New Agriculturist

Chemical fertilisers - food, not poison

Africa has some of the world’s most degraded soils. It is now widely recognised that only by a concerted campaign to rebuild soil fertility can African agriculture be turned around. But what kind of fertiliser should African farmers be using? Chemical fertilisers, such as NPK, or organic fertilisers – manure and compost? The answer is probably both. Soils need organic matter to stay healthy, to hold water and resist erosion. But to improve yields sufficiently to feed Africa’s growing population, most soil scientists agree that mineral fertilisers are needed as well. Two researchers from Ghana’s institutes for crop and soil research give their views on the value of chemical fertilisers to African agriculture.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=237
Article: Saving African soils: grounds for hope?

Baobab - African superfruit heads for Europe

In July 2008, the EU gave baobab fruit Novel Foods approval, legalising its use as a food ingredient for European manufacturers. Baobab fruit pulp is rich in vitamin C, calcium, potassium and phosphorus, and is pro-biotic, stimulating the growth of beneficial bacteria in the gut. As such, it has enormous potential as an ingredient in healthy foods and snacks, and dozens of companies are now conducting product development. So does this mean that baobab harvesters can expect to earn an income from their fruit, and what about risks to sustainability? Dr Nonto Nemarundwe of PhytoTrade Africa offers some answers.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=231
Article: Baobab - trading the once-forbidden fruit

New Agriculturist podcast 2009-1

New Year, new optimism and new opportunities: these are the themes of the podcast in this edition of New Agriculturist. While headlines are preoccupied with economic gloom, we have unearthed some positive news and views. Susie Emmett reports from Rajasthan on why prices for camels in India are on the rise. Talking with Ilse Köhler Rollefson and Hanwant Singh Rathore of the camel NGO Lokhit Pashu-Palak Sansthan, she also gets a taste of the new camel product - a desert dessert - which could bring better returns to the camel keepers. In Paris, at the latest African finance forum, Neil Palmer finds plenty of reasons for optimism about investing in African agriculture and shares a sample of the reasons why bankers, entrepreneurs and farmer organisations feel the time is right.
Audio link: http://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/files/audio/new-ag09-1.mp3
Article: Editorial , African agriculture - prime time to invest?, Desert dessert - camel milk ice cream

Adding value - banana flour

For farmers growing matooke - Uganda's plantain banana - effective marketing of their crop can be difficult. Prices paid by traders are highly variable and it is common to see bananas rotting on the tree as farmers fail to find a buyer. Recently, however, the government has launched an initiative to support banana processing. Farmers are being taught how to dry their fruit, so that they can be made into flour, and this is now beginning to replace wheat flour in local diets. Pius Sawa talks to the director of the initiative, to a food processor, a chef, and to people on the street in Kampala, about this exciting development for banana growers, and tries some matooke-flour soup.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=178
Article: A new take on 'matooke'

Investment opportunity - smallholder farming

In times of food crisis, people may be forced to ask for handouts. But begging for food damages our self-respect - it is not what anyone wants. The Africa Invest project has a different approach: it arranges finance for smallscale commercial farming as a profitable investment for lenders. The project is currently working with farmers in Malawi, who are now growing a number of high value crops, such as herbs and spices, and the benefits to the farming communities have been very impressive. Jon Maguire, who founded the project, and Jones Kampezeni who manages the Malawi outgrowers, explain why this new approach has been so successful.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=200
Article: African agriculture - prime time to invest?

Fighting hunger - unlocking Africa's potential

Rising food prices are putting families in Africa under pressure, with a resulting fall in the quality of food being bought and eaten. To promote better nutrition, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) is supporting aquaculture and livestock projects, and the cultivation of nutrient-rich crops like orange-fleshed sweet potato. In Tanzania, NEPAD has distributed seed packs to help families grow a diverse range of vegetables, including indigenous species. Boitshepo Bibi Giyose, food and nutrition security advisor to NEPAD, explains how she believes that with the right support, African farmers could be growing enough food to feed the continent, and be a breadbasket for the world.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=211
Article: Boitshepo Bibi Giyose, NEPAD

Subsidies and credit for African farmers

Across the world, some 3 billion people face either acute hunger or malnutrition on a daily basis. But what strategies for tackling hunger deserve serious support from the international community? Dr Akin Adesina, vice president of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), believes that there are two types of support that are particularly valuable for African farmers. For the very poor, 'smart subsidies' on seed and fertiliser have proved successful in Malawi, and are now being implemented more widely. And for more prosperous farmers, easier access to credit, through donor-backed loan guarantees, could unlock enormous productivity and potential.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=216
Article: Going against the grain: Malawi's fertiliser subsidy

Ending hunger - facing the hard questions

Boitshepo Bibi Giyose, food and nutrition security advisor to NEPAD, believes that hunger and malnutrition are not being taken seriously. Countless meetings and initiatives have been organised to tackle food insecurity over the last 30 years, but too often, once the talking is done there is a failure of action. Governments need to realise that ending hunger is everyone's business, and much better coordination is needed between ministries and departments. Yet the rewards of tackling hunger are huge, not only for individuals, who are thereby more likely to reach their potential, but for economies, societies and nations.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=217
Article: Boitshepo Bibi Giyose, NEPAD

Africa needs investment, but what sort?

In Mozambique, foreign interests have bought up huge areas to grow crops for their own domestic markets. It's a pattern that is becoming more common across sub-Saharan Africa. But what will this do for Africa's rural populations? What will happen to those who lose their access to land? Africa needs investment, but according to Rustom Masalawala of the Millennium Promise organisation, that investment will only reduce poverty if it follows the right model. The Millennium Village project has been exploring how to make rural investment work, but sound governance and a change in global economic thinking may also be needed, if rural Africans are to escape the poverty trap.
Audio link: http://www.agfax.net/radio/detail.php?i=219
Article: African agriculture - prime time to invest?

New Agriculturist podcast 2008-6

In this edition's podcast for New Agriculturist, Susie Emmett reports on an innovative scheme in southern Kenya by Maasai pastoralists who are managing traditional lands with a more modern approach. Also from Kenya we hear from participants at the recent Banana 2008 conference, who give their views on the potential of banana production for improving livelihoods in Africa. When it comes to the wider problem of global hunger, Sheila Sisulu of the World Food Programme is well placed to comment. She tells Susanna Thorp that the recent global food price crisis is a wake-up call for the world to invest more in agriculture. As usual, Mike Davison has a nose for a good story, and he talks to Anselme Vodounhessi of CREPA in Burkina Faso, who is behind an innovative new project to collect human waste in the capital Ouagadougou for processing into fertiliser for growing crops.
Audio link: http://wrenmedia.jellycast.com/files/audio/new-ag08-6.mp3
Article: Common land, shared success in Kenya , Editorial, Sheila Sisulu, World Food Programme, Ancient traditions, modern relevance