On a continent where approximately two-thirds of its citizens rely on agriculture as the main source of their livelihood, where new technological advances have been introduced, and where there is enough food available to feed the whole population, why is it that more than two-thirds of the population are experiencing moderate to high levels of undernourishment?
An important piece of the puzzle is technology.
Many of the kinds of technologies that are being introduced to African farmers are high-tech solutions. These...
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For the first time in our lifetime, a wide range of African artists and global celebrities with a passion for Africa, have united in a call for action to break the recurring incidence of famine and extreme hunger in the Horn of Africa.
In an open letter addressed to African and world leaders, 58 artists are appealing for the implementation of a three-part plan to beat the famine in the Horn of Africa and invest in long-term solutions to avoid...
Elizabeth Wright of Concern Worldwide explains the way of life of pastoralist communities living in northern Kenya — and how they have been affected by the drought.
For pastoralist communities of Northern Kenya such as the Borana tribe, cattle and rain are as vital to human life as air. Their herds are not only their primary source of food, but also inseparable from centuries-old cultural traditions linked to marriage, health and the naming of children. Cattle are at the heart...
At the recent UN High Level Meeting on AIDS, world leaders made a critical step in the right direction with the launch of a global plan to eliminate new HIV infections among children by 2015 and to keep their mothers alive. Last year, ONE members tirelessly advocated for the Global Fund during our “No Child Born with HIV” campaign, and we’re pleased that this plan will help us work towards turning that goal into reality.
Tremendous gains have been...
The French news publication, Le Monde Diplomatique, recently published a map showing major infrastructure, particularly energy, in Africa:
The image shows how infrastructure in Africa is growing rapidly, but is still largely concentrated in coastal regions and those with large mineral deposits. This means that rural and isolated populations often do not have access to modern energy and the benefits that it can bring.
In fact, only 30.5% of the total sub-Saharan population and only 14.3% of the...
Thanks to good harvests, much of sub-Saharan Africa has been sheltered from the recent rise in world food prices. This is in sharp contrast to the food price spikes in 2007 to 2008, which resulted in a sharp increase in poverty and riots across many African cities. However, currently there are pockets where demand outstrips supply and poor families are feeling the crunch. In Nairobi, for example, supermarket prices for corn, wheat and cooking...
This piece was first published on the Royal Africa Society website
For a country whose President sits 7th in the league of longest serving African leaders (and could have climbed to 6th by the time this is published), Ugandans appeared remarkably relaxed about awarding Yoweri Museveni another five years in office. The election campaign was largely peaceful, a welcome change from the violence and intimidation inflicted on his main opponent Kizza Besigye in 2006, and the result was decisive. On...
In the run up to the football World Cup, which kicks off next month in South Africa, some of Africa’s most renowned musicians have joined the United Nations to call for a commitment to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – a set of 8 internationally-agreed goals designed to reduce poverty, hunger, disease, and maternal and child deaths by 2015.
Watch the video here:
The ‘8 Goals for Africa’ song features 8 of Africa’s best known musicians: Yvonne Chaka Chaka from...
There’s been a lot of discussion over the last few days following a recent BBC report on the alleged misuse of funds during the famines in East Africa of 1984-85.
Several former British to Ambassadors to Ethiopia, senior US government figures, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Oxfam, The Band Aid Trust, Save the Children, Christian Aid and others have all responded saying the report is unfounded.
Paul Valley from the Independent newspaper in the UK has posted an interesting analysis...
Dr Gebreab Barnabas, Head of the Regional Health Bureau in Tigray province, talked to ONE recently about a primary health care programme that has been running in Ethiopia.
The scheme, which started 5 years ago, involves the training 30,000 female health extension workers nationally, including 1,800 in Tigray. Supported by the Ethiopian government, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, UNICEF and other partners, it also involves the building of more than 3000 heath centres.
Programmes such as this...