Browsing: Farmers

Only a few Kenyans are aware of the entire extent of the law’s punitive nature, which has remained hidden from the public. The farming communities in Kenya who are aware of it are shocked that no public engagement was carried out prior to the adoption of this statute. 

Greenpeace Africa’s Campaigner, Claire Nasike, says that the Kenya government has failed to do what it was supposed to do, which was to make laws to protect the ownership of native seeds, knowledge about these seeds and the intellectual property rights. The current laws on seeds support neo-colonialism and could make it easy for multinationals, big businesses, and other profit-driven organisations to steal local resources. 

Kenya’s 2010 Constitution has made it clear that indigenous seeds, which are also called “informal seeds”, exist and need to be protected. This is done by requiring parliament to pass laws that protect the ownership of indigenous …

• Livestock farmers in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) will receive training and financing from KCB Foundation
• The partnership will train and equip farmers from ASALs with climate-smart agricultural practices to mitigate the dire impacts of climate change
• The two-year partnership will mobilise KSh 100 million in financing for the farmers through strategic partners to grow the funding to KSh 500 million
• Kenya is currently facing a drought that has left more than 2.5 million people on the brink of starvation and poverty. Pastoralists and farmers now have less and less time to recover

Livestock farmers in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) will receive training and financing from KCB Foundation following a partnership with the United States Agency for International Development’s Kenya Investment Mechanism.

The partnership will train and equip farmers from ASALs with climate-smart agricultural practices to mitigate the dire impacts of climate change. The two-year partnership will …

The KNBS report shows that the price of onions (leeks and bulbs), white bread, cooking oil (salad) and tomatoes increased by 7.46, 4.71, 4.62 and 4.55 per cent, respectively, in December 2021. Interestingly, these are the most basic household food items you will find in most homes.

When prices go up as much as they have done, it means that most households will either have to find alternatives or make do without these basic food items altogether.

In an election year, this is not something that Kenyans are prepared for especially with the decimation of job opportunities and livelihoods caused by the pandemic.

On another front, the country faces further hardships as consumer power declines. With food becoming scarce, the country is in dire straits already. Food production in Kenya is far behind demand. …

Rural businesses in Africa will benefit from an ambitious new financing programme launched by the UN’s International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), as part of its broader efforts to address rising hunger and poverty levels in the world’s poorest countries.

In a statement, IFAD says the programme, dubbed ‘The Private Sector Financing Programme (PSFP)’, aims to spearhead an increase in private investment in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), farmers’ organizations and financial intermediaries servicing small-scale farmers, which are too often neglected by investors.

It will provide loans, risk management instruments (such as guarantees), and equity investments.

Commenting on the development, Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of IFAD said there is need to urgently stimulate more private sector investments to rural areas and unlock the immense entrepreneurial potential of millions of rural SMEs and small producers.

“With access to capital, they can attract more investors and partners, grow their businesses and create …

Fairtrade International has committed to double the average income of farmers and workers in Africa.

Speaking during the ongoing 7th Africa Fairtrade Conference, Fairtrade International Board Chair Lynette Thorstensen said despite the hard times brought about by Covid-19, there is hope for the future of African farmers.

“This has been a very tough year globally, however, let us look at the future with optimism,” she said.

According to Thorstensen, Fairtrade International set aside a Covid relief fund in which more than 10.5 million Euros was raised by external governments, retailers, crowdfunding as well as internal sources by pledges from members for relief and resilience support for producer organisations.

“A total of 337 producer organisations from 17 countries have benefited from the fund. We believe that in the current climate, we need to move faster and ensure no one gets left behind.”

Speaking at the same event, Mary Kinyua, the Fairtrade …

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 …

 It is unfair to mention African development pillars without mentioning the agriculture sector which employs nearly half of the population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).  

The sector has enormous benefits to the continent, where farmer-centred organizations such as AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa) argue that nearly one-half of the young population is involved in the continent’s 60 million farms. 

It is with no doubt that African farms stand to be the next profitable food market suppliers of the world.  

“Out of total urban food sales of roughly US$200 to US$250 billion per year, over 80 per centcomes from domestic African suppliers,” according to AGRA. 

Nearly 23 per cent of SSA’s GDP comes from agriculture (McKinsey, 2019); the sector is responsible for providing decent income, growth and poverty reduction for SSA. 

The region’s food market was valued at $300 billion in 2017 and it could be …