Frederick Baijukya, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Fred Kanampiu, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Increasing legume production can turn the tide for African farmers who struggle with poor soils, declining farm yields and worsening nutrition in one fell swoop
The competition between the two authoritarian regimes has become a fact that, given the regional context, is here to last. It justifies repression and indefinitely postpones democratic expression.
African governments and businesses must do more to assist young people by creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem to support them. Without this support, all of their potential may stutter and die.
Unscrupulous politicians are adept at using regressive story lines that feed insecurities. That could be dangerous ahead of South Africa’s hotly-contested municipal elections.
It’s important to interrogate the key factors that pushed countries from Third World to First World status in the 20th century. Asia’s experiences hold many lessons for Africa.
Africa’s democratic promise of the 1990s has lost its shine. Hopes for accountable rule have faded in Uganda, Ethiopia and Rwanda. All have blocked the path to meaningful popular empowerment.
Grassroots protesters are questioning the logic of export-led ‘growth’ and renewed fiscal austerity pushed through the ‘Africa rising’ narrative. They want policies that meet their basic needs.
Successful economies are led by innovation and driven by knowledge. For Africa to advance, it needs to make more substantial investments in its research and development sector.
The cases of two women who died in childbirth in two different parts of Uganda are being used in a Constitutional Court battle forcing the government to fulfill its healthcare obligations.
The modernisation of agriculture has been touted by economists and the IMF as a way of reducing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. But caution about the benefits of the Green Revolution is advisable.
The reality of Rwanda is that there is no viable alternative to President Paul Kagame, within or outside his ruling RPF. Political rivals have died, are jailed, or have fled the country.
Recent changes to the Rwandan constitution appear to have been tailor-made for the current president. This does not bode well for the country’s future constitutional base.