Nkenten

Uganda’s multipurpose tractor - flexible, adaptable, robust

Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, unveiled a multi-purpose tractor called the MV Mulimi at the University’s Agricultural Research Institute. The three-wheel mobile innovation is made out of a combination of wood and steel, and has several functions other than ploughing fields and transporting farm produce.

The MV Mulimi also pumps water for irrigation, threshes maize and can charge phones. While demonstrating its capabilities at the launch, Prof Noble Banadda, who led the development project, noted that the machine has its five compartments clearly defined for the five functionalities.

Poverty is falling faster for female-headed households (FHH) in Africa

Nearly one in four households in Africa are headed by a woman. To be sure, this figure is not the same in all countries; those in Southern Africa have substantially higher rates while households in West African countries are least likely to be headed by a woman.

What is true in all countries is that female headship has been increasing. The data show quite clearly that the probability that a woman aged 15 or older heads a household has been increasing over time in all sub-regions and at every age (see the figure).

So then what has happened to the living standards of FHHs in the aggregate?  Taking the set of countries where we have comparable survey pairs, which covers approximately 80% of Africa’s current population, we find that poverty declined for both male and female-headed households. But in most countries, poverty fell faster for FHHs. This pattern holds when one allows for the diversity among FHHs. For example, it is true comparing households with widow and non-widowed heads, married heads with and without a male adult household member and the same for non-married heads.

The finding that poverty is falling faster for FHHs is robust to adjusting our poverty measure for household size and economies of scale in consumption (FHHs are, on average, smaller).

Back on Track, Uganda’s Railways Signal Better Days Ahead

Denis, a 38-year-old Ugandan bank worker, usually takes a packed minibus known as a matatu to and from his day job through the capital Kampala’s notorious potholed and gridlocked roads. But two weeks ago, he tried a new option: the city’s passenger train, relaunched for the first time in two decades.

“It’s safe, it’s better than the road and I think it’s affordable,” said Denis, smartly dressed in a suit as he disembarked at Kampala’s Main Railway Station after travelling from Namboole, an approximate 40-minute journey and some 10 kilometers (six miles) outside the city, and made his way to the central business district.

It was the third day into the train’s revamp, a partnership between Uganda Railways Corporation (URC), Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), and Rift Valley Railways (RVR) “for the benefit of the residents of Kampala,” according to RVR.

“It was handy,” said Denis, adding he normally pays at least 2,000 Ugandan shillings ($0.61 USD), “depending on the traffic”, in a matatu, but the rail journey had set him back only 1, 500 ($0.45).

East Africa is known for rail lines such as the famous “Lunatic Express,” which runs overnight between Nairobi and Mombasa in Kenya, with an overnight service running to Kisumu on Lake Victoria, and the much troubled 1,860-kilometre (1,160 mile) Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), which when built in the 1970s was the largest single foreign-aid project undertaken by China. But Africa as a “whole has yet to exploit the full potential rail transportation offers,” Kenya-based Sammy Gachuhi, the general concession, manager and spokesperson at RVR, told IPS.

“Africa has less than 7 per cent of the world’s total number of railway tracks constructed and in use, of that number a quarter is to be found in South Africa,” he said.

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Oba [king] Eresoyen’s Stool, 18th century (1735-1750), Court of Benin, Benin Empire, West Africa. Brass, 40 x 40.5 cm. Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

Through time Benin’s rulers have used the arts to interpret history in an effort to support their initiatives and define their images for posterity. In the 18th century, Oba Eresoyen purposefully associated his reign with that of Oba Esigie, the great 16th-century monarch. Both ruled during periods of relative peace and were important patrons of brass casting. This richly embellished stool is modeled on one that was sent to Esigie by the Portuguese. The stool’s complex iconography includes images of the cosmos, the forest, and terrifying supernatural forces. The tools and products of metal workers—including a hammer, knife, and anvil—represent human civilization.

Okumpa masquerade, Afikpo, Eastern Igboland, 1959-60

Okumkpa performance at Mgbom Village square. Players first coming out as a group into the village square. The leader has an older Okumkpa leader’s mask though he is not a main leader. He is called egwale, and is one of two men who sits down with the masked performers just near or in back of the musicians, who sit in front, and helps lead the singing by the seated masqueraders. Still coming out. Nearly 100 masqueraders. [Notes 1960.]

Okumpka, the most elaborate masquerade found at Afikpo Village-Group, is the most popular and well attended Afikpo masked ritual. It consists of a series of skits, songs, and dances presented by masked players in the main common of a village during of an afternoon or evening. The play is closely associated with the village secret society; all players are society members, and all wear wooden masks and costumes.