Five countries in southern Africa have joined forces to launch a research centre that will work on combating climate change in the region. South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Namibia signed a declaration on Wednesday to base the initiative in the Namibian capital Windhoek.

The Southern African Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (Sasscal) is intended to support cross-border research and land management.

Low-cost solar panels and solar batteries will be provided to poor communities in 14 countries in Africa and Asia in the next four years, the UN Development Programme said Thursday.

A total of 33 million people in the 14 countries will be able to make use of solar energy for commercial businesses and economic development, using the solar panels to be developed by a Mauritius-based company called ToughStuff, UNDP said.

An MoU to this effect will be signed between the parties concerned and the Government of Guinea

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) has completed a suitability study in Guinea for promoting corporate farming through its Agro Business Development (ABD) Directorate and an incubatee, Top Worth Group of Companies.

Rainfall patterns in southern Africa are becoming erratic as climate change takes its toll, threatening long-term production of staple and cash crops in the region.

Countries like South Africa, Zambia and Malawi have enjoyed bumper harvests of their staple maize crop in recent years, ensuring food security in a region which has often known hunger.

But farmers, who for centuries have known when to expect summer rains, are now finding planning difficult.

A panel charged with reviewing financial systems at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria recommended a substantial overhaul Monday in the grant organization's practices.

Commodities group Glencore released its first sustainability report on Wednesday showing it paid $780,000 in major environmental fines last year and had 18 fatalities.

Glencore, one of the world's largest commodities trader, promised to launch sustainability reporting during the run-up to its listing earlier this year after spending decades as a private company, revealing minimal information about its business to the general public.

Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki set fire to five tonnes of contraband ivory on Wednesday, a symbol of his and Africa's renewed commitment to fight poaching.

Elephant numbers had started to recover after the ivory trade was banned in 1990, but observers say the rising wealth of east Asian countries has caused a price and demand spike in recent years.

Mirroring a ceremony by former Kenyan presid