ADF

ADF STAFF Enraged that foreign trawlers continuously deprive them of food and income, artisanal fishermen in Ghana are using a new smartphone app to detect and report illegal fishing. More than 100 fishermen in Ghana are using the app called Dase, meaning “evidence” in Fante, a Ghanaian dialect. It was recently developed by the Environmental Justice Foundation, a nongovernmental organization that works to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in West Africa. Fisheries are vitally important to Ghana, where more than 100,000 fishermen and 11,000 canoes operate, according to Steve Trent, executive director of the foundation. The app is also…

ADF STAFF In the grips of crisis upon crisis, Sudan declared a three-month state of emergency in early September, as the country experienced its worst flooding in 30 years. Torrential rains and flash floods have affected more than 875,000 people and resulted in at least 150 deaths. Thousands of farms and tens of thousands of crops were destroyed at the peak of Sudan’s agricultural season, as thousands of families experienced greater food insecurity. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) pledged $60 million in humanitarian flood relief on October 30. “USAID will work with non-governmental organizations and international partners to…

ADF STAFF Isah Lankpene slept in the bush for two days as he and members of his Nigerian forestry task force monitored an illegal Chinese timber operation deep in the woods of Niger State. They raided and shut down the camp in early November. Lankpene’s team arrested the Chinese nationals who ran the company and were suspected of being in Nigeria illegally. The task force also found two standby generators, several machines used for cutting and refining timber, as well as containers and trucks used to transport wood to Lagos State, where it was shipped overseas. “The factory is located…

ADF STAFF A proposed port in Nigeria’s Rivers State is hailed as a one-of-its-kind project that will include processing facilities, warehouses and ship maintenance yards. Promoters say the $1.5 billion to $2.5 billion port will deal in large amounts of mackerel, herring, tuna and crustaceans, most of which will be exported. Critics say the Andoni Fishing Port and Processing Zone could attract more foreign trawlers to the Gulf of Guinea, a region already reeling from illegal fishing, overfishing, piracy and environmental damage. Port construction is expected to begin in 2021. The port’s harbor, processing facilities and warehouses should be running…

ADF STAFF In the villages known as aldeias in Mozambique’s far north province of Cabo Delgado, attacks come before dawn. Militants open fire at random and set homes ablaze. Those lucky enough to escape flee into dense forest or pile into boats to risk their lives at sea. Those who do not escape face a far worse fate. “They kidnap the women to violate them and force them into marriage,” Fatima, a woman whose village was attacked in July, told reliefweb. “The older men they kill. The young men are forced to join them [the militants].” Cabo Delgado is home…

ADF STAFF Mozambique has joined the growing list of African nations seeking — but rarely receiving — relief from their overwhelming debts held by Chinese lenders. “We have been working with our bilateral creditors. We are just waiting for the decision,” Adriano Maleiane, Mozambique’s minister of economy and finance, said during the World Bank’s annual meeting, held virtually in October. “So far, we have not received formal reaction from creditors. We assume they are doing their best.” Mozambique owes about $15 billion to foreign creditors, which is equal to about 100% of its gross domestic product. At least $2 billion…

ADF STAFF Malian Armed Forces drove armed extremists out of the tiny village of Farabougou, where the population had endured a two-week siege. The clash began about October 8, when terrorists kidnapped several villagers in the town of 2,000 and fought with local hunters. When heavy rains made it impossible for special forces to access central Mali by land, the nation’s Air Force flew them in. The Air Force also airlifted wounded civilians to a nearby town for medical treatment, Reuters reported. Observers say the terrorist threat still looms in the area. “The access roads to Farabougou are still blocked,…

ADF STAFF The Nile River is essential to life for many in the 11 countries it passes through. A new dam offers a different type of prosperity for some, but it threatens regional stability. Since Ethiopia announced plans in 2011 to build the $4.8 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), controlling the Nile water flow has become a contentious issue for downstream countries Sudan and Egypt. The GERD represents a tangle of complicated problems. Egyptians have based their civilization around the river for thousands of years. More than 95% of the country’s current population, estimated at more than 102 million, is centered…

ADF STAFF Liberia’s artisanal fishing community exhaled with relief after its government denied fishing censes to six Chinese supertrawlers capable of decimating the area’s fish stocks. The 50-meter Chinese vessels with huge nets and sophisticated fish-tracking equipment can catch more than 2,000 metric tons of bottom-dwelling fish annually. That is 4,000 times more than a local artisanal canoe can haul in, according to SeafoodSource. Liberia’s waters are mostly populated by sardinella, marlin, sea bream, croakers and marine catfish. Emma Metieh-Glassco, director general of the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Authority, said in a statement that licenses for the supertrawlers to fish…

ADF STAFF A Toyota Land Cruiser carrying 13 people on a dirt road in eastern Angola was blown into the air by an anti-tank mine earlier this year. Five passengers died, and the rest suffered serious injuries. The mine likely had been hidden there for decades. “Many cars drive along this road,” driver Antonio Perreira said from his hospital bed in an interview with Agence France-Presse. “I do not know how it happened. We set off the mine, and a lot of people died.” After three decades of civil war, Angola is left with a deadly legacy: land mines. Although…