By Imali Ngusale Nigeria’s former president Olusegun Obasanjo has said in Addis Ababa that women remain the backbone of Agriculture but are disadvantaged because of barriers that impede access to resources needed to revolitoinise their input. Speaking at a high-level breakfast meeting on the margin of the 36th Summit of the African Union on Empowering…
As Dr. Sanginga bows out of IITA
By Dr. Godwin Atser On 01 November 2011, history was made— a little-known son of Africa would take over perhaps the largest agricultural research institute on the African Continent. That person was Dr. Emmanuel Nteranya Sanginga, who would become the first African-born Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, Nigeria. Before…
Kenya to host international Poultry Expo
Demand for poultry products is on the rise in Kenya driven by an emerging middle-class created in existing and new urban settlements as a result of Devolution. To feed the appetite, an estimated 1.5 million birds are slaughtered weekly from a population of some 35 million fowls being fed for meeting the increasing demand. The…
Slow Food: COP27 ends, polluting food systems remain
COP27 was meant to be the “Implementation COP”, but after two weeks of negotiations, existing pledges and national plans remain insufficient to reach the Paris agreement 1.5-degree target. Although food and agriculture have been higher up the agenda than at any previous round of climate talks, solutions put forward to help tackle their dramatic impact…
GMO Maize is harmful to your health, Kenyans warned!
Anti-genetically modified organism groups have Friday urged Kenyans to reject food products labeled as such. At the same time, they castigated the government for trying to force GMOs on Kenyans. Biodiversity and Biosafety Association Kenya (BiBa) Kenya National Coordinator Anne Maina said GMO is not a solution to chronic hunger or poverty. “Importation and introduction…
Case on punitive seed laws mentioned in Court
A public interest litigation filed by 15 farmers representing many other smallholder farmers across the country calling for an amendment of punitive seed laws has been mentioned before the Machakos law courts today. “We are hopeful that with the case being mentioned today, the court will soon be able to hear our plea as smallholder…
COP27: Governments urged to invest in food cold storage
At COP27, experts have called for increased investment in sustainable food cold chains to decrease hunger, provide livelihoods to communities, and adapt to climate change. “At a time when the international community must act to address the climate and food crises, sustainable food cold chains can make a massive difference,” said Inger Andersen, Executive Director…
Farmers embrace smart insurance to guard against climate shocks
With the help of images taken via satellite and smartphones, ACRE Africa’s Picture Based Insurance (PBI) project is working to make smart insurance accessible to Kenya’s smallholder farmers. Doing so will help build awareness and trust around insurance-based products while simultaneously enhancing resilience to challenges posed by climate-related shocks. In Kenya, 80 per cent of…