Violence at the Kenya-Ethiopia border: what’s driving insecurity in the region: Communal conflict is endemic in the vast arid region on both sides of the Kenya-Ethiopia border. Fresh alarm has been sparked in both countries following a kidnapping and armed attacks on police and civilians in Kenya’s Marsabit county, in the extreme north of the …
Nigeria’s food insecurity: declaring a state of emergency isn’t a real solution – here’s what is: In 2022, government launched one million rice paddies, stacked in 15 pyramids, but the country's food crisis has persisted. Kola Sulaimon/AFP via Getty Images Nigerians doing their grocery shopping in July 2023 are paying 25% more for staple items …
How food insecurity affects people’s rights to choose whether or not to have children, and how they parent: Nicoleta Ionescu/Shutterstock Food insecurity – difficulties getting enough nutritious food for a healthy life – is a growing problem globally. It has been linked to many health and social problems including malnutrition, difficulties managing diabetes, impaired development …
House in a skip: even tiny homes can’t address the privilege and insecurity of the housing market: When 28-year-old artist Harrison Marshall moved back to London after a spell abroad, he couldn’t find anywhere to live within his price bracket. So in March 2023 he moved into a converted skip. He had parked the yellow …
1 in 5 South African households begs for food – the link between food insecurity and mental health: Begging is a strategy often used by homeless people. Fati Moalusi/AFP via Getty Images At least ten million South Africans didn’t have enough food or money to buy food in 2019, according to the country’s statistics agency. …
Nigeria insecurity: 2022 was a bad year and points to need for major reforms: Members of the Nigerian Armed Forces Sniper Unit Stefan Heunis/AFP via Getty Images 2022 has been an eventful year in Nigeria. For one thing, it’s been the precursor to the country’s general elections, which are due to be held in the …
Africa’s largest democracy goes to the polls amid rising insecurity: A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Nigeria. Photo by Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images Africa’s biggest election will be held in February 2023 in Nigeria. It’s the seventh successive general election in the country’s 23 years of unbroken democratic government. …
West Africa’s fisher women are experts at coping with job insecurity – but policymakers are using their resilience against them: A large number of West African women rely on the blue economy to survive MaaikeZaal/GettyImages All along West Africa’s coastline, women play a vital role in the fisheries sector as processors, traders and distributors. But …
Nigeria’s spiralling insecurity: five essential reads: Florian Plaucheur/AFP via Getty Images In recent times, security – or, more accurately, the lack of it – has been one of the most prominent items on the news agenda in Nigeria. Hardly a week goes by without a report of a terrorist attack or cases of kidnap for …
Digital labour platforms subject global South workers to ‘algorithmic insecurity’: Protesting food delivery workers in São Paulo, Brazil. Getty Images Digital labour platforms are rapidly transforming the world of work. Many governments in the global south have welcomed platforms that bring businesses, workers and consumers together, creating opportunities to reduce unemployment. But what happens when …
Are small farms the solution to food insecurity? Uganda study shows policies can get it wrong: A vegetable farmer with her produce. boezie/GettyImages Around the developing world, agriculture remains a critical source of livelihood. In many low-income countries, the sector accounts for around 30% of gross domestic product, and 60% of employment. At the same …
How climate insecurity could trigger more conflict in Somalia: Climate change can trigger conflict between farmers and herders in Somalia. Eric Lafforgue/Art In All Of Us/Corbis via Getty Images Climate change effects such as droughts, flash floods, erratic rainfall, disruption to the monsoon seasons, strong winds, cyclones, sandstorms, dust storms and increased temperature are being …
How insecurity affects the lives of everyone in the Niger Delta: Jacob Silberberg/Getty Images Nigeria has an urgent insecurity problem. News from the country often emphasises insecurity related to Islamic insurgents in Northern Nigeria, organised armed banditry involving Fulani herdsmen, farmer-herder conflicts, kidnapping and armed robbery. Insecurity has long been a problem in the country’s …
To what extent does climate change affect food insecurity? What we found in Lesotho: Countries must develop more efficient adaptation strategies to make food supply systems more climate-resilient. shutterstock Food security is a growing concern globally, with two billion people being subject to moderate to severe food insecurity in 2019 according to the United Nation’s …
Insecurity underpins property rights in Lagos — no matter what class you are: A shack in a waterfront community in Lagos. GettyImages Recurrent episodes of marginal communities being evicted from the waterfronts of Lagos have made global media headlines over the last four years. Up until 2016, the city had earned a hard-won status as …
Coronavirus: how lockdown exposed food insecurity in a small Bangladeshi city: The food market in Mongla in October 2019: it was shut during the COVID-19 lockdown. Hanna Ruszczyk, Author provided The COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as far more than a health crisis for the world’s poor and marginalised, exposing faultlines in food systems around the …
Big Ben silenced: Britain’s bong furore is a sign of national insecurity: Loud and proud. Shutterstock Big Ben, the iconic bell in the Elizabeth Tower of the British Houses of Parliament, has fallen silent. Its familiar chimes will not be heard again for four long years. The last extensive works were carried out 31 years …