Can roots tourism build social justice? A case study of travellers to Ghana provides insights: The view from the dungeon of the Cape Coast Castle. Alana Dillette Protests against racism have erupted around the globe in recent weeks, sparked by the murder of a black man, George Floyd, at the hands of a white police …
Gigantic wolverines, otters the size of wolves: fossils offer fresh insights into the past: What South Africa’s West Coast might have looked like 5 million years ago. In the foreground, a giant wolverine feeds on a pig while chasing away a primitive hyena. Maggie Newman, Geological Society of South Africa and the University of the …
The Conversation launches new Coronavirus Insights team and Research England partnership: The Conversation has launched a new Coronavirus Insights team with support from Research England, alongside a new content partnership with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). The project will allow The Conversation to cover more new research on the novel coronavirus and COVID-19, publishing expert …
Statistical models and ranger insights help identify patterns in elephant poaching: Elephant bulls in the Zambezi Valley, Zimbabwe. GettyImages The illegal wildlife trade is one of the highest value illicit trade sectors globally, threatening both human well-being and biodiversity. A prominent example is ivory poaching, leading to an estimated 30% decline in African elephant populations …
Insights from Kenya: how to keep children from poorer homes in school: Pupils take exams in a Kenyan school Photo by Luis TATO / AFP) (Photo credit should read LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty Images It is widely recognised that education is a public good, which should be accessed by all, as a human right – …
Why “home garden” projects don’t always work. Insights from Ethiopia: Home garden with two bags of soil and young green plants IFPRI In Ethiopia, the average person eats just 42kg of fruit and vegetables per year. This is far below the WHO recommendation of 146kg per year. Fruits and vegetables are excellent sources of vitamins …
How the COVID-19 pandemic will affect informal workers. Insights from Kenya: Vendors in a market Billy Miaron/Shutterstock COVID-19 is going to have a devastating impact on economies. Africa has a particular vulnerability because so many people work in the informal sector. In an interview with Moina Spooner from The Conversation Africa, Njeri Kinyanjui explains how …
Crop leftovers can store huge amounts of carbon: insights from Uganda: A sample of biochar NCAT CAES/Flickr Farmers in countries like Uganda could help fight climate change – and improve their crop yields – by adding agricultural waste to their fields. The process removes carbon from the atmosphere and stores it in the soil. It’s …
Insights from research on how to break cycle of violence against women: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa addresses demonstrators protesting against gender-based violence outside Parliament. Nic Bothma/EPA-EFE In response to a wave of protests following a spate of brutal attacks on women, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has again committed himself to addressing this problem …
Internally displaced people need more protection: insights from Africa: Residents of Sake in the Democratic Republic of Congo leave their homes to avoid clashes between rebels and government forces. EPA/Dai Kurokawa New figures show that more than 70.8 million people are displaced worldwide – that’s the highest figure ever recorded. Of these, more than 41.3 …
‘Ancestors’: a new game provides insights into how the first humans evolved: Panache Digital, Author provided As an academic scientist who researches human evolution, I was surprised to receive an email one day from Patrice Désilets, a top computer game designer responsible for the first two Assassin’s Creed games. He was working on a new …
Tracking technology gives new insights into the behaviour of migrating birds: European bee-eater (Merops apiaster) Kiran Dhanjal-Adams Though much is known about where and when birds travel, a lot less is known about the composition of flocks and how long they stay together. Do birds come together in flocks by chance? Do they actively choose …
Insights from Uganda on why solar street lights make sense: Solar powered street lights in Kampala, Uganda. George_TheGiwi/Shutterstock Street-lighting is important. It allows informal vendors and traders to operate for longer hours and improves road and public safety. It also makes streets feel safer and more secure, especially for women. But street-lighting is sorely lacking …
Fresh insights into the lives of Kenya’s urban teen mothers: When girls in Kenya fall pregnant, they must often deal with stigma, fear and shame. sqofield/Shutterstock Teen pregnancies are a pervasive phenomenon in Kenya. Based on the most recent national figures, one in five girls in Kenya between 15 and 19 years has begun childbearing, …
RubiBlue’s crowdsourcing data platform delivers intelligent insights to African business: RubiBlue, intelligent business solutions provider, has developed and launched DataSight, a crowdsourcing data platform targeting consumers in LSMs 4-7. DataSight is an easy to download application that rewards customers for providing insights into their brand preferences, lifestyle and education choices. The data, collated and secured …
Insights into commercial contracting from South Africa’s informal sector: Media Club/Flcker What happens when African societal norms meet modern commercial practice? From boardrooms in Sandton to the cultural mash-up and the “popular economy” of a South African township, African business people of different ethnicities and world views are contracting on a daily basis. Is there …
Thinking, researching and writing Africa: insights from Nigeria’s Tutuola: Amos Tutuola's work is enjoying renewed interest and support. Flickr/vanderfrog, CC BY-ND For many years, Amos Tutuola, the Nigerian author who was born in 1920 and died in 1997, was despised, ridiculed and made to appear exotic and primitive. He was dismissed by his critics as …
How insights into ‘supercritical fluids’ could help us understand the interior of the giant gas planets: Jupiter seen by Juno. Justin Cowart/Flickr, CC BY-SA The temperature and pressure inside Jupiter range from about -100°c near the edge to about 15,000°c and 50m times the Earth’s atmospheric pressure in the middle. Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are …