One Friday evening in Kenya’s buzzing capital, Nairobi, fashion designers gathered not to just to meet, greet, show their collections and have fun, but to spark critical conversations about the role of sustainable fashion in promoting just and fair societies. Organized by Metta Nairobi and supported by Hivos East Africa, Nest and DusitD2, the Fashion […]
‘Free the seed’ is not just turning out to be a fancy tag line on paper. For Caroline Alango, it’s a lived reality for the change she desires to see in the seed sector. As the founder of Dash Crop Limited, Caroline’s journey began in 2014 with a cassava seed. Her drive was only […]
Shifting the narrative on women’s rights Conversations about social change are not always easy, be it around the dinner table or in the halls of government. That’s why Hivos is adopting a novel approach to supporting advocacy in an upcoming women’s empowerment campaign in Egypt, Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Tunisia. For this campaign, Hivos is connecting […]
Minaye flowers in Bishoftu (about 50 kilometers from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia) was, just like many farms, not immune to rampage and disruptions of day-to-day operations whenever there was conflict between staff and management. A year now, the farm has not had any riots. Not that there haven’t been disagreements between the workers and their […]
The degraded quality of the citizenship of Kenyan women is clearly seen in just how quick society is in restricting female autonomy, including basics like choice of dressing. These unwanted and unnecessary policing of women is seen in Kenyan workplaces all across the country where dress codes are used to reproduce sexism and misogyny that […]
By Caroline Wahome Access to experts is one of main challenges journalists are struggling with in their quest to publish stories related to food, the journalist have said. The members of the fourth estate had convened in Kampala, Uganda at a forum organized by Hivos under the theme “Positioning Media for policy influence of food […]
The Green and Inclusive Energy (GIE) regional meeting in Dar es Salaam was a blast; literally and figuratively. The convening brought together Hivos East Africa GIE partners in a three day program of sharing, learning and networking. It may be difficult to describe what stood out for me –ranging from the partner stories; media engagement; […]
Guest blog by Ann Songole and Bob Aston The silence could have easily been mistaken for inactivity except that there was a systematic production work in progress. On this particular day, ARTI Energy, a briquette manufacturing company in Salasala in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania had hosted 12 organizations that were attending a Hivos Green and […]
The Ethiopian parliament on July 5, 2019 approved a draft Labour Proclamation (Proclamation) to replace what has been in existence for 16 years also known as Labour Proclamation No. 377/2003. The revised law has introduced a rule to regulate workplace sexual harassment and sexual violence.
It is said some people are born leaders while others are trained or given opportunities that transform them to become leaders. But what chances does someone with a low level of education and one who has been denied various opportunities to be better due to societal and cultural norms have to be in leadership position? […]
Mettā announces their third fashion product lab cohort powered by Hivos East Africa. The designers accepted into the program were selected after a rigorous multi-phase selection process which focused on the viability of their fashion businesses, creative designs and portfolio, and their potential to scale across the continent and globally. Mettā Nairobi, in partnership with […]
By Thabit Mikidadi, From sexy and cool to a sign of bad choices and unhealthy habits; conversations around cigarette smoking are starting to shift thanks to decisive campaigns that have reduced its usage after many health-related complications were attributed to its use. The use of cigarettes has been declining worldwide especially in the west thanks […]