The challenge for africa : a new vision Wangari Maathai

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: On the wrong bus -- The farmer of Yaoundé -- A legacy of woes -- Pillars of good governance : the three-legged stool -- Aid and the dependency syndrome -- Deficits : indebtedness and unfair trade -- Leadership -- Moving the social machine -- Culture : the missing link? -- The crisis of national identity -- Embracing the micro-nations -- Land ownership : whose land is it, anyway? -- Environment and development -- Saving the Congo forests -- The African family

Taking a view far from the dependent Africa typically portrayed by Western media, Maathai lays bare the complex and multi-layered culture of the continent, offering optimistic yet feasible ways to improve the quality of life that literally start from the ground up. Maathai analyzes the major impediments to development at three key levels--international, national, and individual. By stressing personal responsibility, Maathai focuses on what Africans can do for themselves to empower individual change at the community level.