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Twitter apparently thinks that Africa = AIDS.

New book, What Works in Development (Editors Jessica Cohen and William Easterly) outlines the debate between those who think randomized evaluation of development projects is a good idea, and those who don’t.

African leaders advise Bono on how to reform U2.

Rwanda has become a member of the Commonwealth, but interestingly seems to be repairing ties with France.

Sustainablog writer essentially uses Robert Paarlberg’s book, Starved for Science, to blame Greenpeace for starvation in Africa. The debate on GMOs in Africa continues!  A comment on the blog post also mentions an interesting article, “Forbidden Fruit: Transgenic Papaya in Thailand” on a similar theme.

The blogosphere and international media are taking up the story of Uganda’s proposed anti-gay bill:  Globe and Mail, The Atlantic, and Reuters, among many.

13 things not to miss in Ghana. I’m not sure if I completely agree with the list.  It leaves out for instance, a trip to Bolgatanga or anywhere in the North of the country, which I think is something one must do to get a full picture of the country.  I would also add the market in Kumasi which is one of the biggest (or the biggest) of its kind in the world.

Climate and conflict

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In the lead-up to Copenhagen, it makes sense that climate issues will be linked to all the evil in the world.  Still, the concern about linkages between weather and conflict are not new in African studies.  Ted Miguel’s work has linked rainfall (via the economic shocks associated with it) to conflict in Africa and the murder of witches in Tanzania. Some consider it at the root of the conflict in Darfur.  Still, a number of researchers have pointed out that the link between climate change and conflict is — at a minimum — not very simple and perhaps very problematic (see here and here, for instance).  Much as Thad Dunning has demonstrated in Crude Democracy that oil need not be the curse we make it out to be, we should be careful to understand the conditions under which climate change may (or may not) impact the likelihood of conflicts in Africa.


clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

Climate ‘is a major cause’ of conflict in Africa

By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News website

Refugee

Climate has been cited as a factor behind civil conflict in Darfur

Climate has been a major driver of armed conflict in Africa, research shows – and future warming is likely to increase the number of deaths from war.

US researchers found that across the continent, conflict was about 50% more likely in unusually warm years.

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ASA afterthoughts

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Last weekend was the annual meeting of the African Studies Association, held this year in New Orleans.  Despite the awful timing (why would anyone ever choose to have a conference right before Thanksgiving?), I definitely enjoyed it.  It is a great opportunity to get input on one’s own work from disciplines as far afield as history and anthropology.  I find that such feedback can greatly encourage lateral thinking.  For instance, I had the opportunity to go to Stephanie Rupp’s talk on Saturday on Ghanaian attitudes towards China’s increasing involvement in infrastructure development. In that talk she discusses China’s involvement in constructing the Bui Dam in Ghana, a subject I am studying as well.  But the neat thing is that she does this from an anthropological perspective, drawing on survey research.

One of the highlights of a conference like this, especially for young faculty such as myself, is getting to know others who are doing work in similar areas.  Since my graduate student days, I have found participating with the African Politics Conference Group to be a great way to meet a lot of these people.  One of their more interesting upcoming projects is a mentorship program for graduate students.  Much of the time, there is only one Africanist teaching in any given graduate program.  The idea here is to create a pool of Africanist professors that graduate students could call on when their own research interests/needs cannot be met within their own department.  I also think this could be an excellent way for those of us teaching at liberal arts colleges to have occasional engagement with graduate students.  Sandra Joireman (Wheaton) is one of the current organizers of this initiative.

News: Looking for links between Islamic insurgents everywhere

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BBC NEWS | Africa | Nigerian ‘trained in Afghanistan’.

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

Nigerian ‘trained in Afghanistan’




Boko Haram sect member Abdulrasheed Abubakar, 23, who says he was trained in Afghanistan
Abdulrasheed Abubakar was paraded by police to make his statement


A member of the Nigerian Islamist sect behind a deadly uprising in July has confessed to receiving military training in Afghanistan, police say.

The member of the sect known locally as Boko Haram and Taliban said he had been paid $5,000 (£3,000) to do the training and promised $30,000 on his return.

The uprising in northern Nigeria left some 700 people dead, mostly militants.

If confirmed it would be the first proven link between Islamists in the oil-rich country and Afghanistan.

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News and comment: Nigerian rumored to have been killed in China

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The Wall Street Journal (clip below), CNN and a number of other sources are reporting that at least 100 Africans were involved in protests over immigration enforcement in China.  The spark was apparently the death of a Nigerian who was killed during an immigration raid.

China’s increasing ties with Africa is a subject that I am turning to in my current research.  But while my own research–and that of many others–tends to focus on China’s impact on Africa, we may neglect the potential for Africans to impact China.  This is a small reminder that there is a story to be told.  According to The Guardian, an estimated 20,000 Africans live in Guangzhou (the site of the unrest).

clipped from blogs.wsj.com

China has seen its fair share of anti-foreigner protests, from the Boxer Rebellion to the May Fourth movement, and, in more recent decades, more generically termed demonstrations against Americans, Africans, Japanese and the French.

Yet for all the expat grumbling about living in China, public protests by foreign residents are virtually unknown, perhaps tempered by the awareness that we are here by choice, live in relative comfort, and would likely achieve little more than a swift deportation.

But, reflecting the very different world in which some migrants live, Wednesday saw a rare protest by over 100 African residents of the southern city of Guangzhou.

According to Xinhua, at least one person died during a brawl that erupted after police raided a Guangzhou clothing market to check passports and visas.

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Reminder of my Watsan days

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An old Peace Corps friend posted this link on Facebook.  It reminded me of the work I did as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana.  In many parts of rural Africa it is still normal to have no access to a toilet or latrine, and it is still normal to get water from unsafe sources.  It would be great to see more attention placed on this issue, but it tends to get ignored (as are children in much of Africa).

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

Children sanitation alert issued

By Matt McGrath BBC science reporter

Burmese children in the slum area of Rangoon


In 2004, diarrhoea killed 1.8m people, WaterAid says

Millions of children’s lives are being put at risk each year because aid agencies and governments make wrong choices about health care priorities.

This is the conclusion of a new report from the charity WaterAid.

It says that diarrhoea caused by poor sanitation is killing many more children than HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria combined.

The report says the global spending on HIV/Aids hugely outweighs the amounts spent on providing better sanitation.

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Some good news from Darfur

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clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

On Thursday, the minister for humanitarian assistance, Haroun Lual Ruun, said Khartoum would allow those UN agencies and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) remaining in Darfur to “expand their existing operations”.

I think what we’re hearing… is that new NGOs with new names, new logos, if necessary, can come in
John Holmes UN humanitarian chief

“We have also agreed to further improve the NGOs operating environment by easing travel and visas restrictions, by reviewing the need for individual technical agreements for NGOs,” he said.

He was speaking during a visit to Sudan by UN humanitarian chief John Holmes and US envoy to Sudan Scott Gration.

Mr Holmes said that if trust was restored between the humanitarian community and Sudanese authorities, capacity lost after the expulsions could be recovered.

“I think what we’re hearing… is that new NGOs with new names, new logos, if necessary, can come in,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

Displaced Sudanese women in Darfur, March 2009

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Zuma has officially done it

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So, Zuma has officially done it.  He is President of South Africa. It will be interesting to see what impact he has.  Will those who threatened to leave South Africa really leave?  Will he be successful with his populist agenda?

I was able to meet him at a lunch at UC Berkeley a little over a year ago where he — appropriately for his audience — made the argument that education would be a top priority.  Will it?

I also wonder about his impact on South Africa’s foreign policy. Mbeki had a clear agenda and goals with respect to the African region.  Will Zuma embrace the African Renaissance?  Will he improve on NEPAD, or let it falter?  Will he continue the agenda of engagement with other major developing countries, most notably India and Brazil?  I will definitely be watching!

clipped from news.bbc.co.uk

Zuma elected South African leader

Jacob Zuma


Jacob Zuma will be inaugurated on Saturday

The leader of South Africa’s African National Congress, Jacob Zuma, has been officially elected the country’s president by members of parliament.

He will be inaugurated on Saturday. The ANC won the general election in South Africa two weeks ago.

Mr Zuma’s government is expected to focus on the faltering economy, fighting crime, poverty and HIV/Aids.

He faced corruption charges, dropped on a technicality just before the polls. He always denied any wrongdoing.

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FT.com / Africa – Kenyan women call for sex boycott

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Not sure how I missed this story last week–though I’ve been quite busy between the normal end-of-the-semester routines, a Varieties of Democracy conference, celebrating my wife’s passing the CT bar, and preparing for a new baby…

Kenyan women call for sex boycott

By Parselelo Kantai in Nairobi

Published: May 1 2009 02:42 | Last updated: May 1 2009 02:42

Kenyan women’s organisations have called for a national sex boycott to force feuding male politicians in the coalition government to resolve differences.

The women said they were prepared to pay prostitutes to withhold their services for a week to make the campaign more effective.

The boycott was inspired by a feud between Mwai Kibaki, the president, and Raila Odinga, the prime minister, about who runs the government agenda in parliament. The women have sent emissaries to the wives of both men to encourage them to join the boycott which reflects intensifying public anger at the pace at which the coalition government is tackling the underlying causes of last year’s post- election crisis.

Kenya was gripped by violent ethnic protests that almost pitched the country into civil war and resulted in the deaths of some 1,500 people in the aftermath of disputed elections.

The coalition government formed to end the crisis has been beset by corruption scandals and internal feuding even as 10m Kenyans are threatened by starvation.

A survey showed that more than two-thirds of Kenyans no longer have confidence in the government.

“This is a call to mass action to protest poor leadership,” said Ms Patricia Nyaundi, executive director of the women’s organisation, FIDA. “The other option was to take to the streets with placards but we would have been clobbered by the police. So this is a protest from the safety of our homes.”

The boycott recalls Greek playwright’s Aristophanes’ comedy Lysistrata, about a sex boycott staged by Athenian women to end the Peloponnesian war.

“Our leaders are taking us in the wrong direction. Last year this feuding ended in violence. If this were to recur, it is the women and children who would bear the brunt,” Ms Nyaundi said

Some men interviewed for an opinion poll said they would go elsewhere for sex if their partners got involved.

NGOs involved intend to provide financial support during the boycott to sex workers, estimated at 7,000 in Nairobi’s central business district alone.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009

FT.com / Africa – Kenyan women call for sex boycott.