| SANITATION: Let’s talk about poo |
 | LONDON، 22/10/2012 (IRIN) - Enter the dignified portals of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine this week, and the first thing you will see is a gold-plated turd, resting on a scarlet silk cushion. It is labelled “The Golden Poo”, and is actually a Japanese good luck charm (a word play on the similarity between the words for “luck” and “poo” in Japanese.) full report |
| SECURITY: Is Africa's maritime strategy all at sea? |
 | JOHANNESBURG، 22/10/2012 (IRIN) - The African Union’s (AU) deadline for securing the continent’s territorial waters - the world’s last major geographical region without a maritime strategy - has been set at 2050, a target that may prove untenable. full report |
| COTE D'IVOIRE: Crackdown sparks rights abuse allegations |
 | ABIDJAN، 22/10/2012 (IRIN) - Since a spate of attacks on Côte d’Ivoire’s army and police bases in August, several civilians have been rounded up, beaten and detained for ransom, say rights groups and ex-detainees who accuse the Côte d’Ivoire Republican Forces (FRCI – also part of the army) of violation and mistreatment. full report |
| AID POLICY: Fifty shades of aid – love in the field |
 | DUBAI، 23/10/2012 (IRIN) - If there is one topic that gets humanitarians and other aid workers talking - apart from the obvious discussions about capacity-building and food aid - it is the challenge of finding a prospective partner in the field. full report |
| FOOD: The state of African wheat research |
 | JOHANNESBURG، 24/10/2012 (IRIN) - Researchers in Africa are identifying ways to improve domestic wheat production in the face of sub-optimal conditions and stiff international competition. full report |
| TOGO: Simmering discontent ahead of polls |
 | LOME، 24/10/2012 (IRIN) - A recent wave of protests by Togolese opposition groups and a heavy-handed clampdown by security forces have set the scene for a tense struggle for reforms in a country that has been ruled for 45 years by a father and his son. full report |
| SAHEL: What went right in the crisis response? |
 | DAKAR، 24/10/2012 (IRIN) - Sahelians are used to living on the edge and doing all they can to overcome adversity. In 2011, the combined shocks of ongoing high food prices, an end to remittances from Libya, poor harvests across much of the region, and conflict in northern Mali, had a disproportionate effect on the fragile food security situation and the region’s economy: An estimated 18.7 million people are at risk of hunger and 1.1 million at risk of severe malnutrition this year. full report |
| FOOD SECURITY: Locust warning for northwest Africa |
 | DAKAR، 25/10/2012 (IRIN) - Swarms of desert locusts are likely to migrate to Algeria, Libya, Mauritania and Morocco in the coming weeks from West Africa and the Sahel region, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which urges the four countries to prepare for pest control. full report |
| Analysis: Sahel crisis - lessons to be learnt |
 | DAKAR، 25/10/2012 (IRIN) - The Sahel food crisis this year put an estimated 18.7 million people at risk of hunger and 1.1 million children at risk of severe malnutrition, prompting the largest humanitarian response the region has ever seen and averting a large-scale disaster. But emergency responses are rarely smooth and there is always room for improvement. IRIN spoke to Sahel aid practitioners, analysts and donors to discuss what hampered the response, and what needs to be done to improve response in the future. full report |
| CHAD: Floods, locusts add to humanitarian challenges |
 | NAIROBI، 26/10/2012 (IRIN) - The number of flood-affected people in Chad has risen to 700,000, up from 445,000 in September, according to humanitarian agencies, which also report the loss or damage of 255,720 hectares of cropland, 94,211 houses and 1,015 schools. Some 70,000 people have been displaced by the flooding, one of several challenges to the country’s humanitarian situation. full report |