As COVID-19 threatens farming communities across Africa already struggling with climate change, the continent is at a crossroads. Will its people and their governments continue trying to replicate industrial farming models promoted by developed countries? Or will they move boldly into the uncertain future, embracing ecological agriculture? It is time to choose. Africa is … [Read more...]
Civil Society calls on the African Development Bank to quit fossil fuels
Africa Day 2020: African Climate Reality Project along with 25 fellow civil society organisations, are calling on the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) to immediately put in place and publish on the AfDB website a fossil fuel finance exclusion policy that states that the Bank will not fund, provide financial services or capacity support to any coal project on the African … [Read more...]
Kaldi’s goats discover coffee in Ethiopia
Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. It was discovered by a goat herder named Kaldi in the 11th century. Kaldi’s goats ate some coffee cherries and became energised and as a result, Kaldi gave the cherries a try and was delighted to experience the same effect. Kaldi reported his findings to the abbot of the local monastery, who made a drink with the cherries and found that … [Read more...]
SIMA celebrates best impact documentaries from around the world
The annual Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA) celebrate the best impact documentaries from around the world that inspire activism, compassion and social transformation. SIMA has announced the finalists for the 2016 edition of their unique initiative. The selected finalists will compete in the two categories Documentaries (Features, Shorts) and Impact Videos (Innovations, … [Read more...]
Young girl’s wish provides hope
Samantha Paul was supposed to be planning her daughter Rachel Beckwith's birthday party. Instead, she was in Tigray, Ethiopia, pumping water from the wells built in Rachel’s memory. It was the dream her little girl never got the chance to see come true. "She wouldn't believe it, she'd be like awestruck," Paul told NBC News via Skype from Tigray. The Seattle mom herself was … [Read more...]
All of life is infused with spirit
Custodians of Sacred Sites from four African countries are working together to revive tribal traditions and protect their sacred sites and territories. They have released a statement of Common African Customary Laws to protect these sacred places and bring their message to an increasingly detached modern world. The Nanyuki Custodian Meeting in Kenya has drawn up a statement … [Read more...]
Dam will displace half a million people
International NGOs are calling for the halt of the destructive Gibe 3 Dam on Ethiopia’s Omo River. The dam threatens the land and livelihoods of 500,000 tribal people in Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya. By ending the river’s natural flood cycle, the dam would destroy harvests and grazing lands along the river banks, and destroy fisheries in Lake Turkana, the world’s … [Read more...]
Crisis in the Horn of Africa
Parts of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia are facing one of the worst droughts for 60 years, and around 20 million people are desperately in need of food, clean water and basic sanitation. Many of the affected people are already living on the margins of survival due to conflict, displacement and chronic poverty. Drought is also not a new phenomenon to the region. However, this … [Read more...]
