Gilad Millo, head of business development at Amiran Kenya and former Israeli diplomat, seeks to make farming attractive to Kenyan youth by proving it can be a profitable, professional business. Working together with the Kenya Red Cross Society, they have equipped over 1000 schools with modern agribusiness supplies. According to Millo, today the average smallholder farmer in […]
Renewing Africa’s Energy Future is the theme of an International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) side-event scheduled to take place today at the Rio +20 conference underway in Brazil. Co-hosted by the government of Mozambique, this high-level meeting aims to spark a renewable energy revolution throughout the African continent, which supports 15% of the world’s population […]
Let’s admit it: the Kony Video is big. With more views in a week than any other TV show and YouTube video showing a number usually reserved for the latest antics of the Kardashian Clan, the video has quickly and effectively managed to communicate its message. The controversies surrounding the cause as pointed out by some […]
Experiencing the incredible bond between game warden Tonie Joubert and Jessica the Hippo, it’s easy to forget that this is Africa’s most fearsome animal. Having grown up to fear hippos more than any other creature on the African continent, it was with great hesitation that I approached Jessica’s giant canine teeth and powerful gaping jaw. […]
The free EneR event is a networking and investment platform for those interested in Morocco’s renewable energy markets happening later this month in Casablanca. Morocco is wild, yet for the average business or tourist traveler tame and safe. You can walk out of your riad in Marakesh and get lost in another time. Meander around […]
According to a recent survey, Africa and the Middle East is the second region in the world that is most concerned about climate change For those of us dealing with climate change and environmental issues in the Middle East, it can feel like the region is constantly playing catch-up to the rest of the developed […]
Does circumcision offer health benefits? A medical historian I spoke with says yes, it does. She’s now working in Africa with Zulus. It was a tradition long ago practiced. Now Zulu tribes in Africa are returning to the Jewish custom of male circumcision to reduce the spread of AIDS. In California where calls to ban […]
Who’s grabbing land at the fastest rate? An Arab country is among the top 3. The target: Africa. The issue of land grabbing by Gulf countries for food security purposes has been in the news (including Green Prophet) for some years now, but the trend for large-scale acquisitions is accelerating. The new scramble for land […]
Muslim starts sustainable tree planting operation to make Ethiopia green once again. Visiting Ethiopia after a thirty year absence, Geshaw Tahir an Ethiopian-born Muslim was struck by one thing. The green landscapes and trees that once surrounded his home had all but disappeared and were replaced with dry fields, eroded and ruined after years of deforestation. […]
Ormat’s Waste Heat Recovery solution, hunger in Africa, fighting desertification and more headlines related to Israeli cleantech and the environment. As part of Israel’s plan to reduce energy use by 20%, new televisions and computer monitors that aren’t energy efficient may be outlawed. General Atlantic is in talks to acquire a stake in irrigation systems […]
An Israeli team is the first to succeed in identifying one of the chemicals used by thousands of prey species to avoid their predators. Inspired by the follow-up book Since Silent Spring, Prof. Leon Blaustein felt driven to find environmentally compatible solutions for combating insect pests. Not much had been done to alleviate the chemical […]
African nations fight over who lays claim to the Nile. Egypt is fighting back. Image via Michael JG It is water. Water for all. At least this is the argument that upstream countries along the Nile River have been saying for years, but Egypt continues to refuse to renegotiate a colonial-era treaty that would allocate […]
Israel’s Air Force, Shari Arison, Asia and more made headlines related to Israeli cleantech this past week. Image by Jesse Fox During the week of April 25, 2010, ten reasons were given for Israel’s leadership in cleantech. Shari Arison was named one of the world’s greenest billionaires by Forbes and, in a somewhat similar move […]
Farming the sun from hot climates to Europe? This is the plan of DESERTEC. Today we speak with Oliver Steinmetz. Oliver’s a co-founder and volunteer board member for the DESERTEC Foundation, a small NGO founded in 2008 to promote the DESERTEC concept of supplying clean energy from desert regions to regions with less sun, like […]