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Another Countryside

jvandieman@plaas.org.za
By In Blog

PLAAS mourns the passing of activist icon and MPhil candidate, Constance Mogale (1971-2023)

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jvandieman@plaas.org.za
By In Blog

PLAAS welcomes African visiting professor back from the diaspora

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jvandieman@plaas.org.za
By In Blog

Agrarian scholars tackle climate politics in new (free) book

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Policies and lifestyles need update in face of Covid-19

By Epiphania Ngowi and Emmanuel Sulle As we continue to face huge impacts of this unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, not only on our lifestyles but also our approaches, strategies, and policies to combat this pandemic must swiftly change as the need arises. Globally, leaders keep revising their strategies as they grapple with the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on lives of the…
PLAAS
April 18, 2020
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Zimbabwe’s Covid-19 lockdown: Ensuring the right to food for the poor

By Phillan Zamchiya, Dewa Mavhinga, Thando Gwinji, Arnold Chamunogwa and Claris Madhuku The Covid-19 global pandemic poses serious challenges to fragile countries such as Zimbabwe, which have weak health systems and constrained social assistance programmes. Such countries must formulate and implement measures to tackle the unfolding public health crisis without plunging millions of people into starvation. This is the challenge…
PLAAS
April 14, 2020
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Water and sanitation in the face of Covid-19 in Cape Town’s townships and informal settlements

By Mafaniso Hara, Bongani Ncube, Darlington Sibanda Ever since the 21-day national lockdown to curb the spread of the Covid-19 virus came into effect, reports indicate that the lockdown may have worsened the already existing inequalities in access to water and sanitation services in townships, informal settlements and among the homeless. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), water, sanitation…
PLAAS
April 8, 2020
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Covid-19: The impact on small-scale fishers—A perspective from Ocean View

By Charles America, Joseph Ginindza and Moenieba Isaacs   The Covid-19 pandemic actually just further illustrates how insignificant and how severely neglected we, as small-scale fishers, are as a legitimate fisheries resource user-group.” — Charles America, veteran fisher and activist from Ocean View Charles situates his discontentment in the failed policies and lack of policy implementation in the privatisation of…
PLAAS
April 7, 2020
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Phillan Zamchiya: Land deals in Africa: Many suffer challenges

By Phillan Zamchiya From 2016 to 2019, the Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) embarked on a project aimed at securing land and water rights for vulnerable men and women in line with global and regional policy frameworks. The project titled ‘Land and Water Rights in Southern Africa: Entrenching Global and Regional Policy’ was funded by the Austrian…
PLAAS
March 26, 2020
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Katlego Ramantsima: Land tenure school for activists a success

By Katlego Ramantsima From 16 to 24 February, the Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) joined Tshisimani Centre for Activists, Ntinga Ntaba kaNdoda (Ntinga), Border Rural Committee (BRC), Land and Accountability Research Centre (LARC) and the Trust for Community Outreach Education (TCOE) in co-organising a land tenure school to support marginalised rural communities and land activists in the…
PLAAS
March 19, 2020
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Wytske Chamberlain and Karin Kleinbooi: Southern African governments fail smallholder farmers in their commitments made in the Malabo Declaration

In 2014, the African Union (AU) member states adopted the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods (the Malabo Declaration). This declaration provides direction to transform the agricultural sector in Africa for the period 2015-2025 within the wider framework of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). It is an essential document that…
PLAAS
March 12, 2020
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Andries du Toit: Beyond the “populist” challenge

PLAAS recently reposted three thought-provoking blog posts exploring progressive  responses to  the new wave of ‘populist’  politics that has risen to prominence since 2015:  Ian Scoones’s overview of the activities of the Emancipatory Rural Politics Initiative, and Brian Levy’s reflections on the ‘four moral challenges’ of populist discourse, and on the nature of appropriate responses to the antagonistic and confrontational…
PLAAS
February 6, 2020