News

The World Animal Protection organisation is running a global campaign christened, “Animals in Disaster”, which asks African governments to include animals in the formulation of their policies. According to Dr Judy Kimaru, the disaster manager for Africa at the organisation, “the national government should allocate...

A chicken processing plant in northern Kenya, Kulamawe Poultry Industries, has scooped one of the five awards in the inaugural Scaling Up Nutrition Pitch competition. Only 21 entrepreneurs were selected to compete for the final five categories out of more than 450 entries from...

A New digital platform that provides step-by-step instructions for implementing international standards that recognize and protect land rights has been launched today. The platform- Resource Platform for Responsible Investments in Property and Land (RIPL) designed by The global land rights group, Landesa, with support from the Department...

An upsurge in population in the cities and the changing dietary inclinations have necessitated increased investment in agriculture. It is, therefore, prudent that the government ensure that the agricultural sector is adequately funded to boost production. Despite previous international conventions such as Maputo Declaration to increase...

Africa’s micro, small and medium enterprises in agribusiness have received a boost following the launch of a new revolving fund aimed at boosting their growth. Private sponsors from Netherlands, through the Africa Agribusiness Academy (AAA) launched the robust fund, that targets agri-based micro, small and...

The Hands-free Hectare projects free Hectare project in the UK has successfully harvested a hectare of winter wheat using their autonomous combine harvester, without operators on the machines or agronomists in the field. The project which began two years ago, and also achieved unloading on...

A few months ago, farmers in four green gram producing counties - Kitui, Makueni, Tharaka Nithi and Meru - were a happy lot. The harvest was good, and they looked forward to a windfall. It did not happen. Today, overproduction of the legume has wiped...

More can be reaped from fish farming by increasing the stocking size of fingerlings, a new study by Farm Africa and World Fish has revealed. The study conducted between July last year and February this year shows that reduced production cycle and input costs make...

The first-ever web-based tool designed to collect and share agriculture and rural development solutions in the developing countries, has been launched by The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The Rural Solutions Portal will promote the uptake of innovative agricultural and rural practices and technologies...

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has launched a new programme to protect and improve farm soils in Africa. Known as Afrisoils, the programme, aims at increasing soil productivity in 47 countries by 30 per cent and reducing degradation by 25 per cent in the...

He walked into the venue of the recent East African Digital Farmers’ conference in Nairobi, a rather nondescript young man, dressed in blue slacks and a matching waistcoat. He had a presentation to make. He finished 20 minutes later to a standing ovation, for one...

The past few months have seen increased cases of sub-standard food imports into Kenya. From sugar that contains mercury to expired rice, to oil that does not meet the required standards. And worse still, experts are now raising alarm over a lot of milk products and...

The award is open for entry starting September 5, 2018, with organisers-the Guild of Fine Food, expecting a record-breaking 3,500 cheeses to be judged. Dedicated only to cheese, with no other dairy products judged, the World Cheese Awards is the largest cheese-only competition on the...

As the world mourns the death of Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who passed away August 18 2018 after a short illness, the agriculture sector feels the loss too. The late Annan was a leader of progress in the world, improving the lives...

As farming with precision sweeps across the continent, farmers are looking for technologies to maximise the economic and environmental benefits of precision farming. Farmers will soon be able to double their production with precision after Liquid Telcom entered into partnership with Sigfox to build and...