Category Archives: Africa-North

An Account of the Plague in Barbary, North Africa, 1799 – Part II

Posted on 11/02/2015 by dianabuja

Some Account of a peculiar Species of Plague which depopulated West Barbary in 1799 and 1800, and to the Effects of which the Author was an eyewitness. By James G. Jackson, Mogodor/ Essaouira Part I, can be found here. From various … Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa-North, Africa-West, Colonialism, Ebola, European colonizers, European explorers, Indigenous crops & medicinal plants, Sahel | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

An Account of the Plague in Barbary, North Africa, 1799 – Part I

Posted on 10/02/2015 by dianabuja

Plagues have been important – and often deadly – aspect of long distance trade and travel for millennia.   As we enter into the 21st century plague that is now gripping West Africa, what can be learned from reports of ‘the plague’ … Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa-North, Africa-West, Caravan routes, Colonialism, Indigenous crops & medicinal plants, Niger River | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Sahelian City-States in the Western Sahel: Part 2

Posted on 24/01/2014 by dianabuja

Recent and ongoing events in the Sahel by way of food crises, religiously based conflict, ethnically based conflict, and military coups are intertwined.  They are the most recent iterations of  interdependent political, economic, religious, social, and cultural changes that have … Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa-North, Africa-West, Agriculture, Arab traders, Caravan routes, Colonialism, Ethnicity, History, Ivory, Niger River, Religion, Sahel | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Soil biodiversity and ecosystem function

Posted on 06/09/2013 by dianabuja

It has long been recognised that organisms living in the soil are important for making nitrogen available to plants and for storing carbon in the soil but a new paper in PNAS by de Vries et al… Source:  canwefeedtheworld.wordpress.com diana … Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa-East, Africa-North, Burundi, Climate Change, Desertification, Nile Valley, Research & Development, Research and Development, Sudan | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Locusts and Hyenas: The Red Sea Hills of Eastern Egypt & Sudan

Posted on 27/03/2013 by dianabuja

Following on the recent swarms of Locusts in Egypt and Israel, here is an update of a blog on the topic (and on hyenas): Previous blogs on work in the Red Sea Hills are found here and here. During the … Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa-East, Africa-General, Africa-North, Africa-Southern, Egypt Desert Locust Authority, Egypt-Ancient, Egypt-Recent, Sudan, Wildlife | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Cuisines and Crops of Africa, 18th Century: Food and Farming in Timbuktu

Posted on 02/02/2013 by dianabuja

Tétuan, Moroccan port town opposite Gibraltar.  Steel Engraving.  Institute in Hidlburghausen. 1842 In about 1789, the merchant and voyager Abd Salam Shabeeny  set out from his home city, the Moroccan port town of Tetuan (above picture), for Germany in order to procure items for … Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa-North, Africa-West, African rice, Agriculture, Caravan routes, Colonialism, Cuisine, Egypt-Recent, Explorers & exploration, Food, History, History-Recent, Indigenous crops & medicinal plants, Livestock, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

City States in the Sahel: Pre-European Kingdoms of West Africa – Part 1

Posted on 14/01/2013 by dianabuja

With the recent efforts of France to address the efforts of Islamists in northern Mali – and Nigeria and its neighbours to confront the Boko Haram in northeast Nigeria- I am revising and reposting this blog on Sahelian history.    Introduction: … Continue reading →

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Posted in Africa-North, Africa-West, African rice, Arab traders, Caravan routes, Niger River, Sahel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments