Various countries in East Africa are making gradual progress in moving from a solely carbon-based electricity network to a cleaner power grid.
Obesity is no longer a problem confined to wealthy nations. In their developing counterparts in Africa, an increasing number of people can be categorised as obese. According to researchers this trend could be detrimental to countries’ already fragile economies.
Civil society organisations have reacted with outrage to claims that the international campaign against genetically modified (GM) crops is partly responsible for food shortages and food insecurity in Africa.
Thailand and other major rice exporting countries are at risk of losing Africa as an important trading partner if they raise their rice prices. Half of the 10 million tons of rice exported by Thailand last year went to Africa. Nigeria, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and South Africa were among the main buyers of rice in Africa.
A fierce debate has erupted over claims that the 2010 Soccer World Cup will fuel the trafficking of women from African and other countries to South Africa for sexual exploitation during the cup, which starts on Jun 11.
Almost a year after a review mission of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) found Zimbabwe guilty of "serious non-compliance" with the scheme’s minimum criteria on conflict diamonds, the militarisation of the southern African country’s diamond mining operations continues.
African farmers are assessing the financial impact of the Icelandic volcanic ash clouds that led to a lockdown of Europe’s airspace, forcing fair trade flower growers from Africa to throw away 20 million roses that were meant for the European market.
A group of small-scale South African farmers has lodged a complaint with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) against the government, accusing the authorities of not sufficiently assisting small farmers to make a living and therefore undermining their human right to food security.
Maternal mortality rates in Africa constitute a "monumental tragedy" that requires urgent attention by African governments, health experts say.
For the first time in eighty years, a new Tuberculosis (TB) vaccine has entered the efficacy stage of a clinical trial. While the developers are optimistic about the outcome, lung health and TB experts are warning against being overly excited.
A global call to put people living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) at an earlier stage of their illness is intensifying, but most developing countries, especially in Africa, are struggling to meet the current recommendations.
In Sierra Leone, a mother who transmits HIV to her child can be fined, jailed for up to seven years, or both. Human Rights Watch reports that in 2008, several men were arrested in Egypt simply for being HIV positive. New legislation is currently being discussed in Angola that could lead to a three to ten year jail sentence for those who knowingly pass on HIV.
Unemployment among young South Africans is hovering at 30 percent, shooting up to over 60 percent for youths in their late teens and early twenties. But tertiary education and skills development seem not to be making much of a dent in what is now regarded as a crisis.
Attempts to alleviate poverty and hunger and boost African economies are futile if the needs and potential of small-scale farmers in the region are ignored and the issue of trade barriers remains unaddressed.
Despite the significant role groundwater could play in alleviating poverty, improving food security and contributing to overall development in Southern Africa, a lack of skills, finances and awareness of the resource means only a small percentage of the region's supplies are tapped into.
Former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan believes that Africa has not been affected as ‘‘profoundly’’ by the global economic crisis compared to other regions in the world - despite the number of Africans living in poverty having increased by 16 million in the last year and annual growth dropping from six to one percent.
The 19th World Economic Forum (WEF) on Africa, which kicks off tomorrow, is a space ‘‘for the rich and powerful elites who control the global economy and who seek to further open Africa’s economy in collaboration with a tiny minority of corrupt elites in Africa.
South Africa faces chronic water shortages, yet billions of litres are flushed away every year. Being one of the driest countries in the world, the conservation of water resources and managing wastewater should be a top priority for government.
The quality of South African public health services cannot improve if community-based organisations (CBOs) are not given a greater role in shaping, developing and implementing national and provincial health policies.
In the ten months since the Tutu Tester's mobile clinic began touring Cape Town neighbourhoods offering quick, confidential tests for a number of chronic diseases including HIV/AIDS, more than 7,000 people have climbed into its colourful camper-van for testing and counselling.
Despite repeated calls for integrated HIV and tuberculosis (TB) health services from medical experts and AIDS activists, most of South Africa’s public health facilities continue to treat the diseases independently. Co-infection presents a major risk to the lives of people living with HIV.