East Africa

The drought of last year affected harvests severely US Aid Cuts Deepen Challenge of Climate Change Zimbabwe looks for home-grown water solutions By Lungelo Ndhlovu The Mabale community in Zimbabwe is relying on rain harvesting this year to grow enough food. They are using canvas, chicken wire and cement for the extreme weather. Climate experts predict that extreme weather conditions will only get worse. Mattias Söderberg, Global Climate Lead at DanChurchAid (a Danish humanitarian organization), said: "Zimbabwe has been severely affected by climate changes, and science shows that it will only get worse." Zimbabwe experienced the worst drought of southern...

The debt agreements worth billions of dollars that were designed to protect ecosystems in Africa and Latin America could unravel or need to be reworked amid fears of the U.S. backing drying up under Donald Trump. Debt-for nature swaps have become more popular in recent years. Deals involving the Galapagos Islands and coral reefs as well as the Amazon rainforest are among the most notable. U.S. International Development Finance Corporation has played a major role in the swapping of debt, with nearly 90% of the $6 billion being covered by the DFC. Sources with direct knowledge said that the DFC...

It said that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's (EBRD) board has approved new member countries Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Benin for investment following their approval. The move gives the countries the opportunity to access millions of euros worth of potential investment from EBRD. This is a long-planned expansion by the lender into Sub-Saharan Africa. In a press release, EBRD president Odile Renaud Basso stated that the EBRD would leverage its financial resources to boost economies in the countries and to provide new opportunities for their citizens. This will complement the work of the existing development partners. The EBRD...

FEWS NET, a global hunger monitor backed by the US, provided crucial data FEWS NET is now operating with reduced capacity Early warning alerts from FEWS NET helped to direct targeted aid Nelson Renteria & Nita Bhalla Treminio, armed with the public bulletins as well as regular alerts on food security produced by the Famine-Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET), would pass the crucial data to farmers. It was funded by USAID, the United States Agency for International Development. Since President Donald Trump's January order to freeze USAID spending, it has operated at a drastically reduced capacity. It's a vital...

Kenyan courts fined four men each $7,700 for attempting to traffic thousands of valuable ants to the country's eco-system. Experts say that this case shows a shift from biopiracy towards lesser known species, such as elephant ivory. On April 5, authorities arrested two Belgian teens, a Vietnamese and a Kenyan man in separate cases for allegedly trying to smuggle about 5,440 giant African harvester ants. Magistrate Njeri Thuku stated that the ants could fetch more than 800,000 Euros or $900,000. This is in Europe, Asia and some parts of North America where antkeepers maintain colonies in large, transparent vessels called...

Sand mining is a growing industry for women after floods and drought The work is hard and the pay is low Sand mining is a major contributor to land degradation By Charles Pensulo The 37-year old sand-miner has no time to appreciate her surroundings. A tourist hotspot centred around the vast body of waters known as the Lake of Stars because of the brilliance of the nighttime reflections. Wilson notices that the shoreline is receding and thinks it may be her fault. She says that she is stuck with no choice. She said, "We think that (sand-mining) contributes to erosion....

The World Food Programme warned on Tuesday that a projected drought in the next crop cycle could cause a further one million people to face crisis-level hunger in the coming months. Jean-Martin Bauer said that the number could increase even more due to funding cuts. According to a study, in 2022 the Horn of Africa experienced the driest weather conditions for more than 40 years after successive rainy seasons failed. This led to the deaths of up 43,000 people. A recent report estimates that approximately 3.4 million Somalians are suffering from acute food insecurity. This number will rise to 4.4...

On Friday, Cyclone Garance hit the French overseas territory La Reunion at top winds speeds of 155 km/h (96mph), destroying roofs and preventing residents from accessing drinking water and electricity. Patrice Latron said that there had been no deaths reported on the island. The cyclone hit land in the north of Madagascar, an island located in the Indian Ocean. Meteo France, the weather agency, said that it left the southwest part of the island a few hours later. Prefecture officials said that 180,000 households, or 42% of customers with the electric utility, had lost electricity and that nearly 10% did...

Apple was sued by consumers who claimed that its claims that the three Apple Watches versions are "carbon neutral" or environmentally friendly were false and misleading. Seven purchasers of Apple Watch Series 9 SE and Ultra 2 with green tags filed a lawsuit on Wednesday at the San Jose federal court in California. They said that if they had known the truth, they would either not have purchased their watches, or they would have paid less. Apple, known for its iPhone, announced the launch of the watches in 2023. They claimed that they would be carbon-neutral through a combination lower...

South Africa will take the G20 presidency in 2018, and President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that efforts to assist developing countries to finance their transition to a low carbon economy would be a priority, even though the United States is reducing its support. The administration of President Donald Trump, whose officials skipped the two Group of 20 meetings held in South Africa last week and this week, has reduced overseas aid programs, raising fears of a possible clean energy funding shortage. Ramaphosa, speaking at the G20 meeting of finance ministers and central banks in Cape Town on Wednesday, said that...

African countries are planning to make a new push this year at international summits for standard measures of strength economics such as the GDP in order to better recognize their vast natural resources and assets. The African Development Bank is driving the initiative in the hopes that recalibrating the GDP will automatically improve debt metrics, and ease borrowing market pressures which have triggered dozens economic crises over the past decades. It has been long debated how much money precious ecosystems could generate for the poorest countries. The U.N. estimates Africa to be home to one quarter of all mammal and...

Africa's Development Bank proposes a new "gold standard" style currency arrangement, backed by minerals like cobalt and copper, as well as lithium, manganese, and some of the rare earths that are key to the energy transition in the world and electric vehicles. African Development Bank reported that the 54-nation area, which contains about 30% of critical mineral reserves in the world, only attracts 3% of all global energy investments every year. The AfDB said that this is partly due to the volatile currency markets on the continent. It is proposing an "non-circulating" currency, called African Units of Accounts (AUA), which...

Wildlife authorities in Zimbabwe said that they have issued permits for the culling of at least 50 elephants from a reserve with three times as many elephants as it can support. Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority stated in a press release that the Save Valley Conservancy, in southern Zimbabwe, is home to approximately 2,550 elephants. However, it only has "carrying capacities" for 800 elephants. In the last five years, the conservancy has already relocated 200 elephants from its reserve to another reserve to control elephant numbers. The meat from the cull is distributed to the locals for consumption, and...

Senior bank officials announced on Thursday that the African Development Bank would launch a carbon market support facility to help unlock financing for a region that is increasingly affected by climate-change related droughts and hurricanes. Africa's largest multilateral lender said that the Africa Carbon Support Facility will be divided into two components. The first component helps governments create policies and regulations for carbon trading. The second component focuses on increasing the supply and demand of credits, as well as improving the market infrastructure necessary to increase their usage. Anthony Nyong said at the AfDB annual meeting that "we envision a...

Patrick Pouyanne, the chief executive of TotalEnergies, defended his company's involvement in oil projects in East Africa after a U.N. independent human rights expert stated that the French firm must address new allegations of abuses. Michel Forst, Special Reporter on Environmental Defenders, said in a late-Thursday statement that the company should take immediate steps to protect activists connected to the East African Crude oil Pipeline and its associated oilfields. This decision followed the decision of German asset manager Union Investment, which dropped TotalEnergies bonds and shares from their sustainable investment funds due to this issue. Pouyanne spoke out against the...

Foreign Ministers of BRICS Group of Developing Nations met on Monday, to discuss a common defense of the global trading system and coordinate their response to President Donald Trump's barrage of new duties. The group, which was formed by Brazil and Russia but has recently been expanded to include China, South Africa, India and South Africa, is expected to issue a joint statement in Rio de Janeiro criticizing the "unilateral trade measures" of this group. Brazilian Ambassador Mauricio lyrio stated that the ministers were negotiating a statement to reaffirm multilateral trade agreements as the primary axis for action in the...

According to a report by UNESCO released on Friday, glaciers are disappearing more quickly than ever. The last three years saw the greatest loss of mass on record. Michael Zemp of the Switzerland-based World Glacier Monitoring Service said that the 9,000 gigatons (or a quarter of a million tons) of ice lost by glaciers since 1975 is roughly equivalent to an ice block as large as Germany and with a thickness of 25 meters. This was revealed at a Geneva press conference to announce the report. Climate change caused by fossil fuels will likely cause global temperatures to rise, accelerating...

Residents of Maputo struggle with flooding Mozambique has a high vulnerability to climate change Planning and lack of funds hamper the authorities' response By Samuel Come The stagnant green water reflects the salmon-pink walls of the house as blankets and rugs hang outside to dry. The 46-year old woman, who was carrying two buckets of water, said, "I am struggling to get the water out of my home, but it may rain again in a few more days and I will be back in the same situation." Two cyclones, one after the other, have killed over 130 people in the...

Italian aerospace company Leonardo and agroindustrial group BF signed a deal with the federal government on Friday to offer farming jobs to numerous African countries as part of Rome's. development plan for the continent. The accord becomes part of the so-called Mattei strategy, a group of. initiatives aimed initially at helping financial growth in 9. countries consisting of Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria, which. the Italian federal government hopes will curb immigration flows. This month Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated her government. would extend the four-year strategy to Angola, Ghana, Mauritania,. Tanzania and Senegal, bringing the variety of countries to...

Peru's government on Thursday stated an ecological emergency situation in a northern coastal area, where state oil company Petroperu last weekend spilled a crude oil delivery into surrounding waters of the Pacific Ocean. A vessel carrying out pre-shipment maneuvers triggered the spill on Saturday at a terminal of Peru's Talara refinery in northern Peru. Petroperu has actually not stated how much crude was spilled into the sea, however Peru's ecological watchdog OEFA stated in a. preliminary report it has affected some 10,000 square meters of. surface seawater, and the environment ministry said it has. impacted a minimum of seven beaches,...

Zimbabwe appears to be heading into another dry spell that could aggravate cravings for countless individuals already struggling with an El Ninoinduced drought, the U.N. World Food Programme said on Thursday. The dry spell in Southern Africa that started early this year has actually been the worst in years and prompted Zimbabwe and neighbouring nations to declare a state of disaster over food shortages. Rain was anticipated to resume in October, which is generally the start of a six-month rainy season. However up until now Zimbabwe has actually received just a couple of days of rain in late November. We...

Individuals of Kenya's. seaside village of Mwazaro utilized to earn their living primarily. growing cassava and maize, up until the devastations of dry spell forced. them to attempt a new crop seaweed. They plant it on the beachfront and lay it out to dry. inland, signing up with scores of other communities feeding a growing. demand at home and abroad for associated items including. soap, hair shampoo and seaweed powder, utilized in food. Seaweed farming was first presented in Kenya in 2008 and. has broadened rapidly to cover 20 towns, David Mirera, a. scientist at the Kenya Marine and Fisheries...

At least five African nations are dealing with what could be the world's very first joint debtfornature swap to raise a minimum of $2 billion to protect a. coralrich swathe of Indian Ocean, according to a global. preservation group. Debt-for-nature deals are ending up being significantly popular for. poorer nations to spend for preservation. Bonds or loans are. bought and changed with less expensive debt, with cost savings used for. environmental protection. Ecuador, Barbados, Belize, Gabon and Seychelles have all. made such swaps over the last few years, however the African initiative. would be the first to involve multiple countries...

Singapore's low carbon, statebacked investment company GenZero will work together with Rwanda on tasks to produce carbon credits to balance out emissions, it said on Thursday. Nations such as Australia and Britain have actually ruled out the use of offsets, which have actually been extensively criticised, to meet their net zero targets, but Singapore is counting on them since the city state does not have the area to build large-scale renewable projects. The offer, signed by GenZero, the Rwanda Green Fund and carbon certification body Gold Standard that pledges to guarantee task integrity, falls under Post 6 of the Paris...