Ethiopia tops list of African nations improving quality of life

by Sean McLachlan on

Ethiopia suffers from a bad image thanks to the war and famine of the 1980s. As my series on travel in Ethiopia showed, however, this is a land of friendly people, beautiful nature, and fascinating historic sites. Infrastructure is slowly improving and the Ethiopians are making serious efforts to boost education, access to clean drinking water, and other improvements to the quality of life.

These efforts have been recognized in the UN’s 2010 Human Development Report. It ranked Ethiopia as number 11 in the world for improving human development since 1970, the highest ranking in Africa. The report was prepared by the United Nations Development Programme and measures progress in health, education, income, gender equality, and other areas. Researchers then formulate a “human development index” (HDI) for 135 countries.

Other high-ranking African nations include Botswana (14th), Benin (18th) and Burkina Faso (21st). All of these countries and some others have done especially well in the past ten years. Only looking at the past decade, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Rwanda, and Uganda all come out in the global top ten.

One of the biggest areas of improvement was in education. Literacy has almost tripled in Sub-Saharan Africa in the past 40 years to 65 percent. Also, life expectancy is up and infant mortality is down.

Sadly, not all the news is good. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zambia, and Zimbabwe were the only three countries in the world where quality of life actually went down.

Good news for Ethiopia is good news to travelers too. While the country is still an adventure travel destination, it’s not as rugged as many people think. I spent two months there and my wife spent three weeks, and in all that time we never got sick. Chalk one up for good sanitation and clean water! Also, Ethiopia scores well of gender equality, which meant that, unlike some countries we’ve been to, my wife didn’t get harassed by obnoxious guys. Good education meant we met lots of people who spoke English and wanted to improve it by chatting with us. Improved infrastructure meant there were more paved roads along our route than there were ten years ago.

When it comes to improvements in a country’s Human Development Index everybody benefits, even people who don’t live there!

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Ghost Forest brings attention to rainforest threat

by Sean McLachlan on


A Ghost Forest is stalking Europe.

Giant trees from Ghana have appeared in Copenhagen, Trafalgar Square in London, and now Oxford. It’s called the Ghost Forest Art Project, and it’s an innovative way to bring the plight of the world’s rainforests to public attention.

Artist Angela Palmer wanted to share her concern with the public about tropical rainforests, which are disappearing fast. An area the size of a football pitch vanishes every four seconds, and most are never replaced. Not only does this reduce biodiversity and nature’s way of absorbing atmospheric carbon, but it leads to soil erosion and long-term economic problems. Since Europe is a major consumer of rainforest wood, and there are no rainforests in Europe, Palmer decided to bring the rainforest to Europe.

She hauled a collection of stumps from the commercially logged Suhuma forest in western Ghana all the way to Europe. Ghana lost 90 percent of its forest due to overlogging before the government got serious about conservation. Now the remaining forest is being logged in a sustainable manner under strict supervision. The stumps mostly fell due to storms, but three were actually logged. To offset the carbon footprint of shipping these behemoths hundreds of miles, Palmer contributed to a project that distributes efficient stoves to Ghanaian villages. These stoves use less wood than traditional stoves and reduce the need for cutting.

First stop was Copenhagen, just in time for last year’s UN Climate Change conference. This was followed by a visit to Trafalgar Square before the trees were installed in front of Oxford University’s famous Museum of Natural History. A fitting display for 2010, which is the UN’s International Year of Biodiversity. Next year will be the Year of Forests.

I’ve seen this exhibit in person and I have to say the stumps are truly awe inspiring. Their sheer size, and the realization that they were once alive, made me think about our place in this world. My four-year-old was impressed too, and I hope that some of these giant trees will still be standing when he’s my age.


Image Courtesy Ghost Forest.

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Namibia clamps down on poaching in national parks

by Sean McLachlan on

There’s been a rise in poaching in Southern Africa in recent years. Hunters are killing rare animals and selling their pelts, ivory, and other body parts to a multibillion dollar international network of dealers. The southwestern African nation of Namibia, however, has managed to avoid this trend.

This is due to strong criminal penalties and new measures implemented by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, with help from the United Nations. Namibia earns six percent of its GDP from people visiting the parks, which are rich in wildlife and beautiful scenery. Protecting the environment is a smart financial move in this developing nation, and because of this the government has more than tripled the parks’ budget in the past four years. Other African nations like Niger and Chad are hoping to cash in on the profitable safari business too, and are also cracking down on poaching.

The ministry has been hiring more staff to patrol the parks and supplying them with training and equipment. In Etosha National Park the government is setting up a radio communications system and has supplied the staff with boats so they can reach a part of the park that is cut off during the rainy season. This area didn’t get many patrols before and poachers had been taking advantage of this.

Etosha is one of Africa’s biggest and most popular national parks. Covering 22,750 square kilometers, it is home to lion, elephants, rhino, zebra–all in high demand on the illegal animal market–and hundreds of other species.

Discount hotel coming to Haiti

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Choice Hotels is headed to Haiti! The discount lodging company will be the first to hit the country in close to a decade. Its first hotel, a Comfort Inn, is expected to open in May. It’ll be located in the city of Jacmel, which is on the Caribbean coast. A 32-room motel is planned, but this is only the start for Choice Hotels’ plans for the unlikely destination. It is also looking at building an upscale 120-room property at the Belle Rive tourism development which is nearby — it’s expected for the fall.

Choice left Haiti a few years ago, and plans for a new Hilton were scrapped because of political instability and an unreliable infrastructure. But, the United Nations is trying to bring tourists back to Haiti, and Choice apparently sees some potential.

Is a trip to Haiti a bit too adventurous for you? Before writing off the possibility, keep in mind that it isn’t as bad as you think. Haiti is probably safer than you have been led to believe.

[Photo by Choice]

North Korea prohibits the use of large suitcases, a model to be replicated?

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The effect of monetary policy on the travel industry can be profound in any economy, but in North Korea, it’s usually more complicated. In a developed market, for example, a monetary policy that leads to inflation can make travel more expensive (duh, right). Well, in North Korea, you have to look past the implications of monetary policy to the underlying political drivers … because the root cause can result in more than financial constraints. The end result will blow your mind.

Take Kim Jong Il‘s latest move to revalue the North Korean currency. On its face, it isn’t terribly exciting. Then, you add to it a wealth cap — the people swapping old currency for new could only receive a certain amount back, rendering the unexchanged cash worthless. Though the regime loosened the restrictions from the $40 limit, the policy has still been unpopular. There was some rioting, even some fatalities, but Kim Jong Il and his machine appear to be committed to the measure.

At the same time, the government has announced it would shut down some of the larger private markets, which is how many people survive — the UN estimates that half the calories consumed in North Korea come from these markets. This foray into capitalism has been a pain in the regime’s ass for years, and as the current ruler explores ways to facilitate a handoff to his son, Kim Jong Eun, it’s a good idea to sort all this out. It’s unlikely that the latest Kim will receive a clean Communist state from which to rule, but that won’t stop the current boss from trying.

It’s in these markets that you’ll find the implications of monetary policy for the travel market.The markets are fueled with goods from across the border in China, smuggled in by enterprising and daring North Koreans who are looking for anything from profit to the alleviation of hunger. To make these operations a bit harder, the government has increased border controls, not to mention restrictions on lodging. But, in a manner likely to draw praise from the TSA cause some head-scratching in the rest of the world, the regime has banned big suitcases. Ostensibly, this is to make it harder to smuggle goods into the country for sale in the markets.

You know … if you apply this measure to air travel in the United States, the outcomes would be pretty interesting. Let’s take a look.

The decision of whether to check your luggage or carry it onto the plane disappears. This is one of the most difficult challenges a passenger faces, and thanks to a decision rooted in North Korean monetary policy, it disappears. And, as an added bonus, it also renders any discussion about extra bag fees moot, since the carry-on/check-in decision isn’t relevant.

Have you ever watched with anger as a small person struggles with several big bags, holding up the line at check-in kiosks, security or even the damned Sbarro? With this policy, that wouldn’t happen any more. People would only be able to carry … well … what they can actually carry.

Look, I’m not a fan of the regime in North Korea, and the currency revaluation has had severe consequences — it’s no laughing matter. But, as with any serious situation north of the DMZ, some of the unintended consequences are absurd. A ban on big bags? How the hell do you get from a money swap to luggage? However twisted the road and unfortunate the consequences, it’s hard to hate an idea that would make air travel easier.