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...
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...
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...
The FT profiles Wellington Baiden founder of Portal Wood Processing:
Growing timber requires decades of patience, so Mr Baiden has developed a range of schemes aimed at harnessing a cornucopia of forest products to generate income before the trunks are felled. Apart from the oils extracted from ylang ylang, black pepper, patchouli and lemongrass growing in the shade, he plans to build up...
Spring Mortgage aims to provide innovative and affordable mortgage solutions.
New Farm discusses livestock fattening.
Spore reports on grafting Shea trees.
Bruno Gilbert outlines his inventions which include the Counter Collision Gadget...
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...
Nyakio Kamoche Grieco founder of Nyakio covered earlier launches Safi her perfume line. In an interview with LadyBrille she states:
Safi carries base notes that represent Africa including bamboo, papyrus, and muhuhu wood. At the heart you find fresh cut freesia, stargazer lily, and neroli (orange blossom), and at the top rests fresh pineapple, black currant and fresh lychee, notes that I've...
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...
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...
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...
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...
From the Betucare website:
Organically grown (Buchu) Betuline Baromsa, is known to be South Africa's wonder medicinal herb. One the rarest herbs in the world, it was first used by the Khoi San, an indigenous group of people found in the Western Cape, South Africa, for almost every body ailment.
While the Mail & Guardian expounds:
Soft-drink companies use it by the tonne, natural health devotees...
African Investments getting hotter? See Msn video here via LadyBrille.
Market gardening takes root in Burkina Faso.
Georgetown Capital offers investment opportunities.
Adding value to the cashew trade-African Cashew...
Founded by Moriba Ouendeno, Moriba a specialty food company "has progressively diversified its product offerings to include new flavours like litchi, manguo, baobab but also carbonated drinks, ginger liqueur and African herbal teas “Saveurs d’Afrique ®/African Flavours” based with lemongrass, kinkeliba, hibiscus, ginger, and a mix of ginger, ginseng, guarana"-Moriba Website
Watch Mr Ouendeno...
"...Burkinakarité is a union of women associations dedicated to shea butter production and commercialization.The union is made up of 4 villages association. Our local head office is in Bobo Dioulasso in Burkina Faso .Burkinakarité sells raw shea butter produced traditionally by the women of the...
Image via Wikipedia EarthOil a grower-based production and marketing firm, processes essential oils in Kenya and Zimbabwe.Their website outlines the company's Papain operation:
The papaya fruit (pawpaw) – is not indigenous to Africa, but it has become “naturalised” in that country, and, and is very widely grown by small farmers in many parts of Africa. The project to develop papaya seed oil...
Sanitas the "Green Diamonds" of Botswana is a "Plant Clinic and Nursery" which grows over 500 varieties of indigenous and exotic nursery plants and vegetables.They offer the largest selection of indigenous and exotic plants in the...
Pax Herbal Clinic & Research Laboratories is located at the St. Benedict Monastery,Ewu Nigeria. Their product lineup includes herbal anti-malarials, blood tonics etc.The company's goals include:
-To serve as a centre for genuine African holistic healing that blends the physical and the spiritual aspects of the human person together.
-To serve as a research centre for scientific identification,...
Food for Life reports on Working Villages:
A model village is literally rising from the ashes, and include full employment, private ownership of small farms and businesses, zero carbon footprint and 100% recycling. The project is a practical demonstration that it’s possible to profoundly increase living standards in rural Africa without hampering local culture and ingenuity.
The once-abandoned...
Trio Craft "...produces a line of handwoven, handknit and crocheted products using organically grown cotton. Trio’s looms are much wider than most, enabling them to custom weave curtains, tablecloths and carpets, and offer a broad array of beautifully textured products for the home. Trio was established to create employment and preserve artisanal skills, to bring Ethiopian textile art to the...
Paul Fishing recounts a palm fruit to Biodiesel story in Sierra Leone:The idea was mooted quite a few weeks ago when it became obvious that the Binkolo vehicle uses expensive fuel and my conversation with another VSO volunteer Maria who told me over a Star beer in Freetown that she had produced bio-fuel back home in Philippines that was used to power their vehicle. I didn’t need any more...
The Doyin Group was founded by Samuel Adedoyin who has been described as an apostle of ‘industrialization’.Their range of household products which include:
-Soaps & Detergent
-Foods & Beverages
-Fruits, Juices, Drugs & Water
-Toothpaste & Medicaments...
Pharmakina Bukavu is an innovative vertically integrated manufacturer of quinine anti-malarial drugs. Their operations range from the production of seedlings and extraction of quinine from the quinquina barks, right through to synthesis of tableted,liquid and injection...
Musaazi Moses of Makere University is the lead innovator behind MakaPads a locally sourced sanitary napkin manufacturing concern.Worldchallenge reported:
The price of imported sanitary pads - around US$1.50 for a pack of ten - puts them beyond the reach of Uganda's poorest families. Accordingly, many disadvantaged girls skip school during their periods, creating a vicious cycle in which the...
Next Billion profiles a paper on the benefits of Biofuels at the BOP:
The key element is a jatropha nursery that is incubating young plants and teaching a group of Haitian farmers how to grow them.
The oil squeezed from the plant will be burned in lamps and cookstoves and the remaining seedcake used as fertilizer. As supplies grow, a small refinery will be built to process the plant oil into...
Design within reach reports on Patty Johnson's creation of the Maun Windsor Chair:
To create the Maun, Johnson went to Peter Mabeo, the founder of the Mabeo Furniture factory in Gaborone, Botswana, with a design brief for a collection of high-quality wooden furniture that could be produced by hand. The Maun Windsor is a new interpretation of a classic American chair. Its Shaker-inspired clean...
A paper by Ajebesone, P. E.and Aina, J. O. examines a number of tropical vegetables namely Utazi,Neem,Bitter Kola and Bitter leaf as substitutes for Hops in beer brewing:
The potential of four selected tropical vegetables, Grongonema latifolium (Utazi), Vernonia amygdalina (Bitter leaf), Azadirachta indica (Neem) and Garcinia kola (Bitter Kola) as substitutes for hops in tropical beer brewing...
"...Pinora produces aseptic and frozen NFC(not from concentrate) juices as well as concentrates from oranges and pineapples.An SGF member and organically certified by IMO, Switzerland. All their products are completely natural – without...
Continuing our coverage of underutilised resources we take a look at a Centre for Biodiversity report on Prekese:
Prekese (Tetrapheura tetraptera) which is an indigenous tree species belonging to the Mimosaceae family is one of the one hundred and fifty seven class IV. timber tree species.
Its potential uses include:
- fruits serving as bait for fish and crabs.
- Fruits for jams, toffee,...
An AllAfrica special report focuses on a local Organic Gardening revolution:
For today's weapon-chest is becoming increasingly filled with vegetables: cabbages, carrots, beetroot, spinach leaves and heads of broccoli. One hundred percent organically grown.It is a revolution fueled by vegetables.
They are being grown out in the open, in community food gardens created on previously unused patches...