Tag: News
Can teaching in Ghana carry on virtually as the pandemic rages?
On 15 March 2020, Ghana’s president Nana Akufo-Addo ordered the immediate closure of all educational institutions in Ghana in a bid to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2. In the same speech, he tasked the country’s education and communication ministries to roll out distance learning to salvage the academic year. Virtual means are […]
African food processors battle for space in modern supermarkets
Gari—made of dried cassava flakes—is a common food staple in Ghana. Mixed with water, salt, sugar or condensed milk, it can be eaten with soups, or on its own. But go into a big Ghanaian supermarket, and you’re unlikely to find gari on the shelves. That is a big problem for Sandra Ameworla, who runs […]
In drought-hit Zimbabwe, women turn to goats to save their livelihoods
It is after sunset in Chimanimani, a district in Zimbabwe’s eastern highlands, and Olinda Tuso is steering her buck Boer goat towards a corrugated iron structure that looks like a carport. The daily ritual puts him out of harm’s way. Hungry jackals come down from the nearby mountains looking for food at night. “If you […]
African elders’ knowledge vital to climate-proof global crops
Village elders in Africa played a crucial role in a global seed-collecting project that aims to bolster food security in a changing climate. Through cross-breeding common crops with their wild relatives, scientists plan to create strains that are better able to cope with higher temperatures and extreme weather. The Crop Wild Relatives project, funded by […]
South Africa’s brand-new MeerKAT telescope: We ain’t seen nothing yet
Last month, South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope discovered giant bubbles at the centre of our galaxy. This is the telescope’s second major finding—the first was one of the most magnetic objects in the Universe, a rare type of neutron star called a magnetar. But both of these discoveries were ‘accidents’, scientists say, and they are excited […]
A new use for coffee-processing waste—but is it sustainable?
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 […]
ARV drugs in Ugandan pork a growing health concern
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 […]
The health benefits of waakye, Ghana’s secret superfood
Ghanaians are crazy about waakye, a local dish prepared by cooking rice and beans with red sorghum leaves. The leaves add flavour and give waakye (pronounced waa-che) its distinctive reddish-brown colour. The leaves are also rich in antioxidants, which in turn can be good for human health. But the health benefits of eating waakye are […]
New treatment offers hope for Kala-Azar victims who also have HIV
A new treatment for patients suffering from both HIV and the deadly parasite-borne disease Kala-azar has shown impressive cure rates, raising hopes for thousands of patients worldwide. Kala-azar, also known as visceral leishmaniasis, is caused by parasites that infect humans through sandfly bites. The parasites attack the spleen, liver and bone marrow causing fever, weight-loss […]
Genetics help solve puzzle of how goats spread through Africa
Eleven thousand years ago in the Middle East, goats became one of the first herbivores that humans domesticated. Since then, the horned livestock has spread across the world. But how domestic goats (Capra hircus) found their way to all corners of the African continent—where they are now an important source of meat and milk—remains poorly […]