Below are some current developments on agriculture in Africa:
Agricultural Issues
John Deere, Yara Ghana Demonstrates Successful Farm Mechanisation
John Deere and Yara Ghana Limited (YGL), have demonstrated to farmers and agribusiness students a successful results of using farm mechanisation and the right chemicals to plant and harvest crops. The demonstration exercise which was held in Accra aimed at proving to small and large scale farmers as well as students who study agriculture the yield that accrues from employment of mechanisation and the right fertilizers to farming. The demonstration exercise included harvesting of a maize plantation with the John Deere Harvesters and education on how to successfully yield large scale crops. Mr. Kevin Lesser, Tactical Marketing Manager of John Deere, Sub-Saharan Africa told the GNA in an interview that it could be difficult for…
Ghana Launches 2015 International Year of Soils
The celebrations of the International Year of Soils (IYS) 2015, has been launched in Accra, with a call on Ghana to lead the way for showing Africa the need to keep soil safe in ensuring food security and human survival on earth. “The people of Africa and indeed the world will be looking up to Ghana to come out with practical ideas and solutions to its soil problems today. “I believe this is the opportune time for Ghana to demonstrate that it has what it takes even in the midst of limited resources be it human or technological to tackle what affects it,” Dr Mohamed Ag Bendech, Senior Nutrition Officer, FAO Regional office, has said…
Poultry Farmers Advised to Use the Right Drugs
A day’s seminar for poultry farmers and veterinary officers to help improve live birds production has been held in Kumasi with a caution to farmers to be careful in their choice and use of vaccines. Dr. Anthony Akunzule, a Director at the Veterinary Services Department (VSD), told them that applying the wrong vaccines would produce bad results. The seminar was jointly organized by Merial SAS and Miqdadi, both foreign companies, engaged in the production of veterinary products. It brought together farmers and veterinary officers from across the Ashanti Region and the goal was to expose them to best practices. Dr. Akunzule said there was a need for radical shift from the old ways of doing things to make the poultry sector more vibrant…
Poultry Farmers Reluctant to Report Bird Flu
Poultry farmers are likely not to report outbreak of future Avian influenza (bird flu) epidemic following the government’s inability to compensate farmers that had their birds killed as a result of the disease. The GRAPHIC BUSINESS has gathered that most of the farmers have decided not to report cases of the disease if authorities do not compensate them for the 40,154 birds destroyed in the Greater Accra, Volta and Ashanti regions by the Veterinary Services Directorate (VSD) as part of measures to contain the outbreak. Forty thousand, one hundred and fifty-four birds, 1,103 crates of eggs and 37 bags of feed have been destroyed since the outbreak was first recorded in May this year…
Ghana, Italy Sign MoU to Promote Fish Production
The Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development (MoFAD) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the fishing production district of Mazara Del Vallo in Italy to enhance fish production in Ghana. The move is also to strengthen the relationship between Ghana and Italy through the scientific and technological development of the fishing industry. The Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development, Ms. Sherry Ayitey, signed for Ghana, while Mr. Giovanni Tumbiolo, the President of the District of Mazara Del Vallo, initialled it for the government of Italy. Both countries agreed to cooperate in the promotion and creation of a fishery cluster in Ghana and develop the necessary activities based on the model of …
Addressing Challenges in Vegetable Production and Export: GhanaVeg Leads the Way
The production and export of vegetables from Ghana to the European Union (EU) market had suffered serious setbacks in recent years due mainly to quality issues. Just last month, the EU announced a temporary freeze on export of some vegetables and fruits from Ghana to its market. This was based on concerns for sanitary and phytosanitary – bacterial contaminants and pesticides. Inappropriate agricultural practices in vegetable production, harvesting, handling and storage had led to serious phytosanitary issues – making it difficult for our vegetables to pass the quality test. The result is that, Ghana, which used to export between 30-40 tons of vegetables daily to Europe in the 1990s, is now doing just between 4-5 tons a day…
Allocate GH¢200 Million to SADA in 2016 – CSOs
The Coalition of civil society organizations within the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) ecological zone is advocating GHc200 million for SADA in the 2016 budget. They claimed the early request follows the elimination of SADA in the 2015 budget which generated public condemnations. The Coalition’s Spokesperson, Bismark Adongo Ayorogo in a statement copied Citi News hinted, “We members of the coalition have very reliable and credible information that government has planned as usual to ignore SADA in the 2016 Budget Statement.” He warned, “We wish to assure government that this time round, Ghanaians particularly those from the SADA Zone will not sit on the fence and watch it to continue these illegalities in a country that is governed by the rule of law: we are urging government not to repeat the grievous and very unpardonable mistake it made in the 2015 Budget as it …
Make SADA Audit Report Public – CSO
There is mounting pressure on the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) to disclose it’s audit report carried out to investigate it’s account on the alleged financial malpractices in the organisation. Mr. John Nkaw, Northern Region Programmes Manager for SEND-Ghana said the disclosure of the report is very important for the public to know the full state of affairs with regards to the operations of SADA. He stressed that making the audit report public would build public confidence and credibility for the authority. Mr. Nkaw was addressing participants at a workshop in Tamale organised by SEND-Ghana, an advocacy organisation with support from the United State Agency for International Development …
Mahama’s SADA is the Saddest Development in Ghana’s History – Nana Addo
The presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo, has described the Savannah Acceleration Development Authority (SADA) as one of the saddest developments in the 58-year history of Ghana. He said the programme has deteriorated under the Mahama led administration. Nana Akufo-Addo made the comment during his 2-day ‘Rise and Build’ tour of the Upper West Region. With farming being the predominant economic activity in the Upper West, and the other regions of the North, the NPP flagbearer indicated that “a Ghana where there is going to be year round agriculture” will become a reality under his government …
West Africa Governments Urged to Address Environmental Challenges
The Deputy Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Mrs. Bernice Heloo, has called for a concerted effort by stakeholders to help address the various challenges facing the environment across the West African sub-region. According to her, issues about the environment were trans-boundary and cross-cutting, hence the needed rigorous commitment from governments to address them. “There is therefore the need for a clearly articulated and widely accepted strategic direction which focuses on sustainable and equitable development,” she said. The deputy minister was speaking at the opening ceremony of a capacity-building workshop for West African experts on the environment on the restoration of the forest and …
Raising Personal Incomes Through Farming - Another Attempt
Another attempt to raise personal incomes through significant raises in production levels of smallholder farmers is underway in six mid-level districts of the Volta Region. The districts are Kadjebi, Jasikan, Hohoe, Kpando, North-Dayi, and Afadjato-South. The project, which was launched on Tuesday at Atonkor-Buem in the Jasikan district is dubbed, “Scaling out the Integrated Soil Fertility Management Project.” It is under the aegis of the Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and comes as linkage to a pilot in three of the districts ending recently. Dr Kwasi Ampofo, AGRA Country Director said within the three years of the pilot project, 18,115 in the beneficiary districts, Hohoe, Jasikan and Kadjebi, had adopted the Integrated Soil …
Young People Benefit from Agripreneurship Programme
TechnoServe, a non-profit organization with funding from Barclays Africa is implementing the African Youth Agripreneurship Programme (AYAP), to create and empower a new generation of entrepreneurs in the agribusiness sector in Africa. The AYAP is a technical and business skills development programme, focusing on youth operating businesses in the Agricultural Value Chains. Mr. Joe Gyapong, the Programme Manager, AYAP, speaking at a day’s seminar for over 60 participants said the programme, which is on a pilot phase, is being implemented in four countries, including Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa. He said with the programme, enterprising youth within the age range of 20-35 years’ operating in the …
National Best Farmer Appeals to Government to Promote Irrigation Farming
Mr. George Amankwah, the 2014 National Best Farmer has appealed to government to promote irrigation farming in the country; so as to enhance food security. He said climate change had made the rainfall pattern in the country to be unpredictable; explaining that this year’s rains were inadequate, which could lead to food shortage. Mr. Amankwah made the appeal in Accra during a public forum organised by Occupy Ghana, a socio-political pressure group, to mark its first anniversary on the theme “The Journey is the Destination”. He said Ghana is endowed with huge water resources which must be harnessed by the government for irrigation purposes to ensure all year round farming. He also appealed to government to ensure …
Business Advisory Centre Trains Farmers, Processors
The Rural Enterprise Programme (REP)/ Business Advisory Centre (BAC) Project, had trained farmers and processors in five communities in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) Municipality, to boost their income-generating activities. The beneficiary communities are Breman, Ankwanda, Abrem-Agona, Nkontrodu and Elmina Zongo. They were taken through cassava processing into gari fortified with soya bean and margarine to generate the required nutrients, cassava into flour for the baking of pastries, soap and cosmetic making and the processing of cassava and plantain into fufu flour. At Breman, the capacities of 43 members, including 10 women of the Breman Adoye Kuw farmers, were built to enable them add value …
Africa’s Economic Growth to Slow down – African Union
The African Union (AU) has projected economic growth to slow to about four per cent this year, and part of 2016 because of the fall in commodity prices. Mrs. Fatima Haram Acyl, AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry, said economic growth would slow down to about four per cent, from over five per cent that Africa had sustainably achieved in the past two or so decades. Mrs. Acyl, speaking in Accra, at the first ECOWAS Mining and Petroleum Forum and Exhibition (ECOMOF) said about 48 African countries were vulnerable and would be affected by the slump in commodity prices. A World Bank report, ‘Africa’s Pulse,’ estimates the initial terms-of-trade deterioration of 18.3 per cent for Sub-Saharan Africa and declines of about ….
Reports/Articles
Sustaining Improved Cassava Production on West African Ferralsols Through Appropriate Varieties and Optimal Potassium Fertilization Schemes
JM Sogbedji, LK Agboyi, KS Detchinli, R Atchoglo… - Journal of Plant Sciences, 2015
Improved nutrient use efficiency and use of appropriate crop varieties are required towards producing enough food in a sustainable manner. This study assessed the response of three cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) varieties to three potassium (K) fertilization rates on West African ferralsols. It aimed at identifying optimal K fertilizer application rates and corresponding appropriate crop varieties for improved and sustainable cassava production. Three K fertilizer rates including 0,50 and 100 kg K ha-1 were used together with fertilizers nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) each at a fixed rate of 60 kg ha-1. The cassava varieties were Gbazekoute (V1), KH (V2) and Moya (V3). Field data including cassava fresh tuber and …
International Food Security Assessment: Past Progress and Prospects Through 2025
S Rosen, B Meade - 2015
In 1996, the United States, the European Community, and 184 other countries gathered at the World Food Summit (WFS) in Rome and pledged to reduce the number of food-insecure people by half by no later than 2015. This declaration emphasized improving the performance of the agricultural sectors, particularly in low-income countries. To that end, there was a call for increased public and private investment in technology and its transfer, improved input distribution, greater access to land and credit, and better integration with world markets. ERS uses its International Food Security Assessment (IFSA) model to project food availability and access in 76 low- and middle-income countries. In this analysis, a person is defined as …
Poverty Eradication: Access to Land, Access to Food
A Arial, S Balestri, D Bassi, S Beretta, PS Cocconcelli… - 2015
Poverty and inequality is key to the global common good: each person’s inclusion in social, economic and political life is the ultimate criterion by which to assess the quality of the global system in which we live. In the beginning of the 21st century, the 2000-2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) summarised ambitions and efforts of the international community for improving living conditions in the most disadvantaged countries. In 2015 – year of transition from the MDGs to the post-2015 development agenda – the international dialogue has focused on re-launching ambitious new goals for the next decades, encompassing both development and environmental issues. The new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) includes …
Challenges of Generation and Dissemination of Improved Dairy Practices: Evidence of Literature from Ethiopia
WA Wodajo, K Ponnusamy - Development, 2015
Dairying is being practised as an integral part of agricultural activities in Ethiopia since a time of immemorial. Although the inception of dairy research and dissemination of improved dairy practices lasts for more than five decades, the majority of the farmers still continue to adopt traditional dairy practices. This review was made to point out the major challenges that imbedded the improved dairy practices generation and dissemination in Ethiopia. Intensive conceptual and empirical literature reviews based on several studies were done in the area of constraints and challenges; adoption and impact studies of dairy sub sector. The review indicated the central challenges of dairy development that emanated from policy, research, …
Analysis of Determinants of Market Channel Choice among Smallholder Dairy Farmers in Lower Central Kenya
JK Mutura, N Nyairo, M Mwangi, SK Wambugu - International Journal of Innovative …, 2015
This study sought to analyse determinants of market channel among smallholder dairy farmers in Lower Central Kenya. Multistage sampling technique was used and data was collected from 288 small holder dairy farmers Kiambu County. Multinomial logit regression model (MNL) was used to analyse factors influencing the choice of dairy market outlet by the small holder dairy farmer. Processing and analysis of the survey data was carried out using SPSS version 20 and STATA version 12. Level of education, milk output, access to information and transaction costs influenced the choice of marketing channel. There was a positive relationship between choice of farm gate over cooperative societies and farmers training. It is recommended that …
Constraints in Cashew Production among Cashew Farmers in Southwestern Nigeria
TR Shittu, IA Aderolu
Cashew production in Nigeria has some constraints ranging from production via processing constraints to marketing. This study was therefore carried out to determine the severity of constraints in cashew production in Nigeria. The study was carried out in Southwestern Nigeria. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 63 cashew farmers from the study area. Information was collected from the respondents with the aid of structured questionnaire and the data retrieved from the information collected was analysed using descriptive statistics as well as multi-variate regression analysis. Result shows that majority (84.14%) of the farmers are still in their active age (60 years and below) and most (68.49%) …
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