The ruling party in Zimbabwe, Zanu-PF, has admitted that its “fast track” land redistribution programme, launched in 2000, was riddled with corruption and conflict over farm ownership.

Next year, Zimbabwe will pay US$53 million (R742 million) in compensation to white farmers whose farms were confiscated over the past 18 years and reallocated to black Zimbabweans.

Nearly 200 veterinary epidemiologists in Africa are scheduled to undergo training intended to help them better combat animal diseases at grassroots level.

Agriculture in Namibia presents great opportunities for economic growth, employment creation, food security and poverty eradication.

Following a failed court bid to force the government of Lesotho to withdraw the recently gazetted Agricultural Marketing (Wool and Mohair Licensing) Regulations of 2018, wool and mohair producers in that country are appealing to industry stakeholders in neighbouring countries for assistance.

The Harare Agricultural Show, Zimbabwe’s biggest farming exhibition, started on 27 August 2018, with 575 local and foreign exhibitors participating. The event will run until 1 September.

Zimbabwe Agricultural Society chief executive officer, Anxious Masuka, said the show had attracted 14% more exhibitors than last year. “We are happy with the turnout of exhibitors and the quality of exhibits,” he said.

“We are optimistic that up to 180 000 people will pass through the gates over five days as we want this to be a people’s show. We hope that Harare Agricultural Show 2018 will be successful and beneficial to the broad range of participants who are here in terms of business, linkages and so on.”

This year’s edition, which was opened by newly inaugurated President Emmerson Mnangagwa, is running under the theme “Field to Industry. Produce. Connect. Develop.”

Its highlights include a discussion on the need for Zimbabweans to buy locally made products, a mining and agriculture interface and an agribusiness forum.

Commercial exhibition space taken up this year is 85 730m², up from 79 730m² in 2017, representing a 7,5% increase.

The show has suffered declining exhibitor interest since 2000 due to the economic collapse triggered by the government’s compulsory acquisition of farmland from whites.

Although statistics from the Zimbabwe Agricultural Society show an increase in the number of commercial exhibitors and space occupied, it remains subdued when compared to the pre-2000 era when an average of 1 000 exhibitors used to take part.

However, Masuka said there was a general positive sentiment in the markets and among people because of the pro-business policies that Mnangagwa’s government has come up with since he assumed office for the first time last November.

The post Harare Agricultural Show bigger than last year’s event appeared first on Farmer’s Weekly.

At least 10 000 pangolins are trafficked out of Africa every year, according to Catherine Ritchie, marketing and communications manager of the newly launched NGO, Pangolin.Africa.

“So few people even know what a pangolin is, let alone that it is [severely] threatened [as a result of] wildlife trafficking,” she said.

Ritchie explained there were eight pangolin species, with four found in Asia and four in Africa. Pangolin meat was a popular cultural delicacy in Asia and the animal’s body parts, especially the scales, were also a sought-after ingredient for traditional medicines, she said.

“The Asian species have been decimated by the high demand for pangolins in Asian markets, specifically Vietnam and China,” she added.

According to Ritchie, poachers were now shifting their focus to pangolins in Africa.

The global wildlife trade monitoring organisation, Traffic, said in a recent report that up to one million pangolins had been poached in the wild over past decade, making it the most trafficked mammal in the world by a “considerable margin”.

According to the report, 120t of pangolins and their body parts were smuggled internationally between 2010 and 2015.

“Due to the obvious nature of illegal trade, the actual figure could be much higher.”

The Pangolin.Africa team had meanwhile also created Pangolert, a dedicated Whatsapp line meant to serve as a “citizen science” initiative.

Rithchie said scientific data on pangolins, including population and habitats was very limited.

The organisation was hoping to enable members of the public to add to research being undertaken by organisations such as Traffic, the African Pangolin Working Group, and the Endangered Wildlife Trust, among others.

With Pangolert, members of the public could send information on location sightings and photos, as well as information about pangolins in distress, captivity, or in the process of being trafficked, she said.

Ritchie said the encryption technology provided by Whatsapp helped ensure the security of informants because it could not be traced. Information was also only handled by specific personnel to ensure it did not end up with poachers or syndicates.

Participate in the project on 072 726 4654, or visit pangolin.africa.

The post Help save the African pangolin appeared first on Farmer’s Weekly.

The Tanzanian Food and Drugs Authority (TFDA) has announced that it was lifting the ban on meat and meat products imported from South Africa.

Tanzania suspended meat imports from South Africa earlier this year following the outbreak of listeriosis.

According to the TFDA, it had reviewed safety measures implemented in South Africa and was satisfied these were sufficient.

It had lifted the ban with the exception of products from three companies, namely Enterprise Foods Polokwane, Enterprise Foods Germiston, and RCL Foods’ consumer chicken division.

The TFDA urged meat importers to comply with the relevant requirements, including import permits, and said it would closely monitor food products susceptible to contamination by the Listeria monocytogenes bacteria that cause listeriosis.

Responding to a query by Farmer’s Weekly, Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) spokesperson Steve Galane said the department had been working very hard to reassure trade partners the listeria situation was under control.

“DAFF welcomes the lifting of the ban and remains committed to maintaining markets,” he said.

DAFF had confirmed that Rwanda and Egypt currently still had a wider ban in place that affected meat, meat products, dairy, fruit and vegetables.

It was still in the process of confirming details around the number of countries which still had meat or meat product bans in place because of the listeriosis outbreak.

The World Health Organisation had previously reported that 12 out of 15 countries to which South Africa exported processed meat products had imposed bans and implemented product recalls. Of these, three had also banned imports of other food products.

Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and Department of Trade and Industry officials recently reported to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries that South Africa had lost about US$8,3 million (about R110 million) in export revenue due to the banning of these products.

The post Tanzania lifts ban on meat product imports from SA appeared first on Farmer’s Weekly.

As part of the ‘My Hippo Story’ competition the manufacturers of Hippo Mills, ABC Hansen, asked Hippo hammer mill owners to share their stories of how Hippo had impacted their lives in terms of creating work and opportunities, not only for themselves, but their entire community or village.

They were also asked to nominate someone else who could benefit from owning a Hippo mill to help him or her reach personal goals and help the community around them.

Winner of the competition Christopher Chilenje, moved to South Africa from Malawi 21 years ago. Both his parents died in a car accident when he was young, and along with his three siblings he was taken in by their grandparents.

Shortly afterwards their grandfather also passed away and Christopher’s oldest brother, Daudi Chilenje, was forced to drop out of school and look after his siblings and grandmother.

When Christopher moved to South Africa he saved up and bought a Hippo hammer mill and sent it back to Malawi. Since then it has been used by the whole community as a toll mill.

“My Hippo Model 47 has enough capacity to service the whole community within a short time. Without such a machine, the community would be forced to grind maize by hand,” Christopher said.

When he saw the competition advertised, Christopher said he immediately though of a neighbouring community located where two rivers meet, and in the rainy season it is very difficult for the villagers to get across to the other side to mill their maize.

“With this donation of a Baby Hippo mill they can have access to maize meal all year round,” he added.

ABC Hansen recently celebrated its 90^th anniversary at the annual Royal Show in Pietermaritzburg and the Baby Hippo Mill was presented to Luke Chilenje, Christopher’s youngest brother at the event.

The post Malawian community to benefit from hammer mill donation appeared first on Farmer’s Weekly.

The US Feed the Future Initiative, which is hosting the competition, stated in a press release, that more than 80% of the entries came from Africa, with the most coming from Uganda (52), followed by Nigeria (25), Ghana (22) and Kenya (21).

“Entries varied from apps using machine learning, to drone technology, to SMS alerts that update farmers in real time as to the threat of fall armyworm in their area,” Nesta programme manager Elizabeth Vossen told Farmer’s Weekly.

The 20 finalists will take part in a co-creation event in Uganda at the end of June. Each finalist will then receive US$2 000 to develop their prototype, which will be tested with sub-Saharan African smallholder farmers and extension services. The final award event will take place at the end of September or October 2018.

Benito Eliasi, capacity development advisor of SACAU, said the competition was a wonderful initiative, as fall armyworm was decimating production everywhere it went on the continent. “Smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable, because they do not always have access to information or means to buy chemical control products,” he said.

The small size of their farms is also an obstacle as controls are only effective when everybody takes part.

“Area-wide solutions sponsored by government are, for this reason, the ideal for smallholder farmers,” added Eliasi.

A total of US$400 000 is up for grabs in the competition, with a grand prize of  US$150 000.

The post Digital solutions to help in the fight against fall armyworm appeared first on Farmer’s Weekly.