A Ugandan business turns banana fiber into sustainable handicrafts
MUKONO, Uganda—A decapitated banana plant is almost useless, an inconvenience to the farmer who must then uproot it and lay its dismembered parts as mulch. But can such stems somehow be returned to life? Yes, according to a Ugandan company that’s buying banana stems in a business that turns fiber into attractive handicrafts. The idea is innovative as well as sustainable...
A Dubai company’s staggering land deals in Africa raise fears about risks to Indigenous livelihoods
ABUJA, Nigeria—Matthew Walley’s eyes sweep over the large forest that has sustained his Indigenous community in Liberia for generations. Even as the morning sun casts a golden hue over the canopy, a sense of unease lingers. Their use of the land is being threatened, and they have organized to resist the possibility of losing their livelihood. In the past year,...
The myth of Western economic development
Brazilian economist Celso Furtado’s classic 1974 book, “The Myth of Economic Development,” he argues the very idea of Latin America and Africa someday enjoying a similar livelihood as Western Europe and North America is “unrealizable in practice.” He writes that any attempt to generalize, or use as a model, the lifestyles of the world’s well-to-do would lead to a collapse...
Mugabe urges stronger African unity
HARARE, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe recently urged closer ties among African countries to counter-balance growing military unilateralism by Western powers. Opening a new Parliamentary session, the Zimbabwean leader accused big Western powers of preying on divided weaker nations in the Third World, citing the Iraq war as an example. Pres. Mugabe said the conflict in the Persian...
Nigeria moves to tackle food crisis
Could the global food crisis impact America? (FCN, 04-30-2008) ABUJA, Nigeria (PANA) - Nigeria has announced plans to import 500,000 metric tons of rice and release an additional 11,000 metric tons of grains from its strategic reserve to cushion the effect of the global food crisis. Already, the government has allocated about $678 billion for the massive rice importation. The decisions...
World’s food supply in jeopardy
(FinalCall.com) - The diversity of the world's food supply is being jeopardized by genetically engineered crops, according to some advocates and experts. The consequences of GE crops is that they eliminate diversity, say critics. “Once the product interacts with the environment and crossbreeds with similar or related species, all acquire the introduced dominant traits and the wide varieties previously...
Africa Among Top 10 Fastest Growing Markets For Air Travel
GINNEWS (GIN)–Airline industry and ministry officials attending Aviation Festival Africa and Airports Show Africa heard some good news and some not so good news. First, according to the International Air Traffic Transport Association (IATA), the top 10 fastest growing world markets for air travel over the next 20 years will be in Africa. The top 10 fastest growing markets are: Benin,...
Israel uses Trump administration to get diplomatic ties with Morocco and Sudan
President Trump’s closing foreign policy initiatives have included a major effort to convince and coerce African and Asian nations to “normalize” relations with the state of Israel in exchange for promised U.S. financial, military and possibly diplomatic assistance. In recent past, Israel has been on a mission to strengthen and exploit its ties with Africa. Not only has Israel made...
Ghana foresees end to neocolonial trading relationships starting with cocoa
(GIN)—At a state visit to Switzerland last year, Ghana’s president, Nana Akufo-Addo put his cards on the table. The second largest cocoa producer would no longer ship the raw material to Switzerland if by doing so, it would trap the country in poverty for the next century. Ghana and the Ivory Coast supply 70 percent of the cocoa beans, but...
How months of tensions led to Sudan’s coup
CAIRO—The military coup in Sudan threatens to wreck the country’s fragile transition to democracy, more than two years after a popular uprising forced the removal of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir. The move comes after months of mounting tensions between the military and civilian authorities. Protesters are in the streets denouncing the takeover, and troops have opened fire, killing some of...