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Background: Malnutrition is one of the most serious issues affecting the world and it remains a dominant concern in the health of the world’s poorest nations. Community based approaches, such as the Care Group Model, are now recognized as one of the most established avenues for improving nutrition and reducing child mortality. Aims: This study investigated the impact of the Care Group Model approach on nutrition behavior change communication activities. Methods: A mixed methods approach using quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques was used. The linear probability model was used to estimate the determinants of participation in care groups and was determined with propensity score matching. The primary target of the care groups were women of child-bearing age and primary caregivers of children under the age of five years. Results: The study provided new evidence on the effect of the Care Group Model in nutrition-sensitive agricultural programs. The results presented in this paper showed positive associations between participation in care groups and nutrition knowledge, nutrition behavior, nutrition practices and dietary diversity. In particular, the results from Propensity Score Matching revealed that participation in care groups was associated with an increase in the knowledge of nutrition behaviors by 1.449 points and an increase in practicing of nutrition behaviors by 1.074 points at the 1% level of significance. Conclusions: The study revealed a positive impact of care group approach on nutrition behavior, knowledge and practices. We recommend the integration of the care group approach into all community-based nutrition program.

Rural women’s livelihoods in Africa are dependent on their rights and entitlement to land as well as security of tenure. Equally important is how land laws and land governance systems shape and reshape women’s access to land and tenure security. As such, this paper focuses on women’s access to land and tenure security after the adoption of a new Constitution in 2013 and Statutory Instrument 53 of 2014 in Zimbabwe. Whereas both legal instruments are progressive and guarantee women’s rights to property, their realization is shrouded in complexities and contradictions. Customary practices still insist on male privileges to own and allocate land whilst women have fragile usufruct rights and limited sole or joint ownership. State land administrators are also complicit in violating women’s rights. Overall, there is need to uphold both the Constitution and related laws to promote gender justice when it comes to women’s land rights and tenure security., African Journal on Land Policy and Geospatial Sciences, Vol 3, No 1: January 2020, Special Issue 1 on Land Policy in Africa

The objective of this paper is to explore ways in which African governments can engage the private sector to successfully create conditions and incentives for accelerated private sector investment in climate change adaptation and resilience activities in their countries. The paper is based on a critical review of both grey and published literature, with arguments being supported by cases of experiences in different African countries. The paper finds that while there are clear opportunities for private sector involvement in climate change adaptation and resilience efforts in Africa, there are also several critical financial and non-financial barriers that have to be dealt with, to ensure that private sector players successfully tap into the available opportunities. The paper recommends the setting up of coherent and coordinated policy and regulatory frameworks towards creating a conducive environment for private sector investment in climate change adaptation and resilience activities in Africa.