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The UN recently warned of the risk of famine in Sudan where more than a year of conflict has killed civilians and devastated livelihoods on a massive scale. Around 18 million people are acutely hungry, including 3.6 million children who are acutely malnourished. Oliver Kiptoo Kirui, who has been researching the conditions on the ground, provides insights into the scale of the country’s food emergency.
For 50 years South Africa’s longest-running festival has turned the rural city of Makhanda into a theatre, music, art and craft hub, attracting thousands of visitors a year in the middle of winter. It’s proof of a tenacious artistic community – and also of how the cultural and creative industries can benefit a society. The festival contributes an estimated US$4.5 million to Makhanda’s economy every year. And, as economist Jen Snowball explains, its impact can be measured in many other ways.
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Oliver Kiptoo Kirui, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Rural households are especially hard hit by food shortages due to disrupted farming, limited access to markets and soaring food prices.
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Jen Snowball, Rhodes University
South Africa’s National Arts Festival’s economic impact on its host city, Makhanda, is estimated to be US$4.5 million a year. But it also makes an impact on social and artistic levels.
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Nik Stoop, University of Antwerp; Elie Lunanga, University of Antwerp; Lara Collart, University of Antwerp; Marijke Verpoorten, University of Antwerp
Vaccinating public village leaders or respected older community members might be an effective approach to increasing vaccine uptake.
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Alan Dixon, University of Worcester
New research has found that smallholder farmers in Malawi can grow bigger maize crops if they plant maize with legumes in deep beds with natural ditches to catch water.
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Mickey Pardo, Colorado State University
Humans aren’t the only animals that have names for each other − and studying animals that use names can teach researchers more about how human names evolved.
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From our international editions
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Mark Booth, Newcastle University
France is ready for the Olympics. It also needs to be ready for this virus.
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Luke Western, University of Bristol
HCFCs were a temporary replacement for CFCs, the initial subject of the 1987 Montreal protocol.
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Dan Baumgardt, University of Bristol
Dr Michael Mosley was one of the latest and greatest in a long line of self-experimenting pioneers.
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Will Hawkes, University of Exeter
Researchers have been estimating the vast numbers of insects, including many pollinators, migrating at one location in the Pyrenees. But climate change and habitat loss could affect their abundance.
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