The Covid-19 pandemic was a global disaster that affected the food security status of the world. This article examined food price changes and consumption adaptation models in Enugu State, Nigeria, to ascertain people’s consumption patterns and the usefulness of palliative measures given to them. Primary data was generated through a survey of eighty respondents. The secondary data was compiled from monthly reports of food prices by the National Bureau of Statistics and was analysed using descriptive statistics, the Consumer Price Index and chi-square tests. The price indices of food items like white garri and sweet potatoes showed very high inflation during the pandemic period. The number of households who ate only once a day increased, and those who ate three times a day decreased. The chi-square result on differences in eating habits and meal regimen before and during Covid-19 is significant. Many of the respondents received palliative aid during the pandemic. The article recommends that the government should encourage farmers to increase their production by providing them with loans and subsidies so that they may produce enough food in times of emergency like the pandemic.

For decades, and despite sanctions and turbulent relations with major international actors since the 1960s, Cuba has managed to assert itself in the international system. A small island with very limited natural resources, Cuba leveraged its international affairs on its provision of healthcare. This article investigates the role and impact of Cuban medical assistance in Africa. It proceeds from the premise that soft power has useful explanatory value in understanding the Cuba–Africa diplomatic intercourse. The article argues that despite its political ideology and limited political freedoms, Cuba established itself as a model and prominent player in the unique and consistent provision of healthcare and humanitarian assistance to the African continent, and in the development of Africa’s healthcare systems, for more than sixty years. It has also offered community-based healthcare training, which most African countries consider to be more relevant and cost-effective than hospital-based training. Furthermore, the Cuban training gave African medical students a shift in perspective and orientation to focus on public service, not profit-making.

Randomised Control Trials (RCTs) have been presented as a method for identifying interventions that will improve the lives of residents of economically poorer countries. I argue that RCT-driven development policy is unlikely to achieve even its narrower objectives and, instead, is likely to hinder the attainment of long-term economic and social development objectives in African countries. The article examines two fundamental methodological problems: first, that proselytisers of this approach, despite claims to the contrary, have not addressed the challenge of extrapolating from experimental results to policy interventions; second, that while the use of RCTs is framed as an objective scientific approach to policymaking, it systematically smuggles in the ideological and other biases of the researchers involved. These claims are illustrated with three sets of examples: controversial studies that involved cutting off water to poor households in Nairobi and randomising exposure to a Christian missionary programme in the Philippines; studies on civil servant absenteeism in Kenya and India cited in the 2019 Nobel award; and two case studies from South Africa pertaining to labour market and educational interventions where RCTs distorted the policy process with negative consequences. The conclusion is that the RCT approach is a dead end for African development.

Anthony Diala , Rita Ozoemena & Ditsela

Even though international legislation recognises the eradication of gender- based violence as a crucial target for the promotion of human rights and the achievement of the sustainable development of the world, violence against women has received little intellectual attention and scholarly intervention from academia. In the African region, where diverse sociocultural and institutional gender discriminative factors often mean unequal power relations between women and men, the prevalence of gender-based violence is particularly critical. This article examines the institutional implications of violence against women by comparing South Africa and Botswana, two countries that adopted democratic systems after gaining independence from the United Kingdom. It highlights the importance of the Constitutions of both countries and the representation of woman in politics. The divergence between the two states’ legal and political approaches to gender equality and human rights underscores the role of gender-specific institutions in the prevalence of violence against women. This article also uncovers the limitations of existing strategies and proposes a better understanding of inequality within gender relations and its reflection within the frame of institutions to find a way to resolve violence against women and achieve gender justice.

Land is a common cause of conflict in Africa. It is at the root of much social unrest and violence among family members, groups and communities. Although the state judicial system has been a major adjudicator in these instances, their case pronouncements have brought little or no recourse to peaceful co-existence among the conflicted parties. This article seeks to advance the potential of the traditional peacebuilding system as a ‘community friendly’ option especially for constructive land dispute resolution. Traditional peacebuilding is devoid of long judicial proceedings, ‘preconceived’ justice and high costs. This article argues that, unlike the state judicial system, traditional peacebuilding is not only about making resolutions through rational choice, custom knowledge, community history and social cohesion but also about enhancing restorative justice, inclusiveness and peace promotion, and developing the trust and safety that is so badly needed across African communities. It, therefore, concludes that the traditional peacebuilding system has an organisational propensity to resolve land disputes within an institutionalised structure across African communities.