Although the 2010/11 agriculture season was affected by a number of shocks including localized floods during the first half of the season and midseason long dry spells, national staple food availability is estimated to have increased, as indicated by the recently released preliminary production estimates from the Ministry of Agriculture. These figures indicate that 2010/11 cereal production (maize, sorghum, millet, and rice) was about 2.91 million MT, an increase of 4.6 percent over last year and 21.5 percent above the five?year average.

Concern Worldwide, an international humanitarian organisation dedicated to tackling poverty and suffering in the world’s poorest countries, has set up an aid initiative in the slums of Nairobi to combat the sharp increase in severe malnutrition in slums. Concern Worldwide plans to use M-PESA money transfer service to enable people to buy food. It is hoped that the initiative will help 20,000 people over the next five months.

A blog post by People to People International documents that the PTPI family joined together in support of their Mombasa, Kenya Chapter, sending more than $6,000 to help the chapter cover school fees for 23 students who otherwise would not be able to attend school.

This report from Christian Media Cross finds that the chairman of Liberia’s National Elections Commission is expressing concern about the large number of invalid votes in the constitutional referendum. Elections chief James Fromayan says some voters marked both 'Yes' and 'No' as if it were done deliberately.

A Sudanese reporter was freed after President Omar al-Bashir ordered the release of all detained journalists, a government official said. But a press freedom activist and local journalists say a number of media professionals and technical staff are still being held.

Low price cellular telephones are helping advance mHealth opportunities across Africa, prompting developers to examine possible applications to address public health challenges. One application being developed for the Kenyan market provides symptom checkers, medical alerts and a searchable database of medical facility locations.

At least 24 people were arrested for trying to stage a rally calling for more democracy and the resignation of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos. The rally, organized in Luanda by a youth movement, gathered about 200 at Independence Square, in Luanda when the police stepped in and made the arrests. Protesters, journalists and several police officers were injured.

Kenya is losing its grip in the battle for foreign direct investments (FDI) to Uganda and Tanzania as heightened political tensions and restrictions on foreign ownership in some sectors turn away multinationals. The FDI inflows to Kenya dipped from Sh67.8 billion in 2007 to Sh13.1 billion in 2009 and Sh12.4 billion last year, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Last year, Uganda’s FDI inflows jumped to Sh78.8 billion from Sh75.9 million while Tanzania’s increased from Sh60 billion to Sh65.1 billion—making the twin countries the key beneficiaries of the region’s common market.

infoDev's Climate Technology Program published an article in The Africa Energy Yearbook 2011, co-written with the Kenyan government and private partners. The publication discusses the Climate Innovation Center (CIC) in Kenya and how it will support the government's objectives in the Greening Kenya Initiative.

This new report by Economics Research Foundation and GRAIN provides a detailed examination of the role of the Indian government and Indian companies engaged in overseas agricultural land acquisitions in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

A report in the FT states that Libya’s rebels are examining possible corruption at the country’s $65 billion sovereign wealth fund and its links to the family of Colonel Muammer Gaddafi, according the man in charge of the investigation. Mahmoud Badi, a former technocrat with the Gaddafi regime, has been appointed by the National Transitional Council to track Libya’s foreign assets, including those held by the Libyan Investment Authority.

Opposition parties urged the ANC to strike a provision from the Protection of Information Bill that would allow intelligence agents to classify any part of their work, but the ruling party refused.

Research on futurechallenges.org, including an African climate vulnerability map via finds that floods, droughts, desertification, coastal storms and famine are just a few of the impacts of climate change in Africa. Climate change is endangering the lives and livelihoods of millions of Africans and also hindering the continent’s economic growth and social progress.

While Libya's neighbours rush to recognise rebels who ousted Muammar Gaddafi, regional powerhouse South Africa is blocking the release of Tripoli's frozen millions to them. The policy reflects Pretoria's strong ties to Libya's former strongman that date back to the anti-Apartheid struggle, and frustration that Western intervention, not African mediation under the African Union, has again proven decisive on the continent.

The discussion paper on the 'emotive' land reform issue is now out, and the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, Gugile Nkwinti, is set to table it in Parliament. Releasing it to the media, he said that the draft Land Protection Bill would be out in the next three months. The minister said consultations around land reform were scheduled for completion in the next two months.

Led by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) the U.S. is stepping up its war in Somalia, The Nation magazine reports. 'The CIA presence in (the capital) Mogadishu is part of Washington’s intensifying counter-terrorism focus on Somalia, which includes targeted strikes by US Special Operations forces, drone attacks and expanded surveillance operations,' writes Jeremy Scahill, the magazine’s national security correspondent.

Friday August 26, 2011 saw the Coalition of African Lesbians, CAL, launch its LGBT Human Rights Defenders, HRD project in Lagos, Nigeria. Participants in the HRD workshop, which was held in collaboration with The Initiative for Equal Rights, TIER, a Nigerian-based LGBT human rights organization, attended the launch alongside some members of the Lagos LGBT community.

Fish is the primary source of protein for the majoirty of Ghana's 23 million inhabitants. Because of significant challenges impacting the global fishing industry, including unsustainable fishing practices, these individuals are rapidly losing their primary source of income and nutrition. Rural entrepreneurs across the country have attempted to start their own fish farms to fill the protein need and subsequent market demand. These fish farmers, however, have not been successful due to poor dissemination of technical resources, lack of quality supplies, and ineffective business models. Tilapiana was created to address this market opportunity and social need by working with village entrepreneurs to design, implement, and manage sustainable fish farms.

Brian Moonga reports for Radio Netherlands Worldwide that widows in Zambia are increasingly experiencing theft, alienation and sexual exploitation. According to Ruth Mwewa, president of Zambia Widows Association, the privatisation of numerous industries over the past two decades, which resulted in the liquidation of over 2,000 companies, saw many families become destitute and desperate.

While both North–South partnerships and South-South Partnerships have strengths and limitations, linking these in networked models is an effective way to mobilise expertise and funding and achieve success. Such a networked partnership, involving six public water operators from Europe and two from Africa, was developed to improve access to water in Mauritania. The partnership rests on a solid basis of shared public service principles. A crucial factor in the partnership is the contribution of the Moroccan state water company ONEP, one of Africa’s best performing public water operators.