Local news

At 25, Tatenda Chikokoro is part of a growing group of young women helping to reshape how waste is managed in Tafara.

Across Africa, governments are grappling with an uncomfortable truth: national development goals cannot be met when energy systems overlook the people who face the harshest impacts of energy poverty.

When the floods hit Thiès in Senegal, the early warning sirens rang exactly as planned. Messages were sent out, committees met, and the system functioned in the way the manuals described.

At Mawaza Primary School in Gwanda, Zimbabwe, Bokang Mleya has seen how technology is changing education. Since 2021, she has been teaching Grade 5 and leading the school’s ICT program using tablets powered by solar energy.

In Ward 8 of Gwanda, Zimbabwe, Royal Nare sits at the intersection of tradition and resilience. As the chief overseeing Wards 8, 9, and 12, his responsibilities stretch far beyond cultural leadership - he is a community advocate, a mediator, and often, a messenger to the state.

Kelebone Ndlovu is a farmer from Gwanda Ward 19 in Zimbabwe. She is also the chairperson of the Mankonkoni Irrigation Scheme. Farming has become her way of life and her way of providing for her family and others around her.

For millions of families across Africa, cooking is a daily act of care, but also one of survival. It’s done over open flames using firewood or charcoal, often indoors and without ventilation. The smoke fills homes, lingers on clothing, and over time, seeps into lungs.

Practical Action’s Country Director for Rwanda, Denyse Umubyeyi, will call for greater investment in clean cooking solutions that are inclusive, evidence-based and community driven when she speaks at the Eastern Africa Clean Cooking Symposium from 6-8 May 2025 in Arusha Tanzania. The event is organised by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF).

Astou Dabo, a 40-year-old mother of nine, has been working as a recyclable materials collector at the Thiès landfill since 2019. Every day, she collects plastics, scrap metal, and bottles—materials that provide an essential source of income for her family.