West Africa - The African Mirror

Nov

2020

Ghana, Ivory Coast threaten to suspend cocoa companies’ sustainability schemes

MAYTAAL ANGEL and ANGE ABOA GHANA’S cocoa regulator has threatened to suspend the sustainability schemes used by major cocoa and chocolate companies to assure consumers that the beans they use are sustainably and ethically sourced. In comments to the World Cocoa Foundation conference on behalf of Ghana and its West African neighbour Ivory Coast, Joseph Aidoo, chief executive of Ghanaian regulator Cocobod said on Thursday that cocoa and chocolate companies in West Africa were thwarting government attempts to combat farmer poverty. As a result, their sustainability schemes, which allow companies such as Barry Callebaut and Nestle to charge consumers a…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

What it would take to get super-cold COVID-19 vaccine to W. Africa

COVID-19

NELLIE PEYTON HOPE is rising that a new vaccine could halt the COVID-19 pandemic - for some - but lessons learnt from past vaccine programmes in West Africa suggest millions more might miss out. The super-cold storage temperature required for the new vaccine will make it near impossible to deliver in rural parts of Africa, said public health expert Evelyn Castle. "We would need all new infrastructure," said Castle, executive director of the Nigeria-based non-profit organisation eHealth Africa, which in 2016 helped distribute an Ebola vaccine in Sierra Leone at similar temperatures. "(In Sierra Leone), we had to do full…

Nov

2020

By The African Mirror

Climate model shows Saharan heat in much of West Africa within a century

ENVIRONMENT

NELLIE PEYTON BY the end of this century, typical daily temperatures in West Africa will be even higher than those registered on the hottest days of the year at present, according to a new study by climate scientists in Britain. The research found that on a typical day in May 80 years from now, temperatures could exceed 50 degrees Celsius (122F) in parts of northern Senegal, southern Mauritania, Mali, Niger and western Chad - seriously affecting health and livelihoods. Minimum temperatures in May could rise to 30C from about 19C today in Niger and central Mali, and to 31C from…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Child labour rising in West Africa cocoa farms despite efforts – report

HUMAN RIGHTS

ANGE ABOA and AARON ROSS THE use of child labour has risen in cocoa farms in Ghana and Ivory Coast over the past decade despite industry promises to reduce it, academics said, largely supporting earlier findings that were questioned by both states. The prevalence of children doing hazardous work, including using sharp tools, has also gone up in the world's top two cocoa producers, according to the study funded by the U.S. government. The levels were higher than in 2010 when companies including Mars, Hershey, Nestle and Cargill agreed to reduce the worst forms of child labour in Ghana and…