China's attitude towards Africa was apparent in a slogan at a summit on Africa in Beijing. Photo: stephenrwalli (flickr)

Deborah Brautigan doesn't argue with critics who call China's interest in Africa self-serving. But she may be one of the first American academics to declare that China's deeds will be good for Africa, too.

It's an argument she expands in The Dragon's Gift, a new book analyzing the development of China's Africa policies over the last few decades.

Brautigan asserts that China's investments are integrating African countries into the global economy more quickly because, unlike Western countries, the nation invests in an array of industries. In Angola, for example, China has built roads, schools, hospitals, and irrigation systems in the country's interior — even though its oil wealth is far offshore. Brautigan also cites a telling remark by a Nigerian diplomat: "The Chinese are trying to get involved in every sector of our economy. If you look at the West, it's oil, oil, oil and nothing else."

And on a continent rife with corruption, China's style of development actually leaves less room for embezzlement than does the World Bank model, points out a book review in The Morning Star. Rather than funneling money through potentially corrupt government officials, China pays Chinese companies to head up infrastructure projects.

Brautigan acknowledges that China's behavior in Africa is sometimes far from saintly. Some have complained that Chinese companies do not respect local labor laws, as happened at a mine in Congo, and others worry that Chinese companies will have a negative environmental impact on the continent.

While not negligible, Brautigan sees these violations as small in comparison to what China's investments could mean for Africa, and in comparison to the failed promise of other foreign aid there. As an AidWatchers review noted, this "book seeks to compare Chinese aid to Western aid as it really is, not as we wish it were."

Wadango has already distributed around 10,000 solar-powered lanterns. Photo: **Mary** (flickr)

In rural Kenya nearly everyone uses kerosene as their main source of power. For those living on less than $1 a day — as about half the population does — this expense takes away a significant portion of their income. Kerosene costs the average African family almost $100 a year, according to the blog White African. And that's why Evans Wadongo's goal of providing solar-powered lanterns to rural Kenyans is so admirable.

In fact, Evans Wadongo and his work with solar lanterns was featured in a recent "CNN Heroes" video. In the video, Wadongo shows how these simple lanterns can do much good for rural Kenyans.

Families with solar lanterns can now spend the money they used to spend on kerosene on necessities like food and medicine. The lanterns are also much better for studying at night. Kerosene lanterns smother kids in smoke and can be harsh on their eyes because the light they give off is so dim. Solar lanterns provide brighter light without all the pollution — giving both kids and the environment a brighter future.

Thanks to Wadongo and his nonprofit sponsor Sustainable Development for All-Kenya, 10,000 of these lanterns have been distributed to rural Kenyans for free. You can help out by clicking here and donating to Sustainable Development for All-Kenya. A $20 donation provides a solar lantern for a family in need.

Angola has an estimated 13 billion barrels of oil. Photo: Kaysha (flickr)

Angola is consistantly ranked as one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world. But a recent Economist article suggests that thanks to Angola's extensive oil reserves, things are starting to improve. In fact, Angola's economy is expected to grow by 8 percent this year, which would make the country one of the top five economic performers worldwide.

But having an economy dependent on oil can have its downsides, the Economist points out. For example, after several years of ever-increasing oil prices, the price of oil rapidly declined in 2008 — dragging Angola's economy down with it.

Despite this volatility, Angola's economy has recently gotten back on track. And thanks to new government initiatives, the Economist reports that the people are starting to see the benefits.

The government plans to build one million homes for shack-dwellers by 2012. Teachers and doctors are being trained, children sent back to school, clinics opened, water-purification plants installed, electricity brought to villages and urban slums. José Eduardo dos Santos, Angola's autocratic yet popular leader for the past 30 years, has even pledged — for the first time — to reduce corruption.

Transparency International's 2009 Corruption Perception Index is out. Where does your country rank?

A photo of what is believed to be William Kamkwamba's first windmill. Photo: whiteafrican (flickr)

When I was fourteen, I was busy going to drama rehearsals, shopping at the mall and fighting with my brother. But when William Kamkwamba was fourteen, he built a windmill to bring electricity to his rural village in Malawi by studying pictures in a library text book and using whatever materials he could find.

Watch this video, from Yes! Magazine, for his truly inspiring story:

You can follow William's current projects on his blog and and support his work in Malawi by donating here.

The Indus River has the potential to provide hydroelectric power to millions - who will hold power over that power is what's causing a logjam. Photo: Michael Foley (flickr)

India and Pakistan have both vowed to build hydroelectric dams along an upper branch of the Indus river, only 70 kilometers apart from each other. Two new hydroelectric power sources would seem like good news for these energy-hungry economies, but there's a catch. According to the terms of the 1960 Indus Water Treaty between the two countries, there's only space for one hydroelectric plant in this part of the long-disputed Jammu and Kashmir valley —
and that's the plant that's completed first.

As the race heats up — India has forecast completion for 2016, and Pakistan one year later — Pakistan hopes to edge past India's projected finish line by hiring on Chinese companies to speed up progress.

So what else is at stake in this standoff? Experts, on the condition of anonymity, recently told The Rising Kashmir Daily Newspaper that Pakistan is reaching out to China to give them an edge over India and compensate for their geographical disadvantage, saying,

Pakistan, being the lower riparian state, faces geographical disadvantage. It fears that India's Kishenganga project will have a devastating effect on its hydro-power plans, besides adversely affecting 1,33,209 hectares of agricultural land in Pakistan administered Kashmir. To stem these fears it has signed up with Chinese companies to complete the project and secure priority rights for the river.

A recent Ground Report article regarding SAAMA News correspondent Ibrahim Malick’s report that at least 20 different UN bodies concur that India and Pakistan are the two likeliest combatants for any near-future water war further illuminates what's at stake in the ongoing Indo-Pak water disputes. Ground Report is quick to point out that these two countries are both nuclear-armed, making the situation, and the potential global consequences, all the more serious.

Telltale precursors to this potential water war are already abundant on both sides of the border, including the unambiguous recommendation by the Pakistani Urdu press for war as a solution to the problem. India, in a more circuitous approach, is enforcing "punishment through water"on Pakistan for their lack of action regarding the recent terrorism attacks in India. Clearly, the prospect for a quick, effective resolution is grim.

As Indus water commissioners from India and Pakistan continue to meet in hopes of resolving issues relating to water resources and hydroelectric power generation in the region, the true losers in the South Asian water wars may end up being the forgotten residents of the very valleys the Indus River and its tributaries flow through.

According to The Bombay News,"electricity remains a distant dream for the residents of the Gurez valley of Jammu and Kashmir despite ample water resources existing in the region." Even though the Kishenganga hydroelectric plant is being built in the Gurez valley, the power from the plant will be transmitted to other, more populous and politically influential Indian states such as Himchal Pradesh, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh.

Shazia Tabasum, a student and Gurez valley resident, told The Bombay News, "[t]here is so much water here. The government has to take steps to put an end to the power crisis. The electricity is supplied through diesel generators. As long as diesel is there we get electricity, but if the diesel goes out of stock, we live in dark and have to wait for fifteen days to one month for the next stock to reach our place."

Unless the Indian government responds to pleas like these from local residents, they'll have to continue getting by with two to three hours of diesel-generated electricity a day. And by the looks of it, the government has its hands full making the power available in the first place.

Iraq's most lucrative export after oil - dates - has seen declining production since the American-led invasion began in 2003. Photo: Ikhlasul Amal (flickr)

The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and the subsequent violence has left the country struggling to survive. Now, Iraq’s economy is suffering even more due to declining production in one of its most thriving exports after oil: dates.

Dates are highly nutritious and a staple food in Iraq. Before the war, a typical palm tree was yielding 130 – 175 pounds of dates per year, compared to only 30 pounds of fruit last year, reports the New York Times. The country used to produce about 75 percent of the world’s dates at one point, but today Iraq has fallen behind many other Arab countries leading in date production.

The lack of “sufficient electricity, machinery and a drought” has severely damaged the agricultural industry, says Iraqi economist Ghazi al-Kenan. Prior to the U.S.-led invasion, there were more than 150 date processing factories. Today there are six.

Another factor contributing to the decline in date production is that the country's trade ministry — which is responsible for buying agricultural products for export from farmers — isn't purchasing dates at a high enough price to cover production costs for farmers, reports the New York Times.

But the decline in date production is causing more than just agricultural and economic problems for Iraq. Public health and the environment are also feeling the effects. Baghdad has experienced more sand storms, increased asthma cases and respiratory illnesses due to the shrinking of depleted farms and orchards surrounding the capital.

With the global economic downturn affecting oil prices, prospects for the date industry are looking grim. The Trade Ministry tells the New York Times that "it cannot afford to raise payments to farmers.”

Ditch your car keys and tie up your laces. Photo: Geir Halvorsen (flickr)

Does your neighborhood influence your driving habits?

A University of California at Davis study has found that neighborhoods boasting corner stores, restaurants, coffee shops, hardware stores and other small businesses inadvertently encourage residents to run their errands by foot, rather then by car. About 87 percent of respondents that live less than .5 miles from a grocery store said that they chose to walk instead of drive about six times a month. In contrast, about a third or respondents from less walk-friendly neighborhoods said they walked to complete a single errand in a month's time.

When you add it all up, people living withing walking distance of stores end up driving 42 percent fewer miles than their car-dependent counterparts. Grist points out the importance of this reduction on a global scale. If more people lived in walk-friendly neighborhoods, they would drive fewer miles, and thus, reduce carbon emissions.

The Mekong River. Photo: tashandsmoked(flickr)

Before it reaches the sea, the Mekong River travels more than 2,500 miles through Tibet, China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. It is estimated that more than 60 million people depend on the river in some way. But the dams are changing the river and impacting the people who depend on it.

For better or worse, four dams are already in place and 11 are on their way, most of which will be in China.

China is working to reduce their dependence on coal, and get more power from renewable sources like hydroelectricity, according to IRIN, the UN news agency, which reports that "governments downstream claim the hydroelectric dams will cut electricity costs."

The dams currently generate over 3,000 megawatts of electricity, says Radio Free Asia. A Portland General Electric representative told me that's enough electricity to power a city about the size of Portland, Oregon — with a population of 575,000 people — for an entire year.

Besides energy, the dams also help to regulate the rivers flow. As IRIN reports, supporters are saying this is a pretty impressive perk, since the region's unpredictable rains often times cause a flood or drought.

But others, including locals, don't think so highly of the dams.

According to the Foundation for Ecological Recovery, the river's fishing industry alone is worth up to $3 billion annually, and the existing dams are already decreasing that profit. Mekong fisherman Ouy Chai tells Al Jazeera that "before you could catch 10-20 fish in one day and now you can fish all week and not catch anything." His wife says, "I'm scared. What will be left for our children and grandchildren to eat?"

In the same vein, many environmentalists are saying that the dams are harsh on the environment, causing erosion and harming biodiversity. Nguyen Huu Chien, head of the environment and natural resource management program at Can Tho University, tells Radio Free Asia that "it is like a blood vessel in the human body. When we build dams, it is like a blockage in the veins: it will definitely affect other areas."

Despite the protesting and petitioning efforts of those against the dams, IRIN reports that two new ones are currently underway.

Greenland is melting, but newly discovered energy resources might help its economy. Photo: ...Tim (flickr)

Life is difficult in a country that is 80 percent ice.

That's why 58,000-person Greenland has a different stake in climate change than the rest of us: warming could lead to economic growth.

The ice cap covering most of the country has begun to melt, uncovering oil and gas deposits in the Arctic Ocean. The Economist reports that the Arctic could hold 90 billion barrels of oil and 47 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, most near Greenland.

The government's interest in thawing areas has increased since June, when Greenland was promised gradual autonomy from Denmark, its colonial overseer since 1721. Greenland's government now controls the destiny of its resources, a situation recently profiled in The Economist.

Greenland's lack of economic opportunities fuels social problems. Unemployment is high and educational levels are low. Most export revenues come from fishing, but the government relies on aid from Denmark amounting to about $11,000 per Greenlander per year. Widespread depression, alcoholism, suicide and domestic violence help place Greenland's life expectancy below that of many other developing countries.

A group of boys fish beside the resident garbage dump in Equatorial Guinea. Photo: John & Mel Kots (Flicker)

Equatorial Guinea is, to most, a relatively unknown country squeezed between Cameroon and Gabon on Africa’s eastern coast. But this tiny country with a spotty past is a rarity in today's economic climate. The New Yorker's Steve Coll recently traveled to Equatorial Guinea and reports that somewhat amazingly, Equatorial Guinea's economy is relatively stable.

Coll’s short piece is accompanied by photos, which are perhaps the most effective way to communicate his point: That the citizens of Equatorial Guinea are finally reaping the benefits that 20 years of oil revenue — wealth that had only been shared among the country's political elites until very recently.

Equatorial Guinea is by no means a success story yet, as many citizens still don’t have access to potable water and more than 70 percent live below the poverty line.

Perhaps Coll is prematurely hopeful, but the modest economic gains made Equatorial Guinea amid a global economic downturn are worthy of notice nonetheless.

China's Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydro-electric power station. Photo: PVCG (flickr)

Can China go green without disrupting their economic growth?

Fossil fuels provide most of the energy powering the world’s post populated country, but last month China committed to producing more energy from cleaner sources.

Liu Zhenya — the president of China's largest electric provider — said that China aims to produce 35 percent of its energy from "low-emissions" sources by 2020 at a press conference in Beijing, tells Bloomberg.com.

China is currently the world's leader in renewable energy production. However, a study by Wharton University shows that low emissions sources like hydro-electricity, wind power, and solar power make up only 8 percent of the nation's total energy capacity.

China’s demand for energy is expected to double over the next decade as well — increasing consumption rates, massive amounts of industrial exports, and construction growth could potentially push electricity consumption to nearly 8 trillion kilowatt-hours a year. At that rate China would consume twice as much the United States, which is the next biggest energy consumer after China.

Considering that China’s growth in energy consumption has more than tripled the world’s average in past years and nearly 90 percent of China's energy still comes from coal and oil, the Wharton University report estimates that the nation will need $3.7 trillion to maintain its projected energy growth.

For China, the numbers don’t add up. Their demand for energy is going to double over the next eleven years and the majority of their energy capacity is highly dependent on coal. The climb to 35 percent is either going to be relatively steep or they are going to spend a lot of money converting fossil fuels.

Kamwi Alphonse, 65, lives in the Bulengo displacement camp and makes charcoal primarily for his family, but occasionally sells it as well. He sells a plastic bag for 600 Francs — about a dollar. Photo: Miguel Samper for Mercy Corps

This has been reposted from the Mercy Corps blog.

Most people have heard of conflict or "blood" diamonds, but fewer may be aware of conflict charcoal. The charcoal trade in Congo's North Kivu Province is primarily controlled by a long-standing rebel group. Much of the charcoal in Goma is produced from trees in Virunga National Park.

While in Goma recently, Balemba, an employee of the park service (ICCN), came to speak to Mercy Corps about activities in the park. The ICCN patrols the park regularly, both to protect the gorilla population, but also to discourage charcoal production in the park. Balemba works with communities that live on the borders of Virunga National Park and strives to find ways to increase revenue for the local population in an environmentally friendly way.

Currently it is common practice for communities to engage in the charcoal trade as a way to make money. As an alternative, the ICCN is distributing biomass briquette presses to local associations. The associations receive training on how to make the briquettes and are responsible for collecting the biomass (which includes dried grass, sawdust or paper) needed to make them.

One press can produce approximately 500 briquettes per day. The briquettes can be used to cook with and are a cleaner energy source than charcoal. Mercy Corps is currently distributing briquettes to 700 beneficiaries for use in fuel efficient stoves.

Balemba warned that while the briquettes are largely a positive development, there are negative consequences to offsetting the charcoal trade. Briquette presses may be destroyed by the rebels that control the charcoal trade, or community members may be forced to produce or transport charcoal for them.

As with most things in Congo, it's a complex situation.

By the summer of 2008, the price of rice had increased five times from the average price in 2005. Photo: Thatcher Cook for Mercy Corps

The following post is from One Table, a Mercy Corps campaign to fight world hunger by investing in the world's women.

Today almost a billion people worldwide are unable to buy or grow enough food to avoid malnutrition. That's 120 million more than were hungry in 2006.

What happened? Basically, the world saw dramatic spikes in food prices. But there were many underlying causes of what's known as the global food crisis:

• Drought and other climate-related problems that resulted in smaller harvests
• Changing diets — rise of the middle class in India and China and an increased demand for food, especially meat, which requires large amounts of grain to raise
• Diversion of crops from food production to the production of biofuels
• High fuel prices during 2008 — if it costs more to transport food, prices go up
• Declining investments in agricultural productivity — total agriculture development aid to poor countries plunged from $8 billion in 1984 to $3.4 billion in 2004. At the same time, the developing world's cities have been ballooning with people who do not grow any of their food
• Export bans and restrictions last year in several major grain-producing countries like China as governments sought to lower food prices for their own citizens, with the result of reducing the global supply on hand.

While food prices have come down from their highs of 2008, they remain substantially above historic levels. Many economists feel this trend, which most severely affects those who can least afford it, is likely to continue for some time.

The economic, health and societal costs of the global food crisis have been severe. One of the first things Mercy Corps did to figure out how and where to direct our efforts was to survey the communities where we work. We discovered that within communities Mercy Corps serves, roughly 70 percent of income is spent on food, and 80 percent of the population had been affected by rising food prices over the past year. The survey also confirmed something we already suspected: that families were coping with higher prices by eating fewer meals, selling off household belongings, going into debt and removing children from school so that they can work.

In addition to being a record year for food prices, it's also been a record year for our food security team, allowing Mercy Corps to aggressively respond to this crisis. We now have 17 programs in 13 countries designed specifically to respond to this on-going problem. Through support from donors including USAID, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gap Foundation, the Hunger Site, and private individuals, our Food Crisis Response employs a strategy designed to ensure that the groundwork for increased prosperity in the future is laid — even while addressing the immediate problem of accessing sufficient food.

Food distributions, much of which are specifically targeted to improve child nutrition, are taking place in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, in the Central African Republic, India, Indonesia, Liberia, Nepal, Niger, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Uganda and again Zimbabwe, Mercy Corps is helping hungry households to access food by providing employment opportunities, agricultural training and inputs (such as seeds and tools), and helping people establish and grow small businesses.

Combined, these programs are reaching almost 1.5 million individuals who have been directly impacted by higher food prices. Overall, Mercy Corps’ Crisis Response will lead to a sustainable increase in income for these people, leading in turn to greater food security over the long-term.

What happens when tens of thousands of impoverished Africans sue one of Britain's biggest oil companies for sickening them with toxic waste?

In 2006, the British company Trafigura unloaded a ship full of untreated chemical slop at a household garbage dump in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. Scores of people living nearby were diagnosed with poisoning, hundreds lost their livelihoods as trash-scavengers, and 17 died. Now, 30,000 residents are suing the oil trading company for exposing them to toxic sludge. The company paid for a clean-up and admitted to "neglecting its duty of care," but has denied responsibility for the poisonings. The trial starts this fall.

Al Jazeera chronicles this David-versus-Goliath tale of Britain's biggest-ever lawsuit in the first installment of Corporations on Trial, which covers five lawsuits that pit ordinary people against the world's most powerful and wealthy corporations.

The other shows are just as compelling: Yesterday, the program aired the story of why Native American villagers in Alaska are suing Exxon Mobil. Next week, learn why 40,000 Indonesians who fled their homes after a volcanic eruption blame a gas company for their troubles.