Kinshasa, April 20th, 2021 (CPA) – The deputy coordinator of the Congolese agency for ecological transition and sustainable development (ACTEDD), Prof. Jean de Dieu Minengu, examined in his published editorial, in the African environment journal and of agriculture (RAFEA), the need to develop sustainable cities and eco-villages in DRC.
According to Prof. Minengu, editor-in-chief of the said review, who notified CPA on Monday, this editorial from the recent issue of RAFEA published in March 2021, is entitled « Sustainable cities and eco-villages in the Republic Democratic Republic of Congo ”.
“In DRC, the state of poverty exposes people living in rural areas to inhuman conditions. However, the inaccessibility to water and electricity, sanitation systems, communication routes and other basic social services (school, health center, market and others.) have increased vulnerability. in rural areas”, he said.
An eco-village, continued Professor Minengu, is a group of human-sized habitats where the priority is to place people and the environment at the center of all issues. Eco-villages have become a choice of the present for the future.
They constitute development models for revitalizing local communities and managing the environment sustainably.
According to him, this is to bring rural populations back to a way of life that renews the way of working, producing, consuming, managing waste and living together to meet environmental challenges, climate change and scarcity. resources, the accelerated loss of biodiversity, the multiplication of environmental health risks, economic challenges and others.
The interdependence of the challenges of the sustainable development of cities and eco-villages, their inclusion in time and just like the increasing complexity of stakeholder games must contribute to the reflection on the transformations to be achieved, he noted, inviting scientists and institutions to share knowledge with other actors, given that they have to say and do for the development of sustainable cities and eco- villages in DRC.
Population growth in DRC in urban centers
In addition, Professor of the University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN) said that the increase in populations in DRC in urban centers has led to pollution, anarchic constructions, unemployment, difficulties in mobility of people and their property as well as environmental degradation.
Population growth in DRC, he noted, is one of the strongest in the world and has eluded any census for more than 30 years, indicating that the lack of effective actions to fight against natural disasters (erosion, floods and others.) worsens the socioeconomic and environmental conditions of already precarious urban populations.
He also noted that green spaces are being plundered for the benefit of anarchic urban expansion while the overcrowding of some cities due to migratory flows accentuates the housing problem, thus leading to uncontrolled peri-urbanization.
The analysis of this situation, explained Professor Minengu, leads to reflection on lifestyles and forms of human settlements, and therefore calls for imagining transformations of urban systems, beyond their optimization, seeking to reconcile social, economic, environmental, cultural issues and others.
The construction of the sustainable city called the green city, a necessity for the respect of sustainable development
The sustainable city called green city according to Prof. Minengu, is an urban unit respecting the principles of sustainable development and ecological town planning, which takes into account the social, economic, environmental and cultural issues of town planning for and with the inhabitants, by facilitating lean modes of work and transport, by developing efficiency in terms of energy and management of natural resources.
The process of changing urban development in DRC as it is known as opposed to sustainable development, he argued, is difficult but not impossible.
It is not only a question of changing the urban form, transport systems, water, energy and waste technologies, but also of changing the value systems and underlying planning processes. and urban governance to reflect an approach based on sustainable development, he said.
The absence of a general land use plan (a process underway at the government level) and the lack of effective actions in the area of urban development have increased instability and exposed many cities in DRC.
He specified that investments oriented in the construction of social housing, the creation of green public spaces, the improvement of planning and sustainable urban management in a participatory and inclusive manner, are challenges to be met. In DRC, the state of poverty exposes people living in rural areas to inhuman conditions.
However, the inaccessibility to water and electricity, sanitation systems, communication routes and other basic social services (school, health center, market and others.) have increased vulnerability. in rural areas, he concluded.
All these questions, it should be remembered, are taken into account in ACTEDD’s investment projects.
RAFEA, an interuniversity journal
The African environment and agriculture review (RAFEA), an interuniversity journal created in January 2018, is the work of three Congolese universities, namely: the University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN), the University of Kikwit (UNIKIK ) and the University of Bandundu (UNIBAND).
These universities, it should be remembered, have agreed to develop in synergy writings relating to questions of plant and animal production, veterinary and forestry sciences, soil and earth sciences, rural engineering, the environment. , fishing and fish farming, bio-industries, agro-food and socio-economy and others.
The African paper of environment and agriculture is placed under the scientific authority of the editorial board and under the administrative authority of the non-profit organizations, the assistance center for grassroots communities for sustainable development (CABD), of the group of agropastoral studies and research for the development of Bandundu (GERADIB) and SOFT Africa.
This paper develops, for its influence, relations with international papers, universities, research centers, national and international organizations and others, it is indicated.
The objective pursued by the various partners is to make RAFEA an important tool for scientific communication in DRC in particular, and in Africa in general, in the areas of agriculture and the environment. This is why the various scientific articles published in its various issues since its creation are the work of Congolese and African researchers. ACP /