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Agriculture in Africa

  • Ethiopia Gets Sweet Approval From Europeans for Honey Export

    ETHIOPIA, 2015/12/08 Legendary long distance athlete, Haile Gebresilassie, whose business portfolio is fast expanding, has presently ventured into the apiculture sector with his new honey production by presently earning vast interests from European nations. Having delivered his initial product in the local market labeled Haile Mar (Haile Honey), the former Atlanta and Sydney Olympics Gold Medalist is warming up for major exports to European nations inclunding Germany, the Netherlands. Haile told The Reporter that he is producing the honey from his 200 hectares of coffee farm in Sheka area of southern Ethiopia which he describes as one of the "best and high quality" origins of honey in the country.

  • Angola grants 7,000 hectares of land to Cabo Verde

    ANGOLA, 2015/11/21 The government of Angola granted a plot of 7,000 hectares in Kwanza Sul province to Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) for agricultural development, said Thursday the Cape Verdean ambassador to Angola, Francisco Veiga. The ambassador, at the end of a courtesy visit to the governor of Kwanza Sul, Eusébio de Brito Teixeira, said the government would presently consider what to produce on the land but said that maize production from improved seeds was one of the priority crops. “The Ministries of Rural Development and Finance and Planning are by presently examining this file, so that the government can decide what will be produced in those 7,000 hectares,” said the ambassador quoted by Angolan news agency Angop.

  • In Central Africa an estimated 80% of cultivated land is worked manually.

    AFRICA, 2015/11/21 Most of sub-Saharan Africa’s economies are dominated by the agriculture sector. On average, agriculture accounts for 32% of gross domestic product and employs 65% of the labour force. In some nations, it contributes over 80% of trade in price and additional than 50% of raw materials to industries. But despite being a crucial sector in a lot of economies, agricultural productivity on the continent is very low. Yields of maize and other staple cereals have typically remained at about one tonne per hectare – about 1/3 of the average completed in Asia and Latin America. During the completed 30 years, the competitiveness of a lot of sub-Saharan Africa export crops has declined and the region’s dependence on imported food crops has increased. In the years ahead, world warming is expected to intensify the current constraints on food production.

  • Nigerian agricultural produce exporters seek end to EU ban

    NIGERIA, 2015/10/31 Some stakeholders in the Agro-Commodity Export on Sunday urged the Federal Government to address the ban placed on some Nigerian produce by the European Union. Obiora Madu, the Chairman, Export Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), made the appeal at the same time as he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos. He spoke on the sidelines of a one-day interactive conference with exporters. Mr. Madu said that it was imperative for the government to resolve the issue before the June 2016 deadline given by the EU to correct the anomaly. “Yes, there are a lot of export markets beyond Europe but if we do nothing, it is likely to escalate at the same time as other nations join the EU to reject our produce again we are in trouble.

  • Agriculture for nutrition at Global Panel-African Union

    UGANDA, 2015/10/31 The African continent is suffering from the burden of malnutrition. A reported 58 million children under the age of five are too short for their age (stunted) and 13.9 million weigh too little for their age (wasted). On the other hand, 10.3 million children in the same age group are overweight. Governments across Africa have made pledges to address this double burden of malnutrition, but a lot still remains to be done to ensure good nutrition for all. Against this backdrop, the Ugandan Prime Minister Honorable Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda presided over a high-level conference organised jointly by the African Union Commission and World Panel on Agriculture and Food Systems for Nutrition. The breakfast conference brought together policymakers, international organisations and civil society representatives in Kampala, as part of events leading up to the commemoration of the 6th Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security.

  • Bamboo Finance Focusing on Agribusiness in Sub-Saharan Africa

    AFRICA, 2015/10/31 Bamboo Finance, a private equity firm specializing in investing in business models that benefit low-gain communities in developing economies and Louis Dreyfus Holding, which owns a controlling stake in leading world agribusiness Louis Dreyfus Commodities, announced today a partnership to launch and jointly manage NISABA, a US$50 million impact investment fund project with a focus on small- and medium-sized agribusiness enterprises (SMEs) in Sub-Saharan Africa. As project sponsor, Louis Dreyfus Holding will invest US$10 million to seed NISABA. “We are excited to apply an integrated investment border with a vast network of local expertise for the benefit of smallholder farmers and their communities, while demonstrating the price of impact investing,” said Bamboo Finance CEO, Jean-Philippe de Schrevel. “This is a pioneer partnership that will merge multinational sector expertise with access to finance and impact investment know-how, in order to actively co-manage investments from pipeline to exit. This type of active collaboration represents an significant milestone in the field of impact investing”. We are excited to apply an integrated investment border with a vast network of local expertise for the benefit of smallholder farmers and their communities

  • Global Nutrition Report indicates mixed picture of progress in tackling malnutrition across Africa

    AFRICA, 2015/10/31 Nutrition can be a driver of change or a barrier to evolution. According to the World Nutrition Statement (GNR), which has been presented in Kampala on the eve of the sixth Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security Conference(30 October), there is a need for a strong political commitment, investment and accountability if the goal of reducing malnutrition is to be completed. Part the GNR’s key findings: 58 million children under age five are stunted, fourteen million children are wasted and ten million are overweight, and none of these children are growing healthily. The GNR shows that in Africa there are some notable bright spots and significant evolution in tackling malnutrition: Kenya is the only country in the world on track to meet all five World Health Assembly (WHA) child nutrition targets by 2025. Ghana is on course for four targets while Uganda, Algeria, Benin, Liberia and Swaziland are on course for three targets. Twenty six nations are on track for two or one targets while Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe are off track for the five Nutrition WHA targets for which data is available.

  • Morocco’s Sugar Production Exceeds 1.65 Million Tons Per Year

    MOROCCO, 2015/09/20 Morocco has made a great effort over the completed three years to guarantee its domestic sugar needs by increasing the in general production capacity to 1.65 million tons annually, Mounir Hassan, an official from Morocco’s Inter-Professional Federation of Sugar (FIMASUCRE), announced during the International Sugar Conference in Marrakesh. Morocco’s current annual production of sugar covers the country’s annual consumption of around 1.2 million tons.

  • Côte d'Ivoire continues to show signs of economic and social

    ABIDJAN, 2015/08/27 Twelve-year-old Arouna* stands shirtless in a cocoa field in southwestern Côte d'Ivoire holding a hoe, his ribs clearly visible under his dark skin. "I have to get up very early each day to be the initial in the field with my younger brother, aged 10, to start clearing [the land]," he told IRIN. "I'm so tired." Arouna, who was born across the border in neighbouring Burkina Faso, was sent to Côte d'Ivoire's Sassandra village eight months ago to join his father and his father's second wife, who needed help - in the form of free labour - cultivating cocoa.

  • Morocco in Africa - Delivering the Bread Basket

    CASABLANCA, 2015/08/24 Recent articles underscore the importance of Morocco's initiatives in West and Central Africa, specifically in the agricultural sector. In a World Bank blog, Jean-Christophe Maur, a Senior Economist in the Increase and Competitiveness Program at the World Bank Institute, argues that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which enjoys a strong working relationship with Morocco, must do additional to promote regional solutions. His blog, Feeding West Africa: An Schedule for Regional Trade, points out that "In West Africa, home of nearly 300 million people, agriculture employs 60% of the labor force. However, despite great potential, the region is increasingly dependent on food imports to meet its consumption needs; food imports have additional than tripled in the completed 10 years." This fact alone emphasizes the importance of King Mohammed VI's initiatives to enhance agricultural cooperation with ECOWAS states (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Niger) inclunding neighbors throughout Central and West Africa. Over the completed three years, he has visited additional than a dozen African nations, and signed agreements related to agriculture and human development that include Moroccan services and resources integral to a regional strategy of collaboration.
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