By Dave Harcourt •
May 21, 2009
Thirty years after being listed as a World Heritage Sites the Ngorongoro Conservation area is in danger of being ‘deleted’ from the prestigious listing. This legendary wildlife-filled crater, is a 8,300 square kilometer part of Tanzania’s Serengeti.
The United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has set the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority very tight goals which must be met if Ngorongoro is to retain its World Heritage Sites listing.
By Kay Sexton •
May 21, 2009
In much of Europe, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are not used in food production and are not grown as crops. In pretty well the rest of the world, they are both widely grown and widely utilised. Why is there such a division?
By Kay Sexton •
May 14, 2009
Five farmers will appear in five advertisements, shown in five different states, each saying that they grow potatoes that Frito-Lay then turns into ‘local’ chips. Of course, each state gets to see only its own local advert, not the other four, which could rather spoil the impression …
By Kay Sexton •
March 31, 2009
The recent fall in grain prices across the developed world may have given the impression that food security isn’t a problem – but it is. There are more people not getting enough to eat than there were a decade ago.
By Dave Harcourt •
March 24, 2009
At the same time as Botswana bans hunting close to its reserves and Kenya uses Maasai hunters to protect its lions, Uganda introduces commercial hunting into its Pian-Upe wildlife reserve in Uganda hoping to improve conservation.
Hunting to Conserve in Uganda
Edyau Echodu, the warden of the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s Pian-Upe wildlife reserve, introduced the hunting plan. He said that hunting would help get rid of old animals that attack human settlements, killing and injuring people and damaging crops. He acknowledged that it was also aimed at increasing earnings from tourists.
By Adam Williams •
February 14, 2009
Project H has completed a Learning Landscape design, putting reclaimed tires to uses of exponential value: educating youth at the Kutamba School for AIDS Orphans in southern Uganda.
The tires are used in various math lessons, teaching the kids addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. When the sandbox grid of tires is not being used for math games, wooden benches are placed atop the precisely spaced tires, serving as [...]
As our friends over at Feelgood Style have noted, EDUN Apparel, the company founded by Ali Hewson (wife of U2 frontman Bono), isn’t just in the business of making stylish green clothing. The company’s vision includes using trade (rather than aid) to support sustainable community development in the developing world, and encouraging the fashion industry to work with Africa.
The company’s t-shirt division, EDUN LIVE, in partnership with Spike Jonze’s VBS.tv and VICE magazine have created a series of videos presenting the cultural and natural environments around Kampala, Uganda, where a local textile company makes some of the organic cotton t-shirts sold by EDUN.
A visitor to the “Made in Africa” section of EDUN LIVE’s web site could have a hard time choosing where to start. While the company does use some of the videos to reinforce its green and socially responsible cred with a three-part series on Japanese native Yuichi Kashiwada’s organic cotton textile mill, “Made in Africa” goes well beyond company promotion. Videos on the Breakdance Project Uganda at the Sharing Youth Center, and the Uganda Skateboard Union provide glimpses into youth culture in the city. Another features the KCC (Kampala City Cleaners) Football Club, a social welfare program that eventually produced a national championship soccer team. And the three-part “Gorillas in the Midst” takes viewers on a trek through the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, with guide Levi and the WWF’s Dr. Richard Carroll, to see the magnificent, and endangered, mountain gorillas.
By Dave Harcourt •
November 14, 2008
Note: This article is part of EcoWorldly’s series on food and agriculture around the world. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, this week EcoWorldly writers are exploring environmental issues related to bringing food from the farm to your dinner plate and looking at food and farming in other cultures and countries around the world. Subscribe to our RSS feed by email to get all of these, plus our regular stories about the environment from writers living on six continents.
The majority of Thanksgiving dinners in South Africa would be based on a very large serving of Mielie Pap, accompanied by a vegetable stew and possibly a small portion of meat. That is if it were celebrated here!
Mielie Pap is a thick white porridge produced from maize meal and is the main staple of the majority of the people of South Africa. This is especially true of poorer rural people who might aspire to bread and rice but need to rely on maize because of its low price and the fact that they are able to produce and process maize in the household. The dominance of maize in the diet of South Africans is reflected by the fact that on average one third of South African’s calorie intake is supplied by maize.
By Lucille Chi •
October 9, 2008
For over a decade Shea Terra Organics has been developing high quality healing products from indigenous African ingredients. “Our most important goal from the start has always been to support Africa through self-empowerment and environmental programs, and bring awareness about the continent’s diversity and beauty.” ~Shea Terra Organics’ founder, Tammie Umbel
Shea Terra has culminated a formula for sustainability and fair trade by recognizing the value of uncontaminated raw materials. This helps it make a difference in alleviating the increasing threats to Africa’s native inhabitants and indigenous wildlife.
By Joshua S Hill •
June 5, 2008
The quest for cleaner energy generation is one that is going to be a main focus for the next several decades. Without a doubt, humanity has finally realized that our insane overdependence on oil and other fossil fuels is, if nothing else, simply not healthy. It will eventually run out, and we’ve decided to, finally, look for alternate sources.
But turn our eyes away from the mainstream and western face of this planet, and we see that Africa is already on the renewable energy bandwagon.
