National Environmental Action Plan

1.1 Shortly give an overview of the National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP).

National Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) is a structure within which environment and sustainable development issues are identified and prioritised. It is the basis for managing, monitoring, and evaluating a plan of action. Aside from producing a plan, the NEAP is a demand-driven process, based on local participation, which aims to promote sustainable development into the overall planning process of a country.

The NEAP is founded on three fundamental principles:

• The right of citizens to a clean and healthy environment.

• Local community and private sector participation in natural resources management

• Obligatory Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs)

Environmental degradation increases the vulnerability of societies it affects and contributes to scarcity of resources

People depend on environment for survival. People throughout the world consume water, food, energy and other natural resources in-order to live. All economic activity is based from resources from nature. Environmental degradation will lead to people losing their jobs, cause insecurities and the deterioration of the lives.

Environmental degradation contributes markedly too many health threats, including polluted air, dirty water, poor sanitation, and insect-transmitted diseases such as malaria. Lack of availability and low quality of freshwater are the two most limiting factors for development in Africa, constraining food production and industrial activities, and contributing significantly to the burden of disease. Land degradation and water shortages in many parts of Africa are a major threat to the ability of poor farmers to earn a living from the land. Land quality and productivity are declining in cultivated areas, rangelands and forests resulting in reduced agricultural yields, affecting economies and food security; desertification of arid areas, raising competition for remaining resources; and increased potential for conflict. Land degradation impacts are felt most keenly by the poor because

The produce on agriculture has dropped due to drought, precipitation changes, acidic rain which kills the harvest and this leads to loss of jobs, migration, increase in poverty increase in food price, and social disorder amongst the people. Agricultural losses are estimated to be possibly severe for several areas (like the Sahel, East Africa, and southern Africa) accompanied by changes in the length of growing periods of lack of rain fall. In some countries, lack of rain fall could reduce agriculture by up to 50% by