New “Green Revolution” action plan

Participants at the first meeting of the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) – held from September 2-4 2010 in Accra, Ghana – drew up a “Green Revolution” action plan aimed at ensuring food security in Africa. AGRF focuses on promoting investments and policy support for driving agricultural productivity and income growth for African farmers in [...]

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Africa has the means to feed itself but does it have the support – and the will?

Africa has a quarter of the world’s arable land but produces only a tenth of the world’s food. 265 million people are still chronically hungry, and Africa is estimated to hold 60% of the world’s remaining uncultivated farmland. In September, a UN summit discussed the upcoming five-year deadline for achieving the Millennium Development Goals. It [...]

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Agriculture experts meet for food security dialogue

About 200 agricultural experts from across Africa and beyond met in Namibia for the August 30-September 3 annual regional food security policy dialogue of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network. On the agenda were some of the continent’s most critical challenges. Read more here.

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Funding for African agriculture starts to flow

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) has received a major boost as several countries have been drawing on funds from a $22-billion pledge made by the G8 under the Global Agriculture and Food Security Programme over the past year. There are conditions attached to how countries can access these funds, for example, a country [...]

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Adapt or die

A changing climate will prompt changes in behaviour across Southern Africa. And when it comes to adaptation, Swazi farmer Bongani Phakathi is a frustrated man a few steps ahead of his neighbours. Traditionally, livestock in Swaziland grazes in the fields during winter, eating what’s left behind after maize and other crops are harvested. But Phakathi [...]

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African farms attract overseas investment

The agricultural sector in Africa has caught the eye of wealthy global investors. There are about 45 new private equity funds that are planning to invest an estimated $2 billion in the sector across the continent, in the next three to five years. Increased demand for agricultural products and biofuels are among the reasons for [...]

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From Maputo to Mogadishu, rising food prices hit poorest again

The rising cost of food is causing anxiety to consumers in rich and poor countries alike, and stoking fears of social unrest in impoverished, unstable parts of the world. At least six people were killed during violent demonstrations in Maputo, Mozambique, following the government’s announcement of a 30% increase in bread prices. People in crisis [...]

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Kenyan maize poison means many face starvation

Despite a bumper harvest of maize just a few months ago, many residents in the eastern part of Kenya are facing hunger and starvation. While granaries in the region may be full, the grain cannot be freely sold. Aflatoxins, known in the region as ‘mbuka’, have affected nearly all the residents of Kenya’s Eastern Province. [...]

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Seeds of a smallholder revolution

Malawi, Tanzania and Ghana are leading the way for a green revolution. It is important to celebrate progress towards increased food security; but more importantly, it is crucial to focus on plans to build on that success quickly and on a much larger scale. Agriculture is Africa’s means to move hundreds of millions of people [...]

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Rising global interest in farmland: Can it yield sustainable and equitable benefits?

The 2007-2008 relatively high and volatile food prices reminded many import-dependent countries of their vulnerability to food insecurity and promoted them to seek opportunities to secure food supplies overseas. About 70% of demand for land acquisition has been in Africa, and countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique and Sudan have transferred millions of hectares to investors [...]

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