Fearing a repeat of hunger riots around the world in 2007-2008, international policymakers are putting agriculture high on the agenda. The G20 agriculture meeting in Paris in June issued an action plan aimed at increasing global agricultural production by 70 per cent in the next four decades in order to address the challenge of trying to feed an expected 9 billion people by 2050 – a challenge that is growing harder with climate change. One priority target to boost world food security should be the millions of smallholder farmers in developing countries who live on less than two hectares – some of the poorest people on the globe.

An increasing number of Nigeria's 70 million Christians are following so called 'prosperity teachings' - the belief that prosperity is a blessing. Services are held in mega-churches, with millionaire pastors preaching the word. Tomi Oladipo reports for the BBC.

A new scramble for Africa is under way. As global food prices rise and exporters reduce shipments of commodities, countries that rely on imported grain are panicking. Affluent countries like Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China and India have descended on fertile plains across the African continent, acquiring huge tracts of land to produce wheat, rice and corn for consumption back home.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has alleged that it has uncovered plots by the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) to destabilise Nigeria. The party has called on security agencies to be alert and monitor the activities of CPC and its members, especially against the backdrop of present security challenges in the country.

Discovery Channel Global Education Partnership (DCGEP) is a 501(c)3 organisation dedicated to using the power of media to transform education and improve lives in the developing world. Position Summary: The Programme Director, West Africa, will report to the VP, Global Education Programmes. Success in this position will hinge on effective management of current school-based projects in West Africa in accordance with organisational priorities and donor contracts; fully engaging donors and government partners; and spearheading new partnerships and funding for expansion in the region.

On 20 September 2011, Zambians will go to the polls to elect its next president. As is often the case with elections in this part of the world, questions have been raised about the likelihood of the elections leading to violence, writes Judy Smith-Höhn, Senior researcher, African Conflict Prevention Programme, ISS Pretoria Office.

'To See the Mountain and Other Short Stories' is a compilation of Caine Prize 2011 Shortlisted Stories and the Caine Prize African Writers’ Workshop Stories 2011. The Caine Prize for African Writing, an annual literary award, recognises talents from all corners of the African continent and the globe. First presented in 2000 to Sudanese author Leila Aboulela for her story, 'The Museum', the award seeks to find the best original short story, published in English, by an African writer, whether situated in Africa or abroad.

More than 100,000 people are estimated to have been displaced as fighting between the Sudanese armed forces and rebels in the country’s Blue Nile state continues, the United Nations (UN) reported. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that tens of thousands of displaced people cannot be reached by relief agencies due to movement restrictions against UN staff imposed by the government in both Sennar and Blue Nile states.

It is now common knowledge that ICTs play important roles in the development process. In West Africa, projects such as Esoko, Grameen MoTech and Project ABC are confronting the challenges of development from different angles. Another interesting area with great potential in this sphere is the role of ICTs, social media in particular, in citizen engagement.

An international pressure group is to be launched in Britain to tackle the rise in homophobic violence around the world, with a focus on Africa and the Middle East. The UK's three main political parties have declared their support for Kaleidoscope, an independent group campaigning for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, after a series of high-profile attacks on sexual minorities in developing countries.

The court trying Hosni Mubarak over the killing of protesters in January summoned the head of Egypt's ruling military council and other top officials to give testimony that could prove decisive in determining the fate of the ousted president.

Durban should not be the burial ground for the Kyoto Protocol, says Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International, about his expectations from the 17th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change happening in his hometown in South Africa later this year.

An infographic by the Global Sociology Blog details the slum population in urban Africa by country.

This study by Diana E. H. Russell and Roberta A. Harmes (Eds) finds that the lethal impact of AIDS on many women and girls must be recognised as a form of mass femicide that is devastating women throughout the world. These femicides are occurring as a result of the overlap of four gender-related problems: AIDS, male sexism and domination, genital mutilation, and rape.

Malawi’s Human Rights Commission has accused President Bingu wa Mutharika of inciting violence against critics that has led to petrol bomb attacks on the properties of two leading activists. Mutharika riled activists when he threatened attacks against his opponents who staged an unprecedented protest against his government in July.

In a post on the Huffington Post Union of Bloggers, the writer exerts that the 'people’s revolt' against another tyrant is unquestionably exciting, and the demise (political and/or otherwise) of Muammar Qaddafi will be widely hailed. But below the surface something else is going on, and it concerns not the Libyan people, but an elite. In reality, a narrowly-based Libyan elite is being supplanted by a much older, more enduring one of an international variety.'

Authorities in the semi-autonomous republic of Somaliland are obstructing independent journalists from covering government politics, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. Four reporters have been harassed and arrested while on assignment since early September.

The South African Civil Society Information Service points to two reports that find that whites dominate management positions in South Africa and that white people continue to be appointed and promoted in empowering positions in the workplace while blacks are constantly overlooked. The 11th CEE Report further argues that employers are more likely to employ white females and Indians from the designated groups 'when compared to the African and Coloured population groups at nearly all occupational levels.'

Some 20 political parties and social movements from both sides of the Green Line issued an historic declaration in support of the social protests currently rocking Israel and their necessary linkage to the struggle against Israel’s occupation and colonial policies.

Deforestation worsens famine in Africa, but drylands restoration could help. Millions of people across the Horn of Africa are suffering under a crippling regional drought and tens of thousands have died during the accompanying famine. The best hope in the short-term is food aid and logistical support, but in the longer term, dryland reforestation efforts may help improve food security, argues a new report from the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), which links human-caused land degradation, including deforestation, to intensified drought.