climate change - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

How to end hunger in sub-Saharan Africa: fight inequality, gender imbalances and climate change

A greater part of Africa’s population can’t afford a healthy diet than any other regional population. Food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa is caused by climate change, high levels of poverty, rapid population growth, low economic growth, inadequate infrastructure and conflicts. Women are the backbone of agricultural labour in the region. The problems of limited access to land, water and technology faced by these women also worsen food insecurity. People have a right to food – to produce food, to be free from hunger, and to participate in policy decisions that affect food systems. The right to food is also recognised…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

Ghana: can contract farming help smallholder farmers build resilience to climate change?

ENVIRONMENT

In northern Ghana, many smallholder farmers who grow crops on less than one hectare of land each are entering into contract farming. This gives them guaranteed buyers for their crops. Human geographer and climate change adaptation expert Frederick Dapilah has found that contract farming offers many lessons about building resilience in the face of climate change. FREDERICK DAPILAH, Senior Lecturer, Department of Community Development, SD Dombo University of Business and Integrated Development Studies What is contract farming? Contract farming is when farmers grow crops to meet contracts they have signed with buyers. They agree on a fixed price upfront. As…

Nov

2022

By The African Mirror

African insurers take up climate change fight with $14 bln pledge

NEWS

VIRGINIA FURNESS and SIMON JESSOP A group of over 85 insurers in Africa has pledged to create a financing facility to provide $14 billion of cover to help the continent's most vulnerable communities deal with climate disaster risks such as floods and droughts. The commitment to create the African Climate Risk Facility (ACRF) was made on Wednesday during the COP27 climate talks and comes as developing countries push their richer peers to do more to help them pay for the costs of responding to such events. Demand for compensation for the "loss and damage" caused by global warming has long been rejected by wealthy…

Oct

2022

By The African Mirror

Crime, COVID and climate change – South African tourism faces many threats, but it’s resilient

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SOUTH Africa’s tourism industry has been rocked by the murder of a German visitor during an attempted robbery. The development resulted in negative media publicity, with a potentially adverse impact on the country’s image as a safe tourist destination. This comes at a time when the sector is recovering from the devastating effects of the COVID pandemic. The Conversation Africa’s political editor Thabo Leshilo asked Kaitano Dube, an expert in ecotourism, about tourism’s place in South Africa’s economy. Author KAITANO DUBE, Ecotourism Management Lecturer, Vaal University of Technology How important is tourism to South Africa’s economy? Tourism is critical to…

Apr

2022

By The African Mirror

Early warnings for floods in South Africa: engineering for future climate change

ENVIRONMENT

SEVERE weather, rain and flooding are at the forefront of the minds of many South Africans, especially those in KwaZulu-Natal. Early last week (11-12 April 2022), the province’s coast received heavy rain, with some areas recording over 300mm in 24 hours. This is about a third of the annual rainfall in KwaZulu-Natal. The rain was caused by a strong cut-off low weather system off the east coast of southern Africa. Cut-off lows frequently occur off this coast during the autumn months. These systems can cause localised flooding as well as large wave events. The port city of Durban (in the…