Photo: greenhem (flickr)

Plastic bags have long been associated with litter and waste. The world uses tens of billions of plastic bags every year – bags that end up hanging from trees, traveling along freeways, escaping garbage cans and waste dumps.

Plastic-bag recycling rates are extremely low – about 1 to 3 percent worldwide, according to Reusablebags.com.

While plastics have helped us in many ways – medical advances, for one – by now we are seeing an increasing amount of wasteful uses. The mass production and ubiquitousness of plastic bags has hit a nerve in many developing countries. Lawmaking bodies in every region of the world have begun to regulate the use of plastics — and some are even banning the use of plastic bags outright.

Here's a partial list:

India. In August 2005, the state of Maharashtra initiated a bag ban after bags "blocked sewage and drainage systems during record monsoon rains," according to The Guardian. "Flooding and landslides killed more than 1,000 people in the state.” Anyone seen with a plastic bag can be fined 1,000 rupees, or about $25.

Kenya. The East African nation has enforced new regulations banning production and distribution of light-density bags, according to Nairobi's Business Daily (as reported by allAfrica.com). Three years ago, Kenyan researchers had appealed for a ban, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Wangari Maathai had argued that plastic bags can lead to malaria, because discarded bags left outside can fill with rainwater and breed disease-carrying mosquitoes.

Uganda and Tanzania. Kenya's neighbors also banned the use of all disposable one-use plastic bags nationwide. One Ugandan blogger wrote that “This seemingly radical step has a direct connection to human health and also to environmental well-being of citizens across Africa. Apart from the fossil fuel usage needed in their production, plastic bags have a remarkable ability to pollute across borders.”

China. Authorities announced that by this June, one-use plastic bags will be outlawed in the hope that residents will return to their old habit of using cloth bags and baskets. "Beijing residents appeared to take the ban in stride, reflecting rising environmental consciousness and concern over skyrocketing oil prices," reports National Geographic.

Some developed nations also have taken drastic steps to reduce the impact of plastics. Ireland, for example, imposed a 33-cent tax in 2002. It worked quickly to depress demand. According to the New York Times, the use of plastic bags dropped 94 percent within weeks.

I know that most everybody is tired of reality television by now. But a new documentary from Kenya that touts itself as "Apprentice meets Big Brother" is definitely worth watching.

Out of 5,000 applicants, the documentary follows six young Kenyans creating business plans in order to win prize money needed to launch their ideas.

Who competed? A young woman who wants to begin a translation service catering to visiting Chinese business people. An outspoken and confident young man, Oscar, wants to start an IT business.

What's most interesting about this film is that the filmmaker returns to these peoples' lives to discover that many of their entrepreneurial aspirations haven't gone anywhere because of the recent post-election violence. Who needs translation services when all international conferences have been canceled? Who needs hotel rooms or safaris when tourism has dropped by 90 percent? Even the plans of the young man who wanted to start a dairy co-op have been halted.

These are the stories that demonstrate that violent conflict has wider effects than claiming lives and destroying homes-- it has the potential to limit the entrepreneurial dreams of Kenya's best and brightest.

This week a correspondent from the Economist has an online diary about his experience in Kenya. This is a compelling, tangible way to gain insight on the political turmoil and how it is affecting the people of Kenya.

As tensions continue to run high, Mercy Corps warns that further chaos and violence in Kenya, long a bastion of regional stability, could push neighboring East African countries toward new humanitarian crises.

Our colleague Matt Lovick states, "historically, Kenya has been the hub that allowed goods and assistance to reach these land-locked, war-torn places," said Matt Lovick, Mercy Corps’ Nairobi-based East Africa regional program director. "Its importance in fostering and maintaining stability in this region cannot be underestimated."

If hostilities escalate in Kenya, neighboring economies could suffer immediately from a shortage of critical resources. Markets, planting seasons and access to food could all be severely disrupted, increasing the risks for communities already on the brink of disaster.

Check out the latest update from IRIN News Agency.

Wangari Maathai is the 2004 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and founder of the Greenbelt Movement. She has spent her life as an activist promoting women’s rights, civil society and environmental protection. The international arm of the Greenbelt Movement focuses on empowering African women and girls, especially nurturing their leadership and entrepreneurial skills.

Ms. Maathi has said that ‘‘Africa is not poor. But the people of Africa are poor. They do not have the skills to use the resources they have in abundance. There can be no development in Africa if the continent does not use its resources effectively.''
In this short film, Ms. Maathai discusses the value of human rights and politics in creating a just society.

Today the Economist posted a briefing on the 2008 Freedom of the World report published by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal, concluding that in recent years "African countries have made negligible progress liberalising their economies."

For the most part, although not without exception, the Heritage Foundation’s correlation between incomes per head and economic freedom holds good. Seven of the ten economically most free African economies (Mauritius, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Tunisia, Swaziland and Cape Verde) are, in fact, middle-income states. Uganda, Madagascar and Kenya, however, are very low-income countries.

Photo: Danny McL (flickr)

It is shocking to read and hear about elections dissolving into civil crisis as we are seeing in Kenya right now. However, as a Kenyan friend of mine is warning, we should be reluctant to take media portrayal of an event as absolute truth:

“When it comes to international media I am nothing short of disgusted. The international community has a very bad (not to mention ignorant) view of Africa. So when something happens to slightly re-affirm that view they have a field day with it. I am not in any way trying to downplay what is happening in Kenya but you all have to understand that there are those of us who voted for the current president and are happy with the outcome. However, a happy Kenyan is not deemed 'newsworthy' as compared to a disgruntled rioter. That is the sadistic nature of journalism.

Before I watched the international coverage on the Kenya, I used to feed on everything the news said. At least now I know to take everything with a pinch of salt...Kenya has 42 tribes, that's why I don't see the Rwanda scenario playing out. However, the biggest tribe (the Kikuyu) are scattered everywhere in Kenya. There's even a joke that they are found everywhere in the world. The opposition has decided to eliminate Kikuyus in the opposition strongholds..thus the killing. Only because the president is Kikuyu. Apart from those places in Western Kenya, the rest of us are fine...it's very unfortunate and maybe the Kofi Annan team will realize that this has shifted from a political crisis to a humanitarian crisis.”

It is hard to understand the political situation going on in countries far away from us, ruled in a way unknown to us. Judi, my friend, makes a provocative argument about the desire to sensationalize stories rather than give bare-bones facts of the matter in cases like these, and it is difficult to know where to go to learn exactly what is taking place without hyperbole.

Most Americans were shocked at the violence following Kenya's December 2007 elections. Many think of Kenya as the one stable country in the horn of Africa-- a tourist destination for safaris, not bloodshed. The Council on Foreign Relations published a great report Friday, outlining the economic and political factors which have played a role in the continuing violence.

The report outlines how ultimately economic and ethnic factors are inherently linked. While Kenya has not traditionally been a country with strong ethnic divisions (citing a poll in which 70% of the population would rather be identified as Kenyan rather than according to tribal affiliations), wealth is unevenly divided among various ethnic groups. For example, "the head of the Nairobi Stock exchange, the Central Bank of Kenya, and Kenya Electric Generating Company, the region’s largest power generator, are all Kikuyu (Bloomberg)." I might add, so is the current President Mwai Kibaki.

Kenyans see democracy and economic growth as inextricably linked. Their main aspiration for democracy, according to Afrobarometer, is that it will create more equitable distribution of economic opportunity. For Kenya’s economy to take off, it must distribute power among ethnic groups. “Kenya could be a shining example,” says Barkan. “But it could unravel further politically and the economy could become moribund.” Juma believes for regional imbalances to be addressed, the country needs to upgrade its infrastructure. He suggests that a large-scale government employment scheme, structured like the New Deal in the 1930s United States, could employ youth to do this.

This inequality (which is compared to levels in Liberia and the DRC), coupled with corruption and strong man political practices has resulted in the violence that has claimed an estimated 800 lives.

Today the BBC posted a video that took a closer look inside Kibera, a large urban slum of Nairobi. Kibera is experiencing a water and sanitation crisis as nearly one million people are living in the slum without a suitable water supply.

Kenya’s economy, troubled even before the recently disputed election, is suffering from a “youth bulge” which may have helped increase the acceleration into violence the country saw hours after the votes were counted. According to Stephanie Hanson of the Council on Foreign Relations, “research shows that countries with a “youth bulge” are particularly vulnerable to civil conflict.” The country suffers from high unemployment rates, especially among these young people, who make up a majority of the population. Nevertheless, the youth should not be written off altogether. Their “potential to lead positive political change” suggests that “policymakers should spur job creation and education opportunities.” In other words, given the chance to lead productive lives, the population will be more likely to thrive, and perhaps help mitigate rather than escalate crises.