KENYA: Civil Society Defends Access to Generic Drugs

Access to affordable medicine for millions of people in the South could be at risk if the production and distribution of generic medicine from India is restricted.

DEVELOPMENT-UGANDA: Better Coffee Brings Better Living Conditions

Producing quality Arabica coffee beans on the slopes of Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda is only viable once farmers are assured ready access to the global market. Fair trade has made this possible.

ENERGY-MALAWI: Rise in Paraffin Prices Leaves Traders in the Dark

Increasing energy prices have caused anxiety for many small-scale Malawian traders, especially those in rural areas and peri-urban areas who rely on paraffin for lighting their business premises.

KENYA: Flower Industry Still Not Back in Full Bloom

Kenya’s flower exporters are cautiously optimistic that the prospects for their industry will improve during 2011 after disaster struck in the form of volcanic ash and adverse winter weather conditions in 2010. But prices will be lower as the global economic recession still weighs heavily on their primary market, the European Union.

Kenyan Pastoralists Look Back to Secure Their Future

David Lenamira, watching as usual from a seat outside his compound, has no trouble picking out his sheep as the herd boys drive them home every evening. The red-brown animals are smaller than those in his neighbours' herds, but he's proud of them just the same.

UGANDA: Kato Murder Re-ignites Gay Rights Debate

For the government of Uganda, the timing of David Kato's death couldn't have been more unfortunate. Kato was killed on Jan. 26, a national holiday to commemorate the ascent to power of the ruling National Resistance Movement party.

WORLD SOCIAL FORUM: Kenyans Rekindle Old Flame

"One of the things we will be taking to Dakar," says Onyango Oloo, "is [knowledge of] how not to organise a World Social Forum."

AFRICA: ICC Justice a Dream Deferred

The African Union Summit drew to a close today in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Among the headline decisions was the continental body's support for Kenya's planned request to defer prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of six suspects in post-election violence that claimed more than 1,200 lives in 2008.

DEVELOPMENT-UGANDA: Fair Trade Gives Coffee Farming a Lift

The cultivation of coffee beans for fair trade has turned the fortunes of this historical cash crop around in some poor rural areas on the slopes of Mount Elgon in eastern Uganda.

RWANDA: Forest Conservation Calls for Carrot and Stick

For years, the various campaigns for sustainable use of forests just passed Pascal Segatashya by. But Rwanda's ambitious Forest Conservation Project eventually found him - and it has transformed his life and livelihood.

SOUTH SUDAN: Looking to the Future

The peaceful achievement of an independent South Sudan could have economic and security benefits for its East African neighbours in particular. Analysts say it may also shift the balance of power in controlling vital water resources in the region.

SOUTH SUDAN: Women Dream of Independence

John Garang, the revered late leader of the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement, once said that women are the "the poorest of the poor and the marginalised of the marginalised". As the reality of an independent South Sudan approaches, the region's women have vowed they will not remain second class citizens.

South Sudan Voters Die in Ambush

At least 11 more people have been killed in violence over southern Sudan's historic referendum, officials have said.

ELECTION-WATCH: Stakes High in What Might be Africa’s 55th State

South Sudan is memorable for unbearably high heat, persistent noise from the generators that help cool the temperatures and glaring poor infrastructure.

KENYA: No Easy Path for Disabled Women with Political Dreams

"People living with disability face all sorts of discrimination. We are discriminated against at job interviews in schools. Everyday is a battle to remain positive in the face of a world that is too bent on dismissing those among us that do not meet the standard of what is normal", explains Mishi Juma, a disabled community leader from the Coast region.

ELECTION-WATCH: Countdown Begins to Southern Sudan Referendum

"We want an independent country of our own that is Southern Sudan, and we want a new country". Calm and with a passion in his voice, the secondary school teacher, John Kiri, a native from Juba explained the excitement he is feeling for Sunday’ referendum.

HEALTH: The Silent Killer that Continues to Claim Children’s Lives

Medical experts have warned that malaria and HIV have monopolised interventions geared towards curbing child mortality in Kenya, thus ignoring the equally deadly killer, diarrhoea. This disease has silently claimed the lives of hundreds of children every year.

Student Drop Out Rate on the Increase Despite Free Education

2010 will go down in history as the year when the first batch of pupils to benefit from the government’s introduction of free primary education sat for their Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE).

FOOD CRISIS: Two New Varieties of Vegetables on Kenyan Food Market

Agriculture remains one of the most significant economic activities in Kenya. It accounts for over 24 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with an estimated 70 percent of total production coming from small scale farmers who typically have about 2-5 acres of land, depending on the region.

HUMAN RIGHTS: Festive season a nightmare for Kenya’s Displaced

The Christmas season comes with joy and merrymaking in Kenya, where preparations for the festivities are underway as people crowd the street to shop for clothes and gifts. But even as the cheer spreads all around, the situation is different for the thousands of internally displaced Kenyans (IDP's) still living in various camps.

KENYA: Mobile Phones to the Rescue for Pregnant Women

Pumwani Maternity Hospital, in the impoverished Nairobi neighbourhood of Eastlands, is the site of a trial project using mobile phones to help HIV-positive mothers avoid passing the virus on to their children.