Courtney Morgan - Kano blast: Nigeria bus station bomb toll rises

The bus station was primarily used by passengers heading to the mostly Christian south of Nigeria

The number of people killed in a suicide car bomb attack at a bus stop in the Nigerian city of Kano on Monday has risen to at least 22, police say.

Several buses were destroyed in the attack in the Sabon Gari district - which is home to many Christians from southern Nigeria.
No group has admitted responsibility, but Islamist Boko Haram militants have previously attacked Kano.
It is the largest city in the mainly Muslim north of Nigeria.
Several witnesses told Reuters that one of the buses targeted was full when the explosion happened, and was completely destroyed. At least 65 people were injured.
Police say two suicide bombers drove their explosive-laden car into the station in a Christian enclave in the predominantly Muslim commercial centre.
The BBC's Yusuf Ibrahim Yakasai in Kano says that security in the city has been substantially tightened following the blast, with the area of the explosion almost completely sealed off.

In January 2012, about 150 people died in Kano in a series of co-ordinated attacks by Boko Haram.
The group is fighting to overthrow the Nigeria government and create an Islamic state.
It is also believed to have a presence in Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Chad.
Our correspondent says that the targeted bus station is primarily used by passengers heading to the mostly Christian south of Nigeria.
President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned the violence. A statement from his office said that this "barbaric incident will not deter the federal government from its strong-willed determination to overcome those who do not mean well for this nation".
Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer. It is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

Harsh deal climate in sub-Saharan Africa

©Alamy

The Kenyan capital Nairobi is an economic powerhouse in sub-Saharan Africa

Miles Morland, a pioneering Africa investor, has spent more than two decades looking for deals in places where you can’t drink the tap water. If his experience is anything to go by, finding successful private equity opportunities has more to do with sharing a glass of the stronger stuff in African bars.
“In Africa there are hundreds of deals but you have to go and look for them. In the west, investment bankers The case for investing in sub-Saharan Africa is clear. It has some of the fastest growing economies in the world, boosted by a nascent consumer class increasingly thirsty for everything from credit to cappuccinos. And it represents just 4 per cent of the emerging markets private equity asset class – emerging Asia takes the lion’s share at 63 per cent – suggesting there is plenty of room to grow.
But even as private equity groups raise ever larger Africa funds, there are persistent murmurs in the market that there simply aren’t the deals out there to match. Mr Morland disagrees. Development Partners International, the private equity group he co-founded, has invested the $500m fund it raised in 2008 in nine deals and is raising a new fund of the same size.

Home › World News › U.S. US President to host sub-Saharan leaders on March 28

US President Barack Obama will host leaders from four sub-Saharan African countries for a meeting on March 28, the White House said late Monday, DPA reported.

Participating are presidents Ernest Bai Koroma of Sierra Leone, Macky Sall of Senegal and Joyce Banda of Malawi and Prime Minister Jose Maria Pereira Neves of Cape Verde.

The meeting "underscores the strategic importance the president places on building partnerships and substantive engagement with sub-Saharan Africa, and our commitment to working with strong and emerging African democracies," the White House said.

The agenda includes strengthening democratic institutions in sub-Saharan Africa, generating economic opportunity and expanding trade and investment.
COURT D

Coffee pest spreading to other crops in East Africa

Esther Nakkazi

12 March 2013 | EN

The coffee pest now threatens other important cash crops in East Africa

Flickr/noodlepie

[KAMPALA] East Africa's horticulture could face a severe crisis due to 'species jump' — whereby a disease moves from a known host to new and unusual ones — affecting fruits, vegetables, and medicinal and ornamental plants.
Researchers in Uganda have discovered that the Black Coffee Twig Borer, a devastating coffee pest, has crossed over from Robusta coffee to about 40 plant species including avocadoes, cocoa, eggplant, ginger, guavas, jackfruit, mangoes and tomatoes.

SPEED READ

• Coffee pest destroys 90 per cent of each infected plant, devastating the crops
• Around 40 new fruit and vegetable species, including important cash crops, are now being affected
• Expert call for better data collection and management practices

"Sooner rather than later it will also cross over to tea" — another major cash crop in the East Africa region — Africano Kangire, director of Uganda's Coffee Research Institute (CORI), tells SciDev.Net.
The researchers who addressed the media at CORI last month (6 February) say the pest has badly hit coffee farming in the region, especially in Uganda, where the indigenous Robusta coffee is widely grown.
"It has been reported in many countries in Africa, including Kenya and northern Tanzania, which are already highly infested," says Godfrey Kagezi, a researcher and entomologist at the Coffee Research Centre (COREC), based at the National Agricultural Research Organisation.
A 2012/13 COREC survey, as well as various reports by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority, show that the pest is rapidly spreading from Bundibugyo, western Uganda, where it was first reported in 1993, to other parts of the country.
The research also shows that more than 40 plant species in over 17 families are potential hosts for the pest.
According to Kagezi, it is yet to be identified in Burundi and Rwanda.
But he also flags up issues with data collection in the region: there is not enough information available on whether the disease has spread to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and all three countries need comprehensive surveys.
The pest, native to Asia, has slowly spread to the rest of the world. When the small black beetle attacks coffee, it destroys 90 per cent of the plant, as it does with both fruit and vegetables.
"Most research [regionally] has been done on coffee only and not in relation to other tree crops," says Kenneth Masuki, a researcher with the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa.
Scientists say temperature rises related to climate change could be responsible increasing the spread of species jump by creating an enabling environment for their survival.
Patrick Kucel, a COREC plant entomologist, says the pest's high reproductive ability also makes it difficult to control: the female pest is capable of reproducing both sexually and asexually, and produces about 20 offspring per week — a peculiarity among its group.
Kucel says better management practices to help reduce or eliminate infestation sources must be implemented.
This article has been produced by SciDev.Net's Sub-Saharan Africa desk.

Bolivian researchers sound alarm over quinoa farming

Cristina Pabón

12 March 2013 | EN | ES

Quinoa farming may be squeezing out llama and sheep farmers

Flickr/Johannes Roith

[LA PAZ] Bolivian scientists have warned that growing international demand for quinoa is endangering local farming practices and the environment, as well as denying access to local consumers.

Their caution follows the UN's kick off last month (20 February) of a year-long series of cultural, artistic and academic activities — along with scientific research — to celebrate 2013 as the International Year of Quinoa.
Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), a grain-like crop cultivated in the Andes for 7,000 years, has remarkable nutritional value and adapts well to a variety of growing environments.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a press release that quinoa offers an alternative food source for countries suffering from food insecurity as populations rise and the climate changes.

SPEED READ

• The FAO has launched a year of events dedicated to quinoa, a staple crop in the Andes
• Foreign demand for quinoa may be coming at the expense of soil quality and local consumers
• More research is needed to grow quinoa sustainably, though few research plans exist in Bolivia

"In Kenya and Mali, the crop is already showing high yields," it states, adding that it holds promise for cultivation "in the Himalayas, the plains of northern India, the Sahel, Yemen and other arid regions of the world".

In recent decades, the increase of exports from Andean countries to countries such as Canada, France and the United States has made quinoa an important source of income for producers in the Southern Altiplano region of Bolivia.

But local experts say that the current mode of export-oriented production is causing soil erosion, and spreading into wild areas where local communities farm livestock such as llamas and sheep.

"The cultivation of quinoa in current conditions is unsustainable," Vladimir Orsag, an agronomy researcher at the Higher University of San Andrés, in La Paz, Bolivia, tells SciDev.Net.

Satisfying foreign demand leads farmers to handle the soil poorly, not allowing it to rest fallow or be fertilised by livestock. Orsag says this leads to a decline in the quality of soil and an increase in pests.

He suggests improving the quality of the soil in areas where quinoa is already grown, rather than expanding further into wild areas.

"We need comprehensive investigation of practices to improve soil fertility, land management, and land space and therefore prevent soil erosion," Orsag says.

But there is no government strategy to boost research, he adds, although President Morales announced recently (26 February) that a project to industrialise quinoa production will begin at the end of March. Enrique Ormachea, a researcher at the Center of Studies of Labor and Agrarian Development (CEDLA), says that as long as the production of quinoa in the Southern Altiplano is driven by profit and for the foreign markets, it will be difficult to return to traditional crop management.

"Traditional farming practices corresponded to quinoa production for local consumption and this scenario has changed radically in recent years," he tells SciDev.Net.
Ormachea adds that the more cultivated areas expand, the more the production will become mechanised, use genetically improved seeds and insecticides, and require wage labour.
Orsag highlights the need for a close relationship between the responsible state institutions, such as the National Institute of Agricultural and Forestry Innovation, and universities or research centres on devising policies and improving farming practices.

He adds that current cropping practices are affecting the domestic consumption of quinoa in Bolivia, and that the country's policies should also address local consumption.Felix Mamani, a researcher at the Choquenaira Experiment Station at the Higher University of San Andrés, tells SciDev.Net that local rural communities are still eating quinoa, although in smaller proportion than in past decades.

But in urban areas, he adds, people are losing the habit of consumption, in part because prices increase with the behaviour of external markets.

Mobile phone microscope detects worm infections

Esther Nakkazi

12 March 2013 | EN

Intestinal worms cause chronic anaemia and malnutrition in children

Flickr/US Army Africa

[KAMPALA] Children suffering from intestinal worms can now be diagnosed using a mobile phone microscope that is significantly cheaper than conventional methods, which are prohibitively expensive for many communities
The microscope costs around US$15 and runs off the phone's battery, whereas a conventional light microscope costs US$200 and requires electricity in most countries.
To build the microscope, scientists transformed an iPhone 4S mobile phone into a microscope by temporarily mounting a 3-millimetre ball lens to the camera, using double-sided tape to hold it firmly. A US$8 ball lens was positioned in a small hole punctured in the middle of the double-sided tape.

SPEED READ

• The microscope is US$185 cheaper than current technology
• Mobile phone zoom enables slides to be magnified up to 60 times
• Scientists hope to increase accuracy from 70 to 90 per cent needed for clinical rollout

They then placed the mobile phone microscope on top of the slide, which was illuminated from below by a small flashlight. Images were viewed on the mobile phone screen, and magnification of up to 60 times was enabled using the digital zoom function.
Scientists from Canada, Switzerland, Tanzania and United States, used the microscope to evaluate stool samples from almost 200 children in Pemba, Tanzania, alongside conventional light microscope to measure the efficacy of different intestinal worm treatments.
A study published yesterday (11 March) in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene reports that the accuracy of the mobile phone microscope varies depending on the worm type and infection intensity. The microscope was found to detect 69.4 per cent of helminth eggs, 81 per cent of giant roundworm infections and 14 per cent of all hookworm infections.
"It is 70 per cent accurate but we think it can be up to 90 per cent," says Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital, Canada, and the study's lead author. The study reports that the microscope will only be of clinical standard when it is sensitive enough to detect 80 per cent of infections.
"It was quite successful at detecting moderate to heavy infections but not very good at detecting mild infections where there might be only a few eggs in the sample," Bogoch adds.
However, the researchers are confident the technology could be a valuable and popular tool for regions where intestinal worm infestation is widespread, due to it being easy to make, portable and cheap.
The new application is also potentially relevant in the diagnosis of other infections in the blood, urine and intestine, says Bogoch, and could work equally well with other types of phones with camera zooms.
David Walker, president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, says: "This study is an illustration of how a modest investment in tropical disease research can help reap enormous health benefits for children."
Jennifer Atim, a data specialist at Health Alert-Uganda, says the innovation is another tool for improving child health, but wonders whether it will be available since many information and communication technology related innovations fail to make the transition from lab to field in Africa.
Intestinal worms can hinder physical and mental development in children by causing chronic anaemia and malnutrition, but when diagnosed early can be treated successfully with cheap drugs.
Link to full study
This article has been produced by SciDev.Net's Sub-Saharan Africa desk

Cheap 'nano-tablet' purifies water for up to six months

Munyaradzi Makoni

15 March 2013 | EN | ES

The filter consists of a ceramic disk containing copper or silver nanoparticles

Jim Smith

[CAPE TOWN] Researchers have developed a water purification tablet comprised of nanoparticles that can be used by developing world communities with no access to clean water.The tablet, MadiDrop, invented by PureMadi — a non-profit organisation of the University of Virginia, United States — was presented at the organisation's one-year celebration event last week (8 March).
It consists of a small ceramic disk filled with silver or copper nanoparticles that is placed a water vessel, where it can repeatedly disinfect water for up to six months.

SPEED READ

• A ceramic tablet containing nanoparticles can repeatedly disinfect water for up to six months
• Its inventors, from the University of Virginia, are planning longer-term tests for durability
• However, its ultimate success will rely on both cost and social acceptability

"There is nothing easier," James Smith, a professor in the Environmental and Water Resources programme at the University of Virginia who co-leads the PureMadi project tells SciDev.Net.
"You drop it in your water container, fill the container up at night and the water will be safe to drink for all the next day." The tablet is capable of treating 20 litres of water per day.
Only trace amounts of silver and copper nanoparticles are released into the water — at levels that are safe for human consumption, but high enough to kill waterborne pathogenic micro-organisms, says Smith.
The tool developed for use in communities without safe drinking water is named 'Madi' after the Tshivenda (one of the official languages of South Africa) word for water.
Smith says there isneed for more long-term field tests on the tablet's life span.
"Based on shorter-term tests that we can extrapolate, it should work for six months," he says. "We will be conducting longer-term tests in South Africa in June, July, and August."
It is hoped that the tablet will improve the supply of safe water to the community of Mashamba in South Africa and beyond, says John Mudau, director of the Centre for Rural Development and Poverty Alleviation at the University of Venda, South Africa.
The university is ensuring that the tablet complies with South African safety standards; that education on water quality reaches the rural communities of Limpopo province that have little or no access to clean water; and that locals accept the tablet.
The process is technically viable, saysAnthonyTurton, a water and environment expert in the Centre for Environmental Management at the University of Free State, South Africa.
However, he warns that the filter's sustainability is predicated on a number of factors including cost and social acceptability.
PureMadi established a water filter factory in Limpopo province, South Africa last year, employing local workers who have already produced several hundred alternative flowerpot-like water filters.
This means that it is likely to attract support from other companies eager to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability and regional development, Turton adds.
The additional value of the tablet lies in the way it provides a transfer of skills through usage of cheap local materials and the employment of local people from deeply impoverished communities to produce these gadgets, he says.
Smith is uncertain as to how much the tablet will cost. But he adds: "If we can obtain a price point of US$5, it would likely be the least-expensive or among the least expensive point-of-use water purification methods available on the market".
This article has been produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa desk.