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Young Africans’ career aspirations have little in common with current and projected labour demand in the region, which complicates their transition from school to work, according to Youth Aspirations and the Reality of Jobs in Africa. Evidence from ten countries – Benin, Republic of Congo, Egypt, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda & Zambia- shows that…
The Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) Seeds has collaborated with the Agricultural Technical and Extension Services (Agritex) to drive the uptake of urban and climate-smart agriculture. This came to the fore during a Maize Field Day meeting held at the Harare South Retreat at a plot owned by Mrs. Shamiso Marumisa that was presided…
By Charles Dhewa African countries have remained stuck in colonial food systems and structures where grain silos, abattoirs, processing centres, and other important food handling facilities are located in cities. By now, silos and processing facilities should have been established at the community level, close to production zones. Why should maize leave rural areas to…
By Charles Dhewa The urgency with which farmers seek help, advice, and support increases during the harvesting season compared to the planting season. Production knowledge is now relatively abundant but the same cannot be said about knowledge on markets and their behaviours. During the planting season, the market is the one looking for commodities while…
Hunger in Zimbabwe’s urban areas has increased over the past year with 2.4 million people now struggling to meet their basic food needs, according to the Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVAC) report coordinated by the Food and Nutrition Council. The lockdowns imposed to contain the spread of COVID-19 have dealt a severe blow to…
By Veritas It has become plain over the last few weeks that the full story behind the recent controversy over the Government’s plans for the development of the Chilonga area has yet to be told. The legal ramifications of the Government’s intentions, and those intentions themselves, remain unclear. It is not too early, however, to…
The Climate Research and Advocacy Trust (CRAT), a non-profit making organisation that focuses on providing strategies that help communities to adapt and mitigate climate change has stressed the need to practice sustainable agriculture to ensure that environment and nature are being protected. This comes after the organisation has noted with deep concern how population increase…
By Charles Dhewa Why does a bumper harvest not get as much attention from governments and development agencies as disasters like droughts and cyclones? When there is a drought, African governments are quick to declare a national disaster so that food aid starts being mobilized from outside with support from development agencies. On the contrary,…
Strengthening food systems must be an integral part of efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and to build resilience in Africa, said African Development Bank Director General for Southern Africa, Leila Mokaddem. Hunger is a greater threat to many Africans than the COVID-19 crisis, Mokaddem said in a session on sustainable food systems at the Southern…
In light of recent events, such as the mass kidnapping of the 343 schoolboys in Nigeria, the war in Tigray in the northernmost region of Ethiopia, as well as decades-long issues such as the Darfur war, the accumulating news headlines seems unequivocal: there is a growing link between climate change and conflict, and that link…
The Land and Agricultural Development Bank of Zimbabwe has appointed a new board of directors. Addressing members of the media in Harare at Ngungunyana Offices on Friday, Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, and Rural Resettlement Minister, Dr. Anxious Masuka said the board was significant in ensuring a vibrant agricultural transformation of other relevant parastatals in the…
The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (ZELA) said the International Women’s Day was an opportune time to reflect on progress made, to call for change, and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by women and girls who have played an extraordinary role in the history of mankind including in the natural resource management sector. The…
By Charles Dhewa Good rainfall seasons across Africa are not only characterized by an abundance of domesticated crops and livestock but an increase in the availability of non-domesticated natural food resources. Such resources range from edible insects to indigenous fruits, tubers, vegetables, mushrooms, and small indigenous animals. While some are prevalent in high rainfall regions,…
By Believe Tevera (President of Tobacco Farmers Union of Zimbabwe) Tobacco Farmers Union of Zimbabwe (ToFUZ) wishes all tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe a swift and progressive 2021 tobacco selling season. As tobacco farmers, we faced numerous challenges last season that consequently resulted in a decrease in the number of farmers who registered to grow the…
By Joyce Mukucha Following successive droughts over the past few years that negatively affected agricultural growth in Zimbabwe, farmers in rural areas are overwhelmed with joy because the rains have remained above normal throughout the country in the 2020 -2021 cropping season. Spiked Online Media conducted interviews with various farmers in different provinces who expressed…
By Charles Dhewa 1. More than 90 percent of development agencies working in Africa are headquartered in the Global North where high populations and income levels make Northern countries a potentially reliable market for agricultural commodities from Africa. If they were sincere in alleviating poverty among African smallholder farmers, development agencies working in the agriculture sector…
There is a need for farmers to plant better seeds that can thrive in the changing climate, Dr Edward Mungai has said. The Kenya Climate Innovation Center CEO told Spice FM that the time has come for farmers to play their role in mitigating the impact of climate change. Further, he added that the use…
The SADC Regional Vulnerability Committee Chair, António Pacheco Dias Lima on 22 February 2021 called on member states, to find ways to share success stories, opportunities, and progress captured in the national Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis to inform food security interventions as the region battles COVID-19 and record high levels of food insecurity Dias Lima…
On the commemoration of the National Youth Day, the Civic Society and Churches Joint Forum (CSCJF) is urging the youths to take advantage of the land reform and grab the opportunity to venture into the idle opportunities presented in the agricultural sector. “The agricultural sector is the backbone of the Zimbabwean economy. In that regard,…
By Joyce Mukucha In the quest to improve agricultural productivity, the government is in the process of disbursing motorcycles and mobile tablets to the extension officers. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr John Basera told the media that the provision of extension services will play a crucial role in terms of transforming…
By John Wilson Following up on the theme of changing our ‘machine’-leaning mindsets, whenever we are dealing with life and not machines, I’ve been giving plenty of thought the last few weeks to what most people call ‘weeds’. Many people don’t like this term, especially those who eat them. I’m one of those. My laptop…
For those in the business of shipping and grain, 2020 was a rollercoaster ride. Second-quarter lockdowns prompted demand for some grain-based products to spike as consumers stockpiled and splurged on specific goods, including specialty flours. However, overall global economic demand for most commodities fell precipitously, and bulk carrier shipping spot and time charter rates slumped…
By Dr Raymond Chamba It is well. The story of Zimbabwe can never be complete without folks realizing at last that when it comes to this amazing nation now pitifully hobbled with ineptitude, administrative indifference, corruption, sanctions, and general loss of confidence in our greatness….nomatter what we feel, or think – we are sleeping on,…
By Believe Tevera Tobacco contract farming in Zimbabwe does not benefit the ordinary farmer, as it turns farmers into slaves to enrich the Contracting Companies. Farmers are turned into disguised workers for the contracting companies and they are always in debt, leaving them without surplus money to recapitalize and survive. The contracting companies do not…
By Charles Dhewa When policy makers, development agencies, the private sector and ordinary people talk about agricultural markets, they rarely talk about consumer power. There is often too much emphasis on producers, financing, cold chain, transportation, value addition and processing, yet all these are meaningless if efforts are not devoted to understanding the consumer base. Farmers and…
By Bernard Marr We certainly have a global food challenge that is exacerbated by environmental concerns. But could new technology such as artificial intelligence, machine vision, and 5G networks help us find a solution? Norwegian salmon farming company Cermaq has launched its first-of-its-kind iFarm project. This five-year experiment will run until 2025 with tech partners BioSort and…
As Government is aiming to acquire 3 000 tractors this year from the John Deere and Belarus schemes to meet the country’s requirement of between 12 000 and 15 000 units to produce more yields, it has considered expanding and enhancing the farming capacity at the University of Zimbabwe. The Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries,…
Following the millions of hectares that were repossessed by the black majority during the land reform programme, the Government has assured the nation that there will be sufficient maize through the food self sufficiency programmes. The Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Resettlement, Dr. Anxious Masuka said this year, the nation will have…
By Joyce Mukucha The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Liaison Office with the United Nations (UN) in New York in collaboration with Emerging Ag Inc, governments, non-governmental organizations, and all other relevant stakeholders yesterday held a virtual event to celebrate World Pulses Day. The event which was aimed at raising awareness and recognising the contribution…
By Desire Tshuma On Friday 5 February 2021, Women In Agriculture Union donated organic fertilizers to 1000 beneficiaries in Harare so as to promote and boost yields in diverse farming businesses. Speaking to Spiked Online Media, the founder, chairperson, and national coordinator for Women In Agriculture Union (WAU), Miss Olga Nhari said as a union…
A significant proportion of African smallholder farmers no longer waste their energy and resources producing commodities that do not have a market. Buyers who suddenly start looking for tons of sesame, peacocks and other commodities that do not have a ready market are blind to the fact that farmers have learned the hard way to…
By Megan Rowling (Thomson Reuters Foundation) The African Development Bank plans to deploy billions of dollars to help young people build a new digitally-driven model of agriculture that can feed the continent’s people and boost prosperity even as the planet heats up, its president said. At a global summit this week, the bank and the…
By Grace Goodrich With fertile river valleys, expansive coastal lowlands and the prolific Zambezi River as a source of irrigation, Mozambique is considered a mecca for crop cultivation, with climatic conditions catering to a diverse range of agricultural products. Agriculture represents the second-largest sector of the Mozambican economy – accounting for more than 25% of…
By Charles Dhewa Detailed comparative analysis of existing economic drivers in a community avoids cases where, for example, development organizations focus on small grains when indigenous chickens and goats may be major economic drivers in particular communities. Existing commodities, economic drivers, knowledge and information have to be discovered and captured using appropriate frameworks and tools…
A new project by the African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) and the International Agroforestry Agency [ICRAF (www.WorldAgroForestry.org)] would bring relief to two Ivorian smallholder cocoa farmers’ communities in Soubre and Vavoua currently grappling with declining yields caused by climate change and worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. Without help, some 800,000 Ivorian smallholder farmers, who produce the largest…
With global economic activity stymied by COVID-19 and with air travel falling dramatically, you might think this would limit global warming. You’d be wrong. In December a little-known report warned that we’re on track for a 3 degree rise in temperatures, even if existing commitments are met, smashing efforts to limit global warming to 1.5°C…
Temba Mliswa, the legislator for Norton is inspiring many a farmer in Zimbabwe and demonstrating that with proper planning, blacks can guarantee the country’s food security. Mr. Walter Chigodora, the Managing Director of Agro Yields whose company contracted Hon Mliswa said he was amazed by the good work that the legislator is doing at his…
By Charles Dhewa Since March 2020 when COVID19 first showed up in Africa, mass food markets have continued to play their critical functions although policy support has continued to be directed to processing companies and supermarkets. In 2021, COVID19 did not just confirm the importance of a strong immune system but has also revealed the strengths…
By Joyce Mukucha The Government has said it was geared to roll out a number of programs to achieve food security in the country and ensure that by the year 2023, no commodities such as maize and other grains will be imported. The efforts are aimed at ensuring that farmers in the country get adequate…
By Joyce Mukucha In the wake of the ongoing novel coronavirus global pandemic, the Women in Agriculture Union (WAU) has bemoaned the adverse implications of COVID-19. The pandemic is negatively impacted the agriculture sector, productivity and supply chain with women farmers being worst hit. The WAU chairperson and founder who is also a woman farmer,…
By Joyce Mukucha Living in rural Africa presents several unique challenges that increase the likelihood of food insecurity leading to global poverty being overwhelmingly rural particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa with Zimbabwe remaining in the grip of severe food insecurity. The study by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health titled: “Drought Influences on…
The World Bank, in its Global Economic Prospect 2021, has said Uganda’s agricultural sector will be among the most resilient sector in 2021. Uganda, the World Bank said, will be among the five countries in sub-Saharan Africa that will experience the least contraction in agriculture. This, according to the World Bank, implies that agriculture will…
African climate-linked migration tends to be dominated by European narratives. In reality, most of these migrants move within their own countries and regions. As climate change impacts intensify, migration will increase. African cities, countries and regions need to be more aware of the phenomenon and incorporate it into all levels of planning. Despite contributing only…
By Staff Reporter The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement intends to withdraw the offer of land made to the late hero and Anti-Corruption Commissioner Shepherd Gwasira in respect of Subdivision 1 measuring 2 757.97HA of CONS of Lot 1 SS Ranch, Rem of SS Ranch and Mete farm in the District of…
… Part of a global package worth £47 million to provide food, nutrition, water and shelter to help over 1.3 million vulnerable people in 9 countries and regions, including Zimbabwe. New UN data reveals humanitarian crises are worsening around the world, compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, 235 million people are expected to be in need…
