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Friday, May 24, 2013
Journalism and Communication for Global Change
Changing Lives: Making Research Real
MAKUENI DISTRICT, Kenya
Sorghum Proving Popular with Kenyan Farmers
Gadam sorghum was introduced to semi-arid regions of eastern Kenya as a way for farmers to improve their food security and earn some income from marginal land. The hardy, high-yielding sorghum variety has not only thrived in harsh conditions, it has won a place in the hearts - and plates - of local farmers.
SOUTHERN AFRICA: Assessing the True Value of Water
As water resources in Southern Africa come under pressure from growing population, climate change and increasing industrial and agricultural use, economic accounting for water is among the tools that could aid better management.
Sierra Leone Facing Facts of Teenage Pregnancy
On Apr. 5, the United Nations Children's Fund will launch a report on teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone. Teenage pregnancies account for 40 percent of maternal deaths in the country, and the report comes as public health authorities recalibrate strategy to address a problem that endangers both mothers and children.
UGANDA: Sun Smiling on Renewable Energy Initiative
Clementine Auma was still living in a displaced person's camp in Gulu district when she acquired the treasure she's gone into the house to fetch. She re-emerges from her home with a white box in her arms: a solar oven.
Combating Poverty With ‘Poor Economics’
French economist Esther Duflo thinks poverty can be alleviated or even eradicated with the right policies. All it takes is for politicians to "translate research into action," implementing programmes that have been shown to work.MALAWI: Putting Knowledge Into Practice in Childbirth
Post-partum haemorrhage is the leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation. A decade of applying research to midwifery practice in one Malawi district demonstrates that PPH is quite easy to prevent.KENYA: Sustainable Energy in the Heart of the Slums
Talk about foul foundations: the Katwekera Tosha Bio Centre is built on the stuff that goes into toilets. This community centre in the Nairobi slum of Kibera goes well beyond solving sanitation problems - it is a model for green energy, a meeting place for locals, and turning a profit for its operators.SOUTH AFRICA: Who Says Research Can’t Be Dramatic?
In the early 1990s, a group of researchers set off for a small rural village in the eastern part of South Africa. Their intention was simple: teach the community how to rehydrate sick babies.
DR CONGO: Beauty of a Bean Wins Farmers’ Hearts
Smallholder farmers in Bandundu Province are boosting their harvests with the help of the sweetly-named velvet bean.Q&A: Studying Kenyan Farmers’ Efforts to Adapt
Climate change has become an important part of the development agenda. In Africa, farmers and consumers alike are feeling its effects on productivity and food security.
KENYA: Community Turns Garbage Into Energy Source
A community-based organisation in the Kenyan slum area of Kibera set out to clean up garbage and deal with waste water; Ushiriki Wa Safi ended up creating a community cooker that turns waste into an energy source.
Kenyan Pastoralists Look Back to Secure Their Future
David Lenamira, watching as usual from a seat outside his compound, has no trouble picking out his sheep as the herd boys drive them home every evening. The red-brown animals are smaller than those in his neighbours' herds, but he's proud of them just the same.
COTE D’IVOIRE: New Techniques, New Profits for Tomato Farmers
Even while the country has faced civil war and political crisis, innovative research organisations have worked to meet the challenges of food security and rural poverty.
Cassava Combating Rural Hunger in Zambia
In Zambia, a silver lining has emerged for widespread rural hunger and poverty, thanks to homegrown agricultural research. Local scientists have successfully developed four new, early-maturing and high- yielding cassava cultivars in an ambitious research project conducted in the cassava-rich Luapula Province, under the on-going Root and Tuber Improvement Programme (RTIP).CHINA: Scientists Push Desalination To Meet Water Shortages
While China faces grave water shortages, researchers at institutions across the country are working on new water- saving and desalination technologies that they hope can alleviate the crisis in the crucial years to come.Next Page »
Research findings may be widely published in scientific journals, peer-reviewed and academically admired -- but are they filtering through to the public, and bringing about tangible improvements to everyday life? In partnership with www.research4development.info, IPS is seeking to answer these questions, enliven the debate about research, and help to ensure that it does indeed change lives.
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