Category: The Conversation

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Adriaan van Klinken, Professor of Religion and African Studies, University of Leeds

In African literature, Christianity has usually been shown as a foreign religion brought to the continent by European missionaries and colonisers. But in the past few decades, Nigeria’s writers have dealt with it in a far more complex way as Christianity is rooted in, and transformed by, local realities, ranging from conflict to prosperity.

A new open source book by a scholar of African religion, Adriaan van Klinken, sets out to understand these changes through the eyes of Nigeria’s fiction writers. We asked him five questions.

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What made you decide to use fiction to understand religion?

What fiction and religion have in common is that both are works of human imagination and meaning-making. I became interested in literary writing as a commentary on religion. As the late Kenyan writer, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, put it:

The novel, like the myth and the parable, gives a view of society from its contemplation of social life, reflecting it, mirror-like, but also reflecting upon it.

In the book I ask a two-fold question. How do the novels of today’s writers represent religion as a central part of African social life? But also, how do they reflect on religion, critiquing and reimagining it?

I chose Nigeria because the country has become the continent’s major centre of both literary production and Christian growth. (According to researchers, Nigeria’s Christian population grew by 25% to 93 million from 2010 to 2020. The country is projected to have the third largest Christian population in the world by 2060.)

When I started reviewing novels by contemporary Nigerian writers, I discovered that, in many texts, Christianity is a central theme in one way or another.

So, how is Christianity being written about?

The Nigerian classic Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe was published in 1958. It’s about the changes and tensions in traditional Igbo society because of colonisation. Christianity is described as a newly arriving religion. At first it has little traction but thanks to its links to colonial institutions, it gradually grows its influence, causing division in society.

This critical take on Christianity by Achebe and other African writers of his generation has been well documented.

But both African literature and African Christianity have developed. The writers I discuss were born after independence and engage with Christianity in the postcolonial period.

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Read more: Chimamanda’s Lagos homecoming wasn’t just a book launch, it was a cultural moment

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Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2003 novel Purple Hibiscus signals a transition. In it a teenage Igbo girl, Kambili, grows up in a family dominated by a fanatically religious father.

By contrasting how faith is experienced in two Catholic families, Adichie explores the complexity of Nigerian Catholicism and its transformation from a European missionary product into something locally rooted. Towards the end, Kambili has an apparition of the Virgin Mary in a Nigerian landscape. It’s an empowering religious experience for her.

Adichie invokes Christian imagery and symbols in a story about gender issues. Other writers have done something similar in stories about issues of sexuality (Chinelo Okparanta’s Under the Udala Trees) and ecology (Chigozie Obioma’s The Fisherman). Dominant forms of Christianity are critiqued in these novels for their links to colonialism, patriarchy, homophobia, and environmental destruction. But Christian traditions are also creatively reinterpreted.

Nigerian-born sociologist Wale Adebanwi argues that African literary writers are social thinkers. I expand this to argue they’re religious thinkers, too. They think about and with religion, precisely because religion – not only Christianity, but also Islam and indigenous religions – is part of the fabric of society that shapes their own identities.

What can we learn about Christianity and conflict?

In one chapter I focus on the Biafran War (1967–1970). This tragic episode in Nigerian history is still a source of national trauma, especially among the mainly Christian Igbo people in the east. Although far from simply a religious conflict between Christians and Muslims, the civil war shows how religion is enmeshed with other major divisions in Nigerian life. Like ethnicity, economic resources, political power.

The war and its aftermaths are a big theme in Nigerian literature. I discuss two novellas – Chris Abani’s Song for Night and Uzodinma Iweala’s Beasts of No Nation. They don’t mention the war by name but can be seen as a commentary on it.

Both tell of the traumatising impact of brutal violence through the eyes of child soldiers. Both draw on Christian objects, texts, and symbols while processing postwar memory and the complex question of forgiveness. Avoiding simple answers, the books suggest Christianity might offer resources for a much-needed path of healing and reconciliation.

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Read more: Is there a Christian genocide in Nigeria? Evidence shows all faiths are under attack by terrorists

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Another chapter is about Christian-Muslim relations. This is important given Nigeria’s religious demographics (both Christian and Muslim populations are growing fast, with Muslims in a slight majority). But also because of the history of tensions and conflicts between Christians and Muslims. This has (geo)political significance (just see US president Donald Trump’s threat of military intervention over alleged “Christian persecution” in Nigeria).

Uwem Akpan’s Luxurious Hearses (2008), E.E. Sule’s Sterile Sky (2012) and Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani’s Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree (2018) are all set in the Muslim-dominated north.

They all complicate simplistic views and offer nuanced insight into inter-religious relations in a time of escalating tensions between Christians and Muslims. Written by authors from Christian backgrounds, they interrogate the tendency among some Nigerian Christians to see Muslims as the enemy. They also suggest that Christian radicalisation is part of the problem.

By including Muslim characters who protect Christians, and other examples of Christians and Muslims living together harmoniously, these novels promote an everyday practice of neighbourliness.

How do writers discuss Pentecostalism?

Nigeria, and Lagos in particular, has been described as the Pentecostal capital of the world. Pentecostalism is a fast-growing form of Christianity. It emphasises the experience of the holy spirit, energetic worship, divine healing, and a gospel of prosperity. Nigeria (and Africa more generally) has become a major centre of Pentecostalism. As such it’s become a prominent theme in Nigerian literature.

By and large, it’s not favourably depicted. The satirical novel Foreign Gods, Inc by Okey Ndibe (2014) is a case in point. Through the character of Pastor Uka, it explores how hypocricy, exploitation and deception could accompany the prosperity gospel. It suggests Pentecostalism could be continuing the colonial project, with its hostility towards indigenous religions.

For my part I agree, but argue that the depiction of Pentecostalism in Nigerian fiction is somewhat one-sided. It fails to consider the diversity and possibilities within this movement.

Pentecostalism also gives hope to impoverished communities. It empowers people socially and economically. It creates local and global networks, and even builds new cities.

What do you hope readers will take away?

Of course, I hope people will go and read these novels (as well as many others I couldn’t include). Then they too can experience the fascinating life-worlds in them that religion is such an intricate part of.

Good literature is able to avoid simplistic accounts of religion and social life, because by including a diverse range of characters, viewpoints and events it adds nuance and complexity to the conversation.

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Read more: Nigeria’s violent conflicts are about more than just religion – despite what Trump says

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Debates about whether Christianity has been good or bad for Africa, and Nigeria in particular, can probably never be settled, because so much depends on context and perspective. Nigeria’s writers offer just that.

– God in Nigeria: the country’s novelists help us understand the complexity of Christianity
– https://theconversation.com/god-in-nigeria-the-countrys-novelists-help-us-understand-the-complexity-of-christianity-270894

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Marlize Lombard, Professor with Research Focus in Stone Age Archaeology, Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg

New genetic research is shedding light on some of the earliest chapters of our human history. In one of the largest studies of its kind, scientists analysed DNA from 28 individuals who lived in southern Africa between 10,200 and a few hundred years ago. The study provides more evidence that hunter-gatherers from southern Africa were some of the earliest modern human groups, with a genetic ancestry tracing back to about 300,000 years ago. Marlize Lombard, an archaeologist whose research focuses on the development of the human mind, breaks down the key findings.

Why did you study the DNA of ancient hunter-gatherers in southern Africa?

According to the genetic, palaeo-anthropological and archaeological evidence, modern humans – Homo sapiens – originated in Africa hundreds of thousands of years ago and then spread around the world. But the evolutionary process of exactly how, where and when this happened is debated.

Africa has the greatest human genetic diversity and the hunter-gatherers of southern Africa represent some of the oldest known genetic lineages. They can therefore reveal more about where and when we originated as a species.

After thousands of years of migration, modern African populations have a mixed genetic heritage. So their genomes are not very helpful for understanding our deep evolutionary history. For that, we need to look at genetic variation among individuals living before large-scale population movements on the continent.

In southern Africa, it means going back to before about 1,400-2,000 years ago. It also means that such rare ancient hunter-gatherer DNA can provide valuable information, not available in the DNA of living people.

What we specifically wanted to learn from the ancient southern African DNA was to which extent the biological and behavioural patterns we observe in the fossil and archaeological records were continuous and particular to the region.

For example, at a South African fossil-bearing site called Florisbad, we have a human skull dating to about 260,000 years ago that shows a possible transition from Homo heidelbergensis into Homo sapiens. And from about 100,000 years ago there was a rapid increase in technological innovations such as paint-making, glue-making and long-range weapon use.

We sequenced the DNA of 28 ancient individuals from what is now South Africa, all dating to the Holocene epoch that started about 11,700 years ago. DNA sequencing “reads” the order of the chemical base-pairs that make up an individual’s DNA. This helps us to reconstruct a person’s genome, or their complete set of genetic information. Among other things, it can tell us something about the individual’s biological and behavioural characteristics.

Eight of the individuals used to live near the coast at Matjes River, in today’s Western Cape province. Several others lived at inland sites across South Africa. We dated their remains with radiocarbon dating, finding that the oldest died about 10,200 years ago at Matjes River and the most recent died just 280 years ago in the Free State. (All DNA from archaeological contexts is scientifically known as ancient DNA.)

What did the DNA reveal?

Our study shows that the genetic makeup of the southern African hunter-gatherer population didn’t change much for 9,000 years across the whole of South Africa, not only in the southern Cape, even though their technologies and lifeways may have changed or differed during this time.

All ancient southern Africans dated to more than 1,400 years ago had some unique Homo sapiens genetic variations. The ancient DNA had genes associated with UV-light protection, skin diseases, and skin pigmentation. These could have been essential to life on southern Africa’s grasslands and fynbos. Among the genetic variants that were common to ancient and modern humans were genes related to kidney function (potentially connected to improved water-retention) and immune-system related genes.

About 40% of the ancient southern African genes are associated with neurons, brain growth and the way that human brains process information today. Some of these gene variants may have been involved in the evolution of how humans pay attention today. Attention is a cognitive or mental trait that seems to have evolved differently in African Homo sapiens compared to the now extinct Neanderthals and Denisovans from Eurasia. It may have played a role in the successful spread of Homo sapiens out of Africa after about 60,000 years ago.

What does this tell us about human evolution and population migration?

Our work shows that some biological adaptations for becoming modern humans were unique to southern African hunter-gatherers who lived in a relatively large, stable population for many thousands of years south of the Limpopo River.

Co-author and geneticist from Uppsala University in Sweden, Carina Schlebusch, commented that

Because we now have more unadmixed ancient genomes from southern Africa, we are gaining better population-level insights, and a much clearer foundation for understanding how modern humans evolved across Africa.

Our findings contrast with linguistic, archaeological and some early genetic studies pointing to a shared ancestry or long-term interaction between different regions of Africa. Instead, it seems that southern Africa may have offered humans a climate and landscape refuge where hunter-gatherers thrived, adapting to a place rich in plant and animal resources for 200,000 years or more. During this time, we see no genetic evidence for incoming populations. Instead, sometime after about 100,000-70,000 years ago, small groups of southern African hunter-gatherers may have wandered northwards, carrying with them some of their genetic and technological characteristics.

According to population geneticist Mattias Jakobsson at Uppsala University,

these ancient genomes tell us that southern Africa played a key role in the human journey, perhaps ‘the’ key role.

Up to now, humans seemed to have developed their modern anatomical (physical) form before they developed modern behaviour and thinking. Learning more about ancient genes could help to close this gap, especially once more becomes known from genetic studies of other ancient African forager groups, and indigenous peoples elsewhere on the globe.

– Becoming human in southern Africa: what ancient hunter-gatherer genomes reveal
– https://theconversation.com/becoming-human-in-southern-africa-what-ancient-hunter-gatherer-genomes-reveal-270378

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Claire Bedelian, Senior Researcher, SPARC Consortium, ODI Global

Africa’s drylands are often imagined as vast, empty spaces. Romantic wilderness on the one hand. Zones of hunger, conflict and poverty on the other. Media stories tend to emphasise crises and scarcity, portraying these regions as peripheral and fragile.

But this narrative obscures a more complex and hopeful reality. Across these landscapes, millions of pastoralists and dryland farmers are constantly adapting, innovating, and building livelihoods in some of the continent’s most variable environments.

Drylands are areas of low rainfall and high temperature that cover 60% of Africa. They support the livelihoods and food security of half a billion people who depend on pastoralism and crop farming. These regions are integral to biodiversity, culture and economies. Pastoralists alone supply over half the continent’s meat and milk, sustaining millions of households and enterprises. They underpin food systems and trade networks that reach far beyond the drylands.

Yet drylands people face mounting pressures. These include political marginalisation, insecure land tenure, persistent conflict and climate change. These challenges are often worsened by misguided investments and inappropriate policies. Among them are land grabs and mining concessions to rangeland conversion.

In addition, many initiatives in the drylands have failed to deliver lasting change despite decades of investments. Too often, they are shaped by outdated, crisis-driven narratives. These misrepresent drylands as “empty”, “unproductive”, or in need of “saving”.

Such interventions disrupt livelihoods and distort the underlying logic of dryland societies, while being used to justify yet more external investment.

For more than a decade we have been researching dryland livelihood systems in Africa and the Arab Region. We are part of the six-year SPARC programme (Supporting Pastoralism and Agriculture in Recurrent and Protracted Crises), which informs more feasible and cost-effective policies and investments in the drylands of Africa and the Middle East. We recently produced a documentary that followed five stories of pastoralists driving positive change in Africa’s drylands.

We found that the most effective support for drylands builds on the local systems and expertise that people already rely on. Yet many external initiatives still attempt to replace these rather than work with them. This matters because efforts that overlook local systems often weaken resilience and increases vulnerability.

Why past efforts often fall short

Misconceptions about drylands define them by what they lack rather than by their strengths. They oversimplify complex, dynamic systems to rationalise interventions aimed at taming dryland variability. The result has been projects that often undermine resilience instead of strengthening it.

For example, many investments in large-scale irrigation schemes have diverted water from traditional livelihoods while failing to boost agricultural productivity.

Similarly, fixed water infrastructure such as boreholes or dams can disrupt pastoral mobility. In Turkana, northern Kenya, permanent water points contributed to resource conflicts and rangeland degradation, and many have since fallen into disuse.

These “imported” solutions rarely account for local priorities or ecological realities. That’s why dozens of boreholes lie abandoned even in areas still facing water shortages.

Limited long-term learning compounds this problem. Few organisations return to assess how previous resilience projects fared. Millions are spent on building resilience, yet there is little follow-up to understand the outcomes of past efforts.

In contrast, locally-led approaches have proven far more effective. Along the shores of Lake Turkana, joint planning between local communities and county government has produced investments people value and maintain. These include shared water systems, fishing equipment and community gardens.

These examples underline a key lesson: initiatives designed around community priorities and local governance structures are more likely to have lasting impact.

Dynamic, adaptive and innovative

While external projects often struggle, dryland people continue to adapt in creative and diverse ways. Their resilience is rooted in mobility, cooperation and environmental knowledge passed down through generations.

Pastoralists and farmers have developed finely tuned strategies for living with this variability such as unpredictable rainfall, recurrent droughts and occasional floods. They move herds, manage grazing and water resources, diversify incomes, and draw on social networks that spread risk.

Mobility and flexibility are central. Herders move strategically across rangelands to access water and pasture, balancing environmental and social factors in real time. In flood-prone Bor, South Sudan, many Dinka women shift seasonally from livestock to fish preservation and trade.

Pastoralists also embrace digital technology, dispelling myths of technological illiteracy. Herders use mobile phones, social media, and digital tools such as Kaznet and Afriscout to locate water and monitor pasture.

Initiatives like Livestock247 – a livestock traceability and marketing platform – show how tech can open markets and improve herd management when aligned with pastoralist social values and practices.

Informal networks are another cornerstone of resilience. Motorbike riders scout for pasture during droughts, local traders offer credit to women, lorry drivers deliver goods to remote areas, and mobile money agents keep remittances flowing. In times of crisis these social and economic linkages often provide more reliable safety nets than formal aid systems.

Rethinking support: building on what works

If governments, donors and development partners are serious about helping Africa’s drylands become more peaceful, prosperous and resilient, they must start by recognising the expertise, agency and innovation that already exist.

Effective support means investing in – and strengthening – the systems that already work rather than replacing them with rigid, top-down solutions. These include mobility, local governance, informal trade, and indigenous knowledge

Empowering women and youth is key. When given opportunities and resources, they are often the first to innovate, diversify livelihoods and rebuild communities after crises.

Iterative, context-specific efforts strengthen resilience in the drylands, not rapid, transformational change. Small-scale, locally-grounded efforts can have a lasting impact. In many post-conflict recovery examples, smallholders steadily rebuilt agriculture through gradual improvements in seeds, fertilisers and tools. They do this with minimal government support.

Building resilience in drylands is not a technical fix. It requires flexibility, listening, and partnership over control and prescription.

2026 is the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP). It is a year for highlighting the importance of drylands for food security, biodiversity and sustainable livelihoods, and for elevating pastoralist’s contribution and influence over policy and investment priorities. It offers an opportunity to shift the narratives from outdated myths of scarcity and crises to those that champion the agency, knowledge and resilience of dryland people.

This requires sustained commitment – placing dryland communities at the centre of decisions, nurturing their innovations, and resisting attempts to impose incompatible models.

A new story of Africa’s drylands is emerging, one grounded in respect, recognition and partnership. One worth amplifying for a more peaceful, resilient and prosperous future.

– Africa’s drylands need the right kind of support – listening to the pastoralists who live there
– https://theconversation.com/africas-drylands-need-the-right-kind-of-support-listening-to-the-pastoralists-who-live-there-269975

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Lovise Aalen, Research Professor, Political Science, Chr. Michelsen Institute

Sudan has a long history of civilian-led resistance, with young people playing a key role. For example, informal neighbourhood networks established in 2013 to survive repression under three decades of authoritarian rule have since transformed into vibrant support systems.

These groups helped mobilise mass protests in 2018. They have provided a lifeline for communities in the ongoing civil war, which started in 2023.

During the mass protests, youth-led networks organised political sit-ins and demonstrations against the Islamist regime of Omar al-Bashir. They were ultimately successful in overthrowing a 30-year dictatorship.

We are researchers in the fields of anthropology and political science, studying youth mobilisation in authoritarian states. In a recent paper, we studied the emergence and role of Sudan’s neighbourhood committees and informal networks. These became the backbone of protests.

We found that young people built grassroots networks through engagement in different forms of voluntarism and charity. They built resistance structures under the repressive environment of the Islamist regime. Later (around 2013 or so), these developed into neighbourhood committees organising resistance underground.

And since the outbreak of war in April 2023, Emergency Response Rooms, which are community-led networks, have been providing crucial humanitarian relief.

African youth mobilisation is often seen as an outcome of tension between an urban underclass and a repressive state. We argue that in Sudan, a collaboration between different classes, including the middle class, has been key in the fight against autocratic governance.

We found that the committees enabled protests. They played a vital role in organising emergency responses during times of crises.

Building the resistance

Under the repressive policies of the al-Bashir regime, political activities were not allowed in public spaces. Opposition was heavily suppressed.

Despite this, young people found innovative ways to create political spaces. Neighbourhood committees became sites of resistance, emerging as a critical infrastructure for grassroots mobilisation.

The committees represent a unique blend of political and practical action. They serve a dual functionality – mobilising for change while addressing immediate community needs. This underscores the potential of informal, decentralised networks to drive both political and social transformation.

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Read more: Sudan’s people toppled a dictator – despite the war they’re still working to bring about democratic change

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They were initially formed during the 2013 anti-austerity protests as neighbourhoods’ underground cells. These committees were informal, hyper-local networks of politically engaged youth.

Over time, they evolved into organised structures. They facilitated protests, provided essential services and emergency responses during crises. In the 2018 uprising, they coordinated logistics. They also provided real-time updates through social media.

The committees also supported a sit-in at the military headquarters in April 2019. This became a focal point of the uprising. This sit-in presented a vibrant community space where youth experienced a sense of political togetherness. It featured art exhibitions, public debates and cultural performances, creating a shared vision of a better Sudan.

The civil war

The war between the army and a paramilitary group, the Rapid Support Forces, has put more than 30 million people – about two-thirds of the population – in need of humanitarian aid. This has created one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Conflict and blockades have meant international efforts to send aid hasn’t always been possible.

During the transitional period after al-Bashir’s exit and the 2023 war, the committees transformed into emergency response rooms. These provided critical services, such as healthcare, food and water. These rooms were run by the same youth networks that had led the protests. They drew on their pre-war experiences of grassroots mobilisation and humanitarian aid.

Amid a devastating civil war, they carry on the idea of political togetherness. Bonds of trust, necessity and solidarity established years ago have transcended ethnic or class divisions. They have created civilian resilience against state repression.

Lessons in resilience

The committees’ ability to adapt to new challenges underscores the importance of grassroots networks in both political and humanitarian contexts.

The concept of political togetherness, as seen in Sudan, reveals how temporary alliances across class, gender and ethnic divides can create a cohesive force for change.

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Read more: How a Sudanese university kept learning alive during war

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This has implications for understanding youth movements globally, particularly where formal political spaces are inaccessible or untrustworthy.

The adaptability of Sudan’s neighbourhood committees illustrates the resilience of grassroots networks. By stepping into the void left by state failure, these committees provide essential services and also reinforce their legitimacy within their communities.

This suggests that such networks can serve as a foundation for future governance models, especially in post-conflict reconstruction efforts.

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Read more: Sudan’s civilians urgently need protection: the options for international peacekeeping

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However, our study also reveals risks associated with informal and flexible structures.

The lack of formal governance mechanisms within these committees leaves them vulnerable to co-optation, fragmentation and the erosion of trust over time.

Without proper institutional support, the cohesion and effectiveness of these networks may wane. This is especially when the crises or transitions are prolonged.

What next?

In a post-war Sudan, both the Sudanese government and the international community should aim to preserve the emergency response rooms’ autonomy and grassroots nature. This should happen while providing resources and institutional support to enhance their capacity for community service and crisis response.

Activists within Sudan and similar contexts should continue to build on the model of political togetherness. This means fostering inclusive alliances that transcend traditional divides.

By prioritising both political mobilisation and community service, these grassroots networks can maintain the momentum for change while addressing immediate needs.

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Read more: Omar al-Bashir brutalised Sudan – how his 30-year legacy is playing out today

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The humanitarian efforts that the Sudanese people invented are based on previous experience in civil engagement. The current call for a civilian government, which was also a demand by the protesters during the 2018 uprisings, is rooted in political togetherness. It is also linked to the long history of civilian governance practices at the grassroots level.

– Sudan’s protesters built networks to fight a tyrant – today they save lives in a war
– https://theconversation.com/sudans-protesters-built-networks-to-fight-a-tyrant-today-they-save-lives-in-a-war-270176

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Lieketseng Ned, Lecturer, Stellenbosch University

The effective planning and delivery of services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in South Africa is severely constrained by the lack of reliable data.

Intellectual disability is characterised by significant limitations in:

• intellectual functioning (reasoning, learning, problem solving)

• adaptive behaviour (a range of everyday social and practical skills)

which originate before the age of 22.

Developmental disabilities are a diverse group of chronic conditions due to an impairment in physical, learning, language, or behaviour areas. Intellectual disability, autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and fetal alcohol syndrome are some of the conditions.

South Africa measures disability at population level using the Washington Group Short Set of six functional questions. This ensures international comparability. But it doesn’t adequately capture intellectual and development disabilities. This is because the questions only capture difficulties in doing basic activities. They don’t capture a diagnosis. It’s therefore difficult to know what diagnoses have led people to report difficulties.

This makes disaggregation by disability diagnosis difficult. Data disaggregation by disability types is key. It contributes to effective policy, resource allocation and budgeting as well as appropriate intervention and targeted services.

This article builds on our work researching disability in South Africa for over 10 years.

In it, we propose pragmatic steps to improve the ability to monitor the status of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities of all ages. South Africa can add to the evidence base by producing robust, actionable metrics that strengthen population data. In turn this will enhance planning and implementation.

Current measurement landscape

Disability measurement in South Africa rests on two main pillars.

The first is administrative records. These include:

These all provide useful service-level insights. But they only capture people already in contact with services. And they use different coding standards.

The second pillar is population-based surveys. These include Washington Group questions on disability. This generates internationally comparable prevalence estimates. But this measurement doesn’t include children under 5 years. The nature of the questions also means that a wide range of predominantly invisible disabilities are missed.

For children, the Washington Group/Unicef Child Functioning Module is internationally recognised as a valid measure for 2–17 year olds. It is available and recommended. But it’s still not widely implemented in South Africa.

As a result, the current system remains inadequate in reliably disaggregating data by disability type, age, severity or onset.

Measurement limitations

Population-based measures of functioning don’t provide a diagnosis. It is therefore difficult to identify people with intellectual and developmental disability within the data.

Additionally, the Washington Group does not ask about psychosocial functioning. An example of such a question could be: Do you have difficulty forming relationships?. Relying on it alone may undercount many people whose primary impairments are cognitive, adaptive or psychosocial.

Ideally, it would be beneficial to have both the diagnosis and the functional profile.

National reporting also leaves an important early-childhood blind spot. Infants and many toddlers (0–4 years) are not captured in the same way as older children and adults. Yet this is the period when early detection and intervention can have the most impact. The Washington Group/Unicef measure improves data for children from 2 to 4 years. But it isn’t embedded in the country’s data collection platforms.

Data on young children are further limited by uneven developmental surveillance and the narrow use of the Road to Health Booklet. The booklet serves as a comprehensive record of a child’s medical history, health status, growth and development.

Administrative records are also inconsistently coded and weakly linked. This makes them an unreliable source of data on type of disability. Single-item indicators (for example, “difficulty communicating”) risk misclassification unless analysed alongside onset and other related functioning.

What is possible?

The question that we asked in our recently completed country assessment in collaboration with Special Olympics South Africa is:

how does one use data on the functioning profile to understand diagnosis and vice versa?

Such a crosswalk would allow identification of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the data. As an initial step, we created and used a composite indicator. This could potentially assist in identifying people 5 years and older.

For each dataset, we used a combination of the already existing Washington Group Short Set variables to create the new “With intellectual and developmental disabilities” variable.

This was followed by running cross-tabulations of the “with possible intellectual and developmental disabilities” versus “without intellectual and developmental disabilities” with a number of other health-related variables. These cross-tabulations were used to identify gaps in accessing health care services.

We acknowledge that this is an imperfect measure. But it provides a starting point to try and understand the trends in access to health care.

Next steps

We recommend the following:

• Amend survey instruments to include the Washington Group alongside diagnosis questions for those under five.

• Do research to understand the functional profile of people with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities based on their responses to the Washington Group Short Set.

• Expand training for field staff on the new modules. This should include interviewing techniques.

• Ensure national and subnational coordination.

• Publish detailed breakdowns by disability type, by age group (including under 5), and by region.

– South Africa needs to rethink how it measures intellectual and developmental disabilities – what’s lacking
– https://theconversation.com/south-africa-needs-to-rethink-how-it-measures-intellectual-and-developmental-disabilities-whats-lacking-268497

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Marc Wegerif, Senior Lecturer, Development Studies, University of Pretoria

Land tenure is the relationship, defined in law and customs, that people as individuals or groups have with land. It involves a bundle of rights to land, such as the right to use, sell, or bequeath land. Secure tenure is crucial for people to have secure homes, for food production, and for the economy. For many it is also central to their identity and culture.

While there is broad agreement on the importance of effective governance of secure land tenure, the best way to achieve this is the subject of much debate. The core contestation is between commodifying land through individual rights and markets, versus protecting it as a social good through communal rights to prevent landlessness and inequality. An overlapping debate is between more customary or traditional systems and those based on statutory law and democratic principles.

Food systems, economic justice, and agrarian reform have been the focus of my scholarship over the last 20 years. Seeing both progress and the same old debates continue, my two co-researchers and I felt it a good moment to examine what has happened with land tenure governance and what we can learn from that.

Our research involved conducting a comprehensive review of 18 countries – 16 in Africa and two in Asia – between 2021 and 2023.

Our study found a significant shift towards the recognition of customary rights and the strengthening of women’s land rights. These are driven by a wave of new policies, legislation and programmes such as those in Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Malawi.

Although progress has been made, the struggle over land – balancing market interests with social protection, individual rights with communal governance – remains highly contested. Learning from the good examples and seeing what still needs to be done is crucial for further debates and action on the issue of land rights and governance.

The findings

Our review involved extensive interviews with a range of actors from government, civil society and academia in each country and a review of policies, legislation and other documents.

Our study also came just over ten years after the adoption of the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa and the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure.

The two are internationally agreed guidelines intended to assist national governments to improve their land policies and governance. We used them as benchmarks against which to review the land tenure governance arrangements in each country.

We found that the past two decades have seen a remarkable surge in land policy and legislative activity. Fifteen of the 18 countries studied have adopted new or substantially amended land policies or laws since 2000. Twelve have done so since 2012.

Central achievements of these reforms have been the strengthening of women’s land rights and improved legal recognition of customary and communal land tenure systems. This is seen in the adoption of policies and legislation that recognise customary land rights and prohibit gender discrimination.

This has led to the increased inclusion of community participation in land decision making procedures. There are also programmes that have been implemented to register customary land rights.

Some countries, such as Zambia, have set targets for the minimum amount of land that should go to women. Such interventions have improved the land rights of millions who have historically been vulnerable to dispossession.

These shifts, in particular recognising communal and customary land rights, represent a move away from the wholesale individualisation, privatisation and commoditisation of land.

The proponents of land privatisation, most notably the World Bank, argue that it unlocks access to capital and leads to the transfer of land to those who can use it most effectively.

Those arguing against it claim that it has not worked, particularly in Africa, and leads to greater land inequality and landlessness.

Instead, the 15 countries in this study that have adopted new policies and legislation in the last two decades are forging a middle path. They are seeking to secure traditional rights while unlocking development potential, such as by securing farmers’ rights and enabling investments. The formal registration of individual rights to customary land has been achieved cost-effectively in several contexts, without a full privatisation of land and without leading to widespread landlessness.

Crucially, and contrary to earlier fears, recent land registration efforts have often benefited women more than men in several settings, such as Rwanda and Ethiopia.

The success stories

Two standout examples illustrate the potential of well-crafted and implemented reforms.

In Sierra Leone, the passage of the Customary Land Rights Act and the National Land Commission Act in 2022 set new benchmarks for protecting community and women’s rights. These laws entrench the increasingly recognised requirement of “free, prior and informed consent” from affected communities and families before any changes to their land rights or use can proceed.

The law breaks new ground by explicitly stipulating that such consent must be given by both “adult male and female members of the affected community,” ensuring women’s voices are heard. Furthermore, the Customary Land Rights Act mandates that a minimum of 60% of both women and men in families must approve decisions concerning family land. This is a potentially powerful measure to protect the interests of all dependants in extended families.

In Ethiopia, a different kind of success story has unfolded through a massive, state-driven land certification programme. This has resulted in the registration of individual community land rights to over 25 million land parcels.

This was achieved at a remarkably low cost of just US$8.50 per title and provided to beneficiaries for free. The programme has had a positive gender impact with 23%-24% of certificates issued in the names of women alone (compared to 14%-15% to men) and a further 55% issued as joint titles to couples.

This demonstrates that large-scale, cost-effective land registration that strengthens women’s tenure security is achievable.

Examples of stalled reform

Our study also revealed numerous implementation gaps. Policies and laws may align with international voluntary guidelines principles on paper. But translation into tangible security for citizens is often weak.

Furthermore, several countries, such as Cameroon and Senegal, are hampered by a failure to adopt new legislation altogether and still operate with land laws that are over 50 years old.

South Africa serves as a stark example of stalled reform. Following the end of apartheid over three decades ago, there was a flurry of post-liberation land legislation. However, the country has failed to finalise new legislation to address tenure insecurity on communal land, which is home to approximately 20 million people. The 2004 Communal Land Rights Act was declared unconstitutional, and a subsequent 2017 draft bill has yet to be passed.

Consequently, land governance in these areas remains in a legal vacuum.

South Africa also continues to rely on an outdated, slow and expensive land registration system for private land. The country has failed to implement a modern, fit-for-purpose national land registry that could serve all citizens. This legislative and administrative inertia has left the country’s land reform programme perpetually underperforming and land distribution as unequal as ever.

The journey is far from complete

The overall trajectory of land tenure governance in the first decades of the 21st century is one of cautious optimism. The examples of Sierra Leone’s progressive laws and Ethiopia’s mass certification show what is possible with political will and innovative approaches.

However, the journey is far from complete. The challenges of implementation are immense, and countries like South Africa, Cameroon and Senegal highlight the critical need to modernise legal frameworks and land administration.

– African land policy reforms have been good for women and communities – but review of 18 countries shows major gaps
– https://theconversation.com/african-land-policy-reforms-have-been-good-for-women-and-communities-but-review-of-18-countries-shows-major-gaps-268318

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Charles Helm, Research Associate, African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University

South Africa is well known for its fossil heritage, a record of plants and animals that tells us what the world was like long ago.

Over the past 15 years, our research group at the African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience at Nelson Mandela University has studied some of these ancient species by examining the tracks and traces they left during the Pleistocene Epoch (a period from about 1.8 million years ago to 11,700 years ago, sometimes known as the “Ice Ages”). We have identified more than 350 vertebrate tracksites along the coast from this time. These animals left their tracks and traces in sandy surfaces that hardened into rock over time. The oldest fossil track we’ve found is around 400,000 years old.

All this time we were aware that there might be more, even older trace fossils to find further inland. We knew that up to 30km inland there were cemented dunes formed from wind-blown sand, probably around 3 million years old. These dunes, which are now rock, are known as the Wankoe Formation.

However, there were problems with finding any fossils there. There seemed to be a relatively limited number of suitable rock outcrops, showing what used to be dune surfaces. And often those that we did find were eroded and calcified: good for finding caves and mineral formations (like stalagmites), but not for finding tracks – or so it seemed. In addition, much of the Wankoe Formation is on private property, and permission would be needed to access potential sites.

We realised that to find any fossil traces we would have to focus on the areas where the original rock layers were well preserved and visible. Then one of our team members, Given Banda, identified what appeared to be a trackway on an inland surface near his home community. This was a spur to action, and next, when staying in the Grootbos Private Nature Reserve to research nearby coastal tracks, we chanced upon more inland track-like features. A more thorough reconnaissance in the reserve followed, and the more we looked, the more tracks we found, including one that’s certainly a trackway (see photo below).

The results of our findings were recently published.

No vertebrate tracks had previously been identified in the Wankoe Formation. We have found that the formation is rich in fossils and that vertebrate tracks are common there. Furthermore, these seem to be the first recorded Pliocene vertebrate tracks described from southern Africa. The Pliocene was an epoch from about 5.3 million to 2.6 million years ago. These findings therefore add to what we know about ancient environments.

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Read more: Exquisite new fossils from South Africa offer a glimpse into a thriving ecosystem 266 million years ago

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New treasure trove of fossil tracks and traces

The Wankoe Formation track discoveries are important for three main reasons:

• they might tell us more about body fossils

• we might find traces of human ancestor species

• the tracks are raised rather than indented, which is rare.

Firstly, there is a wonderful Pliocene body fossil site just a few hundred kilometres away. Known as Langebaanweg or, more popularly, the West Coast Fossil Park, the site boasts a vast array of extinct creatures. The body fossil record and trace fossil (ichnological record can not only complement each other, but have the potential to yield new findings that constructively inform and enrich each other.

For example, on the coast we have found trackways of giraffe and giant tortoises, that were not known to inhabit the region based on the body fossil record. We hope that we can complement the body fossil record with our ichnological findings. Already we have identified a tracksite that suggests a possible wolverine trackmaker, consistent with the finding of an extinct wolverine at Langebaanweg.

Secondly, when we started work on the younger deposits on the coast 15 years ago, we knew that we needed to be on the lookout for hominin tracksites, as we were aware that ancestral hominins had been there at the time. Since then, we have found more than 20 such sites. These make up by far the largest archive of hominin tracksites more than 40,000 years old in the world.

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Read more: Fossil finds: footprints on South Africa’s coast offer a glimpse into our ancestors’ lives

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We can try to apply similar thinking to our Pliocene discoveries inland from the coast.

Pliocene deposits are not encountered that often in Africa, and these Western Cape examples seem to be among the only ones described from southern Africa. The Laetoli site in Tanzania is globally famous for its australopithecine trackways, which remain the only tracks of these possible ancestors of our Homo genus from the Pliocene. They are also the oldest unequivocal tracks of their kind in the world.

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Read more: The Maasai legend behind ancient hominin footprints in Tanzania

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While we have not yet found tracks that are conclusively of primate origin in the Wankoe Formation, and we do not know precisely when australopithecines may have first appeared in this region, we are aware of the potential, and need to keep exploring.

Thirdly, the tracks we are finding are different, and are special in their own right. Many of them are “pedestalled”, meaning that instead of forming hollows, they are raised above the surface.

The principle of their origin can easily be replicated on a modern dune surface, provided that the sand is slightly moist (cohesive) and a strong wind is blowing. If you walk along such a surface, you will leave your tracks in the form of depressions. But if you return an hour later, they might be raised above the surface. This is because you will have compressed underlying layers when you made your tracks, and the wind has blown the surrounding sand away but is not strong enough to remove the compressed areas below your tracks. The same principle occurs in snow, where it is much more readily observed (see photo below).

Fossilised pedestalled tracks are globally rare, and the potential for finding more of them is intriguing.

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Read more: Fossil treasure chest: how to preserve the geoheritage of South Africa’s Cape coast

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More to find?

Our subsequent explorations have continued to deliver results, and we now realise that even rocks that have been weathered can sometimes preserve tracks, sometimes in profile. (See photo: the underlying layers have been distorted by the weight of the trackmaker.)

We have also found body fossils in the form of trees, roots and bone material embedded in these layers of wind-blown, hardened sand that require further study.

It is perhaps not surprising that the dunes that now form the Wankoe Formation contained tracks on their surfaces. However, the welcome news is that despite all the calcification and weathering that has occurred, evidence of these tracks has not been obliterated.

We now realise that if we know where to look, there will be many suitable surfaces and exposures to explore. And the possibility of finding the tracks of ancestral hominins from the Pliocene forms a new “holy grail” for our research team.

– Fossil hunters find tracks of animals from about 3 million years ago – a first in South Africa
– https://theconversation.com/fossil-hunters-find-tracks-of-animals-from-about-3-million-years-ago-a-first-in-south-africa-267567

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Marc Wegerif, Senior Lecturer, Development Studies, University of Pretoria

South Africa’s food system is a complex landscape where high levels of production coexist with severe food insecurity. In a 2024 survey, 63.5% of households were found to be food insecure and 28.8% of children stunted.

In this food system, fresh produce markets owned by municipalities are critical for food access and nutrition. The Agriculture Department reported that in 2023, the country’s 17 main municipal fresh produce markets sold over 3 million tons of fresh fruit and vegetables, worth R24.6 billion (US$1.37 billion). This is approximately 40%-50% of the fresh produce from farmers in South Africa.

The relationship between public markets and the informal sector, in particular, is fundamental to food security. Studies being carried out with support from the DSTI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Food Security in South Africa confirm that fresh produce sold by street traders who source from municipal markets is consistently cheaper than in formal supermarkets.

By selling at low prices in convenient locations, informal traders reduce the cost of food and the need for transport when shopping. They are key to making fruit and vegetables physically and economically accessible to the urban poor.

But this food system is under threat. Our research found that supermarket chains are buying more produce directly from farmers. Corroborated by the Competition Commission, there has been a steady decline in the share of national produce distributed through municipal markets.

We are social scientists who have been doing research on urban food systems in South Africa for the last seven years. We carried out research at the Johannesburg fresh produce market to better understand its role in food security.

We studied the market over three years, making observations during many visits and interviewing over 120 people in different roles. The market traces its origins back to Market Square in Johannesburg in the late 1800s, and is now the biggest of South Africa’s municipal markets.

It serves South Africa’s economic hub of Gauteng as well as selling some produce to other parts of the country and to neighbouring countries. The produce comes from the largest commercial operations and from small-scale farmers – anyone can sell there if they wish to.

The study provided clear evidence that the market is essential infrastructure for a more resilient, equitable and food-secure future.

To safeguard the role of markets like this, a concerted effort to protect and invest in them is required.

Johannesburg fresh produce market

The Johannesburg fresh produce market accounts for around 45% of the total value of sales from the National Fresh Produce Markets. Its annual sales exceed 1.3 million tons, valued at over R11 billion (more than US$610 million).

The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality owns the property, and a state-owned company manages the operations and staff. Buyers and sellers have to register with the market to buy or sell through agents in the main trading hubs. All that’s required is a form of identity document.

All transactions in the main hubs go through agents and the market system, crediting or debiting the accounts of the sellers or buyers. The agents are registered and insured with the Agricultural Products Agents Council.

The majority of the agents are white men. Some come from families that have been agents in the market for generations. The continuity of these agents provides stability in the market. However, it also leaves the demographics little changed from the apartheid era.

Farmers send their produce to particular agents who then sell it for them, making their money from a commission on sales that is normally 7.5%. The market gets a 5% commission on all sales, which is how it covers operating costs. Anyone can also buy for cash, without registering, at the Unity or Tshiamo (formerly Mandela) markets that are on the same site.

Traders in these cash markets source produce from the main hubs, benefiting from the bulk prices and then breaking bulk to sell on in smaller quantities.

The most visible and profound impact of the Johannesburg fresh produce market is in its role as the primary source of stock for the vast informal retail sector. Thousands of the over 10,000 registered buyers stream through its halls every day, the vast majority being informal traders – street vendors, hawkers and small-scale retailers who form the backbone of fresh produce access in low-income neighbourhoods.

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Read more: Street traders in South Africa play a vital role: how their rights can be protected

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These traders rely on the market’s competitive wholesale prices. They buy in bulk from the main market hubs or in smaller quantities from the traders who break bulk at the Unity and Tshiamo markets.

In turn, they sell to the people of Johannesburg and wider Gauteng Province.

Benefits and challenges

The regulated agent system, while imperfect, ensures that farmers receive payment within five days and provides a competitive marketplace.

The National Fresh Produce Markets uphold a level of competition and choice. Without them, all farmers, large and small, would be in a weaker negotiating position when selling into supermarket supply chains.

As the Competition Commission South Africa concluded in a 2025 report, selling to independent retailers through the National Fresh Produce Markets helps to counter the downward pressure on farm gate prices exerted by powerful buyers.

But there are challenges. Despite their proven value, the future of markets like the Johannesburg fresh produce market is under threat from a confluence of challenges:

• loss of market share: large supermarket chains are increasingly buying directly from farmers through their own supply chains

• decaying infrastructure: market agents and traders report issues with overcrowded, poorly insulated halls and unreliable cold storage made worse by electricity cuts. These problems increase operational costs and risk spoilage, threatening the market’s competitiveness.

Other challenges include the dominance of white, male market agents and the entrenched, ethnically based networks that facilitate trade. These present a barrier to more equitable participation. Lastly, unstable municipal politics is also affecting the market.

Protecting the municipal markets

We suggest three ways to protect markets such as the Johannesburg fresh produce market.

First, modernise infrastructure, particularly cold storage, to reduce food waste and maintain the quality of perishable goods. The city may have to increase capital expenditure. Revenues generated by the market should be ring-fenced for reinvestment in its infrastructure and services.

Second, insulate market management from municipal politics. Operational efficiency and long-term planning are essential for stability.

Finally, foster inclusivity and transformation without disrupting the social networks that underpin the market’s functioning. This could include facilitating more interaction between all farmers and agents, and supporting groups like the women’s trader collectives, which share information and buy in bulk.

Makhanana Malungane, an economic researcher at the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, contributed to this article.

– Johannesburg’s produce market has supplied the informal sector for decades: a refresh is due
– https://theconversation.com/johannesburgs-produce-market-has-supplied-the-informal-sector-for-decades-a-refresh-is-due-268151

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Thelma Obiakor, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Cambridge

Nigeria’s basic education landscape consists of public (government) schools and a diverse private sector. Private schools in Nigeria refer to educational institutions that are run by private individuals, religious organisations, foundations or business enterprises. These schools are diverse in terms of size, cost, ownership models and target populations, ranging from low-fee neighbourhood schools to faith-based schools and “premium” schools. The number of private schools isn’t captured in official statistics.

Over the past year, many private schools have been closed across the country. Ebonyi State sealed more than 280 unapproved schools. Cross River officials shut down 69, and Akwa Ibom, Kogi and Delta states launched their own crackdowns on “rogue” schools operating without government approval or with substandard infrastructure.

These closures are being justified on safety and quality grounds, given that many of these schools, commonly referred to as low-cost private schools, operate without full registration.

Before a private school can open, owners must pay multiple inspection, registration and annual renewal fees. They must also meet infrastructure requirements and show evidence of qualified teaching staff.

The recent enforcement drives expose a fault line in Nigeria’s education system: the country’s growing dependence on low-cost private schools to fill the gaps that an overstretched public system can no longer cover.

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Read more: Somalia’s education crisis: why so few children attend school and what could be done to change that

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I researched the private schooling market in Nigeria for my doctorate, and my latest paper sets out some of the factors that shape enrolment in these schools in Nigeria.

I found two main factors: the proximity and accessibility of public schools, and affordability.

The implication for ongoing closure drives is significant. If low-cost private schools are concentrated in communities where public schools are unavailable or distant, or are the only affordable options, then wide-scale closures disproportionately threaten access for children from low-income households, particularly in hard-to-reach or underserved areas. Abrupt shutdowns without transition plans can interrupt learning and deepen existing inequalities.

More investment is needed to make sure every child can go to school.

Private school diversity

Across Nigeria, private provision has expanded rapidly. According to figures cited by the minister of education, the number of private schools grew by about 39% between 2017 and 2022, compared with only 3.5% growth in public schools over the same period.

In my research, I grouped private schools into three cost categories – low-cost, mid-cost and high-cost – based on mandatory educational costs. I used national survey data from 2015 (the latest data is from 2020, but is not publicly available yet), which showed that most pupils who were enrolled in private schools attended those in the low-cost category.

My analysis of the 2015 survey data found that 52% of private-school pupils in urban areas and 49% in rural areas attended low-cost private schools. A further finding was that public schools and low-cost private schools served similar populations: children from low-income households with limited schooling alternatives.

State-level evidence reinforces this. In Kwara State, a 2016 census found that 67% and 41% of urban and rural private schools respectively were low-cost private schools. More recent data from the Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria (a UK-government-funded education programme operating in Nigeria) show that a high proportion of private schools are low-cost schools that operate without approval in some northern states: around 85% in Kano and 80% in Jigawa.

Taken together, these national and state findings show that low-cost private schools have become an important route to education for millions of pupils.

Access and affordability

Access

Although parental preference plays a role for some households, attendance in low-cost private schools is shaped by the availability and accessibility of public schools. My doctoral research shows that attendance is most prominent in areas where public-school provision is weak. In many parts of Nigeria, weak provision can take the form of overcrowded classrooms or limited school availability. Distance to the nearest public school also plays a key role. The further a low-income family lives from a public school, the more likely they are to enrol their child in a low-cost private school. This pattern is pronounced in areas where public provision is thin and mobility costs are high.

In practice, low-cost private schools operate as an access mechanism, stepping in where the state is absent or unable to meet local demand.

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Read more: Why poor parents in Nairobi choose private over free primary schools

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Affordability

Affordability further explains why these schools are widely used. My research found that their annual fees typically ranged from ₦8,000 (about US$18 in 2015, the year the data was collected) in urban areas to ₦5,000 (about US$11 in 2015) in rural areas. Paradoxically, the total cost of attending a public school was sometimes higher, with an average of US$43 in urban areas and US$24 in rural areas.

Recent data from the Partnership for Learning for All in Nigeria baseline study in Jigawa shows that about 40% of low-cost private schools charge no tuition, while 48% charge ₦10,000 or less per year (approximately US$22 in 2022). This confirms that they are either free or highly affordable for most families. Affordability matters because public education, although constitutionally free, is rarely without costs in practice.

Many states still permit partial fee regimes or informal levies, and parents often bear expenses for uniforms, learning materials and other charges. Policymakers have begun to flag this issue, with the Imo State House of Assembly recently urging the government to enforce free basic education and eliminate charges.

Regulating for inclusion

Closing down private schools without transition plans could prevent low-income families from educating their children.

Nigeria’s regulatory framework for private schools is among the most demanding in sub-Saharan Africa. An assessment of 22 countries found that Nigerian states ranked among the most restrictive for market entry.

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Read more: South Africa’s no-fee school system can’t undo inequality

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If the goal is to raise standards without undermining access, regulation must shift from punishment to support.

Tiered licensing would allow low-cost private schools to operate legally while improving over time. Oversight should be paired with practical assistance such as training or conditional waivers, an approach reflected in the 2025 National Policy on Non-State Schools. Every closure should include a plan for placing pupils in schools with capacity.

Nigeria cannot regulate its way out of reliance on private school provision. Stronger public investment is needed so families are not forced to pay privately for basic education.

– Nigeria’s low-cost private schools are the only option for millions: is closing them a good idea?
– https://theconversation.com/nigerias-low-cost-private-schools-are-the-only-option-for-millions-is-closing-them-a-good-idea-270097

Source: The Conversation – Africa – By Edward Khomotso Nkadimeng, Post Doc Fellow: AI and Data Systems in Nuclear/Particle Physics, Stellenbosch University

In most industries, maintenance is a waiting game. Things are fixed when they break. But in the 21st century, an age defined by data and automation, that approach no longer makes sense. The solution could be predictive maintenance. This is an approach that uses sensors and software to analyse equipment performance in real time and predict when it might fail.

Edward Khomotso Nkadimeng, a lecturer and researcher in artificial intelligence and data systems in nuclear/particle physics at Stellenbosch University, has researched how a predictive maintenance model can help keep critical systems running – from research equipment to national infrastructure. He explains why this approach could be a practical tool for resilience across Africa.

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What is a predictive maintenance model and why did you build one?

For decades after the global industrial boom, many industries relied on a simple rule: wait for a machine to break, then repair it. That made sense when machines were simpler and downtime was just part of the routine.

Periodic maintenance is common too, but still inefficient and often based on time, not actual machine condition. That approach costs time, money, and sometimes even safety. Modern systems are more interconnected and expensive to halt.

A predictive maintenance model is a data-driven system that forecasts equipment failure before it happens. It predicts when systems are degrading, rather than just reacting. It monitors a variety of systems, from industrial pumps, compressors and turbines to scientific instruments, by collecting real‑time data like vibration (which measures how much a machine physically oscillates), temperature, pressure and voltage.

These measurements come from Internet of Things (IoT) or condition-monitoring sensors. Even machines that aren’t ultra-cutting-edge can be instrumented to provide this data. Once collected, the data feeds into machine learning models that learn to recognise patterns associated with slow drift towards failure.

The model monitors a broad range of systems: industrial pumps, compressors, turbines, and high-precision scientific instruments (cyclotrons, vacuum pumps, beamline diagnostics). It is designed for systems where sensor data can be collected – any instrument that generates measurable signals. It uses live data vibration, the physical oscillation of a machine component, where subtle changes in vibration amplitude or frequency often precede mechanical failures, such as bearing wear or rotor imbalance, as well as temperature, pressure and voltages.

While advanced machines may produce richer data, even legacy machinery can benefit with added sensors. The method is therefore broadly applicable to recognise when they’re slowly drifting towards failure.

At NRF-iThemba LABS, a South African national nuclear and accelerator research facility, and Stellenbosch University, I built a system like this out of necessity. Our teams include physicists, engineers and computer scientists who collaborate on high-precision experiments in nuclear and particle physics.

The research instruments are complex, expensive and often one of a kind. When they fail unexpectedly, experiments stop, data is lost, and public funds go to waste. For example, we work with 70 MeV cyclotrons for isotope production, superconducting magnets, radiofrequency acceleration cavities and vacuum systems. These are one-of-a-kind instruments, sensitive to downtime.

So, the goal was to make an affordable, self-learning system that can scale from our research equipment to the industrial infrastructure that keeps African economies running pumps, turbines and power grids. Similar predictive maintenance systems are applied in industrial power plants, water utilities and aviation, reducing unplanned downtime by 20%-40%. Our adaptation for African labs and industrial systems uses low-cost Internet of Things sensors with cloud-based AI.

What did you learn from the model? Why is this useful?

The first thing I learned is that machines whisper before they scream. Long before a breakdown, they show tiny signs like slight vibrations, small voltage drops, or subtle changes in speed.

With enough data on vibration, temperature, pressure, voltage and motor load, for example, these data streams form the input for AI models. These patterns form a kind of language, and artificial intelligence becomes the translator.

By training the model on real operational data like pump vibration over time and other readings, we discovered that failures aren’t random: they follow recognisable signatures. Once the system learns these patterns, it can predict what’s coming and even suggest what to do next. The real benefit is timing, scheduling maintenance exactly when it is needed and not too early, which wastes parts and labour, and not too late (which risks catastrophic failure).

Instead of over-servicing equipment or waiting for something to fail, maintenance can happen exactly when it’s needed. That saves resources, reduces downtime and keeps operations running smoothly. And because the principle is universal, it applies just as well in factories, hospitals and water systems as it does in research labs. For example, detecting a failing motor before a line shutdown in a manufacturing plant, or ventilator sensors predicting pump failure in a hospital, or monitoring municipal pumps to prevent water shortages.

What are the practical implications of applying the model?

The practical impact is huge. Predictive systems help avoid blackouts, water shortages and unplanned shutdowns – issues that affect daily life and essential services. An example can be seen in South Africa’s blackouts: the power utility Eskom’s transformers are monitored for predictive faults. In Cape Town, predictive maintenance of water systems reduces pump downtime. They also make workplaces safer and budgets more efficient.

For African countries especially, where technical resources are often stretched, predictive maintenance is a form of resilience. It replaces firefighting with foresight. By using affordable IoT sensors (small devices collecting data like temperature), cloud-based AI (online software that analyses this data in real-time), and self-learning algorithms, maintenance becomes continuous, automated and smart.

It’s the quiet side of AI, keeping the lights on, the pumps running and the economy stable. Physics, data and engineering can quietly work together to keep important systems alive and reliable.

– Machines whisper before they scream: we built an AI model that predicts expensive problems
– https://theconversation.com/machines-whisper-before-they-scream-we-built-an-ai-model-that-predicts-expensive-problems-267070