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The Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC) has reported that an increase in food insecurity in Zimbabwe is being driven by poor harvests, reduced income and high food prices but is partially mitigated by increased humanitarian food assistance. Below, Spiked Online Media reproduces snippets from the report: Current Situation Overview (Oct-Dec 2020) Currently, 2.61 million people…
By Charles Dhewa Contrary to approaches promoted by most development agencies, African communities cannot be developed by fixing weaknesses but tapping into existing strengths. No wonder most interventions focusing on vulnerable households have failed to lift people out of poverty despite pouring millions of dollars. Every community has champions whose strengths need to be harnessed in…
Windmill Private Limited Company’s stock-feeds are tried and tested for the local environment before they are put on the market and that is the reason why they are becoming the first choice for Zimbabwean farmers. Below, Spiked Online Media talks about Windmill products on offer: BROILER FEEDS BROILER STARTER MASH/CRUMBS (21% CRUDE PROTEIN) Feed broiler…
Mathew M. Abang (PhD, MBA) When compared with other regions of the world, Southern Africa’s GDP growth between 2011 and 2017 was higher than that of advanced economies. However, the Southern Africa region (the Member States of the Southern African Development Community – SADC) failed to maintain the growth momentum and had the lowest growth…
By Charles Dhewa In the face of intensifying climate change, voices calling for Africans to go back to their original food systems are getting louder. Such voices are guided by changes in the natural phenomena that once existed in several African communities and countries. Many voices are lamenting the fact that policymakers have embraced foreign…
By Mercia Andrews Rural African women are often made invisible, hidden and marginalised in leadership structures. By organising themselves in social movements, women in Southern Africa have amplified their voices to challenge agri-business and patriarchal oppression while advancing agroecology and building new leadership for a feminist agroecology. In Africa, rural women have to struggle against…
By Anyway Yotamu Traditionally, women in Zimbabwe did not take up any major roles in agriculture, leaving it mostly to men. But a new crop of ladies has taken up a bigger role in the sector. Women in Agriculture Union (WAU) National Coordinator Olga Nhari said the economic benefits of farming have enticed more young…
By Shamain Nyamutswa The Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (ARDA) dairy farmers are facing challenges in providing food for their cattle due to economic instability and inflation. This has left them unable to buy stock feeds leading to the high death rate of their livestock recently. Milk and milk products are being sold in local…
Mr. Munesushe Munodawafa, the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Environment, Climate, Tourism, and Hospitality industry has said that wetland loss and degradation cost the country millions of dollars. He was speaking at the Wetlands and Policy Guidelines Sensitisation Workshop held at the Cresta Churchill Hotel in Bulawayo yesterday. “It is important to note that…
The Green Climate Fund is positioned to achieve sustainable transformation through resilience building across the agricultural and environmental management value chain. The Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, and Rural Resettlement, Climate Change Department, and UNDP Zimbabwe yesterday launched the Green Climate Fund (GCF) ‘Building Climate Resilience of Vulnerable Agricultural Livelihoods in Southern Zimbabwe project. …
By Charles Dhewa Avenues for aligning agriculture with the nutritional needs of citizens Pathways for successfully converting rhetoric surrounding nutrition security into reality should include collecting and analysing data from local communities to national levels and markets. Such data can include the volume and value of agricultural commodities flowing from each production versus the amount…
By John Wilson There’s a mistaken belief that keeps re-emerging that agroecology is about going backwards. It may be a convenient way to dismiss it. Nevertheless, how do we challenge and reverse this mistaken perspective? “If we don’t deepen our relationship with Nature and reconnect to our culture and history that are deeply embedded in…
By Anyway Yotamu The country’s leading poultry and eggs producer, Irvine’s Zimbabwe has demonstrated their continued support and commitment to the government’s command agriculture policy by building another fully equipped chicken production house with a capacity of 2500 broilers at Ntabeni Primary School, Entumbane in Bulawayo as part of the company’s Command Livestock Agricultural partnership…
International Trade Centre (ITC) Executive Director, Pamela Coke-Hamilton, today launched the United Kingdom Trade Partnerships (UKTP) Programme in Zimbabwe. Attendees at the launch included government officials, international organisations, the private sector, farmers associations and smallholder farmers. The UKTP Programme assists farmers and producers suffering from trade disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic by unlocking the…
By Charles Dhewa Livestock-based development interventions in many African countries have largely focused on replacing local breeds with imported ones. This is in spite of imported cattle, pigs, goats, and chickens struggling to survive in dry regions characterized by climate-induced shocks. The fact that most imported livestock breeds survive on specially designed commercial feed makes…
Despite being confronted by the adverse impacts of climate change and COVID-19, grassroots women are united in the fight for disaster mitigation, adaptation, recovery and resilience building. This emerged today at the 2020 Grassroots Women Resilience Building National Convention organised by the Zimbabwe Parents of Handicapped Children Association (ZPHCA). This year’s edition of the Resilience…
Agriculture and mining are driving the Zimbabwean economy hence the need for serious investment in the two sectors, Dr. Anxious Masuka, the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Water, and Rural Resettlement has said. He made the remarks during an interface meeting with stakeholders in the agricultural and mining value chain during the 110th edition of the…
Addressing the wild meat trade and restoring landscapes, key to preventing the next pandemics On 28-29 October, Dr. Peter Daszak, Sir Robert Watson, Elizabeth Mrema and more than 250 other experts at the Global Landscapes Forum Digital Biodiversity Conference ‘One World, One Health’ called for integrating biodiversity and landscape perspectives into efforts to prevent future outbreaks of zoonoses – diseases of…
As the 2020-2021 agricultural season kicks off, commercial farmers have been urged to capitalise on local initiatives for the installation and servicing of farm machinery and equipment to ensure the smooth flow of operations. Speaking at a media briefing after the unveiling of Power Giants Private Limited’s Mutare branch, the firm’s general manager – Manicaland Province…
One of the leading golden leaf players in the country, Norton Tobacco is proving to be the missing link that farmers need to succeed. Riding on its unique product offers, Norton Leaf Tobacco is providing tobacco farmers with essential farming inputs each and every season. Speaking to this publication, Mr. Richard Machingura, the Norton Leaf…
By Charles Dhewa The rate at which food systems is becoming a buzzword suggests the world has quietly shifted from a farming systems approach to a food systems approach for good reasons. A food systems approach looks at the entire ecology through which food is produced, consumed, lost, value added as well as roles of…
They say empower a woman to empower the whole community. This statement is proving to be true through youthful female climate change champions who are doing wonders in their communities to adapt to and mitigate the phenomenon. In an interview with Spiked Online Media, Elizabeth Gulugulu Machache, the Project Manager of the African Youth Initiative…
The AgriPitch competition is open to youth aged 18 to 35 who hold African nationality or citizenship and who submit their application online by 23rd October There are just hours to go until the 23 October deadline to enter the African Development Bank’s (www.AfDB.org) AgriPitch Competition. Selected entries by African youth agripreneurs will be invited…
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced on October 21 two new food security programs, Takunda and Amalima Loko. These five-year programs will target nearly 490,000 Zimbabweans in Matabeleland North, Masvingo, and Manicaland provinces. “These two new programs will build on the United States’ investment in Zimbabwean people and tackle the root causes…
The Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism, and Hospitality Industry, Hon Mangaliso Ndlovu has urged the youths to be innovative and craft ways of grabbing opportunities offered by the global threat of climate change. The Minister made the remarks at the Post Fifteenth Conference of Youth (COY 15) and the 25th Climate Change Conference of Parties…
The Global Landscapes Forum Biodiversity Conference will be held under the theme, ‘One World—One Health’ and will run on 28 and 29 October 2020 from 9 a.m. Bonn (UTC/GMT+1). WHAT: Halting biodiversity loss is essential to tackle the climate, food and global health crises, but how to turn ambitious green recovery pledges into concrete solutions that are feasible…
IFAD aims to deliver an overall programme of work of US$10 billion for the IFAD12 period (2022–2024), with over half of investments allocated to Africa Ten African Heads of State have issued a strong call to other world leaders to increase their funding to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) (www.IFAD.org) or risk jeopardizing…
By Charles Dhewa While mobile phones and related technologies are being touted solutions to the absence of agricultural data in developing countries, such technologies are just tools not knowledge. Tools by themselves will not provide strategic solutions without knowledge. In fact, in the wrong hands, the tools may increase socio-economic inequalities in ways that further…
By Wambui Gichuri COVID-19 lockdowns and decreases in incomes have generated a double demand shock – increasing the number of poor and vulnerable people, particularly in Africa’s cities World Food Day 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization, but celebrations on 16 October were muted due to the coronavirus….
The United Nations Resident Coordinator, Ms. Maria Ribeiro has called for sustainable investment in food systems to achieve healthy diets for all. In her remarks to mark this year’s World Food Day held under the theme “Grow, Nourish, Sustain Together with Nature” Ms. Ribeiro called on stakeholders to invest in a healthy and sustainable relationship…
• In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic and the mounting threat of climate change, forests and trees are vital for the rural poor in countries around the world• However, the poor are rarely able to capture the bulk of benefits from forests• A global science assessment analyses how forests can realize their potential to…
By Anyway Yotamu The Communist Party of China (CPC) has been hailed for its work in promoting the eradication of poverty and a massive decline of impoverished rural areas through government support methods. Addressing delegates at the International Seminar on Poverty Eradication and Responsibility of Political Parties hosted by the Communist Party of China virtually,…
By Freddie Ndindana When you are passing or driving next to a beautiful farm with crops that are in good shape and well managed, sometimes you start to think of farming or ask yourself what farming takes. You’ve dreamt of becoming a successful farmer, and you’re prepared to venture into the ever-changing world of the…
By Transparency International We take forests for granted. We forget they’re the reason we breathe, until they burn. We don’t know of all the ways they keep us safe, until we’re sick. We ignore how our way of life threatens them, until they’re gone. Forests are not spared by corruption: illegal logging, illicit wildlife trade, land grabbing and drug…
The United Nations Secretary-General, Mr Antonio Guterres has said he was delighted by the decision of the Nobel Committee to award this year’s Prize for Peace to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The World Food Programme is the world’s first responder on the frontlines of food insecurity. Mr. Guterres said in a world…
By Charles Dhewa Building reliable markets and strengthening the adaptive capacity of farmers should include bold actions to reverse the infiltration of indigenous knowledge by imported knowledge systems. While indigenous knowledge systems are being diluted and fractured at several levels, the most glaring example is in indigenous poultry. Having noted that health-conscious consumers are now…
At a time when the nation is grappling with hunger, the Sally Mugabe Central Hospital nutrition garden has been hailed as an innovation to feed the patients and ensure a healthy citizenry. In an interview with Spiked Online Media, Richard Ngwende, the Sally Mugabe Central Hospital Agronomist said the nutrition garden was started in February…
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) yesterday commenced cash disbursements in the scale-up of the Urban Social Assistance programme thanks to funding from the United States through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID’s support will provide relief for vulnerable families in eight urban areas across Zimbabwe struggling to meet their daily…
Africa accounts for about 12% of the world’s coffee production and the high-quality and taste of coffee from the continent are loved by coffee connoisseurs worldwide Coffee farmer, Francois Dadi Serikpa (https://bit.ly/3l10941), from Gnamagnoa in Côte d’Ivoire, joined Nestlé’s (https://www.Nestle-cwa.com/) Nescafé Plan (https://bit.ly/34fT6Oe) ten (10) years ago. The coffee farms that had been in his family for generations…
Steward Bank has partnered with businesses under parent company Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe to launch AgroFuture, a new agribusiness product that is set to improve agricultural production in the country. The product – to be delivered in partnership with Cassava entities EcoCash, EcoSure, Vaya, Moovah, and EcoFarmer – offers tailor-made solutions to specific needs of the…
By Charles Dhewa Failure to implement agricultural policies by many African countries stems from processes through which such policies are developed. When different stakeholders do not adequately participate in the process of developing a national agricultural policy, their commitment in terms of technical and financial support is often very weak. Those leading processes of developing…
The African Risk Capacity Limited (ARC Ltd), the commercial subsidiary of African Risk Capacity Group (ARC Group), has announced a partnership agreement with Pula to deliver best-in-class agriculture index insurance products to protect African farmers from climatic risks. Every farming season, African farmers are exposed to a wide range of climate risks including drought, excessive rainfall, pests…
The Zimbabwe Plant Breeders Association (ZPBA) and Agritex are promoting the “Good Quality Climate Smart Seeds and Blitz Soil Conditioning under the famous Pfumvudza/Intwasa Demonstration” program being spearheaded by the Ministry of Agriculture. On 17 September 2020, the Zimbabwe Plant Breeders Association (ZPBA) and AGRITEX hosted a field demonstration event in Ward 4, Mhondoro District….
By Anyway Yotamu Zimbabwe is a low-income country whose economy and livelihoods depend hugely on natural resources with an ambition to leapfrog it to a middle-income economy by 2030. The backbone sectors namely mining, manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism rely heavily on forest, land, and water resources for inputs to the production of goods and services….
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and partner Fintrac, marked the successful completion of the five-year Feed the Future Livestock Development program at a virtual event on September 16, 2020 under the theme: Celebrating Commercialization of Smallholder Beef and Dairy Production. Since 2015, USAID’s Feed the Future Zimbabwe Livestock Development program assisted more than…
