Somalia

A Malawian farmer in her groundnut plot. Photo: <ahref:http://www.flickr.com/photos/44760652@N05/7337617292/">CIMMYT (Flickr)</a>.

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Value Chains

Farm growth fights poverty twice as fast as other growth

The most equitable way a country can stimulate a post-conflict economy is to invest in agriculture, an African nonprofit says.

NYT columnist Nicholas Kristof faces criticism that his coverage of war, poverty and violence is detrimental for Africa. Photo:Henry McInnes/Sunday Mail for Mercy Corps

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Twitter debate questions media’s impact on Africa’s prosperity

A new mapping tool ties climate change to humanitarian issues including conflict and displacement in countries like Somalia. Photo: <a href="http://www.mercycorps.org/topics/displacement">Cassandra Nelson/Mercy Corps</a>

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Maps to the rescue: New tool shows climate-driven clashes across Africa

The U.S. military is targeting an unorthodox foe in the battle for political stability in Africa: climate change.

Since formal banks and wire transfer companies (like the one above) don't exist in Somalia, they rely on hawalas to transfer funds. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emilywebber/4140550254/sizes/m/in/photostream/">Emily Webber (flickr)</a>

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How a banking law to fight terrorism could backfire in Somalia

Though they send more than $100 million home each year, the United States' largest population of Somali immigrants can no longer send a dime.

Protesters wave Egypt's flag. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/caitelle/5403613016/sizes/m/in/photostream/">C. Elle (flickr)</a>

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Turning Arab Spring youth opinions into data - and change

This story was republished in The Christian Science Monitor.

Women in Kenya drag jerry cans of water 4 kilometers through a parched landscape. Photo by Erin Gray/Mercy Corps.

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The East Africa drought: forecasting for humanitarian aid

How bad is the drought and famine in East Africa? Climate scientist Simon Mason elaborates in this video interview.

Aid can restore dignity by providing choices. Photo: Miguel Samper for Mercy Corps

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Alternatives to food aid can transform economies for good

Food aid can fill bellies, but countries hit by famine need choices, not handouts. Two new alternatives can solve longer-term problems by letting victims choose how aid gets used.

First, cash voucher programs give people choice.

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The Tricky Business of Feeding Oneself on a Dollar a Day

Over one billion people live on less than one dollar a day, according to the U.N. But what can you actually buy with a dollar?

By the summer of 2008, the price of rice had increased five times from the average price in 2005. Photo: Thatcher Cook for Mercy Corps

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Responding to the Global Food Crisis

The following post is from One Table, a Mercy Corps campaign to fight world hunger by investing in the world's women.

Pirates stock up on goats, cigarettes and other supplies when they return to shore. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/charlesfred/62784891/">CharlesFred (flickr)</a>

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Piracy Boosts Somali Economy

Piracy along Somalia's coastline represents a very lucrative business — as the pirates collectively earned an estimated $150 million in 2008 — but what is piracy's effect on Somalia's

The U.S. Navy comes to the assistance of a Taiwanese-flagged fishing trawler been seized by pirates off the coast of Somalia. Photo: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/opendemocracy/3055910885/">Open Democracy (flickr)</a>

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Good News (By Somalia's Standards)

After 18 years of civil war, some good news is finally coming from Somalia. The recent election of Sharif Ahmed, a moderate Islamist, as Somalia’s new president brings the country a chance for peace and stability.