Tanzanian government plans to exclude Maasai from some traditional pastoral lands in the name of wildlife conservation have met with protest and global media attention.
This is certainly not the first…
A US$5 million bounty has been offered for information leading to Joseph Kony (right)’s arrest, but the African Union has stopped looking for him.
EPA/STR
Earlier this week, the new US Secretary of State, John Kerry, announced a US$5 million reward for information leading to the arrest, transfer and conviction of notorious African warlord Joseph Kony.
On…
Malian troops patrol the town of Diabaly in the country’s north.
AAP/Nic Bothma
The new year is scarcely a month old. Yet we have seen enough to know that the fires raging in different parts of the Middle East and North Africa will not easily abate – and that the firefighting efforts…
Will history look kindly on the French intervention in Mali?
EPA/Arnaud Roine
Why the French intervention in Mali? Last week, French daily Le Monde asked this question of André Bourgeot, specialist on Sub-Saharan Africa with France’s National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS…
French soldiers gather on the tarmac of the military airbase in Bamako, Mali.
EPA/Arnaud Roine/ECPAD
The French government has announced it will triple its troop deployment to the conflict-plagued state of Mali.
On Monday, France’s ambassador to the United Nations, Gerard Araud, explained that France…
Toilets aren’t just a bin for human waste – they’re a receptacle for future fertiliser.
Gates Foundation
What goes down our toilet is commonly viewed as waste. This makes intuitive sense because separating people from their excreta – sanitation – is arguably the single most important public health objective…
Survivors of Namibia’s Herero tribe surrendering after a battle with German forces.
Ullstein Bilderdienst Berlin/Supplied
More than a century ago, on 26 September 1905, in a remote and isolated part of German Southwest Africa (present day Namibia) a young Australian lay dying amid the sand dunes and salt pans.
Lured across…
The administration of Barack Obama – seated here with South African President Jacob Zuma – has been criticised for not focusing more foreign policy attention on Africa.
EPA/Olivier Douliery
This year’s US presidential election has been notable for the lack of focus on foreign policy issues by either candidate.
Certainly Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate, has attempted to gain traction…
It’s the dawning of a new day for South Sudan, but there is much to be done.
EPA/Paul Banks/Unmis
When I arrived in South Sudan in November 2005, the scars of war were everywhere.
Intermittent power came from generators, there was no clean drinking water, schools were little more than benches under…
Hosting part of the Square Kilometre Array is a victory for Africa, but much work is yet to be done.
EPA/SKATelescope.com
On Friday, we learned that South Africa and Australia/New Zealand will jointly host the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) radio telescope, rather than the facility going to just one of the bids.
The split…
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir addresses troops and supporters during a public appearance in April 2012.
EPA/str
Khartoum has resumed its bombardment of South Sudan despite the passing of a UN Security Council Resolution calling for a ceasefire.
With military action escalating over the past few days, the two nations…
The East African Rift holds evidence of a continent under strain.
dearanxiety/Flickr
Modern-day Africa was the keystone of Gondwana, the aggregated mass of southern continents that co-existed for nearly 400m years.
That supercontinent has since split apart, creating the land masses we…
Would you have recognised this man before today?
chris shultz
“Kony2012” is trending worldwide on Twitter.
Really, people? Why couldn’t we just stick to making tweets about the Kardashians, Justin Bieber, Angelina Jolie’s leg and sexist hashtags?
Snark aside, I…
Nigeria’s troubles are fuelled by ethnic and religious tensions.
EPA/Stringer
The coming of the new year was not auspicious for Nigeria. Despite being rich in oil, the country is overwhelmed by corruption and violence.
The north of the country has been torn apart by terrorist attacks…
A Green Climate Fund could help African livestock farmers.
International Livestock Research Institute
DURBAN CLIMATE CHANGE CONFERENCE: With a backdrop of global financial woes and the European Union’s debt crisis, the Conference of the Parties at Durban convened with lower expectations but high stakes…
Genetic estimates of the age of the common ancestor of non-African humans may be wrong.
bruncosta
How and when did humans colonise the globe? This question has become one of the key concerns of archaeologists, geneticists and human biologists. And now the latest archaeological discovery in Oman in…
Increasing population and climate change will make it even harder for the world to feed itself.
Gates Foundation
The world’s population has just hit seven billion and nearly one billion people do not get enough to eat. Agricultural land is being degraded at the rate of 12 million hectares a year and the world faces…
First step: address under-investment in agricultural research and development.
AAP
CHOGM: As the leaders of Commonwealth nations meet in Perth, The Conversation is examining the role of the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) Meeting.
Daniel Rodriguez from the University…
Filling bellies is about far more than just supply and demand.
hypertornado
We need to stop thinking about food security as an economic problem.
Food security is largely discussed in terms of increasing demand pressures and worsening constraints on supply. These discussions miss…
Africa desperately needs more advanced chemistry facilities.
John Duffell
Welcome back to If I had a blank cheque I’d … our series in which leading researchers reveal what they could do in their discipline if money were no object.
Today we hear from Brynn Hibbert, Professor…
The humanitarian crisis in the Horn continues to escalate.
EPA/DAI KUROKAWA
While droughts are caused by weather – the failure of the rains – famines are invariably political.
The current famine in southern Somalia should have come as no surprise. Aid agencies have been warning…
