This growing season, farmers on more than 1,000 cotton farms across Nigeria are growing genetically-modified (GM) cotton under the watchful eyes of scientists. Come harvest, the scientists will compare the modified cotton with the traditional strains also grown on these farms, carefully evaluating the new strains in terms of their resistance to pest attacks, fibre […]
Tunisia has increased its investment in education and science, but many professionals leave the country, representing a loss on that investment. Now, a global network of young Tunisian scientists is feeding diaspora expertise back into the country. Since gaining independence from France in 1956, Tunisia has made a lot of investments in education and science. […]
Adewale Awoyemi is a Nigerian ornithologist who coordinates the Ibadan Bird Club and manages the city’s International Institute of Tropical Agriculture Forest Center. Here he writes about his passion for conservation and how he earned the nickname ‘father of birds’. ————– Ibadan is one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest cities by surface area. Anthropogenic activities in […]
Waste from coffee processing could be used to clean polluting runoff from other industries, a group of Kenyan scientists has shown. But with the country’s coffee harvests dwindling, others wonder if it is worthwhile pursuing a technology based on a waning resource. Coffee is Kenya’s fourth greatest generator of foreign income after tourism, tea, and […]
Amal Amin, a polymer scientist at Egypt’s National Research Center, explains how the 9/11 terror attacks inspired her lifelong drive to build unity and peace through science. The world turned upside down the day after I returned to Egypt. I had just completed the lab work for my chemistry PhD in Germany, and on 10 […]
One-fifth of all the meteorites found on Earth have been discovered in Africa, and the number of locals studying them is growing. In early June last year, Roger Gibson was watching the news when a meteorite sighting was reported not far from Johannesburg in South Africa where he lives. A security camera on a farm […]
Drug-resistant bacteria found in hospitals cause thousands of deaths worldwide each year. But a study of such superbugs in a Zambian hospital offers hope that they remain sensitive to more antibiotic types than bacteria found in better-resourced hospitals in Europe or North America. Hospital staff often unwittingly transmit bacteria between patients. Researchers from the University […]
South Africa is ranked as Sub-Saharan Africa’s most innovative country. But its innovation landscape is marred by deep inequalities that look likely to persist, reports Sarah Wild. South Africa leads innovation in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the 2019 Global Innovation Index. But this ability to transform research into marketable products is dominated by a few […]
Mounting evidence that farmers in northern Uganda try to fatten up their pigs with antiretroviral drugs destined for humans with HIV has raised serious health concerns in the East African country. The practice could be putting many Ugandans at risk. Ugandans are the biggest pork-eaters in Africa, with each person on average consuming 3.5 kilograms […]
Une étude de Médecins sans Frontières (MSF) montre que les antivenins qui ont largement inondé ces dernières années le marché africain sont de mauvaise qualité et à peine efficaces. L’organisation plaide pour un essai clinique de ces produits avant leur mise sur le marché. Kabinin Yaou, Togolais et père de famille, est l’un des rares […]