e-Waste Challenges? Solutions? See Video from Ghana:

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/poisoning-the-poor-electroni

The ever-growing demand for the latest fashionable mobile phone, flat screen TV or super-fast computer creates ever larger amounts of obsolete electronics that are often laden with toxic chemicals like lead, mercury and brominated flame retardants. Rather than being safely recycled, much of this e-waste gets dumped in developing countries.

E-Waste Hell

How are the west's 'recycled' TVs and computers ending up in a toxic dump in Ghana? Dateline investigates the trade in e-waste which is poisoning a once picturesque part of Africa. For more on Giovana Vitola's story, go to the SBS Dateline website... http://bit.ly/oxkPWT

Ghana to launch two vaccines at once

On 26 April 2012, Ghana plans to launch two new vaccines at once. One will protect children against pneumonia and the other against severe infant diarrhoea -- the two biggest killers of Ghanaian children.

Building capacity for competitive agricultural systems and enterprises in West Africa

This film (45 minutes) presents four examples of Agri-Business Clusters in Ghana and Togo. They illustrate the experience of entrepeneurial individuals in building small to medium scale businesses through new relationships with colleagues and so-called Agri-Business Cluster and Value Chain partners.


United through markets - Africa by moovon

The businesses, either producer cooperatives or agriculturally-linked enterprises, were supported by a project entitled ‘From thousands to millions: accelerating sustainable economic growth in West Africa’ (The 1000s+ project), coordinated by the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC). The project utilised a grassroots approach known as "Competitive Agricultural Systems and Enterprises” (CASE) and focused on agribusiness clusters consisting of the farmers, entrepreneurs, technical, financial and business development services that are involved in a particular commodity within a well-defined target region. To date, the CASE approach has been piloted in several West African countries, to the benefit of some 60,000 farmers, including many women.

Kentaro Toyama's keynote at the 'ICT for a greener economy' conference

St. Basilide Vocational School Kaleo

The St Basilide Vocational School in Kaleo, Upper West Ghana is using ICT since 2011.
They have received 20 computers from GIFEC, but no full time ICT teacher. A JICA
volunteer (from Japan) who barely speaks English teaches the students in basic ICT,
but she does not have time to teach the teachers as well. Peps-C will support the school
to integrate ICT in their classrooms both in the main subjects (Carpentry & Joinery,
Plumbing&Welding, Electrical Installation and Building& Construction, but also in
general subject under the Ghana Education Service. The school has 454 students,
with only 24 girls. The computer is used also in administration, but not networked
and without internet access. In the next yearteachers and administrators should be
able to improve their skills into teaching&learning and school administration.

St Claire vocational school - Tumu Ghana

St Claire Vocational school is one of four vocational schools in the Upper West region of Ghana that will be supported by Peps-c (with support from IICD and Edukans) to build the capacity of teachers and school administrators to integrate ICT in the classroom.

The principal also mentioned how this could be integrated in the administration. The accountant shows that she already is doing the finances on her own laptop, but she still writes it manually in the books, because the auditors require this.