Kenyan manufacturers unveil plan to boost commercial forestry
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Kenyan manufacturers unveil plan to boost commercial forestry

Kenyan manufactures have unveiled a strategy to sustainably expand forestry businesses in the country. The Forestry Business Sustainable Action Plan sheds light on interdependences of the forestry industry and other economic sectors for the country’s socioeconomic development, while preserving ecosystems. Speaking at the launch, Kenya Forest Service (KFS) Chairman Peter Kinyua said that his organization…

Zimbabwe invests $15 million to boost livestock production
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Zimbabwe invests $15 million to boost livestock production

Zimbabwe has launched a $15 million cattle ranching project, as part of the country’s efforts to raise the value of the livestock sector to $1.9 billion by 2025. This project is in line with the government’s Livestock Growth Plan, a component of the Agriculture and Food Systems Transformation Strategy. In it, Zimbabwe aims to have…

Why Eritrea is turning to cactus
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Why Eritrea is turning to cactus

Decades of isolation and authoritarian rule have strangled Eritrea’s economic progress, and now the government is encouraging large-scale cultivation of cactus to help alleviate the human suffering and, in the future, increase export revenues. Cactus is believed to have originated from Central America. Spanish conquerors acknowledged the presence of prickly pears (beles) as soon as…

Guinea Bissau’s dilemma: Preserve forests and lose main source of income
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Guinea Bissau’s dilemma: Preserve forests and lose main source of income

You can hear the charming of birds and the hissing of crickets deep in this forest in Gabu. But one sound trembles above all others, and it’s belatedly become more common this year. It’s no surprise to hear the sounds of machines ploughing down trees in Guinea Bissau’s forested lands. The Portuguese-speaking country has a…

Ivory Coast decries backlog in cocoa sale
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Ivory Coast decries backlog in cocoa sale

Ivory Coast’s government is warning that a large backlog of unsold cocoa could result in a 10% slump in guaranteed price for the 2020/21 mid-crop and further hurt the country’s economy that is battling the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a tense post-election period. The world’s largest cocoa producer would normally have sold…

South Africa announces $66 million relief program for subsistence farmers
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South Africa announces $66 million relief program for subsistence farmers

South Africa’s government has announced a $66 million relief program for subsistence farmers, as it aims to revive the struggling agriculture industry hurt by COVID-19 pandemic disruptions. Agriculture, Land Reform & Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza told reporters on Monday the program will provide successful applicants with as much as $593.1 each to help them…

Ivory Coast and Ghana pull out of U.S. cocoa trade body
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Ivory Coast and Ghana pull out of U.S. cocoa trade body

Ivory Coast and Ghana – the world’s top two cocoa producers –  have withdrawn their membership of a U.S. cocoa industry association, accusing the body of aiding U.S. chocolate companies avoid paying a cocoa premium aimed at tackling farmer poverty. A document signed by both nations cocoa regulators indicates that the Cocoa Merchants Association of…

Malawi gives green light to cannabis production for industrial and medicinal use
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Malawi gives green light to cannabis production for industrial and medicinal use

Malawi is ready to begin commercial production and processing of cannabis for medicinal and industrial use, the southern African country’s new Cannabis Regulatory Authority announced on Tuesday. Malawi joins a growing number of countries around the world — including Southern African states Zambia, Lesotho and Zimbabwe – that are either legalizing or relaxing laws on…

South African stakeholders sign plan to save $908 Million Sugar Industry
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South African stakeholders sign plan to save $908 Million Sugar Industry

South Africa has signed a Sugar Master Plan agreed by the government, farmers, industrial users and retailers in the $908 million sugar industry that aims at stemming a crisis caused by a flood of cheap imports and a tax on sugar-sweetened drinks that lowered demand from beverage makers. The plan has been touted as an…

Kenya’s tea output up 4% in third quarter
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Kenya’s tea output up 4% in third quarter

Kenya’s tea output grew by 4% between July and October compared to a similar period last year due to favorable weather in the highlands. Produce of crop climbed to 373.8 million kilograms in the third quarter compared to 359.6 million kilograms in 2019. Kenya Tea Development Agency, the country’s biggest tea producer, said in a…

Ivory Coast cocoa purchases slashed by half due to post-election skirmishes
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Ivory Coast cocoa purchases slashed by half due to post-election skirmishes

Ivory Coast cocoa purchases have declined by half after protests emerged across the country in defiance to the October 31 presidential elections. The protest have so far claimed the lives of dozens and President Alassane Quatara has been declared the winner with the opposition forming a rival government in defiance. Middlemen who play a vital…

Kenyan flower sector decries losses due to lockdown in France
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Kenyan flower sector decries losses due to lockdown in France

Thousands of farm workers in Kenya are on the verge of losing their jobs due to closure on sell of ‘non-essential’ items by supermarkets and florists during the lockdown in France. On Friday, France began its second lockdown in just seven months in a nationwide effort to curb the country’s renewed surge in Covid-19 cases….

Ivory Coast’s cocoa industry decry drop in exports
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Ivory Coast’s cocoa industry decry drop in exports

Ivory Coast is the world largest cocoa producer, and this year it has been unable to sell most of its produce due to the ongoing pandemic. The coronavirus pandemic has led to global grinding dropping 4% on average and general demand for the produce drop sharply. As a result, the West African nation has been…

U.N. climate agency warns Africa’s economy and food supplies will be hit hard by climate change
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U.N. climate agency warns Africa’s economy and food supplies will be hit hard by climate change

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has warned that Africa is suffering from the impacts of climate change, and worse is yet to come for the continent’s food supplies, health and economy. According to the U.N. climate agency, temperatures have been rising in Africa at a comparable rate to other continents but the region is exceptionally…

Mastercard Foundation provides lifeline to Nigerian farmers with $20 million grant
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Mastercard Foundation provides lifeline to Nigerian farmers with $20 million grant

Mastercard Foundation has issued a $20.4 million grant that will be distributed among 65,000 Nigerian farmers as part of a broader plan aimed at revitalizing the agriculture sector from the negative effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The Foundation has teamed up with Alluvial Agriculture in an arrangement that will enable farmers access a farming collective,…

The new gold in town; why Kenyan real estate firms are moving into agribusiness
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The new gold in town; why Kenyan real estate firms are moving into agribusiness

Welcome to Isinya; in the heart of Kajiado County, 58 kilometers south of Kenya’s capital Nairobi. The area is sparsely populated majorly because it falls within Kenya’s pastoralism belt. But in the last four years, this area has witnessed an influx of real estate companies, as developers move away from the more expensive satellite towns….

Rwanda to earn $10 million per hectare from medical cannabis exports
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Rwanda to earn $10 million per hectare from medical cannabis exports

Rwanda’s government has confirmed that it is in discussions with four American and European companies about processing cannabis for export, in order to meet increasing global pharmaceutical demand for the drug. Officials announced that the move, if successful, would boost the state’s revenues as it battles the effects of coronavirus pandemic. Rwanda is the latest…

Namibia’s government sources for $1.77 million to combat red locusts’ invasion
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Namibia’s government sources for $1.77 million to combat red locusts’ invasion

Namibia has become the latest African country to be hit by the scourge of red locusts; with at least 500 hectares of grazing land reported to have been destroyed. The Agriculture ministry says that a total of 4,000 square kilometers have been invaded by locusts in the last month alone. The latest hit areas in…

IFAD launches $40 million fund to help prevent rural food crisis in wake of COVID-19
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IFAD launches $40 million fund to help prevent rural food crisis in wake of COVID-19

With the COVID-19 pandemic and economic slowdown threatening the lives and livelihoods of the world’s most vulnerable people, the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) today committed US$40 million, and launched an urgent appeal for additional funds, to support farmers and rural communities to continue growing and selling food. IFAD’s new multi-donor fund, the COVID-19Rural Poor…

African Development Bank approves $1.5 million emergency grant to curb desert locusts ravaging East and Horn of Africa
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African Development Bank approves $1.5 million emergency grant to curb desert locusts ravaging East and Horn of Africa

The proposed assistance will be channeled to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) AThe Board of Directors of the African Development Bank on Wednesday approved a $1.5 million emergency relief grant to assist nine countries in the East and Horn of Africa on the control of swarms of desert locusts that are threatening livelihoods and…