African Agriculture

2012-02-14T21:57:00.001Z

1 AGRA project to improve farmer yields in Ghana begins to bear fruit 2 Mzuzu Coffee in Malawi experiences steady gains 3 Developing countries drive 8% rise in 2011 GM crops uptake, South Africa still leads in Africa 4 Are biotech crops winning over farmers? 5 Brazilian agribusinesss Agricola looks to Mozambique for expansion 6 Ghana exported 62,000 tonnes of bananas to Europe

AGRA project to improve farmer yields in Ghana begins to bear fruit

2012-02-14T21:42:00.001Z

by James Karuga Farmers in Tamale, Northern Ghana are beginning to enjoy the fruits of a three year breadbasket initiative launched in 2010, aimed at doubling yields, increasing the food security and incomes of around 250,000 smallholder farmers, and creating 15,000 jobs in agriculture-related sectors including agro-dealership, marketing, transport, and processing. The Alliance for a Green

Mzuzu Coffee in Malawi experiences steady gains

2012-02-14T21:34:00.003Z

Mzuzu Coffee Planters Cooperative Union in Malawi has in ten years gone from producing 90 tonnes of coffee per year to today’s 450 tonnes per year. Prices for its branded Mzuzu Coffee average US$6 per kg. Malawi Today reports Chief Executive Officer Harrison Kalua as describing 2011 as one of the company’s best years, with the global coffee outlook promising continuing good prices in 2012. In

Developing countries drive 8% rise in 2011 GM crops uptake, South Africa still leads in Africa

2012-02-14T21:32:00.001Z

During 2011, an additional 12 million hectares of biotech crops were planted, representing an annual growth rate of 8 percent over 2010, according to Clive James author of the annual biotech crop report released today by ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications). "Since biotech crop commercialization in 1996, farmers worldwide made more than 100 million

Are biotech crops winning over farmers?

2012-02-14T21:30:00.000Z

by Marc Gunther The debate over biotech crops has become predictable. In his 2012 annual letter from the Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, who has a near-religious faith in technology and innovation, argues that an “extremely important revolution” in plant science, i.e., genetically-engineered crops, can help farmers in poor countries by giving them access to new varieties of crops that will

Brazilian agribusinesss Agricola looks to Mozambique for expansion

2012-02-14T21:26:00.001Z

SLC Agricola turned the tables on the wave of foreign interest in Brazilian farmland by seeking farms outside the South American country, probably in Africa, in a drive to expand its empire. The farm operator, based in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, unveiled an "internationalization plan" which will see it acquire, and plant, foreign farmland by 2015-16. "The initial focus

Ghana exported 62,000 tonnes of bananas to Europe in 2011

2012-02-14T21:22:00.001Z

Ghana’s 62,000 tonnes of banana exports to the European Union in 2011 was a jump from the previous year’s 52,000 tonnes. This represents a small slice of the global banana market, and is far less than the quantities exported by African banana export leaders Ivory Coast and Cameroon, according to Food and Agriculture Organization figures. People in African and Caribbean in 2010 exported a total

Gene-modified tobacco may give you lung cancer, but will fight off malaria

2012-02-14T21:18:00.003Z

In what appears to be serious news, Xinhua news agency has reported that scientists at Israel’s Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed genetically altered tobacco plants which contain artemensin, a natural compound that is increasingly used in drug-resistant malaria therapy. Artemensin comes from the sweet wormwood plant but due to its small quantities and high price, millions of people

South African farmers’ union leader engages rather than confronts government over land reform

2012-02-14T21:14:00.004Z

Theo de Jager, the deputy president of South African farmers’ union, AgriSA, says he is resisting increasing pressure "to go into confrontational mode" to force the government to remove the threat posed to the industry by its land reform policies. He asks, "What would we do? Block off the rural roads for a day; occupy Pretoria?" The report says that would be a counterproductive move for the

‘Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa is a major assault on seed sovereignty’

2012-02-12T21:17:00.000Z

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa aims to revolutionize farming in Africa by various interventions including supporting research, farmer seed and fertilizer access and in various other ways. Based in Kenya and chaired by Ghanaian former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the organization is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. That automatically gave it deep pockets

Why agri-investors should consider sustainable farming and good community relations

2012-02-12T21:14:00.002Z

Almost all the land deals that foreign investors are engaged in, whether in Africa or anywhere else, are based on typical high-inputs industrial farming, including extensive use of fertilizer and agro-chemicals. These methods have become standard for large scale farming everywhere, and the cost of inputs that are needed to get a certain return can be fairly narrowly calculated, helping investment

A farmer contrasts his U.S. and Ghana farming experiences

2012-02-12T21:10:00.000Z

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A brief history of cotton farming in Tanzania

2012-02-12T21:08:00.003Z

Agriterra’s cattle ranching operations in Mozambique on target

2012-02-12T20:59:00.000Z

Agriterra Limited, listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market, continues to expand its Mozambican cattle ranching operations. The total herd now stands at 3,750, on course to reach 10,000 by 2015. The 5,000 target for 2012 is within reach. Support infrastructure is being expanded, including a new 48 billion liter dam expected to increase per hectare capacity from 1.5 to 7 head, as well as

Benin more than doubles cotton production in 2011

2012-02-12T20:56:00.005Z

Cotton production in Benin increased from 130,000 tons in 2010 to 300,000 tons in 2011, news agency PANA reports, citing figures from the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. Statistics released by the ministry believe the area planted increased to 200,000 hectares, representing nearly 15 per cent increase over the previous season. During the 2011-2012 campaign, the

For many Ethiopian farmers, sustainable farming more realistic, accessible than external inputs-based farming

2012-02-12T20:55:00.002Z

Laura Rance, editor of the Manitoba Co-operator, Canada, recently went to Ethiopia on a media food study tour with the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. She found that many of the farming methods that are taken for granted in Canada, and advocated in Africa by some, are simply not within the realm of possibility for many Ethiopian farmers. For some poor farmers, lack of access to hybrid seed, fertilizer

Niger seeks South African investment in livestock sector

2012-02-12T20:49:00.000Z

Niger is one of the Sahelian countries most affected by poor rains and chronic food insecurity. Many organizations warn of a worsening humanitarian crisis. With much of the country unsuitable for cropping, a long tradition of keeping livestock is one avenue of agricultural development. Niger’s Livestock Minister, Mahaman Ehadji Ousmane, is reported by Bloomberg to have sought the assistance of

Poor rain, access to inputs and finance may slow Zimbabwe agriculture recovery in 2012

2012-02-12T20:46:00.001Z

Uganda: help save farmer-saved seed from GMOs onslaught

2012-02-12T20:45:00.001Z

Senegal peanut harvest falls after poor 2011 rains

2012-02-12T20:45:00.000Z

Rwanda aims for rice self-sufficiency by 2016

2012-02-09T18:44:00.002Z

None of Africa’s major rice-consuming countries is self-sufficient in the cereal. Nigeria, Senegal, Kenya, and several others have rice-growing efforts of various levels, but none seems close to significantly reducing imports from Asia. Apart from cultivation and other difficulties that plague these schemes, the locally grown rice varieties have sometimes also faced consumer resistance because of

Not all sector players happy as Malawi, fearing shortages, bans maize exports

2012-02-09T18:43:00.001Z

Malawi has banned the export of maize and maize-based products until further notice. The December 28 2011 ban has been spurred by fears of a shortage of the country’s staple crop over fears of a much reduced harvest in the current crop season, because of late and erratic rains. A maize shortage would be a dramatic change from the last several years of an annual maize surplus, based on the

Chocolate industry seeks to secure its West African supply chain

2012-02-09T18:41:00.001Z

Is Ethiopia repeating Zimbabwe’s colonial-era land tenure mistakes?

2012-02-09T18:39:00.001Z

by Chido Makunike Ethiopia seems to feature more than any other African country in the charges of accommodating large land deals or land ‘grabs’ (choose depending on your bias) by foreign farming investors. There is controversy about almost every aspect of them. Are the terms of the deals not too much in favor of the investors? What are those terms exactly? Will the host countries

Africa’s mixed tobacco fortunes

2012-02-09T18:32:00.001Z

Several African countries grow tobacco in low quantities. A few are large producers for whom the crop is an important part of agriculture and the economy. Yet it is a product that most African countries make at least half-hearted attempts to discourage their citizens from using, on health grounds. Recent tobacco-related developments in three countries, Malawi, Senegal and Zimbabwe, show the