From bean to bar, Haiti's cocoa wants international recognition


Issued on: 27/12/2020 - 

A worker sorts cocoa beans in the workshop of the Makaya chocolate company in Petionville, Haiti Valerie Baeriswyl AFP

Port-au-Prince (AFP)

Although small in the face of South America's giants, Haiti is slowly developing its cocoa industry, earning better incomes for thousands of farmers and refuting the stereotype that culinary art is the preserve of wealthy countries.

Haiti's annual production of 5,000 tonnes of cocoa pales in comparison to the 70,000 tonnes produced per year by neighboring Dominican Republic, but the sector's development is recent in the island nation.

Feccano, a federation of cocoa cooperatives in northern Haiti, became the first group to organize exchanges in 2001 by prioritizing farmers' profits.

"Before, there was the systematic destruction of cocoa trees because the market price wasn't interesting for farmers who preferred very short-cycle crops," said Guito Gilot, Feccano's commercial director.

The cooperative now works with more than 4,000 farmers in northern Haiti.

By fermenting its members' beans before export, Feccano has been able to target the market for fine and aromatic cocoa.

"Feccano's customers pay for quality: they don't have the New York Stock Exchange as a reference," said Gilot.

- Just-in-time collection -

Smelling potential, Haiti's private sector finally began investing in the cocoa industry, which until then had been supported solely by non-governmental organizations and humanitarian efforts.

By setting up its fermentation setter in 2014 in Acul-du-Nord, 15 kilometers (nine miles) from Haiti's second city Cap-Haitien, the company Produit des iles (PISA) entered the market. But the logistical challenges are many.

"The producers we work with farm less than a hectare, often divided into several plots whereas, in Latin America, a small producer already owns four or five hectares," explained Aline Etlicher, who developed the industry at PISA.

"We buy fresh cocoa, the same day as the harvest so the farmer no longer has the problems of drying and storing that they would have if they sold it to an intermediary," said the French agronomist.

In recent months, this just-in-time bean collection from all sites has been more challenging because many roads were regularly blocked due to socio-political unrest.

Maintaining organic and fair trade certifications for the cocoa is delicate, but the Haitian style has made its mark abroad.

"Today there are bars sold in the United States that are called Acul-du-Nord," Etlicher said proudly.

"With our customers, we are part of the 'bean to bar' movement of chocolate makers who transform the cocoa bean into the chocolate bar," she said, adding that by cutting out the middleman, Haitian producers' revenues have doubled.

And on the other end of the chain, bean processing remains local.

- 'Plant your cocoa' -

For master chocolatier Ralph Leroy, making a rum ganache -- Haitian, just like all the products he uses -- was not an obvious choice.

After years in Montreal, he returned home to Haiti as a haute-couture stylist.

His shift to cocoa began when he made clothes out of chocolate for a culinary trade show. The training he then underwent for a year in Italy fueled his passion as much as his pride.

"The first week, I think I was insulted when the professor said, 'Chocolate is made for Europe. You there, plant your cocoa, we buy the cocoa and do the work,'" he recalled.

Today, Leroy runs the chocolate company he founded in 2016, Makaya, and the edible sculptures that come out of his workshop are a huge sensation at parties. His company now has about 20 employees who share his passion.

"Even in cooking schools, we don't learn this. I learned everything here and I am very, very proud," said Duasmine Paul, 22, head of Makaya's laboratory.

Echoes of car horns reach the ears of Makaya employees carefully sorting cocoa beans, a side effect of the chaotic traffic that paralyzes Haitian capital Port-au-Prince at the end of the year.

From his workshop, where he also concocts chocolate-based cocktails, Leroy sees as sweet revenge the great marketing of his bars.

"The greatest pleasure is when, before traveling, Haitians come here to buy a lot to offer abroad. It's become their pride. And also when Europeans come and buy all the stock... I tell myself that I am doing a good job," he says with a burst of laughter.

© 2020 AFP

Archaeologists uncover well-preserved ‘fast food’ counter in Pompeii

Issued on: 26/12/2020

This picture released on December 26, 2020 by the Pompeii Press Office shows a thermopolium, a sort of street "fast-food" counter in ancient Rome, that has been unearthed in Pompeii, decorated with polychrome motifs and in an exceptional state of preservation. The counter, frozen by volcanic ash, had been partly unearthed in 2019 but the work was extended to best preserve the entire site, located at the crossroads of rue des Noces d'Argent and rue des Balcons. © Luigi Spina, AFP

Text by: NEWS WIRES

Researchers said on Saturday they had discovered a frescoed thermopolium, or fast food counter, in an exceptional state of preservation in Pompeii.

The ornate snack bar counter, decorated with polychrome patterns and frozen by volcanic ash, was partially exhumed last year but archaeologists extended work on the site to reveal it in its full glory.

Pompeii was buried in a sea of boiling lava when the volcano on nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, killing between 2,000 and 15,000 people.

However, archaeologists continue to make discoveries there.

The Thermopolium of Regio V at what was a busy intersection of Silver Wedding Street and Alley of Balconies was the Roman era equivalent of a fast food snack stall.

Previously unearthed was a fresco bearing an image of a Nereid nymph riding a seahorse and gladiators in combat.

In the latest stage of their work, archaeologists uncovered a number of still life scenes, including depictions of animals believed to have been on the menu, notably mallard ducks and also a rooster, for serving up with wine or hot beverages.

Scientists were also able to glean precious new information on gastronomic habits in the town dating from the eruption, which engulfed Pompeii and the neighbouring town of Herculaneum as they tried to flee only to be engulfed by pyroclastic lava currents or hit by falling buildings.

The team found duck bone fragments as well as the remains of pigs, goats, fish and snails in earthenware pots. Some of the ingredients had been cooked together rather as a Roman era paella.

Crushed fava beans, used to modify the taste of wine, were found at the bottom of one jar.

Witness to antiquity

“As well as bearing witness to daily life in Pompeii, the possibilities to analyse afforded by this thermopolium are exceptional because for the first time we have excavated a site in its entirety,” said Massimo Osanna, director general at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.

Amphorae, a water tower and a fountain were also found alongside human remains, including those of a man believed to have been aged around 50 and discovered near a child’s bed.

“The counter seems to have been closed in a hurry and abandoned by its owners but it is possible that someone, perhaps the oldest man, stayed behind and perished during the first phase of the eruption,” Osanna told Ansa news agency.

The remains of another person may be those either of an opportunist thief or someone fleeing the eruption who was “surprised by the burning vapours just as he had his hand on the lid of the pot that he had just opened”, added Osanna.

The thermopolium—the word comes from the Greek “thermos” for hot and “poleo” to sell—was very popular in the Roman world. Pompeii alone had around 80.

Pompeii is Italy’s second most visited site after the Colisseum in Rome and last year attracted around four million tourists.

(AFP)

Archaeologists uncover ancient street food shop in Pompeii

VIDEO Excavations in Pompeii

Philip Pullella
Sat, December 26, 2020

ROME (Reuters) - Archaeologists in Pompeii, the city buried in a volcanic eruption in 79 AD, have made the extraordinary find of a frescoed hot food and drinks shop that served up the ancient equivalent of street food to Roman passersby.

Known as a termopolium, Latin for hot drinks counter, the shop was discovered in the archaeological park's Regio V site, which is not yet open the public, and unveiled on Saturday.

Traces of nearly 2,000-year-old food were found in some of the deep terra cotta jars containing hot food which the shop keeper lowered into a counter with circular holes.

The front of the counter was decorated with brightly coloured frescoes, some depicting animals that were part of the ingredients in the food sold, such as a chicken and two ducks hanging upside down.

"This is an extraordinary find. It's the first time we are excavating an entire termopolium," said Massimo Ossana, director of the Pompeii archaeological park.

Archaeologists also found a decorated bronze drinking bowl known as a patera, ceramic jars used for cooking stews and soups, wine flasks and amphora.

Pompeii, 23 km (14 miles) southeast of Naples, was home to about 13,000 people when it was buried under ash, pumice pebbles and dust as it endured the force of an eruption equivalent to many atomic bombs.

"Our preliminary analyses shows that the figures drawn on the front of the counter, represent, at least in part, the food and drink that were sold there," said Valeria Amoretti, a site anthropologist.

Amoretti said traces of pork, fish, snails and beef had been found in the containers, a discovery she called a "testimony to the great variety of animal products used to prepare dishes".

About two-thirds of the 66-hectare (165-acre) ancient town has been uncovered. The ruins were not discovered until the 16th century and organised excavations began about 1750.

A rare documentation of Greco-Roman life, Pompeii is one of Italy's most popular attractions and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

BIGGUS DICKUS
Pompeii archaeologists uncover ancient homophobic insult to tavern owner

Giada Zampano
Sat, December 26, 2020

The Thermopolium of Regio V, one of the oldest snack bars in Pompeii

 - Luigi Spina/Luigi Spina

Archaeologists excavating a snack bar in the ruins of Italy’s Pompeii have uncovered “exceptional” frescoes, and obscene graffiti likely directed at the establishment’s seventh century owner.

The volcanic ash which buried the town during the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in AD79 has preserved an intimate historical record of the Roman town 14 miles southeast of Naples, and the lives of its 13,000 inhabitants.

One of these inhabitants was called Nicias and was likely a freed slave from Greece, according to excavators who recently uncovered an inscription insulting the man. 


“NICIA CINAEDE CACATOR” reads the scrawled graffiti on a fresco of a chained dog painted onto the bar of the Thermopolium of Regio V, a cheap street food eatery. 

“An inverted s****er” is how archaeologists rendered the slur, though the adjective carries a homosexual connotation from its derivation from the ancient Greek term  for catamite.

“NICIA CINAEDE CACATOR” reads the scrawled graffiti on a fresco

NICI EFFEMINATE defecation

“This was probably left by a prankster who sought to poke fun at the owner, or by someone who worked in the thermopolium,” the archaeological park said in a statement highlighting the full range of scientific study that has been applied to understanding the crude inscription and its surrounding context.

“The materials which have been discovered have indeed been excavated and studied from all points of view by an interdisciplinary team composed of professionals in the fields of physical anthropology, archaeology, archaeobotany, archaeozoology, geology and vulcanology,” said Massimo Osanna, head of the Pompeiiarchaeological park.

Over the years, archaeologists at Pompeii have excavated more than 80 thermopolia, Latin for hot drinks counters, an ancient version of Italy's “tavole calde,” selling ready-to-eat meals popular among the working classes.

A partial excavation of the Regio V last year uncovered a spectacular fresco depicting blood-soaked gladiators in combat, and the latest artworks revealed include a nymph riding a sea-horse, mallard ducks hanging ready for the pot and a live rooster.

Duck bones were found alongside the avian frescoes, suggesting that at least some of the well-preserved paintings depicted available menu items. Archaeologists also found remains of goats, pigs, fish and snails, illustrating a wide variety of food on sale. 

Human remains were also found, alongside the bones of a tiny dog, which archaeologists said was evidence of selective breeding for size.

The site will be opened to the public in the near future, Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini said on Saturday. "It will be an Easter present for visitors,” he said.

Trump's pardons for Blackwater guards met with outrage, disgust


President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump depart the White House on Wednesday on a trip to spend the Christmas holiday at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. Photo by Chris Kleponis/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The move by U.S. President Donald Trump to pardon and free four private security guards who killed more than a dozen Iraqi civilians in 2007 has been met with outrage from the victims' families and many others.

In a new round of pardons Wednesday night, Trump excused Blackwater Worldwide guards Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty, Nicholas Slatten and Paul Slough. They were found guilty in 2014 of launching the attack, unprovoked, at Baghdad's Nisour Square 13 years ago -- which killed 14 civilians, including two children, and injured 17 others.

All four were sentenced to at least 12 years in prison. Slatten, who started the shooting, was given a life sentence.

In offering justification for the pardons, Trump questioned the merits of the Justice Department's prosecution of the privately contracted security guards and claimed the pardons are "broadly supported by the public."

Many view the new round of pardons, which also excused crimes committed by political operatives Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, as the most galling of Trump's presidency so far. Relatives of the victims and surviving victims reacted with disgust.

"They are terrorists," Jasim Mohammed Al-Nasrawi, an Iraqi police officer who was injured in the attack, said of the four Blackwater guards.

"I am still not 100% recovered from my head wound, which [was] sustained in the gunfire by Blackwater guards in 2007, and have not been completely compensated for the attack. I will not waive my right to this case, I am not giving up."

RELATED Judge sentences 3 Blackwater guards to prison for 2007 Iraqi attack

Iraq's foreign ministry said Trump's pardons don't "take into account the seriousness of the crime[s] committed."

The father of a 9-year boy who was one of the two children killed in the attack said Trump "broke my life again."

"He broke the law. He broke everything. He broke the court. He broke the judge," he told the BBC.

"Before [this] I felt that no-one [was] above the law."

United Nations Human Rights Office spokeswoman Marta Hurtado said Trump's move "contributes to impunity and has the effect of emboldening others to commit such crimes in the future."

"The U.N. Human Rights Office calls on the U.S. to renew its commitment to fighting impunity for gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law, as well as to uphold its obligations to ensure accountability for such crimes."

"President Trump has pardoned a child murderer," said Paul Dickinson, an attorney who represented some of the victims.

"When the White House statement says the situation turned violent, the situation turned violent because of what those men did -- not because of anything that happened around them. While they may have served honorably, they committed heinous crimes that day."

Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska reacted with a stern one-sentence statement.

"This is rotten to the core," he said.

#BDS #BOYCOTTISRAEL
U.S. rule change labels goods from West Bank 

area as 'Made in Israel'


Palestinian protesters oppose the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump during an event in Rafah in southern Gaza on January 12, 2018. File Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The Trump administration has ordered that all goods produced in a key area of the occupied West Bank be labeled as "Made In Israel" for customs purposes, granting de facto recognition of Israeli sovereignty.

In an update to its rules published Wednesday in the Federal Register, U.S. Customs and Border Protection declared that items manufactured in "Area C" of the West Bank -- which makes up 60% of the occupied territories and encompasses the majority of Israeli settlements -- must be marked as ''Product of Israel" or ''Made in Israel."

Goods made in areas A and B will identify "West Bank" as the point of origin, while those manufactured in the Gaza Strip will be marked as "Gaza," the rules now state.

Under the Oslo Accords, Area C was placed under direct Israeli military rule, while areas A and B are controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

RELATED Israel pays $1.1B in back tax payments to Palestinian Authority

U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo first announced the changes while visiting Israel last month. The new policy alters U.S. practice since 1995, which has required products made in the West Bank and Gaza to be labeled as such.

"We will no longer accept 'West Bank/Gaza' or similar markings, in recognition that Gaza and the West Bank are politically and administratively separate and should be treated accordingly," the State Department said.

The European Union, meanwhile, continues a policy under which member states must label exports produced in Area C as having been made in the Israeli settlements.

RELATED Pompeo says Israel boycott a 'cancer,' visits West Bank settlements

A United Nations Security Council resolution in 2016 calls on all member nations to "distinguish, in their relevant dealings, between the territory of the State of Israel and the territories occupied since 1967."

The Palestinian Authority has urged the international community to boycott products made in the West Bank settlements, and on Thursday called the U.S. decision on labeling a "war crime.

U.S. plans to open consulate in Western Sahara, Pompeo says

The Moroccan government has mostly controlled the area, but a small portion has been managed by the partially recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a self-proclaimed sovereign state established by the Polisario Front in the 1970s.

U.S. Secretary Mike Pompeo announced Thursday that the United States plans to open a consulate in Western Sahara after President Donald Trump recognized Morocco's sovereignty over the region earlier this month. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 24 (UPI) -- The United States will open a consulate in Western Sahara, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Thursday.

"Pleased to announce the beginning of the process to establish a U.S. consulate in Western Sahara and the inauguration of a virtual presence post effective immediately!" Pompeo wrote on Twitter Thursday afternoon.

"We look forward to promoting economic and social development, and to engage the people of this region."

In a statement, Pompeo added that the virtual presence post in Sahara will be managed by the U.S. embassy in Rabat.

The virtual post will focus on "promoting economic and social development" in advance of the establishment of a fully functioning consulate.

Thursday's announcement came after President Donald Trump recognized Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara as part of a deal to normalize relations between Morocco and Israel.

The Moroccan government has mostly controlled the area, but a small portion has been managed by the partially recognized Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, a self-proclaimed sovereign state established by the Polisario Front in the 1970s.

Elderly hospitalizations spike after hurricanes, 

study shows


Based on a new study, researchers say civic leaders should plan for increased hospitalizations after hurricanes -- especially of seniors -- to better care for influxes of patients. File Photo by PO3 Paige Hause/U.S. Coast Guard/UPI | License Photo

Hospitals are swamped with older patients after hurricanes, a new study finds.

Researchers analyzed data on hospitalizations for adults 65 and older in the month following eight of the United States' largest hurricanes in recent years.

In this age group, post-hurricane increases in hospitalizations for any reason ranged from 10% after Hurricane Irene in 2011 to 23% after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

Adults 85 and older were significantly more likely to be hospitalized, as were poor older adults.

RELATED Louisiana struggles to recover after Laura, Delta hurricane landfalls

Even after the researchers deleted the first three days after hurricanes Irene and Sandy, which might have accounted for injury and trauma-related admissions, older adult hospitalizations remained significantly higher after hurricanes.

"We can surmise that the stronger the hurricane, the greater the impact will be on individuals and communities," said study lead author Sue Anne Bell, assistant professor of nursing at the University of Michigan.

"But even a small storm can cause great damage to a community that is not prepared," she said in a university news release.

Given that the United States has more than 100 disasters a year, steps to support the health of older adults is a key aspect of disaster preparedness, Bell said.

She also pointed out that older adults need to prepare for disasters by taking small, regular steps.

"Include in your grocery budget a few items each month to start building a supply of food and water," Bell suggested. "A gallon of water is less than a dollar, for example. Buying a can opener and a few canned goods can be a good start, and the next time you go to the grocery, think of another item or two to add to your stash."

RELATED Climate disasters rising at 'staggering' rate since 2000

Another suggestion is to let your family, friends and neighbors know your evacuation plans if an emergency occurs. "Now is a great time to plan a family Zoom meeting and talk about those plans," Bell suggested.

In a second study, her team found a decline in health care providers in counties affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Compared to 2004, those counties had 3.6 fewer primary care doctors, 5.9 fewer medical specialists and 2.1 fewer surgeons for every 10,000 residents by 2010.

The availability of nurse practitioners didn't change and helped to offset the decrease in physicians.

The findings show that communities' disaster plans should include guidelines to attract and retain health care providers, according to Bell.More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more on emergency preparedness and response.

Copyright 2020 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

upi.com/7063227

Female jockey makes history 

as British steeplechase longshot winner

Frost credited eight-year-old Frodon for her success.

Female jockey Bryony Frost made history and won a longshot victory 

on Frodon, who was given 20-to-1 odds before the steeplechase race.

British jockey Bryony Frost, pictured riding Silent Steps, won the King George VI Steeplechase race at Kempton on Saturday. File Photo by Peter Powell/EPA

Dec. 26 (UPI) -- Female jockey Bryony Frost made history and won a longshot victory in the British King George VI Chase at Kempton Saturday on Frodon, who was given 20-to-1 odds before the steeplechase race.

Frost credited eight-year-old Frodon for her success.

"The mechanics, his athleticism, how he deals with his obstacles. You struggle to keep up with him because he's 10 strides ahead of you the whole time. My brain is constantly trying to keep up with him," Frost, 25, told the Guardian.

Frodon quickly pulled ahead of stablemate Clan Des Obeaux, the favorite and prior twice-time winner of the King George, and Waiting Patiently ridden by jockey Brian Hughes, which came in third and second respectively.

Frost and Frodon easily won the contest clearing 18 jumps and winning by more than 2 1/4 lengths.

The Boxing Day race with a $150,000 prize to the winner, was held under pandemic conditions with few spectators in the 20,000 seats at Kempton. Trainer Paul Nicholls sat in the empty Royal Box watching as two other horses from his stables, Cyrname and Real Steel, dropped behind Frodon.

Nicholls said he was not expecting Frodon to win, "although he's a very good horse on his day and loves it round here," Nicholls said. "He's one of those horses you can never underestimate. He's tough and he's genuine. He likes a battle and he's beaten some good horses there fair and square."

Frost and Frodon first showed they were a winning team after victory in the 2019 Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham.

"I cannot stress how much this horse means to me -- he is my life," Frost said of Frodon Saturday. "You dream as a little girl to ride a horse like this," she added.

How Ugandan Nasa scientist Catherine Nakalembe uses satellites to boost farming

Sat, December 26, 2020,

Catherine Nakalembe

As a keen badminton player Ugandan Catherine Nakalembe wanted to study sport science at university but a failure to get the required grades for a government grant set her on a path that led her to Nasa and winning a prestigious food research prize, writes the BBC's Patience Atuhaire.

When Dr Nakalembe tried to explain to a Karamojong farmer in north-eastern Uganda how her work using images taken from satellites hundreds of kilometres above the Earth relates to his small plot, he laughed.

While she uses the high-resolution images in her pioneering work to help farmers and governments make better decisions, she still needs to get on the ground to sharpen up the data.


In other words, from space you cannot tell the difference between grass, maize and sorghum.

Dr Nakalembe talks to farmers about how they can use an app to send in information about their crops

"Through a translator, I told the farmer that when I look at the data, I just see green.

"I had printed a picture, which I showed him. He was then able to understand that… you need to see the farm physically to make those distinctions," the academic tells the BBC.

She is a softly spoken woman with a radiant demeanour, and it is hard to picture her trekking for hours in the heat of semi-arid Karamoja, looking to tease out the granular distinctions that can only be spotted on the ground.

This is especially important in farming areas dominated by small holders who may be planting different crops at different times, leading to a huge number of variables. That complexity makes it almost impossible for most authorities to monitor.

Dr Nakalembe's work has helped people in the semi-arid Karamajong area

Dr Nakalembe, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland'sgeographical sciences department in the US, uses the satellite data to study agriculture and weather patterns.

 
That information is combined with data gathered on the ground about the crops and their condition to build a model that learns to recognise patterns to help make predictions.

It was this that won her the 2020 Africa Food Prize alongside Burkina Faso's Dr André Bationo for his work on fertiliser.

The scientist, who also heads the Africa section of Nasa's food and agriculture programme, explains: "From the air, you can see which area is built-up, bare, has vegetation or water.

"We are also able to tell what is cropland or what is forest. Because we have a 30-year record of what cropland looks like, we can tell what is healthy, what isn't or which part has improved."
'A lifeline for rural families'

Using information gathered on the ground by researchers or sent in by farmers themselves, she can then distinguish between crop types and create a map that shows whether the farms are thriving compared to the same crop elsewhere in that region.

The model has been used in places like the US where mechanised farming takes place on an industrial scale. The information can help inform decisions about when to irrigate or how much fertiliser should be used.

But even a farmer in Uganda, or elsewhere on the continent, using just a hoe and working for long hours on their small plot will find this information valuable.

"Remote sensing makes it possible to monitor large swathes of land using freely available data.

"You can give a forecast; if you combine satellite estimates of rainfall and temperature, you can tell that it is going to rain in the next 10 days and farmers should prepare their fields. Or if there is no rain, they don't have to waste their seeds and can wait a few weeks," Dr Nakalembe says.

Dr Nakalembe works with local officials to help improve farming policies

In much of the continent, where farms are often small fragmented plots far from sources of information, this data can be translated into local-language text messages, radio programmes or passed on through agricultural extension workers.

It is also evidence that governments can use to plan for disaster response in case of crop failure or flash floods, and save communities from famine.

Early research by Dr Nakalembe enabled 84,000 people in Karamoja avoid the worst effects of a highly variable climate and a lack of rainfall.

"She worked with us in 2016, to develop tools that predict the incidence of drought," says Stella Sengendo, who works on disaster risk in the prime minister's office.

"We use these to estimate the number of households that are likely to be affected by severe dry spells. We then developed a programme that extends funds to families, through the local government.

"Locals do public works and earn money during the dry season. They save 30% and use 70% for daily consumption," Ms Sengendo explains.

The 5,500 Uganda shilling ($1.50, £1.12) a day is a lifeline for families in a region that has only one harvest season a year. And about 60% of these workers are women, who, studies have shown, suffer the worst effects of climate change.

Accidental environmental scientist

Brought up in the capital, Kampala, by a mother who runs a restaurant and a father who is a mechanic, Dr Nakalembe never pictured herself working with satellites.

She played badminton with her sisters and wanted to pursue sports science as a degree, but without the required grades to get a government grant, she turned to environmental science at Makerere University.

Having never left Kampala except for the occasional family event, she applied to work with the Uganda Wildlife Authority to earn credits for her course.

"Mapping appealed to me. I went to Mount Elgon in the east. I still have pictures from my very first field work because it was really exciting," she says, beaming.

"I have always had the same personal statement: to gain knowledge and apply it back home"", Source: Dr Catherine Nakalembe, Source description: Winner, Africa Food Prize 2020, Image: Catherine Nakalembe

The Nasa scientist, who now travels throughout Africa training government departments on how to develop food security programmes, went on to Johns Hopkins University for a masters in geography and environmental engineering.

She says: "I have always had the same personal statement: to gain knowledge and apply it back home.

"The PhD program at the University of Maryland allowed me to get into remote sensing, but most importantly, come and work in Uganda and around the continent."

The trailblazing researcher also mentors young black women to encourage them to get into environmental sciences.

"In the diaspora, I go to meetings and I am the only one who looks like this. It feels lonely when it is a new country or space.

"In East Africa, I meet a lot of people with whom we can share experiences and our struggles. I would like to see more black women in this group," says Dr Nakalembe, sounding determined.

Winning the prize came as a shock to Dr Nakalembe

The news that she had won the 2020 Africa Food Prize this September came to her in a patchy phone call. She did not know that she had been nominated, and wondered why her colleagues insisted she kept her phone close.

When the call finally came, she was asked to hold for former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, who barely got through the congratulations before the line was disconnected.

"It was like going to the hospital for a headache and then being told you're having a baby.

"When I called my family, my sister thought I was being scammed. My mother said the same thing she always says whenever I achieve something: 'Webale kusoma' ('thank you for studying hard' in Luganda)," she says.

The euphoria from the win has clearly yet to wear off, judging by the big grin with which she talks about the prize.

"Imagine, I now have a Wikipedia page.

"When I introduce myself lately, I have to remember to say: 'I am also the 2020 Africa Food Prize Laureate'. And I've got my giant trophy which weighs about 5kg. So, I know I am not dreaming," she quips.

Virus besets Belarus prisons filled with president's critics

Kastus Lisetsky pose for a photo in a street in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. Lisetsky, a 35-year-old musician, who was sentenced to 15 days in prison for attending a protest, was hospitalized with a high fever after eight days in custody and diagnosed with double-sided virus-induced pneumonia. A wave of COVID-19 has spread through Belarusian jails packed with people imprisoned for taking part in four months of protests against the nation’s authoritarian president. Activists, who tested positive after being released, describe massively overcrowded cells and the lack of basic amenities, and some even allege that the authorities have deliberately spread contagion among political prisoners. (AP Photo)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A wave of COVID-19 has engulfed prisons in Belarus that are packed with people in custody for demonstrating against the nation’s authoritarian president, and some of the protesters who contracted the coronavirus while incarcerated accuse authorities of neglecting or even encouraging infections.

© Provided by Associated Press In this handout photo, Belarusian riot police officers stand next to detained after an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results demonstrators inside a police station in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. More than 30,000 people have been detained for taking part in protests against the re-election of Belarus' authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in the Aug. 9 presidential vote that was widely seen as rigged with fraud. The protests, some of which attracted up to 200,000 people, now have entered their fifth month. (Handout photo via AP)

Activists who spoke to The Associated Press after their release described massively overcrowded cells without proper ventilation or basic amenities and a lack of medical treatment.

Kastus Lisetsky, 35, a musician who received a 15-day sentence for attending a protest, said he was hospitalized with a high fever after eight days at a prison in eastern Belarus and diagnosed with double-sided pneumonia induced by COVID-19.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this Monday, Aug. 10, 2020 file photo, police officers kick a demonstrator during a mass protest following presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. A wave of COVID-19 has spread through Belarusian jails packed with people imprisoned for taking part in four months of protests against the nation’s authoritarian president. Activists, who tested positive after being released, describe massively overcrowded cells and the lack of basic amenities, and some even allege that the authorities have deliberately spread contagion among political prisoners. (AP Photo, File)

“Humid walls covered by parasites, the shocking lack of sanitary measures, shivering cold and a rusting bed —-that was what I got in prison in Mogilev instead of medical assistance,” Lisetsky told the AP in a telephone interview. “I had a fever and lost consciousness, and the guards had to call an ambulance.”

Lisetsky said that before he entered prison, he and three bandmates were held in a Minsk jail and had to sleep on the floor of a cell intended for only two people. All four have contracted the virus. Lisetsky must return to prison to serve the remaining seven days of his sentence after he’s discharged from the hospital.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020 file photo, police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. A wave of COVID-19 has spread through Belarusian jails packed with people imprisoned for taking part in four months of protests against the nation’s authoritarian president. Activists, who tested positive after being released, describe massively overcrowded cells and the lack of basic amenities, and some even allege that the authorities have deliberately spread contagion among political prisoners. (AP Photo/Misha Friedman, File)

He accused the government of allowing the virus to run wild among those jailed for political reasons.

“The guards say openly that they do it deliberately on orders,” Lisetsky said.

More than 30,000 people have been detained for taking part in protests against the August reelection of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in a vote that opposition activists and some election workers say was rigged to give Lukashenko a sixth term.

Police have repeatedly broken up peaceful protests with clubs and stun grenades. The alleged vote-rigging and the brutal crackdown on demonstrations have prompted the United States and the European Union to introduce sanctions against Belarusian officials.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2020 file image made from video provided by the State TV and Radio Company of Belarus, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko greets riot police officers near the Palace of Independence in Minsk, Belarus. A wave of COVID-19 has spread through Belarusian jails packed with people imprisoned for taking part in four months of protests against the nation’s authoritarian president. Activists, who tested positive after being released, describe massively overcrowded cells and the lack of basic amenities, and some even allege that the authorities have deliberately spread contagion among political prisoners. (State TV and Radio Company of Belarus via AP, File)

Opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who placed second in the presidential election and was forced to leave the country after she challenged the official results giving Lukashenko 80% of the vote, urged foreign leaders and international organizations to intervene to help stem the coronavirus outbreak in Belarus' prisons.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE In this file pool photo taken on Friday, Nov. 27, 2020, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, center, listens to medic official as he visits the hospital for coronavirus patients in Minsk, Belarus. A wave of COVID-19 has spread through Belarusian jails packed with people imprisoned for taking part in four months of protests against the nation’s authoritarian president. Activists, who tested positive after being released, describe massively overcrowded cells and the lack of basic amenities, and some even allege that the authorities have deliberately spread contagion among political prisoners. (Andrei Stasevich/BelTA Pool Photo via AP, File)

“In the center of Europe, inmates are being deliberately infected with coronavirus,” Tsikhanouskaya told The Associated Press. “They move the infected people from one cell to another, and the cells are overcrowded and lack ventilation. It’s an atrocity, it can only be assessed as abuse and torture.”

Authorities haven’t released the number of prisoners with COVID-19, but rights activists say that thousands of protesters tested positive after they were detained.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE In this file photo taken on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya holds a picture of Belarusian opposition activist Nina Baginskaya as she gives a speech during the Sakharov Prize ceremony at the European Parliament in Brussels. A wave of COVID-19 has spread through Belarusian jails packed with people imprisoned for taking part in four months of protests against the nation’s authoritarian president. Activists, who tested positive after being released, describe massively overcrowded cells and the lack of basic amenities, and some even allege that the authorities have deliberately spread contagion among political prisoners. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco, File)

“The horrible condition of Belarus’ penitentiary system has contributed to an outbreak of COVID-19 in prisons, but the authorities haven’t even tried to improve the situation and have put thousands of activists on that conveyer,” Valiantsin Stefanovic, vice chairman of the Viasna rights center, said

© Provided by Associated Press ON HOLD TO GO WITH VIRUS OUTBREAK BELARUS PRISONS In this handout photo, Artsiom Liava poses for a selfie at his flat in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020.A wave of COVID-19 has spread through Belarusian jails packed with people imprisoned for taking part in four months of protests against the nation’s authoritarian president. Activists, who tested positive after being released, describe massively overcrowded cells and the lack of basic amenities, and some even allege that the authorities have deliberately spread contagion among political prisoners. (Artyom Lyava via AP)

Artsiom Liava, a 44-year-old journalist, said he got infected last month while awaiting a court hearing in a jail cell intended to accommodate 10 but housing about 100 inmates. Liava was detained while he was covering a protest in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, for the independent Belsat TV channel.

“First, fellow inmates and then me stopped feeling the prison stench,” he told The Associated Press. “All of us had a fever, strong cough and were feeling feeble, but they weren’t giving us even hot water.”

Liava said that after receiving a 15-day sentence, he was moved to different jails and prisons in Minsk and nearby towns as authorities struggled to house inmates in overcrowded detention facilities. He said he witnessed similar conditions in all of them — cellmates coughing or experiencing difficulty breathing, and prison wardens treating them with emphatic neglect.

© Provided by Associated Press In this handout photo, Ihar Hotsin smiles as he poses for a selfie in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Dec. 18, 2020. A wave of COVID-19 has spread through Belarusian jails packed with people imprisoned for taking part in four months of protests against the nation’s authoritarian president. Activists, who tested positive after being released, describe massively overcrowded cells and the lack of basic amenities, and some even allege that the authorities have deliberately spread contagion among political prisoners. (Ihar Hotsin via AP)

“It was like a mockery, doctors weren’t responding to pleas and complaints,” Liava said. “It was forbidden to lie down during daytime and mattresses were folded up. We all felt exhausted, but we were forced to stay seated on iron beds in the basement without any access to fresh air.”

The journalist said he didn't get a single dose of medicine during his stint behind bars. The day after he left prison, Liava said, he tested positive for COVID-19, and a CT scan showed that his lungs were badly affected.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE In this file photo taken on Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020, A man wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus holds an old Belarusian national flag during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. A wave of COVID-19 has spread through Belarusian jails packed with people imprisoned for taking part in four months of protests against the nation’s authoritarian president. Activists, who tested positive after being released, describe massively overcrowded cells and the lack of basic amenities, and some even allege that the authorities have deliberately spread contagion among political prisoners. (AP Photo, File)

“Prison doctors should be prosecuted for negligence. They put our lives in danger by refusing us (basic) medical treatment,” said Liava, who had a strong cough and was breathing with difficulty while speaking to the AP.

Belarus has reported more than 180,000 confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, but many in the ex-Soviet republic of 9.4 million people suspect authorities of manipulating statistics to hide the true scope of the country's outbreaks.

© Provided by Associated Press In this handout photo, Belarusian riot police officer stands next to detained after an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results demonstrators inside a police station in Minsk, Belarus, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020. A wave of COVID-19 has spread through Belarusian jails packed with people imprisoned for taking part in four months of protests against the nation’s authoritarian president. Activists, who tested positive after being released, describe massively overcrowded cells and the lack of basic amenities, and some even allege that the authorities have deliberately spread contagion among political prisoners. (Handout photo via AP)

Lukashenko cavalierly dismissed the coronavirus early during the pandemic, shrugging off the fear and national lockdowns the new bug had caused as “psychosis” and advising citizens to avoid catching it by driving tractors in the field, drinking vodka and visiting saunas. His attitude has angered many Belarusians, adding to the public dismay over his authoritarian style and helping fuel the post-election protests.

Ihar Hotsin, a doctor working at a top oncology hospital in Minsk, was detained when he joined a rally of medical workers opposing the crackdown on demonstrations. He said he and four of his colleagues who were arrested all contracted the virus in custody.

Hotsin, 30, believes he got infected at the prison in the city of Baranovichi where he was held in a 12-square-meter (129-square-foot) cell together with about 80 other inmates.

“Five doctors from our hospital were detained, and all five tested positive for COVID-19 after being released, a 100% rate,” Hotsin said. “We must cry out loud about an outbreak of COVID-19 in jails overcrowded with political prisoners.”

America the overprivileged
Rick Newman
·Senior Columnist
Sat, December 26, 2020

Bikers ride down Main Street during the 80th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, in Sturgis, S.D. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

Did you whine in 2020? Were masks too much for you? Did the coronavirus pandemic cause intolerable inconvenience? Congratulations, American Snowflake—you can’t handle even modest adversity.

If you lost a partner, friend or family member to Covid-19 in 2020, you had a truly awful year. More than 300,000 Americans died of Covid in 2020, and when you multiply that by the 20 or 50 or 100 people close to each one of those souls, it’s a ghastly toll. Millions of others suffered economic hardship from lost jobs or reduced income or a family business that gave out as everybody’s work and spending habits changed. The economic pain is real, too.

But selfish rubes defined 2020 more than anybody else. President Trump led this march of folly by repeatedly denying the severity of the coronavirus, then contracting it himself. Trump went to the hospital and got specialized treatment unavailable to most Americans, then returned to the White House with the pomp of a war veteran returning from a battlefield victory. But Trump’s injury was self-inflicted and what he was really celebrating was medicine saving him from himself. Other Covid victims weren’t that lucky.

President Donald Trump, center, stands with Judge Amy Coney Barrett as they arrive for a news conference to announce Barrett as his nominee to the Supreme Court, in the Rose Garden at the White House, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Some spreaders, like Chris Christie, didn’t think Covid was serious when other people got it, then changed their mind when they got it themselves. After seven days in the hospital, Christie played the convert, saying he was “wrong” not to wear a mask, and urging others to up their prevention game. Better taught, than stupid forever.

Covid hypocrisy was bipartisan in 2020. California Gov. Gavin Newsom broke his own lockdown rules to attend a ritzy birthday dinner with a dozen other maskless people. Denver Mayor Michael Hancock told citizens to avoid unnecessary travel over the Thanksgiving holiday, then got on a plane to visit family in Mississippi. The recurring theme: Rules are for other people.

Many Americans felt their freedom threatened in 2020, by a demonic new torture device known as a mask. “Masks are oppressive,” said Marjorie Greene, who won a Congressional seat in Georgia in November. She vows to break the mask requirement on Capitol Hill when she arrives in January, and she encourages other members of Congress to do the same, so she’ll have some company in the Covid ward. On social media, she promotes the hashtag #freeyourface, so the virus can attack your lungs more easily. If she were a soldier, she’d go to battle without a helmet or body armor, wearing comfy flip-flops instead of ponderous combat boots. Rules are for others.

A biker rides down Main Street during the 80th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on Saturday, Aug. 15, 2020, in Sturgis, S.D. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

In Michigan, armed protesters organized by a group called “Michigan United for Liberty” massed at the state capitol to protest shutdown orders meant to prevent more people from dying. They could have volunteered at a hospital or nursing home instead, but they would have had to put down their guns. Some of the protesters ended up being terrorist wannabes planning to kidnap the Michigan governor, seize the state house and conduct televised executions. They’re in jail now, dreaming of other ways to defend their liberty.

An August motorcycle rally in Sturgis, S.D., drew 460,000 people and generated at least 400 coronavirus infections in 20 states, including at least one death. But you could buy a shirt at the rally that said ““Screw Covid I Went to Sturgis,” so it was worth it. That’s freedom!

Former presidential candidate Herman Cain went to two crowded Trump rallies without a mask, and even tweeted that “people are fed up” with wearing masks before attending one event on July 4. Less than a month later, Cain died of Covid, which he may have contracted while exercising his maskless freedom at one of those Trump rallies.


America asks very little of its citizens these days. There hasn’t been a military draft in 47 years and there’s no requirement or even nudge for young people to consider any kind of national service. We have laughably low tax rates because Uncle Sam can borrow limitless amounts of money, allowing us to spend way more than we can finance on our own. If living beyond your means is a privilege, no society has ever been more overprivileged than the United States in 2020.

In response, modern Americans ask not what they can do for their country, but what their country can do for them. We demand that health care workers take care of us when we fail to take care of ourselves. We ask others to bear risks so we can reap the reward. We value vanity over courage and we raise the “freedom” flag to justify laziness and self-interest. The coronavirus exposed our weaknesses in 2020, but it didn’t cause them. We did.