After two daughters joined Islamic State they had no idea their family story would vie for an Oscar award
The real-life story of Hamrouni and her children is the focus of “Four Daughters,” an Academy Award nominee for best documentary feature film. On camera, there are many layers to Kaouther Ben Hania’s film: It’s about the radicalisation of two teenage girls; an intimate portrait of a chaotic and often dysfunctional family life; and reflections on generational trauma, patriarchy, motherhood and adolescence.
Investigation: In Ethiopia, a secret committee retained by PM Abiy Ahmed orders killings and arrest of rivals
During Haile Selassie’s four-decade rule last century, the emperor created a network of spies known colloquially as the “joro tabi,” or listeners, to hunt his opponents. The communist Derg military junta that toppled Selassie in 1974 set up a vast new security system to eliminate threats to the regime.
US censorship: First Amendment must keep pace with ‘the rise of behemoth social media platforms’
An amicus brief is filed by non-parties to a lawsuit to provide information that has a bearing on the issues and to assist the court in reaching the correct decision.
Despite spirited push to incentivise local sugarcane growing, farmers in western Kenya are ditching the ‘lazy man’s’ crop for coffee
Despite the government in the past two years trying to assuage sugarcane farmers by paying them for raw material deliveries that been pending for years, continued interest and investment in “lazy man’s crop” – as sugar cane is derided by agricultural experts and economists – has waned significantly in the sugar-belt.
How arbitrary tax led to rise of Mobondo militia that is killing Teke tribesmen in western Congo
Teke people own much of the land in Kwamouth. Communities from neighbouring provinces – who are considered “non-native” – have historically provided agricultural labour. Some have also settled on the land as farmers, and are taxed in-kind by Teke customary chiefs.
How negligent regimes turned Uruguay into a narcotics paradise ruled by ruthless gangs
European nations, which receive the bulk of the cocaine passing through Uruguay, also have a limited counter-narcotics presence here. Spain is the only European country with a permanent police attaché in Montevideo.
With wheat-based diets blamed for rising lifestyle diseases in Africa, scientists are resorting to indigenous crops to solve food insecurity
The benefits of fonio are so marked that academics and policymakers are now calling for the grain – alongside other indigenous foods, such as Ethiopia’s teff, as well as cassava and various millets and legumes – to be embraced more widely across Africa to improve food security.
Why modern farmers and scientists are keen on growing more crops for cows and cars, not food for humans
To see the yield gap in action, compare two important corn producers: the US and Kenya. In the US, the average yield is around 10.8 tonnes per hectare, while in Kenya it’s 1.5 tonnes. While the US is very close to its maximum theoretical corn yields, Kenya – taking into account its different climate – is way below its theoretical maximum. In other words, the US barely has a corn yield gap at all, while Kenya has a yield gap of about 2.7 tonnes per hectare below its theoretical maximum.
Long orphaned, sorghum farming makes grand return to western Kenya as indigenous crops reclaim niche
Sorghum is Africa’s second most important cereal because it is the primary source of daily calories for approximately 300 million people. However, the crop had vanished from Kenyan farms as a result of large-scale maize farming in areas that traditionally grew sorghum and its ‘sister’ crop, millet.
Commecial fish farming becomes key investment area as blue economy takes root in rural Kenya
County industrialisation and trade executive Kassim Were says successful implementation of the programme that targets 7,000 fish ponds that will supply five tonnes of fish per day will further diversify the local economy that hitherto depends on sugarcane, maize and dairy farming. However, continued subdivision of agricultural land into smallholdings has rendered available land for farming uneconomical for commercial production of the two crops and livestock keeping, hence the steep decline in output.
