Africa > Agriculture

Agriculture in Africa

  • Zimbabwe: Mugabe's Fresh Land Grab Threats 'Are Racist, Nonsensical'

    ZIMBABWE, 2017/06/07 Zimbabwe's major opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party led by Morgan Tsvangirai has castigated President Robert Mugabe over his recent threats to embark on fresh land grabs targeting the few remaining white commercial farmers in the southern African country. Mugabe, 93, on Friday said that white commercial farmers who still remained on the farms should be removed from their properties because most Zimbabweans were in need of land. The nonagenarian said this while addressing thousands of his ruling Zanu-PF party supporters in the farming town of Marondera, about 80km east of the capital Harare.
  • Cocoa Cote D’Ivoire Cocoa production to lead agricultural sector

    ABIDJAN, 2017/04/19 Côte d’Ivoire‘s agricultural sector is key to its economy and following recent increase, international investment is presently being sought to power further development Agriculture has become a mainstay of Côte d’Ivoire’s economy contributing nearly a quarter to its GDP, but a revamped strategy looks set to ramp that up further over the coming years. The agricultural sector, which is dominated by products such as cocoa, coffee, cashew nuts and cotton, accounts for at least 50% of the West African country’s exports and is estimated to support between 60-70% of jobs in the country.
  • Gabon’s agricultural plans advance

    GABON, 2017/04/06 A drive to increase agricultural output and make Gabon a leader in African palm oil production took a key step forward this month with the completion of the country’s major palm oil plant. Palm oil’s potential Located in Mouila, in the south-eastern province of Ngounié, the new palm oil factory is being operated by the Singapore-based Olam Group. Its position among a 38,300-ha oil palm grove provides the facility with direct access to an abundance of raw materials. Olam plans to increase production over time by cultivating the 100,000-ha granted to it under the terms of the concession.
  • South Africa’s agriculture industry rallies after drought

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2017/04/06 Signs of a brighter outlook come next a lengthy drought, which has significantly pushed down production in the completed three years and continues to impact much of the eastern part of the continent and the Horn of Africa. Welcome rains in late summer and autumn brought some respite for South Africa’s agricultural producers towards the end of 2016, helping to boost yields and improving the chances of recovery next a two-year contraction. While still in marginally negative territory, the sector registered its smallest quarterly contraction in two years in the fourth quarter of 2016, paving the way for bigger harvests and a stronger performance this year.
  • Nigeria Pulling Out of Recession Through Agricultural Activities

    NIGERIA, 2017/03/22 Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu says efforts to get the country out of its present economic challenges is beginning to yield positive results, particularly in the area of agriculture. The presidential aide said this in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday. According to him, an increase in the volume of rice production and processing across the country is by presently saving the country a lot of foreign exchange.
  • Malawi: Chaponda to Be Backbencher in Malawi Parliament

    MALAWI, 2017/02/26 Fired Agriculture minister George Chaponda is not reporting for duties at parliament since he lost his job on Wednesday. Chaponda has not been allocated any seat as a back bencher.as has not been going to parliament since President Peter Mutharika fired him following a series of allegations of corrupt practices in te procurement of maize from Zambia.
  • European Union supports agriculture in São Tomé and Príncipe

    EUROPEAN UNION, 2017/01/23 São Tomé and Príncipe and the European Union (EU) signed a cooperation agreement worth 6.7 million euros on Thursday in São Tomé to fund the development of agriculture in the archipelago, announced the European representative, Helmut Kulitz. The document, which is valid for four years, was signed by the São Tomé minister of Foreign Affairs and Communities, Urbino Botelho and Helmut Kulitz, who said the funding allocated would be used to implement agricultural projects, particularly in cocoa, coffee and pepper plantations.
  • Kenya: Tea Prices Start New Year on a High at Mombasa Auction

    KENYA, 2017/01/17 Tea prices at the Mombasa auction kicked off 2017 on a high note, nearly touching a one-year record during last week's auction. A market statement by the East African Tea Traders Association (EATTA) indicates that a kilogramme of made tea fetched Sh268 on average in Tuesday's trading compared with Sh260 in an before sale. The volume traded last week though dropped by 667,483 tonnes in one of the major volume declines in recent months as dry weather persisted. "The average price increased to Sh268 at the same time as compared to last week's Sh260," says EATTA chief executive Edward Mudibo. In a similar period last year, the highest price at the auction was Sh273 per kilo of made tea.
  • Nigeria: Govt, States to Spend 1.8% of Budgets On Agriculture

    NIGERIA, 2017/01/17 The federal and national governments will spend less than two % of their N13.5 trillion total budgets this year on agriculture despite their publicised commitment to the sector, Daily Trust investigations have shown. Analysis of the 2017 combined spending of the federal and 30 national governments shows that they will spend N254 billion (1.8 %) on agriculture. This figure is slightly higher than the N196.3 billion (1.6 %) they spent on the sector last year. About half of these figures would be expended on running the bureaucracies of the agric ministries and their related agencies of forestry, rural development and water resources, part others.
  • Nigeria: ERA/FOEN Wants Imposition of 150% Special Levy On Tobacco Products

    NIGERIA, 2017/01/17 The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has canvassed the immediate imposition of a minimum of 150 % appropriate levies on all tobacco products. Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, had, in a circular to the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) two weeks ago, announced a raise of import business on tobacco from 20 % to 60 %. Other products that as well had their duties reviewed upwards are imported rice, sugarcane, cassava products and salt, part others.