Our Stories
Ethiopia: Cultivating agriculture, cutting poverty
Ethiopia aims to become a middle-income country in the next 15 years. But despite high economic growth rates, it struggles with poverty and food insecurity. For development to be successful, benefits must be widely shared. That’s why UNDP has focused a significant portion of its support to Ethiopia more
Farmers in Ethiopia fight drought and climate change
Throughout most of his 55 years, Mohammed Hassen and his family have suffered during recurring droughts that have ravaged his district of Kalu, South Wollo Zone, in northeastern Ethiopia. The country, once defined by rural poverty, is developing a strategy to address pockets of extreme povertymore
From Dump to Dollars: Landfill Gas Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
Addis Ababa’s 36 hectare municipal landfill, open for over 40 years and currently 85% full, will now be closed and transformed into the Repi landfill gas project under the a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. The Repi CDM project is based on the capture and flaring of the harmfmore
From sex worker to HIV counselor
Jennifer was just 16 years old when poverty forced her out of her native Nigeria, leaving her family and many young sisters behind. She thought she was heading for a better future as a house maid in Europe, but instead, she ended up in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, where she has been a sex worker for tmore
Gender-based violence awareness program opens eyes in Rwanda
Emmanuel, a pastor in northern Rwanda, had always considered himself a model husband. That is, until he attended a gender-based violence awareness programme in his community that showed him he had been violent to his wife to a degree that is considered illegal. “When I learned that my behavior was nmore
Helping communities boost food security in Eritrea
With only a handful of children playing around in an open field, the village of Lamza, on the outskirts of Asmara, looks deserted. This is because almost all the village residents have gone to work on their farms in a nearby valley, where two micro dams are allowing them to irrigate and grow their cmore
In Benin, women cotton growers embrace organic agriculture
Each year, on average, Benin produces 220,000 tons of cotton, representing 45 percent of its fiscal income and 13 percent of its Gross National Product. Yet, in the northern municipality of Banikoara - Benin’s top cotton-producing region - the excessive use of chemical fertilizers by some cotton gromore
In Ghana, a victory for energy efficiency
“I don’t have anything against old things, but when it comes to refrigerators, I can find a million reasons why new is better than old,” says George Effah Baffoe, a retired engineer and father of five as he turns in his old refrigerator for a new, energy efficient one. Together, the two million fridmore
In Niger, groups of women fight against sand encroachment
Squatting among around 15 women wrapped in beautiful colourful fabrics, Bintou Bira, well over 60, picks up handfuls of sand and puts it into plastic bags. Over the last several months, her group of 73 female nursery workers, in collaboration with the authorities of Mainé Soroa in southeasternmore
In Nigeria, farm training yields fuller harvests for rural women
For Mama Nsedu, a young widow in Northern Nigeria, feeding her family was becoming harder every day. Like thousands of women in the rural communities of Nanka, Kyado and Yauri, Mama Nsedu faced poor crop yields due to harsh, dry weather, low rainfall, poor soil nutrients and overdependence on expensmore
UNDP Africa at a Glance
Aiming to eradicate poverty, violence and hunger, UNDP Africa is assisting African countries to translate economic growth into long-lasting, inclusive human development.
Featured Publication
MDG Report 2013: Assessing Progress in Africa Toward the Millennium Development Goals
The Africa MDG Report 2013 concludes that while Africa is the world’s second fastest growing region, its rate of poverty reduction is insufficient to reach the target of halving extreme poverty by 2015.
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