Africa’s electric motorbike future can be built locally and powered by solar – our 6,000km ride shows what’s possibleMJ (Thinus) Booysen, Stellenbosch University
South Africa’s power utility Eskom wants to cut electricity to municipalities that haven’t paid: households may pay the priceRoula Inglesi-Lotz, University of Pretoria
Handpumps bring water to rural African communities, but many are broken – study models how best to maintain themChengcheng Zhai, University of Notre Dame; Alfonso J. Pedraza Martinez, University of Notre Dame; Jorge Mejia, Indiana University; Kurt M. Bretthauer, Indiana University, and Rodney Parker, Indiana University
Ancient bones show dogs have been woven into human life for nearly 16,000 yearsAndrew Fairbairn, The University of Queensland; Douglas Baird, University of Liverpool, and Gokhan Mustafaoglu, Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University
Cocoa farmers cut down trees for short-term gain, but keeping them is important – here’s whyOlly Owen, University of Oxford and Zoe Brown, University of Oxford
Striped mice survive harsh drought by slowing down and not getting stressedCarsten Schradin, Université de Strasbourg; University of the Witwatersrand
Mini-grids can supply electricity, but what about demand? A private DRC project shows how it can workNik Stoop, University of Antwerp; Elie Lunanga, University of Antwerp; Marijke Verpoorten, University of Antwerp, and Sébastien Desbureaux, Université de Montpellier
South Africa will run out of industrial gas by 2028 and 70,000 jobs could be lost – why government fixes are lackingCraig McGregor, Stellenbosch University
Connecting home solar and electric vehicle batteries to the grid could boost South Africa’s clean energy and strengthen the electricity systemDavid Richard Walwyn, University of Pretoria
Does South Africa have a future without power cuts? Ramaphosa intervenes, but the drama isn’t overRod Crompton, University of the Witwatersrand
Ramaphosa and a stable electricity system in South Africa: the devils are in the detailMark Swilling, Stellenbosch University
South Africa is moving away from coal – how mines and power stations could be used for green energy and farmingSandeep Pai, Duke University and Jennifer Lee Broadhurst, University of Cape Town
Attacks on Nigeria’s energy systems weaken the country – research unpacks costs, risks and ways forwardHaruna Inuwa, University of Oxford; Alycia Leonard, University of Oxford, and Stephanie Hirmer, University of Oxford
Nigeria and South Africa plan to boost fossil fuel production, risking their climate change pledgesEmily Ghosh, Stockholm Environment Institute and Derik Broekhoff, Stockholm Environment Institute
India and South Africa burn a lot of coal: what they can learn from each other about ending the dependencyCraig McGregor, Stellenbosch University and Varun Pratap Singh, Stellenbosch University
Zambia’s forest communities need finance for solar power – so they don’t have to cut down trees to pay for itHillary Chanda, University of Reading
Tourist visits to Madagascar help conserve some forests, but others suffer: study suggests what to doRanaivo Rasolofoson, University of Toronto; Camille DeSisto, Rice University, and Tristan Frappier-Brinton, Duke University
Leopards adapted to South Africa’s Cape so successfully that they’re genetically unique – studyLaura Tensen, University of Greifswald
Invasive mesquite plants do more than deplete water reserves – new research in South Africa shows they damage soil tooSiviwe Malongweni, Sol Plaatje University
Killer beetles in the baobabs: researcher warns of risk to African treesSarah Venter, University of the Witwatersrand
Can African penguins be brought back from the brink? Better designed no-fishing zones could helpJacqui Glencross, University of St Andrews
Cape Town’s wildflowers are a world treasure: six insights from a new checklistDian Spear, Stellenbosch University; Nicola van Wilgen-Bredenkamp, Stellenbosch University; Patricia Holmes, Stellenbosch University; Ronell R Klopper, University of Pretoria, and Tony Rebelo, South African National Biodiversity Institute
Violent conflicts are reshaping what Nigerian farmers grow: what this means for food securityAbeeb Babatunde Omotoso, North-West University and Abiodun Olusola Omotayo, University of Maryland Eastern Shore
Women farmers in South Africa pay the cost of broken irrigation systems – the story of one cooperativeElizabeth Hull, SOAS, University of London
Sierra Leoneans who live off the sea don’t trust farmed fish – but wild fish are in declineNwamaka Okeke-Ogbuafor, University of Glasgow and Salieu Kabba Sankoh, University of Sierra Leone
Cape Town project tests what hydroponic farming can do in urban spacesTinashe P. Kanosvamhira, University of Leeds; University of the Western Cape
South Africa’s floods turned deadly because Limpopo wasn’t prepared – how to prevent a repeatEphias Mugari, University of Limpopo
Indigenous trees might be the secret to climate resilient dairy farming in Benin, says this new studyAlassan Assani Seidou, University of Pretoria
Small-scale farmers produce more of the rich world’s food than previously thought – new studyOliver Taherzadeh, Leiden University
A water solution for drought-prone South Africa: we designed systems to replenish aquifers simply and cheaply in five townsSurina Esterhuyse, University of the Free State; Danita Hohne, University of the Free State, and Fanus Fourie, University of the Free State
The Lesotho Highlands Water project is 40 years old and going strong: but history weighs on its successesJohn Aerni-Flessner, Michigan State University
Water in the dams, but South Africa’s taps are dry: essential reads on a history of bad managementCaroline Southey, The Conversation
The world is in water bankruptcy, UN scientists report – here’s what that meansKaveh Madani, United Nations University
The world’s waste mountain is rising at an alarming rateCostas Velis, University of Leeds; Imperial College London and Ed Cook, Imperial College London
Lead Children: new Netflix series reminds us that lead poisoning is still a global health problemJane Entwistle, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Researchers develop biodegradable, plant-based packaging from natural fibers – new researchJ. Carson Meredith, Georgia Institute of Technology
How we turned plastic waste into vinegar: A sunlight-powered breakthroughYimin Wu, University of Waterloo
Amazing pineapple leaf powder that fights crime and pollution: new researchBienvenu Gael Fouda Mbanga, Nelson Mandela University