Stories about Development from April, 2011
Chad: White Gold Opens Income Stream For Women
Franseca writes about white gold in Chad: “Shea nuts are indigenous to southern Chad, and have been traditionally pressed into a black oil to add to foods. While nutritious, it...
India: 3G Mobile Technology And Rural India
Anonna Dutt at YouthKiAwaaz writes how 3G can change the face of rural India.
Barbados: Barrow's Beach
Mullins Bay Blog wonders how one of the country's national heroes “would…have graded his heirs and successors, …who sat idly by and did nothing as the sand disappeared and coconut...
Honduras to Implement ‘One Laptop Per Child’ Program
RNS in Honduras Politics and Culture says that the plan to give one XO laptop to every child in Honduras “would be ideal for deployment in Honduras.” However, the blogger...
Madagascar: Here We Go Again with Land Grabbing, minus the Outrage
Tananews reports that the government of Madagascar leases out land for 50 or more years at prices as low as $15 per acre a year (fr) to Indian farmers (via...
Peru: Hydroelectric Projects in the Amazon Under Discussion Again
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) requested the suspension of Brazil's Belo Monte hydroelectric dam, reopening the debate in Peru on similar projects and their impact on the Peruvian Amazon communities. In Peru, the most publicized hydroelectric megaprojects are the Inambari and Pakitzapango centrals, included in the Peru-Brazil Energy Agreement signed last year.
Russia: Regions Reduce Digital Divide
More than 90 percent of new users are not from Moscow or Saint-Petersburg, Yandex regional Internet development report says [ru]. Authors note a significant increase in Internet use nation-wide, 30-60...
Azerbaijan: Talysh socks
The Labors of Other Men posts photographs of Talysh socks, traditional woolen footwear that can be ordered online in order to support community development in and around the southern Azerbaijani...
India: Bloggers Social Responsibility
Blogadda had introduced the concept of ‘Bloggers Social Responsibility’ and now it is asking its reader to show the responsibility by 1) reading about an NGO, 2) Blogging about it...
Peru: Analyzing Alternative Energy Sources
In Grupo Futuro Perú [es], Araceli Pinto Corrales looks at Peru's “energy future” and discusses wind energy and biofuels as options to meet Peru's growing energy needs.
Ghana: Accra Hustling in Photos
Photos of Accra hustling by Ghanaian blogger and photographer Nana Kofi Acquah. Accra is the capital city of Ghana.
Examining Africa's Growth
While the African Development Bank announced three days ago that it will downgrade its forecast for growth in Africa as a result of the turmoil in various regions of the continent, the rate of return on foreign investment is higher in Africa than in any other developing regions. Bloggers are unpacking the reasons behind the growth.
Zambia: Tweeps Discuss Need For Condom Distribution in Prisons
Issues such as HIV/AIDS and homosexuality are emotive issues in Zambia. The former has claimed a lot of lives in the last quarter of a century and the latter is an issue that people dare not talk about publicly. Some Zambians on Twitter have however, brought an interesting aspect to the homosexuality debate - that condoms should be distributed in Zambian prisons, where sodomy is known to be practised.
Costa Rica: Climate Change Affecting the Cloud Forest
The Monteverde Now project documents the stories of 11 members of the Monteverde Community through short video interviews where they explain how their life has been transformed and how they are adapting to sustaining their diverse and delicate ecosystem in the face of climate change.
Memories of Portuguese Decolonization
“In their dreams they still revisit Africa”, and they share their memories on the blog Retornados da África [pt]. Read the stories of those who returned to Portugal from the...
Laos: Protest against Xayaburi dam
Activists held a picket in front of the Laos Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand to protest against the planned Xayaburi dam in Mekong River in Laos. The big dam, according to...
Mexico: Felipe Calderon's Cabinet on Twitter
In mid-April, the government headed by Felipe Calderon announced with much fanfare that every member of the cabinet was now registered on Twitter, and prepared to deal more directly with the public via social media. The initiative, however, is shadowed by a concurrent report ranking Mexico just 78th out of 133 countries in terms of its effective use of information technology.
Nigeria: Hackers Wish
Nigeria hackers wish: How I wish there is a place in Lagos, Nigeria where: 1. I can code without bothering about power cuts from the power company, my inverter running...
China: Clearing Urban Centers of ‘Unwanted’ People
From early 2011, major cities in China have started cleaning up "dangerous" and "low-end" elements of their populations. The proposal on "population control" was firstly introduced in the People's Congress held in Beijing in January 2011. It suggested that in the coming five years, the Chinese capital has to repress population growth; it has been estimated that more than 700,000 people living in the old city will be relocated to the city outskirts.
China: Sunday Night Political Chat
Chinese academic and Internet celebrity Yu Jianrong found time during a recent visit to the United States to talk about China's current political climate amid the long string of recent arrests, and the country's future direction, bringing the discussion onto his microblog account late Sunday night.
Nigeria Votes 2011: Opinions From the Polls
Nigerians voted yesterday in the third presidential election since the nation transitioned to civilian rule in 1999. Thus far, the election has widely been declared a success, with only sporadic reports of violence and voting irregularities. News sources reported a large turnout, orderly queues, and voters waiting until polls closed to make sure their votes were counted. Bloggers discuss the experience.
