ggccccc'''''' host: welcome t“global 30.” profiting from poverty -- how slumlords in nairobi exploit those most in need. quality pays off -- how indinous peoe in mexo are using top ality coffee to fend off the competition. and atomic power? no, thanks. why germany is turning its back on nuclear energy. chernobyl and fukushima -- the worst two nuclear disasters in history. radioactive waste can remain hazardous for thousands of

years. yet many countries see nuclear power as “climate-friendly,” because the nuclear fission reaction doesn't emit co2. there are currently 443 reactors in operation worldwide, most in the u.s., followed by france, china, russia, japan, south korea, and india. and there are plans to build more. according to the international atomic energy agency, global nuclear production is set to double by 2050. germany, however, aims to shut down its atomic energy plants by the end of 2022, including brokdorf, which is the country's most controversial nuclear power station. reporter: these protesters are making their voices heard, anhave been doing so for decades outside a nuclear power plant in northern germy. foover 35 yes now, activists ha been meetg up once a month to call for the

reactor toe shut dow time that they'll be here todabraving the elements. that's because the brokdorf nuclear power plant, one of the most controversial in german will bdecommissied at the that's bend of the year.orf nuclfor pastor and protestf the co-founder hans-günter wner, it a day of mixed feelin. of operati. i'm gladtt but m also a b nostalgic, because i know i won't be seeing the group again any time soon. but it is mainly a sense of relief, that the nuclear power plant finally htory. we nev imagined ck then that we'd have to hold out so longreporter: all began in th1970's and that we'd h1980's.hold out so west german students joined forces with other largely left-then, in april 1986, an explosion in the chernobyl

nucleapower ant caused reactomelt-down. the entire region wa contamated, and this day nucleremains uninhabitable. west germany was one of many countries to register a surge in radioactivity. the brokdorf reactor was the first in the world to go online after the chernobyl disaster, six months later. several hundred thousand people turned out and some clashed with the police. hans-günter werner and his fellow-campaigners were determined to protest peacefully, and to continue until brokdorf was closed down. hans günter: i have distinct memories of chernobyl. my kids were still small and weren't allowed to play outside in the sandbox. the was wideread pan. what does the fall-out involve, and wh are the eects? were que scared but what hped agait that fear was taking a ance and

and they were right to be wary. werof radiation. a study conductein 2008 indicated at childregrowin up near german nuclear actors, incling brokdorf, were at significantly higher risk of contracting leukemia. tax revenue from theocal poweplant enled the village of brokdorf to expand and invest in a swimming pool and other facilities. but now, a financial fallout looms. elke: as a local auority will always support our commercialnterprises. we could have kept aew nuclear power plants running a bit longer, until e right stctures aren place r renewable energi. reporter: e 2011 fukushima nucar disaster prompted germany to declare a nuclear phase-out by the end of 2022. but many countries continue to

rely on nuclear power. this promotional film made by the french nuclear industry depicts it as clean and above all, clima-friendly, line argument so favored by that country's president. pres. macron: tochieve our objectives,n partular carbon utralityy 2050, will for thfirst time in decades relaunch the cotruction of nuclear reactors in our country. rerter: eenhouse gas emissions are lower than those from fossil r rerter: esolar power, nuclear energy production is famore exnsive. andw: 's reallclear, tho countrs around the world tha countries with nuclear weapons cil nuor countries reallyr demonstrably keen on nucle weapons. reporr: the use of nuclear energy for civilian pposes also forms

the bedrock, in a number of cases, for nuclear weapons programs, a point that paris and waington make no bones about. andrew: if you do not have a civil nucleaindustry, the engineers, the scial metal the welds, you can build a nuclear propelled submarine. so, these countries are looking at it, and there are reports in the u.s. that are . even if nuclear power were twice as expensive, weould still be rational to build it, because itelps us ke this military commitment. reporter: the brokdorf protesters take pride in their activism. the reactor will be shut down, but thradioactivwaste will rr decades to ce. thers still no permanent disposal site anywhere in the world, which is why the activists an to contue theifight. but for w, they caat least claim a ctory aftea 35-year-long campaign. host: clean, sustainable,

enronmentallsound. mo business ctors are focusingore and mo on theset: clerequirements.le, agriculture, too, needs to become more sustainable. depletedoils and wespread deforestatn mean farme need ever more fertilizers and pesticides to grow crops. research suggests that small-scale farms tend to be more sustaable a more relient. but there's tough mpetition from agribusinesses. in mexico, some coffee producers are pouring their energies into quality. our reporter, katja döhne, found t more. katja: it's early morning in nuevo progreso, a village in the mountains of veracruz. this is where the oltehua tezoco family live. they're nahuas, and at he, they speak nahuatl. anayanshy:

[speaking nahuatl] what i just said means, “greetings to the german viewers.” katja mexico is home to some two million nahuas, which makes them t lgest indenous group in theountry. mnahuatl one of over 60wo indigenous languages spoken in mexico, whic along with spanish, are recognized national languages. the family is laughing about a recent incident, a bittersweet: sister had overslept and was late, and my father mentioned that he'd seen a commercial on tv for some radio device that cost 5000 pesos. and i said, you can't even afford to put food on the table, and you want to buy an expensive radio device?

katja: the oltehuas grow coffee. ery memberf the family owns about a ctare of ld, so thes about five hectares. they've been growing coffee for generations, but coffee productionas never bn a reliab livelihd. the family has now joined up with an organization called cafecol, hoping it will help them earn a secure income and finally lead a more comfortable life. gerardo: many families that work in coffee production live in poverty. it's unacceptable that they have tlive in the condions when ffee is ch a valule commoty, justbecause tn have tlive in the conaspects the produion process they aren't familiar with. katja: the first step is to grow . cafecol buys the family's harvest at a higher price than the going market rate and then. the coffee farmers are given advice in the fields and their

beans are analyzed to see how they can be improved. in the cafecol headquarters in xalapa, the capital of the state of veracruz, the beans are examined and sampled in a laboratory. mayra: we're specialists in quality control. at this point we're examining the actualppearance the be. the int of ournalysis partly to give the farmers feedback so ey can oimize e producti process. tas you can see here, we've found ffee borereetles, ars type of pest that has infested e produthe crop.ss. so we haveo do something abouthat. we need to tell the farmers that they have a problem.

it very importt for them to keep their fincas clean in ordeto get rid of this pest. k: ithe coffee beans that aren't infested are then processed for sampling, roasted, weighed, and ground. the perts gather for a first round aroma tesng. initially, they keep their opinions to themselves. gerardo: anything you say might influence the others. so no one speaks while we're sampng. kaa: at ts stage, identifying the best-tasti beans isn't the ma priority.

gerdo: thhealth andafety asct isthe important. a coffee bean that's bee roasted too long isn't healthy. we also need to identify if any contamination occurred during the processing, over-fermentation or fungus infestation. katja: the experts also share their findings with the coffee producers. the goal is to improve the production processo that un fetch a higher pce. cafecol has also set up a fund to help families such as the oltehuas. they're paid an advance on their harvests, which means they're no longer under pressure to sell their coffee to the first distributor they can find. the fund is backed by biofin, a project launched by the international climate initiative.

in mexico, most coffee is grown ntraditional shaded coffee plantations which benefit the environment. the oltehua family had almost given up on coffee cultivation. but with the support of cafecol, they're more hopeful now that it can provide them with a secure livelihood. josias: my perspective has changed. i used to think, what will be will be. i didn't know anything about the quality of my coffee bea. so this is a success and we're going to continue growing our coffee. katja: so far, cafecol is working with 180 producers but hopes to increase that to 600. plantations can thrive. host: poverty is on the rise across the globe. thanks in part to the many

crises facing us, including the pandemic. poorer districts are expanding in cities. take the slums of nairobi, for example. more and more people are moving there out of financial desperation, or because drought has devastated their villages. many slumlords see it as a business opportunity. they rent out substandard housing to tenants who are alrey in dire raits. they renreporter:standard hmathare is one of kenya's biggest slums. landlords such as peter chege offer the cheapest possible housing, with no kitchen or running water and collect rent, with violence if need be. they take in a lot of money, and have the reputation for exploiting kenya's poorest. peter: i've got 30 houses here in mathare. i've been building them since i came here and i want to expand. my big goal is to have 40 houses. it's good to be a landlord. when you're getting money from

all these households you can make a lot and expand faster. the income lets you ild a lot . reporter: the housing market is not regulatehere. nants haveo pay whater the landlord demands. people share living space to make it affordable. an average 2.6 people live in a one room shack, which costs the equivalent of 30 euros a month. peter chege usually collects the rent himself. on camera, he makes an efft to be friendlypeter: hi. how are you? you got something for me? >> sure, i'll fetch it. peter: ok. is your husband home? >> no, he's not there. peter: no problem. when he gets in, tell him hello from me. reporter: when tenants don't pay the rent on time, the slumlords hire gangs to collect it. gangs who can be quick to

resort to violce. for about 10 eos, they'l rongarm the tenants, or throw them out. >> mostly we use machetes and some knives, you kw. this is africa. this is how we do it. one of our landlords, they were thtenant, heas beaten .nts. st i, myself, i have beaten some. he, you haveo be tough so that youan be rich. so, to have that cash you must be tough so that the boss will see you are doing a good job so he will le you something. we believe the tougher you are, the wealthier you become. reporter: agnes muhavishe has been living here in mathare for 18 years now. agnes: i came to the slum of mathare so my children could go to

school. there's work for rit now. i used to get by on day labor toay the schl fees. the coronarus made tngs a lot harder. there are jobs anyme. i don't have money for food or rent. everything's become much harder because there are hardly any chances left to earn mon. sometimes i'm so stressed i get sick. reporter: her ight is a mmon one he. lifen the cityan quickly sometimebecome a trap.sed i get the informal economy has a stranghold on e slum. foodwater, elericity, and rents all cost more thann the countryside. peter chege keeps meticulous records. those who pay get a receipt. those who don't can expect a

visit from a seet gang. ter: the young gangs know the locals here even better than the police. they're always willing to collect the nt. if you go to the police, they'll asyou for a pile of money first. you end up paying more than the 6000 shillings the tenant owes you. reporter: agnes muhavishe lives with her husband, cldren, and grand. eight people in a one room shack with no kitchen, bathroom, of running water. if they can't pay the back rent soon, they could be out on the street. since thpandemic h, a lot of people re can no nger pay their rent, so many of peter chege's houses are

standing empty. peter: i haven't en able toontact the tent of thislace for three mont. in this apartment, the tenant has been out of work for three months. i can't get anything from him. is renter ved out afr not ying for six months because ofhe corona pandem. the place has been empty sin then. reporter: peter che ght be mplaining,ut he's dog very well compared to his nants, whoace extrem he might lve the tents alonfor a femonths, bu then he'll sd a gang aund toettle matts by force meanwhile, the residents of mathare remain at the mercy of him and his fellow slumlords. host: escaping poverty can seem almost impossible.

one way is through a good education, and that doesn't necessarily mean a businesor medil degree. deness andmagination, for example, can bvery useful. and they're very much in demand in one rather magical place on the outskirts of cape town. sinethemba: hi my name is sinethemba bawuti. and welcome to the college of magic. reporter: the school opens its doors every saturday. >> that is my magic world. reporter: a bit of juggling, a bit of balloon swallowing, and all the classic magician tricks. teacher sinethemba bawuti first came here as a student himself, 16 years ago.

sinethemba: they teach me a lot of things. i would start first with respect. discipline. to love myself. to respect other people. to work hard in life. and to be honest as well. that's what it taught me, magic. so from here, yep, and the hand. here we go. it's gone. now open your hand slowly. and then you put your hand behind. under. then you roll the ball, roll the ball. so, from this side underneath here, you roll the ball. reporter: ayabonga tshofuti is one of approximately 200 students at the college of magic in cape town. their once-a-week training takes six years. many of them go on to work in theaters or as performers at children's birthday parties and corporate events. ayabonga: magic is mind-blowing. that's why i love doing magic. i love to see people amazed by me. reporter:

like ayabonga tshofuti, most of the students come from the townships, where poverty has been further exacerbated by the pandemic. he's an ambitious young man. he wants to be an engineer. magic is mainly a hobby, but it also teaches him useful life lessons. ayabonga: when it comes to maths, you have to practice every day. and if you need to be good also at magic, if you want to be good, you have to try again, try again, repeating the same thing. then you'll find yourself being good. reporter: his family probably won't able to afford to pay for him to study engineering. he'll be graduating from the college of magic in a year, and hopes he'll then start to make some money himself. >> i think it's good that he can do magic.

he can help us have a better life. ayabonga has told me that he'll buy us what we need when he starts to perform and get paid. the rest of us are unemployed. reporter: the young magician practices every day. he doesn't have juggling balls, so he uses potatoes instead. his teacher, sinethemba bawuti, comes from guguletho, another township. he says that magic helped him stay on the straight and narrow. in these neighborhoods, it's all too easy to be led astray. sinethemba: you see guys when you are growing up going into drugs, and doing bad stuff, and you feel bad. you look at them and you reflect on your life and say, thank god, you know? i'm still here today. and you look to some people and think no, no, no, i don't want to be like you. so that's why people like me, we must keep dreaming so we can inspire younger kids so they don't fall for the same -- other people fall for. reporter: he performs at corporate events

and for children in hospitals. but wherever he is, he always has a trick up his sleeve. sinethemba: this is 10 rand. i'll fold it, and fold it again, and when i'm done folding it, it will turn into 100 rand. reporter: his audience often can't believe their eyes. >> it really is 100 rand. reporter: students from all sorts of social backgrounds take part in the six-year-training at the college of magic. it costs the equivalent of 350 euros a year. sponsorships and grants are available to students who can't afford the fees. sinethemba:

everybody, hands up in the sky. wiggle your fingers. on the count of three, don't forget to say the magic word -- abracadabra. abracadabra! there is no hole inside the plastic card. thank you so much. did you enjoy that? reporter: not all the students will go on to make a living as magicians, but still, they will have learned many valuable lessons here. sinethemba: if you're juggling and then you drop the ball, you must bend and pick up the ball. it's a lesson that teaches you as well. once you fall in life, you have to pick yourself up because this is still a long journey, so you cannot just give up. that's the whole lesson. host: that's all from us at "global 3000" this week. do drop us a line with your feedback.

you can reach us at global3000@dw.com. and we're on facebook too, dw global ideas. see you next time. until then, take care. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ >> this is "dw news." keep bringing in the new year. hong kong puts on a display at victoria harbour. many scaled-back amid rising covid cases. also, germany's chancellor urges the public to stand together and get vaccinated. fast-moving wir