Every week, RuralReporters.com collate reports on development issues in rural Africa and its environs.
This report includes some of our top picks from recent must-read research, interviews, blogs, and in-depth articles, carefully selected to help you keep up with global issues.
Here are some of the updates you may have missed from the previous week:
Ghana’s rural farmers calls for steps to solve post-harvest losses
Farmers in the Sekyere East District have appealed to the government to assist them to process their farm produce in order to reduce post-harvest loses and increase their incomes.
Mr Clement Duku, Chairman of the Asante Effiduase Kroye Farmers’ Co-operative Union, who made the appeal said processing and value addition was the surest way to boost incomes and reduce poverty among farmers.
Land reform stirs political passions in South Africa
A parliamentary committee will re-examine a constitutional clause on land reform in the coming months, possibly amending it to allow expropriation without compensation. This would be a radical step aimed at tackling a racial economic divide and reflects the fact that land has become one of most contentious political issues in South Africa. “Land was the rock on which the ANC was founded,” Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s president, told the Financial Times. “What you now want to do is to unlock the utilisation of our land by spreading it among our people — so that the land can be properly and usefully utilised for the majority of our people.”
Rural Kenyans beat rising heat with mud-brick homes
About 15 percent of new homes are now built with mud bricks, compared to less than 1 percent in 2010, according to Aidah Munano, a senior official at the Kenyan ministry of land, housing and urban development.
Unlike quarrying, which involves clearing trees to make room for excavations, mud bricks only require a bit of dirt and water, said Gitonga Murungi, a Kenyan conservationist.
“Demand for mud bricks is on the rise in rural Kenya because they cool homes during hot days and keep them warm at night,” he said.
Traditional Leaders – Not Rural Citizens – Are At the Centre of the Land Expropriation Debate
One of the questions put to Deputy President David Mabuza in the NCOP on 28 March was about government’s engagement with traditional leaders on expropriation of land without compensation. According to the Deputy President, traditional leaders are viewed as critical stakeholders who should be engaged at all times on the expropriation of land. This begs the question: what about rural communities and other stakeholders, such as community-based organisations and civil society? Are their concerns to be left flapping in the wind?
The Deputy President said that he has interacted with King Goodwill Zwelithini who “sounded very concerned”. He has also interacted with the National House of Traditional Leaders on their role in the process. It has been reported that he assured the Nzuza Royal House – who have claimed that their land has not been returned to them – that “the land will come back, do not despair”.
World Food Programme (WFP) Malawi: Rural Resilience Initiative (R4)
Since 2014, the R4 Rural Resilience Initiative (R4) has integrated four risk management strategies — risk reduction, risk transfer, prudent risk-taking and risk reserves — to help poor households improve their food security and deal with climate variability, thereby strengthening their resilience. The initiative is implemented across the districts of Balaka, Zomba, and Blantyre, benefiting over 10,000 households, with the vision to reach over 40,000 households by 2020 through social safety net programmes.
FG Addressing Rural-urban Migration Through Infrastructure, Agric Development, Says Fashola
The Federal Government of Nigeria’s commitment to Infrastructure and Agricultural development is meant to address rural-urban migration which has, over the years, led to the build-up of slums and satellite settlements around existing cities across the country, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, has said.
Noting that one of the critical solutions identified by the Federal Government as a response to making the experience of urbanization more pleasant was to improve the quality of life, inclusion and opportunities in the rural areas, Fashola, who spoke at the London School of Economics Public Lecture hosted by Faroz Lalji Centre for African Studies and LSE Cities, said the huge investment in the two sectors was already impacting the rural areas through the creation of jobs, economic inclusion and participation in the construction value chain.
Nigeria: FG, AfDB to provide irrigation facilities in rural areas
The Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme Phase 1 (ATASP-1) of the African Development Bank and the Federal Government will collaborate to provide irrigation facilities, farm inputs and feeder roads in rural areas.
Mr Haruna Akwashiki, the National Coordinator of the programme, disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday during the Mid-Term Review of ATASP-1 to know the successes, challenges and way forward. The ATASP-1 was developed by AfDB and Federal Government in 2015 to contribute to food and nutrition security, employment generation and wealth creation along the rice, cassava and sorghum value chains.
National roaming will end rural-urban digital divide — NCC
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), has said that national roaming and active Infrastructure Sharing in Nigeria would end rural-urban digital divide.
The NCC Executive Vice-Chairman, Prof. Umar Danbatta, made this known at a stakeholders’ forum on “Development of Framework for National Roaming and Active Infrastructure Sharing in Nigeria’’ held at Digital Bridge Institute, Lagos.