Rural Jobs, Women and Other Reports
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:
Consider taking HIV/Aids fight, and the money, to rural woman
The 15th anniversary of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (the Maputo Protocol) was celebrated this month. Some of the issues the treaty covers are the rights of women living with HIV/Aids, the retrogressive and harmful practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and discrimination against women and girls.
Talking of women and HIV/Aids, while Kenya has made quite some progress in fighting the pandemic, a lot needs to be done to deal with stigma, especially among infected and affected women and children in rural areas. This is mainly because of stigma surrounding HIV/Aids, taking of anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs (ARVs) among infected mothers and children is still shrouded in secrecy. This becomes a barrier to the fight against HIV/Aids and has to be addressed if the war is to be won.
One can only hope that next week’s biennial international HIV/Aids conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, will come up with concrete proposals and actions.
World-first sanitaryware machine a launch pad for rural jobs
A machine that will produce the world’s first biodegradable menstrual hygiene pads has been unveiled at the historic Liliesleaf Farm, as part of the Nelson Mandela centenary commemorations. The machine will produce 2 000 to 2 500 ‘100% compostable’, affordable sanitary pads a day and create 13 or 14 rural jobs.
The hygiene technology was launched by the Nelson Mandela Foundation in collaboration with Cintron Energy Drink and Aakar, an Indian empowerment company, at the farm in Rivonia where Madiba’s fellow Rivonia triallists were arrested ahead of the treason trial which began in 1956.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation said: “The machine is revolutionary in that it is designed in five to six different parts to make a world standard product, but can be operated by women from underprivileged, rural backgrounds. We have been able to skill people in about two weeks to bring production to near full potential.”
Access to safe water: Agony of Nigerian rural communities
The condition of people of Mamu community best describe this sorry state of rural life, Mamu, a community in Ijebu-North local government area of Ogun state, located between the boundary of Oyo and Ogun, less than 20 kilometers to Ago-Iwoye, with an average population of 3000 inhabitants. People of this community are predominantly peasant farmers and petty traders, Mamu is notable for its market which is a point of convergence for traders across Ogun state and beyond, every five days, a good chunk of the local government revenue comes from this market, yet, the community has not been fortunate to enjoy government attention, much of the amenities that make life worth living in this century still elude them.
Visiting the village, in this day and age, as important as water is to human existence, the first observation anyone would make is water scarcity, more vulnerable are the children and women who are seen carrying buckets in search of water to meet daily household needs. A major cause of water scarcity in Mamu is the government’s failure to redress the colonial imbalances which resulted in rural areas deliberately being side lined as far as water development projects are concerned. The centralisation of power since independence has resulted in bias towards improvement of water availability in urban areas and commercial farms at the expense of rural areas.
FG Pledges To Defray Money Owed To Rural Development Organisation
The Federal Government has pledged to settle over N160 million counterpart fund owed to the African-Asian Rural Development Organisation to improve farmers’ training and rural development in the country.
Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, made the promise in Abuja on Monday when he received the Secretary-General of AARDO, Wassfi El-Sreihin, who was on a familiarisation visit to the country.
Lokpobiri said the Federal Government would, within the limit of available funds, settle the counterpart fund so as to build the capacity of Nigerians in best agricultural practices, poverty alleviation and rural development.
Zambia has integrated 86% of SDGs – Chiteme
National development and planning minister Alexander Chiteme says Zambia has so far integrated about 86 per cent of the Sustainable Development Goals into the country’s 7th National Development Plan (7NDP).
Zambia has outlined her progress to undertake the implementation of the SDGs, which largely form the framework for a structured approach to social and economic development of nations across the globe.
“On SDG 15, the Zambian government is implementing measures to support rural communities to better manage resources of their landscape so as to reduce deforestation and unsustainable agriculture activities. We have, therefore embarked on a programme to plant a million trees, which was launched by His Excellency, Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu, the President of the Republic of Zambia. The aim is to restore ecosystems, promote bio-diversity and contribute to economic growth,” said Chiteme.
Kenya: Travellers Plight at Upcountry City Bus Station
Machakos Country Bus Station is a name that evokes nostalgic memories for upcountry travellers most who call Nyanza, parts of Eastern and Rift Valley, and Western Kenya their rural homes.
The bus station located on Landhies Road, just opposite Muthurwa market is a ‘jungle’ in non-forested land where survival is only for the fittest.
It teems with people from all walks of life, those coming into Nairobi and those leaving the city for their rural homes. But behind this veneer of ‘popularity’ lies sad tales told in both hushed and loud tones by passengers who continue to use the station and also those who fled from the harsh reality that greets travellers once they use the stage.
