Between 1970 and 2019, more than 11 000 disasters were attributed to weather, climate, and water-related hazards worldwide. This was reported by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in a 2021 report on mortality and economic losses from weather, climate, and water extremes. These disasters left over two million people dead. It also resulted in economic…
Read More
Professor Paul Kimani, a plant breeder and lecturer at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences at Kenya’s University of Nairobi, has extensively researched a variety of drought-tolerant beans in Kenya. Over the years, his research has been made possible by funds from overseas. Professor Kimani says the Kenyan government has tried funding research, but…
Read More
Kibera- the biggest informal settlement in Kenya and possibly in the African continent. According to UN-Habitat, Kibera has the highest settlement density of any settlement in Kenya estimated at 250,000 people. Today, we speak to Stephen Oduor, the founder Kibera Plastic initiative – a youth-led community-based organization ridding the slum of plastic waste.The informal settlement…
Read More
In 2019, Kenya imported 185,000 tones of second-hand clothing or mitumba – about 8,000 containers. The clothes and shoes sold in the second-hand markets started as donations from rich nations to charitable organizations meant for developing nations. But over the years, the second-hand industry grew from donations to a market amounting to paid taxes of…
Read More
Urban development in Kenya’s Capital city, Nairobi, started when Nairobi was established as a railway headquarters in the late 19th Century. Despite numerous attempts at planning, Nairobi has operated for decades without a plan. Until 2014 when the Nairobi Integrated Urban Development Master Plan (NIUPLAN) expected to guide the city until 2030 was drawn. NIUPLAN…
Read More
The IPCC has released the Working Group II report prepared by 270 scientists from 67 countries on the latest evidence on the impacts of accelerating Climate Change on humans and nature. Africa has contributed among the least greenhouse gas emissions, but countries like Madagascar requiring USD1B annually to adapt to climate change are heavily impacted…
Read More
Tiny particles in the air reduce visibility. Also, cause the air to appear hazy when levels are elevated. Often referred to as PM2.5, the particles can travel deeply into the respiratory tract, reaching the lungs. Exposure to fine particles can cause runny nose, shortness of breath, sneezing, eye, nose, throat, and lung irritation, as well…
Read More
Accra Ghana: Ghana began monitoring air quality in 1996. Over the years, several sectors have collaborated to reduce air pollution caused by transportation and solid waste management, of which 60% is collected. Furthermore, dust storms from northeast Africa and the extraction of precious minerals from e-waste have prompted the country to install air quality monitors…
Read More
Africa attracted about five percent of development funding and less than four percent of philanthropy funding to fight air pollution between 2015 – 2020 according to the 2021 report. Most sub-Saharan African countries are highly in debt. The 2022 international debt crisis report shows that sub-Saharan Africa’s debt rose from $665 Billion in 2019 to…
Read More
Cities in Africa are fast-growing. Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to have 13 megacities by 2100. A 2021 UN Environment report on Air Pollution and Development in Africa shows that outdoor air pollution was responsible for an estimated nearly 400,000 deaths across Africa in 2019. Economically, countries like Ethiopia, Ghana, and Rwanda annually are recurring losses…
Read More
Recent Comments