Development Blogs.com

from Sky News...

from Red Dragon FM The direct link below also has some video, that I couldn't embed here. Another report on how the rising food prices are hitting the poorest regions of the world. - KaleMillions of East Africans are at risk of starvation due to rocketing food prices, Oxfam has warned.Spiralling costs combined with successive droughts, violent conflict and endemic poverty have left up to 13 million in the region in urgent need of aid.Oxfam has called for immediate action and increased donor support to avert the coming crisis, noting that a UN appeal for emergency assistance for Somalia has received only 37 per cent of funding needed.Food costs have soared in recent months, with the cost of imported rice in Somalia rising by 350 per cent since the beginning of last year.Areas of...

from All AfricaThe East African (Nairobi)By Paul RedfernThe UK aid agency Oxfam is insisting that last week's interim trade deal between the East African Community and the European Union was a result of undue arm-twisting of African ministers behind the scenes.Although the allegations have been denied by East African trade ministers, Oxfam says the December 31 deadline imposed for a deal to be signed, forced ministers' hands."Developing nations have been placed under enormous pressure to sign," said Luis Morago, head of Oxfam International's European Union office. "Despite concerns raised by many including the IMF, the Commission has ignored possible alternatives and insisted on the deadline."They have essentially forced the East Africans to choose between guaranteeing markets for their...

from The East AfricanSOMEWHERE, SOME TIME THIS year, a baby will be born on the 25th floor of a city hospital or the dirt floor of a dark slum shack; a first-year college graduate will rent a cramped apartment in lower Manhattan or a family of five will finally concede their plot of farm land to an encroaching desert — or sea — and turn towards Jakarta or La Paz or Lagos in search of a new livelihood and a new home.The arrival of this family or graduate or baby will tip the world’s demographic scale and, for the first time in history, more than half the human population will live in cities.At present, 3.3 billion people live in urban centres across the globe. By 2030, this number is predicted to reach five billion, with 95 per cent of this growth in developing countries. Over the...

from All AfricaEast African Standard (Nairobi)NEWSBy Elizabeth MwaiNairobiSustained growth in the Jua Kali sector would go a long way in uplifting the living standards of the poor.In this respect, the Government will expand the sector to allow more youths to participate in it, said President Kibaki."This work should continue to expand in order to improve the welfare of the people," said Kibaki.He was speaking on Sunday at the closing of the weeklong East Africa Community (EAC) Jua Kali Nguvu Kazi exhibition at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.The aim of the exhibition was to share culture and tradition amongst EAC members.Earlier, Kibaki attended Mass at the Holy Family Basilica before proceeding to KICC on foot.The theme of the exhibition was, 'Promotion of regional...