News & Events

On the occasion of his appointment as a Professor of History of Southern Africa, ASC researcher Prof. Jan-Bart Gewald gave his inaugural address 'To Grahamstown and Back: Towards a Socio-Cultural History of Southern Africa' at the Department of Humanities at Leiden University on Friday 6 June. The video of the inaugural address can now be watched on our website.

On 21 August 1986 all human and animal life in the Nyos Valley in Cameroon died, without a trace of damage to houses or crops. Until today the cause of this disaster is not known. Was it an eruption of gas from a nearby crater? Or a French nuclear test? An Israelian bomb? Or punshment from the gods? In his book Stikvallei Dutch author Frank Westerman examines not only the facts and theories with respect to this catastrophe, but also the emergence of myths surrounding the mysterious mass deaths. The splendidly researched Stikvallei is our latest Acquisition Highlight. (Please note that it is written in Dutch, as is the book).

Five research fellows are currently visiting the ASC: Romain Dittgen (photo) from Luxembourg, Nurit Hashimshony-Yaffe from Israel, Daniel O. Spence from South Africa, Felix Kaputu from DR Congo and Moses Mwangi from Kenya. Romain Dittgen is the first joint fellow at the African Studies Centre and the International Institute for Asian Studies, also in Leiden. Read more about the fields of interest of our visiting fellows!

 Verina Ingram will defend her PhD thesis entitled 'Win-wins in forest product value chains? How governance impacts the sustainability of livelihoods based on non-timber forest products from Cameroon' on 18 March at the University of Amsterdam. Non-timber forest products (NTFPs) such as nuts, leaves, resins, barks and honey have medicinal, food, energy, tool and cultural uses. This study examines eight such NTFP value chains from Cameroon, sold locally and exported worldwide. It shows that their combined value is over 32 million US$ annually, more than previously realised. Around 34,000 people, including harvesters and traders, derive income from this trade.

The ASC and the Netherlands African Business Council (NABC) will be organizing the second edition of the Africa Works! conference on 16 & 17 October 2014 in Leiden. The objective is to explore the challenges and opportunities Africa poses to companies, government bodies, NGOs and knowledge centers. Scientific seminars and practical workshops will highlight the themes that are relevant to people working in or with Africa today. Registration is now open!

The ASC and Amnesty are organizing a screening of the Cameroonian film 'Born This Way'. In Cameroon, homosexual relations are subject to punishments of up to five years in prison, and it is almost impossible to come out even to your own family. The two young gay men in this film are crazy about Lady Gaga, who has been a gay icon since her hit song ‘Born This Way’. The film focuses on the first centre for HIV patients. Run entirely by the LGBT community, it takes care of HIV patients and raises awareness of LGBT rights. Yves Yomb, director of the centre, is more or less tolerated by the government. He will be interviewed after the screening.

The last few years have seen a huge amount of interest in the hotly contested issue of ‘land grabbing’ - the large-scale acquisition of land in the global South. It is a phenomenon against which locals seem defenceless, and one about which multilateral organizations such as the World Bank as well as civil-society organizations have become increasingly vocal. This in-depth volume edited by ASC researcher Mayke Kaag and Annelies Zoomers of Utrecht University takes a step back from the hype to explore a number of key questions: does the ‘global land grab’ actually exist? And what are the real problems?