Africa > Agriculture

Agriculture in Africa

  • Angola Agriculture Ministry Organises Roundtable With Donors and Partners

    ANGOLA, 2015/01/01 The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development last Tuesday in Luanda organised a roundtable with donors and some partners, reads a note from the mentioned governmental department. Part the partners that participated in the roundtable are the United Nations Food and Agriculture Fund (FAO), World Bank, European Union, Spanish Co-operation, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the African Improvment(AfDB), inclunding representatives of national institutions linked to the agricultural sector.
  • Bridging the microfinance gap for smallholder farmers

    AFRICA, 2014/12/31 Microfinance is widely known for the incredible speed with which it has scaled to reach hundreds of millions of people, and the positive result it has had in reducing poverty. However, what a lot of people do not know is that most of these microfinance institutions are located in urban and suburban areas, and they largely target the urban and suburban poor. As a result, the major group of poor people in the world - smallholder farmers - are largely financially excluded. While 55 % of Africa’s people is engaged in agricultural livelihoods, only approximately 1 % of bank lending across the continent goes to the agricultural sector. In sub-Saharan Africa, 38 % of adults living in cities statement having a formal bank account, compared with only 21 % of adults living in rural areas.
  • Food insecurity in Ebola affected countries

    GUINEA, 2014/12/20 The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have said the Ebola epidemic in the affected West African nations could push the number of people facing food insecurity to additional than one million by next spring. 'The disease's impact is potentially devastating in the three nations by presently coping with chronic food insecurity,' according to a joint statement issued Thursday by the FAO and WFP. The statement noted that by presently this month, half a million people are estimated to be severely food insecure in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
  • Workshop on Africa’s food safety underway in Uganda

    UGANDA, 2014/12/20 Africa’s food safety - The 2nd Pan African Workshop convened to review evolution made on the implementation of Codex Alimentarius standards-internationally agreed upon food standards, to improve the safety and quality of the food consumed in Africa, is underway in Kampala, Uganda. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) African region said in a dispatch to PANA here Thursday that participants at the workshop, inclunding African Union (AU) policy makers, noted that food-borne diseases impacted negatively on the continent’s economy. “Codex Alimentarius is about safe, good food for everyone – everywhere. Therefore, matters of codex are critical for Africa since they contribute to ensuring health and safety of the consumers while enhancing equitable food trade,” Mr Samuel Senkungu, Uganda’s Trade Ministry Permanent Secretary, was quoted as saying at the opening ceremony.
  • World Bank grants Cameroon US$100 million loan for agric. projects

    CAMEROON, 2014/12/18 The World Bank has granted Cameroon a loan of US$ 100 million (about FCFA 50 billion) to enable the Central African country to finance its project on investment and development of agricultural markets (PIDMA), according to an agreement signed by both parties. PIDMA is aimed at strengthening competitiveness of Cameroonian products on national and international markets. According to the Cameroonian Minister of Economy, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, the project, designed in the form of an inclusive model of agro-business, is based on the development of the competitiveness of the price chains of corn, cassava and sorghum and the direct contact between producers, organized in cooperatives, and buyers.
  • Zimbabwe: Pioneer Scales Down Seed Production

    ZIMBABWE, 2014/11/27 "We are not planting any seeds this farming season because we have enough to supply the country for the next two years," he said. "Our farmers will not have a challenge of seed shortage for the meantime time because we have enough in stock," he said. Mr Myers, however, said the company had increased prices for maize seed by 15 %. "We have not changed prices in the completed three years," he said, adding the liquidity crunch had slowed down sales.
  • Tanzania: Commercial Lenders Shun Agricultural Sector

    TANZANIA, 2014/11/27 AGRICULTURE remains less attractive sector for commercial lenders, the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) monthly economic review for the year ended September shows. The agriculture sector is regarded as unsafe by most commercial banks to lend. But any little investment to the agriculture sector would bring huge impact because it employs around 70 % of the people. The BoT statement shows that the share of credit to agriculture slightly decreased to 8.9 % in the month under review from 9.2 % recorded in the year ending August and 10.8 % in 2013.
  • African Countries South of the Sahara Must Double Investment in Agricultural R&D

    AFRICA, 2014/11/27 African nations south of the Sahara will need to double their investment in agricultural research and development if ambitious United Nations and African Union targets are to be completed, according to a new statement issued by researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). This is one of a lot of findings of a statement entitled, "Taking Stock of National Agricultural R&D Capacity in Africa South of the Sahara," produced by the Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI) program led by IFPRI.
  • AGRA report emphasizes climate risks for smallholders

    AFRICA, 2014/09/14 Malnutrition in sub-Saharan Africa could rise by nearly 60 % due to the impacts of climate change and people increase on agriculture, according to a new statement by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Released on 2 September, the statement emphasizes the vulnerabilities of the region’s smallholder farmers to the adverse effects rising temperatures - which are expected to increase by between 1.5 and 2 degrees celsius by 2050 - and changing weather patterns. AGRA was founded in 2006 as a partnership between the Rockefeller and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundations, focused on improving food security and agricultural productivity in Africa.
  • President Mahama cuts sod for sugar factory construction

    GHANA, 2014/08/21 President John Dramani Mahama on Tuesday announced that government would avoid all the negative tendencies and attitudes that led to the collapse of Komenda sugar factory some years back. He said the importation of sugar and other essential consumer goods were having a heavy toll on the Ghanaian economy, which government would work out to balance in the coming years. President Mahama said this at the same time as he cut the sod for commencement of work on the $ 36.5 million Komenda Sugar Factory in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem Municipality in the Central Region.