Africa > Agriculture

Agriculture in Africa

  • 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.
  • Mauritania to Benefit From U.S.$21 Million IFAD Grant to Boost Food Security, Nutrition and Reduce Rural Poverty

    MAURITANIA, 2017/01/13 A total of 285,600 farmers, particularly women and young people in six regions in southern Mauritania will benefit from a financial agreement signed today between the International Fund for Agricultural Improvment(IFAD) and Mauritania to improve their incomes, nutrition and food security. The agreement for the Inclusive Price Chain Development Project (PRODEFI) was signed in Rome by Michel Mordasini, Vice-President of IFAD and Mariem Aouffa, Ambassador of Mauritania to Italy and Permanent Representative to Rome-based United Nations agencies. The total cost of the project is US$45.2 million of which IFAD is providing a US$21 million grant inclunding $6 million grant from the Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) Trust Fund.
  • President Museveni Urges Ugandans To Invest in Agriculture

    UGANDA, 2016/11/04 Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is urging citizens to invest their resources in agriculture, according to a recent press release from the statehouse. During a visit to Luweero District, the president walked from home to home during a three-day tour of the Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) project. According to the Ministry of Defense, OWC aims to eradicate poverty in the country through sustainable agricultural production. he Ministry notes that while the project has had its successes, it as well has faced challenges, inclunding post-harvest losses, low levels of financing, weak inter-ministerial and sectoral linkages, and quality issues for both breeding and planting inputs and outputs.
  • Liberia: Agribusiness Expo to Highlight 5-Year Fed Activity

    SIERRA LEONE, 2016/09/17 USAID's Food and Enterprise Improvment(FED), has announced that it will conclude its five-year operation with an Agribusiness Expo. The theme of the event is, "Building a Food fasten Next in Liberia." The Expo will take place on September 13 and 14 at the Monrovia City Hall. Vice President Joseph Nyumah Boakai will deliver the opening remarks, the organization said in a press release. FED is funded by the United States Agency for International Improvment(USAID) under 'Feed the Next,' the U.S. government's world hunger and food security initiative active in 19 nations around the world, inclunding 12 in Africa. FED operates in Liberia in close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture.
  • Katsina Gov To Acquire 1000 Tractors For Farmers

    INDIA, 2016/08/25 The Katsina National government has pledged to assist farmers in the national to acquire about 1000 tractors in the next three years to make farming fully mechanised in the national. The appropriate adviser to the governor on Agriculture, Dr Abba Abdullahi, stated this at the same time as the deputy governor and Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Mannir Abdullahi, inspected the initial tranche of 50 tractors under Katsina Mahindra Agricultural Intervention Programme that have arrived in Katsina.
  • Kenya's tea industry moves toward strategic diversification

    KENYA, 2016/06/19 Reducing a reliance on bulk black tea is a key objective for Kenya as it looks to boost revenue from one of its flagship agricultural sectors. Kenya is the world’s leading exporter of black tea, which accounts for 95% of the country’s in general tea production, making it one of its major agricultural exports. Tea exports generated earnings of KSh125.3bn ($1.23bn) in 2015, a 23% increase from the previous year. The jump in revenue was the result of higher prices due in large part to a weaker harvest, with 2015 crop yields at 399.2m kg, a 10% year-on-year decrease, according to data from the Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Authority (AFFA). Prospects for 2016 are somewhat additional muted, with overseas tea sales predicted to generate between KSh115bn ($1.14bn) and KSh120bn ($1.19bn).
  • Polish tractors ploughing a furrow to Africa

    POLAND, 2016/06/17 The new transaction worth $50-million (44-million-euro) provides for the delivery of 2,400 tractors, tools and spare parts and includes equipping an assembly hall and service centres located in Tanzania. It's Ursus' third transaction in Africa. "We believe that our currently realized contracts will facilitate negotiations with prospective partners because Ethiopia is the benchmark for other African nations," CEO Karol Zarajczyk said. The Sole transaction as well covers sugar cane trailers and the construction of a tractor assembly plant in the country. Polish tractor maker Ursus signed a huge contract with Tanzania's National Service Corporation Sole. The contract was Ursus' third deal in Africa, a market that many Polish entrepreneurs are looking to boost.
  • South Africa to limit farm sizes to speed land redistribution

    SOUTH AFRICA, 2016/05/22 South Africa's government is planning to impose limits on farm sizes to free up parcels of land to hand over to blacks, a minister said on Saturday, giving an insight into the workings of a divisive redistribution scheme. Gugile Nkwinti, the minister of rural development and land reform, told Reuters the government was planning to set a range of limits - from a 1,000-hectare (2,470-acre) "small-scale" farm, up to the major allowed, at 12,000 hectares. "If you are a small-scale farm and have 1,400 HA, we will buy the 400, and leave you with your 1,000. We will buy the additional and redistribute it to black people," the minister said.
  • China-aided bamboo agri-business pays off Will Istanbul summit offer viable solution

    UGANDA, 2016/05/10
  • Burkina Faso phasing out GMO cotton, citing poor quality

    BURKINA FASO, 2016/04/13 Farmers in Burkina Faso are phasing out genetically modified cotton citing inferior lint quality of the crop. The country was seen as an African success story in biotechnology (BT) and a model for other African nations. Besides denouncing their arrangement with Monsanto, Interprofessional Cotton members are evaluating the all of compensation that they will claim, based on losses related to the cultivation of transgenic cotton since 2008.