Africa11
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Somali Drought; Harbinger of Hard Times
For all its problems, Southern California has been a wonderful home for a lot of people over the past 100 or so years. It has nice beaches, good roads, plenty of places to eat, and, for now, a reliable supply of drinking water. Now imagine the L.A. riots had spread across the entire region, plunging…
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How Far Can a Bicycle Take You in Uganda?
In rural Uganda a bicycle is the key to many destinations. It can take you to be an entrepreneur offering delivery and taxi services, it can also increase the revenue from the crops since you will be able to transport your “Matoke” bananas to the nearest town and boost the price. A bicycle here means…
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Basic Health Care Doesn’t Have to Be of Basic Quality
While coordinating a Community Health Worker (CHW)-based asthma management program in New York City, I learned of the Millennium Villages Project (MVP), its CHW program, and of the opportunity to help build community health systems in sub-Saharan Africa. My diverse experience in healthcare gave me a unique understanding of the need for highly performing CHW…
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Colonel Qaddafi and the Great Man-made River
Behind the political impetus at work determining the fate of Colonel Muammar Qaddafi and the future of Libya lurks another issue: water.
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Improving Climate Prediction in Africa
Africa lags the developed world in weather stations but still produces a surprising amount of data. Too bad few people are using it. Scientists at Columbia University and a growing number of others—among them Bill Gates and the charity arm of Google—are pushing to open Africa’s climate archive to the world by making it free.…
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A Community-based Approach to Combating Malnutrition: What It Looks Like and How to Evaluate It
In a world of increasing rates of obesity, it is sometimes hard to remember that another type of malnutrition—undernutrition—remains a major contributor to mortality. Although all ages may be affected by malnutrition, children are most vulnerable to death and long-term disabilities caused by this disease. As such, treating and preventing undernutrition in children contribute to…
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Microsoft and the Earth Institute Launch Rural Technology Lab in Mali
By Matt Berg, ICT Director, Millennium Villages Project To demonstrate the critical role technology can play in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals to reduce poverty, the Earth Institute, Columbia University has partnered with Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Community Technology Skills program to establish a computer programmer training center at the Millennium Villages project (MVP) office…
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Helping Water Work for Women in Mali
Last month I went to visit our Mali project site with two other Water Center staffers. We visited the village and garden where we worked last year (Koila Markala and Tibibas, respectively) and many other gardens where we hope to work in the future.
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Parched for Peace: A Miniseries on the Mideast Water Crisis
For a vast majority of the past fifty years, oil and its abundance defined the Middle East. In coming years, however, that part of the world may well be defined by the dearth of a different natural resource: water.
