Browsing: Agriculture

A new report has revealed that ICT and Agriculture are the leading host sectors for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Kenya.

The 2021 MSMEs Survey Report by Kenya Bankers Association also ranks manufacturing and construction among the dominant hubs for the enterprises that collectively create an estimated 15 million employment opportunities in the economy.

The study, conducted by the KBA Centre for Research on Financial Markets and Policy in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in May this year, further indicates over 90 percent of the 279 MSMEs sample analyzed were registered, signaling a high level of formalization.

The Findings

Based on entrepreneur characteristics, majority of MSMEs owners are males at 77 percent, highly educated with 54.5 percent having a bachelor’s degree level of education.

In addition, close to two-thirds or 63 percent of enterprise owners had been in employment for more than six years before …

Egypt aims to increase its agricultural production by 30 percent by 2024 and increase the gross domestic product of its agricultural sector to 12 percent in the same period.

According to Hala El-Said, Egypt’s Minister of Planning and Economic Development the sector will create job opportunities and increase small farmers income while increasing the country’s exports in agriculture. The agriculture sector will double its export shares to 25 per cent in 2024 from 17 per cent in 2020.

El-Said was speaking during a high-level dialogue on food security in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region hosted by the World Bank entitled “Food Security in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis: Pathways from crisis to recovery.”

The minister said that the agro-food sector incorporates food processing and agriculture as well as related inputs and trade. The agro-food sector makes up around 23.2 per cent of the added value labour …

Over 250 top-level speakers and panelists including a huge range of Africa’s most important investors, dealmakers, and business leaders, have been confirmed ready to attend the Annual AFSIC-Investing in Africa forum that is scheduled for October 11^th and 12th in London, These Key Figures in the Corporate world will unpack the increasing global investment momentum into Africa’s growing public and private sectors as well as highlighting new growth opportunities across the continent.

The agenda of AFSIC 2021, remains investment-focused, with several of the most experienced and successful asset management firms investing in Africa sharing insights into where the smart money is investing, and business leaders running some of Africa’s most exciting growth companies showcasing new investment opportunities, with focused streams in Banking, Building, Healthcare, Agriculture, Fintech, Education and Sustainable Growth.

With ABSA Corporate Investment Bank heading up an impressive group of supporting sponsors, the conference will also feature …

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 14 – South Sudan will benefit from two new projects totaling $116 million that aim to strengthen the capacity of farmers, improve agricultural production, and restore livelihoods and food security.

This comes at a time when the East African nation is facing increasing levels of food insecurity despite increased production, with exceptionally high food prices constraining access to food for large segments of the population and desert locusts devouring crops.

Available data projects that 7.2 million people will face acute food insecurity in the coming months, which is the highest number since the country’s independence.

The first project is dubbed ‘South Sudan Resilient Agricultural Livelihoods Project (RALP)’, and will provide a grant of $62.5 million to support investments in training for farmers to help them efficiently manage their organizations, adopt new technology, and use climate-smart agriculture practices to boost their yields.

The funds will also be invested …

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 13 – East Africa Community (EAC) partner states need to exploit the potential of exporting raw cotton to international markets.

This is according to Kenya’s Principal Secretary for EAC Dr. Kevit Desai who says the region already produced 100,000 metric tonnes of cotton.

This is lower than its existing potential, which is about 400,000 tonnes.

The Principal Secretary said that EAC exports to the world market currently stand at 8 percent, adding that to increase the volume of exports, value chains such as textiles need to be promoted to boost exports.

“We need to harness science, technology, and innovation to boost exports by investing in greater capacity to produce leather and textiles, and turn a crop like pyrethrum into aerosols,” said the PS.

He added that increased investment in the leather and textile sectors would cater to the growing demand in the region for locally manufactured high-quality …

It is not yet another good year for the Cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast the world’s biggest producer of the key ingredient for chocolate, as the prices of their commodity went down for the second year running.

This is contrary to M’Brimbo, a village in central Ivory Coast which 11 years ago became a testing ground for organic cocoa farming and today is prospering.

The local farmers’ collective, the Fair Cooperative Society of Bandama (SCEB), sell their high-quality produce at twice the market rate for non-organic cocoa.

“When producers are trained and well-paid, they can make very good cocoa in Ivory Coast,” said Arthur Gautier, an agronomist who works for Ethiquable, a French company that specializes in marketing fair-trade products and buys SCEB’s harvest.

ALSO READ: Harnessing Africa’s Sovereign Wealth

The chocolate made from their cocoa is sold in French supermarkets under the brand “Grand Cru M’Brimbo,” a name that …

The government of Tanzania is working on a blue print to increase sell of the country’s agro-produce by setting up bonded warehouses in foreign markets in a bid to boost sells.

The bonded warehouses will for starters be piloted in China and Saudi Arabia and are expected to ease access to markets for agro-produce.

Well first things first. What is a bonded warehouse? These are building or other secured areas in which dutiable goods may be stored or even manufacturing without payment of duty.

Bonded warehouses provide specialized storage services such as deep freezers for perishables as well as bulk liquid storage. They also allow for commodity processing and make up an integral part of the global supply chain by giving the importer opportunity to bring in raw goods, process, package and then sell the final product all under one roof with no duty charged.

Further still, bonded warehouses may …

When one of the World’s richest couples decides to divorce then yes we are all warrant to Tweet our P and Qs. So, as the social media world continues to dot the couples’ i’s and cross their t’s let as look at ‘the poor man’ in one of the World’s wealthiest people.

As of February this year, Bill Gates’ net worth of over $137 billion, keeping the world renown philanthropist right up their with the rest of the World’s richest people.

But that is not what makes Bill Gates standout, it is his willingness to aide the world’s poorest that sets him apart from the other World titans.

Only recently, through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, has set aside a $306 million package in agricultural development grants for Africa and other parts of the developing World.

Over the years, Bill Gates has invariably donated and granted Africa …

It is early January, the World is still celebrating the new year , so is Somalia, the Horn of Africa. Two F-35B, single pilot airstrike jets strike at al-Shabaab operatives killing three members of the terrorist group, reported the U.S. Africa Command, AFRICOM.

An African Defense Post Abroad

The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), is a joint military command body of the US for African military response against mainly terror threats.

However, AFRICOM is nowhere near Africa, on the contrary, it is across the seven seas in Europe, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. Now Africa wants the command post brought closer to the continent, after all it was formed to address terror threats on the continent was it not?

During its formation in 2007, the White House announced that AFRICOM “will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in …

Tobacco farmers in Zimbabwe are positive about this year’s marketing season that was officially opened on Wednesday will surpass the last year’s figures.

This year’s saw an increase in price of tobacco per Kg retailing at 4.30 U.S. dollars from 4 dollars last year.

According to estimates, about 200 million kg of tobacco will be sold this season, as compared to 180 million kg valued at 452 million dollars that were sold last year.

Tobacco Farmers from different parts of the country especially in Harare will mark the start of tobacco sales season in a market hall despite strict health restrictions.

Tobacco production in Zimbabwe is expected to grow by nearly 9% this year, according to the Tobacco regulatory authority.

“Our tobacco harvest was very good this season and we expect good profit this year and I can see good prices as well. The highest I saw was US$4.30 and …