COP27: Climate Change Exacerbates Vicious Loop of Human Rights Inequity

Climate change is worsening injustice globally, and the poor and vulnerable communities are the most affected. It is time the world acted on fulfilling human rights and building a liveable planet, says Yamide Dagnet, director for Climate Justice at Open Society Foundations.

Academics’ Strike Puts Spotlight on Nigeria’s Brain Drain

For eight months, the halls of Nigeria's universities and colleges remained silent – the result of a lecturers' strike brought upon by a wage and conditions of service dispute.

President Biden is Hosting a Summit of African Leaders – Governance in the Sahel Must Be a Priority

The upcoming Africa Leaders’ Summit- slated to take place in Washington, DC in December- is well-timed. The Biden administration has made a welcome and significant push over the past two years to support democracy, anti-corruption and peace-building around the world- and in Africa in particular.

Energy: Why Africa Must Be Part of Nuclear Energy Appetite

The search for energy diversification has taken a more frantic pace amidst the global energy transition debate.

Progress on Tuberculosis Can Be Achieved in Africa

The news in many parts of the world is that tuberculosis (TB) is reclaiming the title of the world’s most deadly infection, even as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to kill an estimated 1,450 people daily around the world. But this is not news to African countries, which are home to one third of the people globally who die from TB, even though they have less than one fifth of the world’s population.

Africa: Will COP27 Deliver or be a Climate Forum of Empty Promises?

Africa is counting on COP27 to deliver it from climate change. But will it?

Counting the Massive Financial Costs of Illegal Fishing

As a new report lays bare the massive financial costs to developing states of illegal fishing, campaigners are hoping that drawing attention to the practice’s devastating economic effects will help push governments to greater action against the illicit trade.

Tackling Recurring Hunger Crises at the Horn of Africa – Beginning with Somalia

The statistics are stark. The crisis is unprecedented. Yet again, according to the United Nations, famine looms in Somalia, with hundreds of thousands already facing starvation. In addition, droughts, and catastrophic hunger levels have left over 500,000 children malnourished and at risk of dying. This is already nearly 200,000 more than the 2011 famine. Urgent immediate actions must be taken now, both to address the crisis in the short-term and long-term.

Land Ownership Model Is Restoring Biodiversity, Empowering Communities in Kenya

When Mara Siana Conservancy came into operation in 2016, there was a single zebra and a topi (antelope) in the valley just outside the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. The valley was also host to fewer than 150 elephants and 200 buffalos.

Education Cannot Wait Director Calls on Donors to Expand Support for Successful Programme Bringing Girls and Boys Back to Learning in Post-Conflict Areas of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Director of Education Cannot Wait (ECW), Yasmine Sherif, launched a strong call for public and private donors to step up funding, asking them to “show the same courage” she saw in the children she met during her week-long visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Artisanal Miners Ruining Already Diminishing Forests in Zimbabwe

With homemade tents scattered about, hordes of artisanal gold miners throng parts of Mazowe village in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland Central Province, where they have cut down thousands of trees to process gold ore.

Droughts Don’t Need To Result in Famine: Ethiopia and Somalia Show What Makes the Difference

The Horn of Africa is facing its worst drought in 40 years. Scientists suspect that a multi-year La Niña cycle has been amplified by climate change to prolong dry and hot conditions.

COP27 President Envoy on Youth: With Hurricanes, Floods, Heatwaves, Climate Change Cannot Be Ignored

COP 27’s official Youth Envoy, Dr Omnia El Omrani, realised the impact of climate change in 2017, and Hurricane Irma slammed Miami. As a doctor, she witnessed the influx of emergency patients into the hospital as a result of the hurricane, which piqued her interest in environmental and climate issues. She described it as a significant milestone in her life.

Broken Relationship with Nature Exposed as Global Wildlife Population Plummets

Home to a variety of iconic and rare animal and plant species, freshwater lakes, rivers, waterfalls, and the expansive Indian Ocean coastline, Kenya’s place as a biodiversity hotspot has never been in doubt.

Developing Countries Battle Climate Change, While the Wealthy Make Frozen Pledges: Will COP27 Usher a New Era?

The countdown to the UN Climate Summit COP27, which will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6 to November 18, has begun. This summit has drawn the attention of world leaders, high-ranking United Nations officials, and thousands of environmental activists worldwide.

Gabon’s Environment Minister Reflects on Conservation Successes, Future Challenges

Over the past few years, Gabon has been successful in its forest conservation efforts. The country has also been able to work hard to achieve the goal of limiting the rise in global temperatures to the 1.5-degree target. Minister of Water, Forests, the Sea, and Environment, Lee White, talks to IPS Correspondent Francis Kokutse:

Poverty Haunts Resettled Farmers in Zimbabwe

Edious Murewa has for years boasted of owning a 10-hectare piece of land, but now the 52-year-old is full of regrets. He faces poverty years after he invaded part of a farm once owned by a white commercial farmer.

University Outreach Project Teaching Tissue Culture to Potato Farmers

Until a few years ago, Kenyan potato farmer Richard Mbaria used to harvest just four tonnes of the crop from an acre of land thanks to poor quality seeds, combined with an attack on the crop by pests and diseases.

Africa, The Looted Continent

Africa. The birthplace of “Homo Sapiens.” The land of plenty. The origin of farming. The richest region in terms of natural resources. And human capital. Home to over 1.3 billion humans, continues to be looted.

Addressing the Cow in the Room, Lowing for Nutrition and Livelihoods

Meat, milk, and eggs are bad for you, and livestock is bad for the environment. Growing negative narratives about cattle’s contribution to climate change are shrinking the growth of the strategic livestock sector on which the livelihoods of more than 1.3 billion people in the world depend.

Africa is not a Country. It is a Continent.

“If all I knew about Africa were from popular images, I too would think that Africa was a place of beautiful landscapes, beautiful animals and incomprehensible people, fighting senseless wars, dying of poverty and AIDS, unable to speak for themselves”. This quote from the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is in the introduction to Dipo Faloyin's book 'Africa is not a country'. It summarizes Faloyin's book nicely.