Editorial

Africa continues to struggle under a triple crisis that keeps its people poor and its nations weak. One the burden of unpayable DEBT that soaks up money that should go to health and education; the epidemic of AIDS that is taking the lives of an entire generation; and finally the unfair TRADE policies that keep many African ries from being able to sell their products at world prices and earn their own way out of poverty.
According to United Nations Human Develoment Reports, Sub-Saharan Africa, the part of the continent south of the Sahara Desert, is the world's poorest place. Statistics show that Seventy percent of its people live on less than $2 a day. 200 million go hungry every day. A report from the Times of Zambia highlights policy issues that call for attention.
Paradoxical and mind-boggling – Malawi formerly touted as the land of plenty is all of a sudden in the grip of a perpetual severe food shortage. Attempts to arrest the problem through food handouts has created a hunger trap and a dependency syndrome. Malawi has devised a new strategy to break out of the hunger trap.

As development programs strive to connect civil society organizations via the worldwide web, small but high achieving initiatives on the ground remind us development professionals that community radio is often still the medium of preference to reach the rural poor in the developing world. Radio Mampita (RM), with the mission of supporting the participation farmers in the province of Fianarantsoa, Madagascar, in the development of their province is such an initiative.

It is a new dawn for Somalia as a new president, Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, was installed. Ten Africa leaders joined enthusiastic Somalis and friends to witness the swearing in of a new governemnt to rule a country that ahs been fragmented by clannism and dogged by internal conflicts in the last 13 years.

All hell broke lose in 1991 following the ovrthrow of President Mohammed Siad Barre, the country’s fourth president. Rival clans in this horn of Africa state failed to agree on who to replace Siad Barre consequently leading to lawlessness that deteriorated to civil war. In the words of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who is also the Africa Union charman, “the Somali peace process had provided an Africa solution for an African problem.”

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