Drought-induced reduction in hydropower generation has become a persistent feature in the region’s electricity generation. Expanding decentralized renewable energies for electricity generation provides an important and cost-effective measure of adapation to climate change.
The articles in this issue of Perspectives seek to reflect on the extent to which African legislatures have taken steps that mark their shift from being the “weakest link” of government to stronger, independent institutions. In essence, we ask – do African Parliaments really occupy the privileged position accorded to them in representational democracies
Although there continues to be widespread popular support across the African continent for the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its mandate to prosecute high-level individuals accused of perpetrating international crimes, strong anti-ICC sentiments are brewing among parts of Africa’s political elite and state actors.
The conferences focus was on the conflict resolution progress, and prospects for the Somalia state re-establishment. At the minimum, state re-establishment discussions delved into matters of national security, public service delivery, civil society and public participation in governance processes.
The idea of growth as the way to end poverty and escape economic and financial crisis remains largely undisputed and is currently reflected in the concept of the green economy. But not everything that is “green” and efficient is also environmentally sustainable and socially equitable. This essay outlines a policy of less, of wealth in moderation, to enable the Earth’s resources to make a life of dignity and without need possible for all.
In this essay, the President of the Heinrich Boell Foundation, Barbara Unmuessig, critically reflects on the opportunities for and the shortcomings of the concept of a "Green Economy" to influence economic policy making globally, its relationship to the paradigm of sustainable development and the need to rethink our understanding and focus on growth.
What lessons has Somaliland learnt from two decades of sustained state building, local institutional development and democratization and what's the way forward?
The people of Taita -Taveta county have for long been alienated from their land and land resources, with their struggles for land rights and tenure well-known. They are also alienated from the minerals, wildlife and forest resources which then impedes the development of these communities. It is therefore necessary to document these realities and suggest solutions to ensure that the rich mineral resources contribute to local development.
Pastoralism is essential for the sustainable management and ecological health of dry lands, but also highly sensitive to increasing environmental degradation and global warming. It is threatened by several factors like the sedentarisation policies, intensive agriculture, ecological degradation and low social status accorded to pastoralists among many others.
The study seeks to assess the unusual mortality of some of the perennial plants such as Acacia tortilis, Balanites orbicularis, Suaeda fruticosa and Zizyphus hamur in some coastal areas of Somaliland. The local communities, particularly pastoralists whose livelihoods are heavily dependent on rangeland conditions, have given different explanations on this disturbing trend, which surfaced in the early 1990’s.
