Digging beneath the headlines, in his second article in Hunger Explained on the Covid-19 pandemic and food systems, Materne Maetz describes how poverty and hunger are increasing, with people living in urban areas and women hardest hit, particularly households dependent on informal employment. Looking ahead, he flags that the longer-term horizon is not much better for countless millions given that, even before the pandemic, the world was not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the target year of 2030, with the United Nations now projecting that it is “virtually impossible” to achieve the Goals on poverty, unless a poverty miracle occurs.

This is a further bitter blow to the hopes and ambitions of another generation of disadvantaged people in poorer countries around the world. In Africa in particular, we can only be supportive of efforts to provide children and young people with a solid education and pathways to decent jobs, while creating buoyant economies and without compromising prospects for retaining a biodiverse environment. This is an extremely tall order and African countries are also subject to the influence and effects of global market forces, something which the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement could help to contain by stimulating intra-continental trade. Well-being in Africa, especially of its young people, depends on providing more than a vision of hope, and we must look for opportunities in adversity.

In this edition of Baobab, we feature an opinion piece by Dr Barbara Gemmill-Herren, lead editor of a new co-authored, open-access publication on true-cost accounting in agriculture, forestry and fisheries. She suggests that now is the time to expand this holistic basis for natural resource management, given the many benefits it offers for producers and the planet. Elsewhere in Baobab, you will find stories showing how desperate situations can sometimes be overcome with will, knowledge, innovation, legislation and the right incentives. We touch on invasive alien species; mangrove restoration; enhancing the identity of geographic-specific products; the “green” transformation of Africa and the key role of forests in employment; providing greater protection to the continent’s iconic mammal – the elephant; and a tree-plantation venture in Sierra Leone.

As a Chinese photographer – name unknown – has been quoted as saying: “Africa is for the far-sighted, for the magnificence of its people, wildlife and wilderness”.

Understand this and you will start to believe in a greater future for Africa.

I am sure you will find something of interest in this edition. My sincere thanks again to Alastair Sarre and Mafa Chipeta for their advice and support. A reminder, as always, about Baobab – we sometimes present original material but, for the most part, we simply draw your attention to items of interest published elsewhere by summarizing and linking to them.

Patricia