Browsing: UN

GMO Maize
  • World hunger is not the result of food shortage, and opposition to gene-edited crops, but due to political strife.
  • Global food production is sufficient to feed all, but skewed distribution systems create a huge shortfall in countries.
  • Analysis shows that even if GMOs were adopted globally, food shortage will persist.

Globally, Genetically Modified (GM) crops have been touted as the magic wand that could end world hunger. The ability of gene-edited crops to produce more over shorter periods of time and their resistance to diseases has been lauded. Further, GMO’s ability to resist poor weather conditions occasioned by climate crisis are earning them acceptance across nations.

These traits make Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) a solution to global food shortage. Increasingly, naturally maturing crops are yielding little, and their long gestation periods leave them vulnerable to climate crisis. Further their vulnerability to pests and diseases drastically cuts yields, exacerbating food shortages.…

Oxfam warns of famine in Somalia: In May last year, the African Development Bank (AfDB) Board of Directors approved $1.5 billion in funding for what the bank called the African Emergency Food Production Facility; one year down the road, has the funding achieved its purpose? Photo/UNStuartPrice
  • AfDB announces US$ 1.5 billion funding for emergency food responce
  • AfDB pledges seeds & fertilizers for 20 million smallholder farmers
  • Oxfam warns of famine in Somalia

In May 2022, the African Development Bank (AfDB) Board of Directors approved $1.5 billion in funding for what the bank called the African Emergency Food Production Facility; one year down the road, has the funding achieved its purpose?

AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina described the facility as a necessary support for Africa’s emergency food response in the face of shortages caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.

The bank’s President said the funding will help to significantly increase food production in Africa and avert what he at the time described as ‘the looming food crisis caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.’

Making the announcement at the Summit of G7 leaders last year in Washington, Mr. Adesina announced that the African Development Bank (AfDB) would out of its own …

Cyclone Freddy: Malawi struggling to recover, food prices soar. In the picture a man carrying a baby on his back stands stranded with several others as rains continue to pour. Photo/TheNewHumaniterian
  • Price of staples goes up 300 percent compared to the same time last year.
  • UNICEF estimates more than 4.8 million children are in dire humanitarian need.
  • Over 500 000 people displaced 

The social and economic impact of tropical cyclone Freddy on Malawi continues to worsen as inflation kicks in on all staple foods.

While recovery efforts are ongoing, Malawi is now under high pressure to stabilize food prices. It is now over ten days since the South-Eastern African country was hit by what is considered the worst-known tropical cycle to ever occur anywhere in the world.

“Very intense Tropical Cyclone Freddy was an exceptionally long-lived, powerful, and deadly storm that traversed the southern Indian Ocean for more than five weeks in February and March 2023. Freddy is both the longest-lasting and highest-ACE-producing tropical cyclone ever recorded worldwide,” reports the World Food Programme (WFP).

The report cites 1,078mm of rain fell …

When completed, the DRC's Inga hydropower dam will have the capacity to produce 40,000MW that is more than double the Three Gorges in China, the world's largest power station. Photo/ElectrictyHub
  • The DRC is viewed as a most promising member of the regional bloc offering a market of over 96 million people.
  • DRC is also rich in many coveted minerals such as cobalt and Nickel, gold, and diamonds, which has caused a long-standing conflict.
  • The EAC peace forces in the DRC were sent in early last year to restore peace and stability in the region.

The East Africa Community (EAC) has been touted as a model for regional economic blocs in Africa but the tension between Rwanda and the bloc’s newest member, DRC, is threatening to derail the region’s social and economic integration.   

The two neighboring countries have had a dicey relationship in the recent past with the largest country of the EAC, the DRC, accusing the smallest country in the region, Rwanda, of supporting rebels within its borders.

The DRC is viewed as a most promising member of the regional

Digital economy in Africa, DRC Investment Summit
  • African nation's like Rwanda are investing in top-notch ICT systems
  • Industrialization in Africa is yet a challenge being tackled by most economies
  • Despite the pandemic hitting global economies several African nations stood strong

Follow the numbers they say, if one wants to understand how Africa can go beyond the typical growth trajectory that does not commensurate with its natural capital and human potential to attain economic freedom. Sustainable development is rather crucial for Africa to attain. On that note, efforts such as Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) are a tool the region employs to breathe life into that ambition.

Numbers point towards an exciting viewpoint that questions whether Africa can sustain its economic growth without adopting the best available, sustainable economic systems.

The region has been keeping a good track record over the past years. For instance, Tanzania—has become one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa—ascending towards a low-middle-income

Critics allege investment in East Africa oil exploration is not sound investment and endangers the environment. www.theexchange.africa

As would be expected, Total rebutted the claims. Its first move was to make public the related project social and environmental studies and issue a statement in which it pledged transparency.

The company admits that; “The projects for the development of the oil and gas resources of the Lake Albert region and the cross-border pipeline are situated in a sensitive social and environmental context that requires special measures for the environment and the rights of the local communities.”

In a follow-up statement, the investors maintained that; “All the partners are committed to implementing these projects in an exemplary manner and taking into highest consideration the biodiversity and environmental stakes as well as the local communities’ rights and within the stringent environmental and social performance standards of the International Finance Corporation.”…

Dr. Zanetor Agyeman – Rawlings. She says there still are many challenges of global governance and gender. www.theexchange.africa

The Vienna World Conference on Human Rights in 1993 was forced to address women’s rights as a human rights issues because of the violence and sexual abuse against women occurring in Yugoslavia at the time.

The Fourth International Women’s Conference was held in Beijing in 1995 made human rights and women’s participation in decision making at all levels key. One of the recommendations was for the countries to have gender desks in the Ministries, Departments and Agencies including Security Services. It cautioned against the specific establishment of Women’s Ministries as these would take gender issues to the periphery as that ministry would be saddled with all matters gender-related.

The conference also discussed the eradication of poverty, women in armed conflict and violence against women. …

Diamonds mined in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe has petitioned the UN over its diamond and ivory ban. www.theexchange.africa

Zimbabwe chastised the West for averting Harare’s breakdown by denying “access to markets for Zimbabwe’s diamonds sector” and causing “disinvestment, corporate closures, and a currency collapse” in a document titled “Economic Impact of Sanctions on Zimbabwe.”
Zimbabwe, which is thought to hold 25% of the world’s diamond reserves, has sunk deeper into international turmoil following revelations that over USUS$14 billion had been taken by oligarchs in the Marange highlands, where the US has expressed concerns about forced labour and human rights abuses.
Security forces mercilessly attacked illegal miners around the end of 2008 to gain sole ownership of the mines for the state, prompting the West to label Harare’s jewels “blood diamonds.”…

Girls learning how to ride a bike. Rural communities in Africa are especially badly hit by transport challenges. www.theexchange.africa

The world today is at a crossroads dealing with numerous crises including the decades-long climate crisis which has led to unprecedented biodiversity loss and rising inequalities among other challenges. 

In 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic struck knocking everything off balance. 

It is against this backdrop that the UN climate change conference (COP26) is taking place in Glasgow, Scotland. 

As the world is resurging from the negative economic effects of the pandemic, the COP was a good place, and in good time, to help the world reset when it comes to matters climate change. One of the biggest casualties of the pandemic was transport which badly affected value chains as logistics became impossible. 

Making non-motorised transport chic 

Globally, transport is one of the biggest contributors to pollution. To address this challenge, the world has slowly been making positive steps towards making non-motorised transport chic in a bid to cut down

South Africa

South Africa remains one of the most important trading partners for Zimbabwe; with Zimbabwe importing 40% of its total imports and exporting 75% of its total exports to South Africa.

Since 2007, South Africa has always maintained a trade surplus with Zimbabwe with the surplus widening over the review period mainly attributed to the economic instability experienced in Zimbabwe and the volatility of the South African Rand to the US dollar.

But with the violent events that unfolded in South Africa this past week continually present renewed purpose for some serious soul searching by Zimbabwe’s economic decision makers on how to model the economy out of the dependency on its neighbor to the south for raw materials and other essentials, according to the economic experts.

South Africa’s KwaZulu Natal and Gauteng provinces the two strategic economic areas broke into mayhem last week as looters ransacked major retail shops, banks and …