Word: african
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...Underinvestment in agriculture was partly due to fears that funds would be wasted due to rampant corruption and mismanagement. "I remember going over to Sudan in 1985 and seeing donated tractors that had rusted over," says Ellen Levinson, executive director of the Washington-based Alliance for Food Aid. African nations' own policies have also been inadequate. In 2002, African Union leaders vowed to spend 10% of their annual budgets on agricultural development; few of the 53 member nations have consistently met that target. "We have been warning of the dangers for a long time," says Simon Scott, head of statistics...
...Betting on the Farm The outlook is not unrelentingly bleak, however. Leaders meeting in Rome pledged - at least in theory - to spend billions more dollars for agricultural programs. African governments and international organizations now face the task of getting new projects off the ground quickly. Obstacles abound. After decades of neglect, transportation networks for getting crops to market consist mainly of rutted dirt roads; irrigation systems are in a shambles; and there's little access to credit for poor farmers. Aid agencies are starting some programs virtually from scratch. "There are very few plans to take off the shelf," says...
...South Africa Erupts As a South African, I was shocked by the recent spate of violence against immigrants in the townships of Johannesburg [June 2]. The authorities gave various reasons for the outbreak, but the problem boils down to the resentment of the have-nots. Many immigrants who had worked hard to build a life in South Africa were the targets of violent robbery and theft. The criminals were said to have been opportunists, not organized gangs. The inefficiency and hamfistedness of the government's response raises the question: how long will it be before this happens again? And what...
...banker to microfinance groups, taking deposits and writing loans. Over that time, Ecobank has grown hip to the business model and last year launched a microfinance institution of its own, in Nigeria and then in Ghana. Senegal and Cameroon are next. "This empowers the bottom of the African market," says Ecobank microfinance head Rotimi Nihinlola, "and is a good opportunity to grow our business...
...Lorand Matory ’82 is professor of anthropology and of African and African-American studies...