 Food Safety Plan

China

China has released a five-year plan to upgrade its food safety regulations as part of the country's ongoing efforts to address food safety concerns. The government will improve national food safety standards by revamping outdated standards, reviewing and abolishing any contradicting or overlapping standards and working out new regulations, according to the plan posted by the Ministry of Health recently. China has more than 2,000 national food regulations and more than 2,900 industry-based regulations. Multiple government agencies were given the responsibility of compiling their own standards years ago.

 Benefit Women Entrepreneurs

Africa

The Economic Community of Western Africa States and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) recently signed an agreement for Business Incubator for African Women Entrepreneurs. The agreement involved a total sum of nearly 1 million euros provided by Spain through NEPAD-Spain Fund for empowerment of African women. The grant provides fund for the Business Incubator project which nurtures the business venture of rural African women operating primarily in the area of agriculture.

 TAZARA Line Upgrade

Tanzania

Experts from the Chinese Government visited Tanzania to review conditions on the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA) before starting upgrade work, Tanzania's Daily News reported in July. TAZARA, also known as the Uhuru Railway, links Dar es Salaam with Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia. It was constructed by China in 1975, and was the largest Chinese foreign-aid project at the time. China is planning improvements to the railway, the nature of which will be determined by research carried out over the next year, according to Tanzanian Transport Minister Harrison Mwakymbe.

 Preserve Water Bodies

Ghana

The Ghanaian Government has instituted measures to fight the gradual depletion of rivers and water bodies, Minister of Water Resources, Works and Housing, Enoch Teye Mensah announced recently. The Water Resources Commission, an agency of the ministry, has accordingly developed a program to conserve and preserve water bodies. The program is intended to develop and maintain buffers, which are areas or bands of natural or planted vegetation located between land and water bodies.