Africa: Smartphone App Offers Cheap Aflatoxin Test for Farmers

A smartphone application could offer a cheap way for African farming communities to manage cancer-causing toxins produced by a fungus that grows on crops while building a 'big data' set to assist research on outbreaks.
The Lab-on-Mobile-Device (LMD) platform can detect aflatoxins as accurately as a laboratory test, but can be carried out anywhere at a fraction of the cost using a smartphone camera, according to Donald Cooper of the University of Colorado, United States, who co-founded a company called Mobile Assay to develop the technology.
Field trials of LMD began in five locations in East Africa last September in collaboration with several regional research universities and research institutions, and with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The fungus that produces aflatoxin grows on various crops - such as maize and peanuts - in warm climates. The problem affects a quarter of food crops worldwide, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.
Roughly five billion people in the developing world are likely to be exposed to aflatoxins, according to the Partnership for Aflatoxin Control in Africa. The WHO recognises the chemical as a carcinogen.
Efforts to control aflatoxin have been hampered by a lack of adequate diagnostics, says Benoit Gnonlonfin, a food safety researcher working for a research initiative Biosciences eastern and central Africa.
Laboratory tests that can identify the toxin are expensive, costing at least US$15 per test, according to Gnonlonfin, in addition to the challenge of transporting samples from remote areas.
As a result, local regulatory agencies widely use cheaper immunoassay tests, which operate in a similar way to over-the-counter pregnancy tests, for on-location screening. But these can only indicate a positive or negative result via a colour change on test strips or in liquid substrates and so are unable to indicate the level of health threat.
"The immunoassay tests are semi-qualitative techniques and they are not very appropriate for making decisions about whether a batch of food is fit for consumption," he says. "We need more-advanced technologies that are also affordable."
Immunoassay tests are also prone to human error as some require precise timing and because low concentrations of aflatoxin might not trigger an obvious coloured response, according to Cooper. He says that LMD reduces these risks by analysing the shades of the coloured bands on test strips via a digital phone image.
After users photograph the test strip with the smartphone, the app then calculates the pixel density of the coloured band. The result shows how much aflatoxin is present, within a certain threshold, rather than merely giving a simple positive or negative result.
LMD is more sensitive than the human eye, boosting the accuracy of traditional immunoassay tests by a factor of 100, according to Cooper.
Harvesting data
Data from the tests will also be automatically uploaded online to create real-time, open-access maps of aflatoxin outbreaks for research.
"Our goal is to be able to use the big data component of this," says Cooper. He hopes that, once a critical mass of people are using the app in various regions, he will be able to correlate those findings with other information - such as climate data - to build models that predict aflatoxin prevalence.
Gnonlonfin says it would also be helpful to have a risk map.
Each LMD test will cost about US$2-3, although the need to own a smartphone with a camera means Cooper sees LMD not as a tool for every farmer but rather as a more-accurate, on-site test for agricultural co-operatives and regulatory bodies.
Mobile Assay is also developing a prototype low-energy, lightweight ozone decontamination unit to treat infected crops. Cooper says the technology, often used in organic farming in the United States, can neutralise up to 90 per cent of the aflatoxin in a plant.
"You need to be able to couple diagnostics with treatments," says Cooper. "It's one thing to have an easy-to-use and low-cost diagnostic, but then there is the larger question of what to do when you find out that you have a problem. What we're trying to do is answer both questions."
Next week (5 November), The International Food Policy Research Institute will launch a series of 19 policy briefs on managing aflatoxins.
Several briefs examine effective detection and diagnostic technologies, including one on Blue Boxes, portable grain-testing tools that allow for on-the-spot testing of crops at any stage of the supply chain.
"The series provides a good way of bringing together up-to-date information on aflatoxins by experts," said Delia Grace, veterinary epidemiologist at the International Livestock Research Institute, in a story posted on IFPRI's website.

Africa: IFAD Honoured With 2013 Momentum for Change Award for Climate Finance for Smallholder Farmers

Press release

Rome — The International Fund for Agricultural Development's (IFAD's) Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) has won a 2013 Momentum for Change Lighthouse Activities award.
This award recognises IFAD's innovative work in using climate finance to support climate change adaptation activities that deliver social and economic benefits to smallholder farmers.
"We welcome the recognition this award brings IFAD and the donors supporting ASAP," said Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of IFAD. "But far more important is the opportunity it creates for us to help raise the profile of smallholder farmers around the issue of climate change."
Through its Momentum for Change initiative, the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat provides a public platform to highlight broad-ranging climate change actions that are already achieving impacts on the ground, in addressing both climate change and wider economic, social and environmental issues.
IFAD's ASAP was launched just over a year ago and will work in more than thirty developing countries to use climate finance to help make rural development programmes more climate-resilient.
These investments will be aimed at a variety of areas including small-scale water-harvesting, providing farmers with improved seeds that are drought-tolerant and helping them access markets. Also the funding will support tree planting on farms and help farmers access weather forecasts so they know when best to plant and harvest crops.
ASAP is a multi-donor programme, funded by the United Kingdom, Netherlands, Canada, Belgium and Sweden.
"Along with all the donors supporting this programme we congratulate the IFAD team for this award," said Lynne Featherstone, Britain's International Development Minister. "By investing in improved practices and technologies, ASAP is helping millions of smallholder farmers across the world to cope with the impacts of climate change."
"This vital work is not only building resilience, it is also safeguarding farmers' jobs and livelihoods, especially those of women, and helping them to lift themselves out of poverty," added Featherstone. "We look forward to other donors joining us and investing in this programme so it can benefit many more smallholder farmers."
ASAP will help 8 million smallholder farmers to expand their options in a rapidly changing climate and in doing so is transforming IFAD's operations. In the year since its launch, IFAD's ASAP has become the largest global financing source dedicated to supporting the adaptation of poor smallholder farmers to climate change.

Africa: Climate Change to Disrupt Soil Nutrients in Drylands

The increased aridity expected this century as a result of climate change may disrupt the balance of key soil nutrients with a knock-on effect on soil fertility threatening livelihoods of more than two billion people, a study finds.
The drop in nitrogen and carbon concentrations that occurs as soils become dryer could have serious effects on ecosystem services such as food production, carbon storage and biodiversity, according to the Nature paper published today.
Loss of nitrogen and carbon, which are the basic building blocks of living organisms, drastically affects land's productivity, says Fernando T. Maestre, a biologist and geologist from King Juan Carlos University, Spain, and a co-author of the report.
"If plant productivity is reduced, the capability of the land to support livestock and crops will be affected and this will have a big impact on people who depend on them," he tells SciDev.Net.
Drylands make up more than 40 per cent of the world's land area, and host a similar proportion of the world's population. Many are expected to get drier because of climate change.
The study measured the nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus content of soil at 224 sites across all continents except Antarctica, which together represent a wide range of soil and vegetation types, climates and species diversity.
As ecosystems became more arid, it found, both nitrogen and carbon concentrations decreased, which may significantly impair plant and microbial activity, with knock-on effects on organic decomposition and plant growth.
Limited nitrogen content could also reduce plants' ability to convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds such as sugars through photosynthesis, resulting in even greater climate change, the study says.
Despite a rise in phosphorus levels, plants cannot use this important element, as the enzyme they need to absorb it through their roots is dependent on nitrogen availability.
The study's data suggest that "as global climate change progresses, the ecosystem properties of many drylands could pass a tipping point that will be difficult or impossible to reverse," writes David A. Wardle, a researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, in an accompanying comment piece in Nature.
He adds: "Reduced soil carbon and nitrogen may impair the supply of nutrients from the soil and therefore the productivity of crops and livestock, with potentially dire consequences for many of the more than two billion people who inhabit dryland regions."

Africa: Farmers Could Cut Emissions While Boosting Production

Farmers could earn more and protect the environment by using technologies and practices that reduce the global warming gases that livestock emit, according to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
The report's five case studies suggest that the potential for mitigation is greatest among low-productivity ruminant producers in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America and the Caribbean.
It found that raising livestock such as pigs, cattle and poultry generates climate-altering gases with an impact equivalent to 7.1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, representing 14.5 per cent of all human-caused greenhouse gas (GHC) emissions.
The challenge, says the report (published 26 September), is reducing emissions while meeting the soaring demand for livestock products - a demand that is projected to rise by more than 70 per cent between 2005 and 2050.
Only 10 per cent of producers currently use technologies which could, if taken up more widely, cut the emissions from all livestock species by up to 30 per cent while boosting production, too.
"These efficiency gains can be achieved by improving practices and don't necessitate changing production systems," says Ren Wang, the FAO's assistant director-general for agriculture and consumer protection.
Currently, the majority of the livestock sector's emissions originate from cattle, with beef production contributing 41 per cent and cattle milk production contributing 20 per cent.
In terms of activities, the worst culprit is feed production and processing, which accounts for 45 per cent of emissions from livestock-related practices. This is followed by manure storage and processing, which is responsible for ten per cent of these emissions.

Improved feeds
In the case of ruminants, such as cattle, buffalo, sheep and goats, the report finds that using better quality feeds would lower the amount of methane they emit during digestion as well as the quantity of nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide released by their decomposing manure.
Also, by improving the breeding and health of their animals, producers could get the same returns from fewer but more productive animals, it says.
Other emission-mitigating practices mentioned by the report include: better management of grazing land; recovering and recycling nutrients and energy contained in manure; and using less energy along the livestock production chain, for example in transport, feed production and to process animal products.
Governments should offer incentives that prompt farmers to invest in the most environmentally friendly technologies, the report says. And they should provide farmers with information about, access to and training on good practices and technologies, it adds.

Opportunity for reductions
Michael Blummel, a researcher at the International Livestock Research Institute at Hyderabad, India, says that Indian dairy farmers could reduce methane emissions by about a million tonnes a year if they could boost the amount of milk that each cow produced from an average of four kilograms to six kilograms a day.
This would enable the farmers to obtain the same amount of milk from fewer animals, he tells SciDev.Net, adding that institutional support, for example, access to affordable improved animals, would be needed.
James Kinyangi, who leads CGIAR's climate change, agriculture and food security research programme in east Africa, tells SciDev.Net that methods of intensifying sustainable livestock production on the continent vary by region.
"For example, in West Africa [lower] emissions could come from better grazing management and better utilisation of feed and fodder from crop residues. But in East Africa, the use of feed and fodder could be improved by using farm wastes and grain milling products."
South American cuts
In the case of Latin America, Roberto Díaz, a researcher at Uruguay's National Agricultural Research Institute sees an opportunity to lower cattle-generated emissions in South America's Southern Cone, which comprises Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay, especially on medium and large farms owned by large businesses.
"Cattle fattening and milk production in our region have already been upgraded, so, for us, the accent must be put on improving cattle breeding, which probably has the highest relative emissions and is confined to the worst soils and least-productive areas," he tells SciDev.Net.
He questions the FAO's contention that livestock emissions can be reduced without requiring changes to production systems.
"This assertion applies to simple technologies such as sanitary controls for improving animal feeds, but in our region we need to improve grazing lands that have been degraded through soy production and by turning forested lands into subtropical prairies. This requires a new approach by integrating agriculture and cattle technologies," he adds.
Díaz adds that the wider adoption of best practice technologies in feeding, health and husbandry, and manure management that the FAO report proposes will succeed if they increase productivity, because it will also stimulate the private sector to take up the suggestions.

Kama ulikuwa ufahamu hizi ndio project zinazoendelea kufanywa na TAFEtz huko Nanyumbu Mtwara.

Hapo kuna picha za kutembelea machamba ambazo tko kwenye bustani, na nyingine ni za training ambapo tulitrain vijana 15, tukiwa na maoficer wawili kutoka serikalini, kwenye shamba la nyanya vijana walisha anza kuvuna. huo nche wa nyanya una toa nyanya 50 mpaka 60. kwa mche mmoja.  na waameishapanda sehemu nyingine karoti kwa ajili ya kuendeleza mradi.   training was about transformation and group formation.then baadaa ya hapo tukafanya  need assessment where the groups proposed the projects they foresee to implement and prioritize. as well as dressing the support required from  Tafe for the success of such projects, out of having youth seccessful in production of vegetables, other proposed to start ground nut production where we gave them Jembe, panga na slesher. also the bee project is planned to began while assessing on the intervention that will  ensure rain water harvesting schemes for irrigation as the track to drip irrigation system.

any thing more dont hesitate to ask, 

the best wishes.

victor.

Liberia: Community Radio Enhances Food Security

The United States Aid for Development (USAID) Food and Enterprise Development (FED) Program for Liberia has formed partnerships with 14 radio stations in rural Liberia to promote the country's agriculture sector over the nation's airwaves and enhance food security in the country.
The partnership is part of USAID FED's strategy to increase productivity among small and medium scale farmers in Liberia. The rural radio program training gave 28 community journalists from Grand Bassa,
Margibi, Bong, Lofa and Nimba counties hands-on experience creating agriculture-focused radio programs.
Over a ten-day period, USAID FED radio specialists led mentoring and coaching exercises for the journalists.

The release noted that under the partnership, journalists are tasked with creating a series of 30-minute agriculture-focused programs by interviewing area farmers about issues they face.
To complement the programming, journalists are free to interview USAID FED agriculture extension agents in order to provide complementary information on farming.
As a result, listeners will have the opportunity to hear both farmers and USAID FED agriculture specialists speak on rice, cassava and vegetable farming and animal husbandry.
The programming targets farmers as well as wholesalers, input suppliers and others engaged in agribusiness.
"The community radio journalists are key partners in the dissemination of USAID FED's agriculture extension messages. Radio is an excellent tool capable of reaching thousands of farmers in Liberia.
USAID FED looks forward to hearing the programming tailored to farmers on Liberia's rural radio stations," explained Boima Bafaie, USAID FED's Deputy Chief of Party was quoted as saying.
Due to the lack of print media and television, community radio is often the most important source of information for rural farmers

The release maintained that transmitting useful information to farmers over community radio is a new idea in Liberia's rural areas, where one radio tower has the potential to reach over 200,000 listeners.
"In the past, we didn't think much about farmers as listeners. The radio is one way to make them see farming as a business and not just for survival. We can share a lot of useful information with them," says
Chester Dolo from Ganta's Kergheamahan Radio.
For many of the journalists, the training was the first time they have covered agriculture related issues in their areas, and seen themselves as a medium capable of transmitting farming best practices to farmers. These messages are expected to assist farmers in generating higher yields, higher incomes and provide business opportunities for rural farmers to improve their lives.

South Africa: Bill to Grant Small-Scale Fishing Rights

Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson has described as "historic" a new amendment Bill which will give small-scale fishers collective fishing rights for the first time, helping to root out poverty and poaching in South Africa's 150 fishing communities.
The Marine Living Resources Amendment Bill, which is expected to come before the National Assembly's portfolio committee on agriculture, forestry and fisheries next Tuesday, allows for the allocation of fishing rights to identified small-scale fishing communities, which have previously been excluded from the commercial fishing rights allocation process.

Small-scale fishing policy
The Bill intends to bring into force the department's small-scale fishing policy, which supports the setting up of community-based legal entities - in the form of co-operatives - by small-scale fishers to allow fishing communities access to fishing rights.
Under the policy, the department proposes that certain areas along the coast be demarcated and prioritised for small-scale fishers.
Desmond Stevens, the department's acting deputy director-general of fisheries, said the department had so far engaged with about 80% of stakeholders - including small-scale fishing associations and large fishing companies - and that a broad consensus had been reached on the need for fishing rights for small-scale fishers.
Stevens said the small-scale fishing policy would introduce a co-management approach which could give each fishing community, together with local authorities, the department and scientists, shared responsibility managing the fishery sector.
Once a fishing community had established a community-based legal entity, the community would then be able to apply to the minister to have an area designated a small-scale fishing community area.
It is proposed that comprehensive regular assessments be conducted to determine which species should be made available to small-scale fishers, sustainable harvesting targets and, where appropriate, the boundaries of areas demarcated for small-scale fishers.

Counting SA's subsistence fishers
In its current strategic plan, the department envisages that 70% of eight of the current 22 fishing sectors will be allocated to small businesses and small-scale fishers - including sectors like line fish and lobster.
The department has identified 150 fishing communities, as well as possible areas to be demarcated exclusively for small-scale fishers, and the number of species that can be included in fishing rights.
While the National Development Plan (NDP) states that South Africa has about 29 000 subsistence fishers, Stevens said the department had about 8 000 such fishers on its books.
However, he said the department intended to appoint an independent organisation to conduct a count of the country's fishers; a list would be then published for members of the public to comment on.
Through giving communities access to fishing rights, the Bill, he said, would also help reduce the incidence of poaching, as communities would be more likely to protect marine resources if they were also able to make a livelihood from it.

Support for the Bill
While the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) supports fishing co-operatives and small fishing companies through its Fishing Cluster Project, Stevens said a number of other departments already supported the Bill and would, together with commercial fishing companies, provide resources and support for small-scale fishers.
Stevens' department also plans to help small-scale fishers to expand into the full fishing value-chain of not only harvesting, but also processing and marketing, by offering facilities and other resources to co-operatives.
Naseegh Jaffer, the director of the Masifundise Development Trust - a non-governmental organisation which works with small-scale fishing communities - said the Bill would also help unify fishing communities, encouraging them to work together rather than competing for individual fishing rights.
Since the adoption of the Allocation and Management of Long Term Fishing Rights in 2005, Masifundise Development Trust, along with other small-scale fishing groups, has campaigned to see the realisation of collective fishing rights for small-scale fishers.
Jaffer said the establishment of community-based legal entities would help provide small-scale fishers with better incomes. At present, many fishers have to loan money from middle-men to fund their fishing activities - only to have to repay them with up to 90% of the value of their catch.
In keeping with the policy, small-scale fishers are expected to be awarded the rights for near-shore fishing (within 10 nautical miles of the shore, according to Jaffer) in those areas designated by the minister.
Jaffer called on the department to work with fishers in local communities to ensure that genuine fishers were identified for participation in each community-based legal entity.

Fishers 'should know their rights'
The chairperson of South African United Fishing Front, Pedro Garcia, warned that many in fishing communities could find themselves exploited if they were not trained and prepared to work in a co-operative to take advantage of collective rights.
However, Garcia questioned whether the planned establishment of community-based legal entities was not unconstitutional, in that it might be in breach of freedom of association ascribed in the Bill of Rights.
Shaheen Moolla of natural resources advisory firm Feike said the co-operatives model had also proved problematic in the fishing industry, as many that operated in the past had reaped little income because many were not run by business-minded people.
Moolla raised concern that the granting of collective rights would result in an already dwindling fish stock divided among more fishers, which could in turn lead to increased poverty and poaching in fishing communities.
He pointed to Vietnam, which had in 2010 done away with collective fishing rights in response to dwindling fish stocks.
Some 2 200 small-scale fishers were already operating with individual rights or with exemptions from having to obtain rights, Moolla said.

However, he agreed with the small-scale fisher policy's call for a territorial user rights system, based on fishers having the rights to access fish stocks in the area in which they reside.
The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the National Assembly's portfolio committee on agriculture, forestry and fisheries would hold public hearings on the Bill on 15 and 16 October.

Africa: World Cereal Production Set to Jump 8 Percent This Year

Press release

Rome — The outlook for global cereal supply in the 2013/14 marketing season remains generally favourable despite downward adjustments to forecasts for world cereal production and closing stocks, according to the latest issue of FAO's quarterly Crop Prospects and Food Situation report.
Despite this downward adjustment, world cereal production would still surpass the 2012 level by nearly 8 percent.
Meanwhile, the FAO Food Price Index dropped for the fifth month in a row in September, driven by a sharp fall in the international prices of cereals. The prices of dairy, oils, meat and sugar rose slightly.
The Index, which measures the monthly change in the international prices of a basket of 55 food commodities, averaged 199.1 points last month, 2.3 points or 1 percent below its August value. It is down 11 points or 5.4 percent since the beginning of the year. However, it is still higher than in the same period in 2009 or 2010.
FAO will hold a second Ministerial Meeting on International Food Prices on Monday 7 October at its Rome headquarters to provide a forum to discuss food price volatility and the policy challenges it poses. More than 40 government ministers are expected.

Cereal production up by 8 percent over 2012
At 2 489 million tonnes, FAO's current forecast for world cereal production in 2013 is marginally lower (by 3 million tonnes) than reported in September, mainly reflecting poorer prospects for the South America wheat crop, following adverse weather.
The expected 8 percent increase in world cereal production this year over 2012 is mainly the result of an 11 percent anticipated expansion in coarse grains output to about 1 288 million tonnes.
The United States, the world's largest maize producer, would account for the bulk of the increase, as it is expected to harvest a record maize crop of 348 million tonnes, 27 percent higher than the previous year's drought-reduced level.
The FAO forecast for world cereal stocks by the close of seasons in 2014 has been revised downward by almost 2 percent since September, to 559 million tonnes, still 12 percent (62 million tonnes) above their opening level and the highest level since 2001/02.
International trade in cereals in 2013/14 is forecast to reach 312.4 million tonnes, 1.6 percent (4.8 million tonnes) higher than in 2012/13 and slightly above the level expected in September. Trade in 2013/14 is expected to benefit from larger export availabilities of coarse grains in particular.

Food insecurity hotspots
The Crop Prospects and Food Situation report highlights the following food insecurity hotspots, among others:
In Syria, due to conflict about 4 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
In the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, an estimated 2.8 million vulnerable people require food assistance until the next harvest in October.
Despite an improved food supply situation this year in the Sahel, a large number of people are still affected by conflict and the lingering effects of the 2011/12 food crisis, notably in northern Mali.
In Central Africa, the food security situation continues to deteriorate in the Central African Republic (CAR) and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) due to protracted civil insecurity. Nearly 6.35 million people in DRC (18 percent up on last year) and 1.3 million people in CAR (more than double from February 2013) are in need of humanitarian assistance.
In Southern Africa, drought conditions in western parts resulted in a decline in cereal production and in higher prices in 2013, causing a rise in the number of food insecure, particularly in Namibia.
In Zimbabwe, maize production in 2013 declined by about 18 percent from last year's below average level. The number of food insecure is projected to rise to 2.2 million people between January and March 2014, significantly above the 1.67 million in the first quarter of 2013.
In Somalia, South Sudan and Sudan about 870 000, 1.2 million and 4.3 million people respectively are in need of humanitarian assistance due to conflict, natural disasters and other causes.

Africa: CFS Governments Must Face Up to Global Thirst for Biofuels Which Spell Hunger for Millions

 

Press release

Governments must put people's right to food before short term commercial interests, said Oxfam before the opening of the Committee on Food Security's annual meeting in Rome (7 October). The international agency is calling for Governments to ensure that biofuel policies do not force poor farmers off their land and fuel food price spikes.
The CFS meeting is the first UN forum to discuss the issue of biofuels in depth. The aim will be to agree collective action to ensure that policies, operations and investments in biofuels do not lead to land-grabs and food prices spikes. The CFS is the center of the global governance on food and nutrition security and includes all governments, civil society, international organizations and the private sector. Its 40th annual meeting will run from 7 - 11 October.
The UN's Food and Agricultural Organizations ministerial meeting, taking place during the CFS, is an opportunity for governments to show leadership and commit to phase out support for biofuels that have negative impacts on people's food security and livelihoods.

"The evidence is clear"
Luca Chinotti, Oxfam food and agriculture advisor said:
"The evidence is clear. Europe and the US in particular have helped spark a global rush for biofuels that is driving poor families off their land and fueling food price rises, while big business piles up the profit."
It is estimated that by 2020, the EU's biofuel policies alone could push up vegetable oil prices by up to 36 percent, maize by up to 22 percent and sugar by up to 21 percent. While land used to power European cars with biofuels for one year could produce enough wheat and maize to feed 127 million people.
"The CFS offers a unique opportunity for countries to go beyond short term economic interests and put food and people first," said Chinotti. "Governments need to decide whether to put the interest of the biofuel industry first or listen to civil society, international organizations such as FAO, IFAD, WFP and the World Bank as well as the major food companies who are calling for a radical change in biofuel policies.

Time-bound commitments
"Governments should agree to eliminate all mandates, tariffs and subsidies on biofuels that have negative impacts on food security by driving food price volatility and land grabbing."
Oxfam is also calling governments to take specific time-bound commitments towards the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines on Responsible Tenure Governance (VGGT) during the CFS meeting. The Voluntary Guidelines were agreed by the governments at the CFS in May 2012 at the end of a negotiation process involving also civil society, international organizations and the private sector. If implemented, they will contribute to ensure small scale food producers have access to and control over land and other natural resources.
The CFS also provides the opportunity to make progress in ensuring that investments in agriculture benefit smallholders and move toward the development of principles of responsible agricultural investment. Oxfam is calling on Member States should recognize the critical role of smallholders as the main investors in agriculture and commit to tackle constraints faced by smallholder producers, notably by developing country-owned visions of smallholder agriculture.

Tanzania: Govt to Scale Up Food Fortification Programme

THE government is in talks with development partners to see to it that food fortification programme is scaled up across the country, involving as many Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) undertaking food processing as possible.
The ambitious move is termed as an important one as studies show that the food fortification exercise currently involving about seven giant food and oil processors is showing tremendous and impressive progress.
Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC) nutrition expert, Mr Celestine Mgoba, told the 'Daily News' yesterday that fortification of food which was officially launched by President Jakaya Kikwete in May this year need to be scaled up countrywide.
"Talks are due for the partners supporting us to implement this programme to continue doing so to attain a wider coverage. The target is to reach SMEs to make this programme sustainable and comprehensive," he said.

In achieving that, he said, the plan is to procure and supply special machines called Dosifiers that are installed to facilitate some of the fortification process. He mentioned the partners aspiring to support the programme as the Department for International Department (DFID), Hellen Keller International and Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN).
Already, according to Ms Mgoba the three have shown interest and commendable financial commitment in supporting the ongoing two-year pilot fortification programme which is expecting to spend more than 7bn/- upon completion next year. The food fortification programme is implemented as statistics indicate that Tanzania is severely affected with 42 per cent of its children under the age of five stunted as a result of malnutrition while six in ten children are anaemic.

Before the introduction of food fortification technology it was estimated that the country was losing about 150bn/- each year in decreased productivity caused by vitamins and mineral deficiencies. Food science experts say that lack of knowledge in that area has caused severe problems whereby the average diet in many families is monotonous, deficient and poor in essential micronutrients.
"The effects of the micronutrient deficiencies that occur in childhood are many and can manifest themselves even more seriously at adulthood of the affected," said Mr Mgoba. The Tanzania Food and Drugs Regulatory Authority (TFDA) says the food fortification programme will be strictly monitored to make sure that only quality fortified food is consumed.

Africa: Switch to Organic Farming May Boost Yields and Incomes

Switching to organic and resource-conserving methods of farming can improve smallholder crop yields, food security and income, a review study has found.
But a more-extensive evidence base founded on rigorous and consistent research methods is needed before the findings can be generalised to other situations, according to the study published in the current issue of the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability.
"The findings show at the farm level it [organic farming] appears to be very positive - more than many people think," says Steve Franzel, an agricultural economist at the World Agroforestry Centre, Kenya, co-author of the study.

The review feeds into what Franzel describes as a "polarised" debate between conventional agriculture and organic and resource-saving agriculture (ORCA) methods.
In an era of rising energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions, some researchers are questioning whether conventional agriculture's reliance on chemical fertilisers is sustainable, and point to its negative effects: pesticide residues, soil erosion and reduced biodiversity.
ORCA offers a possible solution, aiming to use natural goods and services without compromising their future use. Its practices include integrated pest and nutrient management, conservation tillage, agroforestry, aquaculture, water harvesting and livestock integration.

The review looks at 31 case studies of farms in Africa and South America, the majority of which were smaller than seven hectares, which switched to ORCA methods.
It found yields increased in 19 of the 25 cases that reported on it, food security improved in seven of eight cases, and income went up in 19 of 23 cases.
While the majority of farmers moving from an organic-by-default system - those without access to industrial fertilisers and pesticides - benefit from the change, farmers choosing to give up modern chemicals and techniques had more mixed results.
Yields decreased in five out of six cases, and farmers saw greater profits in only three out of five cases.
Market linkages also play a major role, the review finds, with farms with good access to markets more likely to profit from conversion to ORCA

Africa: Feeding Africa Through Agricultural Innovation

 

After the agriculture heyday of 30 years ago, the sector got scant attention, especially from African presidents whose nations were well endowed with natural resources, like oil-rich Nigeria. But many African leaders are returning to a focus on what their nations can grow.
Nigeria, for example, was once a major exporter of groundnuts, or peanuts, cocoa and other crops, and it was "food secure". It grew all its people needed to eat. But last year Nigeria spent over U.S.$70 billion importing food, including products made from such crops as tomatoes that can grow in abundance in Nigeria.
Nigeria's agriculture minister, Akinwumi Adesina, whose doctorate from an American university is in agricultural economics, is one of the new leaders determined to reverse that food dependence.
Nigeria, in order to build resilience and tackle food insecurity through raising agricultural productivity and food production, launched the Agricultural Transformation Agenda in 2012. The overall goals are to add 20 million metric tons of food to the domestic food supply by 2015, create 3.5 million jobs and to become a net exporter of food, Adesina has said.

Calestous Juma, director of the Science, Technology and Globalization Project at the Belfer Center of Science and International Affairs at Harvard University, said there is a "new generation" of African leaders focusing on agricultural transformation.
"Political leadership is a key driver of agricultural investment in Africa," said Juma. "This should now be followed by long-term national and regional policies that guarantee consistency in government commitment to agriculture. This is a key role that the African Union can play by maintaining focus on agricultural policy over the next two decades."

Juma, author of the 2011 book "The New Harvest: Agricultural Innovation in Africa" has said that Africa, which has the largest share of the world's uncultivated land, can feed itself in a generation and be able to export products to other regions of the world. But he said doing so would require concerted investments in infrastructure, technical training and creation of regional as well as new international markets.
"Innovation in mobile communication, crop insurance, post-harvest loss reduction and other risk-reducing incentives will be essential for raising agricultural productivity," Juma said. "But the most important investments will be rural infrastructure - power, roads, irrigation and telecoms - and political commitment."

Last July, the Rockefeller Foundation hosted a summit in Abuja, Nigeria, titled 'Realising the Potential of Africa's Agriculture: Catalytic Innovations for Growth", which brought together agriculture and finance ministers, along with other leaders from more than 23 African nations to identify concrete ways to strengthen African agricultural markets and 'value chains' to benefit smallholder farmers.
The summit was part of a series of global convenings hosted by the Foundation during its centennial year.
Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, has said that across the continent there has been a renewed commitment from governments, non-governmental organisations and the private sector to move agriculture from a development challenge to a business opportunity.

Zimbabwe: Nutritious, Cheaper Food Supplement for Zimbabwe

TWO international organisations have unveiled a nutritious and cheaper food supplement, the e'Pap, in a bid to alleviate hunger in Zimbabwe.
The food supplement, which costs less than a quarter of a dollar per serving, was introduced by Miracle Missions in conjunction with e'Pap Zimbabwe.
Miracle Missions is a Christian organisation involved in community work around the country.
E'Pap, which is already popular in South Africa, is a pre-cooked cereal made from unrefined maize and soya bean with 28 added nutrients, to focus on addressing micronutrient deficiencies, also known as hidden hunger.
E'Pap Zimbabwe representative, Shelley Lasker said the food supplement was not only full of nutrients, but has also been formulated to improve the ability of the body to digest and break down food, ensuring full benefits in one's entire diet.
"E'Pap is a great tool for companies with social responsibility programmes," she said.
The supplement comes at a time when over two million people in Zimbabwe are in need of food assistance following poor yields in most parts of the country, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).
Hunger is most prevalent in provinces such as Manicaland, Masvingo, Midlands and Matabeleland region.
Statistics from the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare indicate that about 12 000 children under the age of five die in the country yearly as a result of malnutrition.
Econocom Foods chief executive officer, Basil Kransdorff, a food expert from South Africa, said poverty has seen the emergence of a "sterile mono diet" focussed on maize meal, which does not address the daily nutrient requirements.
This, he said, was now called "hidden hunger" which e'Pap sought to address.
Hidden hunger is not the kind that comes from lack of food, but is a long-term, chronic lack of vitamins and minerals.
"Eating commercially farmed and over-processed sterile food may make us feel full, but our bodies will not ever be nutrient replete. Nutrient repleteness plays a vital role in helping human beings become functional," Kransdorff said.

Tanzania: Science, Technology Innovations to Eradicate Disease, Poverty Worldwide

New York — PRESIDENT Jakaya Kikwete has challenged national leaders world over to take advantage of prevailing social, economic and scientific innovations to build a world free of poverty, hunger, disease and deprivation.
Addressing the UN General Assembly here on Friday evening, President Kikwete said a desirable world to be built should also be the one that protects its environment and nature.
He told the gathering that it was possible to have a world without wars, conflicts and acts of terrorism...a world where human rights were respected, rule of law observed, democracy reigned and the civil society was regarded as an integral part of the development endeavour.
"Despite many challenges, the world was passing through time of great opportunity. With stronger multilateralism and the United Nations leading the way and with strong political will on the part of national leaders and the people, everything is possible.
We can make our world a better place for everyone to live," he said. He paid glowing tribute to the UN Secretary General, Mr Ban ki-Moon for the excellent work he is doing for the UN and humanity at large.
He also commended the choice of this year's General assembly's theme - Post 2015 Development Agenda: Setting the stage, which he said was timely and very opportune.
"It affords us the opportunity here with regard to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and decide what needs to be done to complete the unfinished business and enable us to make informed decision beyond 2015," he said.
Mr Kikwete said it was heartwarming to note that progress towards attaining MDGs was recorded in the last 13 years. However, he noted that the progress was highly uneven among nations and continents and varied from one goal to another.
He gave an example of extreme poverty that has been halved at global level, where 1.2 billion people were still trapped there with about 19,000 children under the age of five and around 800 women die every day mostly from preventable and curable diseases and other causes.
The president said it was totally unacceptable in today's world of plenty, where there was unprecedented advancement in science and technology which could be leveraged to solve all development challenges facing humanity.

Angola: Agricultural Products Outflow Corridors Set Up

 

Four corridors to flow out agricultural products have been created under the Integrated Rural Trade Plan, said Thursday in Luanda the minister of Trade, Rosa Pacavira.
The minister said so at the end of the 9th ordinary session of the Cabinet Council's Economic Commission. The official said that the corridors are those of the northern, eastern , north and southern centres. According to her, the centre/north corridor comprises the provinces of Lunda Norte, Kwanza Norte, Malanje and Uige.
The eastern centre covers the provinces of Huambo, Bie, Benguela, Lunda Sul and Moxico. In its turn, the northern corridor responds for the provinces of Luanda, Bengo, Cabinda, Zaire and Kwanza Sul. The Southern Corridor includes the Namibe, Cunene, Huila and Kubango provinces

Who to Blame for the Infected Maize Seeds Saga?

 

Analysis

Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB) has said that it is closely monitoring the maize planted recently in the Northern and Western provinces, after reports that some of the maize varieties distributed to farmers in these areas could have contained a deadly disease.
Last week, the Minister of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, Dr Agnes Kalibata, speaking from Rulindo district, confirmed that the maize seeds that were supplied to the two provinces are subject to a follow up, after laboratory samples showed they were infected.
Under the Crop Intensification Programme, the ministry supplies seeds for maize, wheat and soya beans to farmers growing these crops on a large scale and most of the seeds are locally produced while about 25 per cent is imported.
RAB officials told this paper this week that over 1,500 tonnes of the maize seeds were imported by three companies at different intervals.
The companies are Seedco, a Zimbabwean-based company with an office in Kigali, Pannar, from South Africa, and Kenya Seed Company from Kenya.
About 100 tonnes of Hybrid Pannar 691 distributed to farmers in the Northern Province were found attacked by a virus called Maize Chlorotic Mottle Virus (MCMV).

During an interview, an official working with one of the importers said, on condition of anonymity, that "the virus is endemic in Africa and would not cause harm on its own, but when combined with another virus called Sugar Cane Mosaic Virus (SCMV), it makes devastating impact."
The official said the combination becomes the Maize Lethal Necrosis Disease (MLND), which would result in quarantining the affected region, "like it happened once in Kenya."
"The maize is actually not infected with MLND, but the Agriculture ministry is legitimately acting quickly to avoid any possibility of this virus making it to Rwanda."
RAB technicians are now taking more samples from farmers to get accurate information on the matter and farmers who acquired seeds from the stock said to be infected were requested to not plant more, until further notice, and they will have to uproot the infected seeds.

Africa: FAO, Oie and Who Unite for World Rabies Day to Call for Elimination of Disease

Press release

Rome — Mass dog vaccinations and public awareness key to breaking cycle of transmission
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have issued the following joint statement on the occasion of World Rabies Day.

UNITED AGAINST RABIES
On World Rabies Day - 28 September - FAO, OIE and WHO unite in their goal to eliminate human rabies and control the disease in animals.
Every year, an estimated 60 000 people die an agonizing death from rabies, many of whom are children bitten by rabies-infected dogs.
Rabies is preventable!

Awareness and education
Community participation, education and public awareness are important elements of successful rabies control programmes, and mass vaccination of dogs is critical. Communities need to take responsibility for their dogs, prevent dog bites and know what to do when bitten.

Break the cycle
More than 100 countries report cases of rabies in dogs putting people at risk. Vaccinating at least 70% of dogs breaks the cycle of transmission in dogs and to humans. Rabies programmes need to incorporate free-roaming and street dogs with options for dog population management.
Safe, efficacious and affordable dog rabies vaccine are available, and countries embarking on rabies elimination need easy access to quality-assured dog vaccines for vaccination campaigns and for outbreak management. Vaccine banks can help facilitate procurement and deliveries.

When a person is bitten
A person who is bitten by a rabid animal still has the chance to survive if the wound is cleaned immediately and thoroughly with plenty of water and soap and post-exposure prophylaxis is provided in time (a course of vaccines and, in severe cases, immunoglobulins).
Preventive rabies vaccination can be given to people at high risk of exposure from domestic or wild animals, such as animal health workers, veterinarians or laboratory personnel, to protect them before they are exposed.

Africa: Can the B-Word Beat Malnutrition?

Dakar — While fortifying staple foods, such as wheat flour and salt, has become routine in urban parts of malnutrition-prone West Africa, bio-fortification - the breeding of more nutritious vegetables, grains and pulses - is still a relatively new phenomenon for the region, but it is set to explode over the next decade, say food security experts.
The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) houses HarvestPlus, a programme that breeds varieties of sweet potato, cassava, plantain, corn, rice and other staples enriched with vitamin A, zinc and iron - the nutrients that the World Health Organization says people in developing countries are most deficient in.
Projects using these plants to tackle malnutrition are taking place across Asia and in Africa, including Mozambique and Uganda.
In Senegal, food security NGO Yaajeende, supported by USAID, has teamed up with HarvestPlus to re-introduce the vitamin A-rich orange-flesh sweet potato to the country (it died out for reasons that remain unclear) and to replace the currently used millet seed with iron-enriched pearl millet. Eventually, they hope to introduce zinc-enriched rice and vitamin A-enriched orange corn.
"We want to reach a point where you see more orange sweet potato than any other kind in Senegal," Todd Crosby, head of Yaajeende, told IRIN.
He added, "We hope to have replaced existing millet seed with bio-fortified millet by our project's end," in five to 10 years' time.
Bio-fortification technology was introduced to Africa several years ago, but take-up is expected to accelerate, with the involvement of not just governments, research institutes and nonprofits, but huge multinational corporations as well. Nestlé, for example, has long worked in micro-nutrient fortification and is now embracing bio-fortification, with plans to integrate vitamin A-enriched cassava and iron- and zinc-enriched rice varieties from Nigeria and Madagascar, respectively, into its future product lines.
In 2008, the Copenhagen Consensus identified bio-fortification as one of its top five solutions to global development challenges.
Nutrient deficiencies
According to IFRPRI's Global Hidden Hunger index, released in June 2013, 18 of the 20 countries with the highest micronutrient deficiency rates are in sub-Saharan Africa.

Tanzania: Inflation Drops Amidst Food Boom

HEADLINE inflation has dropped to reach 6.7 per cent in August from 16.0 per cent in December 2012, while economic growth rate reached 7.5 per cent last year.
The Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr William Mgimwa, attributed the trend to improved food supply in many parts of the country.
"Increased food reserves has helped to address challenge of food shortage in areas that experienced the problem," the Minister told a news conference in Dar es Salaam on Monday. Dr Mgimwa said the government has assured farmers that agricultural inputs will be available in most parts of the country in time.
"Since 75 per cent of the population is living in rural areas, the government has introduced different initiatives to support the people whose main activity is agriculture," he said. He said exports of goods and services rose for the period ended July, this year, by 1.3 per cent from US$ 8,161.5 million to US$ 8,269.6 million in 2012.

The minister said tourism and transportation dominated the country's export of services. "Both tourism and transportation service have contributed to the income by 80 per cent," he said.
Dr Mgimwa said during the period under review imports dropped by 0.7 per cent and it mostly involved raw materials for local industries and machinery.
He noted that the use of the Electronic Fiscal Devices-EFD which was introduced and being administered by the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) has facilitated increased collection of government revenue.
The minister noted further that the government was improving the irrigation schemes to improve food security.

Tanzania: Dar Farmers to Benefit From Drought Tolerant Maize Varieties

 

Interview

WATER Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project, through African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), the project's lead institution, has secured a technology of developing drought-tolerant and insect-pest protected maize varieties, royalty free, from American Monsanto. Staff Writer FINNIGAN wa SIMBEYE had an interview with AATF Corporate Communications Officer Grace Wachoro...

Q: Is it true that Water Efficient Maize for Africa has secured rights for African farmers to use genetically modified drought and disease resistant maize without paying loyalty to Monsanto and other patent right owners?
A: The Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA) project is developing drought-tolerant and insect-pest protected maize varieties for use by smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The project is currently being implemented in five African countries--Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique and South Africa. The Project is using droughttolerant and insect-protected genes that Monsanto has donated royaltyfree.
The African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), the lead WEMA institution, will through the project develop and sub-licence the drought-tolerant and insect-pest protected maize varieties to local seed companies, royalty-free. This means that there will be no payments going back to Monsanto for the use of technologies that have been donated to the project.
AATF will also not charge local seed producers any special fees to produce or multiply WEMA drought-tolerant and insect-protected maize varieties. Consequently, local seed producers will therefore not charge any extra technology fees to their customers, the farmers.
The first WEMA conventional hybrid (non-GM) has been sub-licenced to seven local seed producers in Kenya under the trade name of DroughtTEGO and will be sold to farmers in the short rains season of 2013.

Q: How long will the agreement last and which species are involved? A: There is no time limit associated with the agreement and farmers will not be required to pay royalty for the maize varieties even after the project ends.
The Project is using the cold shock protein B (CspB) gene to improve drought-tolerance in maize. The gene is from a common soil miroorganism Bacillus subtilis, which is used in the preparation of Japanese soy food, natto.

Tanzania: 7,000 Tonnes of Relief Food for Ngorongoro

 


Ngorongoro — THE Ministry of Tourism and Natural Resources has endorsed the distribution of 7,000 tonnes of grains to the residents of Ngorongoro Division in Ngorongoro District, the relief food will now be provided free of charge.
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Tourism Mr Lazaro Nyalandu explained that the relief maize was previously bought by his ministry through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) so that the local residents in the NCAA could buy it to supplement their food stocks after the area suffered famine last year.
"Apparently many families could not afford to buy the food even at subsidised prizes causing the grain stockpile to stagnate in the local silos," stated Mr Nyalandu, adding that even when the NRT Minister, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki ordered the maize to be distributed to the residents free of charge the NCAA could not execute the order.
"The NCAA had to send formal request to the government to be allowed to issue the food free instead of selling it to the people and the permit took long to be processed, but I am happy to say that the documents have been delivered and now the food can be distributed," said the Deputy Minister.

With about 20,000 households and a population of nearly 90,000 residents, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which is one of the three divisions making up the Ngorongoro District, is mapped within the reserved area restricting people from indulging in agriculture and other commercial activities.
Livestock grazing is, however, permitted among the native Maasai residents who lament that famine and drought have decimated most of their livestock and thus they are now left with nothing to depend on for survival, a cry which was expressed even to the Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda who toured the area over the weekend.
Mr Pinda also reinforced the government's decision to have the relief food distributed free of charge to the area residents and his order pushed things much faster and now the Maasai villages in the area will start getting the supplies from this week onwards.