A lot has happened in rural development in the past week. However, as part of our tradition, we bring you some of the most important reports on development in rural Africa and its environs. The reports include some of our top picks from recent must-read research, interviews, reports, blogs and in-depth articles which have been carefully selected to help you keep up with global issues. Here are some of the updates you may have missed from the previous week:
Africa: Rural Job Creation Holds the Key to Development and Food-Security Goals
Harvesting the benefits of core agricultural research, which often bears on improved crop varieties and plant diseases, increasingly depends on the social and economic conditions into which its seeds are sown.
It is a sign of the times that Kanayo F. Nwanze, the president of the International Fund for Agricultural Development who started off as a cassava entomologist when ITTA posted him to Congo in the 1970s, was recently hailed for his efforts to create African billionaires
Youth unemployment, insecure land tenure and weak value chains are the main obstacles in the way of ending poverty and inequality in West and Central Africa, says a new report released Wednesday in Abidjan by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Youth under the age of 35 account for 75 per cent of the population of the region which also has the highest number of rural youth than any other region in the world. Empowering youth is the first step towards achieving prosperity in the region, says the report.
Kenya yet to erase stain of domestic violence despite progress
Violence against women that has manifested itself in varying forms is yet to be eradicated in Kenya despite decades of advocacy, experts told Xinhua as the International day for the elimination of violence against women to be observed on Friday.
While acknowledging that reported cases of wife battering have slumped compared to several decades ago, experts and campaigners agreed that Kenya must overcome a myriad of hurdles to eliminate the retrogressive practice.
Dinah Simbiri, a Nairobi-based gender rights advocate, decried rampant physical and emotional abuse of women in the hands of their spouses, male relatives and co-workers.
Commitment for the electrification of rural Africa
Orange and ENGIE have launched a plan to deploy nearly 1,000 solar kits in Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon. Several villages in rural areas have been identified to participate in the first phase of this pilot program, prior to deployment on a larger scale.
During the COP22 conference, Orange and ENGIE reaffirmed their commitment to leveraging their technological expertise to stimulate sustainable progress and economic and social development on the African continent.
Odontol, the ‘poor man’s liquor’, can be deadly in Cameroon
At least 27 people died recently in eastern Cameroon after consuming odontol, a toxic homemade alcohol, while approximately 40 more are still recovering in hospital. Local authorities have taken matters into their own hands by banning the substance. But its popularity among locals coupled with its importance to the local economy makes it doubtful that such measures will be effective.
Odontol has been locally produced for decades in the country, mostly in eastern, southern and central Cameroon. The artisanal liquor can be made from palm wine, corn, sugar or even plantains. The ingredients are first left to ferment for several days before the blend is distilled, leaving a mixture containing around 50 percent alcohol.
Colonisation is at the Heart of the Language Protest in Cameroon
In what could turn out to be a civil war, Cameroonian police have arrested over 100 protesters in the northwest city of Bamenda. This comes after reports of violence in the ongoing language protest in the city. The protest which started on Monday is being led by some lawyers. Locals are protesting the over domineering use of French as the official language and the relegation of English despite the fact that both languages are the official languages of Cameroon.
Lawyers in the troubled city of Bamenda are protesting the appointment of French-speaking Cameroonians as law enforcement and judicial workers in the state, stating that the judicial workers know little or nothing of the jurisdiction of the British law which is what operates in the city. Teachers and other artisans joined in the protest on Tuesday to fight the use of the French language in Anglophone area schools, and also the presence of French teachers in English speaking schools. The Cameroonian Teacher and Trade Union (CATTU) had, earlier on Tuesday November 22nd, declared a sitting strike in the northwest and southwest region of Cameroon which contain about 3.2 million of English speakers. The regions jointly make up the 20% of the English speaking Cameroonian population.