At the time of Wednesday’s announc

ement out of Guinea that seven of nine missing Ebola workers had been found dead, we knew little. Men with knives had abducted members of a group sent there to spread awareness about the disease. Two relief workers were missing; the rest, dead. Six suspects were in custody.

By Friday morning, we knew more. These details, the stuff of horror films. A local government group of relief workers—a mix of doctors, religious leaders, and journalists—had arrived Monday to educate the remote southeastern village of Womey about Ebola. Just 24 hours after their arrival, violence broke out, allegedly sparked by the false belief that a disinfectant being sprayed was actually the disease itself. An angry mob brandishing machetes, stones, and knives lashed out.

Published on Aug. 28, 2014

An outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa could amount to 20,000 cases, the World Health organisation says (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention/PA) 

A panel of experts called Thursday for minor drugs offences to be decriminalised in west Africa, where trafficking, consumption and production is undermining development and causing a public health crisis.

The West Africa Commission on Drugs (WACD) said current policies were fuelling corruption in a region where the cocaine trade alone, estimated at $1.25 billion (920 million euros) a year, dwarfs the combined budgets of several countries.

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CURRENT CONDITIONS Guinea has a tropical climate with two alternating seasons, a November–March dry season and an April–October rainy season. In general, rainfall increases from north to south. Average annual rainfall is 1,988 mm. Rice is the staple crop, and other important food crops are corn, fonio groundnuts, and cassava. Most of the population is rural, and the agricultural sector is the major employer. Urbanization is a growing phenomenon in Guinea. Agricultural GDP remained at about 20 percent of total GDP between the mid-1980s and 2005. By 2009, that share declined to less than 10 percent, reflecting a stagnation in agricultural productivity and the growth of other sectors like mining and the service sector.  

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