Environment + Energy – Views & Research

More than water: villagers in South Africa mapped a river’s importance to daily life

Esther Ahuoiza Seriki, Rhodes University; Chika Felicitas Nnadozie, Rhodes University, and Nelson Odume, Rhodes University

The world promised to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 – now it needs to turn pledges into action

Gabriella Santini, UCL; Emily Woodhouse, UCL, and Simon Chin-Yee, UCL

Human speech follows the same patterns as birdsong — new research

Logan S. James, McGill University; The University of Texas at Austin; Jon Sakata, McGill University, and Kendra Oudyk, University of British Columbia

Two green/purple coloured hummingbirds looking at each other on a branch, one with its mouth wide open.

South Africa’s lion petting industry: we spent three years investigating and here’s what we found

Stephanie-Emmy Klarmann, University of Johannesburg; Alexandra Schnell, University of Cambridge; Angie Elwin, Manchester Metropolitan University, and Neil D’Cruze, Manchester Metropolitan University

A lion with severe mange stands behind a fence looking bedraggled

18 million people living in poverty depend on underwater meadows for food and income - but these vital habitats are under threat

Richard K.F. Unsworth, Swansea University; Benjamin Jones, Project Seagrass; Florida International University, and Leanne Cullen-Unsworth, Cardiff University

People walk across a flat garbage dump with smoke rising from the garbage

African countries could save billions by cutting air pollution and greenhouse gases at the same time

Chris Malley, University of York; Caroline Sawe, University of York, and Kevin Hicks, University of York

Whose vision of development counts? South Africa’s Amadiba communities made maps of what matters

Hali Healy, University of Birmingham

A group of people outside drawing on flip chart sheets.

Uganda’s sugarcane boom leaves families hungry: what needs to change

James Kintu, UMass Boston

A factory with smokestacks in the background with green sugar cane fields growing in front of it.

Super El Niño could hit southern Africa’s bean harvests hard: how to protect farmers

Moses Chitete, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources

A person holds out a handful of white beans. In the background, people work in a field.

A close up of dozens of brown and cream balls that look like peas

Bambara groundnut: new maps show where southern African farmers can grow this drought-tolerant crop

Richard Kunz, University of KwaZulu-Natal and Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

A dried out maize cob on a dry brown stalk

Super El Niño – how it could affect South Africa’s maize prices

Anmar Pretorius, North-West University and Mariëtte Geyser, North-West University

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Energy

Aerial view of industrial buildings in the desert.

China and the EU could turn Morocco into a surprise global hub for electric vehicles

Linda Calabrese, ODI Global and Jodie Keane, ODI Global

Pig farm vs power station: South African court tells state-owned Eskom to clean up its pollution

Angela van der Berg, University of the Western Cape

Two towers with smoke coming out of one and a giant industrial set up of buildings and huge white tanks.

South Africa has new electricity pricing rules after 18 years: what it gets right and wrong

Felix Dube, University of Venda

Electricity pylons and lines silhouetted against the sky

Drought and the war in Ukraine changed what families in Kenya could afford to eat – research tracked food and cooking gas use

Matthew Shupler, Harvard University; University of Liverpool

A row of corrugated metal home-made structures line a bare soil road

A sharp fall in gas supplies in 2028 threatens South Africa’s economy: how to manage the fallout

Davies Tsikayi, University of the Witwatersrand

Johannesburg has taken a big new loan to help fix its electricity problems, but the results will take time

Glen Robbins, University of the Witwatersrand

South Africa’s move to renewable power is complex, but clearing 5 bottlenecks would speed it up

Rod Crompton, University of the Witwatersrand

A solar plant seen from the sky - a tower in the middle with solar panels all around it.

Nigeria raised electricity prices to improve supply. Why it hasn’t worked

Taiwo Hassan Odugbemi, University of Abuja

Generators displayed for sale in Lagos market.

Could sodium replace lithium as the dominant ingredient in batteries?

Syed Abdul Ahad, University of Limerick

Natural World

Wildlife populations have declined 73% since 1970 – but many of the world’s animals still aren’t being counted

Hannah Sarah Wauchope, University of Edinburgh; Gary David Powney, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, and Nick Isaac, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

A family of rhinos in the Kruger national park, South Africa, with trees behind them.

Rhinos and elephants can cause huge problems if reintroduced badly – here’s how to get it right

Adam Hart, University of Gloucestershire

Seven wild dogs sitting and walking on a dirt track

3 African wild dogs travelled over 4,000km to find mates – why that’s good news for the endangered species

Scott Creel, Montana State University

A brown antelope with black and white striped legs

Okapi: new book celebrates a once famous animal and recovers Indigenous experts’ place in its history

Simon Pooley, FLS, Birkbeck, University of London

What happens to elephants that stray from Kruger Park? South African policy needs a rewrite

Neil D’Cruze, Manchester Metropolitan University; Angie Elwin, Manchester Metropolitan University, and Herbert Ntuli, University of Pretoria

An elephant walking through grassland, flanked by trees.

Invasive rats are stopping small mammals from returning to Madagascar’s regenerating forests – study

Sabine Cudney-Valenzuela, University of California, Berkeley

A small brown animal - a tiny lemur - with big eyes and a long tail, on a branch

Do tourists stress out safari animals? We tested their dung to find out

Bruce Crossey, University of Pretoria

Africa’s wildlife laws follow a colonial model which separates people and animals: why it’s not working

F. Dermmillah Obare, Prescott College

People march in the street wearing red and beaded traditional clothing holding up placards reading Kenya: Endorois and Ogiek's reparations can't wait any longer.

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Agriculture + Land

A grassy patch of land with blue skies and white fluffy clouds behind it.

Rising CO₂ is making African savanna grasses grow more – what this means for grazing, fire and carbon storage

Kimberley Simpson, University of Sheffield

One third of food is lost or wasted: how to help farmers cut post-harvest losses

Abeeb Babatunde Omotoso, North-West University; Abiodun Olusola Omotayo, University of Maryland Eastern Shore; North-West University; Adeyemi Oladapo Aremu, North-West University, and Olaniyi Fawole, University of Johannesburg

Sweet potatoes and fresh vegetables in bags at a street market

Spekboom is nutritious, water-wise and edible – so why aren’t more South Africans eating it?

Alba du Toit, University of the Free State and Faith Matiza Ruzengwe, University of the Free State

A close up of small, fleshy green leaves on thin branches.

People forage for wild food in public spaces in South African cities – how to plan for this

Mallika Sardeshpande, University of KwaZulu-Natal

A row of cabbages planted on a verge outside a school's concrete fence.

Why water rights aren’t enough to fix South Africa’s deeply unequal farming sector

Fenji Materechera-Mitochi, Rhodes University and Matthew Weaver, Rhodes University

A row of trees about 6 feet high bearing oranges

Relentless heat and drought take a toll on herders’ physical and mental health, in Kenya and the US

Anne Pisor, Penn State and Bonface Osindi, Washington State University

A young man on a dusty road with many sheep behind him.

How white farmers still dominate land ownership in South Africa in spite of land reform – new research

Alex Dyzenhaus, University of St Andrews

A farm with rolling grasslands and a tractor

Tigray’s old grapevines have survived against the odds: new research uncovers their genetic and historic value

Jan Nyssen, Ghent University; Alemtsehay Tsegay, Mekelle University; Emnet Negash, Ghent University; Oregon State University; Federica Sulas, University of Gothenburg; Mariano Ucchesu, Université de Montpellier; Tesfaalem Gebreyohannes, Mekelle University, and Yemane Hailu Fissuh

Woman holding grapes while standing under a vine on a trellis

China is funding African farmers but not food processing and storage: why it’s a problem

Adrino Mazenda, University of Pretoria

People in blue overalls and hair nets sort figs inside a cool warehouse

Water

Sacred springs of South Africa: pure waters or polluted? We found tiny bits of plastic in the samples we tested

Thendo Mutshekwa, Rhodes University; Lubabalo Mofu, National Research Foundation, and Samuel N. Motitsoe, University of the Witwatersrand

South Africa has good water laws but bad services. What’s stopping fair access

Marin Cvitanovic, Bournemouth University; Jack Olley; Laura Bunt-MacRury, University of Glasgow, and Tilak Ginige, Bournemouth University

A woman washes something in a small bucket at a communal tap attached to a row of outside toilets

We are mapping and monitoring Africa’s underground water supplies in preparation for a hotter future – scientists

Girma Yimer Ebrahim, International Water Management Institute

People stand around a square borehole in a forested area

Food garden or swimming pool? South Africa’s water crisis isn’t just about a shortage. It’s about equality

Trevor Hill, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Carla Higgs, University of KwaZulu-Natal, and Richard Meissner, University of South Africa

A line of children and teenagers at a water truck with buckets

Lake Kariba’s rising waters bring hope to communities in Zambia and Zimbabwe

Joshua Matanzima, The University of Queensland

Lake seen from a hill above with the dam wall visible

Pollution

A collection of plastic waste on a beach.

Tonnes of fishing gear and plastic are washing up on Seychelles beaches. We tracked where it was coming from

Alex Albinski, University of Oxford and Noam Vogt-Vincent, University of Oxford

Plastic waste is harming livestock in South Africa: smallholder farmers using communal land set out the support they need

Linton Munyai, University of Limpopo

This South African river has a bacteria count off the charts: a natural filter is cleaning it for watering food gardens

Kevin Winter, University of Cape Town

A 5000 litre green plastic water tank next to rows of gardening boxes on a piece of land with leafy greens growing in them

Poison or poverty: the impossible economic choices facing Ghana’s e-waste workers

Brandon Marc Finn, University of Michigan

An open air garbage site with fires on it and clouds of smoke; about 35 people are sorting through discarded electronic goods

Ammonia from wastewater: How we’re turning a pollutant into fertilizer and clean fuel

Navid Noor, McMaster University and Drew Higgins, McMaster University

a rendering of molecules joined together

Environment + Energy – Views & Research – The Conversation

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