Top 5 Pick: Rural Africa Weekly Report

Every week, Rural Reporters collates a weekly report on development in rural Africa and its environs. The reports include are some of our top picks of recent must-read research, interviews, reports, blogs and in-depth articles to help you keep on top of global crises.

Here are the updates from the previous week.

 

 

“In Our Communities, Disabled People Are Rejected”

Holidays are synonymous with children spending time with their families, but there are many children who are forced to spend the holidays without their families. Ntshireletseng Molefe is a caregiver at a home for mentally and physically challenged children in Mount Fletcher in the Eastern Cape. She spoke to Zimasa Matiwane about the challenges of caring for children with disabilities.

 

Women Farmers Pillar of Food Security – UN Agencies

“Women are the backbone of rural societies as they grow and process food and make sure their families are well-fed and well-nourished,” said International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) President Kanayo Nwanze in his opening remarks at an event in Rome, where the UN food-related agencies are headquartered.

“Rural women need more opportunities to participate, improve their skills, gain access to assets, and be involved in agricultural production and marketing. Let us all work together to empower women to achieve food and nutrition security. For their sake and the sake of their families and communities,” he added

Local Family Collects Books To Start Library In African Village

The African Library Project was founded in 2005 after Chris Bradshaw and her family visited remote rural villages in the small kingdom of Lesotho in southern Africa. Bradshaw was shocked when she learned that there was only one library in the entire country, and resolved to help end poverty and illiteracy in Africa. She began by working with local village leaders, and then with the help of friends and family in the U.S. the first library of the project was established in Lesotho.

Since then the African Library Project has operated for 10 years as a nonprofit, all volunteer organization. They have collected over 1.5 million donated books, created 1,000 partnerships with U.S. schools and other organization like the Peace Corps, the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, and as of October 2014 have established 1,411 libraries in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Cameroon, Lesotho, Nigeria, Botswana, Swaziland, Malawi, Ghana, South Africa and Sierra Leone.

 

Nigeria: Child Brides Facing Death Sentences A Decade After Child Marriage Prohibited

Maimuna Abdulmunini was just 13 when she was arrested for burning her 35-year-old husband to death.

The legal process dragged out over five years. Finally in 2012, when she turned 18, Abdulmunini was convicted of murder and sentenced to death. Today, despite a court ruling six months ago that the sentence is a violation of her rights, she is still on death row, waiting.

 

 

Forgotten Women Of Marikana Raise Their Voices In New Documentary

A new documentary titled Mama Marikana hopes to change perceptions of the women at Marikana as mere victims of circumstances so that people can see them as agents of change in their community.

Sikhala Sonke Women’s Organisation (We Cry Together), which is deeply involved in producing the documentary, was formed in retaliation to the lack of support women were given after the shootings.  Although women were deeply affected by the the events at Marikana, the general narrative concerning the massacre has been particularly masculine, with a focus on the predominantly male miners, police, politicians and Lonmin management staff involved.

 

 

Busayo Sotunde is a prolific writer with special focus on Business, Entrepreneurship, Reproductive Health and other development issues in Africa. Her articles have been published by different outlets including Investing Port and Ventures-Africa.com. She has a penchant for reading and sustainable development. Follow Busayo on Twitter @BusayomiSotunde
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