Farmers and forecasts

GUINEA: Charging of top army official makes waves

DAKAR, 14 February 2012 (IRIN) - “This simply doesn’t happen in Guinea,” a civilian in the capital, Conakry, said of the 8th February decision by judges to charge a top army official for alleged involvement in crimes against civilians. Guineans and rights experts say the move is an opening up to the rule of law, but the country must overcome forces that have long fed impunity. full report

WEST AFRICA: Call for more coordinated approach to child protection

DAKAR, 4 January 2012 (IRIN) - A new report on child migration in West Africa says thousands of children are being sold, exchanged or transported out of their communities each year in violation of internationally-recognized rights of the child, and calls on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to persuade governments to better protect these children. full report

GUINEA: Evading the cholera epidemic*

CONAKRY, 12 December 2011 (IRIN) - With just two cholera cases reported in 2011 Guinea escaped a West and Central Africa-wide cholera epidemic that infected 85,000 people and killed 2,500 in the first ten months of 2011. Luck, as well as targeted prevention efforts on the part of aid agencies and the government, brought this about, specialists told IRIN, but a far deeper overhaul of the water and sanitation system is needed country-wide to diminish the likelihood of such disease outbreaks in the long term. full report

GUINEA: Avoiding ethnically-driven elections

CONAKRY, 6 December 2011 (IRIN) - Politics remain ethnically divisive in Guinea a year after violent clashes marred a bitterly divided Presidential election. Analysts and civil servants say more concerted reconciliation efforts between ethnic groups are needed on the part of the President to avoid another pitched battle in upcoming legislative elections. full report

GUINEA: Free childbirth unsustainable, say critics

CONAKRY, 11 November 2011 (IRIN) - Maternal mortality rates in Guinea have dropped significantly over the past two decades, but efforts to speed up progress on the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters by 2015 through a ban on childbirth fees, including for Caesarean sections, are stalling due to poor planning and lack of resources, say critics. full report

WEST AFRICA: Sahel the danger zone for food insecurity

DAKAR, 27 October 2011 (IRIN) - Erratic rains and high imported rice and wheat prices against a backdrop of chronic food insecurity and malnutrition in parts of the Sahel, will leave millions of people at risk of food insecurity, according to the latest crop assessments. full report

FOOD: Rumpus over GM food aid

JOHANNESBURG, 18 October 2011 (IRIN) - Genetically modified (GM) food aid bound for Africa has long been a bone of contention among governments, scientists, activists, consumers and aid workers. full report

WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA: Cholera thriving two years on

DAKAR, 12 October 2011 (IRIN) - Three simultaneous cholera epidemics have affected 24 countries in West and Central Africa, with 85,000 infections and 2,466 deaths since the beginning of 2011, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). full report

GUINEA-MAURITANIA: Worst forms of child labour still widespread

DAKAR, 10 October 2011 (IRIN) - The law does not necessarily make much difference when it comes to child labour: In Guinea and Mauritania the worst forms of child labour persist despite it being banned by law, leading child protection experts to call for a better understanding of the dynamics behind it. full report