Outbreaks of the highly contagious H5N8 avian influenza virus in South Africa (SA) have drastically decreased in commercial chickens, but wild birds are still affected. There have been a total of 120 reports since June 2017 until 11 January 2018, according to a report issued by the Department of Agriculture,…
Zambian Breweries has donated goods to the value of K2.5 million to assist in the containment of the current cholera outbreak in Zambia. According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the outbreak has killed 74 people since October, including 68 in Lusaka. The number of new cases of the outbreak has…
“The agriculture sector and its products are the backbone of the modern economies in the world,” says Dr. Bilungi Alain Useni from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Useni is the first Congolese to receive a Ph.D. at the Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of AgriSciences and wants to use his qualifications…
Food security in parts of southern Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will move towards stressed and crisis levels between February and May 2018, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET). This is expected to occur during the upcoming lean season when farmers and…
Nigerians will now be able to fund small-scale farmers through a new app developed by Farmcrowdy. The Nigerian agricultural platform has added a new category for funding small-scale farming in Africa where Nigerians can sponsor agriculture. The funds generated will be used to secure land, plant crops and meet small-scale…
Ethiopian farmers have suffered severe harvest and livestock losses due to harsh rains and climate extremes. A United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report released in August 2017 states that roughly 8.5 million Ethiopians required food aid in the second half of the year. According to the Thomas Reuters…
Global production of coarse grains is expected to reach a record of 1 359.7 million tons in 2017. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) indicates in its biannual food outlook report for global food markets that this is 13.4 million tons higher than last year. This growth is…
AgDevCo’s Smallholder Development Unit (SDU) has partnered with Mozambican livestock company MozAgri to help smallholder farmers. Through the partnership, roughly 9 500 farmers will see an increase in productivity and income. MozAgri, established in 2009, supplies improved genetics and buys fully-grown goats from 6 000 local farmers across a wide…
Zambia has been encouraged to join the Fisheries Transparency Initiative (FiTI) to enhance trade and investment in the sector. The initiative intends to be a code of conduct involving states, civil society, development partners and operators in the fisheries sector. It will provide each member country with fisheries legislation and…
Bayer has launched a new office in Maputo, Mozambique, as part of its expansion strategy in southern Africa. Global company Bayer will focus on the local Mozambican agriculture sector through their Crop Science division, which is already present in the country through the distribution of some of its pharmaceuticals, animal…
President Peter Mutharika lifted Malawi’s maize export ban with immediate effect earlier this week. This comes after an increase in maize production. An estimated 3.2 million tons is expected for the country’s 2017/’18 maize harvest. According to South African agricultural business chamber Agbiz, this is an increase of 33% from…
The Zambian government has failed rural communities to benefit commercial farming, says Human Rights Watch. The Zambian government has failed to protect the rights of its rural residents displaced by commercial farms in the Serenje District, said human rights organisation, Human Rights Watch (HRW). This non-governmental organisation released a 101-page…
South African farmers in the summer rainfall region are expected to increase the area they plan to plant for the coming season, but the overall maize plantings is set to decrease. According to the latest report released by the Crop Estimates Committee (CEC), the total area of plantings in the country…
Amidst the ongoing drought in South Africa bringing hundreds of farmers to their knees, emerging farmers in the Taung district in the Northern Cape are committed to helping their fellow farmers in need. Michael Donaldson, a lucerne farmer at Donaldson Farming, said he approached emerging farmers to be part of…
According to a report issued by the Zambia Meteorological Department (ZMD), most parts of Zambia are likely to receive normal to higher than normal rainfall during the 2017/’18 season. Normal rainfall is expected for most parts of the country except the eastern parts, which may receive normal to below normal…
An outbreak of foot and mouth disease (FMD) has been recorded in the Chavuma, Kabompo and Zambezi districts in the North Western Province, reported the Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation. Government has since acquired vaccines for the disease. According to Creavat Chituta of the National Agricultural Information Services, a team from…
Transport volumes for goods between Zambia and Namibia increased to more than 40 000 tons for September 2017, although roughly 400 trucks were impounded in Zambia earlier this year, the New Era reports. According to statistics, import and export volumes for the Zambian market via the port of Walvis Bay…
Zambia Sugar Plc contributes roughly 92.5% to the total sugar production in Zambia, according to the Global Agriculture Information Network (Gain). In 2016, the sugar sector contributed roughly 3% to Zambia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 6% to the country’s total national exports. SUGAR PRODUCTION It is estimated that Zambia’s…
The Farmers Development team of Grain SA held its annual Day of Celebration in Bloemfontein, South Africa. The Day of Celebration, established in 2009, was created to recognise excellence in the field, acknowledge transformation in grain production. The awards included the following: Grain SA Subsistence Farmer of the year, Grain…
The 2017 season shows the South African agricultural sector is recovering well after recurring drought that ended in 2016. Large outputs are driving decelerated inflation. According to South African business chamber Agbiz, South African food product price inflation slowed down to 1.9% y/y in August from 3.3% y/y in July…
Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev) and agronomists and food scientists from the Stellenbosch University in South Africa’s Western Cape will partner on a R6 million research project on beer producing grains. Dr Nikki Else, Research and Development Manager: Agriculture Africa at AB InBev, said projects on cassava and sorghum will…
A new training academy which recently opened in Zimbabwe will provide the opportunity for local farmers to embrace mechanization in on-field experiences. The Case IH Training Academy is on the BlueSky Farms and will be run in partnership with Case IH, its Zimbabwean distributor Agricon and BlueSky Farms. The Academy,…
The Champion Communal Grain Farmers’ Awards in the Zambezi Region in Namibia have returned after an absence of two years, with champion farmers delivering bumper harvests in 2017. The Namibian Agronomic Board (NAB) crowned Alex Siseho the dry-land white maize champion farmer in the Zambezi Region for 2017, while Fred…
Tractor sales in South Africa have increased by 16%, with 583 units sold since July 2017. Sales are 27% higher than during the same period last year. The increase in sales is an indication of the strong recovery in the agricultural sector, after a historical drought decimated crop and livestock.…
