New publications

ASC researcher Akinyinka Akinyoade and Bisola Adebayo from Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, currently drafted to the Ebola Emergency Operations Centre (EEOC) in Lagos, have written an ASC web article about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and elsewhere. The article goes beyond giving statistical updates of the spread of the Ebola virus; it highlights medical as well as socio-cultural issues, like the strong advise not to shake hands anymore - 'The social soul is now seen as a possible route of transmission of the dreadful disease' -, patients suffering from other diseases getting rejected at medical facilities, and rising foodstuff prices.

The ASC has produced three brand new thematic maps. One in cooperation with Nuffic: 'Dutch cooperation programmes to strengthen post-secondary education and training in Africa (1996-2013)', one in cooperation with the Rotterdam School of Management: 'The challenge of Dutch sustainable diplomacy', and one in cooperation with the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs: 'Composition of financial flows to Sub-Saharan African countries: ten years into the Monterrey Consensus on the Millennium Development Goals'. The maps can be ordered at the ASC, free of charge.

The Africa Yearbook 2013 covers major domestic political developments, foreign policy and socio-economic trends in sub-Saharan Africa – all related to developments in the calendar year 2013. The Yearbook contains articles on all sub-Saharan states, each of the four sub-regions (West, Central, Eastern, Southern Africa), an article on continental developments and one on African-European relations. Editors are Andreas Mehler (Institute of African Affairs, Hamburg), Henning Melber (Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Uppsala) and Klaas van Walraven (African Studies Centre, Leiden).

ASC researcher Klaas van Walraven just published an article in Politique Africaine about the putsch by Seyni Kountché in Niger in 1974, which led to the fall of President Hamani Diori. The French were accused of involvement because Diori had had disagreements with them. During his research in the Paris archives, Van Walraven made a fascinating discovery: not only were the French not involved in the putsch, they actually started up measures for an airborne operation to save President Diori, code-named “Plan Somme”. Read the interview with Van Walraven about his discovery.

ASC researcher Wijnand Klaver contributed to an article in Chronica Horticulturae, coinciding with the XXIX International Horticultural Congress in Brisbane. While a healthy diet is based on a diversity of foods, in Africa many people rely on monotonous diets. As a consequence, more people suffer from ‘hidden hunger’ than from overt starvation. This article proposes for tropical Africa a doubling of the present intake of about 100 g of vegetables as a long-term realistic target.

ASC senior researcher Jon Abbink wrote an article for the Journal of Eastern African Studies about the recent Muslim protest movement in Ethiopia and the response to it by the government in the light of the secular state model. While the challenges to it also extend to the large Christian community in Ethiopia, the problems became prominent mainly in the case of the Muslims, who contest perceived 'government interference' in their community life.

The African Studies Centre's Annual Report for 2013 is out now! In addition to an excellent list of publications by our researchers and our well-attended seminars, you will find other highlights such as the launch of LeidenGlobal in November and the ASC's Annual Lecture by Morten Jerven. Read the Annual Report online or order a hard copy.