African Agriculture

2012-01-07T21:15:00.001Z

1 Foreign farm investors flock to Ethiopia, but food self-sufficiency not in sight 2 US university scales back link to controversial Tanzania land deal 3 Africa succumbs to colonial-style land grab 4 Tea research key to a growing industry 5 Lesotho: new financing aims to help rural farmers 6 WFP Buy Local scheme helps Zimbabwean farmers 7 Chinese technology to increase rice yields in

Foreign farm investors flock to Ethiopia, but food self-sufficiency not in sight

2012-01-07T20:43:00.002Z

by Keffyalew Gebremedhin As if it were a rehearsal for year-end message, in early November the ministry of agriculture announced, “Ethiopia is working towards commercializing agriculture and [realizing] its full potential to provide each household surplus and income for its growing population.” As an idea that looks to the future, there is nothing wrong with that — except that the

US university scales back link to controversial Tanzania land deal

2012-01-07T19:57:00.000Z

by Gerald Kitabu AgriSol’s planned investment project in Katumba and Mishamo refugee settlements in Tanzania's Mapnda district has suffered the first major big blow following Iowa State University (ISU)’s decision to scale back its involvement with AgriSol to an “advisory capacity,” The Guardian on Sunday has learnt. Dan Rather, the longtime CBS reporter and anchorman, who also reports

Africa succumbs to colonial-style land grab

2012-01-07T18:01:00.001Z

Jonathan Rugman It is being dubbed the second scramble for Africa: millions of acres of land are being snapped up by companies from Asia and the Middle East, our foreign Affairs Correspondent Jonathan Rugman reports. Nations like Ethiopia are desperate for the investment. But critics claim it's at the expense of smallholder farmers - many of whom say they're being thrown off their land to make

Tea research key to a growing industry

2012-01-07T12:55:00.001Z

by Julie Frederikse Pelly Malebe's research on helping plants withstand drought is personal as well as scientific. She grew up in South Africa's drought-prone northern province of Limpopo, where crop failures are frequent. If the affected crop is food for family consumption, the result can be hunger. If it is a crop for trade or export, the loss of earnings can also mean too little food on the

Lesotho: new financing aims to help rural farmers

2012-01-07T12:52:00.000Z

The United Nations agency that works to improve the lives of the world's rural poor is providing $10 million to help small farmers in Lesotho boost agricultural production. The agreement signed in Rome between the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Lesotho comprises a $5 million loan and a $5 million grant to increase market opportunities for smallholder

WFP Buy Local scheme helps Zimbabwean farmers

2012-01-07T12:51:00.001Z

Veteran small-scale farmer Trynos Mamombe has returned to maize farming after two years, thanks to a multi-partner initiative which is helping him to market his crop and get paid for it promptly. Mamombe, 60, has been growing maize for 30 years in the Karoi District of Mashonaland West Province, about 200km northwest of Harare. In the 2008-9 farming season he produced 10 tons of it from his 15

Chinese technology to increase rice yields in Mozambique

2012-01-07T12:50:00.002Z

Mozambican Prime Minister Aires Ali has challenged the country's young people, as well as its businesses, to increase food production, by banking on the introduction of new agricultural technologies to increase yields. This would be possible, he said, through the use of knowledge and techniques learnt through the cooperation between Mozambique and China. According to a report in the Beira

Insect experts to help diagnose disease affecting Rwandan coffee

2012-01-07T12:48:00.001Z

The expertise of entomologists at the University of California, Riverside has a worldwide impact.. Now Thomas Miller, a professor of entomology and a Jefferson Science Fellow, will travel to Rwanda, Africa, to help solve a mystery surrounding the country's specialty coffee sector – a sector that accounts for 26 percent of the country's agricultural exports. A defect called "potato taste" –

Erratic rain threatens Zambia's food security

2012-01-07T11:28:00.000Z

by Shamaoma Musonda The government of Zambia has said the erratic rainfall being experienced in the country could affect the 2011-2012 maize harvest and threaten the national food security. Agriculture Minister Emmanuel Chenda said in the government was "very concerned" about the rainfall pattern, saying he had also seen farmers plant the seed late and wondered whether the rains would be able

Africa is not growing the food commodities China imports

2012-01-07T09:46:00.001Z

On the face of it, it should be a logical tie-up. China, with its burgeoning middle class and shrinking arable farmland, is facing increasing strains in its agricultural sector to meet domestic food demand. Africa, with its vast stretches of fertile but underdeveloped farmland would appear to be a natural partner to help the world’s most populous nation meet its food needs. Yet for all the

South Sudan: Africa’s next farming frontier

2012-01-07T08:53:00.004Z

by Catherine RiunguIn yet another development that brings South Sudan closer to the East African Community, the country has become the newest state to join the regional agricultural research network. The world’s newest country was recently unanimously accepted to become the 11th member of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (Asareca) during its

South Sudan seeks food and farmland investments

2012-01-07T08:53:00.001Z

South Sudan hopes to attract investors from Gulf Arab states, Israel, China and fellow African countries to boost production of basic food items, a government official said. Created in July after a 2005 peace agreement with Khartoum, Africa's newest nation faces food shortages and grave economic challenges such as annual inflation at almost 80 percent in November. Around 2.7 million South

South Sudan: land ownership a major challenge for investors

2012-01-07T08:50:00.002Z

by Shadia Basheri The Sudanese Businessmen & Employers Union (SBEU) is one of the organizations on which the Sudanese government greatly depends in its endeavor to promote the Sudanese national economy and boost development. The SBEU's mission has become more and more important, particularly in light of the economic changes that are taking place in the country following the secession of South

Iran exports agricultural equipment to Tanzania

2012-01-07T08:49:00.002Z

Iran's Northern Mazandaran province exported a third cargo of home-made agricultural machineries to Africa in late December 2011, a trade official announced. "The cargo which was worth over $90,000 was exported to Tanzania from Babolsar city yesterday," said Deputy Head of the Industry, Mine and Trade Organization of Mazandaran province for Foreign Trade, Mehdi Golchoub. According to Golchoub

Sweet potato gains new respect in East Africa

2012-01-07T08:19:00.003Z

by Esther Nakkazi Pauline Okello’s farm is jammed with customers seeking confectionaries she makes from orange fleshed sweet potato and quality protein maize flour. The farmer in Aywe, Gulu is doing booming business selling cakes, bhajia, doughnuts. She earns $8 from 70 cakes, and $14 from 70 doughnuts that sell out in two days. The orange-fleshed sweet potato is now a big time source of

Give biotech scientists the benefit of the doubt

2012-01-07T08:19:00.000Z

by Otieno Otieno A day out with scientists isn’t quite anyone’s idea of fun. But I found it surprisingly enjoyable visiting with Dr James Gethi of the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (Kari) and Dr Stephen Mugo of International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) on their research field in Kiboko in Ukambani.With 52 years of crop breeding experience between them, Dr Gethi and Dr Mugo

Ugandan farmer makes good with fresh fruit exports

2012-01-07T07:57:00.002Z

Having ventured into the world of commercial farming 15 years ago, James Kanyije has manoeuvred his way around quite successfully. After graduating with a diploma in business studies in 1996 from Makerere University Business School, then referred to as the National College of Business Studies in Nakawa, Kanyije joined the employed ranks. He worked with the Uganda Fish Parkers, where he

The Indian land grab in Africa

2012-01-07T07:55:00.002Z

by GOI Monitor Joining the neo-colonial bandwagon, Indian companies are taking over agricultural land in African nations and exporting produced food at the cost of locals Indian companies venturing abroad is always regarded as a healthy trend, an indicator of India's new-found economic status. But little is known about how these companies are flexing their imperalistic muscles in poorer

South Africa: benefits of Pioneer-Pannar seed companies' merger over-stated

2012-01-07T07:54:00.002Z

by Amanda Visser The benefits and improved efficiency from a merger by seed breeders Pannar Seed and Pioneer Hi-Bred were overstated and not sufficient to offset the harm if the merger was allowed, South Africa's Competition Tribunal has said. However, the parties said yesterday they disagreed with the tribunal’s reasons for prohibiting their deal, saying they believed the transaction would

Nigeria's cassava conundrum

2012-01-07T07:43:00.002Z

Eager to promote self-sufficiency, Nigeria's government wants to clamp down on rice and wheat imports and promote the use of cassava. The plan seems sound, but farmers remain sceptical Daily, on the outskirts of Abuja, Nourou Salisu produces nearly 10,000 loaves of bread in his traditional clay ovens. Nigeria's buzzing capital provides a ready-made market for his output, but that could be about

China strengthens cotton trade ties with Africa

2012-01-07T07:35:00.002Z

by James Fuller The Chinese government's plans to make China itself an outsourcer - to utilise cotton production in sub-Saharan Africa - have been strengthened by an agreement with the region's four leading producers: Benin, Mali, Chad and Burkina Faso. Announcing the programme at the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Chinese commerce minister Chen Deming said it represented an "

Nigeria removes import duty on agricultural equipment

2012-01-06T23:26:00.002Z

As part of measures to diversify the country’s economy, the Nigerian government has removed import duty on agricultural equipment. The private Guardian Newspaper quoted the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Mr. Abdullahi Dikko, as saying the gesture would help to boost local agricultural production, generate employment and reduce youth restiveness in the country. “We have

Nigeria to release Vitamin A-rich, yellow-fleshed cassava

2012-01-06T22:48:00.002Z

In December 2011, Nigeria's National Variety Release Committee announced three winning varieties in a 12 year contest between thousands of entrants. The contest, in reality a joint breeding programme of IITA* and Nigeria's National Root Crops Research Institute, had just one goal: to identify high yielding, disease resistant cassava varieties that could help to tackle one of Nigeria's most

Irrigation with seawater

2012-01-06T22:47:00.002Z

A new system which allows food crops to be irrigated with seawater will solve global problems of food production, according to researchers at the University of Surrey, UK. "97.5% of the world's water is salty and not usable for the great majority of agriculture," says Professor Adel Sharif, team leader. "With this approach, there is no need for investment in genetically modified crops or ongoing