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The Challenge for Africa: The author, Wangari Maathai, was born in 1940 in the British colony of Kenya. She was Kikuyu, the tribe central to the 1950’s Mau Mau independence rebellion in Kenya (she was in colonial Catholic schools and protected from it). She was funded by the Joseph Kennedy Foundation in 1960 to come to a small rural Catholic college in Kansas, first year of the “Kennedy airlift” (Barack Obama’s father was also in that group). She also received a University of Pittsburgh master’s degree before returning to the University of Nairobi, obtaining her PhD then teaching there for decades. In 1977, she founded the Green Belt Movement, a network of rural women. She was elected to the Kenyan Parliament in 2002 and was Deputy Minister for the Environment for four years. She published this book in 2009 and died of ovarian cancer in 2011. Contents: Introduction “On the Wrong Bus”: Maathai uses the analogy of taking a bus to the wrong destination. The environment is central to Africa’s enduring problems. Africa cannot place all the blame for its challenges on colonialism, but neither can its issues be understood without that context. •	Ch 1, “The Farmer from Yaounde”: While attending a conference in a swank hotel in Cameroon’s capital city, Maathai saw farmers planting in rows down the slope of a hill, rather than across the slope to prevent erosion. The hotel guard told her such planting would properly allow the water to run off! Maathai knew they would soon have to slash and burn a new spot. Maathai notes environmental education and ‘a sense of service’ by African leaders and governments is essential to progress for the continent.

•	ch 2, “A Legacy of Woes”: At the Congress of Berlin in 1884, Africa was divided among the colonial powers, who instituted a system of native collaborators to be local leaders. Christian missionaries used ‘the curse of Ham’ (Genesis 9:22-7) to create a caste system. When Maathai was in America in college, the first group of African nations were given their independence by their European colonial masters. The native collaborators took charge, focused on maintenance of economic ties, rather than better government for Africans. Cold War policies of awarding military equipment to supportive governments soon led to proxy wars, coups, and military dictatorships throughout Africa.

•	Ch 3, “Pillars of Good Governance: The Three-Legged Stool”: Maathai cites three pillars: (1) a ‘democratic space’ where human rights are respected; (2) accountable, sustainable management of natural resources; and (3) a ‘culture of peace’. ‘Development’ is a sustainable quality of life, allowing expression of humanity and creativity. Even Botswana, with the best economic record in Africa, may soon collapse from its high incidence of HIV (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Botswana - it did slow down, then took off again). More than mere careful use of aid money and reducing corruption, good governance means sustainable consumption of natural resources.

•	Ch 4, “Aid and the Dependency Syndrome”: She cites the failure of $650 B in foreign aid to save 900,000 (mostly children) in sub-Saharan Africa from death from malaria each year. She does not agree that charging Africans a nominal fee for a bednet will increase its use. Rather, Africans must understand its value. She compliments Jeffrey Sachs’ “millennium village” idea, but worries the program will increase dependency among recipients, and relieve African governments from providing services to their citizens.

•	ch 5, “Deficits: Indebtedness and Unfair Trade”: African countries struggle under a substantial debt load, paying back loan money looted by autocrats. As African countries struggle with their oil and mineral wealth, wealthy countries have protected their own interests and supported ‘structural adjustment’ policies. The ‘resource curse’ – dependence on a single, non-renewable commodity, like oil for Nigeria, is common. (The Dutch were first noted with this curse, from North Sea natural gas, while Norway has effectively managed its huge North Sea oil revenues for future generations.)

•	ch 6, “Leadership”: Africa’s geography does not condemn it to poverty. There have been stellar leaders, like Mandela and Seretse Khama of Botswana. Corrupt leaders were often propped up by Cold War politics or the dictator’s assistants who feared for their own actions and need the protection of the dictator. The annual Ibrahim Prize for good governance in Africa, given for leaving office peacefully, is often not awarded, because none of Africa’s 50 countries has such a government leader.

•	Ch 7, “Moving the Social Machine”: Maathai describes her work in the Kenyan parliament, implementing community development using grassroots advisors. Coffee and macadamia nut farmers face the challenges of crime and incompetent governance.

•	ch 8, “Culture: The Missing Link?”: Cultural practices were harmed by colonial policies. Missionaries said that God does not live on Mt Kenya, where traditional culture saw him, so there is no need to respect the water or forests. Traditional cuisine was abandoned, and traditional healers lost credibility, with no alternative for mental healthcare in place. After independence, politicians behaved like the colonial masters, ignoring African culture which ties them to the people. Many Africans feel as though they have boarded the wrong bus, bound for a destination they did not seek.

•	ch 9, “The Crisis of National Identity”: Maathai distains the term ‘tribe’; she prefers the term “micro-nation”. A tribe is not ready to be a nation; a ‘micro-nation’ is. African nations have dozens or hundreds of such groups. Pitting groups against each other was an effective colonial strategy, and African politicians still use it for their own gain. The internal conflicts of Sudan and Kenya are based in micro-nation conflict. South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a fine model method for defusing such conflicts.

•	ch 10, “Embracing the Micro-nations”: Good governance is more likely when political parties organize around a set of principles, not ‘micro-nation’ membership. Nelson Mandela’s support of South Africa’s all-white national rugby team as they won the World Cup brought all South Africans together. However, South Africa has eleven ‘official’ languages for government business. Educated Africans should know 3 or more local languages. Common people should be able to communicate with their government in their home language. Suppressing ‘micro-nation’ membership, as Rwanda has mandated, is ineffective. Kenya has adopted Kiswahili as its national language, although it is not the traditional tongue of any micro-nation.

•	ch 11, “Land Ownership: Whose Land is it, Anyway?”: Urbanization, climate change, and residual colonial land claims all complicate the use and possession of land in Africa. Traditional African practice regarded land as common property. As food security and quality are impacted by climate change and population growth, access to land will be even more important.

•	ch 12, “Environment and Development”: Efforts to develop Kenya have sometimes slowed progress toward achievement of MDGs. Few in Africa understand ‘ecosystem services’, the economic value provided by environmental resources. Natural forests have been clear-cut for grazing or to plant invasive, fast-growing timber species. Desertification after depleting the soil is also common. Maathai’s Green Belt Movement http://www.greenbeltmovement.org/ planted 40 million trees to highlight these issues.

•	ch 13, “Saving the Congo Forests”: The Congo River Basin hosts spectacular biodiversity and 150 micro-nations. It was exploited by Belgian King Leopold and later by Congo’s elected leaders, leading to a huge war over mineral resources. There are steps that regional governmental organizations should take to protect this priceless resource.

•	ch 14, “The African Family”: To build a sustainable Africa, its inhabitants must be treasured. Economic incentives that lead to ‘brain drain’ must be repaired. There must be changes in the economic systems that force husbands to leave their families to earn a living. Majority political rule must not disenfranchise minority rights of micro-nations. Maathai’s award of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004 was a recognition of the centrality of environmental issues to peace and justice in Africa and elsewhere in LMICs.