The combination of coastal development and climate change Morocco’s rural northeast coast is increasingly vulnerable to the effects of climate change – sea-level rise, storm surges and coastal flooding. People of the rural provinces of Nador and Berkane, between the Rif Mountains and the Mediterranean, depend on fishing, farming and livestock raising. Life here is
Malaria is increasing where temperatures are rising Recent years have seen outbreaks of malaria in highland areas of East Africa, where there is little experience of the disease. The relatively cool and breezy highlands of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have long been free of malaria, being too cold for the mosquitoes. Temperatures in the East African
Growing demand for water, and shrinking supplies The Western Cape contributes almost a quarter of South Africa’s national gross farming income, and the Cape’s fruit and wine sector is a critical source of jobs and revenue. However, this sector depends on water – in a region struggling with competing demands from farmers, industry, tourism and
Rural survival in the face of out-migration Seydou Ouedraogo was one of the last young people left in Ramongo. Like many other villages in the Sahel, Ramongo in Burkina Faso has lost most of its youthful population to towns and cities. Recurring droughts and dramatic decline in rainfall have destroyed many farming systems, contributing in
Climate change has challenged traditional weather forecasting In many parts of rural Africa, there are elders with seemingly mystical powers of weather forecasting. They are called ‘rainmakers’ as some believe they not only foretell when the rains may come but can make them happen. In western Kenya, the Nganyi people have served as rainmakers for generations,
Poor farmers are most vulnerable to climate change “We used to harvest hundreds of maize sacks, but due to rain scarcity we plant much and end up harvesting almost nothing,” says Dickson Mnyukwa from Chibelela village in Tanzania’s Dodoma district. He supports a family of eight on crops watered only by what falls from the
