Floating solar panel systems on lakes and dams could generate much of Africa’s energy, decrease greehouse gas emissions, and stop freshwater evaporating, new research has found.
Smallholder farmers in northern Malawi, preparing deep beds to plant with peas and maize.
Courtesy Alan Dixon
New research has found that smallholder farmers in Malawi can grow bigger maize crops if they plant maize with legumes in deep beds with natural ditches to catch water alongside.
The remote Bassari community have to make difficult choices about how to adapt to many changes that are linked to climate change.
Courtesy Anna Porcuna Ferrer
The remote Bassari community, located between Senegal and Guinea, experiences climate change as one of many changes. They are best placed to come up with solutions that work for them.
Less than 10% of South African homes have installed solar power.
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Only 5% of South Africa’s energy comes from solar power while 85% is generated from coal. Loans, more subsidies and security for rooftop solar panels need to be put in place.
Akosombo Hydroelectric Power Station on the Volta River, Ghana.
Eunica Sopotnicka/Getty Images
The carbon stored by forests can be bought by polluting companies to offset their emissions. This can displace communities who depend on natural forests for their livelihoods.
Deep groundwater bores could help people who now dig their own shallow wells.
Simone Boccaccio/ SOPA Images/ LightRocket/ Getty Images
Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti, South Sudan and Uganda are investigating whether deep groundwater bores could support drought stricken communities. Could a networked approach help?
Sweet sorghum ripening in Rwanda.
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Baby corals may hold promise for building coral reef resilience in Seychelles and beyond.
The collaboration between communities and scientists aims to restore baobab forests in Madagascar to this natural state.
Stéphane Corduant, Mada-Movies. Courtesy ARO Baobab Project
Planting millions of trees in natural grassland is largely ineffective in the battle against global warming because it adds little or no additional carbon storage.
More and more households in South Africa are opting to install their own solar power.
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Just three plant species – wheat, maize and rice – account for 60% of all food eaten globally. A crop science expert argues that many of Africa’s 30,000 edible plants must be revived.
An unregulated and uncontrolled landfill site next to the Roche Santiero market in Angola.
Jeremy Horner/Getty Images
Garbage is decomposing in landfill sites across sub-Saharan Africa, releasing methane gas. If governments harnessed this as clean energy, Africa would avoid environmental damage worth US$6.7 billion.
Geoengineering includes techniques to reflect solar energy.
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Some geoengineering techniques are better understood than others. The US is investing in capturing carbon dioxide from the air, but ideas to block the Sun’s rays are raising big concerns.