By Faith Muiruri Rwanda’s informal sector workers can now breathe easy following an amendment to the labour law that guarantees them a minimum wage. According to the Secretary General of Rwanda Workers Trade Union Federation, Biraboneye Africain, the new law will help harmonise salaries in the informal sector. Speaking during this year’s women@work campaign partners […]
Kenya’s cut-flower industry has grown by leaps and bounds over the years. Exports have increased in volume and value from 10,946 tonnes in 1988 to 133,658 tonnes in 2016, according to data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics. But there are still many challenges for workers who make this happen. As the Women@Work campaign continues to shine the […]
Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) Mtandao On April 2, 2019, held a pre-National budget dialogue-stakeholders’ forum in Dar es salaam Tanzania. The forum which brought together more 70 participants from Government institutions, CSOs, higher learning institutions, academicians, individual activists, community animators and development partners was themed “Promoting a National Budget that is inclusive and responds […]
How an Open Source Seed System in Kenya helps local farmers to register, produce and trade crops By Nout van der Vaart, Advocacy Officer Sustainable Food Last week, I visited the Seed Savers Network in Kenya. The organization helps small-scale farmers to identify, store and scale up the seeds of traditional crop varieties. This is […]
Reflections from the African Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) Conference Global and Regional coffee conferences like the just concluded Africa Fine Coffees Association (AFCA) Conference 2019 have an opportunity to address the key challenges facing the coffee sector, but do they? On 10-15 February 2019, thousands of delegates from multinational coffee organizations, traders, roasters, government and […]
For many years, indigenous and traditional food systems have provided rural communities in Uganda’s Gulu district with diverse, healthier, fresher and more nutritious foods. For the Acholi, indigenous vegetables with strong Acholi cultural attachments, such as cow peas, otigo diri (jute mallow), created a sustainable source of food and income. This thereby improved the […]
By Jaimee Kokonya The Women@Work Campaign (W@W) held its annual partners meeting at the end of February in Kigali, Rwanda. When I was first asked to attend the week-long meeting, I was excited for many reasons. First, I had heard so much about this beautiful city with its tragic and brave history; second, I would […]
The World Bank in 2015 confirmed Kenya as a lower middle income country, a leap from the least developed countries cluster. This follows largely the changes in the size of the economy notably a 25 per cent domestic growth and the rise in the country’s Gross National Income per capita. While income based measures like […]
In Kenya, there is still a long way to go when it comes to gay acceptance and equal rights. Filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu made a special film about two girls who fall in love with each other: Rafiki. The film, which is banned in the country, won the Hivos Free to be me Award last week. […]
Tanzania is amongst the world’s top coffee producers. At 30,000-40,000 metric tonnes annually, the country is making its mark in brewing the world’s most favorite beverage. However the taste, flavor and aroma of this popular beverage is filled with twists and turns of inequality. For an avid coffee consumer, the thoughts around the true cost […]
Basically everyone agrees that climate change is the biggest challenge of the coming decades. It is also widely recognized that vulnerable people in low- and middle-income countries will be hit hardest by its impact. The consequences have already affected their lives severely. Urgent action is therefore required. As I already laid out in this interview, […]
The cultural and creative sector in East Africa is a sleeping giant. Experts argue that the sector can thrive when given a little push in the right direction. Hivos East Africa’s interest in this sector emerges from the right to free expression. While the sector has the power to stimulate economic growth and social justice, […]