Podcast. “The Knowledge Factory” is anchored on the African continent for its second season

After a season 1 dedicated to the place of science in society, discover season 2 of “The Knowledge Factory”. Always in partnership with theEspace Mendès France in Poitiers (EMF), the podcast of World focuses this time on the issues facing the African continent. Preservation of biodiversity, water management, maintenance of food security, control of hygiene and the link between environment and health… discover five new episodes, recorded on the occasion of the Great Wall summer school green organized by the EMF in Poitiers, broadcast from August 29 to September 2 on Lemonde.fr and podcast platforms. At the microphone of journalist Joséfa Lopez, specialists and actors in the field from France and Africa discuss to understand the world of today and build that of tomorrow.

Monday August 29: Why ecology and health are intimately linked

Stagnant water – ideal for mosquitoes – and an epidemic of malaria develops. A strong urbanization and it is bats – disturbed – which come to contaminate mammals. Environment, health and society are intimately linked. It can then be useful to zoom out to understand how diseases develop in humans. That’s what we call ” the ecology of health”. What does this discipline consist of? How can the transformations of our environment and the evolution of our lifestyles have an impact on our health? How to learn to live with the living?

Answers with Serge Morand, biologist, health ecologist at CNRS, IRD and CIRAD and expert in the “One Health” program; Delphine Destoumieux-Garzon, research director and biologist at the CNRS, specialist in host-pathogen-environment interactions; Patrick Mavingui, microbiologist and research director at the CNRS at the University of La Réunion, specialist in tropical diseases.

Tuesday August 30: How the Great Green Wall is trying to reforest Africa

It emits more CO₂ than nature can capture, shaves forests, builds roads, overexploits land, uses chemicals, fishes more than the oceans allow… In each of its activities, human beings interact with other ecosystems . But its excesses result in the decline of biodiversity. We even speak of “6^e mass extinction. To compensate for these devastating effects, initiatives are born. This is the case of the great green wall. Launched in 2007 by the African Union, this ecological restoration project plans to plant… trees. What is this project about? How does it materialize? Fifteen years after its launch, what are the results?

Some answers with Gilles Boetsch, anthropologist, emeritus research director at the CNRS and co-director of the Téssékéré Men-Environment Observatory; Aliou Guissé, botanist, professor of plant ecology at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (UCAD), co-director of the Tessékéré Men-Environment Observatory; Martine Hossaert-McKey, emeritus research director at the CNRS in the ChimEco laboratory and at the CEFE, in Montpellier, in charge of biodiversity and overseas missions for the CNRS.

Wednesday August 31: How to Succeed in Feeding Africa

Repeated droughts, chronic instability, economic slowdowns and an entire continent is hungry. Africa has suffered from decades of food insecurity. After a period of improvement between 2000 and 2013, the situation has now considerably worsened. Almost all countries in Africa bear the burden of malnutrition, in the form of undernutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. In 2020, according to UN data, one in five Africans was undernourished, mainly in Central and East Africa. A situation that has worsened with the pandemic and the conflicts. How to eliminate hunger on the continent? Are initiatives emerging to try to stabilize the situation? Will famine ever leave Africa?

Elements of answers with Jean-Daniel Cesaro, Silat project manager (AgroParisTech) and doctor in geography from the University of Paris-Ouest-Nanterre-la Défense (Paris-X); Alphonsine Ramdé, researcher at the Institute for Research in Health Sciences (IRSS) and national coordinator of the “Nutri-Green” program; David Giron, director of the Insect Biology Research Institute (IRBI), in Tours.

Thursday 1^er September: How the water we drink affects our health

She is vital. Indispensable to climate regulation, to the development of life on Earth, to the maintenance of ecosystems and populations, to agriculture. It seems to be inexhaustible and yet… According to the UN, nearly half of the world’s population lives in areas where water may be lacking for at least one month a year. A proportion that could almost double by 2050. And the quality of drinking water is decreasing all over the world, all the more so with climate change. How to allow everyone to drink to their thirst? What impact does water have on our health? How is its treatment organized in countries that lack it?

Answers with Agathe Euzen, Head of the CNRS Water Unit and Deputy Director of the CNRS Institute of Ecology and Environment (INEE); Massamba Diouf, professor of public health, specialist in dental surgery and the impact of water on dental fluorosis in Ferlo, Senegal; Jérôme Labanowski, CNRS researcher in the E-Bicom team, specialist in water contaminants.

Friday, September 2: Why hygiene is so vital to our health

Hand washing, hydroalcoholic gel, masks, distance of one meter. Habits that we have taken with the Covid-19 epidemic. Along with vaccination and antibiotics, hygiene is one of the keys to being healthy and fighting viruses. It also helps prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes or blood pressure through adapted lifestyle habits. What can we learn from these good practices? How to maintain them, especially in developing countries where everything is lacking? How can you learn to clean your house or a hospital without polluting the environment?

Elements of answers with Priscilla Duboz, anthropobiologist, deputy director of the Observatory men-milieux international Tessékéré; Lamine Gueye, doctor, rector of Gaston-Bergé University in Saint-Louis, Senegal, and neurobiologist; Bruno Grandbastien, president of the French society of hospital hygiene and professor of public health in Lausanne.

Also listen “The Knowledge Factory”, the “World” podcast on the dialogue between science and society

“The Knowledge Factory” is a podcast written and hosted by Joséfa Lopez for The world. Directed by: Eyeshot. Graphic identity: Mélina Zerbib. Partnership: Sonia Jouneau, Victoire Bounine. Partner: Espace Mendès France in Poitiers.

Josefa Lopez