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 …
The El Niño dry climate phenomenon has, so far, caused some P1.27 billion in damages to Western Visayas’ agriculture sector. Based on data presented by the Department of Agriculture in Western Visayas (DA-6), the onset of El Niño from the latter part of 2015 up to February 2016 damaged rice …
Improving smallholder farmers' access to modern seed varieties is essential to tackle food security concerns An assessment of smallholder farmers' access to seeds says greater engagement from global seed companies would help boost yields and food security. The Access to Seeds Index said the large multinational companies' quality and range …
Climate change could wipe out 60 per cent of bean production in Sub-Saharan Africa, and decimate banana and maize crops in the region, a study warns. A paper published yesterday in Nature Climate Change urges policymakers to step up efforts to adapt local farming and limit the effects of higher …
This report sets out the shifts in thinking, debate and approaches on agricultural development over recent decades. It charts the way in which these have come full circle, from the primacy of agriculture as central to rural development in the 1960s, to dwindling investment in the 1980s, and onward to …
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) aims at supporting sustainable production in agriculture sector by way of: providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen events; stabilizing the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming; encouraging farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices; …
The UN has declared 2016 is the International Year of Pulses and grain legumes across the world are preparing for their year in the spotlight. Pulses are found in most of the world’s cuisines but the Middle East is probably their biggest cheerleader. Hakan Agro, a major pulse trader player …
This paper develops a three-sector theoretical growth model to capture the role of consumers’ acceptance towards the second generation of genetically modified (GM) crops in the long run growth process of the economy. An Acceptance (towards GM crop) parameter is defined as a ratio of consumption of GM to traditional …
During periods of drought, a native Australian grass, Tripogon loliiformis, "plays dead" to reserve its energy for when it is later resurrected by water, according to researchers from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT). While a few other plants do this too, all of them known as "resurrection plants," the …
Copenhagen — A new analysis of the country-level climate plans submitted to the UN ahead of climate talks in Paris (COP21) has uncovered a huge appetite for technical assistance and climate finance for adaptation and mitigation strategies related to agriculture. The brief, compiled by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate …
The World Bank projects a 1,5 to 2˚Celsius temperature increase as a result of climatic change by 2030, a situation that threatens food security in sub-Saharan Africa. The increase is set to trigger a 40% to 80% reduction in the production of maize, millet and sorghum, as the temperatures would …
A team of crop experts from a Kenya research organization has been awarded for their input in fighting wheat rust. The three Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) experts were awarded the 2015 Borlaug Global Rust Initiative (BGRI) Gene Stewardship Award. The trio also bagged the Norman Borlaug statue …
Researchers from the University of California-Davis recently found a fourth gene that determines how wheat plants flower after experiencing a freeze. Having the key to this process, vernalization, could aid in future development of improved varieties of wheat. Barley, that grain that supplies us with both cereals and beer, had …
Australia increased its wheat production estimate after El Nino-defying rain in winter boosted the outlook for yields in key growing regions. Output may total 25.3 million metric tons in 2015-16 from 23.6 million tons forecast in June, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics & Sciences said in a …
The number of hungry Ethiopians needing food aid has risen sharply this year to 4.5 million due to poor rains and the El Nino weather phenomenon, the UN has said. With rains poorer than predicted, "food insecurity increased and malnutrition rose as a result," the UN Office for the Coordination …
Extreme weather such as intense storms, droughts and heatwaves will cause more frequent and severe food shortages as the global climate and food supply systems change, British and American experts warned on Friday. The pressure on the world's food supplies is so great, and the increase in extreme weather events …
Indian National Agricultural Research System (NARS), including various ICAR Institute of State Agricultural Universities, has been making concerted efforts over the past several decades for developing improved genotypes in different crops with enhance tolerance to various abiotic stresses to cope with weather aberrations. These efforts have resulted in successful adoption …
Malnutrition is a challenge to the health and productivity of populations and is viewed as one of the five largest adverse health impacts of climate change. Nonetheless, systematic evidence quantifying these impacts is currently limited. Our aim was to assess the scientific evidence base for the impact of climate change …
Thousands of people in South Sudan’s Eastern Equatoria state are likely to face severe hunger due to lack of rainfall and unexpected crop failure, an official told Sudan Tribune Monday. The state minister for agriculture, Clement Chichim, disclosed that the greater Kapeota counties were the worst-affected regions. Greater Kapeota consists …
Increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) lower the content of zinc and other nutrients in important food crops. Zinc defi ciency is currently responsible for large burdens of disease globally, and the populations who are at highest risk of zinc defi ciency also receive most of their dietary zinc …
Africa: Blended Finance Initiatives to Facilitate $100 Billion in Support of Sustainable Development Goals Ensuring sustainability from 'farm to fork' is a measure that enhances food security as it enables the provision of nutritious foods produced without degrading the environment. The issue of sustainability is paramount as the world grapples …
