Pambazuka News 504: Biopiracy, biodiversity and food sovereignty

Afronie

Firing up the local production of knowledge is crucial to escaping the ‘industry of development’, writes Luca Bussotti.

Software piracy is becoming unnecessary. Open source software packages are becoming as user-friendly and adding as many features as proprietary packages - even in scientific circles. Africa should embrace open source scientific software, argues this article.

Zimbabwe's economy will grow for the second successive year in 2010 due to positive policies and strong commodity prices, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday, while calling for more reforms to sustain the recovery. An IMF team that visited between Oct 25 and Nov 3 for routine discussions with government and the private sector said Zimbabwe would have a budget surplus this year, among other signs of improved economic conditions.

Every year a noxious black smog hangs over Egypt as the seasonal burning of rice straw by farmers begins, and with it comes a surge in allergic reactions and lung infections. The inky haze lasts from October to November; it is a time when hospitals see a rise in patient numbers, and parents consider keeping their children out of school to avoid the worst of the throat-burning smog. 'Straw burning-induced pollution causes acute health problems,' Mahmud Abdel Meguid, chairman of the state-run A...read more

An epidemic akin to polio, which has raged for nearly two weeks in the main commercial city in southern Congo, Pointe-Noire, has already killed eight, and several dozen cases have been reported, say health officials. 'Patients admitted to hospitals have flu-like symptoms. They are also presenting with paralysis starting in the lower limbs which spreads to the upper limbs,' said Director-General of Health Alexis Elira Dockekias.

Pages