Charcoal-coated seeds could help reverse deforestation in Kenya
Deforestation is an immense problem for the Kenyan people. Each year, a staggering 120,000 acres of forests are lost due to illegal logging and urbanization. That also leads to a serious water shortage in the country because trees collect, filter, and release rain into streams and rivers. In an Read More...
Kenya aims to achieve 100 percent green energy transition in just two years
In a quest to help halt global warming, Kenya plans to connect its entire power grid to renewables by 2020. Currently, 70 percent of the nation’s installed electricity capacity comes from renewable energy sources, which is more than three times the global average. The country has achieved such Read More...
Kenya plans to supply 100 percent green energy with the help of geothermal power
Geothermal power is one of the cleanest and most sustainable forms of energy that can be harnessed on Earth and it accounts for almost half of Kenya’s electricity supply. The East African country is not planning on stopping there as it’s scaling up efforts to attain 100 percent green energy Read More...
Water hyacinths: Turning a curse into a cure
A Kenyan teacher Richard Awra uses water hyacinths in a new biofuel to combat both problems of energy poverty and plant overgrowth. The Kenya Marine institute estimates has covered about 10,360 hectares of Lake Read More...
US solar firms invest to power more than 200.000 homes in rural Kenya
Decentralized solar holds huge potential to meet electricity demand in regions of the world where no centralized power grid is available. California-based Powerhive and First Solar plan to reach more than 200,000 homes and businesses with solar-powered micro-grids. The project will address some Read More...
Traveling perspective
Does traveling make one optimistic? I pondered this question during the 20-hour flight from Nairobi, Kenya to San Francisco, California. I was returning from a week in Mombasa, Kenya attending meetings and giving a keynote speech about my International Bill of Rights work. My answer: yes. Even when Read More...
Vitamin Angels combats malnutrition with nutritional supplements
How giving every child basic nutrition may provide a starting point for tackling Africa's other challenges.. Reuben Kyama | Sept/Oct 2009 issue Touching down in Eldoret, a rural town about 185 miles (300 kilometers) from Nairobi near the Ugandan border in western Kenya, everything seemed Read More...
AfriGadget: Using African ingenuity to solve everyday problems
What if you live in a slum in one of Africa's big cities and you can't afford to buy a soccer ball? Editors | Jan/Feb 2009 issue Photo: Erik Hersman What if you live in a slum in one of Africa’s big cities and you can’t afford to buy a soccer ball? You make one yourself, of Read More...
Africa by air
For 20 years, George Steinmetz, has taken aerial pictures from a motorized paraglider flying above some of the most stunning landscapes in Africa. George Steinmetz | November 2008 issue Photographer George Steinmetz has seen it all, in ways most people could never imagine. For some 20 years, the Read More...
Caravan for change
What do you do when youth don't get involved in social issues? Rachel Wambui Kung'u has the answer: hit the road on a camel. Marco Visscher | November 2004 issue Rachel Wambui Kung’u lives half the year in London and the other half in one of the vast slums of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Read More...