It's supposed to become Africa's biggest ethanol plant. Mozambican president Guebuza recently laid the first stone for the Procana project in the southern province of Gaza. It is planned to produce 480,000 liters of biofuel daily in 2010. In order to do so, 9000 tons of sugar cane are needed every day. 30,000 hectares of land have been reserved for the growth of these crops. These fields of course have to be irrigated, and there lies the problem. The water comes from a dam in the Limpopo river that local farmers also use for irrigation. They fear that the biofuel producer will take up so much water that nothing will be left for their maize and rice fields. Once again the question rises what deserves priority: fuel or food. UN-expert Jean Ziegler already called the growing production of biofuel a 'crime against humanity'. Food becomes more expensive because arable land is used to produce fuel, stated Ziegler, and the world's poor are the ones who suffer the consequences.

Back in the Netherlands, I've just missed my Congolese friend and colleague Chouchou Namegabe. As a representative of over fifty human rights organisations in Eastern Congo, she addressed the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. She criticized the indictment against militia leader Thomas Lubanga, first prisoner of the ICC, calling it much too limited: 'Why does the ICC judge Thomas Lubanga for enrolment of child soldiers, but not for committing sexual crimes? This comes as a real shock for Congolese women.' In a petition Eastern-Congolese ngo's urge the Court to invest more in the investigation and prosecution of sexual crimes, commited on a large scale by every party in the conflict in Eastern Congo. Up till now the ICC has failed to take the systematic sexual violence committed against women seriously, criticize Chouchou and her Eastern-Congolese partners. Seventy percent of the victims of the violende in the Congo is female, French research recently showed.

Also amusing for the more advanced in the Mozambican capital: the series 'How to Maputo' on YouTube. Up till now four hand shot videos by Brad and Bob, two expats with too much time on their hands, about the basic skills to survive in the city on the Indian Ocean. The series starts with buying phone credit of mCel on the street - not mentioning by the way that rival provider Vodacom also sells its credit on every corner. The next video covers car security, part three discusses the inevitable cashew nuts, although sold in unusually hygienic plastic wrapping instead of from a big pile on a cane basket. And in the last episode Brad buys a marrabenta cd on the terrace of Piri Piri. There he also teaches the magic words for salesmen who won't take no for an answer: 'Não hoje' (not today) and 'Talvez mais tarde...' (maybe later).

A good friend in Maputo pointed out to me that I wasn't quite telling the truth on this weblog. Time to set things straight. In a previous entry I mentioned that 2M was my favourite beer in Mozambique, but I have to admit that this is not entirely the case. The Pilsner lager I actually prefer however, is not easy to get. One of the most widely acclaimed beers in Southern Africa is Laurentina Clara, produced in Mozambique. It has won many awards, but unfortunately the prize winning variety is not available to just anyone, in spite of Laurentina's slogan of being 'the beer on every corner'. The so called Laurentina 'primeira linha' is not the same stuff they sell in popular bars or cafés downtown - which tastes like dog food. I only found the genuine prize winning lager in the pool bar of the posh Terminus Hotel - and that is not exactly my kind of place. So by lack of availablity, I go for my ever present second best: 2M. But if you can ever find the real Laurentina, go for it. ;o)

I'd already forgotten how the weather influences life here... Last week it was raining for three days in a row in Maputo. Mud streams in the bairros, streetwide puddles in the avenidas downtown and a diary full of cancellations. Just a drop of rain is reason enough for the average Mozambican to postpone all previous engagements. So during my last week I saw nearly all my plans dropped. The combination of work and studying hasn't been easy to begin with. Not in the least because my description of night life in the Mozambican capital keeps me awake until late at night, while I am nevertheless expected in class the next morning. I already look forward to many hours of sleep to catch up with in my own bed in Utrecht...