African round-up

KENYA

More than 1,000 farmers in the country’s Eastern Province stand to gain from the decision by a leading beer manufacturer to start using locally-grown sorghum as a substitute for imported barley. East African Breweries Limited has pledged to buy all the sorghum that will be produced in this semi-arid region, giving the local community a welcome respite from the poverty and unemployment caused by failed crops and poor farming methods. Rising prices of barley, mainly grown in Europe and America, and increased shipping costs have forced beer companies in Africa to look at cheaper alternatives. The white ‘gaddam’ sorghum is being seen as a solution – not just as a raw material for beer-making, but also as a source of nutritious food.

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE

Efforts to control malaria in this country are beginning to off, raising hopes of achieving the UN Millennium Development Goal. The small island state is one of nine other countries where the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets and medicines has driven malaria cases closer to elimination; a further nine countries are in the pre-elimination phase – where less than 5% of suspected malaria cases are confirmed to be so. In Sao Tome and Principe, deaths of children aged five and under have declined by 53%; in the island of Zanzibar, child mortality has declined by 57%, and in Zambia, by 35%. If this trend continues, many African countries will be able to achieve a two-thirds reduction in child mortality by 2015, in line with the Millennium Development Goal.

NIGERIA

A Nigerian state has enacted a by-law that makes it an offence for parents not to send their daughters to school. In a bid to promote girl education and to ensure women play a bigger role in the development of Nigeria, the state council said all girls can now expect to receive education on the same level asboys. The council has promised free learning materials to female students at secondary schools and bursaries to those studying in pos-secondary institutions.

SOUTH AFRICA

The government is training extra health workers to screen visitors arriving in the country during the soccer World Cup. The extra workers are part of preparations for the tournament, scheduled for June and July; the preparations include importation of 4.3 million doses of swine vaccine. Health workers will check the vaccination status of visitors landing at the country’s air, land and sea-ports and also inspect any foodstuffs they bring with them. Visitors to the World Cup are being urged to check their vaccination status before starting their journey to South Africa.

UGANDA

A human rights organisation has asked court to ban polygamy on the basis that being married to more than one wife undermines the wellbeing of women, making them vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections. Mr Patrick Ndira, an official of the Mifumi (U) Ltd, said polygamy “also causes hemorrhage of resources that would otherwise be expended on the wife in the home, contrary to the provisions of the Constitution.” In a petition field in the high court, Mifumi has called for the Marriage Act, the Marriage and Divorce of Mohammedans Act, and the Customary Marriages Registrations Act amended because he claims they all have loopholes that allow men to marry more than one wife, while restricting women to one man. It claims the current laws are against the principle of equality and women’s human rights.

Posted On: 29 April 2010 at 12:09PM
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