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UN. 2023. The International Year of Millet.

The cultivation and consumption of millet is a response to the challenges posed by population growth, food insecurity and climate change. A unique opportunity.

Among the first plants to be domesticated, millet is considered a cereal with a high content of nutrients. For seven thousand years, this small, round grain has been the staple food for hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia and is now grown around the world. However, the production of this cereal species is declining in many countries and its potential to tackle climate change and food security is not being fully exploited, even though this herbaceous plant can grow on relatively poor soils and in arid conditions. Millet comprises a family of cereals produced from a variety of plants that have small seeds and are grown mainly on non-agricultural land, in arid locations, where irrigation may not be possible and access to markets is difficult.

Photo: Fao/Simon Maina

Once critically endangered, the millet species is now recognized as part of the solution to global food problems, as it is an essential source of energy, and its crops can be stored or ground into flour.
Promoting the diversity and nutritional and ecological benefits of millet can benefit the food sector, from producers to consumers.
“For a long time, millet was considered a food for poor farmers, while urbanization and land mismanagement have led to the loss of farmland. With millet, degraded drylands can be reclaimed, making this cereal essential for feeding a growing world,” explains Jacqueline Hughes, director of ICRISAT, a crop research institute in the semi-arid tropics based in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Currently, a surprisingly small number of plants are used for human nutrition, from which we receive most of the daily calories we need. Thousands of species and varieties of plants that fed our ancestors have become extinct.

Genetic diversity
Rapeseed is said to have been domesticated in northern China, and as the seeds were saved and passed down through generations of farmers, different types of rapeseed adapted to the ecosystems around villages: soils, climate, altitude and the availability of water. Cultural preferences also contributed to the seed selection process; some favourite plants were replanted for their specific taste, texture, or colour of the grains.
Now, after decades of neglect, millet is once again considered an essential food. At the suggestion of the Government of India and with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2023 as the International Year of Millet, with the aim of increasing the contribution of these cereals to food and nutrition security, improving sustainable production and quality of cereals and increasing investment in research and development.

African women cooking traditional food. 123rf.com

The FAO defines millet as: “A unique opportunity to increase global production, ensure efficient processing and consumption, promote better use of crop rotation, and encourage better connectivity between food systems to promote millet as a key component of the food basket”.
Though vulnerable, indigenous and local communities around the world are major advocates for agrobiodiversity conservation, thanks to their traditional knowledge of different crop varieties and how to grow them. FAO’s International Fund for the Plant Treaty supports farmers in developing countries in their efforts to protect and use the genetic diversity of plants such as millet to ensure food security. “If millet replaced large areas of rice cultivation in India, scientific research suggests potential benefits, such as lower greenhouse gas emissions, greater resilience to climate change, and lower water and energy use, all without reducing calories or demanding more land”, summarizes journalist Dan Saladino, author of Eating to Extinction (2022, FSG), in Foreign Policy magazine.

Intelligent food
The United Nations encourages regions of Asia and Africa to replace the big three grasses (rice, wheat, and maize), which together provide more than 50% of human caloric intake, with millet. Over 90% of millet production today takes place in developing countries on both continents. From millet grains, bread, porridge, malt, and beer are made. As a ‘smart food,’ millet can significantly contribute to overcoming malnutrition, as its nutritional benefits can increase the growth of children and adolescents by 26-39% when substituted for rice in standard meals.

Fields of pearl millets in southeast Asia. 123rf.com

The study “Can feeding a millet-based diet improve the growth of children?”, published in the scientific journal MDPI Nutrients, points out that “nutritional intervention programs can be developed and adapted to increase the diversity of meals using millet and therefore improve nutritional content, including in school and mother-and-child feeding programs”.Research author R. Hemalatha, also director of India’s NIN Institute of Nutrition, suggests that “implementing millet meals requires designing menus for different age groups, using culturally sensitive and tasty recipes”. Millet also contributes to meeting the health needs of adults, helping to control diabetes, and overcome iron deficiency anaemia, as well as reduce cholesterol levels, obesity and the risk of cardiovascular disease. In Western countries, millet is sold in shops and in dietary sections and is mainly consumed in multigrain bread and used in the production of poultry feed. Thanks to the high fibre content and short cooking time, it can also be used in salads, purees, soups, or desserts. (Open Photo 123rf.com)

Carlos Reis

 

 

The Role of Secondary Cities. Trait d’union between development and tradition.

Half of the African urban residents live in one of the more than 7,500 medium or small continental cities. They are often excluded from investments and public services. But they enhance the continent’s extraordinary heritage of biodiversity.

Large metropolises attracted a monopoly of attention to their immense social and environmental challenges, but the data on the urban phenomenon in Africa tell a different story.
If there are now at least 30 cities with over 2 million inhabitants, they represent only 30% of the continent’s urban population. Half of the urban residents, on the other hand, live in one of the more than 7,500 medium or small cities, mostly unknown centres with a population of between 10,000 and 300,000 inhabitants.

Kumasi, Ghana. Busy Street near the Ghana Central Market in Kumasi. 123rf.com

The inexorable rush towards the city of the African continent is not, therefore, exclusive to megalopolises but, on the contrary, is driven above all by small and medium-sized centres. A trend destined to consolidate: these cities generally have higher birth rates and levels of internal migration than metropolises since they represent a simpler and cheaper landing point for those who decide to leave rural areas.

Politics, investment, and infrastructure
The condition that unites hundreds of medium and small cities on the continent is undoubtedly exclusion: a problem that triggers a vicious circle that is difficult to break and involves politics, economics, and opportunities for access to wider connections and networks. From a political point of view, secondary cities are often in a sort of limbo that blocks access to programmes and investments, excluded both from development policies for rural areas and from urban planning and redevelopment programmes. The latter, in fact, are often tailored to the needs of large cities that have more stringent problems but also a greater capacity to attract investments and international aid.

People walk along the bridge beside the road in Saint Louis, one of the biggest cities in Senegal. 123rf.com

The latest UN-Habitat report on the state of African cities (2018) focuses precisely on the ability to attract private foreign investments, considered one of the major drivers of urban development. Apart from sporadic cases linked to mining areas or strategic corridors, such as the coast between Lagos and Abidjan, secondary cities are totally excluded from the important flows that affect the continent. The scarcity of public investment in services and infrastructure is also a sore point. The boom in mobile telephony has made the possibility of communicating accessible to many, but the same is not true for access to electricity, water, or transport networks which, although constantly growing, spread at a slower rate than the rates of urbanization and the demand for connections and services in peripheral areas. The so-called micro-grids, small autonomous grids usually powered by solar panels, are changing the face of access to energy in the most remote areas, yet even in fast-growing countries, such as Senegal or Ghana, the nights of many secondary cities are still punctuated by the hum of diesel generators.

Not just the economy
Although some small cities boast ancient cultural traditions, university education is mostly concentrated in large cities and determines the constant drainage of the best talents who will hardly return to the ‘province’ to invest their skills. Furthermore, the scarce opportunities for higher education limit the spread of a middle class capable of generating development and bringing skills that are more than ever necessary in local authorities which are called upon to increasingly complex tasks by the processes of political and administrative decentralization. The scarce attention that has often been given to the training of institutions and local officials is one of the sore points of these processes and has contributed to paving the way for environmental degradation and indiscriminate consumption of land due to a lack of spatial planning.

Market in Huambo City. It is the third-most populous city in Angola, after the capital city Luanda.

Due to these multiple levels of exclusion and poor connectivity, many small and medium-sized cities, although more ‘on a human scale’ and liveable than African metropolises are not very attractive, are socially fragile, and find it difficult to find their own territorial identity. This identity and an ability to create networks that are more than ever necessary in a perspective of resilience are crucial. If their size and political weight protect large cities from sudden economic or demographic crises, medium or small cities are often at the forefront of suffering from devastating effects of diplomatic clashes, price fluctuations, and decisions taken elsewhere.
Walking through the dusty streets of Assab, in the far south of Eritrea, it is hard to believe that the city was once one of the most flourishing ports of the Red Sea. The crisis with Ethiopia has marked its fate and the recent thaw will hardly be able to reverse the trend, especially after the expansion of the Addis-Djibouti railway.

Environment and food supply chain
African secondary cities, therefore, live in a situation that is not too different from the problem of the ‘peripheries’ of the rest of the planet, aggravated, however, by the structural problems of many states on the continent and by the delay with which innovations and ‘development’ reach the most remote areas.
A condition of exclusion that does not mean marginalization; the exponential growth of both the number of inhabitants and settlements that reach the size of an urban centre makes these cities the leading players in the great transformations that are affecting Africa. All the biggest games, from the demographic to the environment and to the question of agri-food production are played here.

Ouidah. It is a city on the coast of the Republic of Benin. 123rf.com

Those who have visited an African market cannot forget the enveloping vortex of colours, sounds and smells; in small towns, these weekly markets have always been a fundamental point of reference for many surrounding villages and small agricultural producers in the region, but lately, they have also been sources of food supply for the metropolises. The rural areas surrounding large cities, in fact, are increasingly compromised by inexorable overbuilding and extensive exploitation; hence the need to organize complex supply chains in which secondary centres become focal points for bargaining and exchanging agricultural products. The prices of many commodities in the Addis Ababa markets are decided in Holeta, Dima or Debre Zeit, half-known agricultural towns less than 50 km from the capital, where greenhouse agro-industrial production is increasingly widespread to meet growing demand.
Some secondary cities, therefore, form a network that determines the sustainability and, in some cases, the very survival of large metropolises, a network that should be enhanced at a strategic level to further safeguard local production and the environment.

Safeguarding traditions
The main ‘biodiversity’ kept in the secondary cities, however, is that which is historical, cultural and artistic. Unlike the capitals and metropolises, largely born in colonial times and overwhelmed by too rapid development, the smaller centres can hide the evidence of an ancient past, tracing caravan networks, border lines, centres of power or culture. In them, there may be the hidden remains of monuments or traditional architectural typologies still in use, but above all an enormous quantity of priceless intangible assets: knowledge, traditions, languages, religions, and customs linked to the rural world. Much of the development opportunities of many small and medium-sized cities pass through the challenge of safeguarding these elements.

The Chinguetti Mosque was an ancient centre of worship created by the founders of the oasis city of Chinguetti in the Adrar region of Mauritania in the thirteenth or fourteenth century.

We may take, for example, Chinguetti, a famous Saharan city that holds a priceless heritage of private libraries where manuscripts dating back to the 10th century are kept. The inclusion in the UNESCO list is not enough to stop its depopulation and the advance of the sands, which increasingly undermine the ancient stone streets, threatening to bury the city. Without targeted development and enhancement policies for responsible and cultural tourism, even this green lung of knowledge risks disappearing. “We are foreigners in our own cities”: with these words already 40 years ago the Cameroonian sociologist and theologian Jean Marc Ela warned against the risks of the loss of identity in the new cities, which at the time were beginning to grow inexorably. Today these words are in danger of coming true; the disruption and mind-boggling figures of megalopolises are drawing the continent towards the future but at the high price of sacrificing customs, cultures and knowledge on the altar of an often-contradictory modernity. The role of secondary cities can instead be that of a link between development and tradition, preserving and even enhancing the extraordinary biodiversity heritage of the continent. (Open Photo: Kumasi, Ghana. 123rf.com)

Federico Monica

Sister Helen Prejean. To Give Dignity.

She shows no signs of slowing down in her long-standing fight to end the death penalty.

At 84, she is writing her fourth book while directing her advocacy organization, Ministry Against the Death Penalty, in New Orleans. She spends a fair amount of time on the road as she continues to give talks, especially on college campuses, about the injustices she sees with capital punishment.

She also continues to minister to both death-row inmates and murder victims’ families. She has accompanied six men to their executions. When she was asked where she gets her energy, her responses all revolved around the work she does.

For starters, she said she is energized by those she ministers to on death row – currently a Louisiana inmate in his 60s, Manuel Ortiz. The Salvadoran has been on death row for close to 30 years and continues to claim innocence from the sentence he received for hiring someone to murder his wife. Sister Helen said Ortiz is a prayerful man with great devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

“How does he get up every morning in that cell for 30 years now? How does anybody do that?” Sister Helen asked. She said she comes away more enlivened from every visit with him and is also overwhelmed by what he goes through – “knowing you’re innocent, knowing the lies they told about you in the trial.”

His case, along with the 690 people currently on death row in the United States, remind her “we’ve got our work cut out for us,” she said in her understated way. Her Louisiana drawl almost belies the urgency of the work she sees ahead. Her passion for both the innocent and the guilty on death row — who all have God-given dignity, she points out — has been her driving force ever since she witnessed her first execution in 1984: the electrocution of Patrick Sonnier, a 34-year-man found guilty of killing two teenagers.

Sister Helen first came to know Sonnier as a pen pal, when she volunteered to write to someone on death row. From that correspondence, she later became Sonnier’s spiritual adviser. She has often referred to her decision to write to someone on death row as a move of “Sneaky Jesus,” saying Jesus sneaks up and draws you into doing something that seems small but, in the end, becomes life-changing. Because Sonnier wanted Sister Helen to be with him and to pray for him at his execution, Sister Helen agreed.

But really, nothing could have prepared her for what she witnessed. “What I saw set my soul on fire, a fire that burns in me still,” she wrote in her memoir, “River of Fire.” After leaving the prison, in the middle of the night, she said she threw up in the parking lot.
But from that day forward, she knew that she had to do something about what she had seen.

As she put it: “Our faith awakens and we speak. I knew very few people were going to get this opportunity ever to be in (the execution chamber). I’m the witness.” Adding that she began to speak with whoever
would listen.

At first, she encountered a lot of criticism with people shouting things at her like: “What do you know? What’s your authority? The Catholic Church upholds a right of the state to take life!” She didn’t back down though. “You just stay in there because you know what your eyes have seen, you know what your heart has felt you know what the Gospel of Jesus says about loving your enemy and forgiving.”

So, she has stayed there and continues to do so, for nearly four decades. Starting with parish talks and then moving on to writing “Dead Man Walking” and speaking to St. John Paul II and Pope Francis about the death penalty wrongs. “Have to do it. Can’t do it,” she said of her personal crusade.

The woman religious who grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, entered the convent at 18 and spent years teaching in Catholic schools, has not held back in recounting details of what she has seen in state prisons in prisoners’ final moments.

In 1997, she told Pope St. John Paul that she has walked behind a man on his way to be executed, with legs shackled, hands cuffed to a belt, and surrounded by guards who whispered to her: “Please pray as I make this walk that God holds up my legs.”

“Where is the dignity in taking a human being and rendering them completely defenceless and killing them?” she said she asked the Pope. “How do we respect the inviolable dignity even of the guilty? Can you help our church? Can you help us?” And he did help, she said, in a 1999 visit to St. Louis where he described the death penalty as both cruel and unnecessary and said: “Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform.”

In his 1995 encyclical, “Evangelium Vitae” (The Gospel of Life”), the Pope spoke against the death penalty but he included the caveat that it could be used if absolutely necessary to defend society. Sister Helen said that phrase made her heart drop because she knew those words would be used by anyone who wanted to sentence someone to death. She likened Pope St. John Paul’s discussion of the death penalty to taking the issue to the net, then Pope Francis pushed it over the net in 2018.

That was when he announced the revision of the Catechism of the Catholic Church to include a description of the death penalty as “an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person” and said it was inadmissible in all cases. There’s no doubt Sister Helen was pretty happy that day. But by no means did she just take a break afterward. She knows there is still plenty of support in the U.S. for capital punishment, even as some states are abolishing it, and that Catholics are not much different from the general public in their death penalty views.

A 2021 poll by Pew Research shows that 60% of U.S. adults favour the death penalty for people convicted of murder, including 27% who strongly favour it. It also showed Catholics falling into that same bracket with 58% of them generally supportive of capital punishment, with 27% strongly favouring it. When asked how to reach people in the pews, Sister Helen said they need to learn about the death penalty in Catholic schools and parish adult education program.

She says she is hardly alone in her advocacy but part of a broader movement. She likens it to “a pot that begins to boil and these little bubbles start at the bottom and they start rising up. Well, I was one of those little bubbles.” And even now, the work doesn’t get old for her. “There’s a great life when you feel you’re fulfilling your purpose,” she said, adding that she is glad to be awake to today’s social injustices even though she said it took 40 years to happen. “It’s a great grace to be awake and then to be engaged in soul-sized stuff,” she said. “Bring it on.” (Photo: MADP)

Carol Zimmermann/CNS

South Africa. ‘A Missionary Parish, to Reach Out to Many who Are still Far Away’.

The parish of St Daniel Comboni is located in the eastern part of Mamelodi, a name that means, mother of melodies, because of the concentration of musical talent offered by its inhabitants.
We visited this place.

Mamelodi, northeast of Pretoria, is a township created in 1953 to relocate the African population during the Apartheid era. Ten years ago, it had a population of 334,000, but now it is probably more than half a million. It is a dormitory town, with many middle-class workers, government, and private sector employees who commute daily to Pretoria or any other nearby towns.
“During the day, only retired people stay at home because children also go to school”, says Fr Jerome Anakese, the parish priest of St Daniel Comboni –  Many of the unemployed live in informal settlements. At night, especially in winter, there is a smell of smoke. They collect wood or, if they can, they buy it, to heat themselves outside their tiny shacks. There is a tremendous social imbalance”.

The township of Mamelodi, northeast of Pretoria. A dormitory town.

The number of those collecting garbage for recycling grows every day. “They do a hard and undignified work, pushing heavy bales on carts through the streets.  They are left to their own fate, without any protection”, continues the Comboni Missionary -. Those unemployed try their luck in the informal economy, selling on the streets, driving taxis, or recruiting clients for them. They intend to emulate their working neighbours who drive private cars through the streets of Mamelodi. Others, unfortunately, turn to crime or to drink. The insecurity is a consequence of social contrasts and high levels of unemployment”.
The parish of St Daniel Comboni started in 2007. The Comboni community, along with parishioners, began to establish the first structures. The priest’s house, the hall, still used as  church, and some classrooms for catechesis were built. The various groups and sodalities commenced developing. “People are very welcoming and about 200 attend Mass every Sunday”, points out Fr Jerome.
The parish sodalities and six of the nine small Christian communities are already functioning as before the pandemic. Seventy-five catechumens are preparing for baptism, “a good number for a small community like ours”, says the parish priest.
Forty percent of the Mass attendees are people under 30. They are also beginning to reorganise themselves.
Ivonne Moswane is one of their leaders. Originally from Mashabela, in Limpopo, Ivonne, 27 years old, arrived at St Daniel Comboni in 2014. She grew up with her grandmother who introduced her to the Catholic faith. She studied civil engineering and is now completing her apprenticeship in plumbing.
“Young people have many challenges, but they need to take responsibility. Many come from broken families and haven’t had someone who listens to them to help them heal their wounds”, she said.

Fr Jerome Anakese, parish priest of St Daniel Comboni with two members of the community. (Photo: José Luis Silván Sen)

Fr Jerome agrees: “In general, family life is in a deep crisis; there are many single mothers and very few structured traditional families. Most marriages are short-lived and children end up living with grandparents or relatives. Young people are hooked by modern culture, music, parties, fun— ‘we are free’, they say, ‘we know what we want’”.
Ivonne sees music and dance among the most remarkable talents of Mamelodi’s young people. “Many don’t get into university after high school and stay at home doing nothing. Others turn to drugs or alcohol and to finance it, they steal”. Teenage pregnancy, domestic or sexual violence and dropping out of school are also challenges affecting young people. Ivonne recognises that there are also positive stories, such as the case of Mpho, who quit drugs and now teaches young people, through talks and sport, how to beat drugs.“I am trying to regroup the young people again, bring them closer to the parish and get them off the streets; to resume our programme ‘the soup route’ in which we go around the neighbourhood and offer soup and bread to the needy”, comments Ivonne, who offers her gratitude to the Comboni Missionaries. “I met them in Limpopo, and from them I learned that it is more important to give than to receive. I love going to the church; there I find mental serenity and security. I have my vis-a-vis with God”.
“I want to grow spiritually and make a positive contribution to the community”. She would like to see young people maturing with an open mind, a vision and mission which makes them participants in their own personal growth, in the Church and in the community at large.

After Sunday Mass. Forty percent of the Mass attendees are people under 30.

Fr Jerome points out: “I would like our parish to be missionary, to reach out to many who are still far away. Two kilometres from the mission, there is an area where people are settling. We are not there yet”. As far as the parish social commitment, he considers that there is still a lot to do. “We have to organise our visits, registers and so on, but we already have two initiatives running, the delivery of about 10 kg of food to about 100 people and the distribution of blankets that have been donated to us. The community is attentive to those who do not have their basic needs covered, such as food and household needs. The choir has even donated goods to one of the elders”.
Finally, he said: Mamelodi is a mission in line with our Comboni charism, namely to reach out to the peripheries, as Pope Francis also often reminds us, carrying out a pastoral ministry that brings together social and faith aspects, creating living and mature missionary communities”. (Open Photo: The parish of St Daniel Comboni. José Luis Silván Sen)

Rafael Armada

Ali Birra, Icon of Oromo Music.

For over fifty years he has been the voice of this ethnic group of Ethiopia and has garnered considerable popularity. He had disagreements with Haile Selassie and with Mengistu. He died last November in Dire Dawa.

Although he left Ethiopia in the 1980s and stayed away for about twenty years, Ali Birra continued to be much loved in his homeland. He was one of the great protagonists of the extraordinary season – the 60s and 70s – of modern Ethiopian music.
His success and the continuity of his popularity appear all the more extraordinary when one considers that, in a landscape of Ethiopian music of the roaring twenties that was otherwise entirely in Amharic, Ali Birra was a more unique than rare case of an Oromo singer, with a repertoire in the language of this ethnic group historically dominated and despised by the Amhara.
Ali Birra, born Ali Mohammed Musa, was born in 1947 in Dire Dawa and died last November 6. At thirteen, Ali joined Afran Qallo, a pioneering modern Oromo music group. A Muslim like many Oromos, at fifteen, during the celebrations for the end of Ramadan, Ali made a splash by singing a song entitled Birra Dha Barihe – “birra” in the Oromo language means spring – and Ali Birra thus became his stage name. This is how he puts it: “I was lucky to be a singer in an era when there were few Oromo singers, so I was able to influence the thinking of the listener”.

Ali Birra produced his first music Album in 1971, the first in the history of Oromo music. (Linkedin)

However, his good fortune came at a price. From the age of sixteen, he was repeatedly arrested and spent several months in prison: in Ethiopia at the time, it was forbidden to sing in the Oromo language and value the Oromo culture. Afran Qallo was also an intellectual group, in tune with the restlessness of the youth and students, often of a Marxist orientation, who in Addis Ababa dreamt of the fall of the emperor.
The lyrics of Birra’s youthful songs are influenced by or borrowed from the lines of Oromo revolutionary poet Abubakar Mussa, and like so many of his peers, Birra is not simply a nationalist and sees Oromo liberation in the broader context of socialist revolution. Some of Afran Qallo‘s young people know Arabic well, and treasure the Yemenite and Sudanese musical traditions: Afran Qallo‘s music thus differs from the Amharic one not only in terms of language but also for a physiognomy that brings it closer to Arabic and even Indian music.

Painting by Yadesa Bojia

In 1966 Birra moved to Addis Ababa. In the capital, he met Ahmad Taqi, one of the first Oromo nationalist militants, and it was Taqi who bought him a guitar: in ’74 Taqi, died in combat with a group of Oromo guerrillas; for Ali Birra, the mourning was heartfelt.
In Addis Ababa in the 1960s, Ali Birra’s fame expanded. Protagonists of the development of modern Ethiopian music were the orchestras of military corps, the only ones to have musical instruments and resources to experiment, and Birra is enlisted in that the imperial guard. He stands alongside idolized singers like Tlahoun Gessesse and Mahmoud Ahmed; it’s a prestigious landing place, but he’s not at ease, he doesn’t even speak Amharic well.
During a ceremony he does not prostrate himself before Haile Selassie: he defended himself by claiming that a Muslim does not bow before any human being, but ended up in prison. In ’69 he left the orchestra and worked on the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway. In ’72, he returned to Addis and to music. Birra was now re-integrated and continued to sing in the Oromo language, at this point, he rose to be a national star.
In Haile Selassie’s last years, Ali Birra did not limit himself to the use of the Oromo language. With the refined Ethiopian art of the double entendre – called “wax and gold” – he lets the nationalistic passion of the Oromos and the resentment towards the Ethiopian monarchy (with its authoritarianism and its colonial attitude) as well as the Coptic Christian Church, linked to the monarchy in a relationship of mutual support.

Ali Birra was singer, composer, and poet. (From Facebook)

In 1973, Birra published Awash, which became an anthem of Oromo nationalism and escaped censorship thanks to the double-meaning technique. After the overthrow of Haile Selassie, in 1975 Birra republished the song in a much more direct version, in which he invited the Oromos to get rid of all aspects of the old regime and to commit themselves to the socialist transformation of society. But within a few years, faced with the turn given to the revolution by Mengistu, the Oromo cause also returned musically clandestine: Birra badly tolerated censorship and the obligatory reference in songs to Marxism-Leninism. In ’84 he left Ethiopia. In the meantime, in a life in which women and alcohol have played a non-secondary part, there is also his marriage to a Swedish woman. After having lived in various countries and mostly in Canada, where he had created an NGO engaged in the schooling of children in Dire Dawa and in other centres of Ethiopia, in 2005 Ali Birra returned to his homeland where he saw that his popularity was still great. On 6 November, Ali Birra died in a hospital in Adama, a city in the Oromo region, southeast of Addis Ababa. The funeral was attended by thousands of his fans, but also by politicians and artists: a eulogy was delivered by Mahmoud Ahmed. In a tweet, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, also of Oromo ethnicity, said that Ali Birra “was a role model for many”, and that “with his songs, he promoted unity, perseverance and culture”. (Open Photo: Twitter)

Marcello Lorrai

South Africa. How the Rainbow Country Prays.

It is a nation with a Protestant majority, with a strong presence of independent African churches and Pentecostal movements. Only 6.66% of South Africans are Catholic.

The first Christians who arrived on the South African coast were Portuguese explorers who did not evangelize the territory. The first attempt was made in 1652 when Calvinist Dutch settlers reached Cape Province. For nearly a century, the Reformed Protestant faith dominated the area and exerted significant religious, educational, and social influence. At the end of the 18th century, British missionaries arrived and began to enter South African territory with the Gospel in hand. Colonialism and Christianity became companions in conquest, although some missionaries sympathized with the natives, especially when the lands of the natives were expropriated.

Johannesburg. Anglican priest praying for his congregation. 123rf.com

African resistance to Christianity was not relevant as its spiritual legacy easily connected with the new faith, especially because of its connection with their ancestors and their aspirations for liberation from the racism, prejudice, and oppression of the colonizers. African Christianity has struggled to maintain its authenticity – by playing a participatory role – by maintaining traditional practices that are cultural, but also prophetic.
In the mid-nineteenth century, the traditional Christian faith was taking shape in the forms of Afrikaans Christianity, embodied in the Dutch Reformed Church and so-called English Christianity, which included the Protestant and Catholic churches.
At the end of that century, groups of African Christians began to break away from traditional denominations to form Independent African Churches (IAC). The motivation for leaving was neither doctrinal nor liturgical, but political; Africans felt discriminated against when it came to accessing posts of responsibility in their confessions. The exodus, which gave a new feature to South African Christianity, extended into the twentieth century.

The era of apartheid
Afrikaans Christianity supported the segregationist regime by justifying it in an interpretation of some biblical passages (Deuteronomy 20, 10-14 and Romans 13). Faced with this, English Christianity – Catholic and Protestant – became, starting from the 1980s, a critical voice of the segregationist government.

Catholic Parish in the township of Mamelodi.

The Kayros document, published in 1985, and in the preparation of which many Catholic theologians participated, strongly condemned apartheid: “There is only one way to the unity of the Church and that is that Christians who support or are neutral in the face of the oppressor must change sides to be united in faith and action in favour of the oppressed”. The Catholic Church has expressed this support through its presence in the peripheries, in poor and marginalized communities. Their presence is made visible through teachers, nurses or doctors in neighbourhoods and informal settlements.
Other churches with various denominations that fought apartheid have now become socially silent; they are not present when communities protest against human rights abuses or violations, injustice, corruption, mismanagement of public services or xenophobic attacks. One reason is the close relationship between its leaders and successive governments since 1994. Critical and prophetic voices during apartheid now occupy positions in the executive or benefit from the regime’s favours.

Independent Churches
South Africa has more than 10,000 Independent African Churches (IAC). Although very varied, they share some elements that allow classification into two large groups. The first is the Ethiopian Movement or Christian Initiation Churches. They separated from the traditional denominations towards the end of the 19th century, but retained the doctrine and liturgy of the mother churches, albeit with African leadership.

South Africa has more than 10,000 Independent African Churches (IAC).

The African Zionist movement or Zionism (aMaZioni), of a messianic nature – and with nearly 20 million members – constitutes the second largest group. Its origin is from the Catholic Church of Sion, founded in Illinois (USA) by Alexander Dowie. They believe in personal conversion, followed by baptism by immersion accompanied by ascetic practices, such as refraining from eating pork, smoking, or consuming alcohol. Healing is at the heart of their doctrine and liturgy. With an emotional cult, they maintain the culture, values, ​​and spirit of African civilization. Some have an ethnic affiliation, such as the Zulu-oriented Baptist Church of Nazareth; the Christian Church of Zion is the most interethnic, although with more roots among the Sepedi, while the International Church of Pentecost is more linked to the Setswano.
Everyone sees water as a sacred element in purification and healing. Its cult is syncretic and ancestral veneration plays a fundamental role in its bond with the divinity.
Although the IAC do not have a unitary ecumenical body, there is the Council of Established African Churches – affiliated with the World Council of Churches – the Association of Independent African Churches, the Organization of African Churches, and the Organization of South African Independent Churches. To these was added the recent South African Council of Independent Churches, registered as an NGO and which brings together the independent Churches in a structure that facilitates relations with the government on national issues.

Spiritual influence
African Pentecostalism has taken root on the continent due to its emphasis on healing, among other factors. Africans interpret life from a spiritual perspective and natural causes are not always at the centre of their worldview. Behind all misfortunes, there is a spiritual power with the ability to influence the lives of individuals or the community. Therefore, witchcraft is responsible for lightning damage, livestock infertility, disease, poverty and even death.
The Pentecostal message of healing as atonement attracts Africans more than a scientific interpretation of life. If the doctor warns of tuberculosis, the witch doctor diagnoses sejeso – a poisonous potion – while in the case of AIDS, he describes it as boswagadi – unpurified widowhood. The Pentecostal and charismatic message flourishes for its promise of a change in the life situation.

The African Zionist movement or Zionism constitutes the second largest group in South Africa.

Historically, Pentecostals have dissociated themselves from issues of social justice. They did not build hospitals, schools, or orphanages, nor did they denounce injustices such as colonialism or apartheid. They viewed political engagement or participation as a worldly sin. Its message about healing and the second coming of Christ to restore humanity was seen as contrary to a social commitment.
Today, different currents can be identified within this great movement. One of these, classical Pentecostalism, which emphasizes baptism in the Holy Spirit, is now charged with building schools or helping the poor.  There are also the neo-charismatic churches, generally founded by Africans and split off from the classical denominations. They follow the principles of the search for success in the government of the Churches and their preaching is thematic. The principles of gurus like John Maxwell are at the heart of its preaching. They attract businesspeople and entrepreneurs from different areas of society. Its prophets promise their followers the three Ps – power, protection, and prosperity.

African Pentecostalism has taken root on the continent due to its emphasis in particularly on healing.

Finally, there are also the New Prophetic Churches, which continue to appear. Although Pentecostal in nature, their message about personal conversion is limited and they place greater emphasis on prophecy and revelation. They preach the power of the Holy Spirit, but with few biblical references. They use traditional African spells.Both the Pentecostal and the Independent African Churches continue to recruit very significantly among the members of traditional Christian churches.

Ecumenical dialogue
Interreligious dialogue has become a relevant theme in South African theology. Nevertheless, the challenge is how to develop a practically applicable theology of dialogue, manifested in a dialogue between religious communities and people from different cultural backgrounds. What exists is a dialogue of life between members of different confessions who share activities in a spirit of unity beyond their religious affiliations.There are three major ecclesiastical bodies on the religious scene in the southern region: the South African Council of Churches, the South African Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and the South African Evangelical Alliance, which often collaborate on religious and social issues. (Open Photo: South Africa. A wooden cross with the Ten Commandments engraved on granite in  Ficksburg in the Free State Province. 123rf.com)

 Kelebogile T. Resane  

China. Lantern Festival.

Religion, philosophy, legends, imperial politics, and folklore – these are the ingredients of one of the most popular celebrations in China associated with the New Year of the Asian giant. The Lantern Festival.

This year’s Chinese New Year begins on Sunday, January 22 with the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit. It will continue until February 5th. The Chinese celebrate the New Year for sixteen days. And on the last of these days, the Lantern Festival takes place. It is a traditional festival that is more than two thousand years old and has gone through various stages, depending on the dynasties.
The Lantern Festival began in the Han Dynasty (206-220 AD). At the time it only lasted one day. The Tang dynasty (618-907) increased the number to three. By the time of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), it lasted for five days. With the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) it reached its peak of ten days. Soon after, however, the Qing dynasty (1644 to 1911/12) reduced the festivities to four days. After the establishment of the Republic in 1912, it was reduced to a single day.

123rf.com

The Lantern Festival is the first of the three great festivals inspired by Buddhism and Taoism, philosophical, religious, and ethical systems in which existence consists in the search for harmony with oneself, with nature and with the spirits associated with creation.
According to traditional Taoist beliefs, the fate of humanity is governed by three deities: Tian Guan Da Di, ruler of heaven, who grants happiness; Di Guan Da Di, ruler of the earth, who forgives sins; and Shui Guan Da Di, ruler of water, who alleviates dangers.
This first festival celebrates Tian Guan Da Di, who blesses the fortune of those to whom he gives life.

Young couple holding lanterns at Chinese new year. 123rf.com

The second festival takes place in the seventh lunar month. It is called the Chung-Yuan Festival (or Spirit Festival). It lasts a month and could be described as the feast of indulgence.
People pray to Di Guan Da Di for their deceased ancestors and pray that the wandering spirits of the region of hell will not come to haunt them or their loved ones.During this festival, people try not to do anything unseemly and prefer visiting temples to pray.The third festival takes place in the tenth lunar month. It is called Xia-Yuan Festival and is addressed to Shui Guan Da Di, to free people in difficulty.

The legend of the Lantern Festival
There are three popular legends and one imperial version that explain the origin of the Chinese Lantern Festival. Legend has it that in ancient times a certain village was attacked by wild beasts that hunted people and animals. The villagers organized their defence against the wild beasts. The inhabitants, seeing a beautiful bird flying from heaven to earth, mistook it for a ferocious animal and killed it. The ruler of heaven, the Jade Emperor, became enraged and ordered the destruction of the village in a firestorm on the 15th lunar day.
However, the emperor’s daughter overheard this and warned the villagers. A wise man suggested that every house hang out red lanterns, light a fire in the street, and set off fireworks on the 14th, 15th, and 16th. In this way, they deceived Emperor Jade, who thought that all the villagers would die under the fire.
Another legendary story says that, at the time of the Han Dynasty, there was a favourite counsellor of the emperor who, one winter’s day, as he entered the garden, heard the cry of a little girl who was preparing to commit suicide. He asked her why and the girl, whose name was Yuan-Xiao, replied that she did not know her family, as she had always worked in the palace, and that she could not live without the love of her parents.
The royal adviser came up with an idea to help the little girl find her parents. He left the palace, set up a table on the street and disguised himself as a fortune teller. He gave all customers the same prediction: there would be a devastating fire on the 15th lunar day. The rumour spread quickly and everyone, being very worried, asked the imperial adviser for help. He told them: “On the 13th lunar day, Jade, the god of fire, will send a fairy dressed in red to burn the city. If you see a lady dressed in red, on a black horse, ask her how to obtain mercy”.

123rf.com

When the day came, the little girl Yuan-Xiao acted like the red fairy. People flocked to the palace to ask the emperor for advice and help. The councillor ordered that all the houses of the city, starting from the palace, hang red lanterns and throw firecrackers, to deceive the god of fire. He also suggested that the inhabitants of neighbouring lands participate. Thus, it was that Yuan-Xiao’s parents entered the palace, and the little girl recognized her parents. As everyone was so happy, the emperor ordered that festival to be held every year, and as Yuan-Xiao prepared a wonderful meal, her people called it Yuan-Xiao’s festival.
The third legend starts from the second and adds a new fact: it is said that in ancient times women of marriageable age were not allowed to leave the house except on the days of the Yuan-Xiao feast, following the emperor’s order to bring all of the lanterns to deceive the god of fire. There is also an imperial version. The emperor was a great supporter of Buddhism and, seeing how the monks lit lanterns to worship the Buddha, decreed that in all temples, the palace, and throughout the country everyone should hang lanterns to worship the Buddha. Year after year, this Buddhist festival has developed into a great popular festival, which has spread from the royal palace to the people and from central China to the whole country.

Activities for people visiting the festival
Today, the Chinese make paper lanterns, with fire or electric light inside. They hang them around houses and temples or take them through the streets at night. They design them to imitate the animals of the Chinese zodiac – specifically the animal that gives the year its name, and
in 2023 it is The Rabbit.

123rf.com

Since it is also called the Yuan-Xiao Festival, it promotes the gathering of families, especially the younger generation and the elderly, and eating yuan-xiao. These are sticky rice balls with a variety of fillings, such as dates and beans, sesame, chocolate, peanuts and cocoa with butter or meat.There are folk dances, such as the dragon dance, which celebrates good harvests and the prosperity of life, and the lion dance. This animal is a symbol of boldness and strength, capable of favouring people.
Another manifestation of folklore is stilt-walking, and the actors impersonate monks, clowns, villagers, or fishermen, entertaining the people. Finally, the Lantern Festival is also known as Chinese Valentine’s Day. Once upon a time, each girl wrote her name on an orange which she threw into the river. The man who took it would be her boyfriend. Today, love messages and gifts are sent to relatives and friends. (Open Photo: 123rf.com)

(F.F. – Ho Li)

Africa’s Hotspots in 2023.

The outbreak of war in Ukraine showed that a conflict could begin in any moment. The crisis had actually been going on for some time, and it simply got worse. There are in Africa different crises due to insecurity that are ongoing and could degenerate in 2023.
We will examine some of these crises moving eastward towards the centre of the continent.

In 2023 West African countries like Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo will have to cope with jihadists belonging both to Islamic State and Al Qaeda coming from the Sahel region. Extremists will try to infiltrate the societies, recruit militants, and create operational bases. Especially in the northern areas of these states attacks against security forces and public officials will be possible. But these groups could also target foreigners (tourists, aid workers, businesspeople, etc.) both in those areas and in other parts of the countries.
This dynamic started some years ago and is due to several factors. First, the proliferation of jihadist groups in the Sahel area thanks to the flaws of states like Mali and Burkina Faso. Second, the economic deprivation of large parts of the population, who feel socially marginalized and are vulnerable to extremist propaganda. Third, the ethnic tensions and the historic grievances that split the populations, as an example pitting nomadic herders against farmers.

Jihadists in the Sahel.

Clearly, these issues could be solved in a peaceful and constructive manner, improving the relation among the different communities and the sense of belonging to a large community. But the inefficiencies of the ruling elites create the conditions of a clash of civilization on a smaller scale in many of these countries.
Mechanisms created by the different societies to solve disputes on land and water between the different communities are in crisis. And some politicians are exploiting the tensions to widen their support base and gain power. Also, the extremist groups use this strategy. Therefore, an escalation of violence is increasingly likely. And other countries such as Senegal could be affected.

The Nigerian hub
Nigeria will remain a hub of insecurity in its region. Jihadist groups are widening their areas of operations. From the north-eastern and north-western states of Nigeria, they are moving southward. In July 2022, several attacks were reported around Abuja, the capital city. Ethnic and religious violence is on the rise in large parts of the country and the autonomist movements active in the south are stepping up their actions. The trust in government is declining and, in the short to medium term, some parts of the populations might find attractive the idea of creating independent states that are ethnically homogenous. Elements such as criminality and corruption cooperate in worsening the situation.

Displaced Nigerians shortly after their arrival in Dar es salam refugee camp in Chad. UNHCR/Aristophane Ngargoune

In February and March 2023 new elections (both presidential and legislative) will take place. Nigeria is waiting for a new administration that will need some time to start implementing its policies. Therefore, in 2023 leadership problems are to be expected.
It must be said that in the past insecurity spread from Nigeria to neighbouring countries. And in part this phenomenon is still present, especially as far as Chad is concerned. Nigerian jihadists still operate in the Lake Chad basin and their actions are influenced first of all by what happens in Nigeria. But, as seen before for Togo and Benin, the neighbours have increasing security problems that are not due to dynamics in Nigeria but to their internal weaknesses and to problems in states such as Mali and Burkina Faso. It is true that in Nigeria you can find the most relevant branches of jihadist networks. But militants in Togo and Benin seem to be headed by Sahelian leaders.

At the heart of instability
Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will remain two of the most problematic countries in Africa.
Central African Republic is in turmoil since 2013. Different militias fight to control swaths of territory and natural resources (such as gold and diamonds). Government troops, supported by Russian Private Military Contractors, a UN Mission (MINUSCA) and regional partners (such as Rwanda) struggle to counter the guerrillas. It is true that foreign intervention (especially Russian) helped Bangui to break the siege set by the rebels and reconquer parts of the territory.
But it is not sure that Russian contractors and foreign troops will be able to thwart a joint rebel offensive. President Faustin-Archange Touadéra is trying to prolong his power, and this is creating political tensions that could lead to protests and unrest.

UN soldiers in DRC. (Photo UN)

The north-eastern provinces of Democratic Republic of the Congo will still be the theatre of fights in 2023. Government troops, supported by foreign troops (first of all Ugandan) and the UN Mission, will try to prevail over guerrilla groups of different origins (including jihadists). Some of these groups could be supported by neighbouring countries that vie for influence. In other parts of the country clashes between different communities will go on. Rwanda, that is an element of stabilization in Central African Republic, could be a source of destabilization in DRC.

The African chessboard
The political context at the international level is not in favour of peace and the rivalry between powers has a negative impact on African affairs. In 2023 those powers will continue to fight for influence on African politics. They will support local governments in the fight against instability, but their main goal will be to exclude rivals and gain access to resources. The West African countries seen before were long considered basically a French hunting reserve. But in the latest years powers like China and Russia, but also USA, intervened and France is increasingly marginalized. But Paris will keep on trying to maintain if not develop its influence on African countries. This quarrel will have consequences on the security level.

In Central African Republic, government troops, are supported by Russian Private Military Contractors. CCA 4.0/CorbeauNews

The Russian intervention in Africa has increased at least since 2019 and Moscow became a powerbroker in countries such as Central African Republic, Libya, and Mali. But in 2023 it will likely have to deal with the consequences of the war in Ukraine. Therefore, the troops and the private military contractors that were sent in Africa could be redeployed elsewhere, reducing the Russian grip on these countries. But this redeployment will bring a void that will be filled by other powers or armed groups after a phase of fights. The crisis in Ukraine did not cause the crises in Africa but worsened them. The increase in prices of commodities worldwide helped some African countries but created subsistence problems for large sections of the population. These problems could bring widespread protests and riots.

Andrea Carbonari

Middle East and North Africa´s 2023 Economic Outlook.

Global growth forecast is expected to slow down, from 3.2% in 2022 to 2.7% in 2023. This is caused by a combination of the global cost-of-living crisis, tightening financial conditions, the invasion of Ukraine and the enduring impacts of the pandemic.

As economic growth will weaken worldwide in 2023, most countries in the Middle East and North Africa region will experience economic hardship in varying degrees. Countries exporting their hydrocarbon reserves, particularly those of the Gulf Cooperation Council – GCC, (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) marked by high export levels and small populations, are expected to sustain high government spending, thanks to strong financial buffers maintained by a relatively stable export revenue.

According to the IMF, the average economic growth across the Middle East and Central Asia is projected to stand at about 3.6% in 2023. This is above the global average and, mostly, a reflection of a price rise in hydrocarbon resources. The growth is not distributed evenly in the region, as oil-importing economies fall behind oil-exporting nations.

Parts of the area have faced a harsher impact from the war in Ukraine, particularly those who rely on Ukrainian grain imports. All in all, the region´s growth prospects will depend on how various global issues will unfold, including a potential decline in oil prices, the economic downturn in the developed countries, and the war in Ukraine.

As per IMF forecasts, global inflation is expected to have peaked in 2022. It went from 4.7% in 2021 to 8.8% in 2022 and it is predicted to decline to 6.5% in 2023.  As its driving factors vary among different countries, inflation will be felt at various levels across the region.

Countries with high government revenues mostly generated through hydrocarbon resources export will be subjected to lower inflation compared to those with low government revenue. The case of the Iranian economy will continue to be exceptional for an energy-exporting economy, as there is virtually no prospect for a nuclear agreement recovery. Sanctions are expected to keep putting pressure on the government´s ability to generate hydrocarbon export revenue.

Combined with the ongoing popular uprising since September 2022, this will increase economic pressure on the Iranian economy. Various episodes of strikes were recorded, either in the government and in the private sectors. As protests continue, the possibility of further, widespread strikes increases. The most severe inflation rise will affect oil-importing economies, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon, where economic challenges and currency depreciation of 2022 will persist.

The impact of inflation on households with limited disposable income will have visible impacts on the standard of living across the region. Energy prices are projected to remain sensitive to war in Ukraine and the risk of further escalation and/or spread of the conflict beyond Ukraine.

Food price inflation – caused by the impact of war in Ukraine (i.e., the decline in export of Ukrainian agricultural products), extreme weather conditions and water shortage – is expected to remain persistently high across the world. The likelihood of extreme weather events due to overall climate change may have major impacts on the global food supply, entailing upward pressure on global food prices. Under such circumstances, the MENA food markets are predicted to be impacted by high inflation, given the region´s high dependence on imported food.

This will decrease local households’ ability to afford food bills. As such, the standard of living across the region is projected to be affected by the rise in food and energy prices. Indeed, a decreased disposable income will have direct repercussions on consumption and saving. The latter will have an impact on credit access. Persistent inflation will contribute to further currency depreciation and elevated interest rates.

In the such a global economic environment, transparency and accountability are key to all MENA countries to face the economic storms of 2023. Policy action must be directed towards sustainability in the economic environment, protection of the more vulnerable segments of society, and inclusive growth across the region.

Indeed, such efforts require strong political will, stable foreign and domestic policies, and a realistic understanding and acceptance of the challenges and capacities of each economy. For years, policymakers across the MENA region have been entangled in maintaining state political power, often heavily relying on widespread oppression and balance of power struggle, both domestically and in relation
to other regional rivals.

Economic stability, development, and reform have remained far down on the ´priority list´ of governments across the region. The financial crisis is the new norm from Lebanon to Tehran, while very little attention is paid by policymakers to address the underlying challenges. Banking and pension sectors, social safety nets, market transparency, and fighting corruption have remained unbothered, if not worsened, across the area.

Devastating global shocks and the lack of appropriate policy-making contributed to worsening socio-economic grievances and loss of public trust for many governments in the MENA region. Local human capital was wasted on unemployment and bad policy choices. There is an urgent need for authorities to learn from past experiences, acknowledging the real socioeconomic strength and weaknesses of their respective countries to implement effective policies. (Photo: 123rf.com)

Sara Bazoobandi
GIGA/ISPI

Cities and New Models of Migration.

The economic or educational prospects offered by African cities are fundamental to the urban growth that the continent is experiencing in general, compared to countries such as Niger or Chad which see their rural populations growing.

Migrations from Africa have often been analysed by studying movements to other continents, especially Europe. However, the way intra-African migration works was not considered. Faced with this Africa-Europe travel idea, African populations move within their countries of origin or travel to neighbouring states in search of better basic conditions, employment or even education.
According to the African Migration Report 2020, a report published by the African Union and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), it is estimated that between 53% and 79% of migrations occur within the continent itself, while 26 % occurs outside of it.

It is estimated that between 53% and 79% of migrations occur within the African continent (Photo: IOM/Alessandro Lira)

Much of this migration occurs from the countryside to the city, although the continent has traditionally been one of the regions with the lowest urbanization rates in the world. While territories such as North America and Europe experienced an unprecedented rural exodus during the 20th century, as did Latin America and Asia in the last decades of the century, the African continent maintained a very high percentage of rural population. However, this does not mean that the African population has not moved from the village to the city. During colonization, European projects transformed several cities into colonial capitals, partly attracting rural populations by concentrating job opportunities.
North America currently tops the urban population chart (82%), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (81%), Europe (74%), Oceania (68%), Asia (50%) and Africa (43%), according to UN-Habitat. Although the African continent is in last place, in recent decades the urbanization process has accelerated, and forecasts do not seem to indicate any change in the trend. It is estimated that in 2050, Africa will concentrate at least 21% of the world’s urban population, although these data must be analysed from a broader perspective.

On the outskirt of Johannesburg. 123rf.com

In recent years, Africa has followed a global trend characterized by increasing urbanization for two reasons: the natural growth of the urban population and the rural exodus. Both causes have generated an exponential increase in the inhabited area of ​​the main cities, although this expansion is usually informal, without basic infrastructure and with environmental damage. To get an idea of this, it is estimated that in 2050 Africa will reach between 60% and 70% of the urbanization rate, that is, it will reach the current standard of Europe. It is evident that this rapid change will intensify the already existing traffic problems, the lack of essential services, pollution, uncontrolled urban sprawl, the conversion of agricultural land into urban space, and social change.
Although it is a fact that cities increase their population due to the arrival of migrants from secondary towns and cities, it is no less true that in some countries the rural population continues to increase, mainly due to local population growth.

Ethiopia. Two of the countries with the largest population in Africa will also increase their populations in the countryside: Nigeria and Ethiopia, with 50 and 40 million rural inhabitants, respectively.

According to UN-Habitat, countries like Niger are expected to triple their rural populations by 2050, and other states like Burundi, Chad, Malawi, Uganda, and Zambia are expected to double theirs within the same year. Furthermore, two of the countries with the largest population in Africa will also increase their populations in the countryside: Nigeria and Ethiopia, with 50 and 40 million rural inhabitants, respectively. Therefore, although there is an exponential growth in the urban population and that of the main cities of the continent, there are also other dynamics that often go unnoticed.
In the case of national migration, attention has been focused on a flow of impoverished people who go from the countryside to the city in search of a better life and who find themselves in a situation of exclusion due to a lack of infrastructure capable of welcoming them. But there is so much more. The migrant profile has changed in recent decades and there are not always movements from rural to urban areas.

Unidirectional movement?
The migratory logic experienced in other regions of the planet, characterized by an intense rural exodus, is overshadowing other dynamics which, albeit minority ones, continue to exist in continents such as Africa. Hence, in addition to rural-urban migration, there are also other migratory processes such as rural-countryside, city-city, and city-countryside. Likewise, migrations are generally not static, nor do they have a one-way direction.
On the continent, there are circular movements, in which migrants temporarily move to another point and then return.
Within temporary migration, mobility occurs for specific reasons – such as seasonal work – or for health needs and, moreover, return mobility is linked to the end of the working life of citizens who choose to return to their places of origin. Therefore, migratory movements in Africa can have a multidirectional and staggered character that responds to interests that go beyond the demand for work: educational, socio-cultural motivations, or economic opportunities.

Kenya. Men are waiting for work. ©grispb/123rf.com

Therefore, the reality goes far beyond the rural-urban movements which, although in the majority of cases, contemplate some challenges. Climate change and the depletion of natural resources question the model of extensive urban growth and the lack of sustainability. To this, we must add that the demographic increase in several African countries, especially in the cities, is fuelling the need for employment. Poor industrialization and the lack of an established service sector prevent the creation of stable jobs. The informal sector, while offering job opportunities, generates precarious jobs with low returns that increase the situation of poverty.
Although urban exodus also exists in some cases, it is far from establishing itself as a stable trend in Africa. Some of the reasons why some sectors decide to leave the city are due to retirement, job opportunities related to civil service positions in civil service, education, or health care. Or because the ‘myth of the city’ ends up breaking down.

A new generation
Migratory movements have changed in recent years, with new profiles, methods, and destinations. The younger generations of Africa and their goals have a lot to do with this. The African region has the lowest average age which in most African countries is around 20 years. This translates, in some cases, into a very high percentage of the population is young. For example, in countries like Ethiopia, 51% of the population is under the age of 20; in the Democratic Republic of Congo 56% of the inhabitants are in that age group, and at the head of the list is Niger, with 60%.In this context, it is easy to understand that the bulk of migratory movements occur among young people and not always for reasons of extreme dependence. The new needs of young people revolve around a higher education level, moving to major urban centres to obtain higher education in prestigious universities in Addis Ababa, Kampala, or South Africa.

South African students. The new needs of young people: to obtain higher education in prestigious universities in Addis Ababa, Kampala, or South Africa. 123rf.com

The search for qualified employment is also one of the reasons that lead young people to leave their places of origin and settle in urban centres where the possibility of working as doctors, public employees or in key companies is more favourable. Furthermore, we must not forget the interest of a part of this population in accessing the ways of life of a growing middle class and some presumably cosmopolitan lifestyles that are concentrated in the big capitals.
These migratory movements from the countryside to the city also worry about the vacuum they can create in rural areas. The former director of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), José Graziano da Silva, has spoken out in favour of the revitalization of the rural areas of the African continent to avoid the progressive loss of young inhabitants. His formula was to promote small agro-industries and cooperatives that generate employment, accompanied by other measures such as access to the Internet, a better infrastructure network and the provision of public services, as well as promoting rural tourism.
However, at the moment there is no project that manages to keep the young population in rural areas or to attract new inhabitants. The danger of a progressive emptying of the countryside is increasingly present in national agendas. Despite this, it remains to be seen whether the forecasts in Africa and trends among the younger generations consolidate. (Illustration: 123rf.com.)

 Pablo Arconada Ledesma

 

 

 

 

 

Re-inventing Flexible Cities.

 The art of getting by with countless informal activities not only affects the economy or daily activities but has significant repercussions on the urban form and on the very way of understanding urban centres as a constantly changing organism.

In the large square of a modern petrol station, incoming cars have to go around to avoid a herd of goats while the shepherd is talking excitedly on his cell phone. Small vendors of vegetables or sweets crowd at the windows of refuelling vehicles while in a corner some boys have improvised a basic informal car wash. A dozen people, sitting in a circle on plastic chairs and used tires, seem to be caught in a heated discussion. But chairs and men disappear in a moment as soon as a large truck approaches the tire dealer in the yard. Immediately afterward, the men resume their seats, and the conversation continues.

Gondar. Daily Life in the Northern part of Ethiopia

We are in the outskirts of Gondar, a city of 200,000 inhabitants in northern Ethiopia, but we could find ourselves in any large or small city in sub-Saharan Africa. Some call it informality, others disorder; what is certain is that the creative and extremely flexible use of spaces is in all likelihood the main feature of the continent’s urban centres.This feature has its most evident expression in the enormous spread of slums and informal settlements, places that arise rapidly in the gaps of the cities, preferably occupying spaces that cannot be used by ‘official’ buildings.

Lagos. The Mile12. CCA 4.0/Olatunbosun

Speaking of informality, the immense neighbourhoods of Nairobi or Lagos and their dramatic health and social situation stand out, but the phenomenon is more or less deeply rooted in any urban centre, so much so as to make it impossible to make a clear distinction between official and illegal areas. And it is not just about slums; the African city does not know totally unused spaces or ‘non-places’ left to themselves. Any area can be transformed and find a new vocation within a few hours.
Mainly as markets, warehouses, or ways through but also: urban agriculture, for example, is increasingly widespread and especially in small towns, many free plots, from roundabouts to cemeteries, are often used to produce vegetables.
When the iron mines of the small town of Lunsar, in the central north of Sierra Leone, were closed in the 1970s, most of the inhabitants began to clean up the marshy areas to use them as rice fields, colouring the urban streets with the brilliant green of newly transplanted plants.
An activity partially abandoned with the reopening of the mines a decade ago, but immediately resumed upon the arrival of the Ebola epidemic and the consequent lockdown.

Making the most of every opportunity
The optimization of urban spaces and the informal nature of the activities require the ability to create extremely flexible structures or functions. Everything is, or can be, ephemeral and flexibility allow both to survive problems and emergencies but also to adapt to contexts in rapid and continuous change and make the most of every opportunity.

The Gambian town of Farafenni. CCA 2.0/Greg Walters

The Gambian town of Farafenni is a must for those who want to reach Casamance, avoiding a 400 km route through the hinterland of Senegal. Here the main activity has always been street trade, especially near the banks of the Gambia River, where the queues to load vehicles onto the ferries can last weeks and a real informal commercial village has been born with stalls, currency exchanges, cheap restaurants, or makeshift motels. However, the new Senegambia bridge, co-financed by the African Development Bank and completed in 2019, has brought these thriving businesses to crisis point. As a result, the makeshift buildings on the banks of the river are rapidly disappearing to move to the toll stations or to the other side of the city, near the Senegalese border, where queues of vehicles remain waiting to pass customs controls. A movement of people and activities capable of transforming the urban form and its equilibrium in a very short time.
The ability to convert and regenerate free spaces in places of commerce or relationships does not only concern the scraps of land that escaped overbuilding or the narrow pavements, but even beaches or dry river beds, as happens in Keren, a town in the Eritrean lowland where the open bed of the almost permanently dry stream that crosses it, hosts the renowned weekly livestock market.

 Informal activities
The aptitude for the creative use of spaces is a widespread trend throughout the continent and is equally developed in metropolises and smaller centres. All of these strategies are in fact closely related to the activities of the informal economy, the real engine of African cities, which through complex systems of social and economic networks makes it possible to cope with the chronic lack of the services of an ‘official’ city. AbdouMaliq Simone, one of the leading scholars of contemporary urban Africa, speaks of a ‘pirate city’, dominated by invisible and ephemeral ties in which the only truly functioning infrastructures are the people themselves and their way of collaborating with each other.

Selling tomatoes in a local market. 123rf.com

The art of débrouillardise, of getting by, with countless informal activities, not only affects the economy or daily activities but has significant repercussions on the urban form and on the very way of understanding the city as a flexible and constantly changing organism. This is an even more evident attitude in secondary cities, free from overly stringent infrastructural requirements, from the presence of centres of power and control or from ‘urban décor’ requirements affecting political, economic or tourist capitals.
The African city is therefore a city of ‘light’ spaces, capable of modifying itself to adapt to situations and criticalities, rather than contrasting them. A vision opposite to that of Europe and the West which sees cities as rigid structures, based on the transformation and even heavy modification of the territory, but which in an era marked by the threat of disruptive climate change could prove to be much more functional and resilient. (Open Photo: Sunset over Saint Mary town in Sal Island, Cape Verde. 123rf.com)

Federico Monica

Asia 2023. A Year of Uncertainty.

In 2023, Asia will be a continent of global uncertainties, regional trends and attempts at recovery. Four general elections.
It will be the year of India.

The first elections are scheduled in Thailand on 18 June which will design the new National Assembly, or rather the bicameral Parliament. In fact, only the 500-member House of Representatives will be subject to the voters’ choice, while the Senate is made up of 250 members designated by the military leadership that controls the country since the coup in May 2014. Former general Prayut Chan-ocha, who was at the helm of the coup, is the premier in office.
The government is inefficient and responsible for having blocked any attempt at democratic and social development, relaunching the control role of the military, that of safeguarding the monarchical institution and the interests of family-based oligopolies without intervening against corruption, nepotism or wrongdoing in the public sector. This is without also guaranteeing stability and well-being, the rights of citizens, workers, and immigrants.

Bangkok. The portrait of His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn at front of the Supreme Court. 123rf.com

The path to the elections does not highlight any structural reforms needed by the country, only the attempt to safeguard the status quo. Manoeuvers are already under way to consolidate a disqualified power after the vote, trying in every way to deny space to the opposition groups that polls have shown capable of winning.
Overall, the situation prevents Thailand from recovering a political and economic role that would require profound reforms in terms of education, social security, and industrial competition. Also of greater equidistance on the diplomatic level which today associates it ever more closely with Chinese interests. In fact, Cambodia is now a kind of Chinese ‘colony’. A role that was also consolidated in 2022, highlighted with areas of substantial extraterritoriality in the hands of Chinese entrepreneurs where manufacturers, casinos and call centres operate as part of global networks of online scams, often with a labour force working in conditions of substantial slavery after being deceived
in several Asian nations.

The national flag of Cambodia. 123rf.com

The year 2022 saw the end of any opposition from parliament or trade unions to the judicial power that Prime Minister Hun Sen has held for 38 years. No one expects anything less than a plebiscite for his party, that of the Cambodian people, which controls all of the 125 seats in the current legislature, as a result of votes due to being cast to renew the National Assembly on 23 July.
With international pressure to renounce the dismantling of the political opposition, control over non-governmental organizations, the restoration of trade union freedom, freedom of demonstration and information, the government has so far replied with a tightening of measures and a further rapprochement with Beijing which is creating essential strategic structures on a strategic level in Cambodia.
Traditionally close to China also and with an anti-Indian function, Pakistan expects to return to the polls in the autumn to renew its 342-seat National Assembly. A necessary move, after the May 2022 vote of no confidence by Parliament against Prime Minister Imran Khan, leader of the party with the greatest consistency, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, and after Khan himself was the subject of an assassination attempt on 3 November while leading a protest march to the capital, Islamabad. Khan, who came to power in 2018 – counting on the support of the military and the judiciary in favour of his pragmatic Islamist ideology capable of containing the demands of religious extremism, and attracting support from abroad and from religious minorities – maintains broad popular approval. Various forces are opposed to him, starting with the Pakistan Muslim League now in a government coalition with the secularist Pakistan People’s Party, formerly that of Benazir Bhutto.

NLD sign on building in Falam Town in – Western Myanmar. 123rf.com

In Myanmar, the path towards the vote scheduled for October 10, wanted by the regime to ‘restore democracy’ after the alleged electoral fraud that in November 2020 would have led to victory for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, risks derailing, as marked by the profound internal crisis which now amounts to a real civil war with a looming humanitarian crisis. Popular support for Nobel Peace Prize winner and former National Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi, subjected to a chain of trials and convictions that seek to weaken her resistance to cooperate with the regime, remains very strong.
And with her, the entire democratic movement gathered around the National League for Democracy, banned but central to the Government of National Unity which secretly organizes the resistance and administers various areas of the country.

Economy
From an economic point of view, 2023 presents itself in Asia (and the Pacific) with contrasting prospects even if generally positive in terms of growth. The greatest difficulty will be to recover from the imbalances created or accentuated during the pandemic and support the recovery of employment, business, welfare, and rights.
As reported by the World Bank, from the end of 2022 three factors could negatively affect growth: global slowdown, growing debt and policy distortions. The current measures to contain inflation and debt are in fact overlapping with those existing with regard to the food, fuel and finance markets. However, in the main countries of the region growth is expected to be higher and inflation lower than in the rest of the world.

Vietnam. Farmer. Max Pixel

Although contained, growth in 2022 was higher than that of other areas of the world, driven by the recovery of domestic consumption, sustained demand for exports of industrial products and goods from the area, and a limited tightening of fiscal and monetary policies which could, however, make matters worse in the coming months.
Obviously, this situation will have to deal with a combination of external problems: a general economic slowdown that curbs demand, and a growing debt burden incentivized by rising interest rates and declining exchange rates. Finally, there are the distorting measures taken by various governments on the internal market trying to address the present difficulties.For East Asia, UNCTAD (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) projects an expansion of 4.3 per cent compared to 3.3 per cent in 2022 and 6.5 per cent in 2021. Of uncertain significance could be the still be rising cost of raw materials and minor exports. The Chinese situation will obviously play a role, with an expected increase in GDP of 3.9 per cent, the confirmation of which could be affected by the uncertainties of consumption and the ongoing crisis in the real estate sector.
For Southeast Asia, the organization estimates a growth rate of 3.8 per cent, lower than the 4.1 expected in 2022 as a result of tighter domestic monetary policies and in the context of reduced global trade. The traditional regional vulnerability to instability due to financial factors and exchange rate uncertainty, makes the situation even less certain.

Other horizons
In China, Xi Jinping is on his way to a new presidential term in the 14th session of the Chinese National People’s Congress in March after his confirmation as the undisputed leader of the Communist Party of China at the 20th Congress last October.This path too, as well as growing economic difficulties, justified greater interventionism by Xi in 2022 internally, and a more decisive affirmation of the Chinese role in the international context, not without reactions.All trends that will pass in 2023, with three main factors of uncertainty: the leadership’s ability to contain the economic slowdown, relaunching production, exports, and domestic consumption; the developments of the Covid-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine; and commercial and strategic relations with the United States and, in general, the western world.

President Xi Jinping meets with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Xinhua

On a social level, the aging of the population as well as the difficulty of reviving the birth rate will seriously question the authorities, together with the restructuring of the welfare system, while the fight against corruption and the abuse of power undermines credibility of the State and the hegemonic party will go towards further strengthening.
In India, 2023 will be an important year for its international positioning, starting from the presidency of the G20 in a year that is certainly difficult to interpret. That this happens in the year of the demographic overtaking of China is also significant.
Even the leadership of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a Eurasian group that includes, in addition to China, several Central Asian countries, will also point out, albeit casually, the now inescapable role that India has acquired on an economic and political level, placing itself at the same time on a level of competition with the major powers and of mediation with the authority that derives from tradition, geographical position, and population.(Open Photo: Asian girl sews the fishnet. 123rf.com)

Stefano Vecchia

 

 

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