Basic Skills for Successful Garlic Farming Growing garlic is an incredibly rewarding experience, but it can also be frustrating. Garlic is a high-value horticultural crop in the onion family. Farmers are getting interested in growing garlic due to its reported high returns and the readily available local market. But wait, have you considered […]
Read More
Kenya: Barley Growing Makes Hundreds of Farmers a Happy Lot Mau Narok in Nakuru County can best be described as a fertile swathe of land where all kinds of crops thrive – from carrots, potatoes and cabbages to tomatoes and onions. While the crops dominate most small farms, barley growing has also taken […]
Read More
Leslie Ter Morshuizen on Mistakes made by new Fish Farmers There are certain errors that are commonly made by new entrants into the aquaculture industry and I thought it would be useful to highlight these, as a guide to new entrants so that they can avoid these errors, and to remind more experienced farmers […]
Read More
The Marula – Africa’s ‘Treasure Tree’ A source of human nutrition in Africa for over 12,000 years, marula fruit is now famous as the source of one of South Africa’s most successful exports, a liqueur known as “Amarula Cream”. But the range of Marula products is increasing and during the last four years, […]
Read More
Rwandan farmers’ cooperative commission maize milling factory to boost value addition RWANDA – Rwanda’s Cooperative Twihangire Umurimo (COTUMU), loosely translated as ‘Create jobs for ourselves’ has launched a Rwf125 million (US$133,000) maize milling plant to address the challenge of post-harvest losses by adding value to their produce. The 1,122 members of COTUMU raised Rwf85million […]
Read More
Ethiopian US$6.3m biscuit and flour processing plant set to commence operations ETHIOPIA – Vita Hydro Agro-Processing Plc, sister company of Belayab Food Production Plc, franchise owner of Pizza Hut and Cold Stone Creamery brands in Ethiopia has constructed a flour and biscuit processing plant worth 210 million Br (US$6.3m). The new plant which rests […]
Read More
Hardy pigeon pea is my moneymaker By PIUS MAUNDU Nestled on the outskirts of Kathonzweni in Makueni County, Paul Mutinda’s pigeon pea farm is eye-catching, thanks to his crop that is ready for harvest. The pigeon pea season in the semi-arid region spans July to August, but Mutinda’s crop is ready and he has […]
Read More
Amaranth: Vegetable that can change your fortunes By Agnes Aineah Amaranth is a healthy traditional vegetable. ‘Let the rains come, amaranth will come up.’ This saying was common among the Agikuyu, especially during drought and famine. The locals knew amaranth was the first to grow when it rained. It was also the first vegetable to […]
Read More
New Report Uncovers the “Hidden Middle” of Africa’s Agricultural Economy BY Jim Monahan In collaboration with AGRA, Food Security Group researchers from AFRE are reshaping the debate among Africa’s agricultural policymakers. Contrary to popular belief, small to medium-size enterprises (SMEs) are rapidly expanding and driving growth in Africa’s agricultural economy. That is the conclusion […]
Read More
The Kenyan government flags off the US$130m Aquaculture Business Development Programme KENYA – The Kenyan government has officially commissioned the Aquaculture Business Development Programme (ABDP) boosted by Ksh.14bn (US$130m) financing loan from International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) to support fish farming & aquaculture in the country. The program will boost fish productivity in the country […]
Read More