February 28
Africa: The True Cost of Food Is Far Higher Than What You Spend At the Checkout Counter
After several years of pandemic-driven price spikes at the grocery store, retail food price inflation is slowing down. That's good news for consumers, especially those in… Read more »
March 01
Africa: Wild Solitary Bees Offer a Vital Pollination Service - but Their Nutritional Needs Aren't Understood
As I walk around the supermarket, I pick up vegetables for tomorrow's dinner, eggs and bread for tonight and some sweet treats for the week. By choosing a range of different food… Read more »
March 05
Africa: Drought Hits Southern Africa's Farmers, Putting Key Maize Supplies At Risk - How to Blunt the Impact
South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe have recently published reports indicating a potential decline in grain harvest because of intense El Niño-induced dryness. These… Read more »
March 01
Kenya: Kenya's Had Unusually Hot Weather - an Expert Unpacks What Could Be Causing It
In early 2024 most parts of Kenya, including Nairobi, experienced unusually high temperatures. The World Meteorological Organisation described the hot weather as a global… Read more »
February 29
Ghana: Can Contract Farming Help Smallholder Farmers Build Resilience to Climate Change?
In northern Ghana, many smallholder farmers who grow crops on less than one hectare of land each are entering into contract farming. This gives them guaranteed buyers for their… Read more »
February 28
Africa: Alarming Africa-Wide Report Predicts 30% Drop in Crop Revenue, 50 Million Without Water
African countries will suffer significant economic loss after 2050 if global warming is not limited to below 2°C, a new study by the Center for Global Development has found. Read more »
February 22
Africa: Expert Shares 5 Ways Africa's Coastal Residents Predict Floods
In the Lapai Gwari community of Niger state, north central Nigeria, elders predict the weather by observing a large stone in the Chachanga River. The LapanGwagwan stone serves as a… Read more »
South Africa: Kalahari Weaver Birds Lay Bigger Eggs When They Have Female Helpers to Feed Nestlings
Tswalu Kalahari Reserve is a protected nature reserve at the southern edge of the Kalahari desert in South Africa's Northern Cape province. It's an arid area with high daytime… Read more »
February 16
Africa: Extraction of Raw Materials Could Rise 60 Percent By 2060 - and Making Mining 'Greener' Won't Stop the Damage
The United Nations' flagship Global Resources Outlook report is the portrait of a juggernaut. Due to be published later this month by the UN's International Resource Panel, it… Read more »
January 31
Africa: Oil Firms Forced to Consider Full Climate Effects of New Drilling, Following Landmark Norwegian Court Ruling
Norway's district court in Oslo recently made a decision on fossil fuels that deserves the attention of every person concerned about climate change. Read more »
South Africa: Wetlands Are Superheroes - Expert Sets Out How They Protect People and Places
In the past, wetlands were often seen as undesirable landscapes - waterlogged areas that were difficult to navigate, impossible to build on or farm, and a source of pests such as… Read more »
January 28
Malawi: El Niño - Malawi's Harvest of Maize - Its Staple Food - May Fall By 22.5 Percent This Year
Maize is the preferred staple of most of southern Africa. In Malawi it supplies two-thirds of national calorie intake. Nine out of 10 farming households produce maize and devote… Read more »
January 23
South Africa: Albatrosses Are Threatened With Extinction - and Climate Change Could Put Their Nesting Sites At Risk
The wandering albatross (Diomedea exulans) is the world's largest flying bird, with a wingspan reaching an incredible 3.5 metres. These birds are oceanic nomads: they spend most of… Read more »
January 22
South Africa: South Africa's Agulhas Long-Billed Lark - Adapting and Surviving Despite Farming Taking Over Their Nesting Grounds
The Agulhas long-billed lark (Certhilauda brevirostris) is only found in South Africa. It builds nests on the ground mainly in Renosterveld fynbos, a type of vegetation filled with… Read more »
January 21
Congo-Kinshasa: Congo's Blackwater Ruki River Is a Major Transporter of Forest Carbon - New Study
The Congo Basin of central Africa is well known for its network of rivers that drain a variety of landscapes, from dense tropical forests to more arid and wooded savannas. Among… Read more »
January 19
South Africa: Why Are Floods in South Africa's Kwazulu-Natal So Devastating? Urban Planning Expert Explains
The devastation caused by the recent floods in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa demonstrates again that the country is not moving fast enough to adopt appropriate urban planning. It… Read more »
January 18
Africa: Cash-Strapped Conservationists in South Africa Are Struggling to Collect Biodiversity Data - How to Change That
South Africa's government conservation organisations have experienced substantial budget cuts. Even after steps to cut costs, South African National Parks reported a big shortfall… Read more »
West Africa: Senegal's Pink Lake Is On the Verge of Disappearing - How to Protect It
Lake Retba, better known as Lac Rose (the Pink Lake), is located around 35km from the city of Dakar, Senegal. It sits in a depression with a shoreline 6.5 metres below sea level. Read more »
January 17
Mozambique: Mozambique's Cyclone Flooding Was Devastating to Animals - We Studied How Body Size Affected Survival
Anyone who watches the news will have seen the devastation that tropical cyclones can cause when they reach land, with very strong winds, high rainfall and flooding. A cyclone like… Read more »
January 15
Ghana: Ghana Is Behind the Curve On Climate Change Laws - Expert Suggests a Way to Get Corporations On Board
Ghana has introduced some climate change policies and general environmental regulations but has yet to pass a Climate Change Act. This leaves the country without effective legal… Read more »
December 17, 2023
Africa: Trade Rules and Climate Change - Africa Stands to Lose From Proposed WTO Policy Tools
The World Trade Organisation launched its Trade Policy Tools for Climate Action during the COP28 conference. International economic law expert Olabisi D. Akinkugbe discusses… Read more »
December 13, 2023
Africa: The COP28 Climate Agreement Is a Step Backwards On Fossil Fuels
The COP28 climate summit in Dubai has adjourned. The result is "The UAE consensus" on fossil fuels. Read more »
December 15, 2023
North Africa: The Sahara Desert Used to Be a Green Savannah - New Research Explains Why
Algeria's Tassili N'Ajjer plateau is Africa's largest national park. Among its vast sandstone formations is perhaps the world's largest art museum. Over 15,000 etchings and… Read more »
December 13, 2023
Africa: African Countries At COP28 - Several Big Wins and a United Voice
African countries entered the recent COP28 negotiations on climate change in high spirits. Before this conference, in September, African government leaders, policymakers, activists… Read more »
Africa: Climate Change Risks Triggering a Spike in Infectious Disease Outbreaks - Three Reasons Why
Climate change is our planet's most immediate existential threat, and will likely only worsen for the foreseeable future. Read more »