Some countries in West Africa are considering the potential adoption of insect resistant cotton. Burkina Faso has already approved commercial cultivation of this technology. This paper presents the results of a socio economic impact assessment of the potential adoption of insect resistant cotton in West Africa using an augmented economic surplus model to consider risk and parameter uncertainty.

Climate change in Africa is expected to lead to a higher occurrence of severe droughts in semi-arid and arid ecosystems. Understanding how animal populations react to such events is thus crucial for addressing future challenges for wildlife management and conservation. We explored how gender, age, mother's experience and family group characteristics determined calf survival in an elephant population during a severe drought in Tanzania in 1993. Young males were particularly sensitive to the drought and calf loss was higher among young mothers than among more experienced mothers.

The processes that control climate in the tropics are poorly understood. We applied compound-specific hydrogen isotopes (D) and the TEX86 (tetraether index of 86 carbon atoms) temperature proxy to sediment cores from Lake Tanganyika to independently reconstruct precipitation and temperature variations during the past 60,000 years.

A new type of ready-to-use food is changing the way severe malnutrition is treated. But questions remain about how far to push its introduction--and science has a hard time providing the answer.

A new study, co-funded by NASA, has identified a link between a warming Indian Ocean and less rainfall in eastern and southern Africa. Computer models and observations show a decline in rainfall, with implications for the region

The latest rescue plan for Africa is another Green Revolution. GRAIN, alongside a host of others, has written and commented extensively on the Alliance for a Green Revolution for Africa (AGRA) and the impacts it will have on the continent. In the meantime, this model of a Green Revolution has already been implemented for the past five years in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.