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:

Rural Banks Brace for Regulatory Whirlwind

Rural and Community banks are keenly following developments in the commercial banking space and are bracing themselves for any regulatory challenges that may be thrown their way, the Ashanti Regional Chapter President of the Association of Rural Banks, Patrick Owusu, has said.

Mr. Owusu, who is also Board Chairman of Atwima Kwanwoma Rural Bank, said directors and general managers of various rural banks across the country have really taken a cue from the recent turbulence in the banking sector and are putting their own houses in order to forestall any upheavals.

Health Workers Threaten to Leave Rural Health Centre Because of Witchcraft

Some female health workers at Bushinga Rural Health Centre in Chief Kaingu’s chiefdom in Itezhi Tezhi district have threatened to flee the institution because of alleged witchcraft practices in the Chiefdom.

The health workers complained that they are subjected to having sex with suspected wizards at night.

Itumbi Ward Councilor Boyd Musangu confirmed the incidence to ZANIS, saying that he has since called for an emergence meeting to sensitize people in the area.

Big-City Capitalism Buys our Way Back to the Quiet Rural Life

For so many of us, the urban phase of existence is seen as an on-ramp that will hopefully one day take us back into the rural phase; the city is where you come to make the money to buy yourself back out into the country. A simple rural life is the golden apple at the end of the capitalist trip, the brass ring that 30 or 40 years of successful work buys you. But it’s also a paradox: We want to pay to live in the near-poverty that the original builders of our dreamy farmhouse were working to escape.

For so many of us, the urban phase of existence is seen as an on-ramp that will hopefully one day take us back into the rural phase; the city is where you come to make the money to buy yourself back out into the country. A simple rural life is the golden apple at the end of the capitalist trip, the brass ring that 30 or 40 years of successful work buys you. But it’s also a paradox: We want to pay to live in the near-poverty that the original builders of our dreamy farmhouse were working to escape.

More Irrigation, Less Migration

Investing in irrigation in Africa’s semi-arid areas could stem the flow of migrants from the continent across the Mediterranean Sea into Europe and significantly curb urban migration, the African Union has found.

The AU commissioned a study on the rate of migration and its causes in rural areas in semi-arid countries such as Eritrea, Djibouti, Sudan and Chad. Its findings show that a shortage of water for crops has driven many young people away from the agriculture industry.

The study found that increasingly erratic rainfall and encroaching desertification on arable land is forcing people out of rural areas into cities, said Mure Agbonlahor, the AU’s semi-arid food and grain research and development officer.

Expanding Rural Participation in Nigeria’s Digital Economy

Nigeria’s digital economy is currently getting the much-needed attention from government and experts because of its endless potentials to cause a radical shift in the country’s economy. These can be backed by the statement of Okechukwu Enelamah, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment who said recently that there are indications that investments in the digital economy will generate $88 billion and create three million jobs for Nigerians before the end of 2021. However, a major concern or worry for some stakeholders is that the participation in the digital economy is largely concentrated in the urban areas. Meanwhile, in the rural areas, their participation is quite skeletal largely because of the low internet penetration. To be more factual, the Executive Vice Chairman, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta said recently that 53% of Nigerians lack internet access and many of them are inhabitants of rural areas.

Ghana: Women Struggle to Secure Land Rights

In the small rural community of Bagliga in northern Ghana, a crowd of angry women march towards the chief’s palace. They’re demanding better access to land. It’s a rare sight in this part of the country, where land has long been under control of chiefs and men. These women claim their land was taken away from them and given to land grabbers for commercial use. Now they’ve finally had enough, they say, and are calling on their chief to provide solutions.