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drainage, stagnant water and absence of sanitation facilities are both causes and consequences of poverty.17 The linkage between environment and poverty is unavoidable, and that is the real challenge for all of us.18 The next section deals briefly with regional environmental challenges and the links with poverty.
3.2 Regional assessment
Africa 17] Environmental issues in Africa are intrinsically connected with natural resources and poverty. Africa is rich in mineral resources; and yet, the continent still has the highest percentage of poor people in the world.19 For most of Africa, agriculture is the chief economic activity, providing livelihoods and employment for up to 70 per cent of the population.20 Extractive industries, particularly in Central and Southern Africa, run by multinational corporations, are more interested in the minerals than in the
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