World leaders gather for their annual meetings at the United Nations starting Sunday, and the wars in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine will be center stage. VOA U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer reports.
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Blantyre, Malawi — Banana farmers in Malawi are beginning to recover from over a decade of economic hardship after the banana bunchy top virus, or BBTV, wiped out local banana varieties. 

Africa’s Banana Bunchy Top Disease Alliance said up to 16 countries on the continent have been hit by BBTV, which renders plants unproductive and eventually kills them. The disease leads to yield losses of 70% to 90% in the first season, with subsequent seasons seeing no bananas at all. 

Agriculture experts in Malawi say the virus destroyed the livelihoods of nearly 200,000 farmers in 2016, who were entirely dependent on banana farming.  

Samson Mulenga, one of the affected farmers in Mulanje district in southern Malawi, told VOA the disease wiped out his entire banana production and left him destitute. The retired agriculture extension coordinator said a switch to other crops like cow peas, vegetables and cassava did not earn him as much as he had earned from banana farming.  

But now, he said, the situation is slowly returning to normal because of collaborative programs between the U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization and the Malawi government aimed at revamping the banana industry.  

Godfrey Kayira, horticulture specialist for the Ministry of Agriculture in Mulanje district, said that under the Special Agricultural Product and Kulima programs, farmers were advised to get rid of all infected bananas and instead plant a BBTV-free variety. 

“These are the new varieties, but they are also susceptible to disease and can get the disease,” he said. “So, the only way is to manage the disease. That’s why we did some training [for] farmers so that they can manage. But if the varieties are left unmanaged, they can also get affected by the disease and also die.” 

Kayira said farmers were told to plant the new varieties 100 meters away from any banana plantation or orchard, and to immediately uproot and burn any plant showing signs of the disease, which include severe stunting and stumpy shoots.  

However, smallholder farmers say their road to recovery is hindered by an influx of imported bananas from Tanzania and Mozambique.

Those bananas are cheap, but are lower quality, Kayira explained. 

“Mulanje [district] is getting a lot of bananas from Mozambique,” he said. “The challenge is that the bananas from Mulanje, the quality is good compared to those from Mozambique. As a result, the price of the bananas that we have here are much higher than those from Mozambique.”  

Kayira said the situation will normalize once the country’s banana production returns to its former glory.   

Meanwhile, Malawi is also receiving support from the Chinese government, which is carrying out a “School Banana Orchard Establishment” initiative aimed at growing bananas at primary and secondary schools across the country.

In March of this year, the initiative planted more than 100 banana plants at the Chaminade Marianist secondary school in the capital Lilongwe.
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KAMITUGA, Congo — Slumped on the ground over a mound of dirt, Divine Wisoba pulled weeds from her daughter’s grave. The 1-month-old died from mpox in eastern Congo in August, but Wisoba, 21, was too traumatized to attend the funeral.

In her first visit to the cemetery, she wept into her shirt for the child she lost and worried about the rest of her family. “When she was born, it was as if God had answered our prayers — we wanted a girl,” Wisoba said of little Maombi Katengey. “But our biggest joy was transformed into devastation.”

Her daughter is one of more than 6,000 people officials suspect have contracted the disease in South Kivu province, the epicenter of the world’s latest mpox outbreak, in what the World Health Organization has labeled a global health emergency. A new strain of the virus is spreading, largely through skin-to-skin contact, including but not limited to sex. A lack of funds, vaccines and information is making it difficult to stem the spread, according to alarmed disease experts.

Mpox — which causes mostly mild symptoms like fever and body aches, but can trigger serious cases with prominent blisters on the face, hands, chest and genitals — had been spreading mostly undetected for years in Africa, until a 2022 outbreak reached more than 70 countries. Globally, gay and bisexual men made up the vast majority of cases in that outbreak. But officials note mpox has long disproportionately affected children in Africa, and they say cases are now rising sharply among kids, pregnant women and other vulnerable groups, with many types of close contact responsible for the spread.

Health officials have zeroed in on Kamituga, a remote yet bustling gold-mining town of some 300,000 people that attracts miners, sex workers and traders who are constantly on the move. Cases from other parts of eastern Congo can be traced back here, officials say, with the first originating in the nightclub scene.

Since this outbreak began, one year ago, nearly 1,000 people in Kamituga have been infected. Eight have died, half of them children.

Challenges on the ground

Last month, the World Health Organization said mpox outbreaks might be stopped in the next six months, with governments’ leadership and cooperation.

But in Kamituga, people say they face a starkly different reality.

There’s a daily average of five new cases at the general hospital, which is regularly near capacity. Overall in South Kivu, weekly new suspected cases have skyrocketed from about 12 in January to 600 in August, according to province health officials.

Even that’s likely an underestimate, they say, because of a lack of access to rural areas, the inability of many residents to seek care, and Kamituga’s transient nature.

Locals say they simply don’t have enough information about mpox.

Before her daughter got sick, Wisoba said, she was infected herself but didn’t know it.

Painful lesions emerged around her genitals, making walking difficult. She thought she had a common sexually transmitted infection and sought medicine at a pharmacy. Days later, she went to the hospital with her newborn and was diagnosed with mpox. She recovered, but her daughter developed lesions on her foot.

Nearly a week later, Maombi died at the same hospital that treated her mother.

Wisoba said she didn’t know about mpox until she got it. She wants the government to invest more in teaching people protective measures.

Local officials can’t reach areas more than a few miles outside Kamituga to track suspected cases or inform residents. They broadcast radio messages but say that doesn’t reach far enough.

Kasindi Mwenyelwata goes door to door describing how to detect mpox — looking for fevers, aches or lesions. But the 42-year-old community leader said a lack of money means he doesn’t have the right materials, such as posters showing images of patients, which he finds more powerful than words.

ALIMA, one of the few aid groups working on mpox in Kamituga, lacks funds to set up programs or clinics that would reach some 150,000 people, with its budget set to run out at year’s end, according to program coordinator Dr. Dally Muamba.

If support keeps waning and mpox spreads, he said, “there will be an impact on the economy, people will stop coming to the area as the epidemic takes its toll. … And as the disease grows, will resources follow?”

Vaccine vacuum

Health experts agree: What’s needed most are vaccines — even if they go only to adults, under emergency approval in Congo.

None has arrived in Kamituga, though it’s a priority city in South Kivu, officials said. It’s unclear when or how they will. The main road into town is unpaved — barely passable by car during the ongoing rainy season.

Once they make it here, it’s unclear whether supply will meet demand for those who are at greatest risk and first in line: health staff, sex workers, miners and motorcycle taxi drivers.

Congo’s government has budgeted more than $190 million for its initial mpox response, which includes the purchase of 3 million vaccine doses, according to a draft national mpox plan, widely circulating among health experts and aid groups this month and seen by The Associated Press. But so far, just 250,000 doses have arrived in Congo and the government’s given only $10 million, according to the finance ministry.

Most people with mild cases recover in less than two weeks. But lesions can get infected, and children or immunocompromised people are more prone to severe cases.

Doctors can ensure lesions are clean and give pain medication or antibiotics for secondary infections such as sepsis.

But those who recover can get the virus again.

Lack of understanding

Experts say a lack of resources and knowledge about the new strain makes it difficult to advise people on protecting themselves. An internal report circulated among aid groups and agencies and seen by AP labeled confidence in the available information about mpox in eastern Congo and neighboring countries low.

While the variant is known to be more easily transmissible through sex, it’s unclear how long the virus remains in the system. Doctors tell recovered patients to abstain from sex for three months, but acknowledge the number is largely arbitrary.

“Studies haven’t clarified if you’re still contagious or not … if you can or can’t have sex with your wife,” said Dr. Steven Bilembo, of Kamituga’s general hospital.

Doctors say they’re seeing cases they simply don’t understand, such as pregnant women losing babies. Of 32 pregnant women infected since January, nearly half lost the baby through miscarriage or stillbirth, hospital statistics show.

Alice Neema was among them. From the hospital’s isolation ward, she told AP she’d noticed lesions around her genitals and a fever — but didn’t have enough money to travel the 30 miles (50 kilometers) on motorbike for help in time. She miscarried after her diagnosis.

As information trickles in, locals say fear spreads alongside the new strain.

Diego Nyago said he’d brought his 2-year-old son, Emile, in for circumcision when he developed a fever and lesions.

It was mpox — and today, Nyago is grateful health care workers noticed his symptoms.

“I didn’t believe that children could catch this disease,” he said as doctors gently poured water over the boy to bring his temperature down. “Some children die quickly, because their families aren’t informed.

“Those who die are the ones who stay at home.”
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Niamey, Niger — A series of ambushes and explosions across military-run Niger killed at least 12 soldiers and wounded 30 others recently, the army announced on state-run television Wednesday.  

In the first attack, in western Tillaberi region on Sunday, “a horde of criminals who arrived in their hundreds” killed five soldiers and wounded 25 more, according to the army.  

The ground and air response killed “more than 100” attackers, the army said, without giving further details about them. 

On Monday, in the restive southwest Diffa region where there are frequent attacks by Boko Haram and the West African branch of the Islamic State group, five patrolling soldiers were killed by an improvised explosive device. 

A “surgical strike” in retaliation “killed several terrorists” responsible, the army said. 

In the latest attack, militants from a new resistance group called the Patriotic Movement for Freedom and Justice (MPLJ) claimed an operation against a military outpost in the Agadez region in the north.  

The army said two soldiers were killed and six wounded in Tuesday’s attack. 

“A pursuit operation was immediately launched to track down the fleeing assailants, who were heading for the Libyan border,” the army added.  

The MPLJ claimed to have killed 14 soldiers and two gendarmes in the attack, and to have lost two of its own fighters. 

Created in August, the MPLJ is an offshoot of the Patriotic Liberation Front (FPL) armed group, which is fighting the junta for the release of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum.  

Democratically elected Bazoum was overthrown in a coup in July 2023 and has since then been held at the presidential palace. 

While the military justified its power grab by citing the deteriorating security situation, violence persists.  

According to the independent Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project, about 1,500 civilians and soldiers in Niger have been killed in militant attacks over the past year, compared with 650 between July 2022 and 2023 when Bazoum was in charge.
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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — One of the hurdles to improving health care systems for African countries is the shortage of scientists and lack of meaningful medical research on the continent, experts say.

An organization hopes to change that by enabling researchers and policymakers in three large African countries to develop more extensive and relevant research.

According to a 2017 report by the World Economic Forum, Africa is home to 15% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s disease burden — but produces just 2% of the world’s medical research.

The report said of the medical research that does occur, much of it fails to prioritize diseases or health problems most pressing for Africans.

A group of African health researchers and institutions are now pushing for the continent’s medical research to be more focused on the continent’s own medical problems.

The African Population and Health Research Center is bringing together scientists, academics, policymakers and government officials from Ethiopia, Kenya and Nigeria.

Their goal is to strengthen African leadership in research and development, ensuring that the findings from these researchers are relevant and accessible to decision-makers, leading to better health care systems across the continent.

Catherine Kyobutungi, head of the organization, said African-led research can help solve health problems on the continent much more easily and quickly.

“If we want the research to be done by Africans in Africa on African issues, that is [how] the priorities for what research should be done are defined, not just by academics, but by the people who are going to use that research for decision-making,” she said.

“What we are trying to achieve is to shift what research is and what it is for and to create an army of African scientists that do research to solve African problems in real time, not after 50 years,” Kyobutungi said.

Dr. Hadiza Galadanci, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Bayero University in Nigeria, said her country accounts for about 28% of maternal deaths worldwide each year.

She and researchers from four African countries, Birmingham University in the United Kingdom and the World Health Organization published research on the best way to save women who were dying from postpartum hemorrhage, or excessive bleeding after childbirth. Their innovation — a calibrated obstetric drape, which is placed beneath a birthing mother — allows physicians to collect and precisely measure blood and fluid loss.

“The drape is just put under … the woman when she’s going to deliver. And then, as soon as she delivers, any blood that comes out goes to the drape. So, we have an objective assessment,” Galadanci explained, saying that the process allows for more specific treatment.

“When we did this, we found out that we could reduce the rate of severe [postpartum hemorrhage] leading to maternal death by 60%.”

African researchers face challenges ranging from a lack of reliable data and funding to poor infrastructure to cultural and religious issues.

With the support of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Africa Research Connect was developed to connect and enhance the visibility of scientists, institutions, policymakers and donors.

Jude Igumbor, an associate professor at Wits School of Public Health in South Africa, wants to improve the visibility of African scientists and their work.

“What we give African scientists is they are able to find each other for collaboration,” he said.

The African Population and Health Research Center is calling on donors to fund African institutions and researchers directly instead of going through other organizations, saying that doing so helps the money create opportunities and hone the skills of researchers on the continent.
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Egypt ruffled Ethiopia’s feathers after Cairo sent military aid to Somalia, which had accused Ethiopia of planning to annex its territory. The two countries are locked in yet another battle over a dam Addis Ababa has been constructing on a major tributary of the Nile River.
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PARIS — Almost 200 environmental activists were murdered last year, with the toll especially heavy in South America, according to rights group Global Witness.

Here are the stories of three campaigners who have faced violence and repression trying to stop wildcat gold mining in Ecuador, illegal shrimp farming in Indonesia and a controversial oil project in Uganda.

‘We have a responsibility’

Daniel Frits Maurits Tangkilisan has been assaulted, arrested and prosecuted for his activism to protect a national park, but he is unbowed.

“Why be afraid? Why back down? Your home should be defended,” the 51-year-old told AFP in Jakarta, where he is awaiting a new ruling in legal proceedings against him.

Born and raised in the Indonesian capital, he “fell in love at first sight” with the remote Karimunjawa Islands National Park off Java, on his first visit in 2011. He later settled there.

Daniel began to notice the growing impact of illegal shrimp farms, which began to proliferate around 2017.

Run-off from the farms killed seaweed and forced marine life to move further from shore, impacting the livelihoods of fishing communities, he said.

In 2022, Daniel helped start the #SaveKarimunjawa movement, which pushed for a local zoning law banning the shrimp farms.

But his activism made him a target — he was threatened, assaulted and put in a chokehold, and fellow environmentalists received death threats.

He was arrested in December 2023 over allegations of hate speech stemming from a Facebook post criticizing illegal shrimp farming.

A local court sentenced him in April to seven months behind bars.

The conviction was overturned on appeal but prosecutors took the case to the Supreme Court, insisting he should not be recognized as an environmental activist.

“This is a price that must be paid,” Daniel said of the threats and legal battles.

And his activism has had some success, with recent government inspections forcing many illegal operations to shut.

“We have a responsibility to our children, grandchildren and future generations,” he said.

“If you give up… you say goodbye to your future.”

‘Hell on Earth’

Abdulaziz Bweete grew up in Kawempe, a shanty town in the Ugandan capital Kampala, and saw first-hand the devastating impact of environmental change in poorer communities.

“I have grown up seeing floods around but I had not interested myself in what is causing floods,” he told AFP.

It took two things to galvanize the 26-year-old — going to university, and seeing the Uganda government’s response to climate protests.

Bweete was among a group of student organizers who marched on parliament in July with a petition opposing a multi-billion-dollar oil project that campaigners say will badly affect a delicate environment.

He and several other young activists were arrested, charged with illegal assembly, and held in Kampala’s maximum-security Luzira prison until August.

He told AFP he and fellow protesters were beaten by police.

The activist was previously imprisoned and arrested following rallies in the capital.

“All I can say is prison is a hell on Earth,” he said.

“We don’t have freedom of protest in this country,” he said, glancing around nervously in Kyambogo University’s lush campus setting.

Demonstrations in Uganda, ruled with an iron fist by President Yoweri Museveni for four decades, are often met with a heavy-handed police response.

Bweete said politics and climate change go hand in hand.

“If we have good leaders, we can have good climate policies. This is a long struggle, but we are determined to win,” he insisted.

‘Defend life’

Alex Lucitante, a leader of the Cofan Indigenous people on the border between Ecuador and Colombia, won a historic legal victory in 2018 over mining companies in the Amazon, striking out 52 gold mine concessions.

It helped win him the Goldman Environmental Prize — the Nobel of environmental defenders — two years ago.

But despite setting up a system of patrols and even drone surveillance, it has not stopped gold prospectors violating their territory.

“The destruction is still going on all around our land, and the threat is stronger,” he told AFP, telling of illegal mining, deforestation and threats from armed groups.

“Today, the situation is particularly critical in our territories,” said Lucitante.

“It all happens in plain sight and with the knowledge of the authorities,” which are “sometimes linked to illegal actors operating in the area,” he added.

The environmentalist has urged global leaders to listen to the “voice of Indigenous communities” and hear their plea to “defend life.”
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Bamako — Mali said on Tuesday that the capital Bamako was under control after insurgents attacked a gendarmerie training school and other areas before dawn, firing gunshots that reverberated around the city.

“Early this morning, a group of terrorists attempted to infiltrate the Faladie gendarmerie school. Mopping-up operations are currently under way,” the army said in a statement.

It called on residents to avoid the area and await further official communication.

The military government said “some sensitive points of the capital” came under attack, including the gendarmerie school.

It said the army had pushed back the “terrorists” responsible for the assault and urged civilians to go about their daily business.

The gendarmerie school is in Faladie, a district on the southeastern outskirts of Bamako, near the main international airport. Reuters heard the gunfire in the Banankabougou neighborhood near Faladie before sunrise. People heading to the mosque for morning prayers turned back as shots rang out.

The gunfire started around 0530 GMT. Some residents said it came from the direction of the airport, while others said it was coming from next to the gendarmerie.

A security source said gunfire was heard in several neighborhoods, including areas close to the main airport.

Another security source said the airport had been closed.

Mali is one of several West African countries fighting an Islamist insurgency that took roots in Mali’s arid north in 2012 and has since spread across the Sahel and more recently to the north of coastal countries.

Thousands have been killed and millions displaced in the region amid the advance by militants, some of whom have links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, and military efforts to push them back. Governments and fighters have been accused of violence against civilians.

Frustration against the authorities for failing to restore security contributed to two coups in Mali — in 2020 and 2021 — followed by two in neighboring Burkina Faso and one in Niger.

But jihadist attacks have escalated despite the juntas’ promises to improve security, in part by replacing alliances with Western countries with Russian support, including mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner private army.

Experienced Wagner fighters were killed at the end of July during a battle near the Algerian border between Tuareg rebels and the Malian army, which suffered heavy losses and was ambushed by jihadists as it withdrew.

It is, however, rare for insurgents to strike inside the capital. In 2015, armed men launched a dawn raid on the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako that killed 20 people.
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DAKAR, Senegal — The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Niger is complete, an American official said Monday. 

A small number of military personnel assigned to guard the U.S. Embassy remain, Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters. 

Earlier this year, Niger’s ruling junta ended an agreement that allowed U.S. troops to operate in the West African country. A few months later, officials from both countries said in a joint statement that U.S. troops would complete their withdrawal by the middle of September. 

The U.S. handed over its last military bases in Niger to local authorities last month, but about two dozen American soldiers had remained in Niger, largely for administrative duties related to the withdrawal, Singh said. 

Niger’s ouster of American troops following a coup last year has broad ramifications for Washington because it’s forcing troops to abandon critical bases that were used for counterterrorism missions in the Sahel. groups linked to al-Qaida and the Islamic State group operate in the vast region south of the Sahara desert. 

One of those groups, Jama’a Nusrat ul-Islam wa al-Muslimin, known as JNIM, is active in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, and is looking to expand into Benin and Togo. 

Niger had been seen as one of the last nations in the restive region that Western nations could partner with to beat back growing jihadi insurgencies. The U.S. and France had more than 2,500 military personnel in the region until recently, and together with other European countries had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in military assistance and training. 

In recent months Niger has pulled away from its Western partners, turning instead to Russia for security. In April, Russian military trainers arrived in Niger to reinforce the country’s air defenses.
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Authorities in Nairobi are trying to tackle the Kenyan capital’s chronic and worsening air pollution. With help from the U.S. Agency for International Development, authorities are placing sensors that can monitor air quality around the densely populated city. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo
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Bamako, Mali — Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will soon launch new biometric passports, Mali’s military leader Colonel Assimi Goita said Sunday, as the junta-led states look to solidify their alliance after splitting from regional bloc ECOWAS.

The three Sahel nations, all under military rule following a string of coups since 2020, joined together last September under the Alliance of Sahel States (AES), after severing ties with former colonial ruler France and pivoting toward Russia.

They then said in January that they were turning their backs on the Economic Community of West African States — an organization they accused of being manipulated by France.

In July, the allies consolidated their ties with the creation of a Confederation of Sahel States which will be chaired by Mali in its first year and groups some 72 million people.

“In the coming days, a new biometric passport of the AES will be put into circulation with the aim of harmonizing travel documents in our common area,” Goita said during a televised address late Sunday.

“We will be working to put in place the infrastructure needed to strengthen the connectivity of our territories through transport, communications networks and information technology,” he said.

The announcement came a day before the three states are due to mark the one-year anniversary of the alliance’s creation.

The neighbors are all battling jihadi violence that erupted in northern Mali in 2012 and spread to Niger and Burkina Faso in 2015.

The unrest is estimated to have killed thousands and displaced millions across the region.
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