Hazardous Waste Management Project for Côte d'Ivoire

In August 2006 Ivory Coast was visited with a horrible hazardous waste disaster under quite dubious circumstances; The naval vessel ‘Probo Koala’ chartered by a Dutch Company had 400 tons of toxic waste it was carrying offloaded from it and dumped on at least 12 sites in Abidjan some in residential areas. What followed were the deaths of 10 people and the poisoning of thousands allegedly resulting from waste. It became apparent that processes for the prevention and handling of such issues was needed, especially in Africa, and therefore the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP), partnering with other agencies, has stepped in to do just that. On 16^th June 2008 it launched a project to address gaps in the international instruments controlling transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and waste generated on ships, unscrupulous behavior from some private operators, and the need to strengthen hazardous waste management capacity in many developing countries, including in Côte d’Ivoire. As part of the initiative, a hazardous waste management plan will be developed for the District of Abidjan, whose inhabitants were directly affected by the ‘Probo Koala’ incident. This project should go some way in protecting the lives of Ivorians who are all too vulnerable to whims of unscrupulous waste disposers.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200806160534.html

Cyberspace Resurrects Career of forgotten African Artist

The record industry might loathe it but cyberspace has become one of the main forces undercutting the traditional means of acquiring music. No longer do music fans have to go to the record store to purchase their favorite songs –they can download them, even for free, over the internet – and artists need no longer rely on the juggernaut record company machinery to sell their music and make a name –they can sell directly to their fans over the web. BBC online provides us with one such story of artist and fan getting their ultimate satisfaction via the internet. It carries the story of Ahmed Fakroun a Libyan musician who had seen his career all but buried in the mid 1980’s when his country became a pariah state following its alleged links to terrorism. This pioneer of world music saw his carrier resurrected when Western DJ’s recently unearthed his music, remixed it and popularized over the web opening up the door for Fakroun to reissue his music. He now sells his music online to a new generation of audience from the comfort of his home town, Benghazi, Libya. It makes an inspirational read for those seeking to make a break in the challenging music industry and for music enthusiasts.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7434014.stm

Tanzania to Benefit from New Maize Variety

Tanzania is among several African Countries poised to gain from a project designed at developing drought tolerant maize varieties to help cushion peasants from famine and hunger. Dubbed WEMA –the Water Efficient Maize for Africa project –the project will also involve Uganda, Kenya and South Africa. Its aims are very much along the lines of initiatives being championed by major agricultural development bodies in recent months to counter the effects of global food shortage. The acting coordinator of the project in Tanzania, Dr Alois Kullaya said the Tanzania project will be implemented in 10 years with the first five being for valuation of the good land area for agriculture and the last five for project development. Targeted regions in the country are those with arid and semi-arid conditions such as Singida, Dodoma, and Lindi. Farmers will now no longer have to rely purely on weather conditions to bring in a harvest.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200806160464.html

Togo: New Phase of Unicef Campaign Begins

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has launched the second part of its multiphase campaign to detect and treat widespread malnutrition in children in the West African State of Togo. UNICEF has so far opened 134 nutritional rehabilitation centres, trained more than 1,750 health agents and supplied more than 200 tons of food, medicines and related materials in Togo but had focused mainly on large population areas. In this second phase the agency is targeting dozens of more isolated villages in the Savanes and Kara regions in the north of the country and the Maritime region in the far south. Eventually UNICEF expects to treat almost 77,000 children, provide nutritional supplements to more than 1 million children and offer awareness-raising about good food practices and breast-feeding to over 90,000 pregnant or new mothers.

At least 14 per cent of Togolese children under the age of five are currently estimated to be malnourished, with many parents so poor they cannot pay for transport for their suffering children to be treated at the nearest health-care centre.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200806160006.html

US Boost for African ‘Green Revolution’

The US agency United States Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has come in to an alliance with the Kofi Annan-led Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) to boost food production and ensure food security in Africa. The MCC had already invested $1.7 billion in agricultural development over the years but is now partnering with AGRA which has made a name for itself by emphasizing the support of smallholder farmers and the development of ‘breadbasket’ areas as the key to winning the war against hunger in Africa. AGRA’s concept has received special attention in the midst of the Global food shortage and endorsement by major agencies dealing with agricultural development. MCC’s partnership with AGRA will provide additional funds for infrastructure development as well as the development of new seeds and fertilizers which are cornerstones of AGRA’s campaign to boost food production. Three 'breadbasket' regions will be the focus of the partnership’s drive.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7449989.stm

UN ambassadors end Africa tour praising Ivory Coast

UN Security Council Ambassadors ended their now annual tour of Africa with high praise for the progress made by Ivorians in their socio-political regeneration. In this tour of Africa the Security Council visited Sudan, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti and Ivory Coast in an attempt to see for themselves developments in the Continent’s trouble spots and were particularly impressed with the progress made in Ivory Coast’s political process. South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo noted that rapid and groundbreaking political progress seen over the past year was achieved by the Ivorian’s working by themselves; In the past 12 months conflicting sides in the Ivorian crisis have managed to agree on a process leading to the holding an election at the end of November this year. Several U.N.-mandated agreements failed to produce concrete results in steps to come out of conflict and National disunity. A lot of work remains to be done to ensure free and fair elections but the Ivorians have proved that home grown solutions do work.

http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN023357.html

Global Crisis May Be an Opportunity for Africa!

This is the view of an expert at the World Economic Forum for Africa which concluded June 6th in Cape Town, South Africa, World Bank Vice-President for Africa, Obiageli Ezekwesili. Her view is that the Global Food crisis has put the focus back on the food sector which in the past was Africa’s competitive advantage but which in recent decades has shifted to the background in favour of commercial agriculture and industrial development. “Agriculture is back on the agenda and with the right kind of public investment” and stands a chance of increasing productivity. The World Bank, for example, is doubling lending for Africa from 450 million to 800 million U.S. dollars starting with financial year 2010 and beyond. Other key agricultural development agencies are giving great effort and support to spur a green revolution in Africa having the support of smallholder farmers and the effective exploitation of “breadbasket” regions as its basis. Things are looking up for Africa’s farmers who have been long neglected in the push for economic progress.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-06/07/content_8325788.htm

Agreement on Disputed Sudanese Town Reached

Agreement on the destiny of what has been described as a ‘Tinderbox’ Sudanese town, Abyei, has been reached between the leaders of the two sides contending for it -Sudan’s President, Omar al-Bashir, and his southern counterpart Salva Kiir. Recent fierce conflict in the area had caused 90,000 of its inhabitants to flee prompting International outrage and fears that the North and South would fall back into the Civil War they had worked so hard to get out of. Abyei was one of the sticking points of the Civil War ending agreements as it is oil rich and on the Northern side of border between North and South Sudan but from which many Southern Sudanese hail. al-Bashir and Kiir agreed that international arbiters would decide how much of the region around the town would go to each side. Meanwhile the town has been placed under interim administration allowing thousands of displaced people to return to it.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/International_Business/Sudan_rivals_agree_to_settle_differences_on_oil-rich_region_of_Abyei_/articleshow/3111948.cms

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7442872.stm

Budgetary Boost for Kenyan Agriculture

Kenya is a country that was amongst those in most danger of experiencing a full blown famine at the beginning of the year because of the double effect of a global food crisis and socio-political turmoil. The socio-political climate is now far more stable but the global crisis is still taking its toll. The good news is that the Grand Coalition Government has been alive to the fact that the agricultural sector was in dire need of support in order for it to effectively feed the country's population. Therefore, while it has been undertaking the process of resettling displaced farmers and their staff it has been moving swiftly to alleviate the cost of some farm inputs for farmers. News that the new financial year's budget (the fiscal year begins in June) will provide added support will be music to their ears -the agricultural sector is set to benefit from an increase of four per cent in the Agriculture ministry's budgetary allocation for the next year. The authorities in Kenya envision a vibrant agricultural sector even in the midst of a global crisis.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200805191672.html

UN intervention in food crisis

The United Nations has pledged $1.2bn (£613m) of food aid for 75 million people in the 60 nations hardest hit by rising food prices. This was announced at the recently concluded FAO Summit in Rome. The pledge is just one of the many measures being put into place by leading world bodies and nations. Debate is still taking place, however, as to the extent that the use of biofuels is to blame for the current crisis. The US says that only 2-3% of the global food price rises has anything to do with biofuels while the International Food Policy Research Institute says biofuels are behind 30% of the rises. Nevertheless, as we stated yesterday global consensus is building to protect small holder farmers in poor nations and to boost food production in high productivity zones. Food aid will definitely alleviate suffering while other short, medium and long term initiatives take action. Some nations simply need food on the table immediately!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7435265.stm

Partnership to alleviate the food crisis

In April we carried an article where we talked about new approaches to agriculture that should be taken to meet the needs of a burgeoning world population. Some of these approaches are now likely to see the light of day following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between four key agricultural development bodies. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Programme (WFP) signed an agreement in which they would partner to boost food production in Africa’s ‘breadbasket’ regions, link local food production to food needs, and work across Africa’s major agricultural growing areas to create opportunities for smallholder farmers. The agreement marks a significant transformation in the way major global agencies work with smallholder farmers to assist them in solving Africa's chronic hunger and food problems. The new partnership announced today will work closely with other stakeholders in these breadbasket areas to rapidly improve food production, food security and rural incomes.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200806040548.html

New project to quench Rwanda’s energy hunger.

Poor exploitation of energy resources can be a major hindering factor to economic growth and is a problem that has all too often been associated with African States. This is despite the fact that many have an overabundance of energy resources. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a case in point –the country has the potential of meeting the electricity needs of the whole continent but yet has hardly enough for itself. In the midst of all this we learn that Rwanda is taking a step in the right direction. The tiny country has began to extract methane gas from a volcanic lake it shares with the DRC -Lake Kivu. The Lake holds an estimated 55 billion cubic metres of methane -the equivalent to 40 million tonnes of oil. A consortium is currently eyeing the extraction effort in the hope of setting up a seven-megawatt power plant and three other investors are hot on their heels. Should the process prove successful then it will go a long way in spurring Rwanda on to its economic objectives.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7426154.stm