USA Had Slums in 1949 ... Lessons for Africa

Kibera by Cristel Munster

A new study by Vanderbilt economist William J. Collins and Ph.D. candidate Katharine L. Shester looks at the long-term economic impact of the ambitious (and highly controversial) Housing Act of 1949, which used federal subsidies and the powers of eminent domain to “revitalize” American cities, i.e., to clear out the slums. By the time the program ended in 1974, 2,100 distinct urban renewal projects had been completed using grants that totaled about $53 billion (in 2009 dollars). In one of the rare papers to collect and analyze data related to the program, Collins and Shester come up with a positive picture of its effects – at least in some ways. The authors are clear that the ugliness involved with pushing people out of low-income housing was the reason the program was shut down, and that their results do not “imply that the dislocation costs for displaced residents and businesses were unimportant.”

A tin shed structure surrounds a locked pit latrine in Kibera, Nairobi’s largest slum. Communal pit latrines are the most common sanitation facility available to the residents of the low income settlement. Often shared by hundreds of people the pay-per-visit system of toilets in Kibera is a lucrative business for structure owners Flickr Photo

Cities that did the most slum-clearing or “urban renewal” had a higher increase in property values, income and population compared to non-participating cities. The results also show that these cities maintained roughly the same demographics, and did not push low-income residents out of cities, but rather redistributed the population.

Kibera photo from flickr

Read More Here http://www.freakonomics.com/2011/09/30/the-controversial-legacy-of-slum-clearance/

THE World University Rankings 2011-2012

The publication of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings has become one of the key annual events in the international higher education calendar. They are used by undergraduate and postgraduate students to help select degree courses, by academics to inform career decisions, by research teams to identify new collaborative partners, and by university managers to benchmark their performance and set strategic priorities. As nations across the globe focus on the establishment of world-class universities as essential elements of a dynamic economy, our rankings are increasingly employed as a tool for governments to set national policy.

Top African Universities 2011-2012

World Rank	Institution	Country / Region
103	University of Cape Town	South Africa
251-275	Stellenbosch University	South Africa
251-275	University of Witwatersrand	South Africa
301-350	Alexandria University	Egypt

THE World University Rankings 2011-2012

World Rank	Institution	Country / Region
1	California Institute of Technology	United States
2	Harvard University	United States
2	Stanford University	United States
4	University of Oxford	United Kingdom
5	Princeton University	United States
6	University of Cambridge	United Kingdom
7	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	United States
8	Imperial College London	United Kingdom
9	University of Chicago	United States
10	University of California, Berkeley	United States

Read More Here http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/top-400.html

TV Commercials from the West on Africa

I recently came across a TV commercial for Bing search engine that had me raising my eyebrows.

Bing search engine advert on Krochet Kids International begins with this fellow saying after traveling to war torn Uganda they decided to engage and help folks through a crochet project. A noble cause indeed, though I cant help but wonder is Uganda a war torn country? I agree there is conflict in the northern parts of Uganda but would that mean the country is torn apart by war?

Bing: Krochet Kids from Nick Pezzillo on Vimeo.

Compare this commercial to this one by Google.

Food for thought!

Spreading Awarenes on the Horn of Africa Famine

(Click to enlarge)

Created by eLocal.com in partnership with The Washington Post

"I will be a hummingbird" - Wangari Maathai

Kenya: Leaders to Blame for Food Crisis

Photo credit Mongabay

By David Kigochi

It is a shameful and difficult moment for Kenyans as the world watches the images of people dying of hunger in some parts of the country. The apathy by the government is despicable as it has been clear that there was going to be a shortage of food. It is sad that the government has had to be jolted into action by individual Kenyans and corporates.

This is a reflection of an increasingly indifferent and inhumane leadership which lives on the great largesse and expense of tax payers whose resources they have failed to manage better.
The privileged few are busy creating a welfare state for themselves while the rest of the citizens wallow in poverty and hunger. The famine has not spared anyone irrespective of ethnicity, region or political enclaves. The areas ravaged by famine have MPs and ministers in the government. Their inaction borders on criminal negligence. They only give knee-jerk reactions when images of the dying invade their living rooms and appetites.

And if deaths are not reported to them, then no one surely could have starved to death!

Most Kenyans know what is needed to mitigate against drought and famine- water harvesting, sustainable land policy, efficient farming methods, resistant crops, forestation, banning useless imports, cheap credit, good storage facilities and irrigation.

Infrastructure is crucial. If there were accessible roads in these regions, food would be available to the drought struck regions and farmers would not be feeding their potato and cabbage crops to their livestock because they lack accessible roads to get their crop to market!

It smacks of criminal negligence for the government to admit its food distribution system is ineffective and the only response is to deploy the military and National Youth Services when people are dying. It appears that famine is big business. Famine is a cash-cow to well-heeled operatives in the corridors of power. There is big money in transport and logistics as administrators divert and sell famine relief supplies. Coincidentally, every famine is preceded by a season of plenty. Last year, for example, there was the glut that saw dairy processors empty thousands of litres of milk into trenches.

Less than eight months later, milk prices have risen from Sh21 to Sh30. Another bumper harvest in parts of Eastern went to waste due to poor storage. At the same time, the Government announced a measly price of Sh1,200 for a bag of maize due to glut. This price was considerably lower than the Sh2,500 being offered to farmers in neighbouring countries. Naturally, farmers found it only sensible to sell their produce to the more lucrative foreign markets, leaving the country struggling to replace the depleted strategic grain reserve.

We cannot talk of Vision 2030 as there can never be a vision for the dead. We need to get our priorities right. For decades we have been talking about food security and yet we continue with the same trend of talking and doing nothing.

We know the solutions to the problem-provide water for irrigation, educate farmers on modern agricultural practices, infrastructure to distribute food from surplus to deficit areas. For this to happen, we need proactive leadership one that is listening to the people. Kenyans are starving not because the land is infertile, but because there is total mix up of priorities. In the short term, the government can suspend the servicing of the Sh32 billion debt to the Central Bank of Kenya and divert the funds towards an aggressive programme to put up dams in drought prone zones, upscale irrigation projects, open up the road network in the famine ravaged zones to ensure access and supply of food in the affected areas.

Kigochi is the national convenor, Central for United Kenya Forum.

Read more here http://allafrica.com

So Long Wangari Maathai!!!

Wangari Muta Maathai
1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011
Kenyan environmental + political activist + custodian of Nature

First African woman to be awarded the Nobel prize for peace 2004
Founder of The Green Belt Movement

"MAMA EARTH" Wangari. You fought for green B4 it was cool. R.I.P"

Jamhuri Wear