If more small farmers in Africa's drought-prone regions grew improved varieties of dryland crops, their communities would be better prepared for prolonged dry spells and scarce rain, reports The Guardian.

The Telegraph reports that the African Union has refused to recognise the National Transitional Council as the legitimate authority in Libya, calling instead for an 'inclusive government'.

The purpose of the 5th Africa Conference on Sexual Health and Rights is to catalyze dialogue on the interrelationship between, culture, sexuality and attainment of sexual health for all in Africa.

A new SDC Working paper soon to be published titled 'Deepening Participation and Enhancing Aid Effectiveness through ICTs and Media' examines why and how development practitioners can adopt ICTs and media for increased participation and better results into their daily practice.

A solar cooker manufactured by Consumer’s Choice that uses bio-ethanol gel and cuts down on harmful indoor emissions has sold over 2,000 units and is looking to upscale its production by creating partnerships with UN agencies and other non-governmental organisations. Consumer’s Choice is currently partnering with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR in a pilot project at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. Under the programme, 70 families have been supplied with the stove and a daily one litre ration of bio-ethanol gel.

Containing video documentation, this report reveals that a joint undercover investigation by BBC Newsnight and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has uncovered evidence that the Ethiopian government is using development aid as a tool for political oppression. Posing as tourists, the team of journalists travelled to the southern region of Ethiopia.

The Kenyan Parliament has made history by passing 15 Bills that required to be enacted by August 27 in a record four days. The Bills include the Elections Bill, the National Gender and Equality Bill, the Kenya National Rights Human Commission Bill, the Political Parties Bill, the National Police Service Bill, the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission Bill and the Commission on Administration of Justice Bill.

South African police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse supporters of the leader of the youth wing of the governing African National Congress (ANC) in Johannesburg. Julius Malema was due to face a disciplinary hearing when hundreds of his supporters started to throw stones and bottles at police.

The death toll from the suicide bombing at the UN headquarters in the Nigerian capital stands at 21, with 73 injured, the deputy United Nations chief announced, reducing a previous toll of 23.

'Two Worlds' is a documentary film which looks to address inequality in post-Apartheid South Africa, a country described as both a 'first' and a 'third' world in one. The film features interviews from 18 people including students, researchers and activists, searching for answers to some of the crucial issues affecting the country today. The documentary questions why South Africa has one of the greatest divides between rich and poor in the world, and ultimately attempts to use South Africa as an example of global inequality.

A high-level ECOWAS delegation led by the President of the Commission, Ambassador James Victor Gbeho, arrived in Abidjan on Monday, 22nd August 2011 for talks with officials of the Government of Cote d’Ivoire on how the regional organisation can support the country’s post-conflict reconstruction.

After 30 years and over 20 million deaths in Africa alone, US researchers report that early treatment of people infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that leads to AIDS cuts transmission of the disease by over 96 per cent. Announced by the US National Institutes of Health on 12 May after a six-year, nine-country clinical trial that cost $73 million, the discovery that anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) can make people living with HIV far less infectious means that humanity finally has the tools to reverse the epidemic.

Applications are invited for the post of Programme Manager to join the Partnership for Child Development (PCD). PCD is an organisation committed to improving the education, health and nutrition of school-age children and youth in low-income countries. The Partnership for Child Development has launched a new programme that will support government action to deliver cost effective school feeding programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. The Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) programme supports government action to deliver sustainable, nationally owned school feeding programmes sourced from local farmers in sub-Saharan Africa. The programme provides direct, evidence-based and context-specific support and expertise for the design and management of school feeding programmes linked to local agricultural production.

The expansion of schools in the rural areas has shown significant growth, according to the Ministry of Education. Reports indicated that the number of schools ranging from elementary to secondary level rose from about 750 in 1996/7 to 1,681 in 2010/2011, of which 1,176 are in the rural areas.

South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) announced that it is to collaborate with researchers in Kenya to develop a nano-medicine technology aimed to revolutionise treatment of communicable diseases. The aim of the technology is to improve on the efficiency of the existing drugs used in the treatment of diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria.

The international relief organisation Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) treated over 100 patients in the town of Pieri and referred another 57 to hospitals in Leer and Nasir following a raid on the town of Pieri and twelve surrounding villages in Jonglei State, South Sudan. The majority of the referred cases were women and children with gunshot wounds.

While the focus of HIV and AIDS interventions has always been on the 20-40-year-olds most likely to be infected, African democracy institute Idasa warns that health workers and social planners have neglected to take into account the elderly who have contracted the virus – and their numbers are growing.

An Afrographique infographic depicting the percentage share of formal firms that are owned by women in Africa.

Institutions such as United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and pan-African rice research organisation AfricaRice are promoting the adoption of national seed policies that will support sustainable growth and development of the seed sector in West Africa.

According to a new report released by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) at the World Bank, African countries that transition to taking a leadership role in safe water and sanitation service delivery to the millions of people without access have an unprecedented opportunity to drastically reduce these numbers by 2015.