* Africa has potential to help world balance emissions * U.S. firms to invest in offsetting schemes By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI, Aug 4 (Reuters) - Africa can boost global efforts to curb emissions through the absorption of greenhouse gases by developing its farming sector, the U.S. secretary of agriculture said on Tuesday. U.S. firms unable to stay within greenhouse-gas thresholds at home might well want to invest in such projects to offset their emissions, Tom Vilsack added during a visit to Kenya. "With proper techniques and proper management, you (Africa), can help the world better balance its greenhouse gas emissions," Vilsack told Reuters in Nairobi, where he is attending an Afro-US trade meeting. He said this is thanks to plants and trees that have the capacity to absorb emissions. The United States and China are the world's leading carbon polluters and President Barack Obama has prioritised emission controls to mitigate against climate change. [ID:nN07319079] Environmental groups have decried deforestation in the Amazon, and some African countries such as Kenya, saying it cuts the planet's ability to absorb greenhouse gases at a time when climate change effects have started to be felt. "With productive agriculture to absorb carbon, you have a tremendous opportunity to assist in greenhouse gases through what you grow," Vilsack said. He said the law in the United States now allows firms to offset emissions through investments in green projects. "Those American companies that cannot meet their thresholds could do so by investing both domestically and internationally in projects that absorb carbon," he said. "This could be an opportunity for Africa in particular." Obama's efforts to green the economy also include a plan to rid the United States of fossil-fuel dependence and create million of jobs in the process. "We have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of fuel being produced from crops. We are seeing crops being used as substitute to plastics," said Vilsack. Companies in Africa have also been moving steadily towards opportunities presented by carbon trading. Kenya's Mumias Sugar <MSC.NR> and electricity generator KenGen <KEGN.NR> are some of the firms hoping to profit from the sale of carbon credits. Africa is a small polluter compared with its developed peers. Kenya, east Africa's biggest economy, has said it is amending its environment policy to formally recognise carbon trading. [ID:nLQ266070] (Editing by David Clarke and Michael Roddy)
Residents carry their laundry past the Cessna 206 plane that crashed near the Kibera slums in Kenya's capital Nairobi, August 1, 2009. The aircraft with four passengers on board crashed in ...
