As farms certified by Fairtrade face claims that they pay their workers lower wages than other comparable employers in Uganda and Ethiopia , it seems to be increasingly difficult to make informed decisions about what to put in your shopping basket. Tell us if you have lost faith in the logos, or if you still feel they're better than nothing Continue reading... ...
Study claims wages on officially certified markets are below what is paid by comparable employers Sales of Fairtrade-certified products from Uganda and Ethiopia are not benefiting poor farmworkers as profits fail to trickle down to much of the workforce, says a groundbreaking study. Continue reading... ...
In the latest of our series, we take a look at the explosion of reggae out of the country, from the 'Ethiopian Bob Marley' to the Jamaican taking the Addis nightclubs by storm The first reggae artist to really make a mark in Ethiopia. Afro has been called the countrys Bob Marley, and he's even penned a reggae song about the Jamaican singer . Though he is, perhaps, the country's the most famous pop...
On International End Fistula Day , an Australian gynaecolgist shares her experiences of a lifetime working to improve the lives of women with a degrading and preventable condition Obstetric fistula is a degrading condition in which women who suffer traumatising labours are left incontinent and often ostracised by their community. Since 1959, Dr Catherine Hamlin has worked to restore the lives of women...
Western backers of the Ethiopian education system should not ignore reports of violent clashes on university campuses Over the past 15 years, Ethiopia has become home to one of the world's fastest-growing higher education systems. Increasing the number of graduates in the country is a key component of the government's industrialisation strategy and part of its ambitious plan to become a middle-income...
Sir Howard Stringer also suggests BBC should consider new language service in countries such as Ethiopia or North Korea BBC News should consider partnerships with foreign broadcasters and look at launching new services, such as a TV channel in Africa or radio news for North Korea, according to a report. Continue reading... ...
Sum raised will go towards $1.8bn needed to stem humanitarian crisis, but doubts linger over commitment to peace Donors from 41 countries who met in Oslo on Tuesday night pledged about half of the $1.26bn still needed to avert famine in South Sudan. Continue reading... ...
A timely book gives both barrels to complacent gurus and governments and their simplistic, top-down 'solutions' to poverty Last year I flew to Kenya to meet an Ethiopian farmer who had been beaten, tortured and forced off his land in the lush Gambela region of his country. In his sonorous voice, this man told me a sorry tale of armed soldiers arriving suddenly in his village and wrecking his simple...
The Ethiopian authorities have arrested nine journalists and bloggers on allegations that they worked for foreign human rights groups or used social media to incite violence. According to sources cited by the International Press Institute , some of the people arrested were among a group that met with the IPI's representatives during a press freedom mission to the country in November 2013. Continue...
Unesco study reports huge growth in adults and children reading books on phones in Africa and the Indian subcontinent Unesco is pointing to a "mobile reading revolution" in developing countries after a year-long study found that adults and children are increasingly reading multiple books and stories on their phones. Nearly 5,000 people in seven countries Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria,...
Patients said to be taking methamphetamine as medicine because drugs are too expensive despite promise of universal healthcare Our new North Korea network: follow the Guardian and our partners for unique reporting and analysis Touring a new hospital in Pyongyang recently, North Koreas leader, Kim Jong-un, boasted that it would let the people live in luxury and comfort under socialism in good health....
Residents say government has not delivered on resettlement promise of land, clean water and livestock The orderly village of Agulodiek in Ethiopia's western Gambella region stands in stark contrast to Elay, a settlement 5km west of Gambella town, where collapsed straw huts strewn with cracked clay pots lie among a tangle of bushes. Continue reading... ...
Shelters are running out, medicine is in short supply and the rainy season threatens refugees arriving in Gambella It wasn't heavy fighting that made Nyarout Chuol leave South Sudan with her five children more than a month ago. Continue reading... ...
Claim and counter-claim has attended the delayed publication of a report on the likely impact of the Grand Renaissance dam The opening sentence of Egypt's new constitution describes the country as the river Nile's gift to Egyptians. It is a grand claim, but one that helps explain Egypt's indignation at the ongoing construction of a blockage on the Nile, thousands of miles upstream: the $4.7bn (£2.8bn)...
An Oxford University study has found that criminalisation of female genital mutilation in Ethiopia has lead to underground circumcisions. Social norms, not just the law, need to change Since female genital mutilation (FGM) has been outlawed in Ethiopia, some rural families have been holding clandestine circumcisions, said parents at confidential focus group discussions in Ethiopia for Oxford University's...
In the Amhara region of northern Ethiopia, a unique community has evolved based on egalitarian principles. Zumra Nuru, who founded Awra Amba in 1972, explains how he realised his childhood vision of creating a democratic, self-sustaining society where men and women are equals, while a young couple explain how they have benefited from his vision Continue reading... ...
International development secretary says system must be overhauled to ensure that more is done to prepare for disasters The global humanitarian aid system is being "stretched to breaking point" by climate change, war, population growth and extremism, and must be overhauled to ensure that more is done to prepare for disasters rather than merely relieve them, the British government will warn...
Rising heat, extreme weather and pests mean the highland bean is running out of cool mountainsides on which it flourishes Rich western urbanites expecting to dodge the impacts of climate change should prepare for a jolt: global warming is leading to bad, expensive coffee. Almost 2bn cups of coffee perk up its drinkers every day, but a perfect storm of rising heat, extreme weather and ferocious pests...
With the contemporary art scene on the continent flourishing, The Culture Trip suggests some of the people worth watching Exiled from Zimbabwe after producing an unflattering portrait of the countrys president, Robert Mugabe, Kudzanai Chiurai , the first black artist to get a BA in fine arts at the University of Pretoria, has become an important figure in African art. Chiurai uses dramatic multimedia...
As Scotland debates splitting from the UK, some of its islands are now demanding the right to their own independence vote. Where will it all end? Alex Salmond should always have expected it. Once you stir the nationalist pot, you can never know where it will lead. Residents of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles are petitioning the Scottish parliament at Holyrood for the right to hold their own...