In part this book is a reconstruction of an African agricultural system over one hundred years; in part it is an examination of the construction of knowledge about a rural African people. The first half of the book focuses on the "chitemene" agricultural system of the Bemba known as "slash and burn". The authors show that "chitemene" involves a great deal more than the cutting and burning of trees. The second half addresses the question of labour migration and its effects on the agricultural production of the area, re-visiting the colonial debate with new evidence.
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The independent review on The Economics of Biodiversity led by Professor Sir Partha Dasgupta has now been delivered to the government. The report underlines our failure to grasp that our economies are “embedded within Nature, and not external to it.” We rely on nature to “provide us with food, water and shelter; regulate our climate and disease; maintain nutrient cycles and oxygen production; and provide us with spiritual fulfilment and opportunities for recreation and recuperation which can enhance our health and well-being.”
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On 4 August 2020, a massive explosion at Beirut’s port killed at least 200 people and caused up to $15bn in damage to buildings and infrastructure – including the destruction of the public electricity company building. It was the latest blow for a country battling a 30-year energy crisis and facing chronic shortages as a result of an ageing infrastructure based around fossil fuels.
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In 1945, the UK’s welfare state was set up to address the want, need and misery caused by unemployment. Seventy-five years later, prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, we had almost full employment in the UK – and yet we still have massive levels of poverty and precarity experienced by people in work.
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