Month: April 2024

[[{"value":"Squatting on the sandy ground, a young girl is weaving grass stems into a roof. The tiny hut she is making is surrounded by tens of thousands of others like it, made hastily of sticks and leaves covered with tarps or plastic sacks. This spontaneous settlement in Adré, a Chadian border town of 12,000 inhabitants, has become a makeshift home to over 100,000 Sudanese refugees. Almost 90% are women and […]

[[{"value":"Ten years after the abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok, Nigerian authorities have failed to put in place and sustain crucial measures to provide a secure learning environment for every child, Human Rights Watch said today. Since 2014, according to Save the Children, more than 1,600 children have been abducted or kidnapped across northern Nigeria. In the northeast, the armed conflict between Boko Haram and Nigerian armed forces continues to take its toll […]

[[{"value":"In significant strides towards addressing the alarming rate of biodiversity loss in Southern Africa, representatives from SADC Member States, government officials from the environment and agriculture sectors, development partners, the private sector as well as youth representatives validated the SADC Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (SBSAP). The two-and-a-half-day validation meeting coordinated by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) brought together more than 80 participants in Cape Town, […]

[[{"value":"Earlier today, Western Cape Minister of Agriculture, Dr Ivan Meyer, visited the Western Cape Department of Agriculture’s (WCDoA) Outeniqua Research Farm, outside George, which is known for its research on dairy production from planted pasture. Results on pasture and the concentrate component of the dairy feed provide guidelines to producers in the Southern Cape. Minister Meyer said, “Agriculture is a science, and science must be backed by evidence-based research. Our […]

[[{"value":"Although Malawi continues to record only sporadic cholera cases, with just an average of 10 cases a week as of January 2024 compared with close to 700 cases per week at the peak of the outbreak in January 2023 – infection control measures are being applied rigorously to further curb the disease, save lives and avert a flare-out. At the heart of the measures being undertaken is the 7-1-7 approach: […]

[[{"value":"According to the most recent RMB/BER Business Confidence Index (BCI), business confidence in the Western Cape is higher than any other province and higher than South Africa’s business confidence level. The BCI reported a 3-point uptick in confidence levels in Western Cape's from 2023Q4 to 2024Q1, improving from 37 points to 40, out of a possible 100. Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities, Mireille Wenger announced that “When we […]