SAN ISIDRO, El Salvador, Aug 09 (IPS) - Juana Morales is cooking one of the most popular dishes in El Salvador: pupusas, corn tortillas with different fillings. But hers are unique: they are not made with the traditional corn tortillas, but use Maya nuts, a highly nutritional seed that has fallen out of use but whose consumption is being encouraged in rural communities.

ROME, Aug 09 (IPS) - Two-thirds of the African continent is already desert or dry-lands. But while this vast extension of the second largest continent on Earth after Asia is "vital" for agriculture and food production, nearly three-fourths of it is estimated to be degraded to varying degrees.

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon, Aug 09 (IPS) - It is a sunny afternoon in Boui, a small village in the Boumba and Ngoko Division of Cameroon's South East Region. A primary school teacher is drawing some wild animals on the blackboard. Then she turns to the class of fifteen pupils.

NEW DELHI, Aug 09 (IPS) - A media frenzy ensued in New Delhi last month when a popular television channel highlighted the horrific living conditions of women inmates in ward number six of Tihar Jail, South Asia's largest prison.

ROME, Aug 08 (IPS) - For the first time ever, a team of displaced athletes will have their chance to demonstrate their relentless determination and integrity in a bid to leave their own distinct mark on Olympic history.

ROME, Aug 08 (IPS) - Can African farmers feed the world?. Apparently the answer is "yes." Bold as it may sound, this statement is based on specific facts: Africa is home to 60-65 per cent of the world's uncultivated arable land and 10 per cent of renewable freshwater resources, and it has registered a 160 per cent increase in agricultural output over the past 30 years.

NEW YORK, Aug 08 (IPS) - It first happened in Italy in 1995. Five years later it happened in six additional countries, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Japan, Portugal and Spain. Today the total number of countries where it has occurred stands at 30, including most members of the European Union. In fifteen years that number is expected to nearly double and include Australia, Canada, China, Russia, South Korea and the United States (Table 1).

Oaxaca, MEXICO / UNITED NATIONS, Aug 08 (IPS) - Indigenous peoples around the world continue to struggle for self-determination over their education, as highlighted by recent protests against proposed education reforms in Oaxaca, Mexico, which have left several indigenous teachers dead.

MIGORI COUNTY, Kenya, Aug 08 (IPS) - In some parts of the world, the proverbial "glass ceiling" is shattering. As Theresa May and, most likely, Hillary Clinton join Angela Merkel at the leadership of three major world powers, women's leadership in politics is on the ascent.

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 06 (IPS) - After years of wrangling and debates among African leaders, the movement to end female genital mutilation (FGM) is gaining real momentum, with a new action plan signed this week by Pan African Parliament (PAP) representatives and the U.N. Population Fund (UNFPA) to end FGM as well as underage marriage.