Agricultural News
Hershey's CocoaLink Mobile Phone Program Delivers 100000 Farmer and Family Messages During First Year in Ghana
EON: Enhanced Online News (press release)
Ghana cocoa farmers have received more than 100,000 messages related to better farming and family well-being during the first year of CocoaLink, a mobile phones outreach program, sponsored by The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY), the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) and the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF). CocoaLink, a first-of-its kind program that uses mobile voice and SMS text messages delivered in the local language or English, connects cocoa farmers with important information about improving farming practices, farm safety, child labor, health, crop disease prevention, post-harvest production and crop marketing. The program launched with its first message to Ghanaian farmers in July 2011 is now the largest mobile farmer technology program of its kind. Working with many on-the-ground partners, CocoaLink is on track to reach 25,000 farmers by the end of the year. [more]
OLAM Imports 30,000 metric tonnes of Fertilizer into Ghana
Ghana Business News
OLAM Ghana Limited (OGL) has imported 30,000 metric tonnes (mts) of fertilizer to support the Fertilizer Subsidy Program (FSP) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA). This is expected to help farmers increase their rate of fertilizer application and increase crop productivity and production. The import will also improve the supply and access of small scale farmers to subsidized fertilizers to ensure food security. “Ghana has one of the lowest rates of fertilizer application in sub-Saharan Africa and OLAM sees this as an opportunity to partner government to increase the rate of fertilizer application in the country to increase farmers’ ability to produce more food to feed millions of Ghanaians.” OLAM Country Head, Amit Agrawal said in a statement issued in Accra yesterday. [more]
Ahwoi Predicts Bumper Food Harvest This Year
Ghana
Ghana is likely to record a bumper harvest this year following the favorable weather conditions and timely planting of seedlings. Mr. Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister for Food and Agriculture, who made the prediction, however, said because of the current food deficit the impact of the abundant harvest may not be felt for a long period. He expressed contentment that farmers took the planting activities seriously and made timely interventions during the early planting season. He was speaking to journalists at the end of the first session of a Stakeholders’ Consultative Meeting on the Guidelines for the Operation of the Agriculture, Agro-Processing Development and Credit Facility for Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund, (EDAIF) held in Accra. [more]
Food Crisis/Security
Academia Has Role in Fight Against Hunger - FAO
AllAfrica.com
FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva challenged academics to get involved in essential and politically important research into rural poverty and the food and agriculture business, as it pertains to small-scale producers, in a speech today in Lisbon to the World Congress of Rural Sociology. "One of the great challenges we have today is to use academic knowledge to understand and improve the life of rural populations throughout the world," said Graziano da Silva. "To do so, we need to look at the reality outside of University walls." [more]
Reports
The Role of Extension in Agricultural Adaptation to Climate Change in the Sahelian Zone of Nigeria
Journal of Environment and Earth Science Vol. 2, No.6, 2012
It is anticipated that climate variability and change in the Sahelian zone of Nigeria will have an overwhelming impacts on agriculture, land use, ecosystem and biodiversity. Recent years have seen adaptation come to the international climate debate. The focus is centered largely upon enhancing the capacity of developing countries such as Nigeria to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The paper discussed the role of extension in agricultural adaptation to climate change in the Sahelian zone of Nigeria. It identified the evidence of climate change in the Sahelian zone of Nigeria and described the adaptation strategies to the changing climate. The paper also explored the role of agricultural extension services in climate change adaptation. The challenges facing agricultural adaptation to climate change were also discussed. The paper recommended that efforts of the government should include; development of special rural micro-credit schemes, improved extension delivery and human capital development. [more]
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