Agric & Biotech

Coalition of NGOs calls on the RSPO, Malaysian government and international buyers for an open investigation into The Wall Street Journal’s findings On the heels of a major investigative article from The Wall Street Journal exposing serious human rights and labour abuses in Malaysian grower Felda Global Venture’s plantations, a coalition of civil society groups is calling on the Roundtable for Sustainable ...

Preliminary results from experimental plots carried out by researchers working under the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) led Cassava Weed Management Project show that by switching to improved weed management practices, Nigerian cassava farmers can double current national average yield of 12-13 tons per hectare. The current national average yield of cassava puts the yield per stand of cassava ...

The new drought-tolerant maize trait, MON 87460, has been approved by the Executive Council of the GMO Act for conditional general release in the Republic of South Africa. This trait will be sold under the brand name, “DroughtGard.” “The approval for general release is a significant step in bringing this valuable technology to all farmers in South Africa,” said Kobus Steenekamp, ...

Ahead of the crucial climate talks scheduled to hold in December in Paris, France, food scientists in Nigeria have called for intervention to cushion the devastating effect of climate change, and leverage efforts towards achieving food security. The food experts, who spoke under the aegis of their umbrella association, the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFS)T, said although Nigerian farmers ...

I know anti-GM activists exists to oppose the GM technology.  That’s what they are paid to do.  But I was flabbergasted when they criticised the authorisation by South African government of a new maize drought trait.  Is it possible they did not process the possible implication of drought-resistant corn in Africa? Drought has always been big business, especially in Africa.  ...

Fish is a source of high quality protein for most households across Cameroon. The low cost for fish products some years back attracted high demand in the local markets which encouraged several people to go into fish farming. But, as our reporter Aaron Yancho Kaah narrates below, several farmers are now leaving the once lucrative venture. Over the years dug-out ponds ...

Non-governmental and farmer organisations from South Africa, Tanzania, Mozambique, Kenya and Uganda have condemned the go-ahead given by the South African GMO authorities for Monsanto to commercially sell its genetically modified (GM) “drought-tolerant” maize seed for cultivation in South Africa. According to the groups, there is no evidence showing that the drought tolerant trait even works. The organisations include: African Centre ...

Norfund, the UK aid department, and Capricorn are funding the British company Agrica’s industrial rice plantation in Mngeta, Tanzania, which is destroying the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, driving them into debt and impacting the local environment, according to new research by The Oakland Institute released on Wednesday June 17, 2015 in collaboration with Greenpeace Africa and Global Justice Now. Agrica’s ...

Food Tank and The Lexicon for Sustainability feature farming and resilience through The Food List, a cross-media messaging campaign that provides the vital tools needed for fixing the food system Farmers depend on just a handful of crop varieties, which can be more easily wiped out by pests, diseases, or climate change. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm ...

Foundations and international donors can play a greater role in providing assistance to scale-up ecological farming initiatives in Africa, according to a report released today by Greenpeace Africa. The report entitled Financing Ecological Farming in Africa – a Guide for International Donors spells out the crucial financial, technical, capacity and network-building support that donors can provide. Over recent years there ...