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Growing Rwanda Out of Poverty
For the last few years, development wonks and international organizations have had the “Green Revolution for Africa” on their radars. Leaders in Africa have recognized that the first Green Revolution (spurred by the work of agronomist Norman Borlaug) resulted in massive improvements in health and productivity around the world, and are now looking to do the same on the so-called “Dark Continent”.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Using Small Loans to Generate Big Profits
NAIROBI, Kenya—At a recent group-lending meeting in the Kawangware slum, about 10 miles from downtown, Jackson Munyovi sought $350 to build a new shanty for his wife and two children.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- microfinance
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Africans Urge China to Help Create Sustainable Development
BEIJING — African leaders and independent groups are pressing China to prioritize sustainable development in its trade with African countries. In Beijing, officials say they increasingly recognize the importance of sound environmental practices for building strong relations with the continent.
- Categories
- Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Water harvesting slakes thirst at an innovative Kenyan inn
When Gaitano Likhavila was still working as an accountant at the provincial hospital in the west Kenyan town of Kakamega, he ran into a situation that got him thinking about water.“There was a serious water shortage that made the hospital administration almost close down the hospital. At the same time, a lot of rainwater from the roofs was wasted, running down to the River Isikhu, but nobody thought of getting hold of this free water,” says Likhavila.
- Categories
- Agriculture
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Rio summit keeps African hopes alive
African expectations were high for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, the biggest UN summit ever. The conference, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June, was “too important to fail,” said UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the outset. Under the theme of “The Future We Want,” many of the 100 heads of state and more than 40,000 participants demanded ambitious and measurable outcomes to address sustainability issues such as the “green economy,” climate change and so on. Yet when it was over, the “Rio+20” summit left a heated debate over whether those goals had been met.
- Categories
- Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Africa ready for post-2015 MDG development agenda – Report
A new report has observed that Africa has effectively engaged in the process of defining the contours of the post-2015 development agenda as deadline for the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target draws near.
- Categories
- Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Kenya’s CNN ‘hero’: Africa’s high growth rates not felt at bottom of the pyramid
Evans Wadongo shot to international fame after he was named one of the top ten CNN Heroes in 2010. His project replaces kerosene lamps with solar-powered LED lanterns across villages in rural Kenya. CNN Heroes honours everyday people changing the world. Born in rural Kenya, the 26-year-old electronic and computer engineering graduate is the executive director of Sustainable Development for All Kenya (SDFA-Kenya) where he literally lights up people’s lives. How we made it in Africa’s East Africa correspondent Dinfin Mulupi chats with Wadongo to find out what makes this social entrepreneur tick.
- Categories
- Environment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Building business in Ghana, one battery at a time
Kai Ryssdal: Whaddya suppose happens when a guy invents a board game that hits big, he sells it for enough to be comfortable, and then wants to do something that matters?
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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