Zimbabwe’s farmers set hopes on irrigation scheme

In a few weeks, the second season of the immensely popular reality TV show “Ferme Factory” (Farm Factory) will air across Senegal. But in contrast to the glitter and glamour usually associated with such shows, Ferme Factory is far from that: For four months, 20 contestants compete to get their hands as dirty as possible, facing various farming challenges, including both sowing and plowing. The winner is awarded with his or her very own farm, along with three years of agricultural training.

South Africa's COVID-19 infection rates have remained low in the run-up to Easter, but fears of a third wave are mounting. Meanwhile, Africa's top health official has sounded alarm bells over a new Tanzanian variant.

Buyers and sellers gather on the trading floor in Zimbabwe's capital to bid on bales of dried tobacco leaves as the marketing season kicks off. According to the industry regulator, the country is on track to produce 200,000 tonnes of tobacco this year, up from 184,000 in 2020.

Zimbabwean street vendor Spiwe Tembo illegally sells bread buns in the capital Harare to feed her three children... and gets arrested again and again. The government banned street vendors as part of restrictions to prevent the spread of Covid-19. But Tembo, and many others like her, have no other way to survive.

The Lagos State Government has paid 38 million naira as crop compensation to 16 land owning families of Igbodu in Epe area of the state.

The House of Representatives on Wednesday turned down a motion urging the federal government to reopen the Idiroko and other borders to boost economic activities.

Macedonian firefighters, supported by their Austrian, Bulgarian and Slovenian colleagues, battle a wildfire near the town of Berova in the east of North Macedonia. The wildfires have been raging for several days in North Macedonia, particularly in the east of the country, destroying more than 3,000 hectares of land and forcing the government to declare a 30-day state of emergency.

Abubakar Adam has not seen seven of his 10 children in the two months since armed men snatched them from their boarding school in Nigeria's northern Niger state. He sold his car, a parcel of land, cleaned out his savings and along with other parents sought help from friends and relatives to raise 30 million naira ($72,993) to get their children back. But the bandits just took the money - and one of the men delivering it - leaving Adam with nothing. The rash of kidnappings across the largely poor northwest has left hundreds of parents facing the same desperate quandary: beg, borrow and sell assets, or risk never seeing their children again.

The United States plans to reopen its land borders with Canada and Mexico for those who are fully vaccinated. The frontiers have been closed for 19 months. Follow DW for the latest.

Valentina Alexandre is a history teacher and tour guide in the United States. The young woman was born in Haiti and traveled to Benin to learn more about her ancestry.

A Toyota Land Cruiser is turning heads in Dubai, but not on the city's dunes this time. It is a model made of 440,000 Lego bricks.

A young couple from Cameroon has been stuck on the narrow border strip of the island of Cyprus for months. Their destination was the EU, but Cyprus wants to prevent any new escape route from forming and refuses to bend.