Kenya Food Prices

By Paul Ndiho

May 22, 2012

Kenya has shifted from a drought that threatened millions people without food in 2011, to floods that are sweeping through fields and compromising harvests.  Food prices remain high and consumers in east Africa’s biggest economy are hurting. 

At one of Nairobi’s biggest open air food markets, the colors of ripe fruit and vegetables displayed in heaps around muddy stalls, brighten up a dull rainy day.

The kangemi market, which lies strategically along the highway that links the fertile right valley region to the Kenyan capital to the west, has always been cheaper than what you would find deeper within the city.  But in the last five years buyers say the cost of food, like in every other part of the county has continued to rise.

"We have not seen the food prices drop anywhere because even when we go to the wholesale market we find that the prices are high and when we try and sell it to our buyers it is impossible."

Record high food prices last year helped to fuel the demonstrations in east Africa. Domestic food prices remain high due to a combination of large quantities of food imports and factors such as regional trade restrictions, hoarding, civil unrest, poor governance and climate change.

A United Nations report released in April showed that world food prices eased after rising during the first quarter of this year.

Economic analyst James Shikwati says supermarkets were keeping prices high for consumers willing to pay more for convenience, forcing wholesale markets like Kangemi to follow in order to stay relevant.

"the causes of food prices going up in Kenya is the disruption of transportation system caused by the heavy rains that's one of them the of course the other cause is the competition between what i will call the super market surge visa - visa the open air markets where now everybody is trying to position to be able to be meaningful to the market."

In another part of Kenya, the Maasai people of Namelok in Amboseli region are trying to adapt to changing weather patterns by coming up with new farming methods aimed at improving their food security. They are traditionally livestock keepers, but successive droughts have decimated many of their animals, so they broke with tradition and now cultivate tomatoes, maize and beans.

United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Administrator Helen Clark recently visited the area ahead of the launch of the Africa human development report. Helen noted that across Africa a big answer to fighting hunger and food shortages is empowering women farmers.

"this cooperative of women working with a local non-governmental organization has found a way to move forward, so this story needs to be told many times to inspire other communities to think that it is possible to be able to have a livelihood as things around you are changing, as the climate is changing, and things can't be done the way they used to be."

Some women in this region earned a living by trading goats at the local market after their husbands left them with children to feed-- but the income is unreliable.  Now, the women's group has leased two acres of land with the help of a small local charity, and they've already had one successful harvest.

"We would like to farm more arable land and do this on a bigger scale, and we want to learn better agricultural practices, so that we can become a society that can sustain itself."

Analysts say tourism is a major earner of foreign exchange for Kenya-- and the community has recognized that conservation can also bring economic benefits.

Some critics say the government has failed to harness the water available for storage and farming in areas that require irrigation-- and to serve populations without access to drinking water and electricity.

Shikwati says Kenya needs to prioritize food security as much as it does other sectors of the economy.

"If Kenya continues to rely on other countries to govern its food security policies, they can never be food secure because it's the same comparison with national security they try as much as possible to have an internal mechanism to ensure the country is secure so i think the same needs to be applied to food,"

After decades of neglect, critics are urging African governments to pay more attention to the importance of investing in agriculture -- if not for food security-- then for political stability, as a way to avoid the riots over high food prices that affected several countries in 2008. 

Congo Aviation Safety

 By Paul Ndiho

May 15, 2012

The Democratic Republic of Congo has few passable roads traversing the country, forcing much of the population to rely on ill-maintained planes. But the central African country has one of the worst air safety records in the world, with notoriously lax safety regulations. In order to restore the confidence of its passengers and investors, the airline Fly Congo has introduced a new fleet of airliners and promised to tighten safety procedures.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) says that the Democratic Republic of Congo has one of the world’s worst records for aviation accidents. The country rates poorly in overall aviation safety.

But earlier this month, an airline whose license had been revoked in the wake of a July 2011 crash that killed 74 people, resumed operations. Fly Congo, known previously as Hewa Bora, opened a new Kinshasa-Kisangani-Goma route as part of its effort to revamp and rebrand the airline.

Passengers on board one of the relaunched airline's first flights are hopeful safety problems are a thing of the past.

 

 

"Sometimes it's a purely technical problem. I cannot confirm , but I am pretty certain that following past incidents of plane crashes, I think that company bosses will now try to improve the airlines quality, because having planes crashes all the time does not help anyone.”

DRC is Africa's second-largest country, and one of the most inaccessible countries on the continent. Its dense forests, rivers and mountainous terrain make ground transport problematic, leaving aviation as the only option for fast and efficient travel. Experts say aviation oversight, in spite of the periodic government statements following such disasters, has remained patchy at best. They say none of the promised fundamental overhauls has taken place, leaving in operation "flying coffins," as the Soviet-era planes are often dubbed in Congo and other countries in Africa. Both airline and ground infrastructure leave much to be desired in terms of international safety standards.

"I think that the current infrastructures at many of the country’s airport’s control towers are inadequate, but they are working on it. We are closely following that in the news. They (the authorities) are working towards improving the infrastructure, so that we can have more reliable communication in

United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classifies Congo as non-compliant with standards established by the International Civil Aviation Organization.

As a result, Congolese airlines are banned from flying within the European Union airspace. Since records began in 1950s, there have been 65 fatal accidents in DRC, with 878 fatalities. Seven of the incidents took place in the last two years.

Goma, where another Hewa Bora crash killed 40 in 2008, was chosen as a site for the launch event, which gathered local politicians and airline officials.

Gedeon Mangolopa, Goma's airport director, says he hopes customer confidence will return once the international standards of the airline and the airport are confirmed.

"We estimate that the plan that we are going to put forward will lead to the airport of Goma being able to once again operate to international standards. We ask the people to respect the rules, and to not believe that we are trying to push or manhandle them, but rather that we are trying to implement international regulations, so that we can attract other airline companies,"

To restore confidence and increase the safety of the airline, Fly Congo undertook to destroy six of Hewa Bora's airplanes and replace them with newer fleet. The aircrafts are being scrapped for parts.

"At the moment, these are planes that can no longer be used for public transport, so we have to turn to planes that are more economical and which are newer."

The airline is planning to open a new international route between Kinshasa and Johannesburg, South Africa later in the year.

Press Freedom Attacks in Africa

By Paul Ndiho

May 3, 2012

The 2012 freedom of the press report released today says that out 197 countries assessed during 2011, a total of 66 countries were rated free, 72 were rated partly free and 59 countries were rated not free at all.

The state of press freedoms in Africa continued to be a hot topic in 2011.  More than 13 African countries introduced new legislation last year that restricted press freedoms and allowed regimes to control domestic media. The report released by freedom house, a media watch dog based in Washington, DC says 10 percent of counties in sub-Saharan Africa were rated free, 47 percent partly free-- and 43% not free.   The horn of Africa was cited for the worst in attacks against the press on the continent, with Eritrea jailing 28 journalists - the most in Africa.  Ethiopia ranked among the top 10 oppressors of internet journalists and some are currently on trial on terrorism charges.   Somalia is Horn of Africa’s deadliest nation for the media; at least five journalists have been assassinated. 

 Angolan government introduced a bill that would criminalize the use of social media, electronic dissemination of "recordings, pictures, and video" of any individual without the subject's consent.

In Cameroon, the government detains journalists for investigating official misconduct, demonizes social media users and criminalizes certain online speech.

The democratic republic of the Congo – DRC made the list too and attacks on the press hit a five-year, all-time high in November 2011.  Attacks on the press were concentrated in the capital, Kinshasa, and surrounding areas.

Equatorial Guinea, did not pretend either the authorities imposed a news blackout on coverage of Arab uprisings and the use of Social Media 

In Gambia, a radio station is forced to eliminate news, leaving no independent broadcasters and the whereabouts of reporter detained by the government remain a mystery

Ivory Coast, did not fare well either because of partisan media outlets, journalists were attacked in presidential power struggle.  Ouattara pledged reconciliation, but his government retaliated against Pro-Gbagbo media.

Rwanda was cited as one of the worst place for independent journalists. Two independent journalists received lengthy prison sentences and journalists working for independence continue to flee the country.

In South Africa the anti-press rhetoric by the African National Congress - ANC, several assaults on journalists were reported and, ruling party pushed through a secrecy bill

Nationwide Uganda protests over "walk to work" demonstrations led to anti-press attacks and censorship, two journalists shot, dozens assaulted. The government security forces continue to assault opposition leaders and innocent civilians.

In Zimbabwe official media harassment is down slightly, but restrictive laws and regulations against journalists remain. Government raised accreditation fees, but moves slowly on issuing private broadcast licenses