Reuters: EU missing overseas aid goals as austerity bites – Aid flows from the European Union dropped last year for the first time in almost ten years, as “the euro zone crisis led 14 countries to cut financial assistance, ant-poverty group ONE said in a report published Monday.” This decline in aid “jeopardizes the chances of some African economies dispensing with external assistance in the future” and ONE calculated that the EU would need to boost its official development assistance by 42.9 billion euros between now and 2015 to meet its targets. (Alan Wheatley)
AP: Zimbabwe launches new FM station weighted with music programs, ending 3-decade state monopoly – The 32-year-long state-held monopoly on broadcasting culminated today with Star FM radio, Zimbabwe’s first licensed commercial radio station. The station will provide a mix of hourly news and music programs. However, questions have arisen over Star FM’s loyalties, as it is owned by Zimbabwe Newspapers, publishers of newspapers dedicated to President Robert Mugabe.
Slate: Why You Should Love Grasshopper Tacos and Kelp Pasta – The majority of the conversation about “how to solve the coming food crisis caused by soaring population, diminishing resources, and a warming planet focuses rightly on technology, reducing waste, and improving food access and distribution methods.” It will also be important, however, to broaden our appetites, as “two food sources that strike many as unpalatable – insects and seaweed – could play a critical role” in feeding the world’s expanding population. (Josh Schonwald)
ICYMI: Fox News: Natural Resource Mismanagement Limits Poverty Gains in Africa – The reduction of global poverty levels “would have been bigger in Africa if countries rich in oil, [natural] gas and minerals had been properly managed,” Donald Kaberuka, the president of the African Development Bank said last week. While countries such as Angola and Mozambique have made progress in their development of petroleum and mineral reserves, “the continent still needs to avoid making the same mistakes of the past to ensure that development of natural resources spurs African nations toward a green and sustainable economy.”
