Kenya Cuts Food Taxes After Four Die Of Hunger
NAIROBI, Kenya — An infant was left suckling on her mother’s lifeless body last week after the woman died of hunger in Kenya’s drought-stricken north. The heartbreaking scene is one reason the government on Wednesday cut taxes on maize and wheat. Prices on food and fuel are rising globally, but higher costs are hitting residents [...]
Nigerian biosafety bill may fail, says scientists
Supporters of genetically modified (GM) crop technology fear that their four-year effort to get a biosafety bill enacted in Nigeria may have been in vain if the country’s upper house fails to pass it before its tenure ends next month (29th of May). The 2007 bill, passed by the country’s lower chamber last July, is [...]
Malawi finally starts building science university
Seven years after it was first mooted, the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) is finally getting off the ground. President Bingu wa Mutharika laid the foundation stone this month (on April 9th) in the southern district of Thyolo. MUST — formally known as the Lilongwe University of Science and Technology — will be built [...]
Delay in US Law to Combat Africa’s Conflict Minerals Sharpens Divisions
A delay in a U.S. law to combat Congo’s so-called conflict minerals has sharpened divisions between advocates of the legislation and those who will need to comply, namely manufacturers and the high-tech industry. A Washington event on Congo’s conflict minerals was held Tuesday evening, a few weeks after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission postponed [...]
Turning rubbish into fuel – Nairobi’s community cooker
Kenya - In 2008, the Jiko ya Jamii, or Community Cooker, won an award from the World Architecture Festival, because of its innovative use of waste products as a source of fuel. The brainchild of Nairobi-born architect James Archer, the cooker is powered by dried rubbish, collected by local residents in Nairobi’s Kibera slum. In return [...]
38 reported dead after boat sinks in Congo
(BREAKING NEWS) At least 38 people died in the Democratic Republic of Congo when the boat they were travelling in capsized on Monday, the Red Cross said. The boat was ferrying goods and people across Lake Kivu to the town of Bukavu when it tipped over and sank at around 4 a.m. (0200 GMT), according [...]
Reclaiming Africa’s degraded land with biofuel crops
In Gomoa Adzentem in central Ghana, the Tragrimacs company is assisting farmers to cultivate sunflowers on degraded land. Working in groups, the farmers are able to sell their crop back to Tragrimacs, who use the sunflower seeds to produce biodiesel. However, as well as creating income and employment, the sunflower cultivation is also improving the health of the farmers’ [...]
Africa’s Anti-malarial plants in danger of extinction
More research is needed to prevent the extinction of trees and shrubs with antimalarial properties that could guide the discovery of new generation of anti-malarials and other life-saving drugs, African scientists have said. Many of the plants used in traditional medicines to prevent or treat malaria are endangered by deforestation and overexploitation for medicinal use, according to research findings [...]
Congo governor offers farmland to farmers in mining province
A provincial governor in the Democratic Republic of Congo has offered about 14 million hectares of farmland to large-scale farmers to boost agriculture in the mineral-rich Katanga province. Moise Katumbi, governor of mineral-rich Katanga, said the province must diversify into agriculture to become self sufficient and export some of its produce. Katumbi said the land [...]
