Growing Africa’s green belt

Local Green Belt Movement members survey their work. Copyright: USAID/Neil Thomas, CC BY-NC 2.0

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<h1>Growing Africa’s green belt</h1>
<h4></h4>
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<h4>Season 2, Episode 19</h4>
<p>Around 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa live without access to electricity. Leading environmentalist Wanjira Mathai says that communities are forced to rely on burning wood and other fuels for heat and for cooking, which damages ecosystems and threatens families’ health.</p>
<p>Mathai tells Africa Science Focus why energy access is crucial to both development and conserving the continent’s forests and landscapes. And, she tells us what is at stake at this year’s international climate summit, COP27, in Egypt.</p>
<p><strong><em>Africa Science Focus</em></strong><strong>, with Halima Athumani. </strong></p>
<p><a href="https://www.scidev.net/role-models/qa-cop27-will-be-crucial-for-africa-wanjira-mathai/"><strong>Learn more about </strong><strong>Wanjira Mathai’s career</strong></a><br />
<a href="https://www.carnegie.org/"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1894676 lazyload" data-src="https://www.scidev.net/wp-content/uploads/Carnegie1.png" alt="Carnegie" width="426" height="200" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" style="--smush-placeholder-width: 426px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 426/200;" /><noscript><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1894676 lazyload" data-src="https://www.scidev.net/wp-content/uploads/Carnegie1.png" alt="Carnegie" width="426" height="200" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==" style="--smush-placeholder-width: 426px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 426/200;" /><noscript><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-1894676" src="https://www.scidev.net/wp-content/uploads/Carnegie1.png" alt="Carnegie" width="426" height="200" /></noscript></noscript></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>This programme was funded by the <a href="https://www.carnegie.org/">Carnegie Corporation of New York</a>.</em></p>
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Season 2, Episode 19

Around 600 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa live without access to electricity. Leading environmentalist Wanjira Mathai says that communities are forced to rely on burning wood and other fuels for heat and for cooking, which damages ecosystems and threatens families’ health.

Mathai tells Africa Science Focus why energy access is crucial to both development and conserving the continent’s forests and landscapes. And, she tells us what is at stake at this year’s international climate summit, COP27, in Egypt.

Africa Science Focus, with Halima Athumani.

Learn more about Wanjira Mathai’s career