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.