Repairing the natural world to end famine
“As adults, we have a responsibility to ensure that children have food and water”. What may seem obvious for some, is still not a reality for far too many people across the world. Environmentalist and climate activist, Founder of Green Generation Initiative, Elizabeth Wathuti reminded us this in her keynote address at the EU Sustainable Investment Summit. She shared with us her experience growing up in her homeland Kenya, where droughts have pushed 2 million people into famine, a tragedy that other countries like Somalia and Ethiopia also suffer.
“As I grew, so did the droughts. In the past year both our rainy seasons have failed us with some regions receiving 75% less rainfall than they usually would,” 26 year-old Wathuti explained. “Our rivers are running dry, our habitats are failing, our storehouses stand empty, and our animals and people are dying,” she added.
The climate activist pointed out that while the 1 billion inhabitants of Sub-Saharan Africa are responsible for just half a percentage of emissions, temperatures are rising 1.5 times faster in the region. “Half my lifetime ago, politicians promised that countries like mine would be supported to adapt with 100 billion euros per year, but the promise has not been kept and it is looking that it might not even be met in 2025,” she said, denouncing the “inaction of the world”.
The need to rebuild the reciprocal relationship with nature
For Wathuti, rebuilding human reciprocal relationship with nature is core to ending famine. “We need to wake up and remember that we depend on nature for our survival, for the air we breathe, the water we drink and even for the food that we eat. Our fate as a species is intrinsically linked with the fate of the wider natural world,” she implored.
To contribute to this endeavour, at the age of 20, Wathuti funded the Green Generation Initiative. The project focuses on addressing food insecurity in Kenya by planting fruit trees. In the past five years, the initiative has grown 30.000 trees to maturity and provided nutrition to 20.000 schoolchildren, she detailed.
“Some of the impacts we face defy human adaptation, but we cannot adapt to total crop failure and famine. We need to urgently invest everything we have, our creativity, our time, energy and resources in repairing the natural wild upon which our lives depend,” she appealed.
“I don’t know what kind of resources each of you have access to, what levels of power you might be able to pull, so I won’t be prescriptive in my plea. I will simply say that as adults we have a responsibility to ensure that children have food and water. What will you do?” she concluded.