Global Voices » Kenya

Africa: Fresh Perspective in Telling African Stories

Ndesanjo Macha — Sat, 19 May 2012 08:57:16 +0000

SautiProject is an African citizen journalism project supported by Al Jazeera Kiswahili and Pawa254 Sauti Project is an African citizen journalist initiative; a fresh perspective into the telling of African stories. It's journalism with a flair, stories with a passion.

Kenya: Online Platform for Amplifying People's Power

Ndesanjo Macha — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:42:50 +0000

Bunge la Mwananchi is an online platform for amplifying grassroots people’s power to decide on their politics and economics so as to improve their social conditions in Kenya.

Kenya: To Pay or Not to #PayInterns?

Ndesanjo Macha — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:37:12 +0000

Kenyan tweep @RobertAlai started a lively debate on 14 May, 2012 about the need for companies to pay interns. @RobertAlai wanted tweeps to ask companies, “#DoYouPayInterns?”:

@RobertAlai: If you are an intern and you feel that you are being exploited, please email me on alai @ techmtaa.com. Let's ask #DoYouPayInterns ?

Tweeps immediately took to their keyboards siding with interns:

@madonah12: #PayInterns Is the best Trend Ever I just love the idea that Interns should get Lunch Fare and Pocket money cc @RobertAlai Good work

A banner in support of interns. Photo courtesy: Jeff Howard Flickr account (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

@tyrus_: Aye how come all those KE companies on Twitter who tweet “Good morning and Good night” and sell new products cant respond to #PayInterns ?

@RobertAlai: “Interns” must be paid. Stand up for your rights and you'll find that employers are capable of paying you #PayInterns

@TheMacharia: I wonder how many of those on #PayInterns have actually hired, not selected, but hired interns.

@mainneli: Interns should be paid. they do the same work and same stuff like anyone else in the office,stop exploitation #Payinterns

@tkb: @kainvestor @Worldbank inviting users to wiki is same as @Wikipedia who don't #payinterns Create a global public good with all content open!

@B_Oyigo: @RobertAlai Jamii Telecom Limited #PAYINTERNS btwn 10-15k

@KenyaPolice: Kenya Police does not support the exploiation of Kenyan workers. #PayInterns

However, some tweeps sided with companies using interns without pay:

@Kkaaria: Interns, 5 years into your career, you will realize how little you actually knew when you started off. Be patient.. #payInterns

@TerryanneChebet: My two cents to the #payinterns. I say no. An allowance for food and transport, however is alright.

@mainaalex: ati #payinterns for what?if they are that good, they should start their own companies. show value you get paid.

@Kamungah: @MediaMK Interns contribute, companies gain as interns get required skills. Win - Win. Some employers use them as ‘continuous' interviews.

Bloggers have also joined the debate. Blogger Dennis Matara argued that labour laws stipulate that interns must be paid after working for three months:

You must wake up! You have been in intern for more than three months? Get alive. Labour laws clearly state that the company that takes you in as an intern is required by law to absorb you as their full time employee, paid in their scale and entitle to leave days among other benefits. If they cannot do that, then your internship should end at the end of your third month there.

It is true and evident that some interns ‘decide’ to stay longer in the hope of ‘acting good’ in order to secure themselves a job. Yes, that is ok but if the company really needs you that much, then they must take you in. Many employers know very well that majority of these interns are straight from college, they do not have money even for their transport to work but still misuse them to the fullest.

Nairobi Wire noted that companies in Kenya paying interns are the minority:

The companies that pay there interns are the minority and they pay peanuts. Reading through some of the tweets, KCB, EABL, CIC, KPLC, KBC, Standard Group, NMG, RMS among many others have been listed as the most exploitative. Equity bank has been attacked for using CSR as a reason to have cheap labour. KBC is the worst of all since interns have to pay to intern there.
There have also been complains of interns been sexually exploited.

This is one of the most lively discussion I've seen on twitter in a long time. Most of the time, people are always rumbling about Kenya Power.

#PayInterns has generated so much interest that at its peak, around 150 tweets were being tweeted per minute. This is considering its only in Kenya. Various corporates have also tweeted responding to allegations that they do not remunerate their interns. KCB tweeted, “KCB Group does not obtain any money from interns. Interns are actually paid a monthly stipend that is above the industry average”

Kenya: #PayInterns Trending

Ndesanjo Macha — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:50:23 +0000

#PayInterns is trending in Kenya. @mainneli writes: “Interns should be paid. they do the same work and same stuff like anyone else in the office,stop exploitation #Payinterns”

Kenya: Mark Kaigwa to Global Voices: “The East is Coming to Africa.”

Suzanne Lehn — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:57:07 +0000

Mark Kaigwa is a Kenyan blogger and new media consultant based in Nairobi, whose work is to “help international companies and African brands to connect with each other to develop creativity”. He is also a former film maker and was a judge at the 2012 Kenyan Bloggers Awards that took place on May 5.

His session at the recently concluded re:publica conference, “Silicon Savanna, how African technologies are changing the world”, was dedicated to illustrating the shift in Africa's image - a shift from the clichés of crisis, war, or even wonders of nature, to an Africa that is showing the world a way to foster development in a competitive environment, specifically through the use of mobile technologies.

Global Voices caught up with Mark at the re:publica to better understand his hopes and dreams about Africa's digital future.

Mark Kaigwa. Photo by Suzanne Lehn

Global Voices Online (GV): When and how did you get into blogging?

Mark Kaigwa (MK): I started blogging in 2007 – 2008, first with a personal blog. I wanted to express myself so that someone in the world would listen and hear.

Now I run three blogs : my personal blog mark.co.ke - where I give my personal views about creativity in African technology, afrinnovator.com - with focus on technology, start-ups, who is bringing money and from where and africandigitalart.com - about animation, illustration, graphic design, in one word, all about the combination of art and technology. It features, for instance, artists giving responses to the North African uprisings.

GV: Do you have any links/connections with French-speaking African countries?

MK: I have personal business connections through the Internet, yes, but I have yet to travel to a francophone African country. I am trying to get inputs from francophone as well as lusophone countries, but not because they belong to the non-English sphere (editor's note: The notion of language-based sphere appears pretty much irrelevant to Mark). To give you an example, Angola is interesting to me as a country regardless of the fact that it is part of the lusophone sphere.

GV: The world went through a period in which low-cost labor was the most sought after commodity. Then recently it was low-cost natural resources. In your opinion, is it now a period in which low-cost technologies will be the most sought after?

MK: The 1990's were the decade of China's boom, the 2010's are India's and the 2020's will be Africa's. The West was going to the East, now the East is coming to Africa.

The east has a smart strategy. It brought to Africa what it learned and it does not consider Africa as one entity. On the contrary, eastern countries have understood that Africa is composed of 56 countries. They build the infrastructure in exchange for the natural resources that they are of course in need of. Technology is last on their agenda.

GV: It has been said that Africa's real problems are transport and the banking systems. What is your opinion?

MK: Those problems indeed exist but these are not the only ones.

The African challenges are the infrastructure and the economic climate for doing business, but we as Africans are in the process of solving them; and as a prominent economist of the World Bank noted, Kenya's debt-to-GDP ratio amounts to about 45%, which would make many European countries very envious !

The true size of Africa, an infographic presented by Mark at the conference (CC License. No Rights Reserved, public domain)

GV: So how will the shift of economic power work in favor of Africa?

MK: They know that Africa will compete with them. China's competitive advantages - economies of scale, low costs - are going to shrink, and might even cancel out in the next 10 or 20 years, along with the development there of the middle classes, the rise of wages and consumption. China's low-cost advantages will then probably go to Africa. Once the infrastructure is up to par, Africa will be able to be competitive with the East – provided the political leadership holds its end of the bargain.

At the re:publica 2012. Photo by Suzanne Lehn

GV: Regarding African breakthroughs in technology that came about after the well-known Ushahidi, you mentioned the following in your session - SwiftRiver, CrowdMap, Kopo Kopo, iCow, M-Pedigree, MXIT. However, these are mostly operating on mobile phones. Is technology in Africa over-hyped ?

MK: What we have now is that for the first time, Africa has a way to influence the world. Political leadership permitting, technology is getting some serious attention. Furthermore, the Kenyan government is acknowledging that opening its data will result in better accountability and leadership, and that this is good for their political legacy.

I don't deny there's hype, but it's a good hype and I prefer it to the former one-sided vision of Africa.

GV: A meaningful fact for conclusion?

MK: All of East Africa started to learn Chinese – starting, not from English, but from Swahili.

The interview was conducted by Global voices author Suzanne Lehn. The photos of Mark Kaigwa used in this post were taken by her.

Kenya: Chronicles of a Kenyan Farmer Online

Ndesanjo Macha — Wed, 09 May 2012 12:24:42 +0000

E.K. Kamwenji is a Kenyan blogging farmer residing in Nyeri. Kamwenji worked in different sectors unrelated to agriculture before he realised the importance of using latest technologies for networking and marketing of farm produce.

He explains his journey into farming:

Kenyan blogging farmer. Photo source: Kamwenji's Facebook page.

Thus I am a farmer by profession. The undergraduate course took 4 years and after graduating I ventured into job hunting. Initially, I was employed in a small farm. I was in charge of production but after 14 months, I quit due to low pay which was irrespective of performance as per the agreement.

During this period I was searching for another better paying job but I found myself working in areas that are not related to horticulture. These included sales at an auto shop and programming at an IT company. It was an eye opener as I realized that farmers are generally looked down upon especially the small scale ones.

I also got to know that it was important to incorporate other concepts of business into agriculture to transform it, to bring it to per with the current state of things i.e. use of latest form of technology in order to improve on not just the farming techniques but also on the networking and marketing of farm producers and produce.

How did Kamwenji become a blogging farmer?:

I started my blog not so long ago, mostly as a therapeutic way of ‘telling someone’ about my challenges, joys, disappointments, mistakes and progress. Many of my friends ask me why I choose farming yet there are many other appealing professions out there. I love farming. I desire self reliance especially when it comes to food and most of all following my calling. I find more fulfillment tending to my livestock or crops even with its many setbacks than many of my friends do seated behind desks in offices.

My blog is to not only to record my journeys as a farmer but also to serve as an encouragement to the many jobless youth in Kenya of whom many if not most have migrated and many more still migrate to the capital cities in search of white or blue collar jobs leaving their family farms with no one to till.

My Blog does not give a daily account of my activities in the farm as most are redundant. Rather it gives highlights of the ups, the downs, the learning points and setbacks in a summarized form.
It’s quite hard finding time to even update my blog on a weekly basis leave alone daily thus I just jot down a few notes in the evenings and come up with a more holistic post afterwards.

In one of his last year's posts, Kamwenji discussed his plans for operating a successful livestock project:

My main objectives are to fully operate a sustainable farming venture. The major project is to have the livestock up and going. This is important since this department is not affected by the weather and market for the produce such that one can have a proper plan with.

The cows and goats are for dairy production. Hopefully, if all goes as planned, in the next 2- years they should have multiplied and the milk production should not be less than 60 litres. If they happen to delivery young ones that re male, these are to be raised up to an age where they can be sold at a good value enough to acquire heifers and does(she goats)

In the geese section, the aim is to have twenty adult females. There are adequate to ensure that they lay ad hatch enough chicks unlike poultry Chicken) geese tend to stay long before laying and only lay 5-7 eggs before becoming broody. The good thing is that they do have a better market.

In another post written this year, Kamwenji shows how environmental degradation in Kenya affects farmers:

Talking of weather, the region I come from (or undertake most of farming for that matter) has been in the news due to frost affecting the tea farms both small-scale and large scale. It is quite tragic if you ask me because for the longest time Kenyans have been ignoring the calls for environmental conservation. The haphazard weather patterns we have seen in the last 5-10 years have been worrying especially considering our country is smack in the middle of the tropics.
Tree-cutting has been the order of the day and recently the area around Mt. Kenya - which is less than 20 miles from the farm - had a wild fire which was contained after more than 3 days. A similar but less serious situation was also reported along the Aberdare Ranges. These two highlands provide the area around Central Kenya with much of its water and this also trickles down to the other parts of the country in Nairobi, Eastern and Coastal regions. Reduce the acreage of trees on these areas and you drastically affect the water table and patterns downstream. I'll not lecture you on this for now.

In addition to blogging, Kamwenji uses YouTube to share stories about his farm. The two videos below are from his 5-part YouTube series:

This is a 5 part series video of my farm in Karatina Nyeri. You will get to see; The dogs, Goats, Cows, Calves, Geese as well as the foodcrops; Bananas, napier grass, beans, maize and fruit trees.

I also take you through how I use the manure generated from the cows into the farm.

Join me as I take you on a tour of my farm.

Kamwenji is also on Facebook and Twitter. His blog was nominated in the Agriculture Category in this year's BAKE Blogger Awards.

Africa: Will Local Content Policies Help Avert the Oil Curse?

Julie Owono — Wed, 09 May 2012 10:34:48 +0000

This post is part of our special coverage International Relations & Security.

In recent years, major reserves of oil have been discovered at various locations across Africa. If this ‘black gold' represents an opportunity for economic growth, the fear that the windfall may not benefit the local populations - and maybe even become a curse - is shared by Sub-Saharan African citizens and experts alike.

In 2009, Modern Ghana’s Nana Adjoa Hackman suggested a possible solution:

It is common practice for oil and gas producing countries to negotiate local content agreements with interested IOCs [International Oil Companies] in an attempt to secure for the country a higher share of the value from oil and gas projects. This trend has surfaced as a result of the realization of the poor economic performance of many resource rich countries despite their vast wealth.

Tullow oil camp, Uganda. Image by Conservation Concepts on Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Taking the example of Ghana, he explains:

As part of measures being undertaken to put in place the framework for Ghana's oil and gas production, a Bill entitled the Ghana Petroleum Regulatory Authority (GPRA) Bill was released in October 2008. (…) Sections 100 to 105 inclusive of the Bill deal with the promotion of local content, specifically, the involvement of the state oil company, provision of goods and services by local entrepreneurs, as well as the employment and training of citizens of Ghana.

The adoption of the local content policy framework in Ghana followed in 2010, however it is still pending parliamentary endorsement. The latter is now more urgent than ever, as finding employment is a preoccupation for an increasing number of Ghanaian citizens.

Commenting on an article entitled ‘Youth Angry-Over Elusive Jobs In Oil Industry‘, Christiane Badgley writes:

Oil brings in huge amounts of money, of course, and along with that come expectations of many, well-paid jobs. The problem is that the industry – at least as it exists in Ghana now – doesn’t generate much work. (…) We’ll have to wait for details on how the government intends to increase local content and participation, which is easier said than done. Training, education, quotas, regulation, penalties, taxation, incentives – the government has multiple options for addressing the question.

In Uganda, the same move towards the adoption of a local content policy is being made, as explained on the In2EastAfrica website:

Uganda wants a strong local content in the nascent oil and gas industry for its citizens to gain skilled manpower and a competitive supply edge. This is in an attempt to ensure revenues trickles down, averting the resource curse.

Indeed, avoiding the oil curse is important for Uganda, particularly if it helps to prevent the emergence of other Joseph Kony- like characters. Petroleum was, after all, discovered in the north-west, near the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the epicenter of the 30 year long conflict led by the Lord's Resistance Army chief. A local content policy would hopefully create employment for local populations and distract them from the path of war.

In Kenya case, where oil was found earlier this year, Local Development Network of Africa asks on Twitter:

@ledna: How far have discussion on #Ghana “local content” for the oil and gas sector gone? #Kenya (new found oil) could learn from that

Günther Schulze, professor of economics at the University of Freiburg, Germany, adds another perspective on the World Bank blog:

The biggest -but most important- challenge is to build and maintain good institutions. (…) transparency will be the most powerful lever for accountability. If Kenyans know exactly how much oil is being produced, how much royalties oil companies pay this would already be a major step in the right direction. (…) Kenya’s strong civil society and creative industries, especially in ICT, can play a strong role in monitoring the oil revenue flows and proposing solutions on how to spend the money well. Then the resource curse can be turned into a blessing.

This post and its translations to Spanish, Arabic and French were commissioned by International Security Network (ISN) as part of a partnership to seek out citizen voices on international relations and security issues worldwide.

Visit the ISN blog and see more related stories.

Kenya: An Online Source for Kenya Architecture

Ndesanjo Macha — Tue, 08 May 2012 09:52:20 +0000

Architecture Kenya is an online source of information for a growing number of people interested in Kenyan architectural news, projects, products, events, jobs, interviews and competitions among others.

Kenya: The Bake Blog Awards 2012

Ndesanjo Macha — Sun, 06 May 2012 11:37:30 +0000

On 5 May, 2012 the Bloggers Association of Kenya (BAKE) rewarded bloggers that post on a regular basis, have great and useful content, are creative and innovative. The awards are part of BAKE’s efforts in the promotion of quality content creation.

The Bloggers Association of Kenya is:

BAKE is a body that promotes content creation on the web in Kenya and represents a group of content creators who are of Kenyan origin, descent or are based in Kenya and want to:

Syndicate their content
Network among other fellow content creators
Get legal and communal representation from the Bloggers Association of Kenya

Announcing the Bake Blog Awards on her blog, Njeri Wangari wrote:

Blogging awards in Kenya were first and last held in the year 2006.

Run by Kenya Unlimited which hosts the Kenyan Blog Webring (KBW),an aggregator site for Kenyan blogs, Kaybee Awards 2006 took place at a time when the blogging scene was small and most bloggers knew each other by Name.

Some of those who won in the numerous categories then are still blogging to this day but there some who moved on (most to bigger things) and no longer consider themselves as bloggers.

Bankelele (right) the winner of Best Business Blog. Photo courtesy of Njeri Wangari.

The winners were selected through the following process:

1. Submissions

From March 15th to March 29th, BAKE will be accepting submissions in the competition’s 14 categories.

2. Judges Choose the Best 5

From March 29th to April 9th, judges comprised of bloggers and media experts will decide on the 5 blogs that advance to the next round in all 14 categories. These are the blogs that will be in the running to win a BAKE blog award.

3. Online voting

The ballot box will be opened on April 10th and it will close on April 26th. Before voting you’ll need to log in via your choice of Facebook or Twitter and we’ll be limiting votes to one time per category.

4. And the winner is…

The winners will be announced at a gala event on April 28th [*Date was changed to May 5].

The winners were announced at a gala event that took place at Nairobi Serena Hotel. The event was supported by corporate sponsors such as Safaricom, Google+, Microsoft, VirtualCity, Samsung, Access Kenya and was streamed live on the CapitalFm Kenya website.

And the winners for the Bake Blog Awards 2012 are:

Logo of BAKE. Image source: http://bloggers.or.ke/.

Best Business Blog

http://bankelele.blogspot.com

Best Agriculture Blog

http://emmiekio.blogspot.com

Best Creative Writing Blog

http://www.crazynairobian.com

Best Fashion Blog

http://www.nanciemwai.com

Best Food Blog

http://healthylivingkenya.wordpress.com

Best General Blog

http://muruginjehia.blogspot.com/

Best New Blog

http://www.my254.com

Best Corporate Blog

http://blog.batakenya.com

Best Photography Blog

http://www.mutuamatheka.co.ke

Best Politics Blog

http://www.dennisitumbi.com

Best Sports Blog

http://www.michezoafrika.com

Best Technology Blog

http://www.moseskemibaro.com

Best Tweep – Corporate

http://twitter.com/KenyaRedCross

Best Tweep – Individual

http://twitter.com/KoinangeJeff

Global Voices congratulates all the winners of the Bake Blog Awards 2012.

Kenya: State of Software and Intellectual Property Law in Kenya

Ndesanjo Macha — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:46:46 +0000

Learn about the state of software and intellectual property law in Kenya: “Kenya’s judiciary does not deliberate many software and IP cases and the country remains lax in terms of piracy with domestic uses of pirated software being allowed, but companies being liable for piracy if software installed on office computers or used for official purposes.”

Africa: Calls for Transparency Over Marked Increase in Land Deals

Lova Rakotomalala — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:25:59 +0000

An international coalition of researchers and NGOs have released the world's largest public database of international land deals, reports the Global Development blog of The Guardian's (UK). This marks an important milestone in highlighting a developmental issue that has received little attention in the international news cycle.

The report states that almost 5% of Africa's agricultural land has been bought or leased by investors since 2000, and emphasizes the fact that this is not a new issue, yet points out that the number of such land deals has increased tremendously in the past five years.

Many observers are increasingly worried that these land deals usually take place in the world's poorest countries and that they impact its most vulnerable population, the farmers. The benefits seldom go to the general population, partially because of a lack of transparency in the proceedings of the transactions.

An additional report by Global Witness, entitled Dealing with Disclosure, emphasizes the dire need for transparency in the making of land deals.

World's poorest nations targeted

The Global Witness report lists that 754 land deals have been identified, involving the majority of African countries for about 56.2 million hectares.

Target countries of land deals from the Land Matrix Project

The nations targeted are usually some of the poorest in the world. The countries with the most deals in place are Mozambique (92 deals), Ethiopia (83), Tanzania (58) and Madagascar (39). Some of those deals have made headlines because they were conducted to ensure control over food imports, when the targeted regions faced major food crises.

The NGO GRAIN has already explained in detail the gist of their concerns in an extensive report released in 2008:

Today’s food and financial crises have, in tandem, triggered a new global land grab. On the one hand, “food insecure” governments that rely on imports to feed their people are snatching up vast areas of farmland abroad for their own offshore food production. On the other hand, food corporations and private investors, hungry for profits in the midst of the deepening financial crisis, see investment in foreign farmland as an important new source of revenue. As a result, fertile agricultural land is becoming increasingly privatised and concentrated. If left unchecked, this global land grab could spell the end of small-scale farming, and rural livelihoods, in numerous places around the world.

In Malawi, land deals have grown increasingly prevalent to the detriment of the local farmers. A report from Bangula explains the challenges faced by Malawian farmers, Dorothy Dyton and her family:

Like most smallholder farmers in Malawi, they did not have a title deed for the land Dyton was born on, and in 2009 she and about 2,000 other subsistence farmers from the area were informed by their local chief that the land had been sold and they could no longer cultivate there. […] Since that time, said Dyton, “life has been very hard on us.” With a game reserve on one side of the community and the Shire river and Mozambique border on the other, there is no other available land for them to farm and the family now ekes out a living selling firewood they gather from the nearby forest.

Land construction in Madagascar. Photo by Foko Madagascar, used with the author's authorization

Farmers in Madagascar share similar concerns because they do not own the rights to the land they farm and an effective land reform is yet to be implemented. The Malagasy association Terres Malgaches has been at the forefront of land protection for the local population. They report that [fr]:

Les familles malgaches ne possèdent pas de document foncier pour sécuriser leurs terres contre les accaparements de toutes sortes. En effet, depuis la colonisation, l’obtention de titres fonciers auprès de l’un des 33 services des domaines d’un pays de 589 000 km2 nécessite 24 étapes, 6 ans en moyenne et jusqu’à 500 dollars US. (..) . Face aux convoitises et accaparements dont les terres malgaches font l’objet actuellement, seule la possession d’un titre ou d’un certificat foncier, seuls documents juridiques reconnus, permet d’entreprendre des actions en justice en cas de conflit.

Malagasy families do not usually own an estate property document that enable them to secure their lands against land grab. In fact, since colonial times, one has needed about 24 steps, 6 years and up to 500 US dollars to get such documents. There are merely around 33 agencies in the country that deliver such documents for a country that is 589,000 kilometres square […] In the face of the increasing land grabs that Malagasy land is currently at risk of, this certificate is the only document that can trigger legal action in case of conflict.

The association also reports on the practices of a mining company Sheritt, in Ambatovy, which have created a buzz in the local blogosphere because of environmental concerns for the local population and business malpractices (via MiningWatch Canada):

Sherritt International’s Ambatovy project in eastern Madagascar – costing $5.5 billion to build and scheduled to begin full production this month – will comprise a number of open pit mines (..) it will close in 29 years. There are already many concerns about the mine from the thousands of local people near the facilities. They say that their fields are destroyed ; the water is dirty ; the fish in the river are dead and there have been landslides near their village. During testing of the new plant, there have been at least four separate leaks of sulphur dioxide from the hydro-metallurgical facility which villagers say have killed at least two adults and two babies and sickened at least 50 more people. In January, laid-off construction workers from Ambatovy began a wildcat strike, arguing that the jobs they were promised when construction ended have not materialized. The people in nearby cities like Moramanga say that their daughters are increasingly engaged in prostitution.

Video of a worker's testimony in Ambatovy.

Solutions for the local population?

The plight of Madagascar's farmers' plight may be slowly changing though. Land reform discussions are in progress, according to this report:

According to a paper presented at the 2011 International Conference on Global Land Grabbing, about 50 agribusiness projects were announced between 2005 and 2010, about 30 of which are still active, covering a total land area of about 150,000 ha. Projects include plantations to produce sugar cane, cassava and jatropha-based biofuel.
To prevent the negative impacts of land grabbing, (The NGO) EFA has set up social models for investors, with funding from the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The goal is to help investors negotiate with the people in the area where they want to implement projects, as a way to prevent future problems.

Joachim Von Braun, formerly of the International Food Policy Insitute (IFPRI), wrote the following regarding land deals:

It is in the long-run interest of investors, host governments, and the local people involved to ensure that these arrangements are properly negotiated, practices are sustainable, and benefits are shared. Because of the transnational nature of such arrangements, no single institutional mechanism will ensure this outcome. Rather, a combination of international law, government policies, and the involvement of civil society, the media, and local communities is needed to minimize the threats and realize the benefits.

The need for transparency in land deals is further emphasized by Megan MacInnes, Senior Land Campaigner at Global Witness:

Far too many people are being kept in the dark about massive land deals that could destroy their homes and livelihoods. That this needs to change is well understood, but how to change it is not. For the first time, this report (Dealing with Disclosure) sets out in detail what tools governments, companies and citizens can harness to remove the shroud of secrecy that surrounds land acquisition. It takes lessons from efforts to improve transparency in other sectors and looks at what is likely to work for land. Companies should have to prove they are doing no harm, rather than communities with little information or power having to prove that a land deal is negatively affecting them.

Kenya: Lilian Ikal Angelei Wins Environmental Goldman Prize 2012

Ndesanjo Macha — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:17:26 +0000

Collins congratulates Lilian Ikal Angelei for wining the 2012 Goldman Environmental Prize:”Lilian Ikal Angelei is probably little known in her backyard Kenya however for the people of Turkana she is an acclaimed recusant fighting for the rights and the voice of the voiceless community against formidable financial institutions and Governments…”

Kenya: Chronicles of a Kenyan Farmer Nominated for Award

Ndesanjo Macha — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:08:26 +0000

Chronicles of a Kenyan Farmer has been nominated for the Agriculture Category has been nominated in this years BAKE Blogger Awards: “BAKE(Bloggers Associaton of Bloggers) is a body that promotes content creation on the web in Kenya…”

Africa: The New African Consumer

Ndesanjo Macha — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 11:22:30 +0000

Bankelele discusses a new report on the African Consumer: “It’s a useful road map for companies looking to understand future trends in Africa and offer lessons such as be online (Africa had more Google ad clicks than Western Europe), brands & quality matter, distribution is king, data is scare, respect country differences & act local, prepare for talent shortage, and expect to iterate (have dynamic execution).”

Kenya: Four Young African Men Stand Up to Hollywood Stereotypes

Juliana Rincón Parra — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:45:39 +0000

After watching a YouTube video by MamaHope featuring a 9 year old boy retelling the movie Commando, 4 young men from Kenya approached MamaHope wanting to make their own retelling of Hollywood movies: in their case, the stereotypes around how movies portray African men.

African Men. Hollywood Stereotypes was written by medical students Gabriel, Benard and Derrick; human resource management student Brian and MamaHope.

They said, “If people believed only what they saw in movies, they would think we are all warlords who love violence.” They, like Mama Hope, are tired of the over-sensationalized, one-dimensional depictions of African men and the white savior messaging that permeates our media. They wanted to tell their own stories instead, so we handed them the mic and they made this video.