Africa Geographic September 2005 [antikvár]

editorialTcc Could Uganda's a^ banana crisis result in the equivalent of Ireland's potato famine of the mid-1800s? ^ 5he Waterberg in the far north of South Africa's Limpopo Province is a place ofgreat scenic beauty, where towering red-orange sandstone cliffs rise sheer in places , to high grassland plains from the bushveld below. It is also growing rapidly as a wildlife destination of note.It was at Entabeni, one of the leading private game reserve initiatives in the region, that an historic meeting of the country's top natural history film makers recently took place. The purpose, amongst others, was to promote Africa as the centre of excellence in this genre. It was an energising forum and Africa Geographic felt privileged to play a facilitating role.The driving force was Marcel Golding, the head of e.tv. South Africa's independent free-to-air television channel. In addition there was huge and inspiring input from Mark Wild, the commissioning editor of Animal Planet, and Andrew Jackson, chief executive of Tigress Films, a major internarional producer. Also contributing to the occasion was Harriet Nimmo, who heads Wildscreen, the host of the world's largest and most prestigious festival of wildlife and environmental films.The most recent recipient of Wildscreen's top accolade, the Golden Panda Award, was The Elephant, the Emperor and the Butterfly Tree, an intriguing tale that highlights the inseparability of people, their livelihoods and nature in so many parts of Africa. Such interconnectivity is a constant thread in Africa Geographic, and nowhere is this more appropriately illustrated than in environmental writer Charlie Fumlss's report, 'Bananas: Pick of the bunch for GM?' (page 66).The term 'banana republic' is frequently used in a derogatory sense to describe many African countries. In Uganda, however, the term could be legitimately used not to illustrate poor governance, but to highlight a real cornerstone of prosperity!Uganda is a lush, green country with an aura of abundance. Certainly when it comes to the feeding of its 27 million citizens, this small equatorial country appended to the northern shores of Lake Victoria is much better off than many others in Africa. This is due largely to the banana, which has huge significance for the people of Uganda both as an export crop and as the local staple. Some 10 per cent of the world's production is grown here.This happy circumstance is worryingly under severe threat. Diseases and insect pests, especially the banana weevil, have caused problems for banana growers over the past 20 years, but now there is a new threat - banana xanthomonas wilt (BXW) - which could wipe out bananas in Uganda with catastrophic results for the country's economy and the health of its people. This is feared because none of the local banana and plantain varieties (Uganda has more than 100) appear to be resistant to it. Could Uganda's banana crisis result in the equivalent of Ireland's potato famine of the mid-1800s?Scientists are on the case and some are raising a powerful argument for genetic intervention, Other groups are sceptical, if not hostile, towards such an approach. There are no clear answers as yet, but the eventual outcome of the debate could well have a far-reaching impact for the Central African region./a A