Tag: Africa

  • Fela Kuti

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    Daniela
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    The musical style of Felá is called Afrobeat, a style he largely created, which is a complex fusion of Jazz, Funk, Ghanaian/Nigerian High-life, psychedelic rock, and traditional West African chants and rhythms. Afrobeat also borrows heavily from the native “tinker pan” African-style percussion that Kuti acquired while studying in Ghana with Hugh Masekela, under the uncanny Hedzoleh Soundz.[15] The importance of the…

  • Shut Up and Listen

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    Daniela
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    When most well-intentioned aid workers hear of a problem they think they can fix, they go to work. This, Ernesto Sirolli suggests, is naïve. In this funny and impassioned talk, he proposes that the first step is to listen to the people you’re trying to help, and tap into their own entrepreneurial spirit. His advice…

  • Gates Foundation Invests in Monsanto Cont’d.

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    Daniela
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    Here’s a revealing comment by Szophee in the thread to the Gates Foundation article: Let’s see who’s behind this push for a new ‘Green revolution’ in Africa: The whole project is being led by the US and UK governments (and paid for by their taxpayers), along with the rest of the G8. USAid is playing its…

  • GATES FOUNDATION INVESTS IN MONSANTO: Both will profit at expense of small-scale African farmers

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    Daniela
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    Reposted from Community Alliance for Global Justice: Farmers and civil society organizations around the world are outraged by the recent discovery of further connections between the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and agribusiness titan Monsanto. Last week, a financial website published the Gates Foundation’s investment portfolio, including 500,000 shares of Monsanto stock with an estimated…

  • Traditional Forms of Cooperation Basis for Modern Cooperatives in Sudan

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    Daniela
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    In a recent editorial, the Sudan Vision supports using traditional forms of cooperation in their country as the basis for forming modern cooperatives: The cooperatives have been developed in a local context to solve problems that beset ordinary people, based on the traditional mutual work in the specific local environment. Cooperatives movement has its deep-rooted…

  • Agrochemical Companies and their stockholders the only ones who need genetically engineered crops

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    Daniela
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    In the opinion section of Pambazuka News, Ali Masmadi Jehu Appiah, a Chairperson for Food Sovereignty Ghana, asserts, “The only people who need genetically engineered crops are the foreign seed and agrochemical companies and their stockholders.”  He provides a compelling argument for why Ghana should reject genetically engineered Bt cotton: After several years of apparent short-term success in…

  • Getting in touch with Maasai culture and the natural beauty of southern Kenya

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    Daniela
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    Michael Benanav shares his stay at Maji Moto Maasai Cultural Camp with his readers at the New York Times: Though the camp is highly rated on Trip Advisor, I wasn’t really sure where the experience would fall on the spectrum between “farcically touristy” and “viscerally authentic” (which aren’t official review categories, but perhaps should be).…

  • Lake of Death With Folklore of Danger

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    Daniela
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    Reposted from The New India Express By Joshua Foer and Dylan Thuras I could not speak. I became unconscious. I could not open my mouth because then I smelled something terrible… I heard my daughter snoring in a terrible way, very abnormal… When crossing to my daughter’s bed… I collapsed and fell… I wanted to speak,…

  • Organic Farming Cont’d.

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    Daniela
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    Here’s one more story and then I’ll let  it go for today.  This piece from PR Web relates a discussion held by impact investor and advocate of sustainable agriculture, Philippe van den Bossche, on the benefits of Mzee Benson Kinyua’s organic farming practices. According to a July 25, 2013 article published on People’s Daily Online, entitled, “Feeding Kenya…

  • UN buys from Ethiopia’s farmer co-operatives to feed local, starving people

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    Daniela
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     Anthony Murray in Co-operative News reports on a new pilot project to promote small farmers’ access to local markets. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) buys food from local co-operatives and distributes it to vulerable populations in Ethiopia.  This year’s harvest will feed 1.8 million Ethiopians for a month: Farmer co-operatives around Ethiopia are set to deliver one…