I find this story on World Bank blog (http://blogs.worldbank.org/meetings/comment/reply/605) hilarious.
“Not even the eruption of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull could keep the Netherlands’ Prince of Orange, the chair of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, and the World Bank’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from participating in a Davos-style panel discussion of solutions for the 2.6 billion people who still lack access to sanitation.”
“The World Bank Group is a key partner in the water and sanitation sector. The Bank is the largest single source of funding for water and sanitation, with $4.3 billion in lending devoted to this area in 2009. In addition, the World Bank-administered Water and Sanitation Program provided $30 million in free technical assistance to 25 countries to scale up successful sanitation and water projects.”
Here is my opinion
The scale of the World Bank's investment in water and sanitation is without doubt mind-boggling. the However, impact of the investment on health and economic development at the household and community level is underwhelming.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's childhood memories unfortunately, are the reality for hundreds of millions of girls, boys and women in Africa. And the problems related to water and sanitation will only get worse for a continent that is the least endowed with surface and ground water resources, especially under a drier climate.
When I was growing up in the 80s, the there we were promised water for all by year 2000. But by the mid 1990s all the taps in my village were dry. Today I see loads of projects on “spring protection” and “shallow wells”. I am not sure that is progress relative to water from standpipes of the 70s and 80s.
I am sure we cannot keep implementing the same wrong-headed projects and expect that we can meet the water and sanitation needs for a majority of Africans. Granted, some progress has been made, but it is a drop in the ocean.
My sense is that money is not the problem. The solution will not be found in the bureaucratic and expert style of the World Bank. This post World War II "reconstruction and development" approach will not solve 21st century African problems.
The Bank must work in more nimble and informal ways. The Bank must work more with private sector and local communities. The Bank must work less with the wasteful, inefficient and bureaucratic governments of Africa.
I think the reason Africa cannot solve water and sanitation problems in a significant scale is because the World Bank is the largest single source of funding.
Think about the cell phone irruption. The proliferation of cell phone in Africa has happened in spite of government.
Water and sanitation must be delivered in a "cell phone" type way.
If someone can convince me that World Bank funding could enable the unprecedented cell phone penetration in Africa, then I would believe that it can deliver safe water for 1 in 3 Africans in 5 years.
Creative Commons
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Confronting the truth about the Atlantic slave trade
It is estimated that between 1514 and 1866 some 3 million Africans were sold and shipped as slaves from the shores of Benin. In 1999, with bended knees, President Mathieu Kerekou of begged forgiveness from African-Americans for the role Africans played in the “shameful” and “abominable” trade in humans.
Senegal’s president Abdoulaye Wade, a descendant of generations of slave-owning and slave-trading African rulers has called for Africans, Europeans and Americans, to acknowledge publicly and teach openly about their shared responsibility for the Atlantic slave trade.
Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Awoonor has written: “I believe there is a great psychic shadow over Africa, and it has much to do with our guilt and denial of our role in the slave trade. We too are blameworthy in what was essentially one of the most heinous crimes in human history.”
In an Op-ed article (published April 23, 2010), Harvard professor Henry Louis (Skip) Gates argues that slavery was a business, highly organized and lucrative for European buyers and African sellers alike. Gates narrates that for Frederick Douglas argued against repatriation on the premise that “the savage chiefs” who were accustomed to profits from selling their captives into bondage would not be any more receptive to moral and economical ideas than the slave traders of Maryland and Virginia.
Given that slave trade was a complex business partnership between African elites and European traders and commercial agents, Gates argues that the larger question about reparations might be from whom they would be extracted.
Gates central thesis is that the culpability of American plantation owners neither erases nor supplants that of the African slavers.
Gates arguments will no doubt stir vigorous debate in the US. It is a debate he hopes President Obama will be a part of. Gates suggests that Obama is uniquely placed to publicly attribute responsibility and culpability where they truly belong.
There are lessons here for Africa’s future. One hundred years from today Africa’s industry will need iron, copper and uranium. My progeny will petition China and India for reparations because their economies were built from Africa’s natural resources.
Senegal’s president Abdoulaye Wade, a descendant of generations of slave-owning and slave-trading African rulers has called for Africans, Europeans and Americans, to acknowledge publicly and teach openly about their shared responsibility for the Atlantic slave trade.
Ghanaian diplomat Kofi Awoonor has written: “I believe there is a great psychic shadow over Africa, and it has much to do with our guilt and denial of our role in the slave trade. We too are blameworthy in what was essentially one of the most heinous crimes in human history.”
In an Op-ed article (published April 23, 2010), Harvard professor Henry Louis (Skip) Gates argues that slavery was a business, highly organized and lucrative for European buyers and African sellers alike. Gates narrates that for Frederick Douglas argued against repatriation on the premise that “the savage chiefs” who were accustomed to profits from selling their captives into bondage would not be any more receptive to moral and economical ideas than the slave traders of Maryland and Virginia.
Given that slave trade was a complex business partnership between African elites and European traders and commercial agents, Gates argues that the larger question about reparations might be from whom they would be extracted.
Gates central thesis is that the culpability of American plantation owners neither erases nor supplants that of the African slavers.
Gates arguments will no doubt stir vigorous debate in the US. It is a debate he hopes President Obama will be a part of. Gates suggests that Obama is uniquely placed to publicly attribute responsibility and culpability where they truly belong.
There are lessons here for Africa’s future. One hundred years from today Africa’s industry will need iron, copper and uranium. My progeny will petition China and India for reparations because their economies were built from Africa’s natural resources.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Bono thinks Africa is Rebooting: The OS Changed
I just read an opinion piece written by Bono in yesterday’s New York Times. The article is titled “Africa Reboots”. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/18/opinion/18bono.html?hp
Bono along with Jeff Sachs, I think are the most relentless crusaders for direct financial and material assistance to Africa. Some people prefer to call this kind of assistance “AID”.
Bono is no doubt a great storyteller!
But I think somehow his reading Africa wrong. The people he met on the pavement in western, eastern and southern Africa seem to be saying something more profound. They do not sound like an old computer that is rebooting.
DJ Rowbow of Ghetto Radio in Nairobi and Ms. Diogo in Maputo feel land sound like a SuperDuper OS.
Bono along with Jeff Sachs, I think are the most relentless crusaders for direct financial and material assistance to Africa. Some people prefer to call this kind of assistance “AID”.
Bono is no doubt a great storyteller!
But I think somehow his reading Africa wrong. The people he met on the pavement in western, eastern and southern Africa seem to be saying something more profound. They do not sound like an old computer that is rebooting.
DJ Rowbow of Ghetto Radio in Nairobi and Ms. Diogo in Maputo feel land sound like a SuperDuper OS.
Bono’s attitude heralds a new dawn for Africa’s relationship with the rest of the world. Africa is ready to negotiate a new partnership for its development. There are new possibilities and opportunities for providing the much needed growth and progress in Africa. If the breathtaking transformation in Asia is anything to go by, Africa is the next best bet.
Yes, Aid has its place but it is no longer the only game in town.
Here is what I think is the best part of Bono’s story
I SPENT March with a delegation of activists, entrepreneurs and policy wonks roaming western, southern and eastern Africa trying very hard to listen — always hard for a big-mouthed Irishman. With duct tape over my gob, I was able to pick up some interesting melody lines everywhere from palace to pavement
So I was listening. Good for me. But did I actually learn anything?
OVER long days and nights, I asked Africans about the course of international activism. Should we just pack it up and go home, I asked? There were a few nods. But many more noes. Because most Africans we met seemed to feel the pressing need for new kinds of partnerships, not just among governments, but among citizens, businesses, the rest of us. I sense the end of the usual donor-recipient relationship.
Aid, it’s clear, is still part of the picture. It’s crucial, if you have H.I.V. and are fighting for your life, or if you are a mother wondering why you can’t protect your child against killers with unpronounceable names or if you are a farmer who knows that new seed varietals will mean you have produce that you can take to market in drought or flood. But not the old, dumb, only-game-in-town aid — smart aid that aims to put itself out of business in a generation or two. “Make aid history” is the objective. It always was. Because when we end aid, it’ll mean that extreme poverty is history. But until that glorious day, smart aid can be a reforming tool, demanding accountability and transparency, rewarding measurable results, reinforcing the rule of law, but never imagining for a second that it’s a substitute for trade, investment or self-determination.
I for one want to live to see Mo Ibrahim’s throw-down prediction about Ghana come true. “Yes, guys,” he said, “Ghana needs support in the coming years, but in the not-too-distant future it can be giving aid, not receiving it; and you, Mr. Bono, can just go there on your holidays.”
I’m booking that ticket.
So I was listening. Good for me. But did I actually learn anything?
OVER long days and nights, I asked Africans about the course of international activism. Should we just pack it up and go home, I asked? There were a few nods. But many more noes. Because most Africans we met seemed to feel the pressing need for new kinds of partnerships, not just among governments, but among citizens, businesses, the rest of us. I sense the end of the usual donor-recipient relationship.
Aid, it’s clear, is still part of the picture. It’s crucial, if you have H.I.V. and are fighting for your life, or if you are a mother wondering why you can’t protect your child against killers with unpronounceable names or if you are a farmer who knows that new seed varietals will mean you have produce that you can take to market in drought or flood. But not the old, dumb, only-game-in-town aid — smart aid that aims to put itself out of business in a generation or two. “Make aid history” is the objective. It always was. Because when we end aid, it’ll mean that extreme poverty is history. But until that glorious day, smart aid can be a reforming tool, demanding accountability and transparency, rewarding measurable results, reinforcing the rule of law, but never imagining for a second that it’s a substitute for trade, investment or self-determination.
I for one want to live to see Mo Ibrahim’s throw-down prediction about Ghana come true. “Yes, guys,” he said, “Ghana needs support in the coming years, but in the not-too-distant future it can be giving aid, not receiving it; and you, Mr. Bono, can just go there on your holidays.”
I’m booking that ticket.
Framework Agreement on Utilization and Management of the Nile Basin Waters
Egypt and Sudan are reluctant to renegotiate a British sponsored treaty signed in 1959 that ensures they receive 55.5 billion of the 100 billion cubic meters discharged form Lake Victoria annually. Sudan is allotted 14.5 billion cubic meters by this treaty.
The lower Nile Basin countries (Uganda, Congo, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia) are urging for a new allocation regime of the Nile water resources to reflect the demands of growing populations and increased demands for water to meet needs of growing economies.
The sticking point in the negotiation of the Nile Cooperative Framework Agreement is the fact that Sudan and Egypt insist that any agreement must recognize their historic share of Nile water. More significantly, Egypt and Sudan demand a commitment to the early notification mechanism before upstream countries undertake any irrigation or hydropower projects. Egypt and Sudan further insists that these decisions must be unanimous, not through majority voting. Hence, Egypt and Sudan could veto any and all projects if their interests are threatened.
My sense is that water allocation among the so-called Nile Basin countries is a potential powder keg for political tension and virulent conflict. The increased demand for water owing demographic and economic growth in all the nine countries will escalate the potential for political conflagration.
Consider the East African Community (EAC) as an example. At the current rate of expansion of GDP in the EAC, per capita income will double in the next 14 years (2025). The demand for just about everything, especially water and vital water catchment land will be off the charts. And more significantly, the population that depends directly on the water and land resources of the Lake Victoria Basin will be nearly double by about 2030.
I am sure that both Egypt and Sudan understand these dynamics. I believe they are also concerned about the demographic and socio-economic patterns of otheir own, thus needing significantly more water than the proverbial 55 billion cubic meters. And there is the possibility of drier climate and hence unsustainably low lake levels, touching of a catastrophic water scarcity.
The reality is that there will never be enough water for all the countries of the Nile Basin. Even if Egypt and Sudan had the entire 100 billion cubic meters of water to themselves, by 2050, per capita availability of water for their populations will be as low as 500 cubic meters.
The Nile Basin countries have an unprecedented moment in history. They must move beyond the confines of petty egos and antiquated treaties, think creatively and allocate new binding rights and responsibilities among themselves to ensure rational and sustainable management of the Nile Basin water resources.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Monday, April 12, 2010
Africa's contriburtion to global science remains low
A report on global research by Thomson Reuters (released 12 April 2010) shows that Africa’s contribution to global scientific research is very low. This is hardly surprising.
According to the report, Africa’s low scientific output is attributable to a chronic lack of investment in facilities for research and teaching. Brain drain remains a critical problem. Many of Africa’s best students take their higher degrees at universities in Europe, Asia and North America.
There is need for urgent action to remedy the situation. Science and technology is key to Africa’s socio-economic progress and is especially critical to tackling such food security, controlling infectious diseases, enabling access to clean water, as well as providing a basis for sustainable use and management of environment and natural resources.
Support is growing for a bid to persuade the G8+5 nations to fund 1,000 senior research positions in African universities. The Academic Chairs for Africa initiative would require the rich G8 countries and the emerging economies that now attend the group's gatherings–Brazil, China, India, South Africa and Mexico-to commit US$100m per year over a five-year period.
The initiative is modelled on a ten-year-old Canadian programme to prevent promising academics leaving the country. Getting G8+5 support is great. However, individual countries in Africa must get their act in gear and commit resources to scientific research and science education.
According to the report, Africa’s low scientific output is attributable to a chronic lack of investment in facilities for research and teaching. Brain drain remains a critical problem. Many of Africa’s best students take their higher degrees at universities in Europe, Asia and North America.
There is need for urgent action to remedy the situation. Science and technology is key to Africa’s socio-economic progress and is especially critical to tackling such food security, controlling infectious diseases, enabling access to clean water, as well as providing a basis for sustainable use and management of environment and natural resources.
Support is growing for a bid to persuade the G8+5 nations to fund 1,000 senior research positions in African universities. The Academic Chairs for Africa initiative would require the rich G8 countries and the emerging economies that now attend the group's gatherings–Brazil, China, India, South Africa and Mexico-to commit US$100m per year over a five-year period.
The initiative is modelled on a ten-year-old Canadian programme to prevent promising academics leaving the country. Getting G8+5 support is great. However, individual countries in Africa must get their act in gear and commit resources to scientific research and science education.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
The Right to Pollute?
Despite abstentions from Britain, America and the Netherlands the World Bank approved a £2.4bn loan to build a huge new coal-fired power station in South Africa. A US treasury spokesman explained that the abstention was due to an "incompatibility with the World Bank's commitment to be a leader in climate change mitigation and adaption".
Although the plant will emit 25 million tons of carbon per annum, South African ministers claimed that the project was essential for their country's development point out that much of the new electricity will be used by heavy industry.
This decision has exposed the chasm between two imperative international goals; alleviating poverty and preventing global warming.
In an article in the Guardian, Andrew Chambers argues that it is unacceptable to use global warming to limit growth in poor African countries. He suggests that it is up to the rich world to develop cleaner technologies and make them available to poor coutries.
See full article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/apr/11/eco-imperialism-climate-change-carbon
Although the plant will emit 25 million tons of carbon per annum, South African ministers claimed that the project was essential for their country's development point out that much of the new electricity will be used by heavy industry.
This decision has exposed the chasm between two imperative international goals; alleviating poverty and preventing global warming.
In an article in the Guardian, Andrew Chambers argues that it is unacceptable to use global warming to limit growth in poor African countries. He suggests that it is up to the rich world to develop cleaner technologies and make them available to poor coutries.
See full article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2010/apr/11/eco-imperialism-climate-change-carbon
Managing Ecosystems for Wildlife and Human Health
The University of Edinburgh's Global Health Academy and Royal (Dick) Vet School, the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), with the support of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and partner global associates are offering first class teaching and research in the field of Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystem Health.
This new online MSc in Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystem Health aims to meet the demand for interdisciplinary training required by those whose role it is to understand and manage the natural environment. It will introduce students to the complex inter-dependent nature of ecosystems and the species they sustain, and encourage them to assess the impact of current and future threats to socio-ecological resilience.
I strongly recommend this program. See course details @http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/education/onlinepostgraduate.html
This new online MSc in Biodiversity, Wildlife and Ecosystem Health aims to meet the demand for interdisciplinary training required by those whose role it is to understand and manage the natural environment. It will introduce students to the complex inter-dependent nature of ecosystems and the species they sustain, and encourage them to assess the impact of current and future threats to socio-ecological resilience.
I strongly recommend this program. See course details @http://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/education/onlinepostgraduate.html
The Quality of Political Governance Matters
I have always believed that governance explains most of the variability in economic development among countries, especially in the so-called developing countries.
These Excerpts from an article by Lydia Polgreen (published in the New York Times, April 10 2010) demonstrate the link between leadership and development so elegantly.
For decades the state of Bihar represented everything that was wrong with the Indian sub continent; a combustible mix of crime, corruption and caste politics in a state crucible that stifled economic growth.
Bihar’s economy, was dominated by impoverished subsistence farmers struggling through alternating floods and droughts, shriveled. Corrupt politicians who used divisive identity politics to entrench their rule were at the helm in Bihar.
But early this year, Bihar announced that it had sustained an 11 percent average growth rate for the last five years, making it the second fastest-growing economy in India.
How did Bihar turn around?
In 2005 Nitish Kumar was elected Chief Minister. Mr. Kumar replaced a previous regime of wily populist politicians. According to Mr. Kumar, the problem was that of a total lack of governance in Bihar.
Nitish Kumar first turned his attention to crime. Powerful men were arrested, many of them sitting members of Parliament. They were convicted quickly in fast-track courts, sending a clear signal that the law was supreme.
Then came the schools. More than 2.5 million school-age children were not attending classes; by 2010 that number was reduced to fewer than 800,000.
Next came the hospitals. Bihar had some of the country’s sickest, poorest and shortest-lived people in India. Clinics that had been seeing 1 patient a day because they had no doctors or medicine were staffed up and restocked.
Then infrastructure. Nitish Kumar loosened bureaucratic rules to move important infrastructure projects along more quickly. Distances that once took more than two hours to travel now take 30 minutes drive. And solar lights illuminate narrow lanes.
Bihar’s turnaround illustrates how a handful of seemingly small changes can yield big results.
To paraphrase Manmohan Singh, India’s Prime Minister, real change will comes through the right kind of local leadership, a forward looking, modern and compassionate leadership that strengthens the foundations of a society.
Bihar is an exemplary case study of how governance determines development. We can all learn from Bihar.
These Excerpts from an article by Lydia Polgreen (published in the New York Times, April 10 2010) demonstrate the link between leadership and development so elegantly.
For decades the state of Bihar represented everything that was wrong with the Indian sub continent; a combustible mix of crime, corruption and caste politics in a state crucible that stifled economic growth.
Bihar’s economy, was dominated by impoverished subsistence farmers struggling through alternating floods and droughts, shriveled. Corrupt politicians who used divisive identity politics to entrench their rule were at the helm in Bihar.
But early this year, Bihar announced that it had sustained an 11 percent average growth rate for the last five years, making it the second fastest-growing economy in India.
How did Bihar turn around?
In 2005 Nitish Kumar was elected Chief Minister. Mr. Kumar replaced a previous regime of wily populist politicians. According to Mr. Kumar, the problem was that of a total lack of governance in Bihar.
Nitish Kumar first turned his attention to crime. Powerful men were arrested, many of them sitting members of Parliament. They were convicted quickly in fast-track courts, sending a clear signal that the law was supreme.
Then came the schools. More than 2.5 million school-age children were not attending classes; by 2010 that number was reduced to fewer than 800,000.
Next came the hospitals. Bihar had some of the country’s sickest, poorest and shortest-lived people in India. Clinics that had been seeing 1 patient a day because they had no doctors or medicine were staffed up and restocked.
Then infrastructure. Nitish Kumar loosened bureaucratic rules to move important infrastructure projects along more quickly. Distances that once took more than two hours to travel now take 30 minutes drive. And solar lights illuminate narrow lanes.
Bihar’s turnaround illustrates how a handful of seemingly small changes can yield big results.
To paraphrase Manmohan Singh, India’s Prime Minister, real change will comes through the right kind of local leadership, a forward looking, modern and compassionate leadership that strengthens the foundations of a society.
Bihar is an exemplary case study of how governance determines development. We can all learn from Bihar.
In pursuit of the African problem
Why is Africa lagging behind the rest of the world?
Is Africa poor because of resource exploitation by China?
Is poor governance a legacy of slave trade and colonialism? Is the war and disease caused by something in the water or the soils?
But what is Africa? Who are Africans? What do the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria have in common with the Southern Ndebele people of the Transvaal? I bet they are similar as the Finnish and the Portuguese.
Why is Somalia ungovernable? How does Ghana manage regular elections and peaceful transitions? How did Botswana achieve a per capita GDP of $13,300 while neighboring Angola’s per capita GDP is only $567? How about Zimbabwe?
I am looking for this war torn place riddled with disease, trapped in hunger, disease,poverty and governed by tyrannical maniacs that is universally known as Africa.
Mugabe lives in Zimbabwe. Mandela is a South African. Mo Ibrahim is Sudanese. Hitler was not European but a German. But Idi Amin was an African dictator.
But I know that what happens in Bosnia does not characterize Europe as a continent in embroiled in barbaric turmoil. But I know that the Rwandan genocide was just one of those evil and dark acts that can only come out of Africa.
Any programs or help or solutions for Africa will never work because there are is no African problem.
I live in Kenya and I am looking for Africa. And when I find Africa, I hope to find the African problem.
Is Africa poor because of resource exploitation by China?
Is poor governance a legacy of slave trade and colonialism? Is the war and disease caused by something in the water or the soils?
But what is Africa? Who are Africans? What do the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria have in common with the Southern Ndebele people of the Transvaal? I bet they are similar as the Finnish and the Portuguese.
Why is Somalia ungovernable? How does Ghana manage regular elections and peaceful transitions? How did Botswana achieve a per capita GDP of $13,300 while neighboring Angola’s per capita GDP is only $567? How about Zimbabwe?
I am looking for this war torn place riddled with disease, trapped in hunger, disease,poverty and governed by tyrannical maniacs that is universally known as Africa.
Mugabe lives in Zimbabwe. Mandela is a South African. Mo Ibrahim is Sudanese. Hitler was not European but a German. But Idi Amin was an African dictator.
But I know that what happens in Bosnia does not characterize Europe as a continent in embroiled in barbaric turmoil. But I know that the Rwandan genocide was just one of those evil and dark acts that can only come out of Africa.
Any programs or help or solutions for Africa will never work because there are is no African problem.
I live in Kenya and I am looking for Africa. And when I find Africa, I hope to find the African problem.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Corporate Social Irresponsibility
In April 2009, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ordered Coca-Cola to run “corrective advertisements” in Australian newspapers. The reason was a celebrity-endorsed magazine advert branding the notions that Coca-Cola could make children fat or rot their teeth as “myths”.
Coca-Cola contains calories and yes, it contains “food acid”. But the consumer must regulate consumption of Coca-Cola products. According to Milbank Quarterly, these tactics of blame-shifting, celebrity endorsement and between product and ill health are similar to those of the tobacco industry.
If the food industry wants to maintain trust and profitability, it needs to develop greater respect for the people whose purchases allow it to exist. Such trust and profit can only be guaranteed through responsible action on the part of the food industry to protect consumers’ health. But mendacious advertising can erode both trust and profit.
See The Lancet, Volume 373, Issue 9671, Page 1224, 11 April 2009
Coca-Cola contains calories and yes, it contains “food acid”. But the consumer must regulate consumption of Coca-Cola products. According to Milbank Quarterly, these tactics of blame-shifting, celebrity endorsement and between product and ill health are similar to those of the tobacco industry.
If the food industry wants to maintain trust and profitability, it needs to develop greater respect for the people whose purchases allow it to exist. Such trust and profit can only be guaranteed through responsible action on the part of the food industry to protect consumers’ health. But mendacious advertising can erode both trust and profit.
See The Lancet, Volume 373, Issue 9671, Page 1224, 11 April 2009
Motivations of Ethnic Identity in Kenya
Ethnic identities in post-colonial Africa are probably not hardwired. Ethnicity is not an intrinsic part of who people are. Ethnicity is functional. Post-colonial African states are intensely competitive socio-ecological spaces. Ethnicity serves as a practical tool for mobilizing social capital and building coalitions that can be deployed in the struggle for political control and appropriation of scarce resources. Hence, political competition is inextricably bound to political competition. Political identities are therefore more likely to be accentuated during political elections, especially presidential elections.
Two processes appear to explain why political competition leads to a heightening of ethnic identities. The first is the mobilizing actions of politicians who “play the ethnic card” during political campaigns. Secondly, voters seem to recognize that when it comes to resource allocation, elections are the time for deciding who gets what, how much and when.
What is interesting is how politically motivated reinforcement of ethnic identities displaces other identities. People often have multiple identities. These include religion, gender, and occupation/class.
Ethnic identities in Kenya, for example, seem to wax and wane with political competition. Political competition between Mr. Kenyatta and his Vice president Mr. Odinga, triggered deep and abiding ethnic divisions between the Luo and the Kikuyu ethnic groups. The first multiparty election in Kenya in 1992 triggered ethnic conflagrations among the Kalenjin, Luo and Kikuyu. In 2002 the election were not deemed as competitive. Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta (now minister for finance) was considered a long shot against a forceful political alliance fronted by Kibaki, Kalonzo and Odinga.
In contrast, the elections of 2007 were the most competitive in Kenya’s short history of multiparty politics. The country fractured with protracted ethnic clashes that lasted a couple of months. 1, 000 people were killed and nearly 400,000 people have been displaced permanently. All other identities were smothered. I remember meeting with the Cardinal to discuss how the church could help to heal the ethnic divide. At the end of our private meeting, it was clear to me what identity was cardinal for His Eminence. It was every tub on its own bottom.
The Kenyan experience demonstrates that ethnic identities are not hardwired. They are functional and instrumental in the competition for political power.
See article on Political Competition and Ethnic Identification in Africa http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/123346101/PDFSTART
Two processes appear to explain why political competition leads to a heightening of ethnic identities. The first is the mobilizing actions of politicians who “play the ethnic card” during political campaigns. Secondly, voters seem to recognize that when it comes to resource allocation, elections are the time for deciding who gets what, how much and when.
What is interesting is how politically motivated reinforcement of ethnic identities displaces other identities. People often have multiple identities. These include religion, gender, and occupation/class.
Ethnic identities in Kenya, for example, seem to wax and wane with political competition. Political competition between Mr. Kenyatta and his Vice president Mr. Odinga, triggered deep and abiding ethnic divisions between the Luo and the Kikuyu ethnic groups. The first multiparty election in Kenya in 1992 triggered ethnic conflagrations among the Kalenjin, Luo and Kikuyu. In 2002 the election were not deemed as competitive. Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta (now minister for finance) was considered a long shot against a forceful political alliance fronted by Kibaki, Kalonzo and Odinga.
In contrast, the elections of 2007 were the most competitive in Kenya’s short history of multiparty politics. The country fractured with protracted ethnic clashes that lasted a couple of months. 1, 000 people were killed and nearly 400,000 people have been displaced permanently. All other identities were smothered. I remember meeting with the Cardinal to discuss how the church could help to heal the ethnic divide. At the end of our private meeting, it was clear to me what identity was cardinal for His Eminence. It was every tub on its own bottom.
The Kenyan experience demonstrates that ethnic identities are not hardwired. They are functional and instrumental in the competition for political power.
See article on Political Competition and Ethnic Identification in Africa http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/123346101/PDFSTART
Monday, April 5, 2010
Adapting to climate change: agricultural system and household impacts in East Africa
Thornton et al. (2010) summarize simulated yield response in two crops that are widely grown in the region, maize and beans, and investigate how the impacts of climate change might be addressed at two levels: the agricultural system and the household. This study shows substantial between-country and within-system differences in maize and bean production responses projected to 2050. The arid-semiarid mixed crop-livestock systems are projected to see reductions in maize and bean production throughout most of the region to 2050. Yields of these crops in the tropical highland mixed systems are projected to increase, sometimes substantially. The humid–subhumid mixed systems show more varied yield responses through time and across space. Some within-country shifts in cropping away from the arid–semiarid systems to cooler, higher-elevation locations may be possible, but increased regional trade should be able to overcome the country-level production deficits in maize and beans caused by climate change to 2050, all other things being equal. For some places in the tropical highlands, maize and bean yield increases could have beneficial effects on household food security and income levels. In the other mixed systems, moderate yield losses can be expected to be offset by crop breeding and agronomic approaches in the coming decades, while more severe yield losses may necessitate changes in crop types, movement to more livestock-orientated production, or abandonment of cropping altogether.
The authors warn that the projected production responses are indicative only, and their effects will be under-estimated because the methods used here have not accounted for increasing weather variability in the future or changes in the distribution and impacts of biotic and other abiotic stresses. These system-level shifts will take place in a context characterised by high population growth rates; the demand for food is projected to nearly triple by the middle of this century. Systems will have to intensify substantially in response, particularly in the better-endowed mixed systems in the region.
The paper concludes that adaptation options need to be assessed at the level of the household and the local community, if research for development is to meet its poverty alleviation and food security targets in the face of global change.
See article Mahider at ILRI: Adapting to climate change: agricultural system and household impacts in East Africa
The authors warn that the projected production responses are indicative only, and their effects will be under-estimated because the methods used here have not accounted for increasing weather variability in the future or changes in the distribution and impacts of biotic and other abiotic stresses. These system-level shifts will take place in a context characterised by high population growth rates; the demand for food is projected to nearly triple by the middle of this century. Systems will have to intensify substantially in response, particularly in the better-endowed mixed systems in the region.
The paper concludes that adaptation options need to be assessed at the level of the household and the local community, if research for development is to meet its poverty alleviation and food security targets in the face of global change.
See article Mahider at ILRI: Adapting to climate change: agricultural system and household impacts in East Africa
Sunday, April 4, 2010
For those who deny climate change: It is headed for your gut
Report by David Biello-Scientific American, April 4 2010
Climate change may already be hitting you—in the stomach. A new analysis reveals that higher average temperatures in Montana, USA over the last six decades equal less wheat.
Plant scientist Luther Talbert of Montana State University and his colleagues looked at weather records for the Mountain State from 1950 to 2007. The month of March has had the most warming overall, increasing by nearly 0.1 degrees Celsius per year on average. As a result, farmers now plant wheat 10 days earlier.
In 2007, the U.S. grew 12.8 million metric tons of hard red spring wheat, which is primarily used to make bread. Yields of this staple grain have increased exponentially since the 1950s because better farming practices and new wheat breeds have more than made up for those hot Julys.
Such innovations will have to continue since the future is likely to be even hotter, according to the scientists. Breeding wheat to deal with high heat is compulsory if we want our daily bread.
What do we know about changes in maize yield and climate change?
Climate change may already be hitting you—in the stomach. A new analysis reveals that higher average temperatures in Montana, USA over the last six decades equal less wheat.
Plant scientist Luther Talbert of Montana State University and his colleagues looked at weather records for the Mountain State from 1950 to 2007. The month of March has had the most warming overall, increasing by nearly 0.1 degrees Celsius per year on average. As a result, farmers now plant wheat 10 days earlier.
In 2007, the U.S. grew 12.8 million metric tons of hard red spring wheat, which is primarily used to make bread. Yields of this staple grain have increased exponentially since the 1950s because better farming practices and new wheat breeds have more than made up for those hot Julys.
Such innovations will have to continue since the future is likely to be even hotter, according to the scientists. Breeding wheat to deal with high heat is compulsory if we want our daily bread.
What do we know about changes in maize yield and climate change?
Friday, April 2, 2010
Water Stress in the Lower Mekong Basin: China's Ecological Footprint ?
Leaders of Southeast Asian nations (Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos) straddling the shrinking lower Mekong River are set to lean on China at a two-day summit of inter-governmental Mekong River Commission (MRC) the talks scheduled to begin April 4 2010 in Bangkok, Thailand.
China is not a member of MRC and is participating as a “dialogue partner”.
A crippling drought in the region and the role of China’s dams will dominate the two-day summit. The Mekong is experiencing its lowest flows in 50 years. However, China attributes the shriveling of the Mekong on climate change induced drought. China is experiencing the worst drought in a century in its southwest, with more than 24 million people short of drinking water.
China maintains that the dams, built to meet soaring demand for water and hydro-generated electricity, have been effective in releasing water during dry seasons and preventing flooding in rainy months. The lower Mekong nations are expected to make a direct connection between man-made infrastructure (China’s dams) and low river flow rather than low rainfall. The lower Mekong states are confident that river flow data will support their claims and likely to press China to enter an agreement to share information on the river.
The Nile Basin countries should watch the Mekong River Commission summit with keen interest. Climate change induced water stress and the growing demands of water for irrigation, hydropower, domestic and industrial use will certainly create political tensions over Lake Victoria and the Nile River.
A crippling drought in the region and the role of China’s dams will dominate the two-day summit. The Mekong is experiencing its lowest flows in 50 years. However, China attributes the shriveling of the Mekong on climate change induced drought. China is experiencing the worst drought in a century in its southwest, with more than 24 million people short of drinking water.
China maintains that the dams, built to meet soaring demand for water and hydro-generated electricity, have been effective in releasing water during dry seasons and preventing flooding in rainy months. The lower Mekong nations are expected to make a direct connection between man-made infrastructure (China’s dams) and low river flow rather than low rainfall. The lower Mekong states are confident that river flow data will support their claims and likely to press China to enter an agreement to share information on the river.
The Nile Basin countries should watch the Mekong River Commission summit with keen interest. Climate change induced water stress and the growing demands of water for irrigation, hydropower, domestic and industrial use will certainly create political tensions over Lake Victoria and the Nile River.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Beyond trade and infrastructure projects: The next frontier of Chinese influence in Africa
BEIJING, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Experts said Tuesday that cultural and academic exchanges between China and Africa are conducive to the development of cooperation.
Joao Manuel Bernardo, Angola's ambassador to China and acting dean of the African diplomatic corps, said Africa and China were on the right track for better understanding between their peoples and the sharing of development experience with the launch of the China-Africa joint research and exchange program.
The launch ceremony of the program was held in Beijing Tuesday, with about 100 diplomats and scholars from China and African countries present.
As part of the eight new measures announced by the Chinese government at the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Egypt in November last year, the program, aimed at expanding people-to-people and cultural exchanges, will enable scholars and think tanks to increase exchanges and cooperation, share development experience, and provide intellectual support for improving cooperation policies.
It would cover domestic and international seminars on China-Africa cooperation, joint monographic studies and research, and the publication of works on China-Africa relations. A board of government officials and scholars is expected to head the implementation of the program.
China's ambassador on FOCAC affairs, Qiu Bohua, said Chinese and African scholars could work together for detailed planning and suggestions on sustainable development of cooperation under the program.
Executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Wang Weiguang said China-Africa cultural and academic exchanges, which could eliminate misunderstandings caused by cultural and language differences, were essential to the healthy and comprehensive development of China-Africa relations.
Wang raised a proposal on cooperation between Chinese and African think tanks and scholars, which included facilitating visits, convening seminars and publishing joint studies, to recruit more African students and invite African scholars to teach at the CASS.
Lesotho's Ambassador to China, Anthony Rachobokoane Thibeli, said, the implementation of the program would allow the African and Chinese people to communicate more openly and pave the way for cooperation.
To learn more about China-Africa Cooperation http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/zflt/eng/
Joao Manuel Bernardo, Angola's ambassador to China and acting dean of the African diplomatic corps, said Africa and China were on the right track for better understanding between their peoples and the sharing of development experience with the launch of the China-Africa joint research and exchange program.
The launch ceremony of the program was held in Beijing Tuesday, with about 100 diplomats and scholars from China and African countries present.
As part of the eight new measures announced by the Chinese government at the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Egypt in November last year, the program, aimed at expanding people-to-people and cultural exchanges, will enable scholars and think tanks to increase exchanges and cooperation, share development experience, and provide intellectual support for improving cooperation policies.
It would cover domestic and international seminars on China-Africa cooperation, joint monographic studies and research, and the publication of works on China-Africa relations. A board of government officials and scholars is expected to head the implementation of the program.
China's ambassador on FOCAC affairs, Qiu Bohua, said Chinese and African scholars could work together for detailed planning and suggestions on sustainable development of cooperation under the program.
Executive vice president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Wang Weiguang said China-Africa cultural and academic exchanges, which could eliminate misunderstandings caused by cultural and language differences, were essential to the healthy and comprehensive development of China-Africa relations.
Wang raised a proposal on cooperation between Chinese and African think tanks and scholars, which included facilitating visits, convening seminars and publishing joint studies, to recruit more African students and invite African scholars to teach at the CASS.
Lesotho's Ambassador to China, Anthony Rachobokoane Thibeli, said, the implementation of the program would allow the African and Chinese people to communicate more openly and pave the way for cooperation.
To learn more about China-Africa Cooperation http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/zflt/eng/
Feeding a Crowded Planet
Tomorrow's Table
Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food
Pamela C. Ronald and R. W. Adamchak
By the year 2050, Earth's population will double. If we continue with current farming practices, vast amounts of wilderness will be lost, millions of birds and billions of insects will die, and the public will lose billions of dollars as a consequence of environmental degradation. Clearly, there must be a better way to meet the need for increased food production.
Written as part memoir, part instruction, and part contemplation, Tomorrow's Table argues that a judicious blend of two important strands of agriculture--genetic engineering and organic farming--is key to helping feed the world's growing population in an ecologically balanced manner. Pamela Ronald, a geneticist, and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer, take the reader inside their lives for roughly a year, allowing us to look over their shoulders so that we can see what geneticists and organic farmers actually do. The reader sees the problems that farmers face, trying to provide larger yields without resorting to expensive or environmentally hazardous chemicals, a problem that will loom larger and larger as the century progresses. They learn how organic farmers and geneticists address these problems.
This book is for consumers, farmers, and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices. It is also for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment.
About the Author(s)
Pamela C. Ronald is a Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis. Her laboratory has genetically engineered rice for resistance to diseases and flooding. Her work has been published in Science , Nature , and other scientific periodicals and has also been featured in newspapers including The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal , and Le Monde . She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Raoul Adamchak has grown organic crops for twenty years, part of the time as a partner in Full Belly Farm, a private 150-acre organic vegetable farm. He has inspected over one hundred organic farms as an inspector for California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and served as a member and President of CCOF's Board of Directors. He now works at the U.C., Davis as the Market Garden Coordinator at the certified organic farm on campus.
Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food
Pamela C. Ronald and R. W. Adamchak
By the year 2050, Earth's population will double. If we continue with current farming practices, vast amounts of wilderness will be lost, millions of birds and billions of insects will die, and the public will lose billions of dollars as a consequence of environmental degradation. Clearly, there must be a better way to meet the need for increased food production.
Written as part memoir, part instruction, and part contemplation, Tomorrow's Table argues that a judicious blend of two important strands of agriculture--genetic engineering and organic farming--is key to helping feed the world's growing population in an ecologically balanced manner. Pamela Ronald, a geneticist, and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer, take the reader inside their lives for roughly a year, allowing us to look over their shoulders so that we can see what geneticists and organic farmers actually do. The reader sees the problems that farmers face, trying to provide larger yields without resorting to expensive or environmentally hazardous chemicals, a problem that will loom larger and larger as the century progresses. They learn how organic farmers and geneticists address these problems.
This book is for consumers, farmers, and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices. It is also for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment.
About the Author(s)
Pamela C. Ronald is a Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of California, Davis. Her laboratory has genetically engineered rice for resistance to diseases and flooding. Her work has been published in Science , Nature , and other scientific periodicals and has also been featured in newspapers including The New York Times , The Wall Street Journal , and Le Monde . She is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Raoul Adamchak has grown organic crops for twenty years, part of the time as a partner in Full Belly Farm, a private 150-acre organic vegetable farm. He has inspected over one hundred organic farms as an inspector for California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) and served as a member and President of CCOF's Board of Directors. He now works at the U.C., Davis as the Market Garden Coordinator at the certified organic farm on campus.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)