Africa Report N°202
6 May 2013

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Humanitarian standards make a difference in Zimbabwe

A review of work done over the last three years by humanitarian agencies in Zimbabwe has shown significant progress both in raising awareness of as well as in implementing Sphere standards and other accountability tools.

ByMorten Bøås with James J. Hentz

Africa’s security is currently standing at a crossroads. Relatively high African growth rates in combination with the increased institutional strength, credibility and legitimacy of the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have led to greater confidence in Africa’s ability to deal with its security challenges. However, the continent is also confronted with significant security challenges that could have severe ramifications across several countries and regions.

This issue of ACLED Conflict Trends marks a year since ACLED began publishing monthly updates summarising and analysing real-time data on conflict in the African continent. Past issues of Conflict Trends are available online at acleddata.com where analysis has included regional conflict trends, the highest violence states at present and in historical perspective, and states displaying unique or paradigmatic violence profiles.

Mediel Hove, Emmaculate Tsitsi Ngwerume† and Cyprian Muchemwa††

Urban centres have existed and have been evolving for many centuries across the world. However, the accelerated growth of urbanisation is a relatively recent phenomenon. The enormous size of urban populations and more significantly, the rapidity with which urban areas have been and are growing in many developing countries have severe social, economic and physical repercussions. This paper argues that the accelerated growth of urbanisation has amplified the demand for key services.

By Martha Mutisi

The food price crisis of 2007–2008 and recent resurgence of food prices have focused increasing attention on the causes and consequences of food price volatility in international food markets and the developing world, particularly in Africa south of the Sahara. In this paper, we examine the patterns and trends in food price volatility using an unusually rich database of African staple food prices. We find that international grain prices have become more volatile in recent years (2007–2010) but no evidence that food price volatility has increased in the region.

Executive summary

This summary note is an excerpt from the chapter on Zimbabwe that will appear in the peer-reviewed IFPRI monograph, Southern African Agriculture and Climate Change: A Comprehensive Analysis.

The research, produced in collaboration with scientists from the countries studied, is based on scenarios from economic global climate change models, and takes into account estimates of each country’s economic and population growth. Each study includes a set of policy recommendations.