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From Rwanda To Kenya, Beyond The Game Of Thrones In Africa

Rwanda's Paul Kagame in Nyanza on July 14
Rwanda's Paul Kagame in Nyanza on July 14
Alaric Moras

-Analysis-

"If I have been unable to mentor a successor or successors that should be the reason I should not continue as president. It means that I have not created capacity for a post-me Rwanda. I see this as a personal failure."

These words were uttered by none other than Rwandan President Paul Kagame in 2012. Five years later, it's a telling admission as Kagame — who has been in power for 17 years — won elections again, this time with 98.63% of the vote. Only two individuals were allowed to contest the elections, and they were only permitted to campaign the week before the vote. These astounding limitations aren't actually surprising: Kagame had already declared the August election "a formality". Rwandans had also previously voted in favor of amending the constitution on incumbents standing for re-election. That means that Kagame, 59, will be in office until at least 2024, and could potentially rule until 2034.

Another East African country, Kenya, is about to face elections tomorrow. Incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta is facing challenger Raila Odinga. As it has in the past, the campaign has centered around ethnic identity. More problematic, however, is the climate of suspicion that surrounds the election, with fears that vote-rigging could trigger violence similar to that in the wake of the 2007 election, when more than 1,400 people were killed.

These factors, as well as local dynamics in each country, can make elections appear too complex to the foreign eye.

From this landscape, it's easy to write off these nations as hopeless. But this would be short-sighted. Countries like Kenya and Rwanda lead Africa"s growth trajectory. Since Kenya's last election in 2013, foreign investment there has risen. Money is being poured into infrastructure. In Rwanda, Kagame rules over pristine streets in a country that once saw genocide. Poverty and inequality are rapidly falling, while foreign investment in industries such as solar power is booming.

Free and fair elections have long been problematic in African nations where powerful and corrupt dictators sometimes rule endlessly and where opposition and media often face crackdowns. Corruption is also a grave concern, as is political repression. These factors, as well as local dynamics in each country, can make elections appear too complex to the foreign eye. French daily Le Monde, for instance, attempted to explain Kenya's upcoming vote with a video that drew a parallel to Game of Thrones. What such explanations miss is the need in these countries to build strong democratic institutions to accompany economic growth.

I would say it but I think Kagame's quote above puts it across most eloquently.

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Green

Forest Networks? Revisiting The Science Of Trees And Funghi "Reaching Out"

A compelling story about how forest fungal networks communicate has garnered much public interest. Is any of it true?

Thomas Brail films the roots of a cut tree with his smartphone.

Arborist and conservationist Thomas Brail at a clearcutting near his hometown of Mazamet in the Tarn, France.

Melanie Jones, Jason Hoeksema, & Justine Karst

Over the past few years, a fascinating narrative about forests and fungi has captured the public imagination. It holds that the roots of neighboring trees can be connected by fungal filaments, forming massive underground networks that can span entire forests — a so-called wood-wide web. Through this web, the story goes, trees share carbon, water, and other nutrients, and even send chemical warnings of dangers such as insect attacks. The narrative — recounted in books, podcasts, TV series, documentaries, and news articles — has prompted some experts to rethink not only forest management but the relationships between self-interest and altruism in human society.

But is any of it true?

The three of us have studied forest fungi for our whole careers, and even we were surprised by some of the more extraordinary claims surfacing in the media about the wood-wide web. Thinking we had missed something, we thoroughly reviewed 26 field studies, including several of our own, that looked at the role fungal networks play in resource transfer in forests. What we found shows how easily confirmation bias, unchecked claims, and credulous news reporting can, over time, distort research findings beyond recognition. It should serve as a cautionary tale for scientists and journalists alike.

First, let’s be clear: Fungi do grow inside and on tree roots, forming a symbiosis called a mycorrhiza, or fungus-root. Mycorrhizae are essential for the normal growth of trees. Among other things, the fungi can take up from the soil, and transfer to the tree, nutrients that roots could not otherwise access. In return, fungi receive from the roots sugars they need to grow.

As fungal filaments spread out through forest soil, they will often, at least temporarily, physically connect the roots of two neighboring trees. The resulting system of interconnected tree roots is called a common mycorrhizal network, or CMN.

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