The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
The world will experience a growing risk of conflicts over food, energy and water in coming years. The population rises each year by about 80 million people, with most of the increase in impoverished regions already facing environmental stress. Climate change, water scarcity and tighter oil supplies will add to …
West Africa is one of the least green regions in the world, but the nation of Ghana has distinguished itself among its neighbors, achieving a rank of 86 on Yale and Columbia's Environmental Performance Index. In sub-Saharan Africa, only Gabon and the island nation of Mauritius rank higher, and Ghana …
Criticism of biofuel erupted when in certain countries in the western hemisphere a staple food crop like maze-and also soybean, sugarcane and various oilseed crops--began to be used for extensive ethanol production- Atul Cowshish Not very long away biofuel was hailed as the best and the cheapest alternative to fossil …
Water stress is a major problem affecting the future of human societies around the world, particularly in the rural areas of the developing world. The Newsmakers article "Barrn to lush" (2 May, p. 593) highlighted an award for the invention of a new manual pump used for irrigation in rural …
Protected areas (PAs) have long been criticized as creations of and for an elite few, where associated costs, but few benefits, are borne by marginalized rural communities. Contrary to predictions of this argument, the researchers found that average human population growth rates on the borders of 306 PAs in 45 …
The 2008 global food crisis is compromising the survival of 860 million undernourished people and threatens to push a hundred million people into extreme poverty, erasing all of the gains made in eradicating poverty in the last decade. Record high prices have put food out of reach for the poorest …
The high-level conference at Rome was called to find a way out of the global food crisis. A series of consultations with experts preceded this important event that went to show that the UN had all good intentions. The good intentions unfortunately did not translate into good policy decisions that …
AKINWUMI A ADESINA Vice-president, policy and partnerships,Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) Though AGRA says it is supporting small farmers, Annan held a separate meeting with private players, including the International SeedFederation and the International Fertilizer Association , and not with civil society groups Green revolution in Africa: The …
the run-up to the high-level conference on food security in Rome promised a substantial shift in agricul-tural outlook, given host Food and Agricultural Organization
ANIKET ALAM In the last week of April, India announced a us $5.4 billion credit to African countries for developing their infrastructure and meeting other development goals. This five year package also included duty free imports from 50 Least Developed Countries, of which 34 are in Africa. The government also …
This paper discusses the various factors that have been identified as responsible for the current global crisis in the availability of food and for the rise in prices of cereals. It argues that the crisis is different from the ones in the 1960s and 1970s in that there is now …
Crippling epidemics of meningococcal meningitis sweep across Africa with the onset of the dry season and harsh harmattan winds. An affordable, effective vaccine in the works could change that.
Maize streak virus (MSV; family Geminiviridae, genus Mastrevirus), the causal agent of maize streak disease, ranks amongst the most serious biological threats to food security in subSaharan Africa. Although five distinct MSV strains have been currently described, only one of these
Tropical diseases that ravage Africa, Asia and Latin America commonly occur among the poor in the USA, leaving thousands of people shattered by debilitating complications including mental retardation, heart disease and epilepsy, an analysis showed Monday. The diseases, caused by chronic viral, bacterial and parasitic infections, disproportionately strike women and …
The dust that originates in the Sahara Desert, is lofted by windstorms which carries it west over the Atlantic. High levels of airborne dust reduce the amount of sunlight that reaches the ocean, lowering sea surface temperatures and, generally, hurricane probability. Researchers in the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies …
We thought wide-scale food shortages were behind us. Just a few years ago, most countries - with the exception of some in Africa - were looking as if they would be capable of adequately feeding their people, and the rich world was trying to figure out what to do with …
