- Title: VARIOUS: Africa Daily agriculture yearender / Review of the year 2013
- Date: 1st January 2014
- Summary: MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WORKERS FEEDING CHICKEN FARMER INSPECTING CHICKEN TURKANA, KENYA (FILE) (REUTERS) MAIZE FIELD VARIOUS OF FARMERS IRRIGATING VEGETABLE FARM WATER FLOWING VEGETABLES IN FARM
- Embargoed: 16th January 2014 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Sudan, Senegal
- City:
- Country: Senegal Sudan Zimbabwe Uganda Nigeria
- Topics: Business,Economy
- Reuters ID: LVAA8LLRN3FGOTME2O54TGELTCIH
- Story Text: An increasing number of African farmers took advantage of opportunities to unlock the potential of agribusiness this year as governments focused on making agriculture a priority in increasing growth, employment and food security at home.
It was a year that saw African farmers being pushed to increase productivity through use of modern farm practices and governments were challenged to improve farmer's access to credit and find ways to combat climate change.
In Kaduna state, northern Nigeria we met Ibrahim Mustapha and his sons working out in the fields.
Mustapha grows maize and was expecting a good harvest season because of favourable weather in the year.
The farmer is one of many in the region who are taking advantage of a farm project, where private investment is helping subsistence farmers make a profit for themselves with help from companies backing them up.
"Truly since I joined the project I have made significant progress. When I was working on my own farm I was only able to get like 20 to 23 bags after harvest but now that I have joined the great farmer project, I make above 48 bags per harvest. If not for the flooding I would have harvested over 50 bags last season. I thank God for my family now because we are now 'three three' instead of one as everybody has added weight three times over from our corn farm," said Mustapha.
Nigeria wants to diversify its economy and reduce dependence on oil.
With a population of 170 million people and a swelling food import bill, agriculture officials say there is no time to lose as the country could face a food crisis within a decade.
Various initiatives also now give farmers high-quality fertiliser, seeds, equipment and expertise on credit and help them find market for their produce.
In Zimbabwe farmers were taking advantage of an increased tobacco output in the country, since President Robert Mugabe's controversial seizure of white-owned farms sent production tumbling to as low as 48,000 tonnes in 2008.
Black farmers are now driving the recovery in the sector which has jumped to 170,000 tonnes this year.
Funding from China and adoption of foreign currency have fueled growth.
Charles Mufudze has employed 50 workers on his 800 hectare farm. He says although business is promising, farmers face challenges like poor infrastructure, limited access to skilled labour and credit.
"Tobacco presented an opportunity for many black farmers. One, basically to earn the US Dollar, that's the first and major reason why I got into tobacco and then secondly the opportunity that was presented because of the void that was created after the former big commercial farmers left, mainly commercial farming, so I got into tobacco farming because of the opportunity that it presents," he said.
In Senegal we saw a unique garden project nestled between buildings in Senegal's bustling capital, Dakar.
The micro-garden project is run by an association of women called Derkle Book Xaalat, which means "thinking alike" in the local Wolof language.
It's one of many in the city that produce tomatoes, lettuce, onions and strawberries among other organic produce for sale.
Started by the government in 1999 the project wants to promote organic horticulture on yards, rooftops and vacant spaces in order to help poor families improve their food supply and nutrition, as well as generate an income.
Bineta Coulibaly is a project trainer and coordinator, with the Derkle Book Xaalat association.
"We had to train women in the fight against poverty, for a good period it was mainly in response to poverty that the micro gardens were established. With little space on the terrace or somewhere one is able to cultivate," she said.
In Sudan, the sugar sector proved promising for the country's drive to generate more revenue.
In Kenana, central Sudan, the natural sweetener is cultivated on hundreds of acres of land.
Sugar is the most important food ingredient in a country where it's normal to put three spoons of sugar in a small glass of tea or orange juice.
Sugar prices are so sensitive here that they can spark protests.
Kenana wants to more than double its output to 1 million tonnes in 2015. Its affiliated White Nile Sugar Co eyes a production of 250,000 tonnes from next year.
Sudan, one of the biggest African sugar producers after Egypt and South Africa, hopes to become a global player by 2020 competing with world leaders such as Brazil.
But Mohammed al-Jak, economics professor at the University of Khartoum, says the 2020 target of 10 million metric tons of output was unrealistic.
"This success of this project depends on the capabilities that will be made available for the sugar factories during the specific period. But it's definitely a grand ambition. I think that the financing and the shortage o infrastructure might become an obstacle to achieve this goal or even 50% of what is proposed," said al-Jak.
In neighbouring Uganda, scientists were busy finding new ideas to increase the yield of bananas, the country's staple.
The GM banana study in Kampala started in 2010, and involves introducing new genes in banana cells to enhance vitamin A and iron levels, producing what has been dubbed the 'golden banana'.
Researchers say that blindness and anaemia in the country can be prevented with consumption of the 'golden banana' and at the same time it could help boost the country's food security.
Dr Geoffrey Arinaitwe, a lead researcher at Uganda's banana research programme says the bananas will not only increase output but also make the crop more affordable.
"We put pro vitamin A in Banana, it is done in a public research institute, once we have these bananas produced, they are basically for free, you give these bananas to farmers, they grow them over and over again, continuously eating these bananas and reducing the risk of Vitamin A deficiency, it's the cheapest approach, it is cheaper than buying these capsules of bio fortified foods," he said.
On the other side of the continent, farmers in Togo were taking advantage of an increase in cotton demand to market their crop.
Experts say the industry is slowly picking up again in Africa, mainly due to some countries applying new farming methods and an increasing number of farmers turning to cotton, especially in West Africa.
Cotton farmers are being urged to play a more competitive role on the world market by boosting output and producing better quality cotton.
"This year, cotton production is slightly better and it still has a long way to go. At the moment, cotton farmers are happy with the production. A few years ago, many farmers had abandoned the industry, because they were not making any money. But this year, they have come back in big numbers," said cotton farmer, Esso Kpankpan.
UN Experts also came up with a rather unusual solution to hunger problems globally; urging people to start consuming edible insects, which are said to be nutritious.
A report released in the year revealed that breeding and conserving insects can play an important role in boosting food security and nutrition.
Until recently, insects were considered an inexhaustible resource. However, human population growth has led to overharvesting of certain species.
At a busy street in Yaounde Cameroon, we met Steve Abada buying larvae of the palm weevil beetle.
Depending on the season, consumers can find grasshoppers, termites or even ants on sale here.
"Insects are very nutritious; they nourish the body, they are not too fatty but have lots of good ingredients. If you eat these all the time, you will rarely get sick," he said, Africa's agricultural sector is set to become a 1 trillion US dollar industry by 2030 if governments and the private sector radically rethink policies and support for farmers, according to the World Bank.
The continent's food market, currently valued at 313 billion US dollars a year, could triple if farmers modernized their practices and had better access to credit, new technology, irrigation and fertilizers.
Governments must now adopt new policies to enable farmers expand agriculture across the continent and take advantage of the increase in global demand for food as well as fetch higher prices for their produce. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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