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Defintion: The basic physical or organizational structures and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.

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Defintion: The basic physical or organizational

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Defintion: The basic ph

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Defintion: The basic

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Defintion:

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Definition:  An investor who either provides startup ventures or supports small companies.

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Definition:

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Definition

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-Located in California
around San Jose
-Home to many start up and global technology companies
-Apple, Facebook,

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-Located in California

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Located in California

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African bend what little they have to their will every day. Using creativity, they overcome Africa's challenge. Where the world sees trass, Africa recycle. Where the world sees junk, Africa sees rebirth(267)

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--Ambitious
--Caring
---Determined

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"Home"

In this final chapter William is a quest at the TED conference where he finds people like him and feels like he finally fits in with a group of people.

"Not only were people clapping, but they stood up in their seats and cheered, And finally when I returned to my chair, I noticed that serveral of them were even crying (268).

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Technology, entertainment, design.

The TED conference is an event where many scientist and inventors that maybe aren't completely accepted into the real world yet can come and share ideas. This inspires many people, overall resulting in a more advanced world.

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Definition: The action of checking or proving the validity or accuracy of something.
William and his windmill receive validations when everyone saw it creating electricity for his home and also when people could charge their phones using the windmill.

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1. Self-less
2.Caring
3. Understanding

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"Karma"

In chapter 14 William is finally rewarded for all of his hard work and sacrifice. He receives attention from the press and it doesn't stop there.

"I have a feeling this boy will go far(251),"  Dr. Mchazime said to William's parents.

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In the book William describes some people as ¨grooving through life.¨ This means that they never really have a purpose or somethings to work for or work at. William does not want to be like this at all.

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William had created a water pump that could bring water up from the well faster and more efficiently. But eventually it became to hard for the women to use and did not work anymore.

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Fuel produced by the fermentation of organic matter.

This is exactly what the product Moto is, organic matter that is being transferred into usable energy.

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The witches and their children were back at it again with the head-soccer and killing innocent people.
Another famine was hitting Malawi again.
Many diseases like AIDS/HIVs were being passed around.
Of course William was blamed for all of these events as well. Malawian people believed heavily on witchcraft and magic, therefore did not accept science completely. So when William introduced this then bad things started happening, they were suspicious about his science.

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AIDS:  A disease in which there is a severe loss of the body's cellular immunity, greatly lowering the resistance to infection and malignancy. This is caused by HIV.
HIV:  An STI that interferes with your body's ability to fight the organisms that cause disease.
IN 2013:
---24.7 million people living with HIV
---1.1 million AID related deaths in
---Only 39% received treatment

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William uses art not only to entertain his village, but also to educate his village about HIV and AIDS. He creates and performs a play that motivates people that get cheeked and stay safe. Simply steps like these will change his community.

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"Spark"

In chapter 13 William's mother gets very sick, but recovers. Chief Wimbe is not as lucky, he passes away. Later, William also inspires more people using his talents.

"In science we invent and create,' i said. 'We make new things that can benefit our situation. If we can all invent something and put it to work, we can change Malawi."

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Now that William has the windmill, many things have changed. He is now able to stay up past dark which can be pretty early in some parts of the year. And now his family spends less on fuel. But also, he is not seen as the madman that likes to play in the trash, people treat him with more respect. One person that particularly changed was Mister Godsten. He now respects William more and will do anything to help him.

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1. William adds a system with a battery to use when the wind is not as strong that day.
2.He adds a belt to make an automatic brake to stop the blades when needed.

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An automatic device for stopping the flow of current in an electric circuit as a safety measure.
It stops the flow of electricity if any complications come up.
This prevents fires and any type of circuit overload.
A circuit breaker can be reset after it is turned of.

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--An English scientist
--Helped discover electromagnetism and electrochemistry
--1791-1867

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A step-up transformer increase the amount of voltage that reaches the object.

-there are also step-down transformers
-step-up transformers have more turns on the secondary coil than the primary coil.
-Primary and secondary windings had equal inductance

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¨Age of Enlightenment¨

¨Conquering darkness on the was hard enough, but a noisy chicken--that was impossible(222)."

In this chapter William makes many new advancements and also fixes a lot of parts on the windmill.

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¨School¨

In this chapter William´s school fees are needed again to be able to continue for an education, at first he did not have enough money, but the teachers made a deal with Williams's father and they were finally able to pay for his education.

¨I loved my father and respected him deeply, but I didn't want to end up like him (183)." This is showing that William doesn't just want to be a Malawian farmer, but something more that can make a difference and live instead of just survive. For him, this starts with an education.

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The quality of being thankful, readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness.

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During chapter 10 William showed perseverance in many ways.
Even though no one, even his family, didn't believe him, yet he never gave up or let them get to his confidence.
Also when Willaim needed more parts he worked for them, begged for them, and even digged around in the junk yard.

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Charles Darwin: Was the first to come up with the idea of natural selection, which went against the church and  what many people believed.
Galileo: He was the first to purpose the idea that the Earth revolves around the sun. Many people thought he and his idea was crazy. Both of these relate to how everyone viewed William before he was a success.

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¨ELECTRIC WIND¨

William´s craziness and ¨maddman¨ reputation is finally put to rest when his windmill is finally created and works great.

¨Something greater and more real than any magic in the land (199).¨

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Some school fee in Africa are getting abolished allowing over two million kids to enroll into school again.
If the fees are not abolished then there are still much lower than in America. And are being lowered for the sake of African children.

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By eliminating fees, Kenya was able to quickly get 2 million more pupils into its primary schools.

Photograph: Alamy / Kirsty McLaren

When the Kenyan government announced it would stop charging fees for primary school education - just days before the beginning of the 2003 school year - the result was pandemonium. Teachers, headmasters and parents scrambled to find desks, pencils and books for over a million extra students.

But the policy shift also provided a stepping stone into the record books for 84-year-old Kimani Ng'ang'a Maruge, who, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, became the oldest person ever to enroll in Standard 1 when he appeared before astonished teachers and fellow pupils in 2004. "I wanted to learn how to read the Bible," an ambition previously frustrated by the high cost of schooling, he later told Voice of America journalist Cathy Majtenyi in 2008. "The preachers mislead people. That is why I am back in school."

Despite economic hard times and the violence that swept parts of the country after the 2007 elections, UNICEF, the UN children's agency, reports that the abolition of school fees has had the intended effect of vastly increasing access to education. The number of primary students in Kenya has increased by nearly 2 million.

Encouragingly, the dropout rate, an important measurement of affordability and educational quality, has also fallen. The share of students completing primary school jumped from 62.8 per cent in 2002, the last year fees were charged, to 76.2 per cent two years later as fewer poor children were forced out for nonpayment.

A step towards education for all

These impressive numbers have led most Kenyan educators and their international partners to conclude that the abolition of school fees and the policy reforms that accompanied it have been a success, despite continuing worries about financing, class sizes and teacher quality. In fact, the lifting of fees in Kenya and other countries in sub-Saharan Africa has proved to be a giant step forward for access to education by millions of the region's poor. It has helped Africa make progress towards its goal of finding a place in school for all its children (see Africa Renewal, April 2005).

Over the last 15 years a number of other countries, including Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Ethiopia, Malawi and Mozambique, have also experienced explosive growth in primary school enrolment following the elimination of fees. The UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that between 2000 and 2007 overall primary school enrolment in sub-Saharan Africa rose by 42 per cent - the greatest rate of increase in the world. As a result, the percentage of African children in primary school increased from 58 to 74 per cent. A few African countries, including Botswana, Cape Verde, Togo and Mauritius, could achieve universal primary enrolment by 2015, one of the targets in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), adopted by world leaders in 2000 to reduce poverty and advance human well-being across the globe.

To help cover its sudden increase in new enrolments, Kenya reassigned teachers from overstaffed areas to those in greater need of instructors.

Photograph: Alamy / Documentography

But the increase in school attendance is only a start. Despite the surge in enrolment, almost half of the 72 million children out of school worldwide in 2007 lived in sub-Saharan Africa. Dropout rates in many African countries remain high. Analysts note that global recession, combined with other urgent problems, has put additional pressure on already meagre budgets.

Planning and finance are crucial

The demand for free and universal primary education has its roots in the colonial era, when the colonial authorities restricted African access to schooling, or, as in the case of apartheid South Africa, developed racially segregated and unequal systems. Access to education was therefore a key popular demand at independence, and newly independent governments invested heavily in schools and teachers. Enrolment typically soared, but in the absence of adequate financing and trained teachers and administrators, further expansion proved unsustainable.

Nevertheless, in the years following independence a number of countries, including Kenya, Malawi and Ghana, attempted to end school fees, but without success. The arrival in the 1980s of austerity policies promoted by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, and the resulting reduction of education budgets, often accompanied by increases in fees, is widely considered a major contributor to the continent's low enrolment rates.

In a detailed analysis of the abolition of primary school fees in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi and Mozambique by the World Bank and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), researchers describe fees as one of the "major barriers" to access to education for the poor. The UN's MDG Monitor website, which tracks progress towards the goals, estimates that school fees and other mandatory charges, such as uniform costs and dues for parent-teacher associations, consume an average 25 per cent of poor families' household budgets in Africa. But except for the costly fees often assessed on parents in wealthy districts, the sums collected are too small to dramatically improve the quality of learning.

In the view of most education advocates, school fees served more as a barrier to the poor than as a source of finance for good education.

Doing things right - and fast

But abolishing fees, by itself, is not enough. The World Bank/UNICEF study also found that innovative policies and educational reform following the abolition of fees could spell the difference between success and failure. In Kenya, the researchers argued, the government did a number of things right - and did them quickly.

Like many other efforts to abolish school fees, the initiative came in fulfillment of campaign pledges, in this case by the winner of the December 2002 Presidential election, Mwai Kibaki. But with only a week between the announcement of the election results and the new school year, the new government went into what the study calls "crisis mode," summoning senior officials of the Education and Finance Ministries, donors and others to map out a strategy for implementing the plan.

Malawi primary school: The abolition of school fees greatly increased school enrolment, but without sufficient teachers or adequate funding, educational quality suffered.

Photograph: Alamy / Jenny Matthews

The first step was to mobilize support among parents, teachers and administrators. The second was to find the money. The government released $6.8 mn in emergency grants - $380 per primary school - to cover immediate needs like exercise books, pencils and other supplies.

Donors stepped up as well, with the World Bank, the Swedish government and others contributing $82 mn in additional funding over the next two years. Overall, the government reported, domestic spending on education increased from about $703 mn in school year of 2001/02 to $951 mn in 2003/04, a third of the national budget.

With public support and minimum financing set, the government then embarked on a major overhaul of the primary school financing system. Rather than channel funds through the Education Ministry, the government chose instead to provide student grants directly to individual schools. The schools were required to set up two bank accounts, one for school supplies and another for non-teacher salaries, building maintenance and the like. Headmasters, teachers and school managers were trained in basic financial management and bookkeeping. The Education Ministry's auditing department was expanded to provide greater oversight.

Teachers and textbooks

Despite the huge increase in students, the number of teachers in Kenyan primary schools has increased slowly amidst government concerns that hiring large numbers of unqualified teachers would lower instructional quality and increase costs. By reassigning teachers from overstaffed areas to understaffed districts and running some schools in double shifts, Kenya kept its national pupil-to-teacher ratio from rising beyond 40 to 1 in 2004. Ratios were much higher in some provinces, however.

The government also managed to reach its target of one textbook for every three students in most subjects - an improvement in many poorly performing, largely rural districts that were not given priority for teachers and supplies before 2003. As a result, 14 of the 21 worst-performing districts in the country slightly improved their student test scores between 2002 and 2005. This evidence, the UN researchers say, shows that combining fee abolition with reforms has had a "positive impact on learning."

Disparities

That did not mean that the end of school fees and the reforms that followed have solved all of Kenya's education problems. As the UN report notes, the influx of students in 2003 triggered an exodus of wealthier students to private schools, worsening longstanding income disparities within the national education system. Nor has the abolition of formal fees removed all the burdens from financially strapped families.

"To call it free education is misleading," Gerald Mwangi, a father of three in central Kenya, told Inter Press Service in early 2009. "For my youngest daughter in Standard 4 I still have to pay for food, transport and uniform, which adds up to 5,000 shillings [about $70] per term."

And although Kenya is credited with maintaining the existing quality of education despite the increase in student population and class sizes, the inability of many students to read and do mathematics at their grade level remains a major concern.

Malawi struggles to cope

Other countries have been less successful. Malawi eliminated its school fees in 1994. But with less than half of Kenya's gross domestic product per person and fewer financial and human resources to draw on, it still faces difficult challenges in providing universal primary education.

As in many other African countries, notes the UN study, "the adoption of universal primary education was triggered by political demands rather than by rational planning processes." Although Malawi had lifted some fees for Standards 1 and 2 and waived primary education fees for girls prior to 1994, the decision to eliminate all fees coincided with the return of multiparty elections that year. The focus, the researchers found, was on increasing enrolment. "Very little attention was paid to quality issues."

Nor was it possible to mobilize public and political support in the short time between the decision to lift fees and the beginning of school. Among Malawi's external partners only UNICEF initially supported the fee abolition. When over a million new students showed up for class, the study reports, the government found itself struggling to cope "after the fact."

One immediate response was to hire 20,000 new teachers, almost all of whom were secondary school graduates who were given only two weeks of training. Plans to provide on-the-job training failed to materialize. Instructional quality declined sharply as the pupil-teacher ratio climbed to 70 to 1.

The lack of facilities meant that many classes met under trees, and books and teaching materials arrived months late, if at all. Despite increases in the education budget, spending per student, already low, declined by about 25 per cent and contributed to the decline in quality. As a result nearly 300,000 students dropped out during the first year, and high dropout rates continue to this day.

Overall, reports the UN study, only about 20 per cent of boys and girls successfully complete eight years of primary education in Malawi. This is largely a function of the country's deep poverty, the researchers say, and the lack of resources, such as nutrition programmes, to help poor children remain in school.

Time to innovate and improve

In the end, say the experts, a dual lesson can be drawn from the Kenyan and Malawian experiences. The abolition of school fees is a precondition for getting large numbers of poor children into school, but it must be accompanied by strong public and political support, sound planning and reform, and increased financing.

After systems adjust to the surge in enrolment, they argue, resources must be directed at improving quality and meeting the needs of the very poor, those in distant rural areas and children with disabilities. The analysts say that a particular focus should be girls, who face a range of obstacles to attending and staying in school, including cultural attitudes that devalue education for women. Improved sanitation and facilities and better safety and security conditions can make it easier to keep girls in school.

Despite the difficulties, UNICEF primary education specialist Dina Craissati told Africa Renewal, governments and donors should see the abolition of school fees and the need to accommodate a flood of new students as catalysts for innovation and improvement in every aspect of primary education. They also make it necessary to plan for the arrival of hundreds of thousands of additional students in the secondary school system.

"The abolition of school fees should not be seen as a problem, but as an opportunity," Ms. Craissati said. With careful planning, adequate financing and determined leadership, she concluded, Africa can find a place in school for all its children.

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Abolishing fees boosts African schooling

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By eliminating fees, Kenya was able to quickly get 2 million more pupils into its primary schools. Photograph: Alamy / Kirsty McLaren When the Kenyan government announced it would stop charging fees for primary school education - just days before the beginning of the 2003 school year - the result was pandemonium.

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Just Because

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In the video ¨I Just Sued the School System,¨ the man gave a very strong speech about his beliefs about the school systems. This man felt very strongly about this topic so he did not just let it go, he fought with all he had. This also relates to William. William saw something wrong and he was so determined to change it to make it so much better.
In another perspective this also relates to William because of his school situation. The man in the video believed school is one of the most important things for anyone, in Williams situation he got kicked out of school because of his poor conditions.

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¨One man's trash, another's treasure¨

In this chapter William still is not in school, so he decides to go to the public library where he starts to learn a lot, he even start to make a small version of a windmill, and it works.

¨A windmill meant more than just power, it meant freedom(167)."   William explains this after he has the idea of creating a windmill.

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Kinetic Energy:   Energy that a body possesses by virtue of being in motion.

Diode:    A semiconductor device with two terminals, typically allowing the flow of current in one direction only.

Electroscope:   An instrument for detecting and measuring electricity, especially as an indication of the ionization of air by radioactivity.

Electromagnetic Energy:   Electromagnetic energy is a form of energy that can be reflected or emitted from objects through electrical or magnetic waves traveling through space.

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At the end of chapter 8, many things were starting to change. The Dowe, also known as corn, was finally ready to be harvested. So after a very long time with very little food, things were finally starting to look promising again. They all ate full meals and regained energy.

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Cholera is an infectious and often fatal bacterial disease of the small intestine, typically contracted from infected water supplies and causing severe vomiting and diarrhea.

-Effects the small intestine
-Causes vomiting and diarrhea
-Can kill you within hours if untreated
-Entire body is dehydrated
-Pain in the abdomen
-100,000 deaths per years around the world.

Epidemic: A widespread occurrence of a disease in a community at a particular time.

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¨Roller Coaster¨

At the beginning of the chapter things were very rough, Khamba had to be put down. But towards the end, they finally harvested the Dowe and things were starting to get better.

¨He was starving to death (140).¨

¨God was on my side(159).¨

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Even though killing your own dog by leaving him the woods makes me cringe and burst out in tears, I believe William did the correct thing. The Kamkwamba family barely had enough food for themselves with just one meal a day, there is no way they could take care of a dog as well.

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On page 141, William described his hunger. ¨I was flattened like a tube.¨

This is a simile comparing his stomach to a flattened tube. This is because he was so hungry and had little, to nothing in his stomach.

Another simile he used to describe what his dog, Khamba looked like. ¨His ribs were like blades against his skin, (140).¨

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I think it is definitely necessary to take care of the weak and sick. When a part of humanity is weak, then all of humanity is broken. The strongest parts of us need to take care of those in need.

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¨Famine Has Arrived¨

In chapter 7 of ¨The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,¨ William, along with the rest of Malawi is officially in a famine and are slowly starving to death.

¨Famine arrived in Malawi¨ (134).
¨Scavenging the soil like animals¨ (134).

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Around page 131, all of the students start having trouble learning and paying attention in class because they do not have the most basic necessity, physiological needs. They have a lack of food in this case

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An intermittent and remittent fever caused by a protozoan parasite that invades the red blood cells. The parasite is transmitted by mosquitoes in many tropical and subtropical regions.

-The disease is spread when mosquitoes feed on humans
-Breeds in mostly warmer climates
-Malaria exist in 103 countries worldwide
-About 1,500 cases in US
-Flu like symptoms, death is common if not treated

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School where William had to drop out of because he could not afford it.

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Herd mentality, mob mentality and pack mentality, also lesser known as gang mentality, describes how people can be influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors on a largely emotional, rather than rational, basis. When individuals are affected by mob mentality, they may make different decisions than they would have individually.

Social psychologists study the related topics of group intelligence, crowd wisdom, groupthink, deindividuation, and decentralized decision making.

The idea of a " group mind" or " mob behavior" was first put forward by 19th-century French social psychologists Gabriel Tarde and Gustave Le Bon. Herd behavior in human societies has also been studied by Sigmund Freud and Wilfred Trotter, whose book Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War is a classic in the field of social psychology. Sociologist and economist Thorstein Veblen's The Theory of the Leisure Class illustrates how individuals imitate other group members of higher social status in their consumer behavior. More recently, Malcolm Gladwell in The Tipping Point, examines how cultural, social, and economic factors converge to create trends in consumer behavior. In 2004, the 's financial columnist James Suroweicki published The Wisdom of Crowds.

Twenty-first-century academic fields such as marketing and behavioral finance attempt to identify and predict the rational and irrational behavior of investors. (See the work of Daniel Kahneman, Robert Shiller, Vernon L. Smith, and Amos Tversky.) Driven by emotional reactions such as greed and fear, investors can be seen to join in frantic purchasing and sales of stocks, creating bubbles and crashes. As a result, herd behavior is closely studied by behavioral finance experts in order to help predict future economic crises.

The Asch conformity experiments (1951) involved a series of studies directed by American Psychologist Solomon Asch that measured the effects of majority group belief and opinion on individuals. 50 male students from Swarthmore College participated in a vision test with a line judgement task. A naive participant was put in a room with seven confederates (i.e. actors) who had agreed in advance to match their responses. The participant was not aware of this and was told that the actors were also naive participants. There was one control condition with no confederates. Confederates purposefully gave the wrong answer on 12 trials. The other participant usually went with the group and said the wrong answer. Through 18 trials total, Asch (1951) found that one third (33%) of naive participants conformed with the clearly incorrect majority, with 75% of participants over the 12 trials. Less than 1% of participants gave the wrong answer when there were no confederates.

Researchers at Leeds University performed a group experiment where volunteers were told to randomly walk around a large hall without talking to each other. A select few were then given more detailed instructions on where to walk. The scientists discovered that people end up blindly following one or two instructed people who appear to know where they are going. The results of this experiments showed that it only takes 5% of confident looking and instructed people to influence the direction of the other 95% of people in the crowd, and the 200 volunteers did this without even realizing it.

Researchers from Hebrew University, NYU, and MIT explored herd mentality in online spaces, specifically in the context of "digitized, aggregated opinions". Online comments were given an initial positive or negative vote (up or down) on an undisclosed website over five months. The control group comments were left alone. The researchers found that "the first person reading the comment was 32 percent more likely to give it an up vote if it had been already given a fake positive score". Over the five months, comments artificially rated positively showed a 25% higher average score than the control group, with the initial negative vote ending up with no statistical significance in comparison to the control group. The researchers found that "prior ratings created significant bias in individual rating behavior, and positive and negative social influences created asymmetric herding effects".

"That is a significant change", Dr. Aral, one of the researchers involved in the experiment, stated. "We saw how these very small signals of social influence snowballed into behaviors like herding."

Further reading

Bloom, Howard, The Global Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century. (2000) John Wiley & Sons, New York.

Freud, Sigmund's Massenpsychologie und Ich-Analyse (1921; English translation Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego, *1922). Reprinted 1959 Liveright, New York.

Gladwell, Malcolm, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. (2002) Little, Brown & Co., Boston.

Le Bon, Gustav, Les Lois psychologiques de l'évolution des peuples. (1894) National Library of France, Paris.

Le Bon, Gustave, The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind. (1895) Project Gutenberg.

Martin, Everett Dean, The Behavior of Crowds (1920).

McPhail, Clark. The Myth of the Madding Crowd (1991) Aldine-DeGruyter.

Trotter, Wilfred, Instincts of the Herd in Peace and War. (1915) Macmillan, New York.

Suroweicki, James: The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, *Societies and Nations. (2004) Little, Brown, Boston.

Sunstein, Cass, Infotopia: How Many Minds Produce Knowledge. (2006) Oxford University Press, Oxford, United Kingdom.

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Herd mentality, mob mentality and pack mentality, also lesser known as gang mentality, describes how people can be influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors on a largely emotional, rather than rational, basis. When individuals are affected by mob mentality, they may make different decisions than they would have individually.

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Definition:
Relating to the branch of biology that deals with the normal functions of living organisms and their parts.

Effects:
Lose of weight
Fatigue
Sleep disturbance
Anxiety depression
Poor memory
Brain fog
Cravings

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-Horn of Africa
-Action Against Hunger

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Famine Imminent in Gaza. Take Action Now.

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Somalia

Population: 16.8 million

People in Need: 7.7 million

Our Impact

People Helped Last Year: 1,131,478

Our Team: 85 employees

Program Start: 1992

The State of Hunger in Somalia

Climate crises, chronic food shortages, and more than 20 years of conflict, Somalia faces some of the highest levels of acute food insecurity in the world. Without sufficient access to clean water and nutritious food, severe malnutrition and disease will continue to rise.

How We're Helping in Somalia

Action Against Hunger's teams address the immediate and underlying causes of malnutrition. We improve access to clean water, carry out measles vaccination campaigns, run cholera treatment centers, and provide supplies and education to promote hygiene. Our teams are also helping families who face drought and hunger with cash transfers, water trucking, and agricultural innovations such as solar irrigation kits.

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Covid-19: Building Local Capacity

When COVID-19 arrived, we quickly sprung to action to support the government in controlling the pandemic. As private hospitals shut down due to fears of the virus, our teams stepped up our support of health centers, treatment facilities, and isolation wards.

In De Martini Hospital - which was, for many months, the only operational quarantine hospital in Mogadishu - we provided PPE and medical supplies. We also supported frontline health staff with training and salaries.

Somalia

Population: 16.8 million

People in Need: 7.7 million

Our Impact

People Helped Last Year: 1,131,478

Our Team: 85 employees

Program Start: 1992

The State of Hunger in Somalia

Climate crises, chronic food shortages, and more than 20 years of conflict, Somalia faces some of the highest levels of acute food insecurity in the world. Without sufficient access to clean water and nutritious food, severe malnutrition and disease will continue to rise.

How We're Helping in Somalia

Action Against Hunger's teams address the immediate and underlying causes of malnutrition. We improve access to clean water, carry out measles vaccination campaigns, run cholera treatment centers, and provide supplies and education to promote hygiene. Our teams are also helping families who face drought and hunger with cash transfers, water trucking, and agricultural innovations such as solar irrigation kits.

Donate Now

People Provided with Primary Health Services

People Benefited From Food Security & Livelihoods Programs

Covid-19: Building Local Capacity

When COVID-19 arrived, we quickly sprung to action to support the government in controlling the pandemic. As private hospitals shut down due to fears of the virus, our teams stepped up our support of health centers, treatment facilities, and isolation wards.

In De Martini Hospital - which was, for many months, the only operational quarantine hospital in Mogadishu - we provided PPE and medical supplies. We also supported frontline health staff with training and salaries.

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Somalia - Hunger Relief in Africa | Action Against Hunger

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Help us save lives, empower communities, and ensure more children can grow up strong in Somalia. Donate now.

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Each year, 3 million children under five die of preventable, hunger-related causes.

Around the world, 805 million people are hungry--nearly 1 in 9 globally.

Asia has the largest number of hungry people (over 500 million) but Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest prevalence (23.8% of population).

66 million primary-school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone.

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arvest should be the time for celebrations, weddings and full bellies in southern Malawi. But Christopher Witimani, Lilian Matafle and their seven children and four grandchildren had nothing to celebrate last week as they picked their meagre maize crop.

Last year's drought, followed by erratic rains, hit the village of Nkhotakota hard. But this year the rains never came and, for a second year running, the family grain store is empty. If they manage their savings carefully and eat just one small meal a day, they may just have enough food for two more months.

By August, said Irish charity Concern Worldwide, they and tens of thousands of other small farmers in southern Malawi will have completely run out of food, with no prospect of another harvest for at least seven months. With nothing to sell and no chance of earning money, Witimani, Matafle and family will starve.

"I am worried the children will starve to death. I don't know what to do," said Matafle.

"We need food. We are in a desperate situation," her husband added.

Countries are just waking up to the most serious global food crisis of the last 25 years. Caused by the strongest El Niño weather event since 1982, droughts and heatwaves have ravaged much of India, Latin America and parts of south-east Asia. But the worst effects of this natural phenomenon, which begins with waters warming in the equatorial Pacific, are to be found in southern Africa. A second consecutive year without rain now threatens catastrophe for some of the poorest people in the world.

The scale of the crisis unfolding in 10 or more southern African countries has shocked the United Nations. Lulled into thinking that Ethiopia in 1985 was the last of the large-scale famines affecting many millions, donor countries have been slow to pledge funds or support. More than $650m and 7.9m tonnes of food are needed immediately, says the UN. By Christmas, the situation will have become severe.

Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Madagascar, Angola and Swaziland have already declared national emergencies or disasters, as have seven of South Africa's nine provinces. Other countries, including Botswana and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have also been badly hit. President Robert Mugabe has appealed for $1.5bn to buy food for Zimbabwe and Malawi is expected to declare that more than 8 million people, or half the country, will need food aid by November.

Serena Gadinala, from the in Neno district of Malawi, has tried different planting techniques but nothing worked and her crops continue to wilt. Photograph: Tamara van Vliet/OCHA

More than 31 million people in the region are said by the UN to need food now, but this number is expected to rise to at least 49 million across almost all of southern Africa by Christmas. With 12 million more hungry people in Ethiopia, 7 million in Yemen, 6 million in Southern Sudan and more in the Central African Republic and Chad, a continent-scale food crisis is unfolding.

"Food security across southern Africa will start deteriorating by July, reaching its peak between December 2016 and April 2017," says the UN's office for humanitarian affairs. The regional cereal deficit already stands at 7.9m tonnes and continues to put upward pressure on market prices, which are already showing unprecedented increases, diminishing purchasing power and thereby reducing food access. As food insecurity tightens and water scarcity increases due to the drought, there are early signs of acute malnutrition in Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabawe.

For Coco Ushiyama, head of the UN's World Food Programme in Lilongwe, Malawi's capital, just working out how to import a million tonnes of food, needed to support between five million and eight million people in Malawi over the next 12 months, is proving nightmarishly difficult. With no guarantees of money from donors, she cannot buy the food on the open market, or book ships and transport.

"We are very concerned. Last year, like many other countries in the region, Malawi had a double disaster with erratic rains and then floods which led into droughts," said Ushiyama. "Last year, 2.8 million people were affected. Then we had a deficit of 220,000 tonnes of food. This year, we are anticipating it will be four times as bad. The maize price is already exceptionally high.

"We are monitoring 50 markets throughout the country and already they are seeing abnormally high prices. We have very worryingly high admission rates for childhood malnutrition in health clinics. In some areas it is very serious already and it is likely to get much more serious. It will be a regional issue," she said.

The government has declared a disaster and will publish a new assessment of its needs in the next few weeks. The vice-president, Saulos Chilima, has said that about 1.3m tonnes of maize will be needed.

Politicians may talk of going on to the world market to buy a million tonnes of maize, but Ushiyama is unsure where it will come from. There is usually enough food in the region, but South Africa, which usually exports a million tonnes of food a year, will need to import 3.5m tonnes this year. Only Zambia may have enough food to export and it has imposed restrictions, she said.

"South Africa is in trouble. Nearby Zambia has had a better harvest than most countries but it has put export restrictions on its food. If we import it [from outside Africa], the food will take four to six months [to arrive]. We have learned from experience that the rains start in November so the roads will be terrible when the food is most needed and some lorry drivers will refuse to come. By November, we will need to have pre-positioned food in key areas. But to get it there by then means ordering the food right now," she said.

People are divide pulses among themselves at a United Nations World Food Programme food distribution centre in Chikwawa district, Malawi. Photograph: Tamara van Vliet/OCHA

Finding the cash to feed possibly 50 million people for eight or more months is the biggest problem of all, says the UN, because Africa's slow-burn crisis must compete with Middle East wars, refugees and natural disasters for attention. According to the UN, which is holding an unprecedented humanitarian summit this week in Istanbul, 125 million people worldwide need long-term assistance and a further 60 million have been forced from their homes by war, violence and disaster.

More than $1.5bn has been requested by southern African governments, says Ocha, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, but less than a quarter of this has been pledged. Officially, the deficit is $677 million (87%) but this will grow when countries complete their assessments of the harvests in the next few weeks.

"The window for responding in a meaningful manner is closing rapidly," said Shadrack Omol, senior adviser to the UN children's fund, Unicef. "The concern is that slow-onset emergencies, like the one we are dealing with in southern Africa, do not get enough attention because they creep up on us."

John Makina, Oxfam country director in Malawi, said: "The donors just do not have the money; there is donor fatigue. Malawi has been hit by drought, then floods, then drought. The donors are getting tired of it. In 2015, Malawi alone needed $170m. In 2016-17, it will be far more.

"The full impact will be felt from October to March 2017. It's looking really bad. The most affected will be the poorest and jobless. They will end up selling what little they possess. The price of maize flour has already gone to 9,000 kwachas (£8.70) for 50kg. It will double again for sure," he said.

International development minister Nick Hurd, who has visited Mozambique, wants Britain to lead the humanitarian effort. But money cannot be given directly to the country following a corruption scandal, and the government must work through a consortium of NGOs, providing food vouchers, medical aid and food-for-work schemes.

"We cannot and will not stand idly by while millions suffer. Britain is playing a leading role in helping countries across Africa to cope with the impact of El Niño. Support for people affected by El Niño is important to Africa and also firmly in Britain's national interest," says Hurd.

In villages across southern Africa, people are fearful, unsure how they will survive. In Mozambique, where Britain is contributing £11.8m over three years, some food aid has arrived in the village of Mblalava.

A farmer tries to grow crops with the help of a United Nations supported irrigation scheme in the Neno district of Malawi. Photograph: Tamara van Vliet/OCHA

The women are ecstatic: "It's been two and a half years since we had good rain," said Rosita Chauque, a mother of three. "When the drought started we used to be able to find vegetables in the bush, but even these have gone now. We used to make and sell charcoal, but there are so many other people doing that now it's not possible. We have thought of leaving, but where to? We have no crops in the fields, no food for the cattle and nothing for ourselves. There is no water, no grass. People are selling their animals. They have no other resources. There is a lot of suffering."

"The situation is critical," said Abdoulaye Balde, the World Food Programme country director in Mozambique's capital, Maputo. "We are at the point of no return."

Droughts and "hungry seasons" are common throughout southern Africa, but the breadth of this year's crisis is very unusual, says Caoimhe de Barra, Malawi country director of Concern Worldwide. Her frontline workers see rural people already employing traditional coping strategies, including eating wild foods, taking children out of school, selling their animals and assets.

"Early action is key. If we can start supporting people now, we can save lives and prevent an even worse situation later this year. People are not currently dying of hunger but the overall health of the population will be severely affected by hunger-related illnesses. Malnutrition will blight the life chances of countless more Malawian children," she said.

The secretary general of the International Red Cross, Elhadj As Sy, who visited Malawi and Zimbabwe last week, said: "Much more needs to be done to support communities to survive and strive over the coming months. We met families who have received no external support and who are simply desperate. We need to urgently scale up our interventions to prevent this situation from becoming a catastrophe," he said.

Relief from Africa's long drought may finally be coming, says the World Meteorological Organisation, which is monitoring the temperature of waters in the Pacific. These are said to be cooling rapidly and are expected to be "neutral" by mid-June. That, says the UN, signals the coming end of the El Niño, the droughts and the worldwide heatwaves.

The effects, however, will not be felt in southern Africa until April 2017 when the next main harvest should be in. But, says the WMO, there may be a sting in the tale. There is a 50:50 chance that the continent will be hit from September by El Niño's climatic "twin", known as La Niña, which develops as the Pacific Ocean equatorial waters cool after an El Niño.

Instead of droughts, La Niña usually brings heavier monsoon rains in south-east Asia and much cooler and wetter conditions in southern Africa.

"We pray hard for rain and then we must pray harder that it stops. Is there no end of extreme weather?" said Malawian villager Richard Kapenda.

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Across Africa, the worst food crisis since 1985 looms for 50 million

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A second year without rain threatens to bring catastrophe for some of the poorest people in the world. Donor countries, in the grip of wars and refugee crises, have been slow to pledge funds. But by the time they do, it could be too late

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The deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation.

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During the Rwandan genocide of 1994, members of the Hutu ethnic majority in the east-central African nation of Rwanda murdered as many as 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority. Started by Hutu nationalists in the capital of Kigali, the genocide spread throughout the country with shocking speed and brutality, as ordinary citizens were incited by local officials and the Hutu Power government to take up arms against their neighbors. By the time the Tutsi-led Rwandese Patriotic Front gained control of the country through a military offensive in early July, hundreds of thousands of Rwandans were dead and 2 million refugees (mainly Hutus) fled Rwanda, exacerbating what had already become a full-blown humanitarian crisis.

Rwandan Ethnic Tensions

By the early 1990s, Rwanda, a small country with an overwhelmingly agricultural economy, had one of the highest population densities in Africa. About 85 percent of its population was Hutu; the rest were Tutsi, along with a small number of Twa, a Pygmy group who were the original inhabitants of Rwanda.

Part of German East Africa from 1897 to 1918, Rwanda became a Belgium trusteeship under a League of Nations mandate after World War I, along with neighboring Burundi.

Rwanda's colonial period, during which the ruling Belgians favored the minority Tutsis over the Hutus, exacerbated the tendency of the few to oppress the many, creating a legacy of tension that exploded into violence even before Rwanda gained its independence.

A Hutu revolution in 1959 forced as many as 330,000 Tutsis to flee the country, making them an even smaller minority. By early 1961, victorious Hutus had forced Rwanda's Tutsi monarch into exile and declared the country a republic. After a United Nations referendum that same year, Belgium officially granted independence to Rwanda in July 1962.

Ethnically motivated violence continued in the years following independence. In 1973, a military group installed Major General Juvenal Habyarimana, a moderate Hutu, in power.

The sole leader of Rwandan government for the next two decades, Habyarimana founded a new political party, the National Revolutionary Movement for Development (NRMD). He was elected president under a new constitution ratified in 1978 and reelected in 1983 and 1988, when he was the sole candidate.

In 1990, forces of the Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF), consisting mostly of Tutsi refugees, invaded Rwanda from Uganda. Habyarimana accused Tutsi residents of being RPF accomplices and arrested hundreds of them. Between 1990 and 1993, government officials directed massacres of the Tutsi, killing hundreds. A ceasefire in these hostilities led to negotiations between the government and the RPF in 1992.

In August 1993, Habyarimana signed an agreement at Arusha, Tanzania, calling for the creation of a transition government that would include the RPF.

This power-sharing agreement angered Hutu extremists, who would soon take swift and horrible action to prevent it.

Rwandan Genocide Begins

On April 6, 1994, a plane carrying Habyarimana and Burundi's president Cyprien Ntaryamira was shot down over the capital city of Kigali, leaving no survivors. (It has never been conclusively determined who the culprits were. Some have blamed Hutu extremists, while others blamed leaders of the RPF.)

Within an hour of the plane crash, the Presidential Guard, together with members of the Rwandan armed forces (FAR) and Hutu militia groups known as the Interahamwe ("Those Who Attack Together") and Impuzamugambi ("Those Who Have the Same Goal"), set up roadblocks and barricades and began slaughtering Tutsis and moderate Hutus with impunity.

Among the first victims of the genocide were the moderate Hutu Prime Minister Agathe Uwilingiyimana and 10 Belgian peacekeepers, killed on April 7. This violence created a political vacuum, into which an interim government of extremist Hutu Power leaders from the military high command stepped on April 9. The killing of the Belgium peacekeepers, meanwhile, provoked the withdrawal of Belgium troops. And the U.N. directed that peacekeepers only defend themselves thereafter.

Slaughter Spreads Across Rwanda

The mass killings in Kigali quickly spread from that city to the rest of Rwanda. In the first two weeks, local administrators in central and southern Rwanda, where most Tutsi lived, resisted the genocide. After April 18, national officials removed the resisters and killed several of them. Other opponents then fell silent or actively led the killing. Officials rewarded killers with food, drink, drugs and money. Government-sponsored radio stations started calling on ordinary Rwandan civilians to murder their neighbors. Within three months, some 800,000 people had been slaughtered.

Meanwhile, the RPF resumed fighting, and civil war raged alongside the genocide. By early July, RPF forces had gained control over most of country, including Kigali.

In response, more than 2 million people, nearly all Hutus, fled Rwanda, crowding into refugee camps in the Congo (then called Zaire) and other neighboring countries.

After its victory, the RPF established a coalition government similar to that agreed upon at Arusha, with Pasteur Bizimungu, a Hutu, as president and Paul Kagame, a Tutsi, as vice president and defense minister.

Habyarimana's NRMD party, which had played a key role in organizing the genocide, was outlawed, and a new constitution adopted in 2003 eliminated reference to ethnicity. The new constitution was followed by Kagame's election to a 10-year term as Rwanda's president and the country's first-ever legislative elections.

International Response

As in the case of atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia around the same time, the international community largely remained on the sidelines during the Rwandan genocide.

A United Nations Security Council vote in April 1994 led to the withdrawal of most of a U.N. peacekeeping operation (UNAMIR), created the previous fall to aid with governmental transition under the Arusha accord.

As reports of the genocide spread, the Security Council voted in mid-May to supply a more robust force, including more than 5,000 troops. By the time that force arrived in full, however, the genocide had been over for months.

In a separate French intervention approved by the U.N., French troops entered Rwanda from Zaire in late June. In the face of the RPF's rapid advance, they limited their intervention to a "humanitarian zone" set up in southwestern Rwanda, saving tens of thousands of Tutsi lives but also helping some of the genocide's plotters - allies of the French during the Habyarimana administration - to escape.

In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, many prominent figures in the international community lamented the outside world's general obliviousness to the situation and its failure to act in order to prevent the atrocities from taking place.

As former U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali told the PBS news program Frontline: "The failure of Rwanda is 10 times greater than the failure of Yugoslavia. Because in Yugoslavia the international community was interested, was involved. In Rwanda nobody was interested."

Attempts were later made to rectify this passivity. After the RFP victory, the UNAMIR operation was brought back up to strength; it remained in Rwanda until March 1996, as one of the largest humanitarian relief efforts in history.

Did you know? In September 1998, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) issued the first conviction for genocide after a trial, declaring Jean-Paul Akayesu guilty for acts he engaged in and oversaw as mayor of the Rwandan town of Taba.

Rwandan Genocide Trials

In October 1994, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), located in Tanzania, was established as an extension of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague, the first international tribunal since the Nuremburg Trials of 1945-46, and the first with the mandate to prosecute the crime of genocide.

In 1995, the ICTR began indicting and trying a number of higher-ranking people for their role in the Rwandan genocide; the process was made more difficult because the whereabouts of many suspects were unknown.

The trials continued over the next decade and a half, including the 2008 conviction of three former senior Rwandan defense and military officials for organizing the genocide.

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During the Rwandan genocide of 1994, members of the Hutu ethnic majority in the east-central African nation of Rwanda murdered as many as 800,000 people, mostly of the Tutsi minority. Started by Hutu nationalists in the capital of Kigali, the genocide spread throughout the country with shocking speed and brutality, as ordinary citizens were incited by local officials and the Hutu Power government to take up arms against their neighbors.

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¨Another Loss in the Family¨

In this chapter William´s oldest sister ran away and got married to an older man. The famine was also starting to take an effect on William´s family.

¨To my horror, the crowd simply stepped over him. In the next line, babies cried and wailed from hunger, and children tugged on their mothers´ dresses. begging for breakfast (108).¨

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---When the bicycle in in motion electricity can power through the bike
---Most commonly powers lights
---Powered by a permanent magnet
---rotated between some coils and wires
---Produces a changing magnetic field.

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Good model of dynamo

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GCSE PHYSICS - Electromagnetism - What is a Bicycle Dynamo? - How does a Bicycle Dynamo Work? - GCSE SCIENCE.

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permanent magnet is rotated in the middle of some coils of wire. Rotating the magnet instead of the coils has the advantage that are not needed. The rotating magnet produces achanging magnetic field and this electricity in the coils of wire.

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3 Examples of corrupt politicians/ government

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3 Examples of corrupt politicians/ government

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1. Boss Tweed- aided business partners in return for his own personal gains. He stole money and was sentenced to 12 years in jail.

2. Ray Blanton- Gave pardons in exchange for money as a member of Tennessee house of representatives.

3.  Edwin Edwards- Found guilty for 17 of 26 counts of extortion, fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy.

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DIRECT CURRENT: Energy that flows in one direction
-move up to 600 miles per second
-electrons get pushed in the same directions as the wire
-act like dominoes

ALTERNATING CURRENT: Energy that switches direction, typically used in power supplies.
-Most common for houses
-60 times every second the electrons change direction
-also in power lines

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Deforestation is the action of clearing a large area of trees.

Deforestation was a necessity for African life, but it also caused many bad effects. Because of the lack of trees, they was a lot of runoff from the farming fields and a lot of extra flooding. This causes their crops to fail to grow and cause lack of food.

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RIPPLE Africa receives many general enquiries asking about the natural environment in Malawi, Africa, and particularly about deforestation in Africa. To help people wishing to gain a better understanding of some of the complex environmental issues Malawi is facing, we have provided a page about the environment and deforestation in Malawi and, most specifically, the Nkhata Bay District where RIPPLE Africa is based.

The environment is one of RIPPLE Africa's three main pillars of activity. It is also the charity's only area of focus which goes beyond our own local community: RIPPLE Africa's environmental projects span the entire Nkhata Bay District, an area of just over 4,000km². RIPPLE Africa's environmental projects include tree planting, fruit tree projects, fuel-efficient cookstoves, forest conservation, and more.

Environmental Overview

Malawi is a landlocked country in south-eastern Africa, bordered by Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique. Malawi is 118,000km², but one fifth of the country is made up of Lake Malawi, so actual land area is 94,080km², roughly the size of Scotland and Wales combined. The Great Rift Valley runs through the country from north to south, and Lake Malawi lies to the east. Land is made up of mountains, plateaux, hills, valleys, flatlands, and lakeshore. Malawi has a sub-tropical climate, and experiences a rainy season from December to March, a cold dry season from April to August, and a hot dry season from September to November.

Malawi was previously heavily forested. However, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), forest cover is now just 34.4% of the total land area of Malawi (UN data 2010) (fallen from 41.4% in 1990). The Northern Region, where RIPPLE Africa is based, has more forested areas than the heavily populated Southern and Central Regions combined.

The challenge for Malawi for the future, with its rapidly growing population, is to help communities to develop a more sustainable approach to the environment.

Deforestation for Farming

Most of Malawi was originally covered by forest but, over the years, people have been cutting down the trees and burning them where they fall to open up areas for farming - this is commonly known as "slash and burn" agriculture. In the past, these areas were farmed for one to three years, and then the farmer would move on, cut down some more forest, and start all over again. Whilst the population of Malawi was small, the environment was able to recover as the trees would regenerate but now, with the population doubling every 25 years (in July 2011, the population of Malawi is estimated to be 17.2 million (2015 Source World Bank) - see Malawi Facts and Figures), there is increased pressure on available land. Today, more than 80% of Malawians live in the rural areas and are subsistence farmers.

During President Hastings (Kamuzu) Banda's time in office following Malawi's independence from Britain in 1964 until 1994, the forests in Malawi were protected. However, with the arrival of multi-party politics and democracy in 1994, the people believed that they had the freedom to do what they liked, and huge areas of forest have been cut down in the past 17 years to provide more farmland to produce food. The result is that much of the country has very few forests left and, in fact, it is not possible to see a large tree in many places in south and central Malawi.

In Nkhata Bay District, the area in which RIPPLE Africa is working, there are still large areas of forested hills, but these are disappearing very quickly because people from other areas of Malawi are now moving into the District and cutting down the trees illegally. The deforestation in the hills is causing a major change to the landscape and to the climate. As soon as the trees are cut down, the soil is exposed to the rain and, in many places, most of the top soil is washed away into the rivers and eventually into Lake Malawi. This is leaving the hills infertile so that trees and crops do not grow well, and the soil that is being deposited in the lake is affecting fish stocks which, together with over-fishing, is causing a dramatic reduction in the number of fish that are being caught in the lake.

Other Reasons Why Trees Are Cut Down

The main reasons why the trees in Malawi are cut down are as follows.

Wood is the main fuel in Malawi, and 95% of homes still use wood or charcoal for cooking. Nearly everybody uses three-stone fires for cooking, and each fire consumes about three large bundles (weighing about 30kg each) of wood per week. In many areas, wood is now becoming very scarce. Although the government has a number of laws to restrict the sale of wood and charcoal without a licence, the practice is very common throughout the country. The use of charcoal for cooking is more common in the major towns, but charcoal production and the sale of charcoal is illegal. However, despite this, the people in rural areas produce many bags of charcoal which are transported to the towns. This fuel is incredibly wasteful as it uses a considerable number of trees to produce one bag of charcoal.

Most houses in Malawi are made from bricks, and these are commonly made by putting clay soil into moulds and then drying them in the sun. These sun-dried bricks are then built into a large kiln and vast amounts of wood are used to fire them. In October/November, it is normal to see people burning their bricks all over the country, but there is no restriction on this activity at the moment. To make enough bricks for a small family house would require three large mango trees or the equivalent.

There is now very little hardwood available in Malawi for timber production. Sawyers walk up into the hills and cut down the best hardwood trees to make planks for building and for furniture.

Although wood is such an important resource in Malawi, the Malawians have been very poor at managing their woodland and replanting their trees.

Agriculture

Malawians used to farm the old traditional crops of millet and sorghum which are disease and drought resistant but, as with most of the other countries in Africa, maize was introduced by the World Bank in the 1950s and is now the most popular crop as the staple food in Malawi. Ideally, maize needs good soil and nutrients, and sufficient water, but it is susceptible to disease and drought. Maize is commonly grown in the rainy season from seed which farmers have to buy, and it is planted in December. Unfortunately, Malawians rarely rotate their crops and often, at the end of the season, the fields are burnt to clear them so that the nutrients are destroyed and there is very little organic matter in the soil. Hence, increasingly, farmers rely on expensive, chemical fertilisers to increase their crop yields.

In Nkhata Bay District, the most common crop is cassava from which a flour similar to maize flour is produced, and this is used as the staple food in the area. Cassava is reasonably easy to grow - a short piece of stem is planted in the ground, and this will grow throughout the rainy and dry seasons. As with maize, this crop is regularly planted without rotation. In the dry season, October/November, many farmers burn the bush as a quick way to clear their land, and children set fire to the dry vegetation for fun, with devastating results. All of the organic matter is destroyed, and homes, trees, and seeds are also burnt, often leaving the soil sterile.

Lake Malawi

Lake Malawi, which is the ninth largest lake in the world, is a major part of life in Malawi. It covers one fifth of the country and, traditionally, people who live along the lakeshore are fishermen. As a result of large-scale soil erosion due to deforestation, the lake is suffering from siltation which, together with over-fishing, has caused the fish stocks to reduce. In the 1970s, the average consumption of fish was 14kg per person per year, but it has now fallen to about 4kg per person per year because of the reduction of fish stocks in the lake and the growth in population.

Videos

Forest Conservation: Signing of Bylaws (9:08)

Deforestation, Bush Burning and Forest Conservation (2:51)

Fish Conservation: Fish for Tomorrow (6:41)

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RIPPLE Africa receives many general enquiries asking about the natural environment in Malawi, Africa, and particularly about deforestation in Africa. To help people wishing to gain a better understanding of some of the complex environmental issues Malawi is facing, we have provided a page about the environment and deforestation in Malawi and, most specifically, the Nkhata Bay District where RIPPLE Africa is based.

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1. Strangers wandering the roads looking for ganyu (93).¨

2. ¨I´m hungry, out of strength (91).¨

3. ¨It´s time to start cutting back (91).¨

4. ¨Two hundred and ten days until food-and we haven't even planted one seed (90).¨

5. ¨The price of maize started going up(88).¨

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¨A Malowolo ceremony occurs when both a boy and a girl tell their families about their plans to get married, but there is no big celebration as there is with a Chinkhoswe. A date is set for both families to meet, to get to know each other and to agree on the bride price, or lobola. This price can be either in the form of cash or cattle. In most cases the amount set depends on the girl’s level of educational – the more educated she is, the higher the bride price. During this cultural ceremony, only close family members are allowed to attend. The boy may choose to pay the bride price straightaway or may pay in installments. Either way, the two are then considered engaged.¨
explorer-malawi.com

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¨Cause and Effect¨

¨We were heading for disaster, but even he didn't know how bad it would get (88).¨

In this chapter, William´s family and the rest of Malawi is starting to slowly starve, the president isn't doing anything about it and the chief is beaten for trying to help.

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A condition marked by a deficiency of red blood cells or of hemoglobin in the blood, resulting in pallor and weariness.

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-about the same amount of protein as a similar serving of chicken.
-6.1 grams of fat (slightly more than a similar serving of chicken)
-reduce greenhouse gases from livestock
-

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Special Interests

In this chapter it is explained how William always wanted to find an answer and how he fixed old radios. THey also talk about the maize farming in Malawi.

¨From the moment I heard sounds coming from the radio, I wanted to know what was going on inside¨ (68).

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Simile: ¨By February, the stalks were wilted down and hunched toward the ground like an old woman sweeping the dirt(77).¨

Personification:  ¨One night before bed, I saw a lamp flickering inside and found my father there alone, staring at the stacks as if he had asked them a question. Whatever they told him, I´d find out soon enough(78).¨

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Work begins in July to clear previous harvest in May.
August-November rotating up soil.
Begin planting around December.
Harvest in May.

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You might ponder ~ ~ ~ is grasshopper edible? Why do I need to include it in my diet? How can I eat this hopping insect?How can a little creature that normally produce chirping noise while hopping around the garden be part of my diet? No not for me! I've never and will never eat this type of creature! Well, what if there are no other options like meat, fish, birds, crustaceans and seafood etc? What if it had been part of your diet right from the onset of your journey on this planet earth? What if it is part of your basic requirement for therapeutic purposes? Well, I leave you to proffer answers to these key questions.

I personally do not query anyone on this subject because the idea of making insect a part of our diets is pretty tough to accept. Simply put, grasshopper is safe to eat, nutritious, healthy and delicious! It is also considered a suitable alternative to chicken, beef, meat, birds, fish and other seafood. As part of The Telegraph documentary captioned "Eat more insects, scientists say", Tibbetts pointed out that grasshopper is beneficial to health and should be encouraged in our diets. Besides, even the holy Bible recorded it that John the Baptist ate locust and honey while in the wilderness.

Now, another concern is the difference between grasshopper and locust. Basically, the both are just the same! Locust is just a short-horned type of grasshopper that usually moves in or forms a swarm. Biblically, we are permitted to eat insects such as grasshopper, locusts, crickets, katydid, beetle as recorded in Leviticus 11:22. Grasshopper is an important staple delicacy in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America. Despite the awareness of the importance of this amazing creature as a healthy alternative for food supply, many people are still oblivious of this. This shouldn't be the case because grasshoppers are rich in numerous essential vitamins and minerals such as protein, serve as a healthy alternative to conventional meat and also suitable for medicinal purposes.

Grasshopper belongs to the order of Orthoptera and suborder Caelifera. It is distinguished by its strong hind legs that allow it to easily escape from predators such as birds, animals and spiders. Interestingly, it tends to camouflage as soon it sights predators in other to protect itself. This insect is hemimetabolous in nature being that it has no pupal stage while transiting from larva to adult. It also thrives mainly in the temperate regions of the world. Some species of grasshopper are high in population, that they tend to form a swarm such as locust. This insect is cold-blooded in nature thus it is best gathered under cool temperature when it is still immobile. It usually dwells in the ground and tends to emerge from the eggs that are deep buried in the soil. Grasshopper feeds mainly on plants, vegetables, cereals and crops etc.

Grasshopper has three main body segments of a head, thorax and abdomen. The head bears a pair of compound eyes, three simple eyes and a pair of antennae that are sensitive to the environment. The thorax and abdomen bear a rigid cuticle that comprises of overlapping plates made up of chitin. The thoracic segments bear 3 pairs of legs and 2 pairs of wings. The abdomen is made up of 11 segments while the legs are surrounded by claws for holding firm to anything. Male grasshoppers are usually smaller than the female ones that have short chisel-like ovipositors. The male species usually produce loud chirping sounds to attract females.

There are different species of grasshopper, for example, brown-spotted range grasshopper, club-horned grasshoppers, Oxya hyla hyla and velvet-striped grasshoppers, sage grasshopper, grass-green grasshopper, kiowa grasshopper, obscure bird grasshopper, fuzzy olive-green grasshopper, orange-legged grasshopper, short-winged toothpick grasshopper, Carolina grasshopper, American grasshopper, Chinese rice grasshopper, harris sprinkled grasshopper, Locusta sp, migratory grasshopper, Kraussaria sp., Anacridium sp., Nomadacris septemfasciata, Cataloipus sp., Hieroglyphycus sp., narrow-winged spur-throat, striped grasshopper, Katantop sp., largehead grasshopper, Gelestorhinus sp., keeler grasshopper, packard grasshopper, but the most common one is locust.

Locust is a short-horned swarming species of grasshopper that belongs to the family of Acrididae. Short-horned cricket can be easily distinguished from katydid or bush cricket that are characterised by long antennae. Grasshopper secretes a high level of serotonin that causes it to behave in certain ways, change colour and breed faster. It produces several wingless nymphs that later turn to swarms of winged adults. Swarms of locusts are usually a threat to crops thereby contributing to famines and short supply of food. Grasshoppers are often referred to as crickets (Ensifera) of the sub-order of Orthoptera, however, they have several differences especially in terms of the structure of their ovipositor, the segments in their antennae, the way they produce their sounds and the location of their tympana.

Grasshopper's Lifecycle

Grasshoppers are distinguished from most insects because they have incomplete metamorphosis and undergo ecdysis. Insect's ecdysis is the process of casting off the outer cuticle of insects and other arthropods. Male grasshopper usually produces a chirping sound in other to attract the females. Female grasshoppers identify conducive egg-laying sites for example; close to plant roots or soil. During the ovipositing process, the males usually come around the females. Once the eggs have been laid, the female covers the spot with waste matters and soil.

The females normally lay their eggs in pods that can be glued together with a froth. The eggs undergo development within a couple of weeks before going into diapause. Once the eggs are ready to hatch, all the embryos in the pod then hatch out within a couple of minutes after each other. Afterwards, their membranes are shed while the exoskeletons become hard. The initial instar nymphs at this stage can easily jump away from potential predators.

Nutritional Values of Grasshoppers

Kinyuru et al., (2011) assessed the nutritional ability of green and brown coloured grasshoppers as an alternative for combating nutritional deficiencies. The study showed that the selected grasshoppers contain 37.1% and 35.3% protein, 48.2% and 46.2% fat, 2.8% and 2.6% ash, 3.9% and 4.9% dietary fibre for the green and brown grasshoppers respectively. These grasshoppers also contain macro and trace minerals such as; phosphorus (P) 140.9 mg/100g and 121.0 mg/100g, potassium (K) of 370.6 mg/100g and 259.7 mg/100g, calcium (Ca) of 27.4 mg/100g and 24.5 mg/100g, iron (Fe) of 16.6 mg/100g and 13.0 mg/100g, zinc of 17.3 mg/100g and 12.4 mg/100g in the green and brown grasshopper respectively.

They also exhibited a retinol concentration of 2.1 μg/g and 2.8 μg/g, riboflavin 1.2 mg/100g and 1.4 mg/100g, α-tocopherol 201.0 μg/g and 152.0 μg/g and niacin 2.1 mg/100g and 2.4 mg/100g for the green and brown grasshopper respectively. The lipid analysis showed that the grasshoppers' oil contains high quantities of polyunsaturated fatty acids, 89.4% and 84.3% neutral lipids, glycolipids 3.2% and 6.4%, 7.4% and 9.3% phospholipids, for green and brown grasshopper respectively. Furthermore, Ghosh et al., (2016) evaluated the nutrients quality in Oxya hyla hyla grasshopper species. The results showed that this species consists of 64% protein, minerals, vitamins, carbohydrate, amino acids and unsaturated fatty acids. They also reported that this grasshopper is low in antinutritional factors and contains negligible amounts of cholesterol and other fats. These findings support that grasshopper is an excellent source of essential minerals, vitamins and nutrients that are essential for the healthy functioning of the body. This further suggests that this edible insect is suitable for tackling nutritional deficiencies that are increasingly becoming a global concern.

Astonishing Benefits of Grasshoppers

Some amazing benefits of grasshoppers are discussed below;

Grasshoppers are edible, nutritious, delicious, healthy and safe to consume, thus can serve as food. But always endeavour to cook them properly first before consumption. Cooking the grasshoppers properly before consumption helps to destroy any parasite present. To prepare grasshoppers for cooking, always endeavour to remove the legs, wings and excreta first. Different countries use grasshopper for preparing assorted cuisines such as; cornmeal pudding with grasshoppers, grasshopper tortillas with chilli sauce, skewered grasshoppers, kebab grasshoppers, silkworm and grasshopper bug kebab, roasted grasshoppers, deep-fried grasshoppers, walang goreng, roasted chapulínes, boiled grasshopper, sun-dried grasshoppers and cooked grasshopper. Culinary Purposes
Treatment of Kidney Diseases DeConconi and Moreno (1988) report that the hind legs of grasshoppers can be crushed and mixed with water. This concoction can be consumed as a powerful diuretic for treating kidney diseases. Treatment of Gastrointestinal Diseases Some countries use grasshoppers for treating certain intestinal disorders such as stomach ache and dysentery. Livestock and Fish Feeds There has been an increased demand for livestock and animal feed. Interestingly, due to the rich nutrient constituents of a grasshopper, it can serve as a nutritious feed for animals and fish. It can also be used as a fish bait for capturing fishes. Ghosh et al., (2016) study supports the idea of using grasshopper as an alternative protein-rich feed for feeding livestock and fish. They agreed that since the short-horned grasshopper species O. hyla hyla is rich in carbohydrate, protein, fatty acids, amino acids, fat and low in antinutritional factors, then it is suitable for use as a protein-rich feed supplement in fish and animal diets. Suitable for Artworks Grasshoppers are suitable for artworks, paintings, designs and decorations of buildings .
Supports the Ecosystem
Grasshoppers significantly support the ecosystem thereby making our environment safer and comfortable for animals and plants to thrive. They feed on poisonous weeds that can be toxic to farmland crops and animals.They facilitate plant growth, development, decomposition, and regrowth. They are also a source of food to animals, birds, lizards and spiders etc. Grasshoppers usually leave droppings that are rich in nutrients on the ground. These nutrients help to promote the soil and vegetation. Moreover, dead grasshoppers decompose and enrich the soil with valuable nutrients, minerals and vitamins.

26] The Telegraph by Tibbetts, (2008), Eat more insects, scientists say, accessed online DISCLAIMER This post is for enlightenment purposes only and should not be used as a replacement for professional diagnosis and treatments. Remember to always consult your healthcare provider before making any health-related decisions or for counselling, guidance and treatment about a specific medical condition.
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25] Solomon, M., Ladeji, O and Umoru, H (2008) Nutritional Evaluation Of The Giant Grasshopper ( Zonocerus variegatus) Protein And The Possible Effects Of Its High Dietary fibre On Amino Acids And Mineral Bioavailability. African Journal of Food Agric. Nut. and Development 8( 2) pp. 238-248.

27] Wang, D., Zhai, S., Zhang, C., Zhang, Q., Chen, H., (2007) Nutrition value of the Chinese grasshopper Acrida cinerea (Thunberg) for broilers. Animal Feed Science and Technology, 135, pp. 66-74.
28] Whipple S. D., Brust M. L., Hoback W. W. and Farnsworth-Hoback K. M. (2009), The grasshoppers Arphia Xanthoptera and Dichromorpha Viridis prefer introduced smooth brome over other grasses. Great Plains Research 19: pp.179-86.
29] Yadav R. S. and Singh J. (2011), Biodiversity of short- horned grasshopper (Acrididae: Orthoptera) at Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Environment and Ecology; 29(1A), pp. 347-350.

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ASTONISHING BENEFITS OF GRASSHOPPERS amp-version

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Grasshopper You might ponder ~ ~ ~ is grasshopper edible? Why do I need to include it in my diet? How can I eat this hopping insect?How can a little creature that normally produce chirping noise while hopping around the garden be part of my diet? No not for me!

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Sustainable: able to be maintained.

Ethical: relating to moral principles or the branch of knowledge dealing with these.

Feasible: Possible to do easily or convinently.

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How does a sunset work? We love to look at one, but Jolanda Blackwell wanted her eighth-graders to really think about it, to wonder and question.

So Blackwell, who teaches science at Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior High in Davis, Calif., had her students watch a video of a sunset on YouTube as part of a physics lesson on motion.

"I asked them: 'So what's moving? And why?' " Blackwell says. The students had a lot of ideas. Some thought the sun was moving; others, of course, knew that a sunset is the result of the Earth spinning around on its axis.

Once she got the discussion going, the questions came rapid-fire. "My biggest challenge usually is trying to keep them patient," she says. "They just have so many burning questions."

Students asking questions and then exploring the answers. That's something any good teacher lives for. And at the heart of it all is curiosity.

Blackwell, like many others teachers, understands that when kids are curious, they're much more likely to stay engaged.

But why? What, exactly, is curiosity and how does it work? A study published in the October issue of the journal Neuron suggests that the brain's chemistry changes when we become curious, helping us better learn and retain information.
Our Brains On Curiosity
"In any given day, we encounter a barrage of new information," says Charan Ranganath, a psychologist at the University of California, Davis and one of the researchers behind the study. "But even people with really good memory will remember only a small fraction of what happened two days ago."

Ranganath was curious to know why we retain some information and forget other things.

So he and his colleagues rounded up 19 volunteers and asked them to review more than 100 trivia questions. Questions such as, "What does the term 'dinosaur' actually mean?" and "What Beatles single lasted longest on the charts, at 19 weeks?"

Participants rated each question in terms of how curious they were about the answer.

Next, everyone reviewed the questions - and their answers - while the researchers monitored their brain activity using an MRI machine. When the participants' curiosity was piqued, the parts of their brains that regulate pleasure and reward lit up. Curious minds also showed increased activity in the hippocampus, which is involved in the creation of memories.

"There's this basic circuit in the brain that energizes people to go out and get things that are intrinsically rewarding," Ranganath explains. This circuit lights up when we get money, or candy. It also lights up when we're curious.

When the circuit is activated, our brains release a chemical called dopamine, which gives us a high. "The dopamine also seems to play a role in enhancing the connections between cells that are involved in learning."

Indeed, when the researchers later tested participants on what they learned, those who were more curious were more likely to remember the right answers
Curiosity Helps Us Learn Boring Stuff, Too
There was one more twist in Ranganath's study: Throughout the experiment, the researchers flashed photos of random faces, without giving the participants any explanation as to why.

Those whose curiosity was already piqued were also the best at remembering these faces.

The researchers were surprised to learn that curious brains are better at learning not only about the subject at hand but also other stuff - even incidental, boring information.

"Say you're watching the Breaking Bad finale," Ranganath explains. If you're a huge fan of the show, you're certainly really curious to know what happens to its main character, Walter White.

"You'll undoubtedly remember what happens in the finale," he says, but you might also remember what you ate before watching the episode, and what you did right after.

This is a phenomenon teachers can use to their advantage in the classroom, says Evie Malaia, an assistant professor at the Southwest Center for Mind, Brain and Education at the University of Texas, Arlington.

"Say a kid wants to be an astronaut," she says. "Well, how do you link that goal with learning multiplication tables?" A teacher may choose to ask her class an interesting word problem that involves space exploration, Malaia says.

At the end of the class, students may remember the answer to the word problem, but they'll also remember how they found the answer through multiplication.

"This way kids basically get into the driver's seat," Malaia says. "They feel especially good if they discover something, if they construct knowledge themselves."

Teachers have been using this technique instinctively for years, she adds, and now the science is backing that up. "Curiosity really is one of the very intense and very basic impulses in humans. We should base education on this behavior."
What We Still Don't Know
There's a lot scientists still don't understand about curiosity. "There's only a handful of studies on curiosity," Ranganath says. "It's very hard to study."

Researchers don't know, for example, why exactly we get such a high off learning, through Ranganath says it makes sense from an evolutionary standpoint. "We might have a basic drive in our brain to fight uncertainty," he says. The more we know about the world, the more likely we are to survive its many perils.

Scientists are also trying to figure out how long the effects of curiosity last - if a kid's curiosity is piqued at the beginning of the school day, will she be good at absorbing knowledge all day long? Or will she lose interest?

What Ranganath wants to know most is why some people seem naturally more curious than others. Lots of factors, including stress, aging and certain drugs can affect dopamine processing in the brain, he says. Genetic factors may also influence how inquisitive we are.

"If we could figure these things out, it would have a huge impact. We could help those who may just seem bored," Ranganath says.

Blackwell, the science teacher in California, says she doesn't have to deal with that problem too often.

She says her students love exploring the mysterious unknowns in science: What happens when a car crashes? Why does one car get more beat up than the other? Why do some people look more like their aunt than their mom? How do rainbows work?

"I tell my kids there's no dumb questions," Blackwell says. "That's science: asking questions and seeking answers."

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How does a sunset work? We love to look at one, but Jolanda Blackwell wanted her eighth-graders to really think about it, to wonder and question. So Blackwell, who teaches science at Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior High in Davis, Calif., had her students watch a video of a sunset on YouTube as part of a physics lesson on motion.

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A loss in the Family

In this chapter William´s uncle John passed away from tuberculosis, they had a proper burial and settled all of the things he left behind for the family. This chapter also talks a lot about his childlife around the age of nine.

¨Khamba was the most unusual thing I had ever seen...¨ (56).
This shows the difference in culture from Africa to America. Here we treat the like part of the family, it is much different in Africa.

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This is a form of magic that is known to give super human strength in the African Culture.

William was cheated when he was given this magic and it did not work for him.  The wizard did not tell him all of the details and William felt betrayed. He learned not to trust everyone and some things are too good to be true.

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Maize farming and production business in Africa is a high-potential opportunity for the continent.

Maize (also known as 'corn' in some countries) is one of the most common and important food crops across Africa. It is widely eaten in various forms and more than 900 million Africans depend on maize every year because it is often cheaper than rice and wheat, two of the other most consumed cereals.

In fact, many of our daily diets contain maize either directly or indirectly. Production of meat, eggs and dairy products (like milk and yoghurt) would be difficult without maize, which is a hugely important ingredient in animal feed.

Although our continent produces over 50 million tons of maize every year, Africa still spends over $2 billion to import maize from abroad. As Africa's population continues to grow, the demand and consumption of maize will increase rapidly over the coming years.

This article explores the lucrative market for maize within and outside Africa. You will also learn the secrets of this business including FREE manuals and materials to guide you.

Why is maize an interesting business opportunity?

Maize is a totally amazing crop. By planting just one seed of maize, you get over 500 kernels in return at harvest. That's an incredible return on investment!

In fact, maize was made for developing regions like Africa. It utilises sunlight very effectively and Africa has sunlight in abundance. Maize can grow on a vast array of soils and can survive in different climatic conditions on our continent.

Maize also matures really fast. From the time it is planted, maize requires only between 90 to 120 days (about 4 months) to reach harvest. This allows it to survive in areas with short periods of rainfall and irregular water supplies.

One of the reasons maize is in high demand as a food crop is its high energy and nutritional value. It is rich in Vitamins A, C and E, several essential minerals, and contains up to 9 percent protein. It is also rich in dietary fibre and carbohydrates which are a good source of energy.

It is no surprise that in many parts of East Africa, maize accounts for an average of one third of the daily caloric intake.

Maize remains a key food crop in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Although it is primarily used as human food in developing regions of the world, maize is one of the most important raw materials for animal feed production and biofuels in developed countries. (photo credit: newscom.com)

Maize is also a versatile food product for Africans. It is processed and prepared in various forms depending on the country and culture.

Ground maize is prepared into porridge in Eastern and Southern Africa, while maize flour is prepared into porridge/pap in West Africa. Ground maize is also fried or baked in many countries.

In all parts of Africa, green (fresh) maize is boiled or roasted on its cob and served as a snack. Popcorn is also a popular snack derived from the maize crop.

Because of its huge strategic importance and versatile uses as human food, animal feed and a valuable industrial raw material, the production of maize is taken very seriously around the world.

According to IITA estimates, about 800 million tons of maize is produced worldwide every year. Africa produces 6.5 percent of this volume which is still insufficient for local consumption.

Nigeria remains Africa's largest producer with nearly 8 million tons produced per annum. It is closely followed by South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. The United States remains the world's largest producer with 42 percent of all maize produced globally.

Who are the biggest buyers and consumers of maize in Africa?

Photo credit: capitalfm.co.ke

Maize is a food crop that is in high demand across Africa.

In this section, we shall look at the three major segments that make up the biggest demand for maize in Africa - human beings, animals and industries. We will now look at each of these segments to find out the reasons for their demand and the lucrative potentials of this demand.
Human beings
Africans directly consume about 30 percent of all maize that is produced worldwide. Unlike in developed countries where a major portion of maize produced is used for animal feed, maize is a significant part of diets in Africa.

More maize is eaten per person in Africa than in any other part of the world. Lesotho has the highest consumption per capita of maize in the world (174kg/person). Eastern and Southern Africa use 85% of harvested maize as food, while Africa as a whole uses 95%, compared to other world regions that use most of their maize as animal feed.

Africa has one of the fastest growing populations in the world with an annual population growth rate of nearly 3 per cent over the last 20 years.

With the world's highest birth rate, its current population of nearly one billion people is predicted to more than double in 40 years to 2.3 billion (source: McKinsey Research).

It is expected that the demand for maize as human food will grow in step with Africa's population. The demand for more maize in the coming years is certain. Whether the increased volumes of maize will be produced locally or imported from outside the continent remains uncertain.
Animal Feed Producers
Maize is a favourite raw material for animal feed. It is cheaper than many of the other feed alternatives and provides the required nutritional content for livestock. As a result, over 60 percent of maize produced worldwide is used in feed production.

In Asia, and many of the developed countries, more maize is used in animal feed production than for human consumption. For example, the United States, the world's largest producer of maize, uses over 80 percent of its maize harvest to produce animal feed.

As discussed in our animal feed production article, the growing production and demand for meat is having a strong effect on the demand for maize. In the future, less maize may be eaten directly and more will be consumed indirectly (through poultry, meat and dairy products).
Industrial consumers
Maize has quite a high starch content which makes it a high-demand industrial raw material.

The starch obtained from maize is processed into several additives, agents and ingredients such as dextrine, sorbitol, sorbic acid and lactic acid. You may not recognize these substances but they are used in many household items that you know and use such as: ink, cosmetics, paint, medicines, syrups, ice cream, shoe polish, fireworks batteries and glue.

Yes, all of these things contain starch.

Starch from maize is also heavily used to produce bioethanol, a form of renewable fuel used as an alternative to petrol (gasoline) to power cars, trucks and buses.

Ethanol is also used as a solvent in the manufacture of varnishes and perfumes; in the preparation of essences and flavorings; and in many medicines and drugs.

Photo credit: businessdailyafrica.com

Some of the biggest industrial buyers of maize are food producers and breweries. International food processing giants like Nestle and Kelloggs (just to mention a few) purchase a lot of maize to produce some of the famous cereal-based breakfast brands like Cornflakes.

Breweries also use maize as a major raw material for beer production. Africans consume millions of litres of beer every year and this volume is expected to rise significantly due to population growth and economic prosperity.

The more beer that is produced, the more maize that will be purchased by brewers across the continent to produce beer.

How to start and succeed in the maize production business

Compared to many other crops, maize is quite easy to produce. However, succeeding in the maize production business requires knowledge and skill.

Based on my research, we have identified some things entrepreneurs should consider and keep in mind if they plan to get involved in the maize business. Here they are:
Find suitable land
The first and most important thing you will need to get started with maize production is land.

Maize grows best in rich loamy or sandy-loam soils in a well-drained area that has a flat or fairly flat landscape. Maize will not do well in waterlogged land. If the land is not well drained, you could make ridges or mounds to protect the crops from waterlogging.

Because the maize plant loves sunlight, the land has to be in the open and free from any kind of shade (such as tall trees or man-made structures) that prevents sunlight from reaching the planted maize.

The land has to be cleared and tilled before the rainy season starts and the maize should be planted immediately after the land is prepared. If this is not done, weeds may grow fast and compete with the maize for nutrients and sunlight.
Use the right varieties
There are different varieties of maize in the world today and the type you choose to produce will depend on consumer preferences and market demand in your area.

In some localities, white corn is more popular than the yellow variety. In some other areas, it is vice-versa. However, the best maize varieties grow fast, are high yielding, mature earlier than the local varieties and are resistant to major pests and diseases.

There are now some hybrid varieties that use much less water and can often survive in drought-prone areas.

Maize farmer in Kenya / Photo credit: CIAT International Center for Tropical Agriculture; Flickr

There are also late-maturing and early-maturing varieties of maize.

Late-maturing varieties mature in 110-120 days and are good for zones with a long rainy season.

Early-maturing varieties mature in 90-100 days and can be planted after a late-maturing variety in zones with two seasons of rainfall.

There are also extra-early varieties which mature in 80-90 days. These can be planted in zones with very short rainy season (usually 2-3 months long).
When and how to plant maize
Time was when rainfall patterns in my village were predictable. I guess climate change is 'changing' everything nowadays.

There are now no specific dates to plant maize. Depending on your region, you could follow the previous history of rains in the area. However, it's best to plant after it has rained consecutively for 2 to 3 times.

Planting only when the rains have come will help the maize seeds to germinate and grow well.

Some maize varieties need between 450 to 600 mm of water per season to grow, most of which it gets from moisture reserves in the soil.

According to research, at maturity, it is estimated that each maize plant will have consumed about 250 litres of water.

It is also very important that you pay very close attention to the health of the maize seeds you plant. You should only buy maize seeds for planting from dependable sources.

For best results, avoid buying maize seeds from the local or open market near you. These seeds could be rotten or already contaminated by disease which will likely affect its growth performance.

I have included a manual in the resources section (at the end of this article) that contains specific information on how to treat maize seeds before planting.
Watch out for weeds, pests and diseases!
There are several types of weeds, pests and diseases that affect maize plants such as stem borers, army worms, grasshoppers, larger grain borers, downy mildew, maize streak virus and Striga among others.

Fortunately, there are several herbicides, pesticides and disease control methods you can apply to prevent a breakout on your farm. The manual in the next section contains useful information about these methods and how you can apply them.
Harvest: what can you expect?
The amount of maize that can be harvested (per hectare) depends on the variety you planted, amount of rainfall, sunshine and the level of weed, pest and disease control management that was applied.

Although Africa has some of the lowest maize yields in the world, it is not uncommon to expect between 2,000 to 4,000 kilograms per hectare.

Resources & Learning materials

Here are a few interesting resources and learning materials that will give you a headstart if you're seriously considering maize farming and production business in Africa.

How to Grow a Good Maize Crop is a simply-written and easy to understand handbook developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). The handbook is very well written. It covers everything from site selection, land preparation, seed selection and treatment, fertilizer treatment, storage of grains and several other important topics.

Maize Production Manual is another interesting and detailed handbook from South Africa's Department of Agriculture. It's a well-written manual and full of great information for beginners. It also contains detailed information.

Maize farming and production business is worth a try...

I'm currently working on a cassava farm project and plan to intercrop my cassava with some maize. The rains have just started in my area (Lagos, Nigeria) but are not yet steady.

I plan to start planting the maize by early April when the rains will be steady. I also plan to source for treated maize seeds through an agriculture inputs company.

I'm excited about the results and look forward to sharing them with you. Since it's supposed to take just four months before the harvest, I'll surely let you know how it goes; good or bad.

As usual, I believe that the opportunity and information I have shared with you in this article can be taken further by your creativity and energy. You could also look at many more interesting and lucrative business ideas in the Business ideas section of this website.

What do you think about this business opportunity?

Please leave a comment, share your views and ideas or ask any questions you may have in the Comments section below.

I would also appreciate that you share this article with your friends using the Facebook, Twitter and Google+ buttons below. You never know, you could inspire and change somebody's life today!

To your success!
And by the way, if you enjoyed reading this article and you're thinking of raising capital to start or grow your business, you'll love my amazing and life-changing FREE course. Click the course banner below or click here to get started with the course.

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Maize Production - An Interesting Small Business Opportunity You Should Consider This Year

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Maize farming and production business in Africa is a high-potential opportunity for the continent. Maize (also known as 'corn' in some countries) is one of the most common and important food crops across Africa.

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¨The warm heart of Africa¨  Robert Fulumani played a large rule in earning this nickname for Malawi.

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Nestled between Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, Malawi has earned it's nickname as 'the warm heart of Africa'. And 'warm' is precisely the adjective I would use to describe Malawian music. There is a sunny optimism in much of the Malawian music I've heard, and after a grim weekend of cold, rain, and snow, here in Washington D.C., I figured I'd warm myself up with a few Malawian recordings from our collection.

One of the most popular styles of music in Malawi, in the late 1960s was South African Kwela; a driving dance music, powered by virtuoso penny whistle players. Migrant workers returning from South Africa and Zimbabwe brought kwela music to Malawi, and it was in Salisbury, the capital of the federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland (which is now Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe), that Daniel and Donald Kachamba discovered Kwela music. When the brothers returned, in 1961, to Nyasaland (which became Malawi in 1964), they started to perform Kwela music on the streets, at markets, and in nightclubs. Daniel played the guitar, and his younger brother Donald was a penny whistle virtuoso; he had been playing the instrument since the age of six.

In 1967, the Austrian ethnomusicologist Gerhard Kubik heard the Kachamba brothers playing for a large crowd near the main market in Blantyre, Malawi's largest city. And at some point that same year, he brought the Kachamba brothers band to the United States Cultural Center in Blantyre. In February of 1968, the United States Information Service office in Blantyre, sent a four-song tape to the Voice of America, with the following description: 'enclosed is [a recording, made on December 4, 1967 of] an African combo consisting of four boys aged 7-16. They were recently discovered by a German musicologist who was researching African music in Malawi.'

In fact, at the time of these recordings Daniel was 20 years old (he was born in 1947, and passed away in 1987), and Donald was 14 (he was born in 1953, and passed away in 2001); two younger boys accompanied them, one playing the string bass, and the other the rattle. Donald's penny whistle playing on these two tracks is fantastic.

Let's jump ahead a couple of decades, with one of Malawi's most popular bandleaders of the late 1980s and 1990s, Robert Fumulani (he is the man crouching in the picture above). He was born, in 1948, in the city of Zomba (which is 40 miles northeast of Blantyre), and first started to draw the attention of Malawian audiences in the 1970s. During the 1980s, Fumulani won the Malawian 'Entertainer of the Year' award three times. And by the time he passed away, in 1998, his musical earnings had allowed him to open several businesses, including the Likhubula Entertainment Centre, his nightclub in Chileka (a suburb of Blantyre), and a cargo services company at Chileka airport. His musical legacy is kept alive by three of his seven sons; Anjiri, Musandide, and Chizondi- who are the core of the Black Missionaries, currently one of Malawi's most popular groups.

This track gives you a good idea of Fumulani's relaxed Afroma (a contraction of Afro-Malawian) groove. In this one Fumulani pleads with 'Patricia', he sings, 'don't leave us, stay with us, don't break up your family.'

One of the key ingredients of the Likhubula River Dance Band's sound was the guitar playing of Ernest Mapemba. Near the end of 'Mwana Wanga', or 'My Child', Mapemba breaks things down with some wonderfully relaxed playing.

This last track has got a nice reggae beat. Fumulani asks for guidance and advice.

Let's keep the reggae beat going with Evison Matafale, who before he passed away in 2001, was one of Malawi's most loved artists. In 2000, he surprised music fans with his debut release 'Kuyimba I', which became one of the year's best-selling releases. Matafale recorded the album with Robert Fumulani's three aforementioned sons, who after Evison passed away, renamed themselves the Black Missionaries.

In 2001, after a long battle with tuberculosis, Matafale released 'Kuyimba II'. He passed away several months later, however, dying suddenly while in police custody. He was only 32 years old. According to an article published by the BBC, Matafale's brother Elton believes Evison was killed, because of letters he had written to then-president Bakilu Muluzi, denouncing his government's policies. In 'Yang'ana Nkhope', Evison sings 'Look at my face, look at your face, we are all God's Children.'

Next up is Joseph Tembo, a great guitar player, from southern Malawi. He was born in 1997, in southern Malawi, and is a member of the Sena ethnic group, who are related to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. This relationship helps explain the similarities between Tembo's music and the Shona melodies and rhythms of Zimbabwean Chimurenga music.

This last song is by Coss Chiwalo, who for many years was (and may still be) the bandleader of the 'Alleluya Band', a Malawian musical institution. He was born in 1974 and has released three solo albums. 'Wakwatiwa', one of his biggest hits, is a song that is usually played at weddings. He sings of the joy of the bride and groom.

I hope the music hit the spot. I would like to thank Dr. John Lwanda of Pamtondo records for his help with research and song translations.

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Nestled between Zambia, Tanzania and Mozambique, Malawi has earned it's nickname as 'the warm heart of Africa'. And 'warm' is precisely the adjective I would use to describe Malawian music. There is a sunny optimism in much of the Malawian music I've heard, and after a grim weekend of cold, rain, and snow, here in [...]

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The President of Malawi from 1961-1994. He was known for influencing ¨Cult of Personality.¨ He insisted that everyone saw him as a god and treated him like it as well.

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Hastings Kamuzu Banda | president of Malawi

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Hastings Kamuzu Banda: Hastings Kamuzu Banda, first president of Malawi (formerly Nyasaland) and the principal leader of the Malawi nationalist movement. He governed Malawi from 1963 to 1994, combining totalitarian political controls with conservative economic policies. Banda's birthday was officially given as May 14,

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This article was most recently revised and updated by

Yao, various Bantu-speaking peoples inhabiting southernmost Tanzania, the region between the Rovuma and Lugenda rivers in Mozambique, and the southern part of Malaŵi.

By 1800 the Yao had become known as traders plying between the inland tribes and the Arabs on the east coast. Much of this trade was in slaves, which led eventually to clashes with European powers who were establishing control over former Yao territory in the 19th century. The Yao were never united but lived as small groups ruled by chiefs who were predominantly military and commercial leaders; by 1900 all Yao chiefdoms had come under German, Portuguese, or British rule.

The Yao are an agricultural people using slash-and-burn techniques to cultivate their staples, corn (maize) and sorghum. Fish provide protein in areas near lakes or larger rivers. In Malaŵi they cultivate tobacco as an important cash crop.

The Yao live in compact villages of 75 to 100 persons under traditional headmen. These headmen, like the chiefs, succeed matrilineally, the office usually going to the eldest sister's firstborn son. On marriage the man leaves his village to live in that of his wife, so that villages are composed basically of groups of women related through the female line, together with their spouses. Yao social life features annual initiation ceremonies involving circumcision for boys. Originally, these ceremonies were closely connected with the worship of ancestor spirits, but through Arab contact most Yao are Muslims, and the rites incorporate Islamic elements.

Elizabeth Prine Pauls.

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Yao, various Bantu-speaking peoples inhabiting southernmost Tanzania, the region between the Rovuma and Lugenda rivers in Mozambique, and the southern part of Malaŵi. By 1800 the Yao had become known as traders plying between the inland tribes and the Arabs on the east coast. Much of this trade was

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"The Pope"

In chapter two William and his family moved out to the fields with his uncle,     .   They then became farmers and even built their own house. This chapter also talks about  his father's past life as the "Pope."

"Too exhausted to continue fighting, my father finally agreed to be arrested and spend the night in jail ("Only because I respect the rule of the law," he told them).¨
This shows what kind of man Williams father was.

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Where William grew up and changed many lives.