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This special consists of five articles: A Profitable
Sentence - Uganda, A Good Return - Uganda, Blood
Safe - Uganda, Weed To The Rescue - Madagascar, A
Burning Concern - Madagascar
A
Profitable Sentence - Uganda
Covering 69,000 square kilometres, Lake Victoria
is Africa’s largest inland body of water. It
borders the nations of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
About 30 per cent of Uganda is covered by water and
ultimately, most people depend upon the lake for
their livelihood. More and more acres of Lake Victoria
are disappearing beneath water hyacinth and it is
estimated that 100 square kilometres of the lake’s
surface is covered by the weed.
The high doubling rate of the water hyacinth - under
ideal conditions, quantities can double every two
weeks - means that it has become a major environmental
nuisance. It grows in mats up to two metres thick
which can reduce light and oxygen, change water chemistry,
affect flora and fauna and cause significant increases
in water loss. It also causes practical problems
for marine transportation and fishing and it is now
considered a serious threat to biodiversity.
A
Good Return - Uganda
Since 1992, the European Development Fund (EDF)
has supported small scale enterprise by providing
people with credit in the form of investment capital
for the equipment needed to expand their businesses.
The European Development Fund’s micro-projects
scheme is now reaching some of the most disadvantaged
Ugandans through grants to build infrastructure in
rural communities where development was hampered
by the protracted civil war. It is also giving loans
to individuals to start up businesses ranging from
metal working to mushroom growing. It offers credit
facilities to those who cannot meet the terms and
high interest rates of commercial banks. The scheme
now extends to six regions country wide.
Blood
Safe - Uganda
The supply of safe blood is the responsibility of
governments and public health services in developing
as well as developed countries. If the supply of
blood is unsafe, doctors are faced with a cruel ethical
dilemma - whether or not to give blood that might
save a life or that might kill. It also creates a
high risk for individual patients who are in need
of blood or blood products.
In countries where no proper blood transfusion service
is organised, blood transfusions are still given
but can do more harm than good. The most serious
characteristic of HIV infection by blood transfusion
is that it is almost 100 per cent effective in each
case. In countries in the South, between 5 and 10
per cent of HIV infections are due to transfusions
of HIV contaminated blood.
Weed
To The Rescue - Madagascar
Until recently, families living on the coast of
Madagascar depended on the plentiful supplies of
fish to provide income but unregulated fishing over
the last ten years has severely depleted stocks.
Many of the fishing villagers are being forced to
find an additional source of income. The European
Commission has been working with a French multinational
company and the local fishing community to develop
seaweed farms which could provide an alternative
to fishing.
As well as being used as one of the main ingredients
for toothpaste, seaweed is becoming increasingly
popular as a delicacy. The global demand for seaweed
is growing at an annual rate of 6 per cent and there
is room in the market for new producers.
A Burning Concern - Madagascar
Madagascar is only 400 kilometres from Mozambique
and the African mainland. The island has been separate
from the African mainland for so long that the native
wildlife and plants have evolved in a different way
to other places in the world. The plants and wildlife
are now under serious threat as the poor villagers
raze the forests for fuel to sell to the people in
the town in order to generate income for themselves.
It is often believed that deforestation in Madagascar
is caused by slash and burn activity. In the Eastern
rainforests and tropical forests, the misuse of fire
and agro-pastoral systems does contribute to deforestation.
However, the main pressure comes from the supply
of energy in the form of charcoal or fuelwood, and
construction wood to urban centres along the coastal
areas.
Providing consumers with an alternative, cheaper
source of energy is the only practical way to reduce
the amount of fuel being used. By reducing the relatively
high percentage of household budget used for purchasing
the energy used in cooking, families are now able
to spend more of their income in other areas, such
as nutrition, health, education for children, lodgings
and other things that can improve the standard of
living for urban residents.
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