Africa is playing a more important role in world affairs than ever before. Yet the most common images of Africa in the American mind are ones of poverty, starvation, and violent conflict. But while these problems are real, that does not mean that Africa is a lost cause. Instead, as Stephen Ellis explains in Season of Rains, we need to rethink Africa’s place in time if we are to understand it in all its complexity—it is a region where growth and prosperity coexist with failed states. This engaging, accessible book by one of the world’s foremost researchers on Africa captures the broad spectrum of political, economic, and social foundations that make Africa what it is today. Ellis is careful not to position himself in the futile debate between Afro-optimists and Afro-pessimists. The forty-nine diverse nations that make up sub-Saharan Africa are neither doomed to fail nor destined to succeed. As he assesses the challenges of African sovereignties, Ellis is not under the illusion that governments will suddenly become more benevolent and less corrupt. Yet, he sees great dynamism in recent technological and economic developments. The proliferation of mobile phones alone has helped to overcome previous gaps in infrastructure, African retail markets are becoming integrated, and banking is expanding. Businesses from China and emerging powers from the West are investing more than ever before in the still land-rich region, and globalization is offering possibilities of enormous economic change for the growing population of one billion Africans, actively engaged in charting the future of their continent. This highly readable survey of the continent today offers an indispensable guide to how money, power, and development are shaping Africa’s future.

Online Classroom: Australian Geography Series – Year 1 is a package that includes: Interactive Online Geography Resource The online resource can be viewed on smart/whiteboards, tablets and laptops. This interactive resource includes videos, audio, clickable buttons, graphics and more. It is specifically targeted at engaging Year 1 students and bringing classroom lessons to life. Teachers’ Guide The teachers’ guide includes step-by-step instructions to using the online resource. All you will need to know about using the online resource is provided in this guide. The code and registration details are provided in this guide too. BLM Activity Sheets Photocopiable BLM activity sheets which link to the online content are included in this package. Originally created for our popular BLM ‘Australian Geography Series Book 1: Places Have Distinctive Features’, these activity pages have been modified for this package. Students can complete the activities after viewing the online content. All of the activity sheets have been carefully created to meet the requirements of the Australian Curriculum. Online Classroom brings Year 1 Geography to life. The curriculum-linked topics include: Section 1: Features Of Places In this section learn about natural, managed and constructed features. Explore Dreaming stories which explain the creation of natural features, and consider how features of places are looked after. Section 2: Weather And Seasons In this section learn about seasons and weather patterns in Australia and places around the globe. Section 3: Activities And Location In this section find out why the activities that we do often depend on where we live, and learn about ways to manage waste. Online Classroom can be used to: • plan and present your lessons • generate lively class discussions • set up group work • foster independent learning on individual devices • set online homework and digital research tasks

A detailed review of climate change and its impacts on farming systems since the Neolithic, including anticipated future changes.

Rains All the Time is the first social history of the weather of this notoriously wet region-not just how damp it is, but what it does to the souls of those who have endured, cursed, and worshipped it. David Laskin documents the human response to the weather in the Northwest, from Francis Drake's condemnation-"Vile, thicke and stinking fogges"-to today's inhabitants. He also explores how the damp weather has been a great muse to writers and painters.

When It Rains, It Pours is the third publication from Proximity Designs, a Yangon-based social business and one of Myanmar’s largest providers of agricultural products and services. The book provides a panoramic view of the sesame ecosystem in Myanmar, with a deep dive from the perspective of small farmers, and offers tangible opportunities to address the challenges they face. Known as the forgotten crop for its tendency to be overshadowed by the more established paddy, sesame is grown in Myanmar’s Central Dry Zone by an estimated 500,000 farmers. Myanmar is also one of the top exporters of sesame in the world, with even greater export potential, but many factors threaten the livelihood of sesame farmers, such as climate change, labor shortages and pests and diseases. The publications is the output of eight weeks of intensive research conducted in Myanmar’s main sesame growing areas by a team of ten design researchers, seven from Proximity’s own team and three from world-renowned design firm Studio D Radiodurans. Using a design research approach, the team sought to deliver a deep, human understanding of the problems sesame farmers face and opportunities to overcome them.