Yolele! via Timbuktu Chronicles
Proprietor of the Le Grand Dakar restaurant Chef Pierre Thiam, has published a book which celebrates the cosmopolitan cuisine of westernmost tip of the continent -Yolele! Recipes From the Heart of Senegal:
The recipes in this book reflect my personal odyssey,my travels through West Africa,Europe and finally here,where from my New York address I've seen the world. They showcase the repertoire of...
Hybrid Solar Refrigeration via Timbuktu Chronicles
Technology Review reports on Promethean Power Systems, their:
...design uses off-the-shelf components: silicon PV panels, thermoelectric modules, and a compressor-based refrigeration unit. The company's control system directs the two cooling components to work together so that they squeeze as much juice out of the solar panels as possible, Sorin Grama the cofounder explains. Early in the...
Hunger turns to anger: a priority of the United Nations? via Jackfruity
Tonight the United Nations Studies Program at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs is hosting a panel on the world food crisis titled "Hunger turns to anger: a priority of the United Nations?" I've been tapped to cover the event for The Morningside Post, but I'll also be liveblogging...
Quick Hits via Timbuktu Chronicles
Sarnissa's fish farming links.
The breadth of cottage industry innovation in Kenya.
Ladybrille sponsors the "Through the Glass" movie.
Empretec profiles food processing company Mon Petit, founded by Dédé Léa Edith...
Crocodile Farming via Timbuktu Chronicles
VOA reports on the growth of the crocodile farming industry in Zambia:
Crocodile skin earned the country US four million dollars in exports last year. The meat is served in restaurants and is considered a delicacy, appreciated for its taste and because it's low in cholesterol.Zambian crocodile enjoys warm African sun.The fat is used for making beauty cream. And the oil is said to help relieve...
TEE ESS Fish Farms via Timbuktu Chronicles
TEE ESS Fish Farms "operates two hatcheries, with production capacity of 100,000...This is supported by 12 nursery ponds of varying sizes and a total of 28 grow-out ponds with an average size of 2 meters by 6 meters stocking about 100 fish per cubic meter."-company website.
via...
Songhai Centre on BBTV via Timbuktu Chronicles
Boing Boing's Xeni Jardin visits and profiles one of our favorites the Songhai Centre in Benin, West Africa:
She writes:Aid creates dependence, but small businesses foster independence, the group's logic goes -- and unlike other anti-poverty projects, this one exports more than it imports: specialty food and beverage products produced here (cashew butter, cookies, fruit beverages) are sold and...
Agricultural Entrepreneurship via Timbuktu Chronicles
New Farm profiles the work of entrepreneur farmers, El-Hadji Hane and Gora Ndiaye:
Through local farmer organizing, commercial promotion of agroforestry and international connections, two college friends are nurturing sustainable initiatives along the tourist-impacted “Little Coast” of Senegal...One of the central goals of sustainable agriculture is to revitalize rural areas, to protect rural...
Dairy Goat Farming via Timbuktu Chronicles
Boniface Mwangi writing in Business Daily stated that:Smallholder farmers in Kenya are increasingly turning to dairy goat rearing as a means to grow incomes while improving nutrition in rural areas.The Dairy Goat Association of Kenya (DGAK) has been urging farmers to breed the animals, which are cheaper than dairy cattle, for milk and other dairy products. A dairy goat goes for around 6,500...
Tanzania Green Services via Timbuktu Chronicles
At Believe Begin Become Lillian Mungure discusses her grocery supply company, Tanzania Green......
Quick Hits via Timbuktu Chronicles
Korlyns Pharmaceuticals expands to Ghana and Liberia.
An overview of the swashbucking Exotix investment house-Mens Vogue
Mobile labs for the mathematically inclined.-Engineering News
EPS couriers joins the burgeoning package delivery industry.
A study on indigenous "Twsana Pig" production and...
The Masau Fruit via Timbuktu Chronicles
Continuing our focus on underutilised resources we take a look at Spore's coverage of the Masau fruit:
Found in Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, is wine coloured and wizened, with a sweet and slightly sour taste. The shape and texture are reminiscent of dried plums. Masau are chewy, and you need to use your teeth to tear the flesh off the seed. The fruit is rich in vitamin C and beta...
BlogDay 2008: Eating in the City via Jackfruity
I moved to New York earlier this month to start grad school at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. I've been neglecting most things online during the process of packing/traveling/unpacking/buying lots of stuff that I already own but that didn't make the ruthless weight and space requirements for the move and was consequently left in Kansas.I've settled in to my new home, made it through the first week of orientation (including 14 hours of the euphemistically titled "Math Camp") and procured Internet access. Now that I'm online again, I realize it's BlogDay 2008.Hash at White African posted a list of 5 great African blogs, which I wholly recommend that you check out (disclosure: one of them is Jackfruity). I'm going to take a geographically minded cue and,... Camel Milk Cooler via Timbuktu Chronicles
Afrigadget reports on Dominic Wanjihia's invention:
An elevated metal box is lined interior and exterior with a fabric. In this case I used locally available corrugated galvanized iron sheets for the container and sisal sacking fabric for lining. The upper ends of the fabric overhang in a water trough that rings the top of the cooler. Capillary action causes the water to slowly trickle over the...
Will Trade Oil [Money] for Food via CIPE Development Blog
What would you do if you were running a country that is having to balance the benefits of high energy prices and the costs of high food prices? Ask Saudi Arabia, which is now gearing up its efforts to buy more and more agricultural land in other countries in order to reduce the pressure on food supplies.
The approach is somewhat interesting, as the investments go into securing productive capacities in other countries, rather than strictly relying on imports or supporting [in many instances] less efficient domestic producers. One of the reasons behind this move is that
Saudi Arabia has reduced its agricultural production with the objective of economizing water and has been seeking land in other countries on which to grow crops.
More from WSJ here. I wonder what will be the response to...
Coast Coconut Farms via Timbuktu Chronicles
Coast Coconut Farms manufactures coconut oil using the "...Direct Micro Expelling (DME) method which gives you a 100% natural, unrefined oil. Our cold press process preserves the nutritional value and healing properties of virgin coconut oil. We use a small batch process which allows us to focus on consistent quality. We collect mature coconuts from both wild areas and from organic farmers...
Big Treat via Timbuktu Chronicles
African Loft profiles Pamela Wu founder of Big Treat, a bakery and confectionery business in Nigeria. :
When she started Big Treat many years ago, there was only store in Opebi, Lagos but now she is working on expanding the Big Treat brand via a strategic partnership with Oando, a Nigerian petroleum company that owns filling stations nationwide.Pamela’s story is a demonstration that one’s...
LIZVIC formula food-Tomilola Awoniyi via Timbuktu Chronicles
From GWINN covered earlier:
Tomilola Awoniyi from Nigeria was recognised and applauded for her infant and child 'LIZVIC formula food' which includes ingredients and spices of high nutritional value.Tomilola developed this formula after the birth of her first child when she discovered that most of the available infant formula could not produce the desired effect on the growth and wellbeing of her...
Linking Local Learners via Timbuktu Chronicles
From ICTUpdate:
Using the internet and mobile phones, farmers in East Africa learn to work more efficiently with the traders who buy their goods. The Linking Local Learners method of learning explores how farmers can access market information and get a fairer deal...[continue...
Indigenous Vegetables regaining Popularity via Timbuktu Chronicles
Duncan Mboyah at the Africa Science News reports:
According to a recent study conducted in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, there is high demand for cowpeas (kunde), African nightshade (managu), spiderplant (saga/dek) and amaranths (mchicha) in major supermarkets. Jute mallow (mrenda/apoth), slenderleaf (mtoo), African Kale (kandhira) and pumpkin leaf (malenge) follow closely in that order as common...
Farrah Olivia Restaurant via Timbuktu Chronicles
A review of Mourou Outta's Farah Olivia Restaurant:
The crossing of French, American, and African cooking makes for offbeat flavors and textures that often soar. And the chocolate brown space with striking white "branches" on the walls and a giraffe motif behind the bar are just as stunning. Shocked tuna with red wine and spicy peach accompaniments and pork with tandoori pork rinds are the sort...
Quick Hits via Timbuktu Chronicles
Omatek covered earlier, raises N6bln ($51mln) in their recently concluded IPO.
A $100 Million Legacy Africa Alpha Hedge Fund Launched By INTL Consilium and First City Monument Bank.- HedgCo
Oson Chemist describes itself as "...a leader in pharmaceutical distribution and supply chain management..."
Emmanuel Banza a mechanic, describes his mill for crushing cassava leaves,a necessary food...
Sekem via Timbuktu Chronicles
Founded by the award winning Ibrahim Abouleish, Sekem group pioneered Biodynamic agriculture in Egypt.The National reports:
It’s not supposed to be like this. The desert does not give up its grip lightly. Yet some 60 kilometres north-east of Cairo, what should have been (and was 30 years ago) a parched dry scrubland of desert and rock is now a place of vivid green, a patchwork of fields rich in...
Homefoods via Timbuktu Chronicles
Founded by the award winning Felicia Twumasi, Homefoods processes,packages produces all-natural red palm oil, high-quality African spices, cassava flour, shito hot sauce and traditional fruit jams.
via Specialty...
Suneor via Timbuktu Chronicles
Image via WikipediaSuneor a peanut oil producer handles about 90% of peanut seeds placed on the Senegalese market, equivalent to between 130,000 and 250,000 tons annually.The company is organized around 5 industrial sites with a total crushing capacity of 900,000 tons of peanuts per year. The company exports 50,000 tonnes of crude peanut oil to refineries in Europe, Asia and North...
The food crisis: are we making progress? via Overseas Development Institute (ODI) Blog
Real IPM via Timbuktu Chronicles
From their website:
The Real IPM company (a development marketplace finalist) mass produces beneficial insects and biopesticides for use in Integrated Pest Management programmes in Kenya and beyond, providing growers with good quality, affordable biological controls...If pesticides are not used to protect crops, the grower needs to use other methods, which could be naturally occurring biological...
Traditional Organic Produce - Murangiri Farms via Timbuktu Chronicles
Henry Neondo reports from Africa Science News:
The Murangiri farm emphasises traditional green vegetables, which Helen says occupy an important role in household nutrition throughout Kenya as these are the main source of vitamins and provide variety to meals otherwise consisting of maize, beans and occasionally, meat stews.
These green vegetables also provide a secondary source of proteins. In...
Quick Hits via Timbuktu Chronicles
NaijaCar reports on the Innoson automotive initiative.
Nubia Estates offers private residence owners' Club.
Food crisis a boom for small farmers?
More on the opportunity in Africa's frontier markets.
Using oil palm crops to heal Lake Victoria
Burundian Ashura Kisesa, wins a young entrepreneur...