Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey "Only the best is good enough for Africa."
Kwame Nkrumah "The independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked up with the total liberation of Africa."
By Wambi Michael Kampala — Unless African smallholder farmers, who comprise the majority of food growers on the continent, are given the tools and knowledge to cope with the increased occurrences of plant virus diseases, the livelihoods of millions will be at stake, according to Nteranya Sanginga, the director general of the International Institute of […]
United Nations — Amidst growing new threats of potential conflicts over fast-dwindling water resources in the world’s arid regions, the United Nations will commemorate 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation (IYWC). But Maude Barlow, chairperson, Council of Canadians and a former senior advisor on water to the president of the U.N. General Assembly […]
By Neil Palmer We often hear about livestock being a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Picture them: Formidable herds of flatulent quadrupeds munching their way – figuratively speaking – through millions of hectares of rainforest. But it seems we need to look below the surface, literally, to find another climate change culprit: earthworms. That’s […]
The United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) says despite significant and encouraging declines in open defecation since 1990, 1.1 billion people (15 per cent of the world’s population) still practice it. The majority of people practicing open defecation estimated at 949 million live in rural areas, according to a […]
Ethiopia has begun construction of a 6,000 megawatt (MW) hydroelectric dam on the Blue Nile river, a move that has been greeted enthusiastically by many Ethiopians but that is causing concern in the downstream nations of Sudan and Egypt. The project, which is scheduled to take six and a half years to complete, is being […]
Ouagadougou — Recent fighting between herders and farmers in Burkina Faso’s central-eastern Sangou area which left seven people dead is a warning that recurrent violence between the two groups could get out of hand unless urgent action is taken. “We are used to having frequent clashes between herders and farmers in this part of the […]
By Wendy Atkins Technological innovation, especially in mobile, will be critical to improving agricultural productivity, but R&D funding must be ramped up after years of neglect When Ismail Serageldin, director of the Library of Alexandria, told the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) that global population growth meant food production would have to increase by 70 […]
By Isolda Agazzi Geneva — Organizers of this year’s World Toilet Day, which falls on Nov. 19, are using the slogan ‘I give a shit – do you?’ to break the silence around the crucial issue of sanitation and remind the international community that 2.5 billion people around the world don’t have access to […]
Caribbean ministers at the United Nations General Assembly today called on Member States to pay attention to the devastating effects of climate change on the world’s most vulnerable populations, and urged greater international cooperation to achieve a common UN-sponsored climate agreement. “Inaction or inadequate action is inexcusable and morally indefensible, given the level of certainty […]
By John Mbalamwezi Dar es Salaam — World Bank has warned on an increasing number of pre-mature deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa as a result of indoor air pollution and other associated health complications. According to the World Bank, between the year 2000 and 2030, a total of 8.1 million premature deaths will occur among […]