POLITICS: Women Still a Parliamentary Minority in Kenya

While some countries like Liberia can boast that they have a female President, Kenya is still grappling with allowing women room to exercise their leadership roles in Parliament and at local government level.

AGRICULTURE: Kenyan Researchers Say Traditional Vegetables Can Improve Food Security

According to Vision 2030, which is a government strategic plan on how to boost growth and development in Kenya, there are an estimated five million out of an estimated eight million households who depend directly on agriculture, despite the fact that agriculture continues to be one of the most under-budgeted ministries.

EDUCATION: Meet TESSA, Ugandan Teachers’ Best Friend

Beatrice Namuzibira’s class of 90 pupils is not even considered a large one, compared to classes in other schools. Universal primary education has filled classrooms beyond capacity across Uganda, putting a strain on teachers.

POLITICS: Women’s Representation Key to Development

Research has shown that women account for more than half of the population of any country. This is reflected in the 2010 Census results, where there are slightly more women than men in Kenya.

ETHIOPIA: Saving Rural Mothers’ Lives

Nigist Abebe has grown in confidence over five years on the job. Today she is one of 34,000 rural health extension workers at the heart of Ethiopia's primary health care strategy.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Turning Agriculture From Problem to Solution

Global agriculture contributes in the region of 17 percent to the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, but according to the World Bank, climate smart agriculture techniques can both reduce emissions and meet the challenge of producing enough food for a growing world population.

UGANDA: ‘Why Waste ARVs on Sex Workers?’

Sex workers, among the populations most at risk of HIV infection in Uganda, say they are yet to realise their right to health.

AFRICA: Threat of a Perfect Storm – AIDS and a Fresh Food Crisis

In November, the Food and Agriculture Organisation was just one of many voices warning that food prices have risen to levels last seen at the start of the 2007-2008 crisis. A majority of the countries most exposed to a repeat of that problem are in Africa, where vulnerability to food security is exacerbated by AIDS.

UGANDA: Carbon Finance May Not Benefit Forest Communities

Uganda has lost more than two million hectares of forest since 1990, mostly converted to farmland by a growing population of smallholders. Carbon finance through the REDD programme is often presented as one way to arrest this destruction, but only if the benefits clearly translate to the grassroots.

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Watchful Eye on Deadly Stock Disease

Government spokesperson Dr Mohamed Bakari says Tanzania has contained an epidemic of viral disease that had affected the northern part of the country, mainly around Arusha, since the start of the year.

UGANDA: ICT Boom for Economy, A Bust for Some Women

The rapid growth of the ICT market in Uganda has been greeted with optimism over its potential to boost the country’s development. But less attention is being paid to the increase in gender based violence due to the use of information and communications technology.

KENYA: A Brand New Constitution, But Can Women Enjoy Land Rights?

Mary Kimani wishes her husband were still alive. Holding her one-year-old son in one hand and a hoe in the other, she recounts with bitterness how she and her children lost their livelihood to her husband’s family.

ETHIOPIA: First Carbon Finance Spreads Green Over Highland

It has been decades since the people of the Humbo Woreda have been self-sufficient in food. A Clean Development Mechanism project - Ethiopia's first - is restoring the environment and sustaining livelihoods along with it.

ENVIRONMENT-TANZANIA
: Protecting the World’s Most Expensive Tree

With the snow-capped peak of Mount Kilimanjaro providing a backdrop under simmering tropical sunshine, a group of women in Mijongweni village break into song.

ETHIOPIA: They Have Become Farmers of Trees

They have spent the better part of their lives destroying the forest, but Kochito Gabre and his cohort are now the guardians of a UNESCO-recognised resource in the Ethiopian highlands. After shrinking to barely half its original size, the Kafa Forest is now a model for sustainable use in the country.

UGANDA: Sexual Crimes Go Unpunished

Thousands of women were raped during Uganda’s war but there have been few government efforts to assist them, especially with psychosocial and counseling services.

AFRICA: Church Leaders An Obstacle To Preventing Maternal Deaths

The resurgence in religious fundamentalism and the inordinate influence of certain church leaders over public health policy present major obstacles to the prevention of needless deaths and injuries of women from unsafe abortion on the African continent.

DEATH PENALTY: Sudan Still Sentencing Minors to Death

Four minors are among nine people who have been sentenced to death for a carjacking in Khour Baskawit in South Darfur. The case has raised fresh concerns over protection for children's rights in Sudan.

AFRICA: Malaria Vaccine To Protect the Most Vulnerable

As nearly 25 years of development of a malaria vaccine come to fruition, health authorities across Africa will need to come to grips with how to effectively introduce it.

RWANDA: Stronger Support for Children Affected by HIV

At Kigali's Kibagabaga Hospital, 30 young people aged between 12 and 18 years old wait in a crowded holding room, waiting for their turn to see the doctor in charge of prescribing antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). They are among 220,000 children affected by AIDS who are benefiting from social and medical assistance from the Rwandan government and its development partners.

Cancer Treatment Out of Reach for Ugandan Women

Josephine Adongo's heart leapt when she heard that two doctors from Kampala were offering free medical exams in Soroti. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer at a regional hospital more than a year previously, but unable to afford to travel to the capital for treatment.