ADF

ADF STAFF The Russian invasion of Ukraine has set off a cascade of food shortages across many parts of Africa. The war is compounding existing problems caused by a drought and food prices that were already on the rise before the war disrupted exports. Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of wheat and maize to North and East Africa. Disruptions caused by the war have reduced supplies of imported grain, putting pressure on bakeries and other food manufacturers while driving up the price of staples such as bread. “One-third of the cereal supply of East Africa comes from those two…

ADF STAFF Michael was uneasy about taking a job aboard a Chinese trawler in the Gulf of Guinea. A young man from central Ghana, Michael had to feed his family, but didn’t like the idea of working on the kind of industrial vessel that has robbed his countrymen of food and income for decades. His unease proved prophetic, as he said he and other crew members suffered abuse from the Chinese captain and crew as well as dangerous, unsanitary working conditions. One morning, the crew noticed a damaged part of the trawler’s winch, but their pleas to fix it were…

ADF STAFF When the Islamist extremist group Ansar al-Sunna began spreading terror in the Cabo Delgado province of northern Mozambique in 2017, its fighters brandished machetes. Today, the insurgents carry assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs). Battlefield losses are a major reason for this. In 2019, when the insurgency in Mozambique was growing in strength and sophistication, its leaders pledged allegiance to the Islamic State Central Africa Province. Soon after, posts on ISIS social media platforms showed off assault rifles, dozens of ammunition magazines and several RPGs — all captured from the Mozambican military. Militant groups throughout the continent have…

ADF STAFF With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on everyone’s mind, the question from a Cameroonian journalist caught no one by surprise: How important are Africa’s security partnerships with Europe and the United States, and how do they affect Russia’s ambitions on the continent? Seated next to his U.S. Army counterpart, Malawi Land Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Chikunkha Harrison Soko breathed deeply and took the first crack at answering the complex question during a live media briefing on the last day of the 2022 African Land Forces Summit (ALFS) on March 24. “What affects Europe, affects Africa. What affects Africa, affects the whole…

ADF STAFF Participants from 14 African nations completed the International Security Management Institute (ISMI) Level 2 Fishery Inspector Training Course in Côte d’Ivoire in March. The four-day course in Abidjan offered technical training at the second level of a professional curriculum for fisheries inspectors. Financed by France, the course was led by experts from Côte d’Ivoire and the European Fisheries Control Agency, according to online news publication ModernGhana. ISMI held a Level 1 course in 2021. The aim was to train fisheries inspectors to more effectively address illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Gulf of Guinea, where experts say up to 60%…

ADF STAFF Insecurity, hunger, drought, inflation and poverty haunt Malian civilians daily as the country deals with a confluence of crises. Mali is increasingly isolated from the international community after two military coups led to regional sanctions. The ruling junta has announced plans to restore a civilian-led government but has not offered details on when and how this will happen. Mali’s recent collaboration with Russia’s infamous Wagner Group mercenaries led to accusations of human rights abuses and the departure of international security forces and support. Humanitarian groups also are sounding alarms about rising hunger as rising violence against civilians comes…

ADF STAFF At his bakery in Khartoum, Saeed Ahmed is seeing the price for everything from flour to electricity rise sharply. “But the biggest increase is in the wheat,” Ahmed told Al-Jazeera recently. “Wheat is imported, and the cost of importing has increased.” The cost of bread has risen as much as 40% in recent months. High bread prices in Sudan date back several years and have led to huge protests, but prices rose even higher after Russia invaded Ukraine in February, disrupting imports from both countries. According to Trading Economics, Sudan imports nearly $70 million in products each year…

ADF STAFF More than 800 military personnel from Djibouti, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and other countries gathered in Kenya and Rwanda for three weeks of field training and command post exercises to strengthen their ability to work together during peacekeeping operations. The activities were part of the Justified Accord exercise, sponsored by U.S. Africa Command and U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF). The exercise ended March 18. “The entire package of the exercise was tailored to address African Standby Force and U.N. complex multidimensional aspects of peacekeeping and counterterrorism, which is the enduring threat currently being experienced across the…

ADF STAFF In its continuing efforts to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, Kenya ratified the Cape Town Agreement (CTA) and the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Fishing Vessel Personnel (STCW-F) in mid-March. Adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 2012, the CTA outlines fishing vessel standards and regulations to protect crews and fisheries observers, according to Pew Charitable Trusts. Vessels engaged in IUU fishing are less likely to provide their crews with food, medicine and adequate shelter, and crew members are often forced to work in deplorable conditions, experts say. In 2021, Kenyan fishermen working…

ADF STAFF Many Africans are closely following the news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on television or the radio, but they are also feeling its impact somewhere much closer to home: the market. The ripple effect of Russia’s war continues to punish African economies, particularly in the fuel, wheat and fertilizer industries. “Once they increase petrol prices, the cost involved in transporting the goods from the farm gates to the market centers also goes up,” plantain trader Mary Tiwaa told the Ghanaian newspaper The Daily Graphic in late March. “This affects the prices of the foodstuffs.” International oil prices, a key…