Research focusing on traditional crops that are often ignored and known as “orphan crops” shows they contain minerals and vitamins that are essential for the body and are mostly consumed by rural African people. Various agricultural research institutions in Africa are currently carrying out research among these crops mainly to …
On the occasion of the 2017 World Food Day, the African Development Bank has highlighted how Africa’s food security depends on attracting young people to agriculture and agribusiness. The sector can potentially create wealth and employment for African youth, thereby stemming migration.
World Food Day, celebrated yearly on October 16, promotes …
To commemorate World Food Day, we’re celebrating young farmers who are working to feed the world and improve food security through innovation, collaboration and hard work. The World Bank recently hosted an event highlighting farmers who are finding profit and purpose in agriculture.
Journalist Femi Oke moderated the panel, which …
Africa is a farm lover’s dream: abundant uncultivated arable land, roughly over half the global total; tropical climates that permit long growing seasons; a young labor force; and an expanding population that provides a readily available market for produce consumption.
Yet, African countries are yet to harness these opportunities to ensure …
“First and foremost, the most influential challenge that Africa faces is infrastructure, and on top of that agenda is electricity. Today, we have 645 million people in Africa who don’t have access to electricity, and there’s no way that a continent like Africa can develop in the dark. Electricity can …
Despite the criticism that has trailed the used of Genetically Modified Organisms, GMOs, Nigeria’s bio-safety chief has defended the use of such crops.
Rufus Egbegba, who heads the National Bio-safety Management Agency, NBMA, said GMOs are the same conventional crops but improved versions for the purpose of sustainability and improved yields.
Rufus …
Women farmers in Africa have asked governments across the continent to domesticate the Maputo Declaration and commit at least 10 percent of their annual budgets to agriculture to ensure food security on the continent.
The 2014 Maputo Declaration in the agricultural sector seeks to cut poverty in half by 2025 via …
New on B4FA.org:
Blog: Brachiaria, the homecoming of African pasture grasses, Brachiaria grasses, which originated primarily from natural grasslands in Africa, do not look particularly remarkable. Yet these forage species for feeding farm animals are the most widely used in the tropics. Because Brachiaria is adapted to acidic, low-fertility soils and is much more …
Joan Conrow and Mark Lynas write:
Genetically engineered crops that promise to benefit both farmers and consumers are poised to enter Uganda’s marketplace now that its Parliament has adopted a law to regulate agricultural biotechnology.
Ugandan plant scientists are already in the later stages of conducting field trials for banana varieties that …
African farming must modernise and replace its ageing workforce if the continent is going to be able to feed its rising population, a report by leading economists has warned.
A transformation from small-scale subsistence farms to mechanised, more commercially viable farms is essential, said experts at the Ghana-based African Centre for …
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