The IMF’s April 2025 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa presents a clear warning: regional growth is slowing, debt pressures are mounting, and donor assistance is declining. Yet the report outlines critical opportunities particularly in domestic revenue mobilization, structural reform, and private sector activation that can shape a more resilient …
A UN environment expert has called for the adoption of conservation agriculture in Africa to help save the continent from climate change. Richard Munang, UN Environment Africa Climate Change Coordinator, said that if not checked, climate change is projected to shrink Africa's economies by a whopping 75 percent in the …
As per the Second Advance Estimates for 2017-18, the production of foodgrains for Rabi season is estimated at 139.02 million tonnes which is higher by 2.24 million tonnes than the previous record production of 136.78 million tonnes during 2016-17. Whereas, the production of Rabi oilseeds has been estimated at 9.52 …
Arusha — Armyworms and pernicious weeds are threatening crops in Arusha. It is feared that they will cause a food shortage. Fall armyworms (FAW), Parthenium hysterophorus weed and a maize wilting disease are causing a serious concern in the region. According to regional administrative secretary Richard Kwitega, the maize wilting …
A team of University of Georgia researchers has developed a new way to breed plants with better traits. By introducing a human protein into the model plant species Arabidopsis thaliana, researchers found that they could selectively activate silenced genes already present within the plant. Using this method to increase diversity …
Dr. Innousa Akintayo, Country Director of Africa Rice, an agricultural based organization has said that introducing new technologies of farming in agriculture will make Liberia a food secured nation. Africa Rice, in collaboration with Smallholder Agricultural Productivity Enhancement and Commercialization Project (SAPEC), recently introduced new farming technologies meant to boost …
Last July, a Whole Foods store in New York’s Harlem decided to stock bags of fonio, a West African grain similar to couscous. The first shipment sold out in three hours. Just last week, Los Angeles Lakers forward Luol Deng hosted a fonio party at his home. It’s the hottest …
London — The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that dry weather conditions and high temperatures are likely to reduce harvests in southern Africa, leading to a rise in food insecurity. In a statement, the FAO pointed out that poor rains and hot temperatures have triggered water …
DAR ES SALAAM Tanzania (Xinhua) -- Tanzania and the European Union (EU) on Wednesday launched three rice projects in Tanzania aimed at increasing competitiveness and improving the post-harvest value chain. The 4.5-million-Euro project is expected to benefit more than 30,000 smallholder farmers in eastern and southern Tanzania’s regions of Morogoro …
The Fall Army Worm (FAW), a destructive and dreadful crop pest which poses a great threat to food security, was spotted in the Gambia some months ago. As a result, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nation together with the Plant Protection Unit of the Department of Agriculture …
Cassava is one of the developing world's most important crops. Its starchy roots and leaves are a staple food for more than 500 million people in Africa each day. And Africa produces half of the world's total cassava output; the continent's main growers are the Congo, Côte d'lvoire, Ghana, Nigeria, …
A new study reveals a rise in temperature could devastate rice yields in West Africa’s Sahel region A new modeling study published warns that the dry-season irrigated rice in West Africa’s Sahel region has reached the critical threshold of 37 degrees Celsius – the tipping point. Further temperature rise could …
A study has warned that the dry-season irrigated rice in West Africa’s Sahel region has reached the critical threshold of 37 degrees Celcius – the tipping point. It added that further temperature rise could devastate rice yields in the region due to decreasing photosynthesis at high temperatures. According to the …
Chinese researchers have found a major quantitative trait locus (QTL) that can be used to cultivate high-manganese, low-cadmium rice, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) said in a statement Tuesday. According to Qian Qian, chief expert and researcher in the field at CAAS, people often have an inadequate intake …
Scientists are engaged in a race against time to breed staple crops that can both survive climate change and yield bigger harvests. Their aim is to feed a growing population in a warming world. The method used for centuries of growing one crop a year in variable weather conditions and …
The country is staring at a food shortage following declined maize and wheat production in the North Rift region - the country's grain basket this season caused by disease outbreaks and erratic weather. The Agriculture ministry estimates a 20 per cent drop in maize yields - 32 million 90kg bags …
Recent years have shown increased awareness that the use of the basic resources water, food, and energy are highly interconnected (referred to as a ‘nexus’). Spatial scales are an important but complicating factor in nexus analyses, and should receive more attention – especially in the policy-oriented literature. In this paper, …
Gabon is trying to revive its agricultural sector after been embroiled in an unprecedented economic crisis. Gabon spends about 400 billion CFA francs a year on food imports,a shortfall for the economy. And so, the government has decided to focus on an ambitious agricultural program based on four food crops …
Kampala — Makerere University researchers have warned that Ugandans are at risk of contracting liver cancer and hepatitis B after several food crops have been found to contain high levels of fungi-produced toxic chemicals called aflatoxins. The sampled food crops include maize, millet, sorghum and cowpeas, which make up part …
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology has issued an alert for a La Nina weather event starting next month, saying the chance it would take place was triple the normal likelihood. The weather occurrence La Nina is triggered when sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean drop to lower-than-normal levels. It …
While food commodity prices have been generally stable, the cost of importing food is forecast to rise six per cent in 2017 to $1.413 trillion, making it the second highest bill on record, according to the latest Food Outlook published by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), expressing concern …
