Farm Africa on the income potential of Sesame farming:Sesame is well suited to dry conditions, and it even adds nutrients to the soil so it helps the performance of other crops. Thanks to the high national and international demand it can be sold for a good price at market...Farm Africa is helping them to grow a bigger, higher quality sesame crop, as well as connecting them to suitable markets for their crop and help them to set up bulk storage facilities...[continue...
The Farmers Voice profiles pepper processors and their products,interviewing Taka Gladys Ngwe, an entrepreneur:How many kinds of products do you produce?I process four brands of pepper, and the products are; first the liquid pepper already in the market, the pepper cube, pepper paste which I call it spice-up because I do it with a combination of spices and olive oil. This is very delicious. We are still studying the shelf live but I think in a very short while one will come out. Then, the shredded pepper made mostly for those in the Diaspora who want to taste the pepper fresh. We conserve it, it stays fresh and its aroma is intact. So we package it, label it and send it to those in the Diaspora. We have constraints of packaging.How much pepper can you transform?If I had the resources,...
Fruit and vegetable cannery Freshpikt products include:Baked beans, Mixed beans, Tomatoes paste, Tomatoes sauces, Tomatoes sauce and Tomatoes puree, Whole peeled tomatoes, Tomatoes and Onion Mix, Whole Kernel sweet corn, Mixed fruit jam, Pineapple pieces and Rings, Guava Halves, Sundried Tomatoes, cherry peppers, Gooseberries, Packed beans and groundnuts , Peanuts ButtersWatch related video here:Related articles by ZemantaYour Fourth of July Barbecue Made Healthy...
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is assisting the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (FMAWR) in facilitating the process of updating Nigeria’s agricultural strategy with inputs from academia, the private sector, and other stakeholders.
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The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) is assisting the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (FMAWR) in facilitating the process of updating Nigeria’s agricultural strategy with inputs from academia, the private sector, and other stakeholders.
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NSSP Workshop Report,
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The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (FMAWR) is updating Nigeria’s agricultural development strategy document to make it meet the requirement of evidence-based strategy formulation. In line with this goal, the FMAWR in collaboration with the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) organized a retreat to draft an update of the Nation’s Agricultural Strategy, otherwise known as the National Food Security Program Document.
The objectives of this workshop were to:
· provide a background for the agriculture strategy document,
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The Federal Government of Nigeria, through the FMAWR, envisions improving its food security by facilitating equitable access, availability and affordability of quality foods to all Nigerian. This vision has become more important as global food prices have risen. Achieving this vision requires deliberate and sustained efforts to improve agricultural productivity growth through strategic investments in the input system: seeds, fertilizer, and irrigation.
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In line with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (FMAWR)’s vision of ensuring access, availability, and affordability of quality foods to all Nigerians and the objectives of the USAID Global Food Security Response Project of doubling agricultural productivity and removing constraints to movement of staple crops in Nigeria and beyond, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in collaboration with the FMAWR, USAID MARKETS program, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is in the process of identifying development domains for different c
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Worldwatch reports: The 58 women who make up Ghana’s Central and Western Fishmongers Improvement Association (CEWEFIA) had a problem of supply and demand. When the hare and red fish came into season during the summer months, there was too much of the seafood available on the market to make a profit. Then, later in the year, when the fish weren’t as abundant, the women didn’t have anything to sell in the community. To solve this dilemma, the group came together to learn how to smoke and process fish, as well as process palm oil. The women are “self-taught,” making their own drying racks and much of the other equipment, according to Paulina Eshun, one of CEWEFIA’s leaders. The members share the cost of the materials—including special firewood used for smoking and the packaging...
Spore reports on mini-livestock:Breeding quails, also known as coturniculture (from the Latin Coturnix) has taken off in Cameroon following publication in The Farmer’s Voice of an article on the therapeutic and dietary benefits of quail eggs...Quails can be kept in cages that are easy to make from local materials, with 70 birds/m2 (one male for four or five females). The cages can be stacked on top of each other. Quails need just 20 g of food a day and the breeder can make up its feed from whatever is availableMore...
The CAADP is a commitment of African countries to pursue economic growth through agriculture-led development to reduce poverty and hunger on the continent. It stems from the failure of previous interventions on the continent largely attributed to their weak ownership. CAADP is expected to serve as a framework that adds value to national and regional strategies for the development of agriculture.
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After a brief tour of the Mazubi Farms, the retreat began with a welcome by Ms. Valerie Rhoe, Program Coordinator, IFPRI. The welcome address highlighted the importance of updating the FMAWR agriculture strategy based on evidence. Dr.
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Uganda has experienced strong economic growth in recent years with GDP growth among the highest in Africa at an average annual rate of 7.2 percent from 2000-2008 (WDI, 2009). The most recent study by the World Bank shows that strong poverty reduction efforts have also halved poverty levels throughout the country since the early 1990’s, a commendable achievement considering the declines in world prices of key national exports.
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Open Source Ecology on Hexahatch v2.0 an open source incubator:...the still-air design, with a flat disk as the rotor for turning the eggs. We finally have a working prototype, after replacing a faulty thermostat and after upgrading the motor to a stronger one. See the incubator in action.Watch related video here:Related articles by ZemantaHelp fund a hackerspace for biology...
In WorldWatch:In Zambia, sorghum—a drought resistant cereal that thrives in the country— was considered a “poor man’s crop” in the past, often shunned by small-scale farmers for the more commercially viable maize. But an article in the June issue of Farming Matters explains how a Zambian brewery with a new brand of beer is changing the way small-scale farmers think about sorghum...[continue reading]Related articles by ZemantaThe Robustness of Traditional Crops...
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The recognition that the HIV/AIDS epidemic is a major threat to sub Saharan Africa’s economic development has prompted researchers to focus on the economic impacts of the disease. In particular, given the importance of agriculture for livelihoods in sub Saharan Africa (SSA), researchers have investigated the impact of HIV/AIDS on agriculture. Relatively little research has focused on the role agriculture plays in fueling the spread of HIV/AIDS. This study addresses this gap in the literature and examines how agricultural contexts in Kenya influence women’s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.
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RENEWAL Working Paper,
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Co-founded by Ndidi Nwuneli of Leap Africa, AACE Foods manufactures jams:...made from mangos, papayas, guavas, cashews, and pineapples; our spreads from honey and peanuts.Their line of baby foods will consist of soya, carrots, sweet potatoes, guava and mangos. Our main spice will be hot peppersvia Blogs...
Achieving food security is high on the agenda of the Malawi government. Notably, Malawi’s Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS) recognizes that food security is a prerequisite for sustained economic growth and poverty reduction. However, a good understanding of the determinants of food insecurity is required to inform and guide the design and execution of effective and well-targeted policy interventions.
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In Worldchanging:A recent study [pdf] by researchers from Cornell and Rhodes universities and the Sebakwe Black Rhino Conservation Trust found that traditional food crops, such as mubovora (pumpkin) and ipwa (sweet reed), are an important source of community resilience in Zimbabwe-including resilience to climate change and economic turbulence.Unlike traditional crops, the majority of commercial crops that have been introduced to the region "are not adapted to local conditions and require high inputs of agrochemical inputs such as fertilizers, mechanization, and water supply," according to the study. These crops tend to be more vulnerable to climatic changes, such as the drought and subsequent flooding that occurred in Zimbabwe's Sebakwe area in 2007-08.More herePhoto courtesy of Bernard...
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Thatchroom is a forum ...where “lost” African food is reborn and rediscovered. Here, we finally record for posterity those cuisines and culinary practices that sustained Africa, the origin of all mankind,at ThatchRoom, we celebrate the place of food in building an African identity strong and confident enough to engage the world on its own terms.Their intriguing Granny Project is:...a community exchange program designed to:1. Help Africans in the Diaspora learn to cook authentic and traditional African meals from EACH OTHER and from Africans on the continent2. Rediscover our forgotten foods: Because we stopped celebrating Millet and Fonio and took up biscuits and cheese. Nothing wrong with that of course but food is a powerful vehicle for culture and culture is what separates us from...
In Ladybrille:Tapping into her African roots (Guinea),Bisila Bokoko founder of Bisila Wines describes the collection of wines as “a powerful mixture of the land and light. It is a passionate meeting between mother nature and the roots of the most remote memory.”More herefurther coverage in...
This paper estimates required investment and its allocation among different regions to maximize agricultural output gains and poverty reduction. The analysis uses a social welfare function to simulate the optimal allocation of research and development (R&D) investment across developing regions (1) to maximize agricultural growth or (2) to maximize poverty reduction at the global level.
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A rapidly changing world combined with mounting domestic challenges is prompting many Middle East and North African (MENA) countries to rethink their development models and to initiate economic and social reforms. Taking this new momentum as a starting point, this paper uses the concept of Food Security to identify the region’s challenges along four major themes: economic growth and incomes, trade and infrastructure, agriculture and water, and health and education.
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English,
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An improved method for storing maize, Togo's main cereal crop.Mechanical and electrical engineering services company Building Consultants LimitedNigerian privately owned and managed incubator-NextzonOpenSys a Dakar based open source focused IT consulting firm founded by Karim SyTrigen a healthcare skills training and consultative...
Two stories which speak to challenges and opportunities faced by African businesses as they spread their wings. The first one in the Economist talks about how an "African entrepreneur struggles for recognition in rich-country markets":It used to be a badge of pride that we were the only African coffee brand in British supermarkets. Now I see it as shameful,” says Andrew Rugasira, the founder of Good African. He is bemoaning the fact that other African firms—in coffee and many other lines of business—have struggled to follow the trail blazed by Good African since it was founded in 2003.While the WSJ profiles the blossoming of home-grown companies:Foreign consumer-goods companies including Coca-Cola Co., Nestlé SA and Unilever PLC have been in Africa for decades without much...
E-Agriculture has a crucial role in the empowerment of farmers in rural areas all over the world though information and communication processes, supporting them so they can improve the quality of life for themselves and for their families. The technological interventions can raise the living standards in marginalized communities by leveraging agricultural output and improvement of through...
Spore highlights the growing appetite for dry beans:Cultivation of haricot beans, which originated in the Andes mountains, has taken a strong hold in the upland regions of Central and Eastern Africa. The Great Lakes region (Burundi, eastern DR Congo and Rwanda) holds the world record for consumption of these legumes: an annual 50 to 60 kg of dry beans per person. But haricot beans feature on the menu in many other ACP countries too, including Cape Verde and Nigeria. They are also popular in the Caribbean, where they are sometimes accompanied by maize or rice. Haricot beans are often called 'the poor man's meat' due to their high value protein content supplied by essential amino acids (22 to 24%)...[continue reading]While 234next reports on a new cowpea varieties IT89KD-288 and...
Agriculture is the largest contributor to the economic well-being of most Nigerians. For the agriculture sector to continue to grow, research-based knowledge of the existing agricultural practices, the potential of the sector, the approach for transforming the sector, and the impact of the transformation on the economy, sector, and population is needed. It has also been shown that agriculture R&D could increase agriculture growth and reduce poverty (Fan 2008; Thirtle et al. 2003).
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