Environmentalist politicians from Africa have been meeting in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, in an effort to inject new life into the continent's green movements.

The federation of African ecological parties was created in 1998, but has since been unable to function effectively, because of political instability, lack of resources and the inexperience of member-parties which are relatively young.

The outgoing secretary-general of the federation, Adamou Garba, who is the head of the Green Party in Niger, said the greatest challenges facing the Green movement in Africa were chronic poverty, desertification and pollution.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service