Archive for September, 2008
Kenya Among African Countries Shifting Focus to Biotechnology
Poor agricultural yields and rising food insecurity in sub – Saharan Africa has brought into sharp focus the role of modern agricultural technology in human development.
Heightening food insecurity in Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe and several other African countries of the region has stimulated political and public attention on genetic engineering in general [...]
Syngenta’s Tropical Sugar Beet Receives World Business and Development Award
Basel, Switzerland, Syngenta announced that yesterday it received the 2008 World Business and Development Award (WBDA) for the development and successful introduction of a new sugar beet that can be grown under tropical climate conditions and brings significant advantages to farmers, the environment, the sugar and ethanol industries and the economy.
The WBDA, presented by the [...]
Environment, Climate Change and the MDGs: Reshaping the Development Agenda
On 25 September 2008, the UN Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly will jointly convene the High-level Event on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) at UN Headquarters in New York. While significant progress has been made in some areas, scaled-up efforts by all stakeholders are urgently needed in [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )40,000 Riparian Livelihoods Threatened as Tana River Changes Course
Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN
The Tana River has changed course threatening the livelihoods of thousands of people
TANA RIVER, 22 September 2008 (IRIN) – The riparian livelihoods of more than 40,000 people in southeast Kenya are under threat because of the sudden change of course of the Tana River, the longest in the country.
“People in six [...]
Starting Today: Millions Poised to Clean Up the World
On 19-21 September, the 16th Clean Up the World weekend will see millions of volunteers come together in more than 100 countries to clean up their environment.
The theme of this year’s event is ‘Start Today… Save Tomorrow – Clean Up our Climate’.
One focus is the tide of trash polluting the world’s seas-it is estimated there [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 3 so far )Migrant Birds in Hot Water!
Climate change is a major threat to migratory waterbirds, according to a new report by the British Trust for Ornithology and Wetlands International. Of 235 species of migratory waterbirds protected in Europe and Africa, all except one are experiencing some threat from climate change, and nine species face severe threats that could cause extinction.
Antananarivo, [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Nairobi’s Changing Face: The ENG Kenya Bench Project
Towards enhancing the City’s beauty and being responsive to the community’s needs, the City Council of Nairobi has partnered with a leading Outdoor Media Company ENG Kenya to install high quality benches in prime locations around the City under a Public Private Partnership.
The unique ergonomically designed street bench will be seen across 250 locations of [...]
HIV/AIDS: Young Girls the New Bait for Kenyan Fishermen
Photo: Kenneth Ocuor/IRIN
Fishermen hold the key to the fish traders’ livelihoods
KISUMU, 12 September 2008 (PlusNews) – Dunga Beach, along the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya’s western city of Kisumu, erupts into activity when the boats bring in their catch. Female fishmongers scramble along the beach to buy fish, shouting themselves hoarse to [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 2 so far )Thirteen Dead in Mandera Clashes Over Water
Photo: Neil Thomas/IRIN
The clash was over water
NAIROBI, 12 September 2008 (IRIN) – At least 13 people have been killed in inter-clan clashes over water in the north-eastern region of Mandera, a humanitarian official has said.
“The two clans clashed over the ownership of a borehole,” Titus Mung’ou of the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) [...]
Separated Kenyan Children Eking a Living in Rift Valley Town
Photo: Allan Gichigi/IRIN
Children in a crowded class at the Moto primary school in Molo town: Some returnees have left their children in the town due to a lack of schools in areas of return
NAIROBI, 10 September 2008 (IRIN) – Months after the Kenyan government began resettling hundreds of thousands of people displaced during clashes [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Kenya Sex Workers Offer Hope for HIV Prevention
Photo: IRIN
A sex worker in Kibera, a Nairobi slum
NAIROBI, 8 September 2008 (PlusNews) – A study of Kenyan sex workers who appear to be immune to HIV could provide important clues to the development of an effective AIDS vaccine.
A team of researchers from Canada’s University of Manitoba and Kenya’s University of Nairobi, who [...]
A Snapshot of the Situation of Women’s Rights in Kenya
Women’s organizing in Kenya has been going on for decades, since long before the country’s independence from colonial rule. The oldest women’s organization, the Maendeleo ya Wanawake[2] Organization (MYWO) was started in 1952. Although it was started by a group of white settler women, the organization has the widest grassroots penetration in the country, with [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Kenya: Environmental Compliance is a Necessity, not an Option
Kenyans have awakened to the need for environmental compliance. This is evident in the ongoing debates on various environmental issues. There is now a realization that economic development and environmental issues are inseparable and reconciling laws and policies governing the broader sectors are vital if environmental degradation is to be arrested. This is in turn [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )Kibera: From Rubbish Dump to Cabbage Patch
Photo: Julius Mwelu/IRIN
This organic farm in the sprawling Kibera slum is providing residents with a source of income
NAIROBI, 3 September 2008 (IRIN) – Rubbish is everywhere in Kibera, Africa’s largest slum, just a few kilometres from the centre of Nairobi. It lies not just between the ramshackle dwellings, but often underneath them, rendering [...]
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( None so far )Kenya Government Peace-making ‘a failure’
The Kenyan government has failed to support vital peace-making efforts aimed at healing ethnic divisions in the country, following the country’s worst outbreak of violence since independence, says the international human rights organization, Minority Rights Group International (MRG)
In a new briefing paper, Kenya six months on: a new beginning or business as usual? MRG says [...]
