MDR TB on the rise in South Africa

Hospitals in South Africa are reporting increases in cases of multidrug-resistant – or MDR – tuberculosis.
Audio Slide Show

Six out of ten girls drop out of Benin school

Overcrowding and a lack of infrastructure is putting a strain on the Dangbo High School in Benin, but some 57% of female pupils drop out because of early sexual activities. Sipho Stuurman reports from the Bonou region. Audio Slide Show

Cell phones are working for West African farmers

While many farmers in West Africa are still struggling to get information on crops and farming techniques, it seems as if more readily available information ... on commodity prices and the weather ... are reaching even subsistence farmers in the region.

Invest oil money in infrastructure: IFAD

Concerns about oil money not reaching the poorest of the poor in West Africa still abound, but NGOs say issues can still be addressed. Steven Schonberger, the West and Central Africa regional economist for IFAD, told Tinus de Jager that oil money put into infrastructure could boost the agriculture in the region.

Land is the issue in West Africa

Tinus de Jager interviews Steven Schonberger, IFAD’s Regional Economist for West and Central Africa, on the problems and success in establishing good farming practices in the region.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Climate Dialogue Forum Created

Five civil society organizations have established a national indigenous-campesino (peasant farmer) roundtable for dialogue and decision making on climate change, deforestation and soil degradation.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Deforestation Continues in Mata Altȃntica

Between May 2010 and May 2011, another 133 sq km of forests were cleared in the already devastated Mata Altȃntica (Atlantic Forest) biome of Brazil, according to data from the SOS Mata Altȃntica Foundation and the National Institute for Aerospace Research.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Communities Planting Trees

The Honduran capital and the southern city of Choluteca are leading up an environmental awareness initiative based on the reforestation of watersheds and other deforested areas.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Volcanic Ash Used to Make Bricks

Architects from Argentina have designed bricks for housing construction made from the huge amounts of ash that fell in the southern part of the country a year ago following the eruption of the Puyehue-Cordón Caulle volcano chain in Chile.

Fair Trade Is Alive and Well in Spain Despite Recession

Promoters of fair trade in Spain believe that the recession is helping to reawaken critical awareness among consumers.

Mauritius considers new abortion laws

Mauritius has wants to allow abortion, but the Bill before Parliament specifies when this will be legal. Nasseem Ackbarally says arguments for and against the practice are taking centre stage in the island nation.
Audio Slide Show

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Satellite Monitoring of Natural Resources

A satellite monitoring system donated by the government of Taiwan will enable the creation of a database of natural resources in Honduras and the damages they could suffer as a result of disasters such as hurricanes or earthquakes.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL : Mapping the Jaguar Genome

Deciphering the gene map of the jaguar (Panthera onca) is the goal of a new project being jointly undertaken by a number of Brazilian institutions.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Program to Protect Highly Endangered Bird

The Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research and Bararida Zoo in the city of Barquisimeto are launching a program to protect the red siskin (Carduelis cucullata), a highly endangered bird that lives in the country’s northwest region.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Pig Slaughterhouse Shut Down

The Chilean government declared a health alert in the town of Freirina, 800 km north of Santiago, in response to the pollution and foul odor emanating from the nearby Agrosuper pork processing plant.

Health service works for truck drivers

Ecobreves – LATIN AMERICA: Mega Cities in Search of Climate Leadership

Representatives of civil society, political organizations and the private sector from Buenos Aires, Mexico City and São Paulo, the three most populous cities in Latin America, met in the Argentine capital to promote leadership around the climate change issue.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Greenhouse Effect of Amazon Hydro Dams Revealed

The planned construction of 22 hydroelectric power plants in the Amazon region over the next eight years will cause the emission of 153 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, a new study reveals.

Ecobreves – LATIN AMERICA: Decline in Renewable Energy

The generation of energy from renewable sources in Latin America dropped from 25 percent of total output in 1990 to 23 percent in 2009, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Caracas Residents Affected by Cement Plants

Residents of Chuao, a neighborhood in southeast Caracas, are protesting against a cement plant installed near their homes which releases large amounts of harmful particulates into the air they breathe.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Unprecedented Campaign for Reforestation in Patagonia

A campaign jointly organized by public and private agencies aims to plant one million trees in the Chilean region of Patagonia, which has lost more than three million hectares of native forest in the last 100 years through fires and logging.