In The News

Ethiopia Puts Logo on Its Hottest Export

Aaron O. Patrick May 21, 2008
Legend has it that centuries ago a young Ethiopian shepherd first discovered the taste and energy-boosting powers associated with the coffee plant. Globalization was not a word then, but the drink made from the plant’s beans quickly gained popularity the world over. The government of Ethiopia – setting out to highlight the special quality of its coffee and pursue licensing agreements with...

Why White Zimbabwean Farmers Plan to Stay in Nigeria

Sarah Simpson May 13, 2008
Zimbabwe was in a state of confusion before the March 29 elections. By most accounts, the opposition party won, but the ruling party of President Robert Mugabe continues to contest the results and harass the winners. Under Mugabe’s mismanagement, the one-time rich agricultural nation has inflation of 165,000 percent, 80 percent unemployment, with malnourishment afflicting nearly half the...

Africa Plays the Rice Card

G. Pascal Zachary May 12, 2008
With food prices jumping, governments no longer taking their agriculture sectors for granted. In recent years, African governments eliminated duties on imported rice and assumed that wealthy countries would also curtail agricultural subsidies, explains G. Pascal Zachary for Foreign Policy. Many nations in Africa must import rice, but Uganda recognized that many countries subsidize their...

Globalization Pushes More Women Into Informal Economy

Ama Achiaa Amankwah April 28, 2008
Gender inequalities have long left African women outside the formal economy, forced to fend for themselves in informal trade while their brothers and husbands secured employment in the civil sector and state-owned enterprises. Yet the liberalization of African state economies and the elimination of many government-supplied jobs have pushed men out of the formal economy to compete with women....

China May Give Up Attempt to Send Arms to Zimbabwe

Celia W. Dugger April 23, 2008
Trade may seem like a neutral affair, but certain products – like arms – can raise alarms. A South African high court has barred the shipment of arms to Zimbabwe, with the latter divided over recent election results. South African leaders expressed concern that the arms could be used against the opposition party that, by some reports, won the election, write Celia Dugger and David Barboza for the...

“Telemedicine” Links Africans to Indian Expertise

Barry Malone April 16, 2008
Using its information-technology expertise, India has launched a telemedicine project that allows doctors in Ethiopia to consult on images or lab results online with physicians, based in India, 2000 miles away. “Ethiopia's health problems are mirrored across Africa where doctors and nurses are often overworked and underpaid, villagers have to walk miles to the nearest clinic and drugs and...

New Mapping Technique Offers Hope for Madagascan Wildlife

Jessica Aldred April 15, 2008
Environmentalists, governments, researchers and even some businesses have good reason to protect the world’s biodiversity. High-resolution satellite images allow researchers to identify and map biodiversity “hotspots,” reports Jessica Aldred in the Guardian. “Traditionally, conservation work has focused on protecting just one species or group, like the giant panda, in the belief that saving one...