Like the entire Maghreb, sudden and violent weather events are occurring in Algeria. The country is experiencing several episodes of thunder and hail that cause flooding on dry soil. In May 2021, it was the Kaudiet Eserdoune Reservoir, one of the largest dams in Algeria, which ran dry. In early June, the country’s dam filling rate was seen to be less than 50%. Rainfall levels are falling across the north of the country, confirms climatologist Rachid Besoud for the Algerian daily l watan : “Algeria’s natural and climate vulnerability is increasing”. Countries like Morocco and Tunisia are in crisis due to water scarcity.

online magazine Orient XXI Remembered that water consumption is now lower”reduction limit“, an index designed by Swedish hydrologist Malin Falkenmark 25 years ago, set at 1000 square meters³/ resident / year. A problematic situation from below this threshold”Social life and economic development are difficult”. Maghreb governments intend to fight this water shortage by storing surface water and dam reservoirs. Morocco, very affluent, has 144, Tunisia, 34. Another strategy has been adopted that takes advantage of the 7000 km coastline: seawater desalination plants. This time around, Algeria leads with 21 stations. The largest Moroccan desalination unit went into operation earlier this year. While water supplies can increase and improve, water is wasted, lost in poorly maintained storage and distribution networks. As far as wastewater reprocessing is concerned, which would allow a good cycle for the valuable resource, all three countries lack treatment plants. But it is at the agricultural and therefore rural level that things are even more dramatic, and even more so in areas where water is drawn from groundwater, which will not be recharged anytime soon. Inequal access to water in rural areas exacerbates social relations. Ultimately, small farmers will suffer the most from the increasing water scarcity.

“3 Million African Genomes” Project

Twenty years have passed since the first human genome sequence was published in the scientific journal Nature. But among all this material collected and analyzed, the genomes of individuals of African descent represent only 2% of the whole. there is one “European or Caucasian Prejudice” In this DNA catalogue. To re-balance this paucity of genomic information, Cameroonian geneticist Ambrose Vonkam launched a project called 3MAG, or three million African genomes, aims to sequence the DNA of 3 million individuals from several ethnic groups across the African continent. The result holds the promise of reaching many more genetic variations than the rest of the world. magazine podcast economist Emphasizes a fact still little known to the general public about the extreme genetic diversity of African populations among African ethnic groups themselves, in comparison to other ethnic groups outside the continent. The percentage missed by the podcast is staggering: 7% of genetic variations in the origin of diseases identified through this genomic sequencing come from DNA samples from individuals across the African continent. Getting as much as 2% on the African genome is very promising. Was mentioned by Ambrose Wonkam himself in February 2021 for review. Nature, a spectacular crop of genetic variants collected from the analysis of whole genome sequences of only 426 people belonging to 50 ethnographic groups in Africa and so far unknown. The project will take ten years and will build on programs and institutions already underway in various African countries, Great Britain and the United States.

“We must feed the monster” or how West Africa’s fishing resources are plundered

This 3. is^I consecutive years when Greenpeace has been working to establish a link between fishery resources off the coast of West Africa, on the one hand, which are increasingly in short supply, and, on the other, the need for aquaculture farms in Europe and Asia. Supply chains and seafood products sold by major European retail chains. The environmental NGO publishes the results of a survey conducted with another NGO, Changing Markets, in the evolving title: Feeding the monster: how Europe’s aquaculture and animal feed industries are transforming the food of West African communities. This fish-filled area attracts industrial fishing vessels and local fleets. The general crisis was illegal fishing that depletes the protein reserves benefiting the local population. What is changed and explained by this month’s Greenpeace report in June is the recent importance taken by local factories of changes in fish oil and food. And this, according to the responsible “campaign” of Greenspace Africa, interviewed by Ibrahima Sisse magazine young africa, “A drop of water breaking a camel’s back. About ten years ago, these factories replaced the waste from processing fish. Now they order fresh fish.”small pelvis” Small fish that breed very lively, such as Sardinella and Bonga, live near shores and are therefore easier to catch, explains Mr. Sisse. These fish are excellent sources of animal protein for the populations of Mauritania, Senegal and The Gambia, but also for their neighbors internally. Their drawback is also the drawback of many traditional trades. Outside Africa, flour and oil would end up in food for aquaculture and pig farms, in food supplements, cosmetics and food products for pets.