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By Joyce Mukucha The Eastern and Southern African (ESA) region remains heavily impacted by effects of climate change which continue to be dire resulting in food and water insecurity, loss of lives and livelihoods, displacement of people among other direct impacts especially on the vulnerable population groups with Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique among other region…
EcoFarmer Vaya Tractor has proved popular with farmers across the country, who are voicing their satisfaction and preference for the service, which was launched last month with the promise to help farmers plough one million hectares within a year. “We are very excited with the Vaya Tractor service because we do not have a…
By Wallace Mawire Two Zimbabwean aeronautical engineers have initiated a new crop spraying drone technology to provide a more efficient, effective and sustainable crop spraying service for Zimbabwean farmers. According to Piwai Chikasha, Managing Director at Alley Capital Group, a Zimbabwean engineering company offering crop spraying services using precision spraying drones, agriculture is one of…
Protecting forests, planting trees, reducing food waste and changing diets critical to cool, liveable planet; the US, the EU, China and Brazil among countries that can lead on efforts to slash land sector emissions A new report published in Nature Climate Change today unveils a land sector roadmap laying out critical actions on forests, farming and food systems the…
By Charles Dhewa The survival of African informal markets is hinged on fluid succession pathways based on indigenous knowledge systems. Old people who inherited trading stalls from their parents smoothly move out of the market after training their children or relatives to take over. Those taking over will have taken years under-studying those retiring and…
Farmers from around the country have paid tribute to EcoFarmer Vaya Tractor, saying the service had come in handy in helping with mechanised equipment, and assisting them to meet delivery deadlines, especially for contract farmers. Vaya Tractor – which officially launched its services to the nation earlier this month at a ceremony attended by the…
The population of vegans is increasing as people are leaning more towards plant-based foods to stay healthy. We can witness the transition happening around among athletes too. There has been a delusion that only meat is the best source of protein. But nutritionists believe that even plant-based food contains abundant nutrients to assist your fitness…
By International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) farmers across sub-Saharan Africa try to coax crops out of sandy soils that are not ideal for holding water and nutrients. Their harvests are predictably poor. A traditional approach would have them apply more fertilizers and use irrigation, but both of these options require access to resources and…
The Bank’s intervention will complement a separate therapeutic and supplemental feeding program for vulnerable households The African Development Bank (https://AfDB.org/) has approved a grant of $1 million to boost a children’s food and nutrition security program in Bié province in Angola. The resources are from a special relief fund to the government of Angola, in…
High demand for tractors through Vaya Tractor by large commercial farmers and organizations that do contract farming has surprised the Cassava management team as the service takes off. “We thought all the demand would come from smallholder farmers, who don’t own tractors. But even large commercial farmers are coming to us enquiring for the service….
The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has said recent announcements by the government, that it would disburse $2.8 billion for the Command Agriculture and issuing some $300 million in Treasury bills is a serious cause for concern, judging by the murkiness that has surrounded the same over the years. The opposition party said the regime…
By Joyce Mukucha and Anyway Yotamu Driven by the commitment to play a pivotal role in the revival of the nation in the agriculture industry, the country’s largest manufacturer and supplier of fertilisers and agricultural chemicals, Zimbabwe Fertiliser Company(ZFC) Limited has invested in a new fertiliser blending plant . The plant valued at US$500 000…
Vaya Tractor plans to plough at least one million hectares of land for smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe this year. The On Demand Logistics platform, developed by Cassava, already has 3 000 tractors on its platform and over one million smallholder farmers registered with its EcoFarmer network. Cassava Smartech Zimbabwe CEO Eddie Chibi said the platform…
Cassava Smartech has introduced a new, EcoFarmer Equipment hire platform, that is set to transform agriculture in Zimbabwe by allowing farmers to hire farming equipment for use on their farms, using their mobile phones. The platform will enable farmers to hire a wide variety of farming equipment, including ploughing, discing, planting, fertilizer-spreading, ridging, boom-spraying and…
By Charles Dhewa A home-grown economy is all about identity and some identity features start from a country’s name. During the colonial era Rhodesia had its own meaning and image associated with Cecil John Rhodes. Come independence in 1980, Rhodesia became Zimbabwe, derived from Zimba raMabwe – a house built of stones. Naming a country is often…
Mentoring scheme supports innovators working on novel solutions to build resilience in the Horn of Africa, the Sahel, South Asia and Southeast Asia The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) has announced the 16 winners of their Innovation Challenge, focused on surfacing resilience solutions across Africa and Asia. Challenge winners receive three months of technical advice, mentoring and…
By Sujatha Byravan Powerful lobbies with vested interests see agro-ecology as a threat to their influence on farming systems Agro-ecology is recognised worldwide as a system that enhances fertile landscapes, increases yields, restores soil health and biodiversity, promotes climate resilience and improves farmers’ well-being. Its practices are supported by many agricultural scientists, the Food and…
Leaders gathering for the United Nations General Assembly from 17-30 September 2019 in New York have made a strong plea for enhanced South-South cooperation to strengthen food security during a session co-hosted by the African Development Bank (https://AfDB.org/en). Speaking as part of this session on the role of South-South cooperation to achieve sustainable development for…
The meeting of the group’s leaders took place at the UNICEF headquarters in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly “Energy, passion and a lot of young people who care about nutrition” will underpin the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement’s newest phase, alongside stronger private sector engagement, members of the Lead Group…
States, businesses and civil society gear up for decisive decade for Agenda 2030 Four years after the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and with efforts off track for meeting its objectives, world leaders today called for a decade of ambitious action to deliver the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 and announced…
By Joyce Mukucha The United States(US) Government through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has provided an additional of US$ 41, 9 million to respond to the critical food security situation in Zimbabwe. The fund is meant to ensure that more than one million rural vulnerable Zimbabweans in sixteen districts have access to…
By Charles Dhewa While the importance of involving communities in solving their own challenges has been supported for decades, the limitations of participatory methodologies have not received enough attention. Usually participatory methods emphasise the participation of individual people as opposed to communities. Unfortunately, many people may have limited capacity to interpret information and knowledge. It…
The momentum for the Caribbean coconut industry is set to continue. The European Union (EU), the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) announced today in Bridgetown, Barbados, the continuation of the Alliances for the Coconut Industry Development Expansion and Enhanced Support for the Caribbean project (Coconut II), which aims to ensure that…
By Joyce Mukucha According to surveys and researches, it is estimated that 70 percent of the Zimbabwean population reside in rural areas and approximately, 80 percent of the rural population’s livelihoods are dependent on rain fed agriculture making them highly vulnerable to climate change induced weather extremes, variability and climate impacts. Due to the fact…
By Charles Dhewa African countries have been taking advice from foreign technical experts for generations. If technical expertise was a solution, the majority of countries and poor communities would have moved out of poverty by now. The fact that poverty levels have remained the same and in some cases worsened indicates a need for developing…
By Abigail Mzimbawakhe (Midlands Correspondent) Gardening schemes that have been assisting Shurugwi residents with food and vegetables have been affected by drought. A group of 29 villagers established a garden project called “Tirivamwe” to avoid serious food shortages in their area. The gardening project, established to cater for orphans, vulnerable people and local widows most…
Outgoing Africa Green Revolution Alliance (AGRA) Chairman Strive Masiyiwa says during his tenure as chairman of the institution, he focused on using entrepreneurial tools to lift African agricultural production. Writing in his Facebook blog, Masiyiwa gives 10 examples: #1. We financed 110 seed manufacturing companies in 16 countries. These businesses received an average of $2m…
By Sue Edmonds What is really under our feet these days? Is there still any life down there? I still remember a field day I was covering some years ago, where the featured expert stood in the field and asked a goodly crowd of farmers what they thought they were standing on. There was…
By Joyce Mukucha As the Zimbabwean economic situation continues to dwindle with unemployment rate increasing, most women in rural areas are becoming creative and innovative as they thrive to uplift their living standards, feed and support their families. In the 10 provinces of the country, venturing into agricultural activities is one of the captain projects…
By Arvin Donley The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations on Sept. 6 released a new Cereal Supply and Demand Brief, raising its July forecast for global cereal output by 22 million tonnes to 2.7 billion tonnes, 2.1% above the 2018 outturn. The revisions mostly reflect improved expectations for U.S. corn production….
By Sue Edmonds For most of the 18 years I’ve been writing about farming issues the buzzword has been ‘sustainability’. Of late it seems to have morphed into ‘regenerative farming’, which aims to do a lot more than sustain, including rebuilding eroded soil and reintroducing the necessary soil life to create the nutritive food the…
Platform important tool for learning lessons from each other and to help move Africa to a more dynamic agriculture The African Development Bank (AfDB.org), the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have relaunched a platform to assist African agriculture ministers and other key stakeholders to promote strong growth in agricultural production and…
Abigail Mzimbawakhe (Midlands Correspondent) GreenWorks Company, which was founded by Sebastian Sibanda is aiming to provide the whole of Zimbabwe with organic fodder for livestock. The company provides organic fodder for all species of grazing animals that include cattle, goats, sheep, pigs as well as all poultry. The founder, Sibanda said that he is aiming…
By Byron Mutingwende The Green enterPRIZE Innovation Challenge has been hailed for creating employment for the youths and supporting sustainable enterprise development. The Acting Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, Mr. Ziyambi Ziyambiat made the remarks at the official launch of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) 2019 Northern Region Green enterPRIZE…
By Charles Dhewa Unlike formal markets that tend to promote a narrow selection of commodities easy for commercialisation, African mass markets are a true expression of a country’s food diversity. To the extent they are more associated with social class, middle class in particular, formal markets like supermarkets do not often stock indigenous food which…
By Joyce Mukucha The African Development Bank (AFDB) in partnership with the World Bank launched a Zimbabwe Idai Recovery Project (ZIRP) and the Idai Emergency Recovery and Resilience Project (IERRP) in an effort to bring profound relief in the affected areas. The World Bank provided a $72 million grant for the ZIRP which will provide…
By Byron Mutingwende Farmers attending the Zimbabwe Council of Churches (ZCC) workshop in the Hatfield area of Harare have been capacitated on the importance of on-farm feed formulation. In his presentation to the farmers, Emmanuel Nyahangare, the Animal Nutritionist Lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe said it is important for farmers to utilise…
Adequate maize supplies for 2018/19 marketing season • Positive for food inflation • Could impact positively on interest rate outcomes By Paul Makube, Senior Agricultural Economist at FNB Agri-Business The latest production estimate showed a further upward adjustment to the crop estimates with maize, South Africa’s major staple food, now just above 11 million tons….
By Joyce Mukucha The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) in partnership with Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Business Council (CBC) is taking strides in trying to promote intra-trade for Small Market Enterprises (SMEs) within the COMESA region. The two organisations are also supporting and promoting competitive and interconnected industries to actively participate…
Econet Wireless, the leading telecoms and technology company in Zimbabwe, is once again showcasing a wide array of innovative and technology-driven applications at their Zimbabwe Agriculture Show (ZAS) stand this week. The company’s exhibition this year features activations and demonstrations from Econet products which include BidBuddie, BuddieBeatz, Elevate, Connected Lifestyle and many more. The company’s…
In line with the 2019 Zimbabwe Agricultural Society (ZA) theme of “Bringing Innovation, Technology and Modernisation”, Econet continues on the path of innovation by bringing in new technologies and new products. Below are some of the innovations at ZAS 2019: Elevate Youth is running an e-sports tournament for FIFA19. The first tournament is…
By Colin Todhunter Many lobbyists talk a lot about critics of genetic engineering technology denying choice to farmers. They say that farmers should have access to a range of tools and technologies to maximise choice and options. At the same time, somewhat ironically, they decry organic agriculture and proven agro-ecological approaches, presumably because these practices…
By Tatenda Mujeyi Zimbabwe is an agriculture-based economy and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) should venture into agro processing so as to increase their markets, a senior government official said in Harare today. “17 % of the GDP of Zimbabwe according to FAO is agro based. As such, there is need to complement this with…
Seed Co Limited, the leading certified seed company authorised to market seed varieties developed by itself, government and other associated seed breeders in over fifteen (15) African countries has provided an overview of winter cereals for this season. Seed Co Group Chief Executive Mr. Morgan Nzwere revealed at the recent Annual General Meeting that the…
By Staff Reporter The Pan-African Parliamentary (PAP) Committee on Rural Economy, Agriculture, Environment and Natural Resources recently came up with this draft model law on food security and nutrition in Africa whose main objective is to strengthen and consolidate positions on food security and nutrition, as well as the right to adequate food. The model…
