January 15
South Africa: Healthy Food Is Hard to Come By in Cape Town's Poorer Areas - How Community Gardens Can Fix That
In 1950, as part of the Group Areas Act, South Africa's apartheid government banished people of colour to outlying areas, away from central business districts. The Cape Flats are… Read more »
January 14
Africa: 60% of Continent's Food Based on Treasure Trove of Wheat, Rice and Maize, Neglected
African countries have become reliant on a few food items. Just 20 plant species now provide 90% of our food, with three - wheat, maize and rice - accounting for 60% of all… Read more »
December 21, 2023
Nigeria: Nigeria's Plantain Wine - a Traditional Drink With Huge Economic Potential
Agadagidi, a wine made from plantain, is a popular drink at festive occasions in Nigeria. But it's not always of a high quality. Read more »
December 13, 2023
Africa: COP28's Commitment to Transforming Farming and Food Systems Is an Insult to Africans
Globally, food systems are unsustainable: 80% of the production of food is powered by fossil fuels. The food system is responsible for over one-third of global greenhouse gas… Read more »
November 16, 2023
Africa: Climate Change and Farming - Economists Warn More Needs to Be Done to Adapt in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan African countries strongly rely on the agricultural and forestry sectors. Agriculture contributes up to 60% of some countries' gross domestic product. But the sector is… Read more »
November 13, 2023
South Africa: Diseases On Farms in South Africa - Recent Outbreaks Point to Weaknesses in the System
South Africa has had a number of outbreaks of animal diseases in recent months that suggest there are weaknesses in the country's biosecurity system - the measures in place to… Read more »
South Africa: Bad Food Choices - Clearer Labels Aim to Help South Africans Pick Healthier Options
South Africans have a hard time figuring out which foods are unhealthy when they go shopping. But this is about to change. Read more »
November 08, 2023
East Africa: Turkana Stone Beads Tell a Story of Herder Life in a Drying East Africa 5,000 Years Ago
On the shores of Lake Turkana in east Africa, about 5,000 to 4,000 years ago, pastoralists buried their dead in communal cemeteries that were marked by stone circles and pillars.… Read more »
November 05, 2023
Africa: Growing African Vegetables On Buildings Can Save Space and Feed Cities - New Study
As cities grow, more people need food. However, space for farming is limited in cities. Building facades can offer a solution for growing food. We asked landscape architect Karen… Read more »
November 02, 2023
South Africa: Bird Flu Could Be Eradicated By Editing the Genes of Chickens - Our Study Shows How
Recent advances in gene editing technology could potentially be used to create disease-resistant animals. This could curtail the spread of avian influenza, commonly known as bird… Read more »
October 26, 2023
South Africa: DNA Tech Solves 40-Year-Old Mystery of Pine Tree Disease in South Africa
In the 1970s and 1980s, pine trees growing in various forestry plantations in South Africa's Western Cape province began to die in patches. These trees succumbed to a mysterious… Read more »
October 22, 2023
Southern Africa: Ancient Pots Hold Clues About How Diverse Diets Helped Herders Thrive in Southern Africa
The introduction of herding - a way of life which centres on keeping herds of mobile domesticated animals - significantly changed Africa's genetic, economic, social and cultural… Read more »
October 19, 2023
South Africa: Expert Explains What's Behind the Chicken Crisis and What Must Be Done About It
An outbreak of avian flu - a highly contagious viral infection that affects wild birds as well as poultry - has hit poultry farms in South Africa. Two different strains are causing… Read more »
October 16, 2023
Africa: Traditional Farming Knowledge Should Be Stored for Future Use
Indigenous knowledge and traditional practices have played a critical role in development all over the world. For centuries, various disciplines ranging from medicine to… Read more »
October 12, 2023
Nigeria: Over 2 Million Nigerians Are Displaced By Farmer-Herder Conflict in Benue State
For the past decade many residents in north and central Nigeria have lived in a perpetual state of fear. Conflicts between pastoralists and farmers, land disputes, cattle rustling… Read more »
October 10, 2023
Africa: Battling to Make Ends Meet? Financial Planning Expert Offers 5 Tips On How to Build Your Budget
Every day seems to bring new headlines about rising costs. In Nigeria, unions are threatening to strike amid soaring fuel prices; the country's inflation rate hit 25% in August.… Read more »
October 08, 2023
West Africa: Ecowas Rules to Protect Pastoralists Discourage Investments in Modern Livestock Farming
A common sight around west Africa is to see cattle grazing freely, even in major cities, on highways and in airports. Read more »
October 05, 2023
Liberia: Medicine or Food? People With Diabetes in Liberia Sometimes Have to Choose Between the Two
Diabetes is on the rise globally. Since the 1980s the number of people living with the disease has quadrupled from 108 million to 537 million. Read more »
October 04, 2023
West Africa: Cocoa Prices Surge - West Africa Should Negotiate Better Deal for Farmers
The global price of cocoa is spiking, a direct response to dwindling cocoa output in West Africa. In September, cocoa futures reached a 44-year price peak due to mounting concerns… Read more »
September 27, 2023
South Africa: Meteorite Discovery - Unusual Finds By South African Farmer Add to Space Rock Heritage
Meteorites - fragments of rock that have fallen to Earth from space in spectacularly fiery meteors - have been the subject of public fascination, awe, myths and even religious… Read more »
September 19, 2023
South Africa: South Africa's Smallholder Vegetable Farmers Aren't Getting the Finance They Need - This Is What It Should Look Like
Fresh efforts are being made to increase the share of black ownership in South Africa's agricultural sector. This follows decades of missteps and badly designed interventions that… Read more »
September 18, 2023
Kenya: Kenya's New Urban School Meal Plan Is Ambitious - It Could Offer Lessons for Scaling Up
More than 250,000 children in public primary schools in Nairobi will receive regular subsidised school meals provided by the county government. The Dishi Na County programme is… Read more »
September 13, 2023
Ethiopia: Addis Ababa Faces Growing Climate Change Risks Like Heat, Drought and Floods, Study Warns
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia's capital city, will likely face increased heatwaves, droughts and severe flooding over the next 67 years. These changes will pose risks to public health and… Read more »
August 07, 2023
Africa: Computer Science Can Help Farmers Explore Alternative Crops and Sustainable Farming Methods
Humans have physically reconfigured half of the world's land to grow just eight staple crops: maize (corn), soy, wheat, rice, cassava, sorghum, sweet potato and potato. They… Read more »
July 28, 2023
Africa: Putin Offers Unconvincing Giveaways to Make Up for Killing Ukraine Grain Deal
The second Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg on July 27 and 28 was predictably overshadowed by the war in Ukraine - and especially Russia's refusal to agree an extension of the… Read more »