By Charles Dhewa While there is a tendency for policymakers to conflate food systems with value chains, mass food markets reveal how food systems are broader than value chains. That distinction is very important in clarifying and creating pathways for decolonizing food systems. Putting African mass food markets at the center of food systems demonstrates…
Adoption of gene-edited crop seeds is expected to increase significantly in the next 5 to 10 years, according to a Rabobank report, with adoption rates expected to surpass 50% during that period. “GE technology has the potential to solve issues across the food supply chain for all stakeholders,” said Chia-Kai-Kang, farm inputs analyst for Rababank….
Contrary to beliefs by most policymakers in African countries, in the history of mankind, no country has built an inclusive society using external food and foreign knowledge systems. That is why developing countries should make sure foreign forces do not accelerate the loss of local food and indigenous knowledge systems (IKS). Progressive actions in this…
By Wallace Mawire The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) will convene its annual field day at the CIMMYT Southern Africa Regional Office in Harare on the 5th of April 2023. The field day will be held at CIMMYT, a 12.5 km peg along Mazowe Road in Mt Pleasant, Harare. According to Moses Siambi,…
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) met to appraise the milestones reached as part of their existing collaborative framework. Technical teams from both parties held an engagement on lessons learned, and ways to sustain and amplify the collaboration in new areas of common interest. As a background, PAP and…
Elizabeth Njoroge recounts her poverty-stricken upbringing in Ting’ang’a village in the Central part of Kenya, growing up on a diet heavy on Amaranth and pumpkin. The 45-year-old speaks about the shame of neighbours finding out the frequency with which her family consumed foods associated with poor and extremely food-insecure households. “Terere (Amaranth) grew just like weed….
By Patrice Talla – FAO Subregional Coordinator for Southern Africa and FAO Representative in Zimbabwe, Eswatini and Lesotho This year we are celebrating the International Year of Millets. The year was endorsed by Members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its Governing Bodies and declared at the 75th Session…
The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, UNICEF and partners have officially launched the next phase of the Emergency Social Cash Transfer (ESCT) Programme that aims to provide cash payments to close to 19,000 households in five new rural districts. The programme was launched during a workshop held in Bulawayo, recently. Under this…
By Charles Dhewa Besides being instruction-oriented, conventional extension models were designed to promote a narrow range of hybrid crops and livestock. This has rendered extension services in many African countries unfit for the purpose given that African food systems are too broad and includes wildlife that co-exists with farmers. In most communities, baboons, monkeys, wild…
The Pan African Parliament (PAP)’s Permanent Committee on Education, Culture, Tourism, and Human Resources has promised to work on promoting African food and eradicating visas for sports teams travelling within the continent. This emerged today during a session chaired by Hon Senator Chief Fortune Z. Charumbira, the President of the PAP that was held under…
Genome editing is one of the new and emerging technologies that falls under the biotechnology umbrella, the application of which can potentially enhance the agricultural sector through improved crop resistance to pests and adverse environmental conditions, a senior government official has said. Professor Fanuel Tagwira, the Permant Secretary for the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary…
By Josep Borrell 24 February 2022 will forever be recalled as the day when Russia started its brutal, unprovoked, and illegal invasion of Ukraine. This was and remains a case of pure aggression and a clear-cut breach of the UN Charter. This war is neither ‘just a European issue’, nor is it about the ‘West…
By Wallace Mawire CARE International has launched its partnership with the Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Analysis Network (FANRPAN), in collaboration with its Zimbabwe Country Node Hosting Institution, the Agriculture Research Council (ARC), to implement activities under the Takunda program. Takunda seeks to promote sustainable, equitable, and resilient food, nutrition, and income security for the…
All the love and fun of Valentine’s Day surrounded a meet-and-greet hosted by MultiChoice Zimbabwe on Tuesday when My Zim Plate host Bernadette Mutangara dispensed chocolates and other treats for fans. My Zim Plate is a new series on DStv’s Honey channel in which Bernadette introduces viewers across Africa to the culinary delights of Zimbabwe,…
Zimbabwean cuisine comes into the spotlight across Africa this weekend, when My Zim Plate launches internationally on DStv. Liz Dziva, publicity, and public relations manager of MultiChoice Zimbabwe said the show will be starting with the debut episode at 4.30 pm on Sunday, February 12. “We are so excited to see yet another Zimbabwean-themed show…
Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) is of the view that diversity, not false solutions, is the key to achieving food sovereignty on the African continent. Below, is the AFSA statement on the African Development Bank (AfDB)’s Dakar 2 Food Summit: As 34 heads of state and 70 ministers return home after three…
By Nestlé East and Southern Africa Today’s generation has grown up in restaurants and fast-food canteens and the tradition of cooking healthy nutritious meals together slowly starts to disappear. Although the fast-food route might seem convenient, it comes at a price. Restaurant meals and fast foods are usually high in saturated fats, salt and…
By Charles Dhewa That Climate Change and Food Sovereignty are defining issues of our time is no longer debatable. It follows wherever elections are done across the world, from local councilor to President, leaders should be voted on the basis of their plans to tackle climate change and food sovereignty. It is good that climate…
By Baboloki Semele Dakar, Senegal: Heavy debt burdens following the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, unrest and conflicts in Africa, rising food prices, and the war in Ukraine have added more to Africa’s food insecurity. The continent is facing its worst food crisis ever with more than one in five Africans; a record 278 million people…
The African Development Bank Group will commit $10 billion over the next five years to boost Africa’s efforts to end hunger and become a primary food provider for itself and the rest of the world. Bank Group President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, announced Wednesday at the Dakar 2 Africa Food Summit in Diamniadio, east of the…
By Charles Dhewa A very important step in decolonizing African food systems is re-defining and contextualizing the meaning of a gene bank. The conventional scientific notion of a gene bank[1] as a type of bio-repository that preserves genetic material ignores the socio-cultural dimension of genetic material. For instance, scientific gene banks for plants are built through vitro storage, freezing…
One good turn deserves another, the adage goes, and this was put into action when Dost Eli of Turkey descended on Darwendale with yet another extended giving hand that targeted children of school-going age and disadvantaged families in the area. Adam Wadi, the Zimbabwe Trustee and Representative of Dost Eli said the gesture of benevolence…
The Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) (http://ICIEC.isdb.org) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Al-Rajhi International Investment Company (RAII) of Saudi Arabia whereby the two parties would cooperate in synergizing coordination, business development and efficient implementation of projects in the vital agricultural and food security sectors in ICIEC’s…
By Hillary Munedzi The United States of America is focusing on Africa as the continent holds 60% of the world’s unused arable land as it reaffirms the commitment of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP), and the Malabo Declaration and its call to Action at the recently held US-Africa Leaders Summit. The Malabo Declaration…
African leaders gathered for a three-day meeting to draw attention to the 2022 African Union Year of Nutrition. The meeting ended with the signing of an “Abidjan Declaration” African Union Member States met in Abidjan and called on governments to speed up investment, coordination, and implementation of programs to improve nutrition and food security in…
By Charles Dhewa If there was more harmony and consolidation between agricultural interventions in Africa, most African countries would have defeated food and nutrition insecurity many years ago. Unfortunately, it seems there are people who benefit more from projectizing agricultural interventions than properly organizing and coordinating food systems. Fragmentation is due to the fact that…
By Baboloki Semele African leaders and the United States government have underlined the need for increased investment and prioritization of nutrition across the African continent. According to a press statement from the African Development Bank, the bank through the African Leaders for Nutrition, the Nutrition CEO Council, and the African Union Commission convened a high-level…
By Baboloki Semele Eradicating hunger in Africa by 2030 is possible, said global agriculture leaders in Rome. Meeting ahead of the African Food Summit (Dakar 2) to be hosted by President Macky Sall in Dakar, Senegal, from 25-27 January 2023, President of the African Development Bank Group Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, the International Fund for Agricultural…
Mr. Pardon Njerere, a Value Chain Expert under the COMESA’s European Union-funded Regional Enterprise Competitiveness and Access to Market Programme (RECAMP), commended the role of Climate Smart Agriculture initiatives in catapulting production gains of food systems to promote regional trade and integration. He made the remarks during the COMESA Regional Dissemination Meeting on Climate-smart Agriculture…
The Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) is implementing 5 Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) pilot projects in the Kingdom of Eswatini, Madagascar, Seychelles, Uganda, and Zimbabwe with funding from the European Union (EU) under the Intra-ACP (Organisation of Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States) and the Global Climate Change Alliance Plus (GCCA+)…
Young parliamentarians have been challenged to take the lead in the formulation of policies and strategies that enhance the full participation of the African youth in political and decision-making processes. The call was made yesterday at the official opening of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) Youth Dialogue, hosted by the Parliament of the Kingdom of Morocco,…
Diverse actors from 30 countries call for a comprehensive Africa Food Policy that addresses Africa’s need to feed itself in the face of global uncertainty and climate change. The social movements’ call came following the conclusion of the 4th Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) Biennial Food Systems Conference, which was held in Yaoundé, Cameroon,…
By David Kamau and Peiman Milani The world is facing a global food crisis like none other, with food prices at historic highs, supply chains disrupted by war and disease, and climate change threatening harvests in virtually all geographies. Global food insecurity is rising so rapidly that hunger pushes one child per minute into severe malnutrition and in 2021, up to 828…
By Charles Dhewa Middlemen are often blamed for reaping off farmers and consumers. However, most of the criticism is based on a poor understanding of how markets function and the gaps closed by middlemen. All markets have unique ways of assigning roles to different actors. If middlemen were not important in coordinating supply chains and…
Zimbabwe Women Empowered in Business (ZIWEB) empowers women in Zimbabwe with the opportunity to start and sustainably run their own business by becoming sub-distributors for Nestlé East and Southern Africa (ESAR) From seeking to survive and sustain her family, to be able to afford luxuries that she once only dreamt of is the story of…
By Kudakwashe Tagwireyi The unpredictable weather conditions that were being experienced in Mutasa South District and the persistent cyclones that had ravaged Manicaland, had placed women in the surrounding villages, in the limelight of dependency syndrome to their husbands and the donor community. Fate however has been in their favour this year as with the…
Egypt’s COP27 Presidency and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the Food and Agriculture for Sustainable Transformation or FAST, at COP27 yesterday. The new initiative will increase climate finance contributions for agriculture and food systems to support the most vulnerable communities. FAST will reimagine agrifood systems to deliver triple wins for people, climate action, and nature….
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) is pushing legislation toward the promotion of food and nutrition security on the continent as evidenced by a model law on the theme that it tabled during the first session of its sixth Parliament in Midrand, South Africa while the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) is leading the awareness of the…
By Hillary Munedzi Nestlé in conjunction with Africa Food Prize will award US$ 100 000 to individuals and institutions that are pioneering agricultural and transforming food systems in Africa and strengthening the continent’s food security as rich and emerging economies come together under a “climate solidarity pact to keep the 1.5 degrees celsius within reach.”…
Malawi’s Mzimba North West parliamentarian Hon Enoch Chihana, who is a member of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) is again off-tangent regarding Zimbabwe’s land reform programme, Hon Dr. Tatenda Mavetera has said. This emerged today in Midrand, South Africa, the seat of the PAP, during a debate on the Model Law on Food Security and…
AFC Holdings, partnered with a consortium of insurance companies and the Government of Zimbabwe to run a pilot project on Area Yield Index Insurance for farmers who received Pfumvudza inputs in the 2021/2022 Season in Rushinga and Mwenezi districts. The project was monitored and evaluated through the assistance of PULA, a technical advisor on Area…
The Pan African Parliament (PAP) is hosting a Technical Consultative Workshop for Experts on the Draft Model Law on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN). The technical consultative workshop is taking place from 05 to 06 November 2022, in Midrand, Johannesburg, South Africa, the seat of the PAP. “The model law shall govern issues related to…
Hon Stars Mathe-Thebe, the Member of the National Assembly for Nkayi South Constituency in Zimbabwe has expressed confidence in the power of the Pan African Parliament (PAP) to deliver on its mandate. She revealed this to Spiked Online Media on the sidelines of the ongoing First Session of the Sixth Parliament of the PAP. “We…
By IPES Food With international climate negotiations in Egypt fast approaching (COP27), and food systems high on the agenda for the first time, the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) is warning that a growing number of green buzzwords are being used to obstruct food system transformation. Our new briefing, ‘Smoke…
By Hillary Munedzi Food giant Nestle has championed regenerative agriculture as the panacea to domestic food price inflation, a development that has cushioned household food security as the world commemorates World Food Day. Zimbabwe is leading the world’s top ten countries worst affected by domestic food price inflation, all because of supply chain disruptions fuelled…
