Launch of the Humanitarian Appeal 2011 (photo on Flickr by United Nations Information Service / Jean-Marc Ferre). ‘Humanitarian agencies and donors agreed at an emergency meeting in Rome on 25 July that the response to the crisis must address the immediate needs of the desperate population and help build resilience to avert similar crises in the … Continue reading
The worst drought in 60 or so years is biting deeper into countries in the Horn of Africa; artists from around the world painted canvases illustrating the human impact of climate change in their countries; 16 of these canvases were being exhibited at the UN Climate Negotiations in Poznan, Poland, in Dec 2008 (image credit: … Continue reading
Food shortages are affecting some 10 million people in the drought-ravaged Horn of Africa in July 2011; Oxfam reports that in some parts of Kenya and Ethiopia, 60 percent or more of the livestock herds have perished (image credit: UNHCR and USAID). >>> The humanitarian news service IRIN reports yesterday on the severe drought ravaging the … Continue reading
Skyrocketing fuel and food prices are making Kenyans suffer; an undernourished child at the Kenya Coast drinks store-bought ‘maziwa lala’ (sour milk) (photo credit: ILRI/Elsworth). A policy brief published earlier this year by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) reports the following. ‘Three years after the 2007–08 food crisis, the prices of basic food items … Continue reading
Working in a maize field in Malawi (photo credit: ILRI/Mann). IRIN, a United Nations humanitarian news service, says Africa should be in a better position to feed itself in another five years. ‘. . . Shortly after Malawian president Bingu wa Mutharika became AU [Africa Union] chair in 2010, he announced a plan to make … Continue reading
ARDD branding at Agriculture and Rural Development Day 2010, a side event held on 4 December 2010 at the COP16 United Nations climate change conference in Cancun, Mexico (photo credit: Neil Palmer/CIAT). ‘Taking steps to control global temperatures is a key issue at the UN talks on climate change in Cancun. Within the next four … Continue reading
Pastoralists across East Africa are set to benefit as the region’s national borders are relaxed amid joint efforts to mitigate the risks associated with their migration. “With the coming into effect [on 1 July] of the common market protocol, pastoralists like the Maasai, the Pokot and the Somali who do not believe in borders as … Continue reading
rgent action is needed to help pastoralists cope with the rising impacts of climate change including strategies by governments to facilitate safe passage across borders in the Horn and East Africa region. This is among the key recommendations of a new report launched today by the United Nations (UN) and partners, members of the Security … Continue reading
Temperatures seem set to soar to perilously high levels because of climate change. In another 40 years, would maize still be the staple food in Kenya, already hit by five failed rainy seasons? If not, what could people grow and eat? And if you could grow maize, how much water and fertilizer would it need? … Continue reading
Every fortnight Makaitei Musakwa, 45, catches one of her chickens, picks up some of the maize she has grown, and sets off for the village mill to have the maize ground into mealie-meal, Zimbabwe’s staple food. “It is difficult for me to raise the money that the miller charges … I have nowhere to get … Continue reading
