British beef exports to US resume after over 20 years
British beef is back on US menus for the first time in more than 20 years as exports restart this week, the British Broadcasting Corporation reports. The beef was banned after the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) outbreak in 1996 when cattle were infected by what became commonly known as Mad...
Climate change threatens coffee production in Africa
Coffee farmer, Francois Dadi Serikpa from Gnamagnoa in Côte d’Ivoire, joined Nestlé’s Nescafé Plan 10 years ago. The coffee farms that had been in his family for generations were producing poor yields, making it hard for him to earn a good living to care for his family. Under the plan,...
Ambitious Abu Dhabi to build world’s largest indoor farm
GreenFactory Emirates, a United Arab Emirates firm, plans to produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce per year and combine vertical and flat farming techniques in a project billed to be the largest indoor farm. The AED650 million ($176,930,000) project will develop an innovative indoor farming with the world’s most advanced...
Vegetal therapy still trusted antivenom in Kenya
Poor and often stashed far away from medical facilities, pastoralist communities in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid regions have over generations depended on vegetal remedies for envenomation. With decentralisation of medical services seven years ago, regional governments in the devolved units are stocking antivenom to deal with the menace that has...
Transformation index finds most of 15 largest tobacco companies don’t advance harm reduction
The first Tobacco Transformation Index (www.TobaccoTransformationIndex.org), released this week and made possible with funding from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, finds that most of the 15 largest tobacco companies are not making substantive progress in phasing out cigarettes and other high-risk tobacco products and transitioning smokers to reduced-risk alternatives....
Tecno’s Camon 16 Premier beats competitors to lead smartphone industry
As smartphones are becoming increasingly integrated into our everyday lives, it is essential to choose one that fits your lifestyles and your needs. Every mobile phone brand is trying to stand out from the rest by upgrading their technology and introducing new functions; however, the best way to measure their...
The Democratic Republic of the Congo: A change of perspective on Africa’s problem child
Every time I take an Uber, the first topic of small talk is what my roots are. The reactions that I am half German and half Congolese differ greatly between Europe and Africa. Typically, when I mention the DRC in Berlin, I get the following response: a compassionate look and...
‘Let’s endure the pain,’ CJ Maraga says as he advises Kenya president to dissolve parliament
Kenya’s Chief Justice David Maraga has kicked up a political storm after he asked President Uhuru Kenyatta to dissolve the country’s parliament for failing to enact laws to end discrimination of women in appointive and elective positions. Justice Maraga, who seen as a paragon of the rule of law since...
Two-thirds gender rule: Is Parliament the proverbial punching bag?
Article 27(8) of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 provides that the state shall take steps to ensure that not more than two-thirds of members of all elective and appointive positions are not of the same gender. Ten years after the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010, there is yet...
Africa in race to secure 220m coronavirus vaccine doses
While the race to find safe and effective Covid-19 vaccines continues, African countries are signing up to a ground-breaking initiative, which aims to secure at least 220 million doses of the vaccine for the continent, once licensed and approved. All 54 countries on the continent have expressed interest in Covax,...
