Fear, trust, and the likelihood of exposure are three leading factors that influence whether people are willing to be vaccinated against a virulent disease, according to a new study in the journal Heliyon, published by Elsevier. Following the highly-publicized 2014 outbreak of Ebola in Africa and anticipating the possibility of a future Ebola outbreak in the United States, a 2014 CNN/ORC poll asked a random sample of 1,018 adults if they would take an anti-Ebola vaccination if and when it became available. About half of the participants reported that they would, while half expressed hesitation or refusal, even if vaccination services for Ebola…
Author: Abdallah el-Kurebe
Healthcare in low- and middle-income countries is poorly prepared for the increasing number of people with high blood pressure, with more than two-thirds of people affected going without treatment – a new study reveals.Researchers studied health data for one million people in the Global South, discovering that less than half of those affected are diagnosed with high blood pressure or hypertension. Of these patients, only 30% are treated and only 10% have the disease under control.The research team analysed the healthcare of hypertension in 44 countries. Using a cascade of care approach, which looked at the numbers of people with…
The Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), in close collaboration with national partners, has launched a high-potential project in which research will be put into effective use to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Africa by promoting a range of sustainable intensification and diversification innovations for rice-based systems, while reducing their environmental footprint.The project titled ‘Sustainable and Diversified Rice-based Farming Systems’ is conducted under the ‘Putting Research into Use for Nutrition, Sustainable Agriculture and Resilience (PRUNSAR)’ program co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).PRUNSAR works through CGIAR Research Programs to achieve results that impact…
Africa’s small-scale fisheries play a critical role in global food security and must be supported with greater research and investment, say international and African experts. Industry, NGO, government and academic representatives attended Murdoch University’s second Blue Economy Symposium in Tunis last week as part of the Africa Blue Economy Forum (ABEF) 2019 and Murdoch University’s Third Commission, a research investigation focusing on issues of public concern to Africa. Fish accounts for more than one-fifth of the protein intake of African south of the Sahara and provides a livelihood to millions of people. Murdoch University Adjunct Professor, Dr. Jeremy Prince, who…
Established to provide concessional buffer to needy economies on the continent, the African Development Fund (ADF), is not only facilitating rapid rollout of development projects, but its investments continue to transform and sustain lives, beneficiaries say. In 38 of the continent’s neediest countries, the Fund is creating linkages to promote regional integration, commercial exchanges and enhancing food security by investing in power projects, roads and bridges, and other critical industrial and livelihood buildouts. Zoom on transformative projects Zambia’s Tezhi Hydro Power project, celebrated for providing clean and renewable electricity to nearly a million people. In South West Madagascar, beneficiaries of…
APO Group (www.APO-opa.com), the leading media relations consultancy and press release distribution service in Africa and the Middle East, presents the inaugural APO Group African Women in Media Award set to recognise, celebrate and empower African women journalists who support female entrepreneurship in Africa. The Award will be bestowed to the winner at the 5th Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum’s (AWIEF) (www.AWIEForum.org) Conference, Exhibition and Awards hosted at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), 29-30 October 2019, with the theme‘Enhancing impact: digitalisation, investment and intra-African trade’. AWIEF’s prestigious annual event is a platform that sees global thought leaders,…
AGCO (www.AGCOCorp.com) and AT Capital S.A have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate and work together towards the implementation of the Parque Agro-industrial de Moamba (PAM) Agri-Industry Park in Maputo, Mozambique. The announcement was made at the sidelines the 12th U.S. – Africa Business Summit “Advancing a Resilient and Sustainable U.S.-Africa Partnership” in Maputo. The aim of the PAM agricultural project is to build reliable and resilient food production capacity in Mozambique, for domestic demand and export. Estimated at an investment of about US$52 million during its first phase, the project will span a site of over nine hundred…
Argentina’s Minister of AgroIndustry Luis Miguel Etechevehere and Christian Monty, Head of Global Cotton from BASF have announced the release of a new GMO trait for cotton that provides herbicide and insect resistance. The new release is the fifth trait approved for cotton in Argentina after Bt (1998), Roundup Ready (2001), RRBt (2009), glyphosate and glufosinate (2009), and glyphosate and HPPD inhibitors (2019). It is based on the stack of previous traits with the commercial name GlyTol TwinLink Plus and will be commercialized by BASF. Gustavo Portis, CEO of BASF in Argentina said that farmers need technology to enhance their…
Genetically modified fungus rapidly kills malaria-spreading mosquitoes: study Trials in Burkina Faso reduced mosquito colonies by 99 per cent Researchers now want to test the insecticide on real communities By Ruth Douglas A fungus genetically engineered to produce spider toxin can crush populations of malaria-spreading mosquitoes, according to a study hailed as a breakthrough by international scientists battling to combat the disease. In trials undertaken in Burkina Faso, mosquito numbers were reduced by 99 per cent within 45 days, according to researchers from the University of Maryland (UMD) and the West African nation’s IRSS research institute. Malaria is a life-threatening…
Africa’s strong population growth poses an enormous challenge for the continent. Consistently high fertility rates are making it increasingly difficult to provide the up-and-coming generations with the bare essentials. Currently, 37 million children of primary school age in Africa cannot go to school and every year another five million children reach the age at which they should start school. Even if they do manage to complete their education, the next hurdle already awaits them: every year the 15–35 age group is growing by ten to twelve million people, while only about three million official jobs are being newly created on…