It’s the beginning of a new week and as part of our tradition, 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.

Rural women in Tunisia: ‘We have been silent for too long’

Growing up in a village in north-eastern Tunisia, Ahlam Ben Ahmad had to walk up to 4km to reach a hospital, buy food or attend school. She often got sick from the long journey, and dropped out of school two years before graduation because of her long commute.

“I woke up at 5am every day, carried my sick brother on my back and walked to school to reach it by seven,” she says. “But I still carried my brother there every day because at least one of us nine had to finish school.”

Fifteen years after Ben Ahmad, now 30, dropped out of school, the government has not improved the roads near her home. It still takes her several hours to travel from her hometown of Boucha to Kelibia, the nearest city. In a private vehicle, the same journey would take just 30 minutes.

Muhammadu Buhari Wins Nigeria Presidential Elections [Pictures]

Gilat Satcom unveils satellite service for rural Africa

Gilat Satcom has unveiled the launch of its ‘Village Island’ portfolio, which according to the company enables rural villages and remote communities in Africa where ARPUs are low to take control of their digital futures. According to the company, the Village Island will be launched at the Innovation Access Digital Africa summit, which is set to take place during 14th-16th April at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

The Ebola orphans taking desperate measures to survive

Aid workers have warned that Ebola has produced a generation of orphans forced into desperate measures to fend for themselves right after the disease claimed their parents. A British-run charity say a lot of the thousands of children stricken by the virus…

Start-Up Snapshot: Wind Power To Improve Rural Electrification In Ethiopia

Amare Assefa is founder of Kenefas Energy Solution, an Addis Ababa-based start-up that seeks to design and manufacture micro wind turbines that generate up to 1KW for use in rural areas. The electrical engineering graduate started the business a year ago to address challenges households in rural Ethiopia face due to lack of access to electricity.

Dirty Hands: Why Biometric Voting Fails In Africa – And It Doesn’t Matter In The End

With so much money at stake, it is not a wonder that the electoral body itself becomes fertile ground for patronage and corruption.

Corruption allegations against top officials of Kenya’s electoral body, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, are a good example of this. Top officials of the IEBC have been implicated in a bribery scandal dubbed “Chickengate” where British suppliers paid them bribes (that they called “chicken”) worth $541,000 to secure printing contracts in Kenya.