Monthly Archives: March 2010
Africa in Pictures : Mali Bus Photos
Continuing the series on transport in Mali, I thought I would see what pix I could find of buses.
Buses in Mali come in all types and sizes. Some of the long distance buses are very modern with videos and air-conditioning. Others are more basic.
Here’s a fairly common sight in Mali – a broken down bus.
Bus in Mali
[Photo credit: Martha de Jong-Lantink]
These vehicles waiting to cross the river show how goods are piled on top of buses.
Waiting to cross the river, Mali
[Photo credit: Martha de Jong-Lantink]
Small green buses called bachees or dourounis run fixed routes in town, and to suburbs out of town.
Dourouni in Bamako, Mali
[Photo credit: Alexbip]
Africa Report : Reforming wildlife governance in East and Southern Africa – the role of corruption
Corruption and wildlife governance
Reforming wildlife governance in East and Southern Africa: the role of corruption, U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre (2009)
This brief looks at the role corruption plays in structuring wildlife governance systems in Africa by comparing the differing governance structures which have elicited variant economic and ecological outcomes. Wildlife is an important economic asset in Africa worth billions of dollars annually. The biological diversity is a natural spectacle and priceless global heritage.
The author notes that Namibia is Africa’s best example of the role that institutional reforms play in increasing wildlife population and investment in wildlife-based enterprises. Local communities and private landholders have been involved in decision making about wildlife use on their lands what has in turn generated strong incentives for local investments in conservation. This attracts wildlife-based enterprises that contribute to local and national economic growth and encourages further investments in conservation in a sustainable and virtuous cycle.
In Tanzania however, reforms have made limited headway in the country and wildlife populations are declining as a result. Although reforms have been proposed and donors have extended support, governments are maintaining centralised wildlife governance arrangements, resisting the use of market-based mechanisms and thus creating opportunities for corruption.This has led to reduced benefits at the national level, by preventing market-based pricing of wildlife, and at the local level, through the failure to devolve greater rights over wildlife to local communities. These factors undermine incentives for conserving wildlife at all levels.
The brief presents the following lessons from the comparison between Namibia and Tanzania:
reforms that decentralise user rights over wildlife can radically change the attitudes of landholders towards wildlife and shift incentives from eradication of wildlife towards conservation and investment
reforms are often incompatible with the private interests and motivations of influential political elites and policy-makers. This is because devolving rights over wildlife to local actors constitutes a shift in control over wildlife’s economic value, which involves losing direct access to money and resources.
To attain better outcomes, the brief suggests the following strategic responses to the political challenges facing wildlife and natural resource governance reforms:
local activists, community based organisations, donor and government agencies all need to collaborate to improve the existing level of knowledge with regard to patterns of natural resource use
donors should deal directly with the reformist constituency itself, which comprises non-governmental actors such as local communities, civil society organisations, networks, and even private sector entrepreneurs.
[via ELDIS]
How to get a copy
Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=44891&em=030310⊂=enviro
Suggested Books
Africa Economy : Regional variation in livelihood strategies in Malawi
Lake Malawi
[Photo credit: platours_flickr]
About the paper
Regional variation in livelihood strategies in Malawi, Hatlebakk,M. Chr. Michelsen Institute, Norway (2009)
An obvious pathway out of poverty for poor households in agricultural based economy is to supplement agricultural incomes with non-farm economic activities. This paper identifies livelihood strategies at the household level as a function of assets held in Malawi. In particular, the paper tries to identify factors that may enable the poor to leave the poverty trap that subsistence agriculture represents.
The paper reveals that land, household size, age and primary education are important determinants of livelihood strategies. The paper’s main findings are as follows:
- the pure farming strategy is more likely, the larger is the farm
- combination of farming with other activities is more likely in larger households
- younger people are more likely to find non-farm jobs
- completed primary education increases the chance of getting a salaried job
- there is more diversification in livelihood strategies in the southern region, where poverty is higher, but southern households may do more low salaried work and household businesses
- there are some differences between ethnic and religious groups, with households from the Muslim community being more likely to be engaged in household businesses
Equally important, the paper finds that some resources are needed to be able to conduct non-farm economic activities. It presents these two recommendations:
- investment in primary education, taking into account the low initial level of education in Malawi, is probably a good investment for rural development
- poorer farmers in southern region may learn from the more productive farmers in the central region, where there is more emphasise on cash-crop production, and also possibly combine agriculture with household businesses to a larger extent
[Via ELDIS]
How to get a copy
Available online at: http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/?doc=44646&em=030310⊂=agric
Suggested Books
Africa Environment Report : Economy and climate change in sub-Saharan Africa
Impacts of climate change on agrictulture
Economy wide impacts of climate change on agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa by Calzadilla,A.; Zhu,T.; Rehdanz,K. International Food Policy Research Institute (2009)
This report takes cognizance of the fact that agriculture is very important to sub-Saharan Africa and there is potential to increase agricultural productivity through irrigation. It employs two possible adaptation options to climate change. The first scenario doubles the irrigated area in Africa by 2050, compared to the baseline, but keeps total crop area constant. The second scenario increases both rain fed and irrigated crop yields by 25% for all Sub-Saharan African countries. The methodology uses a partial equilibrium approach, which considers detailed water-agriculture linkages, with a general equilibrium approach, which takes into account linkages between agriculture and non-agricultural sectors and includes a full treatment of factor markets.
The report elicits the following findings:
- due to a relatively low share of irrigated area in Africa, an increase in agricultural productivity achieves much larger benefits than a doubling of irrigated area
- potential agriculture substantial productivity gains are technically feasible
- under both analysis scenarios there is increased total crop production, only differing according to crop type
- increased in irrigation and agricultural productivity leads to a decrease in the production cost of agricultural products, and a reduction in market prices
- both scenarios help lower world food prices making it more affordable for the poor and reducing the number of malnourished children
- changes in production in non-agricultural sectors shows an increase in domestic and world prices. In the food sector, prices decline because of a higher supply and lower price of agricultural products.
- the transfer of land from rain fed to irrigated agriculture increases market prices for rain fed land while market prices for irrigation and irrigated land decrease. In the second scenario, market prices for rain fed land and irrigated land decline
- both scenarios enable farmers to achieve higher yields and revenues from crop production
- the efficacy of the two scenarios as to cope with climate change is measured by changes in regional GDP.
The report concludes by applying some caveats to the results. The first is that increases in irrigated areas and improvements in agricultural productivity are not accompanied by changes in prices. Secondly, it assumes the availability and accessibility of water resources and their sustainable use. Thirdly, the complete integration of both models is not achieved and future work will focus on integration and accounting for possible feedbacks.
How to get a copy
Available online at: http://ideas.repec.org/p/sgc/wpaper/170.html
Suggested Books
- Agricultural Productivity Growth in Sub-Saharan Africa: Malmquist and Stochastic Frontier Approach
- Food Culture in Sub-Saharan Africa (Food Culture around the World)
Africa in Pictures : Burundi
Burundi is in central Africa east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Burundi’s first democratically elected president was assassinated in October 1993 after only 100 days in office, triggering widespread ethnic violence between Hutu and Tutsi factions. More than 200,000 Burundians perished during the conflict that spanned almost a dozen years. Hundreds of thousands of Burundians were internally displaced or became refugees in neighboring countries. An internationally brokered power-sharing agreement between the Tutsi-dominated government and the Hutu rebels in 2003 paved the way for a transition process that led to an integrated defense force, established a new constitution in 2005, and elected a majority Hutu government in 2005. The new government, led by President Pierre NKURUNZIZA, signed a South African brokered ceasefire with the country’s last rebel group in September of 2006 but still faces many challenges. (CIA World FactBook)
Burundian Hills, Burundi
The hills in the centre of the country, near Kiganda, Burundi [Photo credit:Â The Advocacy Project]
Gitega, Burundi [Photo credit: d_proffer]
Between Burundi Gitenga and Bujumbara [Photo credit: d_proffer]
Bujumbara, Burundi [Photo credit:d_proffer]
Suggested Books (US)
- Life After Violence: A People’s Story of Burundi (African Arguments)
- Burundi (Africa)
- Burundi: The Biography of a Small African Country (Columbia/Hurst)
Africa in Pictures : Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso is in western Africa north of Ghana. It shares borders with Benin (306 km), Cote d’Ivoire (584 km), Ghana (549 km), Mali (1,000 km), Niger (628 km) and Togo (126 km).
Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) achieved independence from France in 1960. Repeated military coups during the 1970s and 1980s were followed by multiparty elections in the early 1990s. Current President Blaise COMPAORE came to power in a 1987 military coup and has won every election since then. Burkina Faso’s high population density and limited natural resources result in poor economic prospects for the majority of its citizens. Recent unrest in Cote d’Ivoire and northern Ghana has hindered the ability of several hundred thousand seasonal Burkinabe farm workers to find employment in neighboring countries. In January 2008, Burkina Faso assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2008-09 term. (CIA World FactBook)
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
[Photo credit: Rita Willaert]
Cathedral, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
[Photo credit: Rita Willaert]
Burkina Faso road, Pissila
[Photo credit: Rita Willaert]
Burkina Faso
[Photo credit: kinderpate]
Mosque Bani Burkina Faso
[Photo credit: themanwithsalthair]
Dori, Burkina Faso
[Photo credit: Rita Willaert]
Fada N'Gourma Burkina Faso
[Photo credit: themanwithsalthair]
Africa Environment Report : Cultivating success, the need to climate-proof Tanzanian agriculture
Cultivating success: the need to climate-proof Tanzanian agriculture
All farming is a gamble with nature. The impacts of climate change, however, can pit farmers against impossible odds – particularly in poor, geographically vulnerable nations with largely agrarian economies. Tanzania is one such country. Some 80 per cent of its workforce is in agriculture and, with climate change set to lower yields in key crops, the implications for its economy are serious. Where, how and when climate impacts will hit is key – as is an action plan for averting the highest costs. Policy needs to focus immediately on helping farmers adapt to climate impacts by addressing both food production and marketing efficiencies. This is crucial: Tanzania is a test case for economic impacts predicted throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Replicating this policy approach in other low-income countries is essential if low-carbon growth and other development priorities are to become realities
How to get a copy
To Download:Â Â http://www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=17073IIED
Related articles
- Rich Country Climate Plans Threaten Economic Growth in Developing Countries (prnewswire.com)
- Climate-smart agriculture should be livelihood-smart too (eurekalert.org)
Africa Environment : Biofuels in Africa, growing small-scale opportunities
Biofuels in Africa: growing small-scale opportunities
Global demand for climate-friendly transport fuels is driving vast commercial biofuels projects in developing countries. At the opposite end of the spectrum is small-scale bioenergy production. This offers a way for the poor to meet their energy needs and diversify their livelihoods without compromising food security or environmental integrity. Governments hope that it will be possible to combine the advantages of both large- and small-scale production of biofuels to generate energy security and GDP at the national level, while opening up local opportunities. In Africa, most governments are keen to attract foreign direct investment, and see big business as a strategic means of scaling up rural development. But there is a middle way. By encouraging business models that bridge large and small enterprise, African governments could show that commercial competition can go hand in hand with a range of real local benefits.
How to get a copy
To Download:Â Â http://www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=17059IIED
Suggested Books
- Biofuels (Energy and the Environment)
- Biofuels (Wiley Series in Renewable Resource)
- Other Africa Environment books
Related articles
- Can biofuels save Africa? (arstechnica.com)
- Global Biofuel Enzymes Market to Exceed US$900 Million by 2017, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (prweb.com)
Africa Environment Report : Biofuels, land access and rural livelihoods in Tanzania
Ngorogoro crater, Tanzania
[Photo credit: ianduffy]
Biofuels, land access and rural livelihoods in Tanzania
During the past several years, biofuels in rich countries have come to be regarded as an important option for reducing consumption of petroleum, which is a main policy goal as a result of recent high oil prices, energy security concerns, and global climate change. The use and development of alternative sources of energy are increasingly encouraged in western countries, and private and public sources of financial support for biofuels development have increased greatly.  For African countries, this is leading to growing interest from western and Asian private investors in biofuels projects, as well as growing support from development partners for incorporating biofuels into government policies and development plans.  For African countries which are non-oil producers, biofuel production has the potential to provide a substitute for costly oil imports which are one of the major uses of foreign exchange and sources of inflation in African economies, and to provide a new source of agricultural income in rural areas. Tanzania is one of the African countries which have seen a rapid increase in biofuel production and investment proposals during the past several years.  The purpose of this report is to describe existing patterns of biofuel development and crop cultivation in Tanzanian rural areas in order to improve the understanding of how these various potential threats and opportunities from biofuels expansion are playing out in reality.
How to get a copy
To Download:Â Â http://www.iied.org/pubs/display.php?o=12560IIED
Suggested Books
- Custodians of the Land: Ecology and Culture in the History of Tanzania (Eastern African Studies)
- Biofuels (Energy and the Environment)
- Tanzania – Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture
- Other Africa Environment books
Related articles
- Imminent Land Grab Threatens More Than 162,000 People in Tanzania (alethonews.wordpress.com)
- Welcome to Tanzania, the Land of Kilimanjaro, Safaris, Zanzibar, and Dwindling Water Resources! (modealanix.com)
- Can biofuels save Africa? (arstechnica.com)
Africa in Pictures : Botswana
Antelope, Botswana. Image via Wikipedia
Botswana is in Southern Africa and is to the north of South Africa.
Formerly the British protectorate of Bechuanaland, Botswana adopted its new name upon independence in 1966. Four decades of uninterrupted civilian leadership, progressive social policies, and significant capital investment have created one of the most dynamic economies in Africa. Mineral extraction, principally diamond mining, dominates economic activity, though tourism is a growing sector due to the country’s conservation practices and extensive nature preserves. Botswana has one of the world’s highest known rates of HIV/AIDS infection, but also one of Africa’s most progressive and comprehensive programs for dealing with the disease. (CIA World FactBook)
Serowe, Botswana
[Photo credit: pmecologic]
Gabarone Botswana
[Photo credit: pmecologic]
Okavango Delta, Botswana.
[Photo credit: geoftheref]
The area was once part of Lake Makgadikgadi, an ancient lake that dried up some 10,000 years ago. Today, the Okavango River has no outlet to the sea. Instead, it empties onto the sands of the Kalahari Desert, irrigating 15,000 km² of the desert. Each year some 11 cubic kilometres of water reach the delta. Some of this water reaches further south to create Lake Ngami. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okavango_Delta
Suggested Books
- Botswana: Okavango Delta, Chobe, Northern Kalahari, 2nd: The Bradt Travel Guide
- Botswana – Culture Smart!: a quick guide to customs & etiquette
- Botswana: The Insider’s Guide (Insiders Guide)
- Botswana: In the Footsteps of the No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency
(DVD)
Related articles
- The Remarkable Okavango Delta: Xudum Delta Lodge – Moremi Game Reserve, Botswana (travelpod.com)
- Okavango delta (thetallandtheshortofit.wordpress.com)
New Africa Journal CFP : Notes and Records, An International Journal of African and African Diaspora Studies
Call for papers
The Southern Interdisciplinary Roundtable on African Studies (SIRAS), Kentucky State University, and the Editors, announces the launching of a new peer-reviewed journal titled Notes and Records: An International Journal of African and African Diaspora Studies published by Kentucky State University on a bi-annual basis.
The journal is primarily devoted to publishing original studies related to the linkages and relationships between Africans and the African Diaspora. The journal aims to focus on the varied webs of connections between the Africans and the African Diaspora in an interdisciplinary approach. Studies related to history, politics, culture, literature, gender, music/dance, globalization, war, resistance, and civil rights movements that illuminate the varied experiences of Diasporic people are welcome.
Submission and review process
Notes and Records is solely a peer-reviewed journal. Manuscripts should be prepared double-spaced, using font size 12 Times New Roman. Our in-house referencing and citation style is the Chicago Manual format.
Article submissions on topic related to African Studies should be sent to electronically to:
Raphael Chijioke Njoku
Department of History/Dept. of Pan-African Studies
University of Louisville
Louisville Kentucky, USA
Email:Â rc.njoku@louisville.edu
Article submissions on topic related to African Diaspora Studies should be sent to:
Matt Childs
Department of History
University of South Carolina, USA
Columbia, SC 29208
Email:Â childsmd@mailbox.sc.edu
All book reviews and review articles should be sent to:
Tiffany F. Jones
Department of History
California State University, San Bernardino
5500 University Parkway, SB335
San Bernardino, CA Â 92407-2397, USA
Email:Â tjones@csusb.edu
All correspondence should be addressed to:
Notes and Records
Managing Editor
Division of Behavioral Sciences and Social Sciences
Kentucky State University
Frankfort, KY
Email:Â egbunam.amadife@kysu.edu
Please visit the website which is still under construction at:
www.kysu.edu/NotesAndRecordsJournal
Africa Swaziland : Executives to Cycle Africa for AIDS Orphans
Riding for Swaziland
Northampton, MA, March 4, 2010 –
From Santa Cruz, CA to Acton, MA, seven successful business executives (and one teenaged daughter) are pedaling into shape to ride over 200 miles across Swaziland on behalf of the orphans of the mountainous kingdom, the country with the world’s highest rate of HIV/AIDS.
They’ve enlisted to join Swazi Cycle, a border-to-border ride across the southern African nation that will take place from May 3rd to May 10th. Each of them has pledged to raise $10,000 to help Young Heroes Foundation, a charity that links AIDS orphan families in need with sponsors who provide monthly stipends for food. clothing and other necessities. To learn more about their ride and to make a pledge to support them, visithttp://swazicycle.dojiggy.com.
Young Heroes Foundation is headquartered in Northampton, MA. The program now supports over 1,200 orphans in more than 550 families, and also assists with education scholarships, medical care and skills-training. But Kallaugher notes that as Swaziland has the highest rate of HIV/AIDS in the world, over 120,000 children in the country have already lost at least one parent to AIDS, and that more than 20,000 families are now headed by someone under the age of 18.
Skip Klepacki, former CEO of Precision Lithograining Corporation, became aware of the plight of the children when he visited Young Heroes founder Steve Kallaugher in Swaziland. “I was introduced to the Young Heroes staff and saw the differences they’re making in the lives of the orphan families there,“ he says. “These children have become silent victims. I witnessed the love of living in their faces and heard of their hopes for the future – hopes that our support of Young Heroes can help to keep alive. A year later I returned and noticed the striking difference in their health and well-being due to improved nutrition and clothing.”
Klepacki joined Young Heroes Foundation’s board of directors and introduced his friend Bruce Hartman, then CFO of Yankee Candle Company, to the organization. Hartman, an avid triathlete, decided that he wanted to undertake a ride on behalf of the orphans. Speaking of the reason why he decided to help Young Heroes, he says simply, “My main goal in life today is to help our world in which ever way our God asks.†Following in her father’s footsteps, 16-year-old Savannah Hartman announced that she, too, was joining the ride.
Together, Hartman and Klepacki enlisted their friends to join them in Swazi Cycle: Al Albano, an attorney in private practice in Sunderland, MA; Geoff Mitchell, owner of Mitchell Sports in Chatham, NJ; Dave Vesty, former director of worldwide operations for Progress Software;  and Wells Fargo financial advisor Bob Sullivan. The roster was filled when Nell Newman, founder of Newman’s Own Organics and Young Heroes supporter, heard about the ride and suggested to her friend James Cox, CEO of Green in the Black, that he join the adventure.
The eight riders are now in the midst of a grueling 13-week winter training schedule – including strength training, calisthenics and hours on the bicycle – that was devised by ride leader Bruce Hartman.
Speaking of his workouts, Al Albano says, “When I was last on a bike, I was fifteen and it had three speeds. This is a whole different experience.â€
But in the end, he says, all the pain is worth it. “These kids have nothing and no one. Every time I feel I’ve hit the wall, I remember why we’re doing this and I keep going a little longer.â€
ABOUT YOUNG HEROES
Young Heroes Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation headquartered in Leeds, Massachusetts.
Now entering its fifth year, it was created by Steve Kallaugher while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Swaziland in conjunction with the country’s National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA). Mr. Kallaugher is currently president of the foundation.
The program now supports over 1,200 orphans in more than 550 families in 72 Swazi communities thanks to sponsorship support from individuals, foundations and corporations. In addition, Young Heroes offers scholarships to secondary-school students as there is no free public education in Swaziland; pediatric HIV testing and care in conjunction with Baylor Medical School’s Centre of Excellence and Population Services International; and, in conjunction with Newman’s Own Foundation, it runs Hole in the Wall Camps for children who are HIV+. A recent grant from Church World Service will enable Young Heroes to begin offering microfinance and job training to orphans who age out of its program at 18 years of age.
For full information on Young Heroes, visit http://youngheroes.org.sz
ABOUT SWAZILAND AND ITS ORPHANS
One of two remaining absolute monarchies on earth, Swaziland is bordered on three sides by South Africa, and by Mozambique in the east. The country is approximately the size of New Jersey, and has a population of just over one million people, the vast majority of whom are subsistence farmers. According to the World Food Programme, 69% of Swazis fall below the poverty line, living on less than $2 per day.
Related articles
- SWAZILAND: Funding fiasco leaves Swaziland short of lab supplies (IRINnews.org)
- Swaziland ‘fails to pay’ orphans (bbc.co.uk)
