News stories by Miriam Gathigah, page 4

RUMURUTI, Nairobi, Mar 16 (IPS) - For two decades, Dickson Kamau only grew maize on his 0.5 hectare (ha) of land earning himself the nickname Kamau wa mbembe or Kamau who owns maize in his native Kikuyu language.

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 07 (IPS) - Jonathan Tipapa is a nine year-old boy whose daily journey to and from school exposes him to many dangers that have seen him come close to dropping out of school -- like many of his friends who can be seen running after cows even on school days. He attends Enkutoto primary school in the expansive Narok South Constituency in the Rift Valley region, approximately 70 miles from the capital Nairobi.

NAIROBI, Kenya / HARARE, Zimbabwe, Feb 01 (IPS) - Keziah Juma is coming to terms with her shattered life at the shanty she shares with her family in Kenya's sprawling Kibera slum where friends and relatives are gathered for her son's funeral arrangements. While attending an antenatal clinic, Juma who is only 16 years discovered that she had been infected with HIV. "I went into shock and stopped going to the clinic, that is why they could not save my baby and I have been bed-ridden since giving birth two months ago," she told IPS.

NEW DELHI, India, Nov 14 (IPS) - Increasing calls for Africa to reduce methane emissions from livestock continue to be met with controversy, and livestock scientists say methane is a forgotten short-term climate pollutant with significant global warming potential that Africa cannot continue to overlook.

TORIT, Eastern Equatoria, South Sudan, Jul 10 (IPS) - So extreme are gender inequalities in South Sudan that a young girl is three times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than to reach the eighth grade – the last grade before high school – according to Plan International, one of the oldest and largest children's development organisations in the world.

, Jun 23 (IPS) - Travel into the heart of Kenya's southern Coast Province, nearly 500 km from the capital city of Nairobi, and you will come across one of the planet's most curious World Heritage Sites: the remains of several fortified villages, revered by the indigenous Mijikenda people as the sacred abodes of their ancestors.

NAIROBI, May 23 (IPS) - Acute watery diarrhoea is a major killer of young children but misunderstanding over the benefits of fluid treatment is preventing many Kenyan parents from resorting to this life-saving technique and threatening to reverse the strides that the country has made in child health.

NAIROBI, Jan 26 (IPS) - More women's voices are being heard at international platforms to address the post-2015 water agenda, as witnessed at the recently concluded international U.N International Water Conference held from Jan. 15 to 17 in Zaragoza, Spain.