Browsing: Agriculture and Food Security in Africa

A low-tech micro-irrigation solution is providing high impact results for thousands of farmers in Tanzania. The irrigation solution has been introduced by UNCDF under its ongoing Inclusive Digital Economies (IDE) through the Youth and Women Economic Empowerment (YWEE) program. Photo/VeggieGrow

Low tech solution boosts agro-productivity in Tanzania

Tech & Business
  • The kit has all the basics for adaptation in rural settings; affordability, accessibility, and ease of use and maintenance.
  • This micro-irrigation kit brings much needed watering solution in arid and semi-arid regions as well as in the highlands where access to water can be limited.
  • The project has already reached some 4,275 micro-investors operating across 115 savings and loan groups

A low-tech micro-irrigation solution is providing high impact results for thousands of farmers in Tanzania.

The tech is a small irrigation gear referred to as a micro-irrigation kit that has been introduced to farmers in Tanzania’s Southern regions like in the Kigoma Region.

The kit has all the basics for adaptation in rural settings; affordability, accessibility, and ease of use and maintenance.

This micro-irrigation kit brings much needed watering solution in arid and semi-arid regions as well as in the highlands where access to water can be limited.

The irrigation …

Despite economic slowdown, cashew nuts market is growing world wide but research show Africa is still lacking reinvestment in agriculture to reap the benefits and boost poverty reduction.

Africa poverty reduction hinged on agro-investment

Countries

To combat climate change and to mitigate its effects, Africa must adopt modern agriculture technologies, machine innovations and engineering for resilient crop varieties. Modern agriculture technologies help to manage farmers’ risks and even improve product quality which in turn brings about better prices.

Also, when it comes to modern agriculture technologies, there is renewed attention towards value addition, agro-processing and post-harvest management. These factors add to the need for increased investment in agriculture because they all translate to increased income and creation of employment opportunities.

This brings us to the question of funding. Where are countries supposed to get the money to invest in agriculture? To answer this question, African countries, almost all 55 of them, signed the 2003 Maputo Declaration, pledging to dedicate 10% of their annual budget to agriculture, but to date, few have done so.…

Africa climate smart techniques Albert Nangara. Pic1

Ensuring Africa’s food security by adopting climate-smart techniques

Industry and Trade

The economies of African countries’ are dominated by agriculture and the continent’s growth relies heavily on the performance of the sector. However, climate change is a threat to agrarian operations and one of the biggest challenges to food security systems in Africa.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has yielded devastating effects exhibited by acute food and commodity shortages the world over. This has ratcheted pressure on Africa as a continent to rely on its produce by using climate-smart techniques. Africa imported a range of agricultural products worth US$6.9 billion from Russia and Ukraine in 2020.

According to the World Bank, more and more African countries are realizing that the development, promotion, and adoption of climate-smart technologies, implementation of the right enabling policies, and development of relevant skills in Africa's food system workforce are among the game-changers that can truly make a difference.

“Agriculture is a victim of climate change but also…

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