Lutheran Leader Urges African Churches’ Intervention on Climate Change

Consultation Underlines Church Role in Holding Governments Accountable

Setting the tone for a consultation on climate change, food security and poverty in Africa, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Vice President for the region said, "it cannot be business as usual," as recurring crises continue to hurt the continent. "We cannot continue to mediate on this, we must take action,"Bishop Dr Zephania Kameeta from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the Republic of Namibia (ELCRN), told a press conference at the opening of the 6-10 October LWF regional consultation.

Over 50 participants from member churches in Africa, field programs of the Department for World Service and related partners discussed the three topics under the theme "Vision, Realities and the Witness of the Church amid Crises of Climate Change, Food and Poverty." Kameeta underlined the LWF's "call for more research, and better networking to influence governments to act on behalf of the poor and vulnerable people, hit hard by food insecurity in Africa. "We cannot emphasize enough that food security is not a privilege, but a right," said the ELCRN bishop, who leads in Namibia a Basic Income Grant (BIG) coalition of civil society organizations advocating an initiative to alleviate poverty and improve economic development in the country.

Map of Africa, click for a larger view

Land Competition

Concern for Africa's future is heightened by climate change,with rivers drying up, failing or erratic rains and prolonged droughts, resulting in poor harvests, the consultation heard.This leads to displacement and conflicts, due to competition for productive land. "The issue of food crisis is something we are experiencing again and again in Kenya," said Bishop Walter Obare Omwanza of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Kenya (ELCK), which is co-hosting the event with the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Obare explained the church's intervention. "As early as 1983,the ELCK saw the looming food crisis, and embarked on a tree-planting exercise," mainly with the help of church-sponsored schools. The project that went on until 2000 was re-launched recently to also involve congregation members actively, he added. "We chose to convene in Kenya because we felt it is a very important place for learning and sharing experiences especially with local people forced to move, due to difficulties in securing their own food and for their animals," said Rev. Dr Musa P.Filibus, area secretary for Africa at the LWF Department for Mission and Development, which organized the consultation.

Raise Awareness

Still, Bishop Dr Paul Kofi Fynn, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ghana, noted it was mainly politicians and governments, who were often heard talking about climate change. "We don’t hear the churches, and that's why in the Lutheran church, we want to begin by telling the people the church has a role to play," said Fynn."If we sensitize our people this will go a long way in solving the problem of climate change," he said.

Concern was also raised about the church's responsibility in holding governments accountable over the issue of land privatization to multinational corporations for the cultivation of products that benefit the global market economy. "The small land that we live on is slowly being taken away, and we keep asking ourselves, 'Are people going to eat the flowers or the industries?'" remarked Rev. Dr Elieshi Mungure, a lecturer at the Makumira University College of Tumaini University, Tanzania,referring to the country's export-oriented flower industry.

"At the end of the day, people are coming to the churches crying, and the churches are forced to go out and start gathering food, as they should. That's why we are saying we need to speak for the people. These government members are also our [church]members, but [we] don't tell them the truth," stressed Mungure,a pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Tanzania.

The consultation's aim is to help church leaders deepen their theological understanding of climate change, food crisis and economic globalization, and to identify strategies for responding to these challenges. Participants are also reflecting on the meaning of "Give Us Today Our Daily Bread," the theme of the July2010 LWF Eleventh Assembly to be held in Stuttgart, Germany.

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