By Lovemore Chazingwa Sungura music exponent, Simon Mutambi has sent tongues wagging on social media platforms as well as on the streets when he crafted a poster marketing his upcoming Uchataura Zvese album outreach family show at Kamwaza Beer Hall in Raffingora this Sunday. The poster boldly screams out to the public that fans do…
The Youth Circle event organised by the Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network Global (GCSAYN) that was held virtually yesterday underscored the important role that children and young people play in driving climate-smart agriculture. In her keynote address during the virtual conference, Ms. Chido Cleopatra Mpemba, the African Union Chairperson’s Youth Envoy said she was pleased…
IFC will provide USD 35 million to agrochemicals player Jubaili Agrotec to support growth, promote environmental best practice and improve food security in Africa. World Bank Group subsidiary International Finance Corporation (IFC) has signed a USD 35 million financing agreement with Nigeria-based agrochemicals company Jubaili Agrotec. Under the remit of the fellow World Bank Group subsidiary the International…
By Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina Fertilizer price hikes of over 300% make it increasingly difficult for African farmers to grow enough wheat, maize, rice and other crops It didn’t take long for Russia’s war in Ukraine to impact Africa. Already grappling with soaring inflation and still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, Africa now…
Mr. Ntiokam Divine, a prominent advocate of sustainable development has said the involvement of youths in such initiatives is a key ingredient in ensuring a bright future and peaceful world. He is the Executive Director of Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network Global (GCSAYN). He told Spiked Online Media that as a demonstration of his commitment…
By Baboloki Semele The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) in partnership with Southern Africa Youth Forum (SAYoF) seeks to hold a two-day youth and media awareness and orientation symposium on the AU year of nutrition. The two-day orientation billed for 9th and 10th August in Accra, Ghana will be held under the theme “Strengthening Resilience…
In Kansas, more than 2,000 cattle died in a record heat wave. In Tunisia, fires razed fields of grain to the ground. In southern China, historic flooding damaged almost 100,000 hectares of crops. In northern Italy, a farm lobby warned that drought could claim half the region’s agricultural output. That was just June. The global food supply is taking a hit from…
By Charles Dhewa When you want to understand African food systems, visit African mass food markets in big cities. This is where most food commodities are mobilized from diverse parts of each country. While every community may have its own local market, commodities in that market are not as diverse as those found in mass…
Human capital development plays a key role in the implementation of the National Agricultural Investment Plans (NAIPs) as espoused in the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) in pursuit of achieving the delivery of the Malabo Declaration on Africa Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation. This emerged today during a panel discussion at the high-level NAIPS…
Dr. Richard Munang Whenever I think of food security in Africa, one insightful proverb comes to mind – “there is honey but no bees”. This self-explanatory proverb implies that the solutions to achieving Africa’s food security are like unprotected honey. They are accessible and not exotic. But just as we know, “he who doesn’t find his way back…
During a high-level policy dialogue that kicked off in Dakar, Senegal, yesterday on the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) food system review, stakeholders gave an overview of the status of the National Agriculture Investment Plans (NAIPs) and lessons drawn from the programme in the last 15 years. In a breakaway session that focused on…
Despite a plethora of challenges affecting food and nutrition security in Africa, the National Agriculture Investment Plans (NAIPs) and Regional Agriculture Investment Plans (RAIPs) are instrumental in driving the agriculture transformation processes and building resilient food systems on the continent. In her welcome remarks delivered virtually at the high-level meeting of the National Agricultural Investment…
The Government of Japan has made an additional contribution of US$500.000.00 to the World Food Programme (WFP) to help alleviate food insecurity in Zimbabwe. The contribution is especially timely, given that many in the country will struggle to feed themselves at the peak of the lean season because of successive drought and chronic economic challenges,…
The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and the African Union Commission Department of Agriculture, Rural Economy and Blue Economy (AUC-DARBE) in association with Akademiya2063 will be holding a high-level stakeholder consultative meeting in Dakar, Senegal, from 26 to 28 July 2022 to review the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme’s National Agricultural Investment Plans (CAADP/NAIP) success…
While the causes of malnutrition are complex, it is proven that exclusive breastfeeding till the age of six months is a key factor to prevent malnutrition and ensuring young children get a good start in life. This emerged at the World BreastFeeding Press Briefing held on Monday, 18 July 2022 at the UNICEF Zimbabwe Offices…
The African Development Bank (www.AfDB.org) Board of Directors approved a loan of USD 271 million to finance Egypt’s Food Security and Economic Resilience Support Program to support efforts to mitigate the impact of the global shocks on the domestic economy from the Russia-Ukraine conflict and to preserve resilience. The program includes two major components: Support…
By Bernard Marr The famous golden arches are recognized worldwide not only as an icon of fast food, but also of technological transformation. McDonald’s – the world’s largest restaurant chain – has been an early pioneer of tech-driven innovation, from the drive-thru to self-service kiosks. Today it’s forging a path for fast food into the…
By Lloyd Rabaya The Grain Marketing Board (GMB) has so far expropriated above 300 metric tonnes (MT) of grain from farmers who were intending to side-market their grain. This came out on Tuesday when Minister of Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services Monica Mutsvangwa was addressing the post-cabinet briefing. In her address, Mutsvangwa urged farmers to…
Fellows from six African countries this week joined colleagues at Leeds to strengthen networks and build research and leadership skills, helping to bring sustainable change in African food systems. The Food Systems Research Network for Africa (FSNet-Africa) works with early-career researchers in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. The aim is to build…
By Charles Dhewa A major lesson for African leaders from the Russia-Ukraine conflict is that they should accelerate the development of food systems that have no direct link with foreign currency. African agriculture has remained thinly defined for decades as shown by how agricultural policies focus on less than five percent of African food systems…
For many years, large-scale and small-scale farmers in the traditional food basket have been planting every season without paying attention to soil health. Over the years, this has resulted in dwindling productivity at the farm level as they grappled with the worst effects of climate change coupled with the high cost of farm inputs. Kenya’s…
By Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD If somebody had told me five years ago that I’d sooner review an A.I. guided portable ultrasound device than a nutrigenomics test, I would have laughed so hard. Yet, here we are, this ultrasound test is almost a year old now, and where is a nutrigenomics test I could finally lay…
By Clayton Masekesa MARANGE – From a distance, the atmosphere paints a hazy picture as hot thick air pervades the dry open land that has no life, it is a sad scenario that signifies rigorous drought. After living on one of the world’s richest diamond fields, villagers in Marange have been subjected to excessive hunger…
Zimbabwe will tomorrow join the rest of the world in commemorating World Milk Day. The country’s Dairy Industry stakeholders which include government, processors, farmers, and consumers will come together to celebrate this day in style. A number of activities are lined up for the day. “Drum majorettes supported by Airforce of Zimbabwe Brass Band will…
By Elvis Dumba Harare – The government has claimed massive side-marketing of grains especially maize and soybeans as evidenced by low deliveries to the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) – a situation that prompted corrective measures against the problem. According to Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Permanent Secretary John Basera, about 30…
By Marlvin Ngiza Residents in Buhera are faced with food insecurity due to price hikes, adverse climatic conditions, and poor road networks. In a statement released to mark Africa Day yesterday, Buhera Residents Network Trust coordinator Leonard Mabasa said current price hikes of basic commodities have seen residents failing to have nutritional meals. A bucket…
By Arts Correspondent Popular fast foods outlet, Hotplate Grill House, has been given a huge boost after rising Zimdancehall artiste King Jae penned a jingle for it. According to the budding Zimdancehall artiste, born James Munama, the song was just an appreciation of the tasty cuisines being offered by trendy food outlets. “I wrote this…
By Staff Writer For 32-year-old Seke rural district widow Tatenda Mishi, winning the champion farmer award for the year 2022 over the weekend was a dream come true. She believes it was criticism from people in the neighborhoods at the beginning of her farming journey which pushed her to work hard and reap the fruits….
By Charles Dhewa As part of combatting the negative effects of pandemics such as COVID19 and distant wars on food systems, African countries have to develop frameworks for commercializing indigenous grains, fruits, vegetables, and livestock. There is no longer any doubt that depending on global value chains makes African countries vulnerable to international market forces….
The African Development Bank Group’s (www.AfDB.org) Board of Directors on Friday approved a $1.5 billion facility to help African countries avert a looming food crisis. With the disruption of food supplies arising from the Russia-Ukraine war, Africa now faces a shortage of at least 30 million metric tons of food, especially wheat, maize, and soybeans…
By Richard Mahapatra Food prices are increasing at an unprecedented rate worldwide, triggered by 2 years of COVID-19 pandemic-induced disruption and now the Russia-Ukraine war The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was pushed off global front pages last fortnight by food inflation. Food prices have leaped 75 per cent since mid-2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) assessed. In India,…
By Charles Dhewa Information about producing any food commodity is now abundant on the internet and in diverse manuals. For anyone who wants to know about how to bake bread or process fruits into drinks or jams, a quick search on the internet can produce tons of documents with step-by-step information on who to add…
The much-awaited 2022 edition of First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa’s Amai’s Traditional Cook-out competitions took off to a good start in Mashonaland Central Province yesterday. In her keynote address at the event, the Guest of Honour, the Deputy Minister of Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Honourable Barbara Rwodzi said as a way follow up to…
On Equatorial Guinea’s capital island of Malabo, agriculture ministers from across Africa are meeting this week to discuss solutions to the growing hunger crisis, at a conference convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The 32nd Session of the FAO Regional Conference for Africa (ARC32) opened with a call from the FAO Assistant…
By Charles Dhewa The past few years have seen development agencies working in African agriculture and food systems coming together to work as consortiums or consortia. The word consortium is a Latin word meaning partnership. Wikipedia defines a consortium as an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations, or governments with the objective of participating…
By Baboloki Semele Today, in the white and blue city in Kenya, Mombasa, African Forest Forum stakeholders are meeting via hybrid, a regional workshop to share information and experiences on challenges and opportunities in forest management for sustainable development in Africa in the context of climate change. Addressing the delegates, during the official opening, the…
Food and nutrition security in Africa is off track: In 2020, more than one in five people in Africa faced hunger—more than double the proportion of hungry people in any other region. In fact, the continent remains a net food importer at an annual cost of $43 billion. Food security in Africa demands urgent and serious…
Regardless of your business, South Africa sits at the very end of very long global supply lines. Even before Covid-19 and the July 2021 civil unrest bought home the importance of shortening and diversifying supply chains, South Africa’s balance of trade and ZAR volatility and weakness were already prompting a re-think as businesses pivoted to local – or…
By Charles Dhewa When the free inputs queue gets longer every year, it is a sign that farmers are not earning enough to be able to buy their own inputs. These are some of the challenges of depending too much on imported inputs and external knowledge. Is it not ironic that as more attention and…
By Joyce Mukucha The United Nations (UN)’s benchmark food and commodity prices index rose sharply on average through 2021, compared with the previous year, the new data by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has revealed last week. The FAO’s Food Price Index(FFPI) which tracks monthly changes in international prices averaged 125.7 points – a 28.1…
By Joyce Mukucha Zimbabwean fish farmers have been encouraged to work hard and yield positive results in terms of productivity and at the same time ensure that mistakes that happened in 2021 in the aquaculture sector are not repeated. In his New Year message, the Zimbabwe Productive Farmers Association (ZPFA) Chairperson of Development and Outreach…
By Joyce Mukucha The World Health Organisation (WHO) has yesterday announced the launch of a new Food Safety Community of Practice (COP) which is aimed at helping in the sharing of knowledge as well as improving practice. According to WHO, the Community of Practice is a new peer-to-peer online forum for global professionals working on…
By JoyceMukucha The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has recently welcomed a $10 million contribution from the United States of America to its COVID-19 response efforts and to help counter other challenges that threaten human, animal and environmental health, including future pandemics. The contribution from the United States will benefit countries…
Transform agricultural food systems to make them more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable for better production, nutrition, environment, and life for all, the Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) said in The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2021 report. Measures to contain the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020 disrupted global and national supply chains…
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a US$5.7 million contribution from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to support people experiencing vulnerability to food insecurity across urban and rural areas. This brings USAID’s contributions to over US$45 million over the last year. Urban populations will benefit from the contribution through WFP’s…
