EAST AFRICA: New Arsenal Against Armyworms

Farmers across Eastern and Southern Africa will soon have a new organic insecticide effective enough to kill one of their most deadly foes – the armyworm.

Agrobiodiversity Key to Adaptation

Mechanisation, increased use of fertilisers, and the planting of hybrid seeds have underpinned huge increases in the world's agricultural output over the past 40 years.

KENYA: Successful Weather Prediction Uses Old and New

In the wake of ever-changing climatic conditions, a study in western Kenya has discovered that combining traditional methods of weather prediction with meteorological forecasting is the best way of obtaining more accurate forecast data.

HEALTH-DR CONGO: Coming Together to Fight Malaria

Eight faith-based organisations have set up a pilot project in the Democratic Republic of Congo to support the fight against malaria.

MOZAMBIQUE: Weather Service Key to Flood Disaster Management

Mozambique's government learned some tough lessons from the devastating floods that hit the country a decade ago. Experts say the disaster management plans drawn up since are a model for other African countries.

AFRICA: Monitoring a Changing Climate

The gathering environmental crisis presented by global warming makes effective weather information and prediction a matter of urgency. As Africa's farmers come to grips with adapting to climate change, it may be that the best way to equip them is to involve them directly in collecting the data.

EAST AFRICA: Improving Local Access to Family Planning

A severe shortage of highly-trained medical personnel is one of the many challenges to providing health care at a local level across Africa. Task shifting - permitting less-specialised people to carry out certain functions - is one proposal to over come this, but it is meeting resistance.