| FOOD: African wheat - balancing consumer and farmer demands |
 | ADDIS ABABA، 15/10/2012 (IRIN) - Whether Africa can scale-up wheat production to meet growing demand will depend on governments’ support of local producers. A key test is whether they are willing to take on wheat import subsidies, which keep bread prices low and urban consumers happy, said experts at a recent five-day conference on African wheat production. full report |
| AID POLICY: Resisting the mantra of resilience |
 | LONDON، 15/10/2012 (IRIN) - Ten years ago, resilience was little spoken of within the aid community; now the word is everywhere. Donors are demanding it, NGOs are mainstreaming it, and publications are promoting it. Policy makers - from climatologists to social theorists - see in resilience a more holistic and lasting solution to the world’s problems. full report |
| NIGERIA-CHAD: Child migrants reuniting with families |
 | DAKAR، 15/10/2012 (IRIN) - Most of the Chadian Koranic students who fled Boko Haram related violence in northern Nigeria to return to their country in March 2012, have now been reunited with their parents, say the International Organization for Migration and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF). full report |
| SIERRA LEONE: No sex, we are breastfeeding |
 | FREETOWN، 16/10/2012 (IRIN) - Soothing her malnourished baby at a clinic in a Freetown slum, a Sierra Leonean mother says she has never heard of exclusive breastfeeding, but observes `banfa’ - a traditional practice where women abstain from sex as long as they are breastfeeding because they believe that sex during that period endangers the child’s health. full report |
| MALI: New hope in fight against malaria |
 | DAKAR، 16/10/2012 (IRIN) - A pioneering malaria prevention method trialled in Mali is dramatically reducing seasonal malaria among children, according to a mass pilot launched by NGO Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in August 2012. full report |
| EDUCATION: Getting the skills for life |
 | LONDON، 16/10/2012 (IRIN) - Rising numbers of children out of school in sub-Saharan Africa, significant numbers of children spending six years in primary school and still not being able to read a complete sentence - the latest report by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) paints a gloomy picture of the state of the world’s education. full report |
| COTE D'IVOIRE: Facing insecurity with unreformed army |
 | ABIDJAN، 17/10/2012 (IRIN) - Armed raids on military and police bases, a border post and other key installations in Côte d'Ivoire since August are deepening insecurity in a country struggling to forge a unified armed force to help restore stability after 2010-2011 electoral unrest. full report |
| Islamists lure back northerners |
 | BAMAKO، 18/10/2012 (IRIN) - Hundreds of displaced northerners in southern Mali are risking life under Sharia law to return home, lured by the prospect of jobs, free water and electricity, and in some parts, relatively cheaper food, Malians in the north and south told IRIN. full report |
| SLIDESHOW: Cholera ebbing in Sierra Leone |
 | FREETOWN، 18/10/2012 (IRIN) - Sierra Leone’s worst cholera outbreak in 15 years has eased in the past two months and new infections each week have recently dipped to below 1,000. full report |
| BURKINA FASO-NIGER: ICJ completes hearings on border dispute |
 | THE HAGUE/OUGADOUGOU، 18/10/2012 (IRIN) - Ordinary people in two of West Africa’s poorest countries stand to gain if conflict is avoided and a long-standing border dispute is resolved amicably: As hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague on the Burkina Faso-Niger border ended on 17 October, delegations from both countries expressed hope the verdict will strengthen relations between them. full report |
| GUINEA: Strike threats mar groundbreaking debt deal |
 | CONAKRY، 19/10/2012 (IRIN) - Trade union leaders in Guinea are contemplating a general strike over salary demands and other grievances, after the government proposed a raise for civil servants far lower than unions are demanding. full report |