West Africa’s waste collection app

Ghana's gourmet chef Elijah Addo is reducing food waste and feeding those in need. Once employed by high-end restaurants, Addo today runs West Africa's largest foodbank, and organizing mobile feeding campaigns has become his full-time job.

New Delhi has imposed a federal ban on some single-use plastics in a country that generates around 4 million tons of the material every year. Offenders can net hefty fines or a five-year jail sentence.

It is a common sight in Addis Ababa these days to see men, women and even children moving around the city with huge bags of plastic waste. Their hauls mostly contain plastic bottles, but any plastic waste they come across will fetch cash according to its weight.

The French president has kicked off a tour of Cameroon, Benin and Guinea-Bissau at a time when French influence in Africa is being called into question in several countries.

Stacks of hairy yams line a market in Ibadan, Nigeria, where traders haggle over quality and price before loading them into cars for the last mile to consumers. Nearby, a man navigates heavy traffic with a hand cart piled high with the tubers. Yams - pounded into paste, ground into flour, boiled or fried – provide sustenance and livelihoods across West Africa.

Nigeria and Morocco sign a deal to build the world's longest offshore gas pipeline. When it’s completed in over 20 years’ time, it will connect 15 West African nations and eventually lead on to Europe's shores.

"The most sustainable garment is one you keep for the rest of your life." Livia Firth, co-founder and creative director of Eco-Age, says the fashion industry has been turned upside down by the #fastfashion business, but that consumers and designers can reverse the trend. "The world has been addicted to consuming, like we've been addicted to sugar. We now have to wean ourselves [off that trend] and understand that it's not necessary to constantly change our wardrobe. In the long term you actually save a lot of money," she tells FRANCE 24.

A business in Nigeria is recycled discarded laptops into solar lanterns - creating a solution to the country's severe power outages whilst also helping to tackle climate change.

This process, known as fluidization is very efficient at converting food waste into high-valuable sources of energy-rich synthesis gas, a mixture of hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, also called syngas. Syngas can be used to generate heat and power.

In France, where 8 million people are food insecure, 10 million tonnes of food are thrown away every year. But initiatives are under way to limit food waste. In the heart of Paris's La Défense business district, the eco-conscious restaurant La Salle à Manger makes cheap meals out of leftovers from local caterers and unsold food from supermarkets.

Jerome Ngutor had trouble with a persistent stomach ache but like many Nigerians, he did not have money to see a doctor. Then he heard about a novel idea to get health insurance - collect waste material and trade it for cover.

An international team of scientists believe severe flooding in Nigeria and surrounds was considerably worsened by climate change and believe the trend could continue.