At GLF Africa, we’ve brought local artists to inspire change towards an equitable and resilient future for everyone. View the continent and its people through the lens of African photographers, advocate for environmental and social justice through African rhythms, and immerse yourself in Africa’s stories.
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ART TO YOUR CALENDAR
Creatives for climate
African artists are sweeping the globe with the lush sounds of their continent, enticing the world to tune in. On 15 September at 20:00 EAT (UTC+3), we will bring together African creatives from across film, music, and art to perform and engage in dialogue, illustrating the power of music and art to inspire and bring us in tune with nature.
Discover Africa’s stories
All too often, the stories we hear about Africa are not told by Africans, leading to misconceptions and negative stereotypes. On 15 September at 14:45 EAT (UTC+3), discover new narratives around the peoples, cultures, and landscapes of Africa, as told by young storytellers from across the continent.
Inside Cameroon and Kenya
Travel with us to the beautiful landscapes of West and Central Africa on 15 September at 08:30 EAT (UTC+3). Learn from the Maasai community on this fascinating virtual tour to Kuku Group Ranch, near Mount Kilimanjaro, and Yaoundé, Cameroon.
AFRICAN ART FOR LIFE
Little Drops of Climate Action
Kiragala 'Green'
Saving Mother Earth
Ghost
Fishers on the Run
Light
Nairobi
Baka pygmy bushmeat hunter
Gender: Not On Our Soil - A Climate Justice Reality
The Greenhouse
Storytelling For Change
A Love Letter to the Sun
When will you wake up?
The Fortress
The Untold Story of Machina Community
Climate Insanity
Ghanaian chef quit his job to fight hunger in African communities in a vulnerable situation
Soil to be valued by the Green Generation
Little Drops of Climate Action
StorytellingLittle Drops of Climate Action' was made to inspire others to reconsider their daily actions and take little steps that contribute to climate change mitigation.
Daniel Obloni Kweitsu is a communications specialist with several years of experience working on development-related projects, especially in the environmental and Natural Resource sector. In this video, he tells the story of Eunice and her amazing work raising tree seedlings for landscape restoration activities in Ghana. Her example shows how we can all take little actions toward a greater social good at the individual level.
Learn more about this story and discover more narrations in the session 'The many stories across Africa.'
Kiragala 'Green'
MusicKiragala is a Luganda word that means green. This song advocates for climate justice by encouraging people to go green, preserve the environment and stand against the single use of plastic.
This song celebrates East Africa's work to stand against plastic pollution. For example, as the first landlocked country to sign the UN Environmental Program Clean Seas pledge, Uganda commits to curb the flow of marine and plastic waste entering lakes, rivers and oceans. 'Kiragala' encourages us to play our part and reminds us that the Earth is our only home.
Suubi is a visual and performing artist who uses her voice and visual art as tools for change in her community and the world. She is vocal about climate change, proclaims truth and hope, and signals the power to start acting using what one has around them.
Learn more about this story and discover more narrations in the session 'The many stories across Africa.'
Saving Mother Earth
ShortfilmSaving Mother Earth' follows an agriculturalist who, inspired by past life traumas, starts a draught eradication initiative dubbed 'It's Not Yet Done.'
Muga Brian is a filmmaker, poet, scriptwriter, biology teacher and agricultural extensionist who hails from Kisumu-Kenya. He shares his passion for life, as it is what keeps him alive.
Learn more about this story and discover more narrations in the session 'The many stories across Africa.'
Ghost
StorytellingThis story of Oladele is a sad tale of a creative who hails from the south-western part of Nigeria. In terms of finding a greener pasture, he lost his life at sea because he couldn't afford the expense of leaving legally.
Oladele Bello is a theatre and media arts student at the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti. He's on a quest to tell stories as a filmmaker.
Learn more about this story and discover more narrations in the session 'The many stories across Africa.'
Fishers on the Run
PhotographyThis stunning image by Sani Mohammed shows thousands of fishers on the run during the Argungu Fishing Festival 2020 in Argungu, Kebbi State, Nigeria.'Fishers on the run' won first place in the GLF Africa 2022 photo competition: Capturing life and beauty of Africa.
Sani Mohammed Maikatanga is a photojournalist and documentary Photographer who's been working as a photographer since 1992.
Learn more about the winners of the GLF Africa 2022 photo competition, and check out Sani’s video message:
Light
Photography‘Light’ is Lungisani’s second winning photo at GLF Africa 2022 photo competition: Capturing life and beauty of Africa. The photo was taken in a small village called "Nongidi" from the edge of Kwazulu natal, where you can see the Eastern Cape. If there's light in your eyes, show those in the dack the right way.
Lungisani Mjaji is a realistic photographer, and he photographs with his heart. He’s a 24-year-old currently enrolled in commercial Photography studies at the Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa.
Learn more about the winners of the GLF Africa 2022 photo competition, and check out Lungisani’s message below:
Nairobi
Photography‘Nairobi’ is Kevin’s third winning photo at GLF Africa 2022 photo competition: Capturing life and beauty of Africa. Photo of Kenya’s Capital city, Nairobi shot at sunrise to capture the colors. In the foreground are the Railway golf club and the new Expressway.
Kevin Maimba is a professional photographer based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Learn more about the winners of the GLF Africa 2022 photo competition.
Baka pygmy bushmeat hunter
Photo by Brent Stirton/Getty Images for FAO, CIFOR, CIRAD, WCS. A village hunter returning after a successful hunt near the Nouama Ndoki National Park. Republic of the Congo, 2021.
As part of a conservation project, WCS and the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme work with a logging concession on three separate concessions. They allow their workers to hire these pygmies, who are excellent hunters, to hunt for them in controlled circumstances twice a month in a legal hunting area on the periphery of Nouama Ndoki National Park.
Brent Stirton is a South African photographer, a Senior Correspondent for Getty Images and a Fellow of the National Geographic Society.
Hear more from Brent about this photo and other images presenting issues around wild meat consumption at the session ‘Walk on the wild side: A virtual journey around the SWM Programme’ on 15 September.
Gender: Not On Our Soil - A Climate Justice Reality
ShortfilmThe effects of gender inequality reverberate through time and are compounded in times of crisis. For instance, water scarcity is a critical issue in Africa and is greatly exacerbated by the climate crisis. Many still travel great distances for this basic human need. And traditionally, that responsibility falls on women.
Every day, women and young girls make perilous trips to dwindling water sources, putting themselves at risk of sexual assault. This is just one way in which women are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and are least likely to have the resources to cope with them.
Activists are rising up to change this narrative, like Sibongile Mtungwa, director of the Women’s Leadership and Training Programme (WLTP) in Centocow, KwaZulu Natal Province. The NGO is dedicated to developing the leadership skills of girls and young women in the community.
This episode is part of a five-part series, where we meet and explore the stories of the active citizens advocating for the #AfricaWeWant: Gender, Civil Society, Community, Journalism and Youth (Full).
The Greenhouse
FilmA Cameroonian establishes a greenhouse farming system to increase quality productivity and combat food shortages to stop hunger.
In this short film, the documentary filmmaker Sama Mildred Ngenseh shares her story of how farmers in Cameroon often struggle for rain, which causes food shortages during the dry season. The film introduces the greenhouse farming venture by Roland Fomundam. It produces quality farm produce all year round on a small piece of land and has a readily available market to supply its products.
Learn more about this story and discover more narrations in the session 'The many stories across Africa.'
Storytelling For Change
PoetryIn this poetry show, Martin Nyawara and his team at Amazon Theatrix Ensemble use the "Storytelling For Change" as an advocacy platform. They highlight the importance of wetland management and protection since they are the kidneys of the world, water purifiers, and the maternity wing in the habitat of fish, plants and other animals.
This piece addresses the importance of capacity building in the communities living along the shores of Lake Victoria in Dunga Beach. It tells how it equips communities to avoid encroachment of the wetlands and, therefore, human-animal conflict, plastic pollution in the lake, the rise of waterborne diseases and deforestation leading to low water receding levels in Lake Victoria.
Learn more about this story and discover more narrations in the session 'The many stories across Africa.'
A Love Letter to the Sun
PoetryThis poem was written from love. Being in love with the sun and all it does for us. I wrote the sun as a woman because some of my most loving relationships have been with women. The sun is beautiful and she cares for me so lovingly by being herself, by just shining in the sky. Nature is part of us and by giving us so much, it's proof of love. As a queer writer and artist, healthy wlw relationships can be so tender and giving and that's how I see a relationship with the sun. I am a genderfluid writer and activist, I believe in dismantling all systems of oppression and radical softness. I have been published in Living While Feminist, Letting In the Light: A Mental Wellness Anthology as well as having my own blog called A South African Story.
Read the full poem here.
Poem part of the African Climate Reality Project campaign When Is Now.
When will you wake up?
PoetryI am not a professional artist because I‘m currently in high school, but I write poems in my spare time and I deeply care for the environment. I wrote this poem to indicate how carelessly we’re treating the ocean and that we need to start fixing things and taking action because time is running out. The ocean’s blood is on our hands. When I say we need to wake up, I imply that we need to snap out of our dream world and start changing and acknowledging what’s going on and most importantly start doing something about it.
Read the full poem here.
Poem part of the African Climate Reality Project campaign When Is Now.
The Fortress
PoetryThe poem is written against the backdrop of the degradation of the Congo Basin Forest, which once stood as a mighty fortress. This depreciation has been blamed on greed, negligence and the unchecked exploitation of forest resources. This has had a devastating effect on frontline communities, trees and wildlife species. The poem ends with a question on what can be done to restore the forest so that it can continue to serve humans and biodiversity.
Ngwa Colvis Niba is a Climate Reality Leader, trained in 2021, Administrative Coordinator of Support Humanity Cameroon and Community Engagement Officer of GLFx Yaoundé. He is actively involved in the restoration of 151 hectares of degraded land in Bamunkumbit, North West Region of Cameroon. Ngwa is involved in environmental activism and one of his poems has been published by the African Climate Reality Project.
Poem part of the African Climate Reality Project campaign When Is Now.
The Untold Story of Machina Community
StorytellingIbrahim Inusah tells a story that seeks to trigger and expose the dying Sahara Machina community.
The productive land mass occupied by dunes in Yobe State, Nigeria has increased from 25,000 hectares to more than 30,000 (Haruna and Bukar, 2010). The Yobe State has its headquarters in Machina, a local government area where farmers make up nearly 95% of the population. Poverty, food insecurity, and drought have been daily challenges for this community, along with a lack of access to sustainable drinking water and climate change. Because of their dependency on fuelwood as a major source of cooking, this rocky community became vulnerable to windstorms, sandstorms, and desertification.
Learn more about this story and discover more narrations in the session 'The many stories across Africa.'
Climate Insanity
PoetryThe Poem is about climate grief and trauma.
Sunny Morgan a.k.a. Sunny The Solar Guy is a Climate Reality Leader trained in 2014 in SA. Sunny is Climate Justice Activist with the Rise Up for Climate Movement and co-founder of Debt for Climate, a Global South led grassroots campaign that is calling for the cancellation of the financial debt of the Global South against the climate debt of the Global North. The campaign aims to turn climate debt into climate action.
Read the full poem here.
Poem part of the African Climate Reality Project campaign When Is Now.
Ghanaian chef quit his job to fight hunger in African communities in a vulnerable situation
StorytellingAccording to the United Nations, some 280 million people in Africa are hungry and malnourished today. Experts have attributed this to the rapidly increasing food prices, conflict and insecurity, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In this audio, Ridwan Karim Dini-Osman tells the story of an accomplished chef from Ghana and how he is on a mission to change the narrative with a unique approach that seeks to combat food waste.
Learn more about this story and discover more narrations in the session 'The many stories across Africa.'
Soil to be valued by the Green Generation
StorytellingIn this short documentary, the Environmental Consultant Ghaamid Abdulbasat Hatibu describes how soil is the most valuable asset in our life, from the chain of food production to consumption, and how it is aching and overused.
Learn more about this story and discover more narrations in the session 'The many stories across Africa.'