall be safer in a concrete desert!
In December 2008, the Africa Bio-Carbon Initiative was launched in Poznan by a group of 26
African countries in East and Southern Africa. The Initiative advocates broader eligibility for bio-
carbon in the Kyoto and related regional and national frameworks for climate change. This in turn
will contribute to the overarching goal of increasing the benefits for sustainable agriculture and
land-use practices, biodiversity conservation, maintenance of environmental services, and
successful adaptation to climate change. Also, improvements in rural livelihoods - in addition to the
delivery of cost-effective and verifiable reductions in greenhouse gas emissions in Eastern and
Southern Africa and beyond. 
Not only is Africa most vulnerable to climate change, but there is a strong need to explore
development-focused solutions for adaptation with a particular focus of the role of women. The
Africa Bio-Carbon Initiative is a shining example of how Africa can come up with a strong vision
and clear work plan, similar to Nairobi Framework on Climate Change at the Conference of Parties
in 2006. It is now important to build the right alliances to realise the full potential of the initiative.
Bio-Carbon is a global issue and it is important to combine Reduced Emissions from Degradation
and Deforestation (REDD) with agriculture, forestry and other land uses to create a strong link to
adaptation in the ongoing climate change negotiations. African negotiators must form a unified
position on these issues – and show how important agriculture is for climate change adaptation and
mitigation. 
In African countries like Kenya and Malawi, farmers and policymakers are beginning to view
agroforestry as an environmentally sustainable way to boost income and production on small farms.
Among the most popular applications are those that also efficiently trap and store carbon — fodder
trees that provide feed for dairy cows, the fruit and nut trees that produce food, home gardens that
supply a multitude of products to enrich diets, and trees and shrubs that produce gums, resins and
valuable medicines. The return on investment from these trees can be substantial, but can also take
several years to recoup. Subsistence farmers might be more willing to invest in them if they knew
that their land and the trees they plant might generate revenue as a carbon credit. Rich countries
eager to reduce their emissions through offsets would also benefit. 
Africa has long been sidelined in the carbon market. We were told that there was no reliable method
for measuring carbon stored in trees or soil, particularly if it is stored on small landholdings, such as
the farms typical of central highlands of Kenya. However, since then I am happy to note that in May
this year, the Carbon Benefits Project was launched in Nairobi. This multi-million dollar project
aims to develop tools that will help boost carbon trading in Africa, specifically targeting village
communities in Western Kenya, Niger, Nigeria and Western China – and could become the key to
unlocking the multi-billion dollar carbon markets for millions of farmers, foresters and
conservationists across the developing world. The Carbon Benefits Project, funded by the Global
Environment Facility, is a partnership between UNEP, the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF),
and a range of other key partners – and seeks to assist local communities execute projects aimed at
reducing green house gas emissions. Farming carbon to combat climate change is an exciting
prospect and the consortium of partners involved in the Carbon Benefits Project is developing a
cost-effective and scientifically rigorous system - making use of the latest remote sensing
technology and analysis, soil carbon modeling, ground-based measurement, and statistical analysis.
The implementation of these carbon benefits projects should open the door to more environmentally
friendly types of agriculture such as agro forestry and conservation farming.
It is important that we negotiate for mechanisms that allow Africans to access and afford low-
carbon energy sources. During your discussions here, I hope you will keep in mind the ‘carbon
justice’ issue in the debate because Africa accounts for a mere 2.3 percent of fossil fuel
consumption. Copenhagen will be a commitment and a partnership like no other, but still, it is
individual nations who have the ultimate responsibility to shield their populations from the adverse
impact of climate change. Agreements and financial mechanisms will bear no fruits if not translated
into workable projects. 
The African Union should ensure that African governments work together because climate change
knows no borders and countries without forests will be even greater victims of the effects of climate
change and will find it difficult to adapt or adopt. A common voice and a common stand is critically
important on the road to Copenhagen, and this is an excellent opportunity for us to impact on
policy. The prospect of earning revenue from carbon markets can encourage African farmers to
more rapidly adopt sustainable and productive practices — much needed in addressing the
damaging effects that agriculture can have on the environment. In the lead-up to Copenhagen, it is
critical that Africa comes together in its position on a post-Kyoto climate regime.
Well this has been a long message but I hope a useful one. As I said on these grounds and indeed in
may parts of the world before, we know what to do. What we luck is the political will and
commitment to legislate what is necessary and implement what is already possible. Do not be
overwhelmed. I wan to encourage you to be humming birds (the humming bird story). 
 
Thank you. 
By Wangari Maathai.
2.An African future: beyond the culture of dependency

Wangari Maathai
27 September 2011
At the gathering of the Group of 20 (G20) in London on 2 April 2009, the world's largest economies
reiterated their commitment to helping Africa in the midst of the global financial crisis. As a result
of the meeting, between $30 and $50 billion in additional grants and loans will be available to
African nations through the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. While I welcome the
news that the world financial crisis hasn't pushed Africa off the global agenda, I cannot help but
worry whether this latest tranche of funds will be used effectively by recipient governments, or if
these resources will truly improve the lives of most Africans.
Wangari Maathai was a pioneering environmentalist and founder of the Green Belt Movement. She
was a member of the Kenyan parliament, 2002-07. In 2003, she was appointed the country's
assistant minister for environment, natural resources and wildlife; in 2004, she became the first
African woman to be awarded the Nobel peace prize

Also by Wangari Maathai in openDemocracy:

"Africans can do it for ourselves" (6 July 2005) Wangari Maathai's latest book is The Challenge for
Africa: A New Vision (Random House, 2009) Here's why. Almost half the population of sub-
Saharan Africa lives on less than $1 per day. But while this poverty is at the root of many of the
pressing problems Africa faces, so is the powerlessness of the poor. During the course of the last
forty to fifty years, most Africans, in large measure because of their leaders' attitudes and policies,
have come to believe that they cannot act on their own behalf. Self-determination and personal and
collective uplift, values embraced by the great majority of Africans in the period just after
independence, have been eroded.
Disempowerment - whether defined in terms of a lack of self-confidence, apathy, fear, or an
inability to take charge of one's own life - is perhaps the most unrecognised problem in Africa
today. To the disempowered, it seems much easier or even more acceptable to leave one's life in the
hands of third parties (governments, aid agencies, and even God) than to try to alleviate one's
circumstances through one's own effort.
This "syndrome" is a problem that of course affects far more than Africans, and far more than the
poor. Nevertheless, I have found it to be as substantial a bottleneck to development in Africa as
inadequate infrastructure or bad governance, and it has added an extra weight to the work of those
who want to enable individuals and communities to better their circumstances.
The corruption and graft that have tainted so much of Africa's leadership in the post-independence
period are well-known; the misappropriation of funds, outright theft, incompetence, and cronyism
that have characterised too many African governments for decades have been often catalogued.
What perhaps is less well understood is how, because of a failure of leadership at the top of the
social tree, the culture of corruption - and dependency - has too often eaten its way down to the
roots. This theme is explored in my book The Challenge for Africa: A New Vision (Random House,
2009).
The roots of the problem
How much of a barrier this syndrome is to Africa's development was brought home to me during
the five years I served as a member of the Kenyan parliament (2002-07). A single example can
make the case.
One day, I was approached by a group of rural farmers who harvested macadamia nuts. These
particular farmers sold their nuts into the Japanese market through a Kenyan processor and
exporter, who did not appear to be corrupt. The macadamia nuts' wide variety of uses - as seed,
food, and fuel - meant that they were receiving a good price in the market. If a Kenyan macadamia
nut-farmer's trees were already planted and producing nuts to harvest, there was no reason why he
should not have succeeded and become wealthy by rural standards.
Amnesty International UK hosts the British film premiere of Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari
Maathai at the Human Rights Action Centre in London on 28 May 2009: for details, click here

The film will be followed by a question and answer session with Wangari Maathai; filmmaker, Lisa
Merton; and director of the International Institute for Environment and Development (and
openDemocracy contributor), Camilla Toulmin

For more information on Wangari Maathai's work, see the website of the Green Belt
MovementNonetheless, the farmers were unhappy. When we met, they explained that, because
there was so much money to be made in the macadamia nuts, their neighbours, also farmers, had
begun to steal. Now, macadamia nuts need to be fully ripe to be ready for processing, and they are
not fully ripe until they fall to the ground. But some people (the farmers told me) had started
shaking the trees before the nuts were ripe, in order to make them fall; others had begun climbing
the trees and picking the nuts even before they were ripe enough to be shaken from the tree. In the
end, the greed had become so enormous that some individuals had simply crept onto the farmers'
land at night, cut down the trees, and hauled them away, so they could harvest every single nut for
themselves.
Because the nuts were not ready, the thieves needed - to make best use of their haul - to find ways
to make the nuts look ripe. They would, for example, boil them with tea-leaves to change their
colour. But when the nuts arrived at a quality-control post in the market outside of Kenya, they
were rejected as obviously rotten. The middleman, furious at this interruption in his export-chain
and the potential damage done to his reputation by the rotten shipment, told the farmers he wouldn't
buy any more macadamia nuts from them in future.
By the time the farmers came to me with their story, they were desperate. The story of how and why
they had lost their once lucrative market left me astonished at the avarice and shortsightedness of
some members of the community. I indicated that I would try to find another market for their
macadamia nuts, though I didn't hold out much hope. "We can work on it", I said, "but it looks as if
the goose that was laying the golden eggs has been killed." It was clear, I continued, that it was
going to take much more effort to convince a new market (and a new middleman) of these farmers'
reliability.
The individuals who came to me were not farmers of the kind familiar in the west - armed with an
understanding of agricultural inputs, international markets, and commodity prices. Indeed, these
farmers were little different from their neighbours who stole the nuts, in the sense that nearly
everyone who lives in rural areas in Africa grows one crop or another on their land yet often has
scant or no information about the product he grows.
Such farmers may have little or no formal education, and may therefore be functionally or actually
illiterate. Even if they are able to read or write, they lack access to written materials or the internet
to inform themselves about the crops that are their primary source of income; and they may never
use or even taste what they harvest at all since (as with macadamia nuts) these don't process and add
value to what they themselves produce. They get little help from the state; the Kenyan government,
for example, has made few efforts to educate the farmer, encouraging him to become an advocate
for his interests, or empower him in the international marketplace (for example, by forming
cooperatives).

Roger Southall, "South Africa's election: a tainted victory" (7 April 2009) I advised the macadamia
nut-farmers to form a cooperative and work together to get to the bottom of what had happened -
find out who owned the macadamia trees; create a register; then determine who was selling
macadamia nuts even though they had no trees growing on their own land. I also urged them to start
again and this time to instill a discipline among the growers; in this way, they would produce nuts
of sufficient quality so they might ultimately be able to find another vendor who would process the
macadamia nuts in their own region. This would, in turn, add value to the nuts - and thus guarantee
more earnings - before they were sold to the middleman, who would then sell them for export.
Unfortunately, I was voted out of parliament before I had a chance to help the macadamia farmers
further. However, my tenure as an MP was long enough to understand what kept this community of
farmers poor: in part the farmers' ignorance about what they grew, in part their lack of education, in
part the government's failure to support them - but also its own failure to understand the
consequences of its self-destructive actions. Instead of working together to further the common
good of their communities, each person pursued his individual interests - and all lost.
It didn't have to be this way. The macadamia nuts were already getting an excellent price on the
market, so this group of farmers could in principle have pooled some of their earnings and made
them available so that more people could buy trees through a low-interest loan. This would mean
more macadamia trees for the community to share in the wealth. True, this would have had to be a
long-term strategy, since macadamia trees require time to grow; but it would also have reaped
dividends within a few years.
However, the thieves wanted the money, and they wanted it fast. So intoxicated were they with the
prospect of selling the nuts, they were willing to ruin their prospects for further wealth by cutting
down the trees; along the way, they thought nothing of impoverishing their neighbours by making
sure that they could neither harvest another crop from a particular tree nor be able to make money
again from macadamia nuts, even if they could access the market again. This is how the poor
sometimes work against themselves.
An ethical revolution 
What happened with the macadamia farmers is a form of corruption. It is no different from a
minister demanding a kickback before issuing someone a license to harvest trees in a protected
forest. It expresses the same willingness to cheat the system; it flies in the face of commonsense and
collective will, and it helps to create a stubborn stereotype of Africa that discourages those who are
genuine and compassionate in committing their funds or expertise to helping Africa's peoples. The
result is that communities often end up dealing with governments or companies interested mainly in
taking advantage of the vacuum created by the culture of corruption to extract as many resources as
possible at as low a price as they can.
I'm not so naïve as to believe that personal and collective corruption can ever be wholly eliminated;
it will exist as long as there are selfish people and money to be made. But there are concrete
measures that governments could take to bring about the needed revolution in ethics, if they were
committed to it.
It could start, for example, with an African president or prime minister saying: "We have a problem
in our country and as a people. We are cheating and undermining ourselves, and we need to change.
For whether it is a policeman bribing a bus driver, or a government minister receiving a kickback to
license a business, or someone stealing someone else's crops to make a quick penny - we are failing
ourselves, our country, those who came before us, and indeed future generations. I want us as a
country to work on it. And it will start with me, and I will do my best to value honesty in whatever I
do."
This revolution cannot be confined to those at the top of African societies. Even the poorest and
least empowered of Africa's citizens need to work to end a culture that tolerates systemic corruption
and inefficiency. A critical step is ensuring that poor people are engaged in their own development,
and, by extension, in expanding the democratic space that many African societies desperately need.
Just as communities ought to mobilise to combat malaria, or HIV/Aids, for instance, so they must
work together to fight the scourges of failed leadership, corruption, and moral blindness.
Such communities could ask themselves: "Do we feel marginalised? Are we capable of acting in
concert to make sure that our resources are used equitably? Do we recognise the value of belonging
to a state? When we are entrusted to positions of leadership, are we committed to enhancing the
welfare of our fellow citizens?" These are the questions that are necessary if a society is to function
properly. If they are answered honestly and proactively they can form a system of governance that
can evolve and change to meet the needs of the people over time.
Because poor people are more likely to be illiterate, ignored, and feel powerless to act on their own
behalf, addressing these questions requires political and economic commitment, as well as patience
and persistence - from local, national, and international stakeholders - since change does not occur
overnight.
While Africans cannot alter the mistakes and missteps of the past, they can at least try to avoid them
in the future. One measure to which I would give priority is for children throughout Africa, from the
first grade of primary school through the last year of secondary school, to be taught the values of
justice, fairness, and accountability as part of the normal curriculum, so they might grow into the
leaders and citizens that Africa needs. Just as new technologies expand the potential for
breakthroughs in computer science and engineering through technical colleges, so advances in
leadership and the application of values must receive similar impetus.
I don't believe that the peoples of Africa are more accepting of corruption than those in other
nations. Africans can - as history shows many have - rise up and demand an end to inappropriate
behavior. However, they want to know that if they stand up or speak out, then many others will do
the same - especially their leaders, who should be in the forefront of this revolution in ethics. This is
one of the most crucial challenges Africa faces. Meeting it could secure a value far beyond the
dollar amount of any current or future development assistance.
3.Sustained Development, Democracy, and Peace in Africa
By Wangari Maathai
Gwangju, South Korea
June 16, 2006
Your Excellencies President Kim Dae-Jung and former President Mikhail Gorbachev
Fellow Nobel Laureates, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen
Allow me to thank you very much for the honour and privilege extended to me when I was invited
to this summit, which commemorates the May 18 Democratic Uprising. I am very grateful for the
warm welcome and hospitality we have enjoyed since we arrived in South Korea. We thank the
organising committee led by the Government of Gwangju City, the Kim Dae-Jung Presidential
Library and Museum, the Government offices that worked closely with them as well as the Korean
Democracy Foundation, and the Nobel Laureates Follow up Fund, in Norway. 
We value the opportunity to participate at the commemorations of the May 18 Democratic
Movement and honour and respect those who lost their lives in search of democracy. May all the
citizens of the Korean peninsular realise the dream for which so many lives were lost when the
military opened fire on defenseless citizens, killing about 150 and injuring more than a thousand. 
We regret that even as we continue to preach democracy and peace some of the Laureates like
Madame Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, remains a prisoner in her country and the 14th Dalai Lama,
Tenzin Gyatso, was not facilitated with a Visa to attend this Laureate Summit. We appeal to their
governments for their freedom of movement. 
We commend the leadership of the former President Kim Dae-Jung for the progress that continues
to be made to realise democratic governance, peace, and reunification of the two Koreas. The
South-North summit of June 15th 2000 was a great milestone—for as long as the leaders of the
North and South Korea continue to hold dialogue and seek understanding, there is hope for a
peaceful resolution of the issues that divide the two peoples. Dialogue, reconciliation, and
forgiveness will be the only option. 
As ambassadors of peace, the Laureates have come to celebrate with the people of Gwangju in
particular and the entire Korean people in general. We have come to encourage you, to commend
you for your patience and persistence, and to bring goodwill as you continue the search for
democracy and peace in the Peninsular.
Allow me to remind your excellencies that when the Norwegian Nobel Committee honoured me
with the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 it intended to send a new and historic message to the world: to
rethink peace and security. It wanted to challenge the world to discover the close linkage between
good governance, sustainable management of resources, and peace. In managing our resources, we
need to realise that they are limited and need to be managed more sustainably, responsibly, and
accountably. It is also important that the resources be shared more equitably both at the
commemorations of the May 18 Democratic Movement national but also at the global level. 
Sustainable management of the resources is only possible if we practice good governance, which
calls for respect for the rule of law, respect for human rights, a willingness to give space and a voice
to the weak and the more vulnerable in our societies; that we respect the voice of the minority, even
while accepting the decision of the majority, and respect diversity. Good governance seeks justice
and equity for all irrespective of race, religion, gender, and any other parameters, which man uses to
discriminate and exclude. Good governance is indeed inclusive and seeks participatory democracy.
We call for the strengthening of institutions, such as the United Nations and its many organs to
restrain strong nations so that they do not walk all over the weak ones. Security of nations at the
global level is as important as security of individuals within the national boundaries. And for
individuals, as well for the nations, if they are not secure, no one is secure. This is true whether the
threat comes from nuclear power or an AK-47.
When we manage our resources sustainably and practice good governance we deliberately and
consciously promote cultures of peace, which include the willingness to dialogue and make genuine
efforts for healing and reconciliation, especially where there has been misunderstanding, lost of
trust, and even conflict. Whenever we fail to nurture these three themes, conflict becomes
inevitable. 
I come from a continent that has known many conflicts for a long time. Many of them are glaringly
due to bad governance, unwillingness to share resources more equitably, selfishness, and a failure to
promote cultures of peace. Leaders fail to care enough for the ordinary citizens and pre-occupy
themselves with matters that concern them and let their people down.
As I speak we continue to have problems in the Darfur region of Sudan, Somalia, Ivory Coast,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, and many other corners of the African continent. All of the
conflicts can be traced to failure in governance, responsible and accountable management of
resources, and the failure to cultivate cultures of peace, especially engaging in dialogue and
reconciliation. 
Indeed all over the world, this is often the root cause of conflicts. Inequities, both national and
international, are largely responsible for poverty and all its manifestations. There is hardly any
conflict in the world that is an exception. Below the thin layer of racial and ethnic chauvinism,
religion, and politics, the real reason for many conflicts is the struggle for the access and control of
the limited resources on our planet.
A good number of African leaders have recognised the need for good governance in Africa. This is
because, despite all the resources in Africa, development continues to lag behind due to lack of
peace and sustainable management of resources. Corruption and mismanagement of resources
frustrates development and exacerbates poverty. At the African Union leaders are encouraging each
other to deliberately and consciously promote good governance and peace and give development a
chance. Challenges are many and varied, but what is encouraging is the commitment demonstrated
by leaders, now willing to shun conflict and violence through peaceful resolutions. More of them
are willing to face the fact that no development will take place in a state of conflict and
mismanagement of state affairs.
As part of this drive in Africa, I have been invited by the Heads of States in the Central African sub-
region to be a Goodwill Ambassador for the Congo Forest Ecosystem. This is not only important to
Africa but to the whole world especially with respect to the climate change. The forest is the second
largest: only second to the Amazon forest. Both forests, and indeed other forests of the world, are
very important, as they serve as major carbon sinks.
I have also been requested by the African Union to preside over the mobilisation of the African
Civil Society in order to form a forum, which will advise the Union on how to manage African
affairs more justly and responsibly. We all know that weak civil societies are unable to hold their
leaders responsible and accountable. Therefore, strengthening civil society would also strengthen
the democratisation process. A strong civil society can also be an important vehicle for delivery of
services like health.
One of the difficult issues we face in sustainable development is consumerism, especially in the rich
industrialised countries. In this case technological advancement can assist with the campaign to
reduce, reuse, and recycle resources (the 3Rs). Recently while visiting Japan, I learned of the
wonderful concept of mottainai, which not only calls for the practicing of the 3Rs, but also teaches
us to be grateful, to not waste, and to be appreciative. This old Buddhist teaching is in complete
agreement with the concept of sustainability. Indeed, I was very impressed to learn that by using
technology many new items were being made from recycled materials like plastic waste, from
which companies could make beautiful furoshiki.
In the area of energy, use of hybrid cars contributes to the reduction of the consumption of fossil
fuels. Countries that generate much waste must assume responsibility and take action against threats
like climate change. The Green Belt Movement is partnering with some organisations by planting
trees in our region to offset some carbon and contribute towards the reduction of the greenhouse
gases.
As we planted a tree today at the memorial grounds for the victims of the May 18 Democratic
Uprising in 1980, I was very aware of the importance of that symbolism. For trees are symbols of
peace and hope. We know that the people of the Korean peninsular have hope. May Peace Prevail.
Thank you.
4.Rise Up and Walk! The Third Annual Nelson Mandela Lecture
Johannesburg, South Africa
July 19, 2005
Your Excellencies, Presidents Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton, 
Your Grace the Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 
Her Excellency Graca Machel
Ministers, Excellencies,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to thank the Nelson Mandela Foundation for inviting me to share these unforgettable
days with South Africa. It is both a privilege and an honour to be in your midst and to give this
year’s Nelson Mandela Lecture.
This is a very special time when we are celebrating Madiba’s birthday. Madiba, you are a source of
great joy and pride for all of us in Africa and indeed in the whole world. Thank you for your
dedication and commitment for the cause of freedom and human dignity.
We thank God for the gift that is Nelson Mandela. We salute you Madiba, we love you and we shall
remain forever grateful to you. It is a privilege to be here to say, Happy Birthday, and may you have
many more.
I am very aware of the extraordinary speakers of previous Mandela lectures. Both President Bill
Clinton and the Archbishop Desmond Tutu have set very high standards for these lectures. I am
deeply honored to share this platform with them.
In the last few weeks the world and G8 leaders have focused on Africa. In Gleneagles, Scotland, G8
leaders were joined by African statesmen, among them Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa,
Olesegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of
Ethiopia.
Leading up to the G8 meeting, another global campaign was picking up: Live8. Inspired by Geldof,
Bono and other concerned artists around the world, the concerts were organised in support of
Africa, attracting millions of ordinary citizens in industrialised countries. They went to enjoy the
music but they also went to be informed and educated about Africa. They used that forum to
express their support for Africa. The G8 leaders listened and watched as their citizens gathered to
support the call to make dehumanising poverty unacceptable.
But even as I appreciated and was encouraged by the efforts at Gleneagles and around the world I
had some concerns. This is because I knew that the G8 leaders had their own concerns and
constraints. I also knew that they had some doubts about leadership and governance in Africa. They
were therefore unlikely to, for example, cancel all the unpayable debts. Yet they knew that in some
countries like Kenya, essential services are denied citizens so that debt obligations can be met. In
other countries, the average income used to determine eligibility for debt cancellation is misleading.
This is because of inequitable distribution of resources, which has created large disparities between
the few very rich and many citizens who are very poor. When such countries are denied debt relief,
it is the many poor people who are punished.
The G8 leaders had their reasons for their doubts. It was reported that some of these reasons
included the fact that some African governments do not respect the rule of law and human rights,
that some leaders are corrupt and often siphon the same money into personal accounts, that some
governments spend funds inefficiently and excessively. It is important to realise, however, that
those who may be guilty do not suffer; it is the poor who suffer.
Despite the challenges, there has been much progress in Africa. There are already good indications
of good governance in many countries. In many others, civil society continues to grow with moral
support from governments and the African Union. For example, the African Union is currently
overseeing the formation of a civil society organ (ECOSOCC), to advise it on issues related to the
African people and to ensure that they participate in the affairs of the Union. I have the honor of
presiding over this process and I consider it an important window of opportunity.
Further, many countries in the region are resolving their conflicts and are working for peace and
stability. For sure, much remains to be done. But we must appreciate and encourage those who are
making bold decisions.
Nevertheless, as I stated earlier, it is the ordinary citizens who suffer when debts are not cancelled,
when financial assistance is not forthcoming or when trade barriers are raised.
It is on their behalf that the African leaders traveled to Gleneagles to meet G8 leaders. It is on their
behalf that the Live8 concerts were held. It is for them that the Jubilee 2000 campaign was carried
out by global citizens. Yet many ordinary citizens in Africa had no idea that such discussions and
concerts were taking place on their behalf.
I wonder how many consultations and concerts will be held before a sustainable solution is found
not only by the G8 leaders but also by the African leadership and people. What will it take for a
solution to be found?
I ask these questions because the poor people the world is concerned about come from Africa,
which is one of the richest continents on the planet. It is endowed with a large number of men and
women; it has a lot of sunshine, oil, precious stones, forests, water, wildlife, soil, land and
agricultural products. So, why are her people so poor?
The problem is that many Africans lack knowledge, skills and tools to create wealth from their
resources. They are unable to add value to their raw materials so that they can take processed goods
into the local and international markets and negotiate better prices and better trade rules. Without
that capacity, opportunities will continue to slip by or others will continue to take advantage of
them without the benefits reaching the people in whose name these negotiations take place.
What can be done to prepare Africa so that she benefits from the concessions and opportunities that
surely lie ahead?
During the last thirty years of working with the Green Belt Movement I saw the need to give our
people values. The man whose birthday we celebrate today exemplifies these values. For example,
the value of service for the common good. How shall we motivate our men and women in the
region, willing to sacrifice and volunteer so that others may have it better? The values of
commitment, persistence and patience, to stay with it until the goal is realised.
The love for the land and desire to protect it from desertification and other destructive processes.
Perhaps it is due to lack of information and ignorance, or perhaps it is due to poverty, but we need
people who love Africa so much that they want to protect her from destructive processes. Some that
are threatening the entire continent include desertification due to deforestation, encroachment into
forests for subsistence farming, overgrazing and loss of biodiversity and soil. Of particular
importance for Africa and the world is the protection of the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem.
These two values are important for African leaders, who should govern and serve for the benefit of
the people, rather than themselves. Working at the grassroots level and with the poor people, it was
depressing to see those in power fail to provide necessary services and protect the land. Instead they
facilitated the exploitation of the people and their resources. Because I have experienced
irresponsible governance in the course of my work for the environment, it is difficult to dismiss the
reservations and concerns expressed by the G8 leaders.
Another value we must espouse is the love and concern for the youth. One of the most devastating
experiences at the grassroots level today is to see the youth wasting away because they are
unemployed, even after they have completed secondary and tertiary education. Governments should
prioritise the youth and their health. This should involve investments in technical education, HIV
and AIDS prevention, treatment and care/support programs.
One of the constraints, even for the government, is that we have not invested enough in education
and especially in technical education. Technical education would give citizens knowledge, skills
and experience, which would make them competent, confident and competitive. Such personnel
would create opportunities for entrepreneurship and wealth creation. Such investments in Asia have
contributed significantly to the economic growth and alleviation of poverty in the region.
Without skills, people will always find themselves locked out of productive, rewarding economic
activities that would give them a better share of their national wealth. They find themselves
unemployed or underemployed and they are certainly underpaid. They may wish to secure a well-
paid job, but if they do not have the skills and the tools, nobody will hire them. Consequently they
will not be able to meet their needs for housing, healthcare, nutrition, and other family and personal
needs. They get trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and sometimes crime.
Besides these values Africa needs to prepare herself by deliberately working for peace and security.
I believe much of the poverty in Africa has been fuelled by conflicts. In the course of my work I
learnt that whether it is at the national or regional level, most conflicts between communities are
over resources: who will access, control and utilise them; who will be included or excluded.
Often, those in power invent excuses to justify the exclusion and other injustices against those
perceived to be weak and vulnerable. But when resources are scarce, so degraded that they can no
longer sustain livelihoods, or when they are not equitably distributed, conflicts will invariably
ensue.
Equitable distribution of resources cannot be effected unless there is democratic space, which
respects the rule of law and human rights. Such democratic space gives citizens an enabling
environment to be creative and productive. What is clear is that there is a close linkage between
sustainable management of resources and equitable distribution of the same on the one hand and
democratic governance and peace on the other. These are the pillars of any stable and secure state.
Such a state has the enabling environment for development. People who are denied the three pillars
eventually become angry and frustrated, and undermine peace and security in their neighborhoods
and beyond.
For that reason, we need to manage our resources sustainably, accountably and responsibly. We
need to share those resources equitably. Otherwise, we shall continue to invest in wars and
conflicts, fighting crime and domestic instability, rather than promoting development and thereby
eliminating poverty.
Over the past thirty years of work in Kenya I discovered something that is still not very clear to me.
It is perhaps the most unrecognised problem in Africa today, especially at the grassroots level. It is
the level of disempowerment of our people. Wherever it comes from, it manifests itself in the form
of fear, lack of confidence, low self-esteem, apathy and lack of enthusiasm to take charge of one’s
life and destiny. To the disempowered, it seems much easier and acceptable to leave their lives
completely in the hands of third parties, especially governments.
At the Green Belt Movement, to assist community members understand the need to take charge of
their destiny and overcome apathy, we initiated education seminars to identify problems, their
sources and solutions. This became a process of self-discovery and self-empowerment. It would
take a long time but eventually participants believed in themselves and became more independent
and self-reliant. They embraced some of these values mentioned above and developed a deep desire
to better themselves and their immediate environments. Eventually they were even willing to work
for the common resources like forests and public parks.
For Africa to benefit from the opportunities which come her way, she must empower her people.
Education will help, peace and security are important, and sustainable management of resources is
essential. But the people must be allowed to gain confidence, dignity and a sense of self-worth.
Ultimately, they must also be empowered with knowledge, skills and tools to take action. This is
why debt relief is very important. It allows governments additional resources to invest in initiatives
that empower.
The phenomenon of disempowerment is very common and perhaps that is why it is not addressed.
But I believe that it is one of the main reasons why so many people are unable to take advantage of
the many opportunities available in Africa today. Such disempowerment and the triumph over it
remind me of a story in the Bible that I love. (It is in Acts 3:1–10.) It’s the story where Peter and
John went to the temple for prayer. As they approached, they came across a beggar, who was
crippled since birth. The beggar must have had all the characteristics of a disempowered person:
poor, self-effacing, dejected, low self-esteem, no self-pride and no sense of well-being. He did not
even dare to look up to the people from whom he was begging. He was too ashamed of his status.
The Bible says that he bowed his head, hid his face and stretched his hand for alms.
Peter and John, upon seeing him in that dehumanised and humiliated state, said to him “Look up”!
That must have been a bit startling, because people did not usually talk to him. Peter went on,
“Silver and gold we do not have, but what we have we give to you.” And, taking him by the right
hand Peter helped the lame man stand up saying, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Rise up
and walk!”
And much to his surprise, he felt his limbs get strong and he rose up and walked forward with
confidence and pride. The Bible says he went with Peter and John into the temple “jumping and
praising God.” He was an empowered man: no longer a beggar, no longer dehumanised. Now he
could go and take care of himself with dignity, self-respect and confidence.
There must have been many worshippers who had given him a few coins many times but never
thought of doing anything different. But Peter and John reacted differently and decided to empower
him, to give him wholeness. They encouraged him to believe in himself and walk with them into the
temple.
Friends and leaders of Africa should be like Peter and John. They should strive to empower Africa
and not only give her alms. African governments should be responsible and accountable to their
people, lifting them from ignorance, diseases and poverty, which cripple them.
In closing, we must remember that Peter and John called on the beggar to rise up and walk. It was
not Peter and John who had to do the rising and the walking. It was the beggar. On his part, the
beggar made a choice to respond to the call. He could have preferred to stay put and continue to beg
the rich worshippers. But he decided to respond to an opportunity which presented itself, he was
ready for it and his life was changed for the better.
With African leaders like those here today, President Nelson Mandela, Archbishop Desmond Tutu
and many friends like President Bill Clinton we have the “Peters” and “Johns” we need. They call
on all of us to “Rise up and walk.” Walk away from ignorance, inertia, apathy and fatalism. Walk
towards the temple of economic and political freedom. An Africa free of dehumanising poverty.
There are simple actions we can take. Start by planting ten trees we each need to absorb the carbon
dioxide we exhale. Practice the 3R campaign (reduce, re-use, repair and re-use, which is mottainai
in Japanese), get involved in local initiatives and volunteer your time for services in your
community. Governments should prioritise technical schools and give people knowledge and skills
for self-employment.
Madiba, I know this is the dream you have for Africa. An Africa free of poverty. An Africa with
economic and political freedom. An empowered Africa.
So my fellow Africans. Let’s heed the call of Madiba: “Rise Up and Walk!” 
Thank you.

5.Inaugural World Food Law Distinguished Lecture

Howard University, Washington, DC
May 10, 2005

These remarks were given by Professor Maathai at the World Food Law Lunch in the Cosmos Club,
Washington, DC.
Thank you very much. Professor Marsha Echols, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, it is a unique
pleasure and privilege and indeed honour to be here and to be received so warmly by you here in
Washington, DC.
I think that one of the most humbling experiences I have is that when you do these things you don’t
do them thinking that other people are noticing and you don’t do them so that one day you may be a
Nobel Peace Prize winner. So it is always very humbling to know that there were people who were
watching and there were people who were appreciative of what we were doing. But we all now
acknowledge that what the Norwegian Nobel Committee did on the day they decided that they
wanted to focus on the environment for the very first time was both historic and visionary. It was a
way of urging us to make a mind-shift in the way we think about security, in the way we think
about peace, and to understand that you cannot achieve peace without looking at the environment.
Those of us who have been working on peace, democratisation, environment movements, in
women’s movements, we always felt that indeed these issues are related, but nobody could have
said it so dramatically and with so much persuasion as the Norwegian Nobel Committee. As I was
trying to explain from my own perspective how these issues are related, I was inspired by a
metaphor that I have been using. The metaphor is an African, traditional stool with three legs. A
traditional African stool is actually made from one log and then three legs are chiseled out and a
seat is also chiseled out in the middle so that when you sit, you sit on this basin, which rests on
three legs.
I compare the three legs to the three pillars that the Norwegian Nobel Committee identified. One leg
is that of peace. The other is that of democratic space, where rights are respected—women’s rights,
human rights, environmental rights, children’s rights, where there is space for everybody, where
minorities and the marginalised can find space. The third leg is the environment, that needs to be
managed sustainably, equitably, and in a transparent way, the resources of which also need to be
shared equitably.
That word “equitably” is very important in the management of those resources. If you look at many
of the conflicts we have in the world, they are often due to the fact that we do manage our resources
but we do not share them equitably. Or we manage our resources so poorly that they become
degraded, depleted and so we start fighting over the little that is left. That happens at the national
level, at the regional level, or even at the global level. So these three pillars, the pillar of peace, the
pillar of the environment, and the pillar of democratic space, are extremely important for any state
that intends to be stable. For when a state rests on these three pillars then the basin of the seat
becomes the space, the environment, the milieu in which we can do development. Here we can meet
as donors, as states, as financiers. We feel secure, we feel safe, because we are resting safely on
those three pillars.
In many regions, not least my own, many countries are resting on two legs, some are resting on one
leg, and some have no legs at all. We know how desperate the situation can be when the basin is
literally on the ground. No development can take place. That to me is the main message that this
Prize has brought to the world. To urge us as human society to rethink how we develop and to
understand that we cannot force development, we cannot keep that basin up, if those three legs are
not stable, and that we have to invest in those three legs. We have to invest in the environment. We
have to invest in cultures of peace, continuously and deliberately. We have to invest in cultures of
democratisation, of democratic space. I prefer to call it democratic space because if I say democracy
some people might feel like that’s not exactly what they want to describe. But democratic space
gives us a space to be ourselves, a space to be creative, a space to be self-respecting, a space to feel
good about ourselves, a space to dream, and a space to aspire. We can do all that if the three pillars
are safe.
That is true whether it’s a small country like Kenya or a big country like the United States of
America. This is the message that we have been challenged to embrace, to think about. And for
development agencies this is a real challenge, because many development agencies think that what
government needs is money, that if you can give them as much money as possible they will
develop. Well, for the last forty years or so in Africa we have seen that pouring money there doesn’t
help. We need to strengthen those three pillars. Where you see a stable state and a state where
people are appreciated, governments are investing in people rather than in weapons, they are
investing in education, quality education, giving people the skills and the technology they need in
order to exploit the resources that are within their borders, that’s a state that feels stable, that
doesn’t feel threatened. Then it is able and willing to invest in its people.
Otherwise, you have just a small group of people trying to balance themselves in that basin, and
because the legs are either not there or they are wobbly, no development can take place.
Today I was going to talk about food, essentially, and development and peace. I thought that if I
started with that vision of the African traditional stool you would understand that you cannot have
security in food if you do not have that pillar of the environment. I want to give you an example
from Kenya. I want to show you how you can be very food insecure because you are interfering
with a mountain.
Those of you who know Kenya know that we have five mountains, but I’ll talk about the two
mountains on the equator: Mount Kenya and the Aberdares. These two mountains, their tributaries
create the largest river in Kenya. Along this river are millions of people and national parks, all the
way to the very precious marine national park at the coast. The millions of people who live along
the valley of this river enjoy farming and pastoralism, and of course in the national parks we have
wildlife.
The people who live upstream are largely farmers, and they grow coffee and tea. Coffee and tea are
some of the most basic and most important economic industries in the country. Tea, coffee and
tourism are the main powerhouses of the economy in the country. Now, those three—tea, coffee,
and tourism—depend on rainfall and water coming from those mountains. If you do not have
enough water coming down the streams, you will not be able to supply agriculture, especially the
irrigation schemes, along that river. And there are literally thousands of people who depend on that.
One thing that we have been doing with our mountains for many years, going on for about sixty
years, is we decided to go to the high mountains and clear cut these natural forests and replace them
with commercial plantations of trees we brought from Australia and the Northern Hemisphere.
From Australia we brought the eucalyptus—I’m saying “we” but it’s really the British—and from
the North, we brought the pine. These are trees that are used to temperate zones, both in the South
and the Northern Hemisphere. They did very well because Kenya has highlands; Mount Kenya
alone is 17,000 feet above sea level. So these trees do very well. Also they were growing on what
was then virgin soil.
We literally sacrificed the natural forests in order to expand these plantations. And sixty years down
the road we are beginning to see the negative impact of those plantations. For one, we have lost a
lot of biodiversity, because these trees do not tolerate local biodiversity. They kill everything except
themselves. The other thing that has happened is that once you remove the natural forest, you are
left with a forest that does not give you the same services as the natural forest. For example, the tree
plantations do not retain rain water and encourage the water to go into the underground reservoirs.
Most of the most water runs off downstream and causes massive soil erosion and flooding and
eventually ends up in the lakes and seas.
With it, the water carries the topsoil that the farmer needs to produce food. When you interfere too
much with the natural system, you will also interfere with the rainfall patterns, because the nature of
the forest controls the climate and controls the rainfall patterns. So when you change the ecology of
the forest you also interfere with the rain pattern. We’re now experiencing either no rain or, when
the rains come, they come like a bucket from heaven has been opened and it pours and causes
massive soil erosion. The cash crops, especially tea, do not like heavy rain. Tea prefers soft,
drizzling rain. So with the change in the way the rain falls, you lose the crop yield.
How can you then have food security in a country like that, where the farmers depend on rainfall or
on water from irrigation? It is impossible, and indeed at the beginning of last month the Minister for
Agriculture said that about three million people in Kenya would need food aid because the rainfall
had declined so badly that farmers would not have adequate yield.
Of course, the immediate response to the crisis is the rainfall has not come. “The rains did not
come.” But very few of us ask, “Why didn’t the rains come?” That’s the challenge. We need to ask
ourselves, and that’s why we’re being challenged to think holistically. For if we only want the rains
to come but don’t want to understand why rains may not come, then of course we’re going to fail. I
could have told the Minister that because of the damage that we have done to the mountains, to the
five forested mountains in Kenya, because of the illegal logging that has been going on for years,
charcoal burning that has been going on for years, because of the commercial plantations that have
been expanded in the mountains and allowing literally thousands of people to go into the forests and
cultivate in order to support this commercial plantation of timber, rainfall patterns sooner or later
would be affected.
Now some people say it is climate change and they say, “Well, you know, even on Mount Kenya
the glaciers are receding.” That’s also quite possible. It’s possible that it is part of climate change.
But climate change does not happen at a global level at once. Climate change starts at a local level.
It is impacted by what we have done on these two mountains. Multiply that several million times,
because it is happening in Kenya, it is happening in Africa, it is happening in Europe, it’s happening
elsewhere. And sooner or later, all these multiplied several million times create a climate that in
certain areas will become extremely harsh, especially for people who don’t have alternatives, such
as the people in our region.
In trying to solve the problem, the Minister will probably say, “We must go out and do two things:
one, we must buy food from those who have it, or we must seek food aid in the world.” I’m glad
that United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is represented here, because they are
the ones who are usually giving us food aid. That’s a short-term solution.
The long-term solution is for us to go back to the basics. Go back to the basics and listen to what the
Norwegian Nobel Committee said: The environment is an intricate way joined, is related, is
intertwined, in our lives on an everyday basis. It is not something we think about or talk about or
learn about sometimes. The air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat: everything we do
has to do with the environment. We need to take this concept and make it holistic, so that we can
think in a holistic manner, and learn to protect the base on which everything else depends. Learn
that if we destroy the mountain, the waters, when they take the soil, they take away the soil in which
the farmer plants his seed.
If you ask an ordinary Kenyan woman why the rains do not come, the farmer will probably say,
“God has not yet brought the rain, and we must pray so that God brings us the rain.” In recent years
I have seen the need to talk to the religion leaders and tell them that it is very important for them to
see the connection between the book of Genesis and what is happening to the environment, and to
begin to tell the faithful that they must take care of the Garden of Eden that God created in the book
of Genesis, and to encourage them not to wait for God to bring rain, because the rains will come
anyway.
But if the rains don’t come, it has nothing to do with God. It has everything to do with the way they
are managing their environment. So that that faithful [person], whether he can read the Bible or not,
or maybe at best can only read the Bible in his own language, is motivated to go out, dig a hole, and
plant a tree. Or, is motivated to go and create a terrace, or a trench, so that the next time the rains
come, they do not take away his topsoil, so that when he plants a seed it will germinate because
there is water in the ground and the fertile topsoil has not been carried away.
And he will be motivated to support those terraces with trees, with vegetation. As we [the Green
Belt Movement] are doing now, [perhaps] he is willing to even go further and plant trees on public
land, including going to the forest and planting trees in the forest.
If the farmer does that, then those of us who are in a more responsible position can make sure that
what he plants, if he’s going to export, he will get fair trade. He’ll get a fair price. Most of these
farmers that I’m talking about grow tea and coffee. But when they grow this tea and coffee and they
send it to the international market, there are some rules of the game—I don’t know whether the food
law [programme] looks at that—there are some rules of the game that do not allow this farmer to
get enough for his labor. He gets very little from the international market, and he has no control
over that. When he needs inputs for his coffee and tea he has to buy [them] at a price that has been
set by somebody else, and he has no control over that. Somehow there is a law that does not create
justice for this farmer, and as a result, because he doesn’t get enough for his labor, he continues to
scrape, to scratch this land and get very little out of it. So we call him poor, and we begin to say that
it is partly because of his poverty that the environment is being degraded.
Well, it is not true. The farmer is doing his best. He needs to be assisted to learn that he has to
protect his environment. But those of us at this level also need to protect his interests. So when he
brings his produce to the market he gets a fair price. That is why we are saying that perhaps what
many of these poor countries need so that they may protect the environment is fair trade, support for
aid so that they can support that farmer, and they can protect that forest, and they can encourage the
rehabilitation of these forests and these mountains so that the rivers can continue to flow and the
rains will come back.
The only way we can do that is if we have governments that operate in a free, democratic space, so
that they can encourage their people, and governments that are promoting cultures of peace, so that
people can find a peaceful environment in which to do these activities.
That is the message that I’m trying to share with you. I believe that’s the message the Norwegian
Nobel Committee was delivering to the world. It is the challenge that we have been given, so that
we can rethink what security and peace really mean for us, and to understand that at no time, either
at the national level or at the regional level, can we have peace if we do not think holistically—
think from the top to the bottom and as wide as we can.
If we do so, then we are prepared to capture that image of the traditional African stool with its three
legs: democracy, peace, and sustainable management of our resources. Then we can have a
peaceful, secure base upon which development can take place.
Thank you very much.
The Challenge of AIDS in Africa
By Wangari Maathai
December 12, 2004
HIV/AIDS is a devastating pandemic in many villages in Africa, moving silently and rapidly
through homesteads and leaving a trail of death and misery. This is partly because it predisposes
infected persons to opportunistic infections such as tuberculosis. As a result, HIV/AIDS continues
to undermine development efforts of both the present and future Africa. It is a new, silent, powerful,
misunderstood and overwhelming threat to peace and security on the continent. Walking around the
villages burying the dead beside the graves of their relatives, the reality of losing tens of thousands
to AIDS-related illnesses leaves me and fellow Africans with tremendous pain and fear for the
future.
Soon enough, we will have nearly 15 millions orphans who have lost both parents to AIDS and
have to be nurtured by grandparents or whoever is left of the extended family. Today there are
many homes, whose grounds are without footprints and the doors are latched because all the
occupants have died. In others, older children abandon school to care for their siblings, making
children extremely vulnerable as they face the future alone.
No people and no continent are experiencing such devastation in the midst of abject poverty and
abandonment. It is an unprecedented challenge for Africa.
There is need for the right information to reach local communities not only to inform but also to
empower them. For I see women, girls and even children, increasingly infected, affected and dying
due to HIV/AIDS. There are many reasons for this, but women and girls are especially
disadvantaged because of their socialization and economic position in society.
Girls are disproportionately affected. Unable to access education, medical care and property rights,
they are increasingly victims of violence, rape and prostitution. Yet they are expected to be
caregivers when people fall sick. Their predicament gives me particular pain as I watch their future
slip away.
I am particularly concerned about the many poor girls who see no other option to earn a living, but
selling sex as their survival strategy. This makes them increasingly at risk of being infected. What
became of moral values and the responsibility of the adults to protect children and the vulnerable in
society? How about justice and equity? What other options are there? Is anyone listening? Anyone
caring?
Faced with all this, I sometime wonder whether I should first address the destruction of the
environment linked to greed and poverty, food insecurity, corruption, oppression, lack of education
and unemployment OR the AIDS pandemic?
Like many others I wonder about the theories on the origin, nature and behaviour of the virus. I
understand that there is consensus among scientists and researchers internationally that the
evolutionary origin most likely was in Africa even though there is no final evidence. I am sure that
the scientists will continue their search for concluding evidence so that the view, which continues to
be quite widespread that the tragedy could have been caused by biological experiments that failed
terribly in a laboratory somewhere, can be put to rest.
My hope is that those who understand the virus better can work with those of us struggling to better
understand and eliminate ignorance, fear and a sense of helplessness.
As I have said repeatedly, I am not an expert on HIV/AIDS and therefore, have never claimed to
have the answers. But faced with the monumental impact the epidemic has in my society, I do
inquire. When my advice is sought, I genuinely say that I really do not know that I depend on what I
hear or read, because I am privileged to read and write. It is important to understand the questions
presented to me and my responses to them in the context of the cultural and economic environment
in my country. I repeatedly emphasise to local communities the need to take the disease seriously,
get tested, and curb its spread. Married women, when they know that their husbands are infected,
must have the right to say no to unprotected sex. I underline the need to uphold the positive societal
values that held our traditional societies together through abstinence amongst the youth and
faithfulness by both partners in marriage. Today, condom-use is an option. What is important is that
all available options are used properly and responsibly.
I have further emphasised that we are often faced with irresponsible behaviour among people out
there. In Kenya, for example, there are many instances of people who have deliberately infected
others and confessed to doing so. I also mention the case where during the previous administration
in Kenya, the disease was kept a secret and people lived in denial for over 16 years! That was very
irresponsible political leadership.
I have warned people against false beliefs and misinformation such as attributing this disease to a
curse from God or believing that sleeping with a virgin cures the infection. These prevalent beliefs
in my region have led to an upsurge in rape and violence against children. It is within this context,
also complicated by the cultural and religious perspective that I often speak. I have therefore been
shocked by the ongoing debate, generated by what I am purported to have said. It is therefore
critical for me to state that I neither say nor believe that the virus was developed by white people or
white powers in order to destroy the African people. Such views are wicked and destructive.
We in Africa must encourage more free and enlightened debate on the HIV/AIDS threat. We must
at the same time learn from our own successes in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In Uganda 15 years
ago the fear was that HIV/AIDS could destroy the whole society. Now 15 years later there is a
dramatic improvement, and one major part of the explanation is responsible political leadership
under president Museveni. All leaders in Africa should seek inspiration from the former presidents,
Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia. They are spending a lot of their
time and efforts in fighting the pandemic.
HIV/AIDS is hitting so hard in many parts of Africa that it is, as already stated, becoming a threat
to peace and stability in the continent. This fact has been discussed in the Security Council of the
United Nations and voiced as a particular serious concern by the Secretary General himself, Kofi
Annan. I fully agree with this, and I hold the view that HIV/AIDS should be made a standing first
priority issue on the political agenda of the Africa Union.
We in Africa cannot win the battle against HIV/AIDS alone. We need global understanding of our
cultural context in Africa. We need solidarity and practical support, including allowing the
production of generic drugs for greater access, eliminating poverty and improving the nutritional
status of the people. This is a global challenge for both political and religious leaders. In this
decisive and difficult struggle in Africa we need the critical encouragement, support and
cooperation from the rest of world so that we win the battle. We also need the respect and trust that
some of the solutions will emerge from our own value systems.
6.Wangari Maathai – Nobel Lecture
Nobel Lecture, Oslo, December 10, 2004

Your Majesties
Your Royal Highnesses
Honourable Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee
Excellencies
Ladies and Gentlemen
I stand before you and the world humbled by this recognition and uplifted by the honour of being
the 2004 Nobel Peace Laureate.

As the first African woman to receive this prize, I accept it on behalf of the people of Kenya and
Africa, and indeed the world. I am especially mindful of women and the girl child. I hope it will
encourage them to raise their voices and take more space for leadership. I know the honour also
gives a deep sense of pride to our men, both old and young. As a mother, I appreciate the inspiration
this brings to the youth and urge them to use it to pursue their dreams.

Although this prize comes to me, it acknowledges the work of countless individuals and groups
across the globe. They work quietly and often without recognition to protect the environment,
promote democracy, defend human rights and ensure equality between women and men. By so
doing, they plant seeds of peace. I know they, too, are proud today. To all who feel represented by
this prize I say use it to advance your mission and meet the high expectations the world will place
on us.

This honour is also for my family, friends, partners and supporters throughout the world. All of
them helped shape the vision and sustain our work, which was often accomplished under hostile
conditions. I am also grateful to the people of Kenya – who remained stubbornly hopeful that
democracy could be realized and their environment managed sustainably. Because of this support, I
am here today to accept this great honour.

I am immensely privileged to join my fellow African Peace laureates, Presidents Nelson Mandela
and F.W. de Klerk, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the late Chief Albert Luthuli, the late Anwar el-
Sadat and the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan.
I know that African people everywhere are encouraged by this news. My fellow Africans, as we
embrace this recognition, let us use it to intensify our commitment to our people, to reduce conflicts
and poverty and thereby improve their quality of life. Let us embrace democratic governance,
protect human rights and protect our environment. I am confident that we shall rise to the occasion.
I have always believed that solutions to most of our problems must come from us.

In this year’s prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has placed the critical issue of environment
and its linkage to democracy and peace before the world. For their visionary action, I am
profoundly grateful. Recognizing that sustainable development, democracy and peace are
indivisible is an idea whose time has come. Our work over the past 30 years has always appreciated
and engaged these linkages.

My inspiration partly comes from my childhood experiences and observations of Nature in rural
Kenya. It has been influenced and nurtured by the formal education I was privileged to receive in
Kenya, the United States and Germany. As I was growing up, I witnessed forests being cleared and
replaced by commercial plantations, which destroyed local biodiversity and the capacity of the
forests to conserve water.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

In 1977, when we started the Green Belt Movement, I was partly responding to needs identified by
rural women, namely lack of firewood, clean drinking water, balanced diets, shelter and income.
Throughout Africa, women are the primary caretakers, holding significant responsibility for tilling
the land and feeding their families. As a result, they are often the first to become aware of
environmental damage as resources become scarce and incapable of sustaining their families.

The women we worked with recounted that unlike in the past, they were unable to meet their basic
needs. This was due to the degradation of their immediate environment as well as the introduction
of commercial farming, which replaced the growing of household food crops. But international
trade controlled the price of the exports from these small-scale farmers and a reasonable and just
income could not be guaranteed. I came to understand that when the environment is destroyed,
plundered or mismanaged, we undermine our quality of life and that of future generations.
Tree planting became a natural choice to address some of the initial basic needs identified by
women. Also, tree planting is simple, attainable and guarantees quick, successful results within a
reasonable amount time. This sustains interest and commitment.

So, together, we have planted over 30 million trees that provide fuel, food, shelter, and income to
support their children’s education and household needs. The activity also creates employment and
improves soils and watersheds. Through their involvement, women gain some degree of power over
their lives, especially their social and economic position and relevance in the family. This work
continues.

Initially, the work was difficult because historically our people have been persuaded to believe that
because they are poor, they lack not only capital, but also knowledge and skills to address their
challenges. Instead they are conditioned to believe that solutions to their problems must come from
‘outside’. Further, women did not realize that meeting their needs depended on their environment
being healthy and well managed. They were also unaware that a degraded environment leads to a
scramble for scarce resources and may culminate in poverty and even conflict. They were also
unaware of the injustices of international economic arrangements.

In order to assist communities to understand these linkages, we developed a citizen education

program, during which people identify their problems, the causes and possible solutions. They then
make connections between their own personal actions and the problems they witness in the
environment and in society. They learn that our world is confronted with a litany of woes:
corruption, violence against women and children, disruption and breakdown of families, and
disintegration of cultures and communities. They also identify the abuse of drugs and chemical
substances, especially among young people. There are also devastating diseases that are defying
cures or occurring in epidemic proportions. Of particular concern are HIV/AIDS, malaria and
diseases associated with malnutrition.

On the environment front, they are exposed to many human activities that are devastating to the
environment and societies. These include widespread destruction of ecosystems, especially through
deforestation, climatic instability, and contamination in the soils and waters that all contribute to
excruciating poverty.
In the process, the participants discover that they must be part of the solutions. They realize their
hidden potential and are empowered to overcome inertia and take action. They come to recognize
that they are the primary custodians and beneficiaries of the environment that sustains them.

Entire communities also come to understand that while it is necessary to hold their governments
accountable, it is equally important that in their own relationships with each other, they exemplify
the leadership values they wish to see in their own leaders, namely justice, integrity and trust.

Although initially the Green Belt Movement’s tree planting activities did not address issues of
democracy and peace, it soon became clear that responsible governance of the environment was
impossible without democratic space. Therefore, the tree became a symbol for the democratic
struggle in Kenya. Citizens were mobilised to challenge widespread abuses of power, corruption
and environmental mismanagement. In Nairobi ‘s Uhuru Park, at Freedom Corner, and in many
parts of the country, trees of peace were planted to demand the release of prisoners of conscience
and a peaceful transition to democracy.

Through the Green Belt Movement, thousands of ordinary citizens were mobilized and empowered
to take action and effect change. They learned to overcome fear and a sense of helplessness and
moved to defend democratic rights.

In time, the tree also became a symbol for peace and conflict resolution, especially during ethnic
conflicts in Kenya when the Green Belt Movement used peace trees to reconcile disputing
communities. During the ongoing re-writing of the Kenyan constitution, similar trees of peace were
planted in many parts of the country to promote a culture of peace. Using trees as a symbol of peace
is in keeping with a widespread African tradition. For example, the elders of the Kikuyu carried a
staff from the thigi tree that, when placed between two disputing sides, caused them to stop fighting
and seek reconciliation. Many communities in Africa have these traditions.

Such practises are part of an extensive cultural heritage, which contributes both to the conservation
of habitats and to cultures of peace. With the destruction of these cultures and the introduction of
new values, local biodiversity is no longer valued or protected and as a result, it is quickly degraded
and disappears. For this reason, The Green Belt Movement explores the concept of cultural
biodiversity, especially with respect to indigenous seeds and medicinal plants.
As we progressively understood the causes of environmental degradation, we saw the need for good
governance. Indeed, the state of any county’s environment is a reflection of the kind of governance
in place, and without good governance there can be no peace. Many countries, which have poor
governance systems, are also likely to have conflicts and poor laws protecting the environment.

In 2002, the courage, resilience, patience and commitment of members of the Green Belt
Movement, other civil society organizations, and the Kenyan public culminated in the peaceful
transition to a democratic government and laid the foundation for a more stable society.

Excellencies, friends, ladies and gentlemen,

It is 30 years since we started this work. Activities that devastate the environment and societies
continue unabated. Today we are faced with a challenge that calls for a shift in our thinking, so that
humanity stops threatening its life-support system. We are called to assist the Earth to heal her
wounds and in the process heal our own – indeed, to embrace the whole creation in all its diversity,
beauty and wonder. This will happen if we see the need to revive our sense of belonging to a larger
family of life, with which we have shared our evolutionary process.
In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of
consciousness, to reach a higher moral ground. A time when we have to shed our fear and give hope
to each other.
That time is now.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has challenged the world to broaden the understanding of peace:
there can be no peace without equitable development; and there can be no development without
sustainable management of the environment in a democratic and peaceful space. This shift is an
idea whose time has come.
I call on leaders, especially from Africa, to expand democratic space and build fair and just societies
that allow the creativity and energy of their citizens to flourish. Those of us who have been
privileged to receive education, skills, and experiences and even power must be role models for the
next generation of leadership. In this regard, I would also like to appeal for the freedom of my
fellow laureate Aung San Suu Kyi so that she can continue her work for peace and democracy for
the people of Burma and the world at large.

Culture plays a central role in the political, economic and social life of communities. Indeed, culture
may be the missing link in the development of Africa. Culture is dynamic and evolves over time,
consciously discarding retrogressive traditions, like female genital mutilation (FGM), and
embracing aspects that are good and useful.
Africans, especially, should re-discover positive aspects of their culture. In accepting them, they
would give themselves a sense of belonging, identity and self-confidence.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There is also need to galvanize civil society and grassroots movements to catalyse change. I call
upon governments to recognize the role of these social movements in building a critical mass of
responsible citizens, who help maintain checks and balances in society. On their part, civil society
should embrace not only their rights but also their responsibilities.

Further, industry and global institutions must appreciate that ensuring economic justice, equity and
ecological integrity are of greater value than profits at any cost. The extreme global inequities and
prevailing consumption patterns continue at the expense of the environment and peaceful co-
existence. The choice is ours.
I would like to call on young people to commit themselves to activities that contribute toward
achieving their long-term dreams. They have the energy and creativity to shape a sustainable future.
To the young people I say, you are a gift to your communities and indeed the world. You are our
hope and our future.
The holistic approach to development, as exemplified by the Green Belt Movement, could be
embraced and replicated in more parts of Africa and beyond. It is for this reason that I have
established the Wangari Maathai Foundation to ensure the continuation and expansion of these
activities. Although a lot has been achieved, much remains to be done.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

As I conclude I reflect on my childhood experience when I would visit a stream next to our home to
fetch water for my mother. I would drink water straight from the stream. Playing among the
arrowroot leaves I tried in vain to pick up the strands of frogs’ eggs, believing they were beads. But
every time I put my little fingers under them they would break. Later, I saw thousands of tadpoles:
black, energetic and wriggling through the clear water against the background of the brown earth.
This is the world I inherited from my parents.

Today, over 50 years later, the stream has dried up, women walk long distances for water, which is
not always clean, and children will never know what they have lost. The challenge is to restore the
home of the tadpoles and give back to our children a world of beauty and wonder.
Thank you very much.

7.The Cracked Mirror

Resurgence magazine
November 11, 2004

Mount Kenya is a World Heritage Site. The equator passes right on its top, and it has a unique
habitat and heritage. Because it is a glacier-topped mountain, it is the source of many of Kenya’s
rivers. Now, partly because of climate change and partly because of logging and encroachment
through cultivation of crops, the glaciers are melting. Many of the rivers flowing from Mount
Kenya have either dried up or become very low. Its biological diversity is threatened as the forests
fall.
“What shall we do to conserve this forest?” I asked myself. As I tried to encourage women and the
African people in general to understand the need to conserve the environment, I discovered how
crucial it is to return constantly to our cultural heritage. Mount Kenya used to be a holy mountain
for my people, the Kikuyus. They believed that their God dwelled on the mountain and that
everything good—the rains, clean drinking water—flowed from it. As long as they saw the clouds
(the mountain is a very shy mountain, usually hiding behind clouds), they knew they would get rain.
And then the missionaries came. With all due respect to the missionaries (they are the ones who
really taught me), in their wisdom, or lack of it, they said, “God does not dwell on Mount Kenya.
God dwells in heaven.”
We have been looking for heaven, but we have not found it. Men and women have gone to the
moon and back and have not seen heaven. Heaven is not above us: it is right here, right now. So the
Kikuyu people were not wrong when they said that God dwelled on the mountain, because if God is
omnipresent, as theology tells us, then God is on Mount Kenya too. If believing that God is on
Mount Kenya is what helps people conserve their mountain, I say that’s okay. If people still
believed this, they would not have allowed illegal logging or clear-cutting of the forests.
After working with different Kenyan communities for more than two decades, the Green Belt
Movement (GBM), which I led until joining the new Kenyan government in January 2003, also
concluded that culture should be incorporated into any development paradigm that has at its heart
the welfare of the people. The Green Belt Movement’s mission is mobilising community
consciousness for self-determination, equity, improved livelihood security and environmental
conservation—using trees as the entry point. When we began, we believed that all that was needed
was to teach people how to plant trees and make connections between their own problems and their
degraded environment.
But in the course of struggles to realise GBM’s mission and vision, we realised that some of the
communities had lost aspects of their culture which had actually facilitated the conservation of that
beautiful environment which the first European explorers and missionaries recorded in their diaries
and textbooks.
Culture is an important part of humanity. Development agencies, religious leaders, and academic
institutions are increasingly recognising its central role in the political, economic and social life of
communities. A focus on culture is important to environmentalists as well as to traditional
communities. Too often, when we talk about conservation, we don’t think about culture. But we
human beings have evolved in the environment in which we find ourselves. For every one of us,
wherever we were, the environment shaped us: it shaped our values; it shaped our bodies; it shaped
our religion. It really defined who we are and how we see ourselves.
Cultural revival might be the only thing that stands between the conservation or destruction of the
environment, the only way to perpetuate the knowledge and wisdom inherited from the past,
necessary for the survival of future generations. A new attitude toward nature provides space for a
new attitude toward culture and the role it plays in sustainable development: an attitude based on a
new understanding—that self-identity, self-respect, morality, and spirituality play a major role in
the life of a community and its capacity to take steps that benefit it and ensure its survival.
Until the arrival of the Europeans, communities had looked to Nature for inspiration, food, beauty
and spirituality. They pursued a lifestyle that was sustainable and that gave them a good quality of
life. It was a life without salt, soap, cooking fat, spices, soft drinks, daily meat, and other
acquisitions that have accompanied a rise in the ‘diseases of the affluent’. Communities that have
not yet undergone industrialisation have a close connection with the physical environment, which
they often treat with reverence. Because they have not yet commercialised their lifestyle and their
relation with natural resources, their habitats are rich with local biological diversity, both plant and
animal.
However, these are the very habitats that are most at threat from globalisation, commercialisation,
privatisation, and the piracy of biological materials found in them. This global threat is causing
communities to lose their rights to the resources they have preserved throughout the ages as part of
their cultural heritage. These communities are persuaded to consider their relationship with Nature
primitive, worthless, and an obstacle to development and progress in an age of advanced technology
and information flow.
During the long, dark decades of imperialism and colonialism from the mid-nineteenth century to
the mid-twentieth century, the British, Belgian, Italian, French and German governments told
African societies that they were backward. They told us that our religious systems were sinful, our
agricultural practices inefficient, our tribal systems of governing irrelevant, and our cultural norms
barbaric, irreligious, and savage. This also happened with the Aborigines in Australia, the Native
Americans in North America, and the native peoples of Amazonia.
Of course, some of what happened, and continues to happen, in Africa was bad and remains so.
Africans were involved in the slave trade; women are still genitally mutilated; Africans are still
killing Africans because they belong to different religions or ethnic groups. Nonetheless, I for one
am not content to thank God for the arrival of ‘civilisation’ from Europe, because I know from what
my grandparents told me that much of what went on in Africa before colonialism was good.
There was some degree of accountability to people from their leaders. People were able to feed
themselves. They carried their history—their cultural practices, their stories and their sense of the
world around them—in their oral traditions, and that tradition was rich and meaningful. Above all,
they lived with other creatures and the natural environment in harmony, and they protected that
world.
Agriculture, democracy, heritage, and ecology are all dimensions and functions of culture.
Agriculture, agriculture, is the way we deal with seeds, crops, harvesting, and processing and
eating. One result of colonialism was the loss of indigenous food crops such as millet, sorghum,
arrowroot, yam, and green vegetables, as well as livestock and wildlife. Like culture itself, the
possession of cattle as a sign of wealth or the growing of one’s own food were trivialised by
colonisers as indicators of a primitive mode of living. Loss of indigenous food and the methods to
grow it have contributed to food insecurity at the household level and diminishment of local
biological diversity.
People without culture feel insecure and are obsessed with the acquisition of material things, which
give them a temporary security that itself is a delusional bulwark against future insecurity. Without
culture, a community loses self-awareness and guidance, and grows weak and vulnerable. It
disintegrates from within as it suffers a lack of identity, dignity, self-respect and a sense of destiny.
By the end of the civic and environmental seminars organised by the Green Belt Movement,
participants feel the time has come for them to hold up their own mirror and find out who they are.
This is why we call the seminars kwimenya (self-knowledge). Until then, participants have looked
through someone else’s mirror—the mirror of the missionaries or their teachers or the colonial
authorities who have told them who they are and who write and speak about them—at their own
cracked reflections. They have seen only a distorted image, if they have seen themselves at all!
There is enormous relief and great anger and sadness when people realise that without a culture not
only is one a slave, but one has actually collaborated with the slave trader, and that the
consequences are long-lasting. Communities without their own culture, who are already
disinherited, cannot protect their environment from immediate destruction or preserve it for future
generations. Since they are disinherited, they have nothing to pass on.
A new appreciation of culture can give traditional communities a chance, quite literally, to
rediscover themselves, and to revalue and reclaim their culture. This is no trivial matter of reviving
pottery or dancing, or whatever limited ideas of indigenous culture some Westerners may still have.
Of course, no one culture is applicable to all human beings who wish to retain their self-respect and
dignity; none can satisfy all communities. Humanity needs to find beauty in its diversity of cultures
and accept that there will be many languages, religions, attires, dances, songs, symbols, festivals
and traditions. This diversity should be seen as a universal heritage of humankind.
Cultural liberation will only come when the minds of the people are set free and they can protect
themselves from colonialism of the mind. Only that type of freedom will allow them to reclaim
their identity, self-respect and destiny. Only when communities recapture the positive aspects of
their culture will people relearn how to love themselves and what is theirs. Only then will they
really appreciate their country and the need to protect its natural beauty and wealth. And only then
will they have an understanding of the future and of generations to come.
8.Speak Truth to Power
Speak Truth to Power
May 4, 2000

This article is taken from Speak Truth to Power, a book on activists around the world and edited by
Kerry Kennedy. The book has become an organisation that fights for human rights around the
world.
Throughout Africa (as in much of the world) women hold primary responsibility for tilling the
fields, deciding what to plant, nurturing the crops, and harvesting the food. They are the first to
become aware of environmental damage that harms agricultural production: if the well goes dry,
they are the ones concerned about finding new sources of water and those who must walk long
distances to fetch it. As mothers, they notice when the food they feed their family is tainted with
pollutants or impurities: they can see it in the tears of their children and hear it in their babies’ cries.
Wangari Maathai, Kenya’s foremost environmentalist and women’s rights advocate, founded the
Green Belt Movement on Earth Day, 1977, encouraging the farmers (70 percent of whom are
women) to plant “Green Belts” to stop soil erosion, provide shade, and create a source of lumber
and firewood. She distributed seedlings to rural women and set up an incentive system for each
seedling that survived. To date, the movement has planted over fifteen million trees, produced
income for eighty thousand people in Kenya alone, and has expanded its efforts to over thirty
African countries, the United States, and Haiti.
Maathai won the Africa Prize for her work in preventing hunger, and was heralded by the Kenyan
government and controlled press as an exemplary citizen. A few years later, when Maathai
denounced President Daniel arap Moi’s proposal to erect a sixty-two-story skyscraper in the middle
of Nairobi’s largest park (graced by a four-story statue of Moi himself), officials warned her to
curtail her criticism. When she took her campaign public, she was visited by security forces. When
she still refused to be silenced, she was subjected to a harassment campaign and threats. Members
of parliament denounced Maathai, dismissing her organisation as “a bunch of divorcees.” The
government-run newspaper questioned her sexual past, and police detained and interrogated her,
without ever pressing charges. Eventually Moi was forced to forego the project, in large measure
because of the pressure Maathai successfully generated.
Years later, when she returned to the park to lead a rally on behalf of political prisoners, Maathai
was hospitalised after pro-government thugs beat her and other women protesters. Following the
incident, Moi’s ruling party parliamentarians threatened to mutilate her genitals in order to force
Maathai to behave “like women should.” But Wangari Maathai was more determined than ever, and
today continues her work for environmental protection, women’s rights, and democratic reform.
From one seedling, an organisation for empowerment and political participation has grown many
strong branches. — Kerry Kennedy
The Green Belt Movement in Kenya started in 1977, when women from rural areas and urban
centers, reflecting on their needs at organised forums, spoke about environmental degradation. They
did not have firewood. They needed fruits to cure malnutrition in their children. They needed clean
drinking water, but the pesticides and herbicides used on farms to grow cash crops polluted the
water.
The women talked about how, a long time ago, they did not have to spend so much time going out
to collect firewood, that they lived near the forest. They spoke of how, once, they ate food that
sustained their health. Now, while the food does not require much energy to grow, it does not
sustain them. The women feel their families are now very weak and cannot resist diseases, that their
bodies are impoverished because of an environment that is degraded.
The National Council of Women, a nongovernmental organisation, responded by encouraging them
to plant trees. In the beginning it was difficult because the women felt that they had neither the
knowledge, the technology, nor the capital to do this. But, we quickly showed them that we did not
need all of that to plant trees, which made the tree-planting process a wonderful symbol of hope.
Tree-planting empowered these women because it was not a complicated thing. It was something
that they could do and see the results of. They could, by their own actions, improve the quality of
their lives.
When we said we wanted to plant fifteen million trees, a forester laughed and said we could have as
many seedlings as we wanted because he was convinced that we could not plant that many trees.
Before too long, he had to withdraw that offer because we were collecting more trees than he could
give away free of charge. But we didn’t have the money. We decided that we could produce the
seedlings ourselves. We would go and collect seeds from trees, come back and plant them the way
women did other seeds: beans, corn, and other grains. And so the women actually developed
forestry management techniques, using “appropriate technology” to fit their needs. Here is the basic
method: take a pot, put in the soil, and put in the seeds. Put the pot in an elevated position so that
the chickens and the goats don’t come and eat the seedlings.
Ordaining all the inventive techniques that the women developed. For example, sometimes trees
produce seeds carried by the wind. These germinate in the fields with the first rain. It was very
interesting to see a woman cultivating a field with a small container of water. But, she was
cultivating weeds! She had learned that among these weeds were also tree seedlings, and that she
could pick the seedlings and put them in a container. In the evening, she went home with several
hundred seedling trees! These techniques developed by the women became extremely helpful. We
planted more than twenty million trees in Kenya alone. In other African countries, we have not kept
records.
Trees are alive, so we react to them in very different ways. Quite often, we get attached to a tree,
because it gives us food and fodder for our fires. It is such a friendly thing. When you plant a tree
and you see it grow, something happens to you. You want to protect it, and you value it. I have seen
people really change and look at trees very differently from the way they would in the past. The
other thing is that a lot of people do not see that there are no trees until they open their eyes, and
realise that the land is naked. They begin to see that while rain can be a blessing, it can also be a
curse, because when it comes and you have not protected your soil, it carries the soil away with it!
And this is rich soil in which you should be growing your food. They see the immediate relationship
between a person and the environment. It is wonderful to see that transformation, and that is what
sustains the movement!
We have started programmes in about twenty countries. The main focus is how ordinary people can
be mobilised to do something for the environment. It is mainly an education programme, and
implicit in the action of planting trees is a civic education, a strategy to empower people and to give
them a sense of taking their destiny into their own hands, removing their fear, so that they can stand
up for themselves and for their environmental rights. The strategy we use is a strategy that we call
the “wrong bus syndrome,” a simple analogy to help people conceive what is going on. People
come to see us with a lot of problems: they have no food, they are hungry, their water is dirty, their
infrastructure has broken down, they do not have water for their animals, they cannot take their
children to school. The highest number of problems I have recorded at a sitting of about a hundred
people is one hundred and fifty. They really think we are going to solve their problems. I just write
them down, but I am not going to do anything about them. I just write them down in order to give
the people a feeling of relief and a forum where they can express their problems.
After we list these problems, we ask, “Where do you think these problems come from?” Some
people blame the government, fingering the governor or the president or his ministers. Blame is
placed on the side that has the power. The people do not think that they, themselves, may be
contributing to the problem. So, we use the bus symbol (because it is a very common method of
transportation in the country). If you go onto the wrong bus, you end up at the wrong destination.
You may be very hungry because you do not have any money. You may, of course, be saved by the
person you were going to visit, but you may also be arrested by the police for hanging around and
looking like you are lost! You may be mugged—anything can happen to you! We ask the people,
“What could possibly make you get on the wrong bus? How can you walk into a bus station and
instead of taking the right bus, take the wrong one?” Now, this is a very ordinary experience. The
most common reason for people to be on the wrong bus is that they do not know how to read and
write. If you are afraid, you can get onto the wrong bus. If you are arrogant, if you think you know
it all, you can easily make a mistake and get onto the wrong bus. If you are not mentally alert, not
focussed. There are many reasons.
After we go through this exercise, we ask them to look at all the problems that they have listed.
Why are we hungry? Why are we harassed by the police? We cannot hold meetings without a
license. When we look at all of this, we realise that we are in the wrong bus. We have been
misinformed for too long. The history of Kenya in the last forty years explains why.
During the Cold War period, our government became very dictatorial. There was only one radio
station that gave out controlled information and our country was misinformed. Because the
government was so oppressive, fear was instilled in us, and we very easily got onto the wrong bus.
We made mistakes and created all of these problems for ourselves. We did not look at the
environment and decide to plant trees, so our land was washed away by the rain! The beautiful
topsoil was lost. Maybe we were not fully focussed, suffered from alcoholism, or were not working,
but our personal problems had nothing to do with government. We got on the wrong bus and a lot
of bad things happened. What we needed to do was to decide to get out, only to make the best of the
situation you find yourself in.
You need to take action. You have to inform yourself. And you are willing to inquire; you are
willing to learn. That is why you came to the seminar. You want to plant, you want to empower
yourself. You have every right to read what you want to read. You want to meet—without asking
permission. To get off the bus means to control the direction of your own life.
We say to go ahead and start to plant trees. Grow and produce enough food for your family. Get in
the food security project, making sure that you plant a lot of indigenous food crops so that we do
not lose local biodiversity. We are working in the tropics so the trees grow very fast. In five years,
or less, you can have fruit trees, like banana trees. You can go and teach others what you have
learned here so that you will have educational outreach in the village. We will support you, so that
you can encourage others to get off the bus. You can get a small group of people to protect a park or
a forest or an open space near you. Environmental protection is not just about talking. It is also
about taking action.
People who live near the forest are among the first to see that the forest is being destroyed. People
who live near water resources are the ones who notice that these springs are being interfered with.
People who are farmers recognise that the soil is being exposed and carried away by the rains.
These are the people who should be the ones to draw attention to these problems at the local and
national levels.
And this is the process I have seen with the Green Belt Movement. Women who start to plant trees
on their farms influence their neighbors. The neighbors eventually become involved. At the national
level, we have been able to draw the attention of the parliament, and even the president, to the need
to protect the environment! And now, we see the government reacting to what the environmentalists
are saying: that the remaining forest not be degraded, that open spaces not be privatised, and that
the forest not be interfered with or privatised. This pressure is coming from ordinary people. We
started by empowering women. Then the men joined in because they saw that the women were
doing some very positive work.
A lot of men participate in the planting, though not in the nurturing of the seedlings at the nursery as
the women do (and do very well). The men see trees as an economic investment. They look thirty
years into the future and see that they will have huge trees to sell. Well, nevertheless, it means that
the Green Belt Movement enjoys the participation of men, women, and children, which is
important. You could very easily have the women planting trees and the men cutting the trees
down! Everyone needs to work together and to protect the environment together.
When you start doing this work, you do it with a very pure heart, out of compassion. Listen to the
statement from our pamphlet: “The main objective of this organisation is to raise the consciousness
of our people to the level which moves them to do the right things for the environment because their
hearts have been touched and their minds convinced to do the right things, because it is the only
logical thing to do.”
The clarity of what you ought to do gives you courage, removes the fear, gives you the courage to
ask. There is so much you do not know. And you need to know. And it helps you get your mind
focussed. Now, you are out of the bus and moving to the right direction. They will see you move
with passion, conviction, and persistence. You are very focussed. Quite often you threaten people,
either people who are on the wrong bus or people who are driving others, because you know they
are driving people in the wrong direction and you are asking them not to follow. And now you feel
free to tell people, “Believe me, you are all moving in the wrong direction, your leader as well.”
Now, of course, a leader does not want to be told this. He certainly does not want to hear that the
people he is driving, are being told they need to get out of the bus. This is where the conflict comes
in. The leader accuses you of misleading his people, misrepresenting his vision, misrepresenting
what he’s trying to do, misrepresenting him.
This is what happened between me and President Moi. In 1989, the president wanted to take over
Uhuru Park, the only park left in Nairobi. He was going to build the highest building in Africa,
sixty-two stories. Next to the skyscraper he was going to put a four-story statue of himself (so you
could pat his head from the fourth floor). All of downtown Nairobi would have had to be
restructured.
That building would have been so intimidating, that even if some land in the small park remained,
no one would have dared come near it. Very intimidating. So it was completely wrong. It also
would have been an economic disaster, as was borrowing money to do it, putting us in greater debt.
It was truly a white elephant. But he wanted it because it was a personal aggrandisement.
And so we raised objections, and said this was the only park that we had in the city where people
who have no money could come. Not even a policeman could ask you to move; it was an open
space. A lot of people joined in and agreed, even those people who were going to invest, who then
decided that it was probably not a very good idea.
We staged a protest in the park and were beaten by the police. We were only a small group of
women, because, at that time, in 1989, there was a lot of fear. I had taken the matter to court,
arguing that this park belonged to the people and that it could not be privatised. The president was
only a public trustee, so for him to now go and take what had been entrusted to him, to take it, and
privatise it, was criminal. We lost the case, which in the court meant that we had no business raising
the issue and complaining about the park. But we won in the end because those who were providing
the money withdrew, due to the outcry from the public. And members of parliament actually
suspended business to discuss the Green Belt Movement and myself, recommending that the Green
Belt Movement should be banned as a subversive organisation. They did a lot of dirty campaigning
to discredit us, including dismissing us as, “a bunch of divorcées and irresponsible women.”
Well, I gave them a piece of my mind, that people kept talking about for the rest of the time.
“Whatever else you may think about the women who run the Green Belt Movement,” I said, “we
are dealing here with privatising or not privatising a public park. We are dealing with the rights of
the public and the rights of the people. These are the kind of issues that require the anatomy of
whatever lies above the neck.” The press loved it. Parliament was just being mean, chauvinistic, and
downright dirty. Fortunately, my skin is thick, like an elephant’s. The more they abused and
ridiculed me, the more they hardened me. I know I was right, and they were wrong.
A few years later, in 1992, with about ten women whose sons had been detained for demanding
more democratic rights for the people, I went back to the same park and declared it “freedom
corner.” We stayed there for four days. By the fifth day the government brought in policemen; some
of us were very badly beaten. But I will always remember the power of those women. After we
were disrupted by the police, I ended up in the hospital, so I didn’t even know what was going on.
The other women were herded into cars and forced to go back to where they had come. But the
following day, those women came back to Nairobi and tried to locate the others. They knew some
were in the hospital, and sent a message that they were waiting for us. They would not go home.
Instead, they went to the Anglican provost of All Saint’s Cathedral who told them they could go to
the crypt and wait for the other women. Though the provost thought this would be a two-night stay,
it lasted for one year. They stayed in that crypt, waiting for Moi to release their sons. The
authorities tried everything to get the women to leave. They tried to bribe some of them; intimidated
them; even sent some of their sons to persuade their mothers to leave. Several times we were
surrounded by armed policemen, who threatened to break the doors of the church and to haul us out.
Fortunately they never did, because some of these soldiers were Christians, and we could hear them
say they just could not break into the church.
And we won again! It was a great ceremony to see those young men come out of jail and also to
celebrate the powers of their mothers. It was really wonderful. I was amazed that they were so
strong. It goes to show that you can have a very oppressive government, but even in very dark times
in our nation, there were people who stood up to protect the rights of others.
There was another time when the pro-democracy movement pushed the president very far. Rumors
started circulating that he was going to turn the government over to the army. And so we issued a
statement saying that if he felt there was a need for change in the government (which we were
demanding), what we wanted was a general election, but not to turn over power to the army,
because this was not democratic.
Instead of responding, he arrested us for inciting people to violence. I went into my house and
locked myself in because I was so convinced that no one could get me out—it had been so
reinforced for security. Unless I became hungry, I had enough to last me for a month. They
surrounded the house with guns and it was very, very scary. I was one woman alone. After three
days, they broke into the house, literally cutting the windows so that they could reach me, and they
hauled me to jail. That was 1993, when we were really breaking loose from a very strong
dictatorship.
Courage. I guess that the nearest it means is not having fear. Fear is the biggest enemy you have. I
think you can overcome your fear when you no longer see the consequences. When I do what I do,
when I am writing letters to the president, accusing him of every crime on this earth, of being a
violator of every right I know of, especially violating environmental rights and then of violence to
women, I must have courage.
You know, when they attack me, I say this is violence against women. When they threaten me with
female genital mutilation, this is violence against women. When they attack me, I attack them back.
A lot of people say, “They could kill you.” And I say, “Yes, they could, but if you focus on the
damage they could do, you cannot function. Don’t visualise the danger you can get in. Your mind
must be blank as far as danger is concerned.” This helps you to go on. You look very courageous to
people—and maybe you are courageous. But it is partly because you cannot see the fear they see.
You are not projecting that you could be killed, that you could die. You are not projecting that they
could cut your leg. If you do that, you stop. It’s not like I see danger coming, and I feel danger. At
this particular moment, I am only seeing one thing—that I am moving in the right direction.
9.Bottlenecks to Development in Africa
By Wangari Maathai
4th UN World Women's Conference, Beijing, China
August 30, 1995
Fellow Participants,
To address myself to the themes and concerns of this 4th UN World Women's Conference, I draw
upon my experiences in 2nd and 3rd UN Conferences on Women, my experience at various
universities, the National Council of Women of Kenya and several non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), especially the Green Belt Movement (GBM).
The privilege of a higher education, especially outside Africa, broadened my original horizon and
encouraged me to focus on the environment, women and development in order to improve the
quality of life of people in my country in particular and in the African region in general.
The Green Belt Movement is a national, indigenous and grassroots organisation, whose activities
are implemented mostly by women. Its mandate is environmental and the main activity is to plant
trees and prioritize the felt needs of communities.
The Movement therefore, addresses the issues of woodfuel, both for the rural populations and the
urban poor, the need for fencing and building materials, the rampant malnutrition and hunger, the
need to protect forests, water catchment areas, open spaces in urban centres and the need to improve
the low economic status of women. In the process this leads to activities which help to transfer
farming techniques, knowledge and tools to women. Also to enhance leadership capacity of the
participants.
The Movement informs and educates participants about the linkages between degradation of the
environment and development policies. It encourages women to create jobs, prevent soil loss, slow
the processes of desertification, loss of bio-diversity and plant and to eat indigenous foodcrops. The
organisation tries to empower women in particular and the civil society in general so that
individuals can take action and break the vicious circle of poverty and underdevelopment.
The Movement approaches development from the bottom and moves upwards to reach those who
plan and execute the large-scale development models whose benefits hardly ever trickle down to the
poor. The Movement has no blue print, preferring to rely on a trial and error approach which adopts
what works and quickly drops what does not. It calls upon the creative energies of the ordinary local
women, on their expertise, knowledge and capabilities.
It addresses both the symptoms and the causes of environmental degradation at community level,
teaches the community members to recognize and differentiate between the causes and symptoms
and to discern the linkages between them. It encourages participants to develop expertise in their
work and not be limited by their illiteracy or low level of formal education.
The Movement also identifies and subsequently educates citizens about economic and political
issues which form important linkages with environmental concerns and which are likely to have a
negative impact on the environment. This is done through seminars, workshops and exchange visits.
It also addresses the role of the civil society in protecting the environment, developing a democratic
culture, pursuing participatory development, promoting accountable and responsible governance,
which puts its people first, protecting human rights and encouraging respect for the rule of law.
In the course of this involvement the Movement has identified major bottlenecks which frustrate
development efforts in Africa and which are important to this conference. Although we have shared
these thoughts with the United Nations World Hearings on Development in New York in June,
1994, and other important fora, we see the need to repeat them at this conference. We feel that
unless these bottlenecks, and others, are dealt with it may be difficult to help Africa because these
bottlenecks will continue to keep the majority of the African people in the background of their
development and political agenda irrespective of the amount of aid, grants and experts sent to
Africa to alleviate poverty and underdevelopment.
Perhaps none of the bottlenecks mentioned here are new. The list is also not exhaustive. But it is
recommended that these bottlenecks be considered if there be genuine desire to help Africa and her
peoples. There is no list of remedies attached to the bottlenecks. The first step is to accept that they
are the bottlenecks and identify their source. The last stage is to seek the solutions to them,
obviously by removing them and replacing them with cures. The remedies will partly be in form of
creative initiatives and actions triggered by the clear understanding of the bottlenecks. These cures
would remove these bottlenecks and create an enabling environment to allow the African people
utilise their creative energies and national resources.
The following then are some of the bottlenecks which have been identified to date:
THE ABSENCE OF PEACE AND SECURITY
Peace and security are a prerequisite for development and all human beings aspire and deserve
them. All people also aspire for happiness and a quality of life devoid of poverty and indignity.
Yet for the last three decades many African states have hardly enjoyed internal peace and security.
State oppression by dictatorial rulers, especially during the Cold War, precipitated a prevalent
culture of fear and silence which gave a semblance of peace in many countries. The outcry of
citizens over gross violations of human rights was minimized against the background of civil wars
which raged in countries like Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia, Angola, Mozambique and Liberia.
Oppressive governments elsewhere in Africa were portrayed as benign and progressive and their
countries were projected as secure, peaceful and prosperous islands even as their dissenting citizens
were silenced in detentions, police cells and torture chambers. The Cold War was used by the
superpowers and their allies to justify the tolerance of political and economic oppression and
violation of the rights of citizens who dissented.
But those were the days of the Cold War and misinformation and misrepresentation of Africa was
part of the War. This misrepresentation gave an excuse to those who imported arms and land mines
which have been used to destroy millions of lives in Africa. The carnage goes on in Somalia,
Rwanda, Liberia and in the streets of many cities. People of Africa continue to be sacrificed so that
some factories may stay open, earn capital and save jobs.
The Cold War was not cold in Africa. There, it precipitated some of the most devastating internal
wars as African friends and foes of the superpowers fought it out for economic and political control.
Support for the wars came from the superpowers and their allies, with much of the support coming
in form of aid.
When the Cold War ended in the late 1989 many African rulers did not change with the wind. As is
evident in many countries, authoritarian rulers are still holding onto power tenaciously, with some
dragging their citizens into internal conflicts, wars and terror thereby diverting human and material
resources towards the wars and internal security of those in power.
DESTRUCTIVE STYLE OF POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC LEADERSHIP
Africa has suffered from lack of enlightened leadership and a bad style of political and economic
guidance. While African leaders could have excused themselves for being unable to protect their
people from the exploits of colonial empires in the l9th and 20th centuries, they can hardly escape
blame for allowing neo-colonial exploitation which continues to reduce many of their people into
paupers in their own countries.
During the past three decades, Africa suffered lack of visionary and altruistic leaders committed to
the welfare of their own people. They were persuaded to accept the development model of the West,
borrow capital from the West and be guided by experts from the same West.
This was partly possible because the colonial administration deliberately destroyed and discredited
the traditional forms of self governance in Africa. Until late 1950s when the inevitable wave of de-
colonization swept across Africa natives were not allowed to practice their own form of
governance, culture, religion, traditions and customs. While the colonial form of governance was
being put in place, the western religion and values were being imposed on those who converted into
christianity. Whatever provided guidance and order in the society was banned or condemned by the
western missionaries as being incompatible with the teachings of Christ and Christianity.
Just before independence was granted, young Africans were promoted to positions hitherto
unoccupied by the local people and they were trained by colonial masters to take over power from
the colonial administration. Many of these African recruits were politically naive and uninformed.
Some of them (or their parents) were naive corroborators with the colonial administration during the
struggle for independence. Their employment into the prestigious administrative positions
previously reserved for the colonial masters was a manipulative ploy. It blinded them. They became
corroborating students of the same colonial administrators who wanted devotees of their philosophy
and values to govern the new independent African States. These were to be the corroborators for
neo-colonialism.
So fluttered by the new-found power and prestige in their new state, many Africans became sucked
into a mechanism which facilitate the continued exploitation of Africa and the African people. It
was easy for the new rulers to be blinded with material wealth and privileges associated with wealth
and political power because they were naive and inexperienced. This development allowed the
beginning of a small group of African elites who were in liaison with the rich North to continue the
exploitation of the African resources while ignoring the fate of the impoverished majority.
With that bad beginning, leadership in Africa became characterized by opportunism, personal
advancement and enrichment at the expense of the masses. The new black administrators and the
bourgeoning elites enjoyed the same economic and social life-styles and privileges which the
imperial administrators enjoyed. The only difference between the two in terms of the objectives for
the country was the color of their skin. This elite class became accustomed to the privileged
lifestyles which was impossible to sustain without continuing the exploitation and the oppression of
the governed! And thus was laid the foundation for the present political, economic and social crisis
in Africa.
African leaders abandoned their people and worked closely with their counterparts in developed
countries so that they could live as comfortably as their northern counterparts and enjoy the political
and economic power and the privileges which go with it.
Africans masses became disillusioned and started to agitate for better governance. Unable to deliver
a better quality of life to their citizens, many African leaders assumed totalitarianism and held their
citizens prisoners in their own countries. That is when internal conflicts, torture and imprisonment
of dissenting voices thrived. It was with full knowledge of the more democratic and developed
countries. But during the Cold War human rights and the need for a democratic cultures were
sacrificed.
With the advent of democratisation the citizens are rebelling and are threatening the very existence
of the nation states. Some have collapsed. Uncertain and threatened, those in charge of such
weakened states have succumbed to corruption, and more and more African states resemble a
crumbling house from which both the owner and the onlookers scramble to escape with whatever
can be looted. As a result, the civil society mistrusts and dislikes politicians and civil servants
perceiving them as self-serving, greedy and corrupt.
The few African leaders who have demonstrated visionary leadership have been misunderstood and
unsupported at home due to naivety and ignorance about the political forces at play in Africa. They
also received no support from the international community. Instead, corrupt and unpopular African
dictators, received huge support especially in form of military aid which sustain them in power.
These dictators built up massive armies, police forces and huge networks of secret service whose
main preoccupation was, and still is, to spy on and terrorize their own citizens. In many African
states, including the one I know best, Kenya, citizens have become prisoners and refugees within
their own borders. They are denied freedom of speech, movement, assembly and association. They
are required to carry identity cards which police will demand at gun point and may not assemble
without a licence to do so.
Further, in Kenya, citizens are denied access to accurate and independent information because the
Government refuses to licence independent radio and television stations even while using the state
mass media as a mechanism for state propaganda and personal glorification. Uninformed and even
misinformed, the African community remains marginalised politically and economically.
The African leaders preoccupy themselves with internal security, especially of themselves and those
with whom they rule the country, and political survival. They misdirect scarce resources into state
security machinery, a bloated civil service and prestigious, political projects such as the 3rd
International Airport in Kenya, being constructed in the President's hometown (Eldoret) against the
advice of the majority of Kenyans. In addition, leaders find it necessary to make changes in national
constitutions to give themselves near absolute powers to control all national resources and
mechanisms of governance (radio, television, the judicial system, the civil service, the police and
the armed forces). All of these resources are utilised as if they were personal property of the heads
of states and their appointees. Yet they are intended to serve citizens and provide checks and
balances against dictatorial tendencies. Instead, they are utilised to ensure that dictators remain in
power even against the will of their people.
In Kenya today, citizens lose their jobs if they give press coverage through the state media to any
person who is out of favour with the government even if the subject that person is dealing with is
essential to the national development agenda. For example, one young woman recently lost her job
the day after she screened an environmental documentary on the Green Belt Movement called
"Women at Work" produced by NOVIB, a Dutch organisation dedicated to development work in
developing countries. This was because the main speaker (a woman) in the film happens to be a
person the government had apparently censored. The TV station had obviously not been informed
about the censorship. The officers in charge were expected to know that such a person is not to be
screened on television. If the young woman had screened wrestling and violent foreign films on the
same national TV she would still be employed!. She could have gone to court to assert her rights,
but it is expensive and judges too serve at the pleasure of the same government.
So, many of the current African leaders enjoy immense political-and economic power and control
and indeed run states as if they were their own personal property. They have invented divisive and
manipulative tactics reminiscent of the colonial tactics of divide and rule. Such is for example the
ongoing politically motivated ethnic cleansing in Kenya which has affected thousands of women
many of whom are still internal refugees.
But nationally (and even internationally), national mass media present such conflicts in Africa as
ancient tribal animosities between African tribes coming to the fore at this time of political
liberalisation and demands for democratic reforms. For a continent which continues to be projected
as primitive and underdeveloped, it is easy to spread these misconceptions and misrepresentations
to the international community and for the same to accept that bad leadership is a heritage Africa is
incapable of escaping.
And so many Africans continue to live under regimes where the freedom of the press and
information is curtailed, where citizens may not assemble or freely associate without being harassed
by armed policeman who demand licenses, passes and permits. The above mentioned ethnic
cleansing in Kenya is a creation of political leadership rather than an age-old animosity over
ethnicity and land. But citizens have no way of telling their own story because the mass media is
censured and people are threatened and even arrested if they speak. Properly guided, the Kenyan
tribes (and elsewhere) would live together peacefully as they have done for generations and would
negotiate over whatever differences emerge, now that certain resources like land are diminishing
and as populations continue to increase. Negotiations rather than inter-tribal fighting would be their
option.
The threat of a more open political system and a strong civil society has disquieted enough African
leaders and has forced them to encourage the brewing of tribal tensions the worst of which was the
recent violence which ravaged Rwanda and Somalia. It is important to emphasise that it is not the
tribes who want to fight, rather, it is the threatened elitist leaders who are using tribes to arouse
ethnic nationalism as the only way they can continue to cling to political and economic power and
the privileges which that power comes with. Such leaders speak peace while they are planning civil
wars.
One could give these leaders the benefit of the doubt. But, in Africa it would be impossible for any
community to train militia, arm them, kill members of the targeted communities (in full view of the
police force) without the personal sanctioning of the heads of states who are also the commanders-
in-chief of the armed forces.
This is not to say that ethnicity is non-existent or that Africa will not have to address the problems
of tribal identity and ethnic nationalism, and especially since African national boundaries were
created very superficially by the colonial empires. Nevertheless, the tribal agenda today has to do
less with problems of identity and ethnic nationalism and more with the issue of political survival,
economic control and diminishing national resources.
Of course one cannot over-rule the presence of external forces and factors because, a weak,
disunited and war-ravaged Africa for example, will even be easier to control and exploit. Not to
mention that it becomes a big market for small firearms from nations whose economy needs to sell
them.
African dictators may continue to argue that democracy is a western value which cannot work in
Africa while at the same time they deny their citizens basic freedoms. In Kenya, for example, the
state has denied any possibility of allowing the introduction of independent media networks and
continues to ban books, pamphlets and newsletters which inform the civil society about their rights
and responsibilities. NGOs which work to empower the non-state actors and ordinary citizens are
harassed and attacked physically. Yet citizens are hungry for information which is uncensored by
the State. A misinformed citizenry cannot make intelligent decisions about their political and
economic destiny and nurture any democratic culture of their own without the right to choose. And
such people cannot stop the forces which work to have them sidelined and marginalised while their
resources are exploited by the local and the globalised free market.
A FRUSTRATED DEMOCRATISATION PROCESS
This continuous frustration of the democratisation process is a major bottleneck to any
developmental agenda. Africans, like all other human beings, want to enjoy the basic freedom and
rights. They want justice, equity, transparency, responsibility and accountability. They want respect
and human dignity. They want a decent life and an opportunity to feed, shelter and clothe their
families through honest, hard work. They want to create a strong civil society which can hold its
leaders accountable and responsible. Such leadership would create an environment which would
facilitate creativity, innovativeness, self-confidence, persistence and progress. They want to sustain
mechanisms of governance which ensure the security of the people rather than the security of heads
of States. That is the type of democracy millions of Africans are striving for. And that is what they
would like the leadership in the world to help facilitate morally, economically, and politically.
In his day, Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana is said to have urged Africans to seek first the political
freedom and all else would be added unto them. Today Africans are seeking for political freedom
which is more democratic, just and fair form of governance so that the economic benefits may be
added unto them. It is impossible to do much for the African community until there is political
freedom, peace and justice. As one looks at the bottlenecks mentioned in this statement it would
appear that Kwame Nkrumah was right. Only, he did not add that it must be political freedom
embracing liberty, equity, justice and peace.
Incidentally, the recent power sharing in South Africa offers an interesting alternative for Africa.
Everything notwithstanding, the dominant political culture of "winner takes all" was forfeited for
national unity in an experiment which however, awaits the test of time. South Africans have
enormous mountains to climb and it is prudent to see how they will accomplish the feat.
Nevertheless, the traditional acquisition of absolute power and the control of national resources by
"the winner'' is one major motivation for dictatorships in Africa. Those who "win," even with a
minority vote, inherit the land and all its wealth ....literally! And therefore, make all efforts to retain
that power, the privileges and trappings which go with it. Of course, the historical and the political
reasons for the South African experiment are very different but it nevertheless, offers an interesting
alternative approach to power as Africa continues the search for good governance in the African
context.
INADEQUATE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
Africa has been maligned and ridiculed by the same people who have exploited it and under-
developed it. It continues to be marginalised politically and economically and even socially. There
is lack of genuine support, cooperation and equal partnership from the rich international community
especially now that the Cold War is over. There is more rhetoric than action despite the fact that
everybody knows what the problems are since they are discussed in myriad words in books,
magazines, evaluation reports and development plans, many of which are written by expatriates
from the same international communities and aid agencies.
But as if to justify relief and financial aid, people from the rich countries are more willing to go to
Africa to implement relief services like feeding emaciated infants, discover Africans dying of
horrible diseases like AIDs and Ebola, be peacekeepers in war torn countries and send horrifying
images of tragedies for television. Hardly any of the friends of Africa are willing to tackle the
political and economic decisions being made in their own countries and which are partly
responsible for the same horrible images brought to their living rooms by television. Relevant
questions are deliberately avoided and those who ask them fall out of favor and become political
targets. And therefore, those who are responsible for tragedies in Africa escape blame which is laid
at the feet of the victims. And Africa continuous to be portrayed in a very degrading and
dehumanizing way. As if when others elsewhere look worse off than selves, it feels better and
luckier. Perhaps it is playing on human nature: when Africa is projected as negatively as possible, it
makes others else where feel better and overlook the economic and political policies of their own
countries, many of which are responsible for the situations they see on television.
For example, most foreign aid to Africa comes in form of curative social welfare programmes such
as famine relief, food aid, population control programmes, refugee camps, peace-keeping forces and
humanitarian missions. At the same time, hardly available are resources for preventive and
sustainable human development programmes such as functional education and training,
development of infrastructure, institutional and capacity building, food production and processing,
the promotion of creative innovations and entrepreneurship. There are no funds for development of
their own cultural, spiritual and social programmes which would empower people and release their
creative energy. Such programmes find few sympathizers.
In the current scenario therefore, development programmes which receive enthusiastic support are
those which generate much wealth for the international communities even as they put Africans into
more debts. In 1991 for example, developed countries are said to have received about 1361 billion
US dollars from developing countries in trade transactions and transferred only about 60 billions US
dollars in form of aid and grants! That is hardly just trade, hardly charity. It is claimed that all the
aid Africa gets is repaid several times over through trade transactions, including using that aid to
purchase goods from the country which 'gives' aid. Africa ends up with a deficit.
This state of affairs should not be encouraged by international trade transactions which promote
growth for some regions of the world and stagnation, regression and impoverishment for others. It
is inequitable, unjust, irresponsible and destroys the local environment. It is trade which contributes
to impoverishment of Africa much more than the population numbers per see. Yet the focus for
poverty alleviation in Africa is often tagged to the population increase and environmental
degradation.
The end of the Cold War has made Africa less useful to the rich industrialized countries. Therefore,
Africa is now being blamed for having no credible policies and strategies to reduce the many
problems facing Africa including the ecological crisis and internal conflicts. It is also being accused
of blocking democratisation process and liberalisation of the markets, supporting a bloated civil
service and accommodating high level corruption. During the Cold War these issues were there but
the same international community turned a blind eye to them.
LITTLE TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
Technology is key to economic development. One wonders whether the technologically advanced
nations are really interested in transferring technology to less advanced nations which, if successful,
would make then more competitive and self-reliant? Is it naive on the part of the technologically
less advanced to expect genuine transfer of this type of knowledge? At the moment technology
transfer into Africa continues to be in the form of consumer technology which only allows people to
learn what technology to consume and how to consume it.
Only a new partnership in a new era of cooperation could make government and its people agree to
transfer technological information which can make a difference. Only a new breed of African
political leaders could put the welfare of their people first and make it the basis for political and
economic policies. With such new partnership and international cooperation local innovations and
initiatives would be supported without discrimination. For unless Africa creates the environment for
creative innovations and supports the same, she will remain technologically backward in a world
where technology dominates commerce, politics and even culture. People of good will can help
Africa, but Africa must create the enabling environment for her people to benefit from such support.
Political leadership with that vision is currently lacking in many African countries.
INTERNATIONAL DEBT
Organisations like Transparency International and others which study the illegal transfer of capital
from Africa to the rich northern countries give reasons to suggest that a large portion of funds
which are advanced to Africa by the international community for development are stolen and
stashed away in secret bank accounts in developed countries. Much secrecy surrounds these
financial transactions and it is still not good politics to raise such issues. But it is suggested that if
these funds were made available to an uncorrupt Africa the continent would need no more aid and
grants. Yet Africans are collectively blamed as corrupt and many donors now explain their
unwillingness to support Africa by arguing that assisting Africa is like pouring money into a rat
hole.
We continue to raise this issue because we believe that one way to assist Africa economically and to
end the often-spoken- about 'donor fatigue' would be to locate these funds and return them to Africa
or to the World Bank and IMF and to any other international donors agencies which advanced them.
Instead of advocating for charity and forgiving Africa her international debts, it should be possible
to retrieve all stolen capital and return-it to the original owners since it was never used for the
purpose for which it was advanced. This would demonstrate that indeed there can be new global
values and ethics referred to by the Commission on Global Governance in its recent report, Our
Global Neighbourhood. It would be a matter of being just, fair and responsible to the ordinary
African on whose behalf the funds were borrowed and from whom repayments are demanded.
Other wise, many future generations of Africans will be born already deeply in debt and already
deeply immersed in poverty. Such people cannot play any role in international trade and are at the
risk of being turned into commodities.
CORRUPTION
Corruption is a serious cancer in Africa and it is eating into every aspect of life and into every
socio-economic groups. The misery it brings to ordinary Africans and the opportunity it provides to
non Africans to exploit Africa is reminiscent of the exploits of the Slave Trade. Today's African
leaders are comparable to the African slave barons who facilitated the capturing and the selling-off
of millions of their fellow blacks to distant lands where they were subjugated into slavery, only
today they are subdued within their own borders.
In the City of Nairobi for example, corruption has enabled the grabbing of open spaces which are
essential aspects of a good urban environment and a good quality of life. In these open spaces are
mushrooming huge villas, community centres, temples and sports complexes for exclusive members
of communities who thrive because of such corruption. This process has effectively segregated local
people whose members are left without such public facilities because they are different and poor,
never mind that they are the indigenous citizens. In scenes only reported in countries where black
people feel threatened, African children have been shot dead by armed police reserves who are
defended in law courts and set free. In one such case in Nairobi, a police reservist who shot a street
boy six times and then spat on him before throwing his body into a ditch was released when his
lawyer effectively argued that the policeman shot in self-defence!
So, as we speak about commodities and communities it is important to be concerned about justice.
What is the truth about Africa's international debts? When does stealing become a crime at the
international level? Perhaps when the truth around the secret financial transactions in Africa is
revealed and finally exposed, the world will be as shocked on how Africa was economically
crippled, as it is dismayed, when it now comprehends the atrocities of the transoceanic Slave Trade
or the Jewish Holocaust in Europe during the second World War. So much burden is being placed
on the Africans by the international community and the African leaders appear incapable of
protecting their own people from such exploitation and indebtness.
If it is a crime to kill half a million people in Rwanda in 1994, it should be a crime to steal millions
of dollars from ordinary Africans, thereby causing the death to millions of innocent people through
sustained hunger and malnutrition, lack of adequate health care, and inflationary prices which make
it impossible for millions of Africans to provide their families with basic needs. Why is this type of
a crime tolerated by the international community? Why is the victim to blame while the culprit goes
free and lives in comfort?
Africa is more than its leaders and more than the political and economic interests which influence
decisions about her. Concern for Africa ought to be concern for the African people and for the
future generations of Africans. Those who are cooperating and protecting stolen wealth from Africa
should not be protected by global public opinion which wishes to pretend that this is the way
Africans do business. Perhaps there should be an international code of moral responsibility to make
those who steal from the public and those who keep and protect such stolen wealth responsible for
the economic insecurity they cause to the affected countries, in about the same way ethnic wars
threaten peace and security of people in Somalia, Rwanda, Liberia, Kenya and the former
Yugoslavia. Those who are responsible should be tried for crimes. Perhaps it is time there were
economic crimes against humanity. Besides that, such stolen wealth should be retrieved and
returned to the creditors. This could be a great economic humanitarian intervention for Africa! And
it could be one way of alleviating poverty and underdevelopment in that part of the world.
Sometimes it appears like these ills are tolerated because they happen in Africa. The US, the World
Bank and IMF would not have tolerated such financial and economic mismanagement during the
reconstruction of Europe and Japan after the World War Two and they would not have ignored a
mismanaged Europe and Japan and call it a European or Asian burden.
Marginalising and ignoring Africa in her times of crisis raises these questions because it is contrary
to the ideals and the principles which the United Nations, World Bank and IMF were founded upon.
Various forces which shape human history and destiny have placed other regions of the world in
similar predicaments. The world's reaction was not to marginalise or ignore them. They were
genuinely assisted with the necessary financial requirements and technology. And it was not just
technology transfer for consumerism. Africa may have many reasons to blame herself, but the world
is not innocent about her. I think that there is need for new approach to business and international
trade which puts people before commodities and before profits.
THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET INJURES AFRICA
Despite many African countries having achieved political independence the national economic
market is still designed to supply the international markets with agricultural stimulants like coffee,
tea, nuts and luxury delicacies like green beans, tropical fruits and flowers. The national economic
and political policy do not enable the African people to benefit from the international market. They
are still unable to engage and sustain economic activities and creative initiatives which would
generate wealth for them and give them the confidence they so desperately need. Market forces,
especially the liberalised free market and capital flow, both of which are very competitive,
legitimatize the marginalisation of local initiatives which cannot compete with the giant
transnational cooperations, foreign capital and attractive conditions which are created to enable
foreign investors.
Further, indebtness of African states is making it difficult for the state to protect its citizen from
being overwhelmed by international organisations on whose behalf IMF, World Bank and other
donors demand liberalisation and free markets. Small local initiatives with comparatively little
capital do not stand a chance against the onslaught.
At the moment Africans are unable to stop foreign investments at the national level, even if they do
not need them due to the cooperation between African dictatorial leaders and foreign investors.
Recently for, example, when large sections of the Kenyan public opposed the construction of a third
international airport in the President's home town of Eldoret, and argued that it was an unnecessary
political project and a white elephant which will only increase Kenya's international debt,
government spokesmen defended it as a necessary economic venture needed for the exportation of
French beans, fruits and roses to Europe! The company involved in the construction of the airport is
Canadian Lavalin International which can only be interested in the envisaged huge profits to be
accrued from this project.
Since the government enjoys near absolute power over national affairs, donors and international
business interests will probably, nevertheless, go ahead and support the construction of this
international airport and indebt the already debt-burdened Kenyans against their will. Such is the
fate of millions of powerless citizens in much of Africa. The huge profits waiting to be made, make
the international community and financial agencies look the other way as the African debt rises.
That is putting commodities and profits before communities. Without an enabling national political
leadership and an international public opinion which considers it immoral to support that type of
business, Africa is likely to remain exploited and marginalised by such inequitable and
unsympathetic world trade.
Therefore, African leaders must be pressurized to improve governance and make it more democratic
and accountable to the people so that the African people may assume control of their resources and
their economies. International investments are important and an open market is desired, but unless
one has a government which cares about its people, it is difficult to see how any development model
designed and carried out by an international community which comes to Africa to make profits
would generate wealth for the African people. So far they have only been ripped off. The continent
is wealthy but the wealth is mined by and for the benefit of others outside the region. Of course, it is
the African leaders who facilitate this mining of the wealth from the continent to other regions but
that does not make it fair or just.
POVERTY
Most Africans are among the 1.3 billion people who live in utter poverty and who received only
15% of the world income in 1990. Their mean income continues to drop. Africans have so far been
unable to empower themselves economically, create adequate income generating work and avoid
continued marginalisation. This situation is contributing to insecurity at national, regional and even
village level.
Symptoms of poverty and disillusionment are everywhere in sub Sahara African in particular and
express themselves in form of lack of basic facilities like clean water, food, medical care, sanitation
and infrastructure. It also expresses itself in the large number of refugees, migrations,
environmental degradation, sustained hunger and malnutrition, political instability, internal ethnic
conflicts, alcoholism and other forms of drug abuse, diseases and low life expectancy. According to
a WHO's report called, Bridging the Gaps, poverty is now the leading cause of premature death
across the planet but more so in the developing areas like Sub-Sahara Africa.
What is the reason for this economic marginalisation and impoverishment of Africa? It is partly
because many of them do not participate in formulating and implementing their development
policies. Decisions which affect their economic and political life are made by others in foreign
capitals in the company of a few of their ruling elites. These are the policies and decisions which
facilitate the siphoning of their wealth, literally from under their feet. In the process they are
marginalised and disempowered economically, denied access to information, knowledge and
resources and forced to over mine their environment thereby, jeopardizing even their future
generations.
However, the causes of that poverty are not as obvious. Neither are they often addressed. This is
because the causes, such as bad governance, increased military spending, mismanagement,
corruption, huge prestigious and political projects, such as the 3rd International Airport in Eldoret,
are the methods used by those enjoying political power to amass more wealth for themselves at the
expense of those they govern.
The ruling African elite is a new class of people in Africa, hugely privileged, enjoying the fruits of
economic growth and innovations and, deliberately supporting and helping to.perpetuate the unjust
and exploitative economic world-wide phenomenon: a socio-economic and political system which
favours majority of countries and individuals in the Northern Hemisphere and their small
counterparts in the South, but marginalises and excludes a small number of people in the North and
large numbers in the poor regions of the South.
POPULATION PRESSURE
The population of Africa is about half a billion. Yet Africa is said to be facing a persistent
demographic problem which is blamed for many of the problems on the continent. The three issues
of population, agriculture and environmental degradation are reported to be feeding on each other.
But as some of our observations seem to indicate there are other factors whose impact on the people
of Africa is more devastating than the population pressure. These factors, identified here as the
bottlenecks of development should be the ones blamed for the economic underdevelopment and
poverty in Africa, long before the numbers are a concern. The fact that 75% of the world's resources
are for example, consumed by industrial countries with only 20% of the world population is far
greater reason for the impoverishment of many in the world than the mere numbers. A depopulated
Africa would still be poor and marginalised.
SUSTAINED HUNGER AND POOR HEALTH
Good health is essential for sustained, creative and productive life. Healthy individuals are
resourceful and creative and have the urge to fulfil their full potential. That is why many
governments have a national health plan to ensure that it does not govern a sickly nation. But in
sub-Sahara Africa 100 million of people are reported to be food insecure and many countries in the
sub-region depend on food imports and emergency food aid. Therefore, millions never have enough
to eat, are undernourished and are suffering from parasitic infestations and diseases associated with
malnutrition and poor sanitation. In such an environment, development is bound to stagnate.
Poverty, poor health and sustained hunger become a vicious endless circle in which there is
diminished productivity and retrogression.
In traditional African societies food security was at the family level even though there was also a
collective responsibility in the community for food security for all. Seasons were synchronized and
there was a living culture associated with food production, seed selection and post-harvest storage.
Important structures at every homestead included granaries for grains and beans while certain crops
like bananas, sugarcanes, roots crops and green vegetables were always available in the field, and
especially between harvests.
At the onset of colonial era in Africa and introduction of cash crops (coffee, tea, nuts, sugarcane
plantations, horticultural crops, etc.) all that changed. The traditional farming culture was
demeaned, discredited and destroyed along with much of other heritages of Africa. Crop land was
commercialized for cash crops, granaries disappeared from the homesteads, and people became
dependent on processed foods from shops. The cash economy took over.
At the same time species of trees like the eucalyptus, black wattle and conifer trees replaced
indigenous species not only on farmlands but also in forest areas. As a result farmlands have lost
water and certain crops like bananas, sugarcanes and local species of arrow roots no longer thrive
on the drier farmlands to give food security to the local communities.
The colonial administration introduced the idea of state food security to replace the traditional food
security measures. At independence, the government took over the responsibility of feeding the
nation and is expected to ensure that there is enough food in state granaries to avert hunger. It is
therefore, the primary responsibility of every government to ensure an adequate level of nutrition
and health to its citizens. But notwithstanding statements at international conferences and
roundtables of development agencies about agriculture, food security, farming techniques and
preventive medicine, the only farming sector which receives adequate attention is that which deals
with cash crop and the one which brings in foreign exchange (coffee, nuts, tea, flowers and
horticultural crops intended for export). Unfortunately, farmers are paid little for their crops and
payments are often delayed. Therefore, many families sustain hunger and malnutrition in places
where their own parents and grandparents had surplus food.
Most of the available food in Africa is produced by women and children who provide the intensive
labour required on small farms under cash crops. Except for the cash crops, agriculture and food
production in Africa is still a low priority, political statements not withstanding, with many farmers
having sacrificed food production in favour of cash crops. At the same time, women's work (even in
food production) is still rated low, is not a priority, has no prestige and women farmers are not
adequately compensated for their labor. Governments give little attention to food production for
home consumption.
And food has even become a political weapon with leader in power keeping the key to the national
granaries, disposing of the food even when their own people need it and subsequently appealing for
food from the international community. Agricultural Cooperative movements, once intended to
support farmers, have been misused and mismanaged by government-appointed bureaucrats in the
parasitical organisations. The national agricultural policies discourage food production by local
farmers and opt for cheap food in the international market. Therefore, only a government which
cares about its people will protect its citizens from the politics of food. And only strong, informed
non-state actors of the civil society would persuade its government not to sacrifice the local farmers
at the altar of international food politics and profiteering.
ILLITERACY AND IGNORANCE
Yet another obstacle to development is illiteracy. Perhaps because Africa did not have its own
alphabets, literacy is an over-valued asset and education and the ability to read and write has been
over emphasised and equated with extraordinary abilities. And illiterate people over-trust those who
can read and write under-value and underestimate themselves. This poor self-image and lack of
self-confidence nurture an inferiority complex which puts illiterate citizens at the mercy of literate
members of society.
The other source of general knowledge and information is the radio. Yet the Government refuses to
issue licences for independent air waves, arguing that the State-controlled media is adequate for the
people. In mid-February 1995, for example, the Ambassador of the United States to Kenya
expressed the wish of her Government to see the development of independent media networks. She
hoped that the Kenya government would issue licences because freedom of the press was a
prerequisite to good governance and the freedom to choose. For daring to state that, she was heavily
criticized by government ministers who accused her of interfering with the sovereignty and
independence of Kenya. The national radio and television are the means of communication and are
intended for public information and education. Unfortunately, many leaders in Africa use the
national radio and television for propaganda and personal aggrandizement, censoring all
information reaching the public.
Yet, the phenomenon of a national government being given directives by foreign envoys about
national issues is also embarrassing because it is indicative of the amount of sovereignty African
nations have already sacrificed so that they may be given aid and grants by the governments which
such envoys represent. Sovereignty is constantly being interfered with by the World Bank, IMF and
other members of the Paris Club when they make demands for the political and economic
environment in which they prefer to do business. But the government would not wish such
weaknesses to be exposed because that dismystifies their enormous image. Hence the fuss over
comments by such envoys even though the reality is well known by all. The very fact that a foreign
envoy has to appeal to a national government over human rights of its own citizens is indicative of
the oppressive governance under which citizens live. Uninformed, such citizens are easily cowed,
manipulated and governed.
OVERUSE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
At independence many African States adopted imperial European languages as official languages
and all official communication (in the mass media, courts, administration, education etc.) is
conducted in those languages. These languages are formally learned in the class room. They are the
medium of instruction and communication on school compounds and children are encouraged to
speak it at home. That way, it is hoped, students become more proficient and follow instructions of
other lessons which are also given in the same foreign languages. Therefore, from the onset,
children are cut off from much of family and community conversation and exchanges. The children
gradually become alienated from the community's culture and values and identify with the culture
and values of the foreign people about whom they read and talk.
People equate education and progress with the ability to speak and write in these languages and
entry into the job market, or upward social mobility, is virtually impossible without the ability to
read and write in them. Yet only a small number of the African elites speak and write fluently and
competently in these languages, even at the University level. This is a small group which
communicates with itself, minimizes local languages and culture and feels proud speaking foreign
languages and mimicking foreign cultures and values. By so doing this class of Africans control
information which reaches their people. They deliberately keep them from sharing or receiving
information in their languages, and therefore, keep them largely uniformed and ignorant about
matters that affect them but which are communicated through press. It is partly, fear of an informed
civil society which forces governments to ban local pamphlets and news letters in local languages.
They consider them subversives.
For example on 23rd February, 1995 the Kenya government banned a pamphlet titled, Inooro which
was published by the Catholic Diocese of Murangá. It was the only source of national news in a
local language with a circulation of 15,000 copies which changed hands several times in the rural
areas. Similarly, Mwangaza Trust which was producing its information on democratisation and
methods of empowering the civil society in 9 local languages was threatened with a government
ban. It fought in a court of law for survival but eventually succumbed to pressure and folded up.
Why would a government and the African elites prove unwilling to allow their people to
communicate in their own mother tongues?
In a continent where illiteracy is high, communication technology sparse, transport slow and
inadequate and mass media is censored by the State, use of foreign languages further marginalises
the majority of the indigenous populations and greatly reduces their capacity to participate in the
development agenda. There is something grossly wrong with a government officer who addresses a
group of illiterate rural folks in a foreign language! As a recent article by Ali Mazrui noted,
"English in Africa for example, has both weakened and stultified indigenous languages by
marginalising them in national life and in the education system." He continues,"The huge imperial
prestige enjoyed by the English language distorted educational priori ties, diverted resources from
indigenous cultures towards giving English preeminence, and diluted the esteem in which
indigenous languages were held." This, Mazrui noted in the article, has been at a high price of
psychological damage to the colonized African.
Most Africans seem to have accepted that their own languages are fundamentally inferior to the
English language and assume linguistic fatalism. Unfortunately, that fatalism also affects cultural
and spiritual experiences and values. Denied pride in anything indigenous a person can only
degenerate into a shuttle that anyone can influence and manipulate. That is particularly true in
spirituality and cultural values. The damage this experience has in Africa is devastating. Perhaps the
time has come to give it a hard look and ask relevant questions.
The inability of a country to communicate effectively with itself ought to be recognized as a major
obstacle to development, especially at this time of communication revolution. Inability to
communicate effectively disempowers people, gives them an inferiority complex, kills their self-
confidence and destroys creative energy. It minimizes indigenous knowledge and expertise, make
people perpetual students of the glorified foreign ways of life and encourages them to despise their
own culture and values. Perhaps it requires some courage to admit that European languages, so
highly valued in the world, may not be essential for all the 1/2 billion Africans and that may in fact
be a bottleneck to their development and participation in national affairs.
The few elites and vestiges of former colonial powers may be excused for believing that
development is impossible without these foreign languages. But so did those who believed in
Greek, Latin and French (the former language of diplomats and royalty). Insisting on foreign
languages for universal functional literacy in Africa is tragic because literacy, use of own language
and culture are very important in human development and in cultivating self-worth, self-confidence
and self-pride.
Is there a people in the world today who are proud of who they are, who have escaped under-
development and poverty without a unifying language, a basic cultural heritage and spiritual
philosophy inherent and indigenous to that people? How proud would the English be if they were
forced to speak French or German and vice versa? Why should Africans be different? Or is it lack
of self-conscienceness and a feeling of inadequacy?
Is it this feeling of inadequacy that led Africa to copy the development paradigm of the West in the
mistaken belief that Africa can also develop and catch up with the West even though Africa has no
masses and colonies to exploit and no people to enslave? Can Africa succeed if it has to continue
succumbing to the open free market and to the borrowing of capital from those who have
accumulated it through unjust trade practices? Well, it has been so advised by those who themselves
could not have reached the level of affluence they are enjoying without exploiting others, and
especially Africa.
DESTROYED TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND SPIRITUAL HERITAGE
All human beings have their traditional culture, knowledge, language, wisdom, spiritual heritage
and values. These have been accumulated in the course of their life experiences for thousands of
years since mankind started roaming this planet. This heritage is therefore, much older than the
Dead Sea Scrolls, many scriptures, masterpieces of literature and music, and of course modern
media which now shapes our perception of ourselves. By comparison, the oldest of these written
records are barely 5,000 years!
The African people's heritage is their historical record which has been passed from one generation
to another and which directs communities in times of peace, insecurity and in times of birth, life and
death. This heritage gives them self-identity, self-confidence and self respect. It allows them to be
in harmony with their physical and spiritual environment. It is the basis for their personal peace, or
lack of it.
This heritage also enhances their capacity for self-leadership, decision making and self-guidance. It
is their antennae into the unknown future and their reference point into their past. Without such
guidelines in the community there can be no peace at the personal or even at the community level.
Such a community becomes weakened and eventually, disintegrates.
While some people have invented the art of reading and writing and have been able to record their
accumulated heritage in scriptures, history and literature books, art and music, philosophy and
metaphysics etc., others have so far passed it through oral instructions, stories, mythologies,
ceremonies, customs, habits and values.
Through years of domination, many of the African people have been robbed of their heritage which
has been relegated to archives of primitive cultures and paganism, witchcraft and satanism. That
perception has brought confusion, doubts and misunderstanding. That is why it was significant that
in December, 1994 the Archbishop of Caterburry, Archbishop Carey, accepted that some
missionaries erred when they condemned all aspects of African culture and relegated it to the
devilish and pagan witchcraft. He apologized for the wrongs done and hoped that this wrong be put
right and restore confidence and self respect to the African way of life.
Unfortunately, the damage has been so total that one wonders if any of the religious leaders in the
country heard that message, let alone dare do anything about it.
Partly because of this adulteration of the African culture, Africa denies its diversity by encouraging
the destruction of the different cultural heritages of various communities. By denying the cultural
identity of communities governments hope that tribal nationalism would evaporate.
This state of adulteration may not last much longer because sooner or later a disempowered
community begins to ask itself soul searching questions on how to re-empower itself, liberate itself,
and overcome divisive foreign concepts introduced into the community to weaken it politically,
economically and culturally.
For Africans were de-culturalized in ways intended to de-mystify, demean and devastate their
personality and leave them unclear about their identity, values, and spirituality. Many foreigners
even believed, and taught, that the African culture and spirituality were an impediment to progress
and should be discarded. This has given the African an inferiority complex which in turn,
legitimates holding them in contempt and demeaning and discrediting everything about them. In the
meantime, other people's heritage has been glorified and forced upon them as being spiritually and
materially superior. Such heritage is given as the answer to their material and spiritual
impoverishment. But this has failed to give them identity, self-pride, confidence and hope. At best it
only provides them with a place to escape to and hide to survive.
By the end of the process of colonization, de-culturalization and de spiritualization of Africans had
become perfected. They had no country, no capital, no culture and no spiritual philosophy to guide
them. They almost came to believe that in order to become like the West they had to adopt the
culture, religion, language, ideologies. money, dress etc. of the West. Also, to be guided by
expatriates from the West. That belief has brought many Africans to the present dilemma.
WHAT THEN?
All through the ages the African people have made efforts to deliver themselves from oppressive
forces. It is important that a critical mass of Africans do not accept the verdict that the world tries to
push down their throat so as to give up and succumb. The struggle must continue. It is important to
nurture any new ideas and initiatives which can make a difference for Africa.
In the middle of this century for example, Africa set out to rekindle the spirit of self-liberation from
colonial powers. And some three decades ago, the political leaders of modern Africa identified three
major objectives as they became the first post-colonial African rulers:
• to decolonize the entire continent
• to promote unity
• to effect economic and social development
With the recent political freedom of Namibia and South Africa that generation of African leaders
may consider their first agenda virtually complete. A more difficult agenda will be to de-colonize
the mind and re-claim the cultural and spiritual heritage of the African people. The new generation
of African leaders are expected to address the last two objectives and free their people from fear of
war and poverty. They are expected to give Africa back her dignity and self-respect.
That notwithstanding, Africa finds herself in the middle of new challenges and in a very
competitive and unsympathetic world. And so, even before Africans advance from tribal "state" to
the nation state, the latter is already crumbling under the pressure of economic and political forces
which are shaping the 21st Century.
It is not an easy battle to fight because five hundred years is a long time to struggle against all forms
of oppression. To overcome such a historical burden is an enormous task because the battles of five
centuries have left Africans weakened economically, politically but especially, culturally and
spiritually. The chains which still hold them in bondage are often the trappings of power, prestige
and the comfortable lifestyles exemplified by but a few of their leaders. And, the erroneous belief
that in time, they can all get there. These trappings have destroyed African leaders and has left the
continent without vision and commitment to social, political and economic progress.
But there is no giving up. There is hope. Generations of Africans have fought many valiant battles
against many gross violations of the rights of the African people. The power of evil has repeatedly
been overcome by the power of the intrinsic goodness of mankind. There are many examples to
give inspiration, hope and a sense of pride. A people less endowed with the power of the human
spirit would have become extinct and wiped from the face of this planet. This rich heritage should
be the source of our empowerment.
Indeed it is empowerment for me. I draw strength from past triumphs. They give me reason to fight
injustices of today. They remind me of the victorious road which we have travelled and they give
me strength for the journey ahead. I am always aware that I am not alone. For I am in the company
of men and women whose moral strength has always changed the course of history. The collective
force of women and men gathered at a conference has the capacity and the capability to bring about
the desired change.
We can work together for a better world with men and women of goodwill, those who radiate the
intrinsic goodness of humankind. To do so effectively, the world needs a global ethic with values
which give meaning to life experiences and, more than religious institutions and dogmas, sustain the
non-material dimension of humanity. Mankind's universal values of love, compassion, solidarity,
caring and tolerance should form the basis for this global ethiwhich should permeate culture,
politics, trade, religion and philosophy. It should also permeate the extended family of the United
Nations.
Without such an ethic the power game, materialism and individualism takes over. So also would
anarchy, egoism, hatred, injustices, violence and intolerance. We must make our choice or others,
less sympathetic, will make that choice for us.
Thank you.

wangari maathai statement at the at the opening of the high level segment of UNFCCC: COP 15 in
Copenhagen, Denmark
Your Excellencies, Heads of State and Governments,
H.E. The Prime Minister of Denmark, Mr. Rasmussen,
His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales,
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon,
The President of CoP-15, Madam Connie Hedegaard,
The Executive Secretary of the Convention, Mr Yvo de Boer, Honorable delegates,
Allow me to express my sincere gratitude to the people and the Government of Denmark for the
warm hospitality that has been placed at our disposal. In the past, the Green belt Movement has
worked closely with Denmark and we have enjoyed a warm
relationship and partnership working not only for the climate change but also for the environment
and sustainable development in general.
Throughout the world, peopleís expectation is that in Copenhagen delegates understand that while
they cannot negotiate with the climate, they have to negotiate with each other. The delegates
understand the science and the predictions over for example, the vulnerability of regions like Africa
and the Small Island States, who are suffering from the negative impact of climate change even as
delegates wrangle with Kyoto protocol and associated issues.
The litany of woes have been repeated enough times in conferences and meetings leading to
Copenhagen throughout the world. They include melting polar ice, permafrost and glaciers,
deforestation, erratic and failed rains, prolonged drought, drying up rivers and lakes, parched
landscapers, dying animals, and large populations faced with diseases associated with malnutrition.
It is not necessary to recite these threats again here because you have all heard them before.
We have also heard before how there should be a historic responsibility for the emissions of
greenhouse gases from regions with high-energy consumption levels, how such regions have
overused the common resources and atmospheric space. It is this understanding that has given rise
to expectations for a historic carbon responsibility and carbon justice.
We are generally agreed that emissions should be cut but are still arguing over how far the rich
industrialized countries are willing to move away from their familiar comfort zone and cut
emissions to levels that will save lives of the most vulnerable, as we have been informed by
scientific data from Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The rich countries have
the technology and the capital to adapt and mitigate, and thereby deal with many of the threats that
will face the developing world. If the developed countries

do not feel sufficiently at risk, they may be unwilling to embrace an ambitious and legally binding
Kyoto Protocol-like agreement.
Therefore, it is up to the developing world to convince them that the threat is real and it will face
them too, despite their perceived invulnerability. Climate change is an issue of security both locally
and internationally. We are in it together.
Allow me to say that we may not come out of here with a perfect document. I have been attending
UN meetings since 1976, when I attended the Habitat conference in Vancouver, Canada. Delegates
there too argued and wrangled over language and money. No delegate leaves the conference with a
perfect document and a perfect financial mechanism to implement their dreams; and the
Copenhagen Conference on Climate Change might not be any different. What we must find is a
common ground for partnership that is based on a willingness to be fair, trusting, honest, transparent
and responsible, to ourselves and to millions who are following these discussions from home.
Indeed to generations yet to be born.
It would be essential to leave Copenhagen with a binding timetable and compliance measures in
place; with a document that respects science, history and justice. Many of our leaders are here and
continue to arrive. I have much confidence that we shall see leadership demonstrated with respect to
Kyoto Protocol, adaptation, finance, REDD+, capacity building and technology. Their high number
is a reflection of their commitment to the expectations of the people of the world, and especially the
most vulnerable. They will act.
Excellencies, Honourable delegates,
To achieve the goals, we need to overcome a legacy of mistrust that is born of a past era. There are
several words that have been reverberating throughout the conference. They include words like

transparency, honesty, accountability, fairness, rights and responsibilities. Others I heard at events
organized by religious leaders. They included words that express values like compassion, empathy
and mottainai (encompassing respect, gratitude and not wasting). These values, more than science
and figures, might be the basis for a true human partnership among our leaders to achieve the
ultimate objectives of the Convention.
At this point I want to take a moment to thank groups and individuals who have already
demonstrated much commitment. They include the heads of States of the Central African region,
who appointed me the Good will ambassador of the Congo Basin Forest Ecosystem. Also, the
British and the Norwegian Governments through their respective Prime Ministers, the Rt. Hon.
Gordon Brown and the Rt. Hon. Jens Stoltenberg. Each of these government made available US$
100m with which we established the Congo Basin Forest Fund (CBFF) as a global response to the
climate crisis. The Rt Hon. Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada and I were asked to co-
chair the Fund which is hosted by the African Development Bank (AfDB), under the able leadership
of Mr. Donald Kaberuka. After Copenhagen we hope that more partners will come forward to
support this Fund. Such partnership has already been established between the Fund and the Prince
Albert II Foundation. With such commitment I am hoping that forests will be an integral part of the
solutions in the Copenhagen agreement. In committing to REDD+, we support restoration,
conservation and protection not only of the forest ecosystems for the role they play as carbon sinks,
but also for all the other essential services they give to all forms of life. Forests can live without us,
but we cannot without them.
From Copenhagen we need a governance structure based on accountability between donors and
beneficiaries under a consolidated UN financial mechanism that will make resources easily
accessible to those who need them most. For Africa and other regions often

considered lacking in capacity, it is important to allow established institutions such as the African
Development Bank, to play an effective role.
Distinguished delegates,
The Orb you see here contains stories, voices, images and actions collected from around the world
to create a global mandate for action now. It is the symbol of the collective spirit which brings
together the efforts of all major climate campaigns this year.
The Orb will also have space reserved on its hard drive for one final but significant document on
how nations will deal with climate change.
Here at Copenhagen, we have a unique chance to challenge ourselves and give the world more than
hope. That is, as we have been saying all along: an ambitious, fair and legally-binding agreement.
Before I conclude, allow me to thank the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-
moon, who has designated me as a UN Messenger of Peace with a focus on Environment and
Climate Change.
ìMay Peace and Climate Justice prevail!î
Thank you.