Speaking during a debate in Parliament on 13 July, the minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Joseph Made, said that the revolutionary method, named ‘rocket barn’ curing, could cut firewood usage drastically, thus helping reduce deforestation.

“We must admit that tobacco is the biggest culprit [in causing deforestation],” Made said.

“[… We] have to look at different methods.  The Tobacco Research Board has been experimenting with […] rocket barn curing. It uses less energy or wood, particularly for the smallholder farmers. However, the cost of putting that infrastructure [in] is what we must support the farmers with at the end of the day. There are also other trials that we have been doing with paraffin-powered curing systems from China.”

Large-scale farmers use coal to cure their crop, but Hwange Colliery Company Limited, the country’s largest coal miner has been unable to meet demand.  In addition, these farmers face high transportation costs to move coal from Hwange to the tobacco-growing districts some 800km to the north-east. Like smaller producers, these farmers have therefore been forced to turn to firewood.

In addition, these farmers face high transportation costs to move coal from Hwange to the tobacco-growing districts some 800km to the north-east. Like smaller producers, these farmers have therefore been forced to turn to firewood.

In a bid to regenerate plantations, the government set up a dedicated fund in 2015. In that year, US$14,2 million (R183 million) was raised and spent on planting eucalyptus.  Between January and May this year, US$7,9 million (R102 million) was raised.

A farmer burns between 10kg and 20 kg of firewood to cure one kilogram of tobacco, but a 2008 study undertaken in Malawi showed that the rocket barn reduces firewood consumption to between 2kg and 3 kg for the same output.

According to GIZ, a German development agency that funded the research in 2008, the rocket barn has two new features that contribute to more efficient fuel use.

“The improved flue pipe transfers the heat more efficiently into the barn. The double chimney induces an effective airflow system, which draws pre-heated air horizontally through the barn, curing and drying the leaves efficiently. This ensures equal heat distribution with improved airflow minimising the risk of barn fires. It also enhances the quality of the tobacco through a controllable curing process,” the GIZ stated in its report.

In addition, the rocket barn reduces curing times and maintenance costs, as the curing barn is more durable.

Speaking during a debate in Parliament on 13 July, the minister of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development, Joseph Made, said that the revolutionary method, named ‘rocket barn’ curing, could cut firewood usage drastically, thus helping reduce deforestation.

“We must admit that tobacco is the biggest culprit [in causing deforestation],” Made said.

“[… We] have to look at different methods.  The Tobacco Research Board has been experimenting with […] rocket barn curing. It uses less energy or wood, particularly for the smallholder farmers. However, the cost of putting that infrastructure [in] is what we must support the farmers with at the end of the day. There are also other trials that we have been doing with paraffin-powered curing systems from China.”

Large-scale farmers use coal to cure their crop, but Hwange Colliery Company Limited, the country’s largest coal miner has been unable to meet demand.  In addition, these farmers face high transportation costs to move coal from Hwange to the tobacco-growing districts some 800km to the north-east. Like smaller producers, these farmers have therefore been forced to turn to firewood.

In addition, these farmers face high transportation costs to move coal from Hwange to the tobacco-growing districts some 800km to the north-east. Like smaller producers, these farmers have therefore been forced to turn to firewood.

In a bid to regenerate plantations, the government set up a dedicated fund in 2015. In that year, US$14,2 million (R183 million) was raised and spent on planting eucalyptus.  Between January and May this year, US$7,9 million (R102 million) was raised.

A farmer burns between 10kg and 20 kg of firewood to cure one kilogram of tobacco, but a 2008 study undertaken in Malawi showed that the rocket barn reduces firewood consumption to between 2kg and 3 kg for the same output.

According to GIZ, a German development agency that funded the research in 2008, the rocket barn has two new features that contribute to more efficient fuel use.

“The improved flue pipe transfers the heat more efficiently into the barn. The double chimney induces an effective airflow system, which draws pre-heated air horizontally through the barn, curing and drying the leaves efficiently. This ensures equal heat distribution with improved airflow minimising the risk of barn fires. It also enhances the quality of the tobacco through a controllable curing process,” the GIZ stated in its report.

In addition, the rocket barn reduces curing times and maintenance costs, as the curing barn is more durable.

The trials are the result of a 2016 agreement between the Scottish and Kenyan governments to test 10 potato varieties expected to thrive in hot, dry conditions.

These included four free varieties – Hermes, Atlantic, Cara and Russet Burbank – and six commercial varieties.

The trial seeds need to be tested and grown over two seasons in at least three areas in Kenya before going on the market.

There are two growing seasons annually in Kenya, and the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) hopes to reach the end of the trials and approvals, and open the market fully, by early 2018.

Jackie Gibson, export liaison officer for Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA), said:

“We sent over 1 200 tubers per variety, 400 of which underwent laboratory testing for soft rots; they passed with flying colours.”

The tubers were planted on three farms in late April/early May. The final 400 are in cold storage and will be planted out in the second season in October.

As the season progresses Kenyan government officials will inspect the produce, and conduct a final inspection after harvest. Any variety that makes it successfully through the two seasons will be added to Kenya’s national list and can then be imported from UK growers.

According to SASA, once British varieties are approved in Kenya, it could open access to neighbouring markets. This would include the 19-country Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), of which Kenya is a member.

“If a variety is approved in two of those countries it can be marketed in all 19,” Gibson said. “As we already have varieties being exported to Egypt, getting approval in Kenya could open many doors.”

Potatoes are the second most important food crop in Kenya after maize, with up to three million tons grown annually. Most farmers use poor-quality home-saved seed and grow only around ten tons of potatoes per hectare. The home-saved seed is often the source of late blight, bacterial wilt and viruses.

The AHDB said the UK seed should not only be healthier, but produce 40 to 50t of potatoes per hectare.

The trials are the result of a 2016 agreement between the Scottish and Kenyan governments to test 10 potato varieties expected to thrive in hot, dry conditions.

These included four free varieties – Hermes, Atlantic, Cara and Russet Burbank – and six commercial varieties.

The trial seeds need to be tested and grown over two seasons in at least three areas in Kenya before going on the market.

There are two growing seasons annually in Kenya, and the UK Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) hopes to reach the end of the trials and approvals, and open the market fully, by early 2018.

Jackie Gibson, export liaison officer for Science and Advice for Scottish Agriculture (SASA), said:

“We sent over 1 200 tubers per variety, 400 of which underwent laboratory testing for soft rots; they passed with flying colours.”

The tubers were planted on three farms in late April/early May. The final 400 are in cold storage and will be planted out in the second season in October.

As the season progresses Kenyan government officials will inspect the produce, and conduct a final inspection after harvest. Any variety that makes it successfully through the two seasons will be added to Kenya’s national list and can then be imported from UK growers.

According to SASA, once British varieties are approved in Kenya, it could open access to neighbouring markets. This would include the 19-country Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), of which Kenya is a member.

“If a variety is approved in two of those countries it can be marketed in all 19,” Gibson said. “As we already have varieties being exported to Egypt, getting approval in Kenya could open many doors.”

Potatoes are the second most important food crop in Kenya after maize, with up to three million tons grown annually. Most farmers use poor-quality home-saved seed and grow only around ten tons of potatoes per hectare. The home-saved seed is often the source of late blight, bacterial wilt and viruses.

The AHDB said the UK seed should not only be healthier, but produce 40 to 50t of potatoes per hectare.

Adesina received the prize, which gives recognition to individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food, at a ceremony at the US Department of Agriculture in Washington on 26 June.

According to a statement by the WFP Foundation, Adesini had played a leading role in human development over the last two decades.

He had significantly expanded food production in Nigeria and introduced initiatives to give smallholder farmers across the continent access to credit, as well as “galvanizing the political will to transform African agriculture”.

Adesina, who served as Nigeria’s agriculture minister from 2011 to 2015, said his life mission was to uplift millions of people out of poverty, especially farmers in rural areas of Africa.

“As someone who grew out of poverty, I know that poverty is not pretty,” he said.

Adesina also previously served as associate director for food security at the Rockefeller Foundation and was later vice-president of Policy and Partnerships at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

While minister of agriculture in Nigeria, Adesina introduced an e-wallet system that was instrumental in rooting out fertiliser distribution corruption.

The foundation said that his policies had expanded Nigeria’s food production by 21 million tons, and the country had attracted US$5,6 billion (R73 billion) in private sector investment in agriculture, earning Adesina the reputation of being “the farmer’s minister”.

WFP Foundation president Kenneth Quinn said that Adesina’s selection as 2017 winner reflected both his ministerial achievements and the role he had played in the development of AGRA.

“It also gives further impetus to his profound vision for enhancing nutrition, uplifting smallholder farmers, and inspiring the next generation of Africans as they confront the challenges of the 21st century,” he said.

According to the ADB, Adesina had also recently received the 2017 Gene White Lifetime Achievement Award for Child Nutrition, been one of 17  global leaders appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in 2010 to spearhead the Millennium Development Goals, and been named Person of the Year by Forbes Africa magazine in 2013.

In addition, he had featured among the 100 most reputable persons in the world in a list released by SA-based Reputation Poll early this month.

Adesina is scheduled to receive the $250 000 (R3,2 million) WFP award in a ceremony in the US in October.

He said it was important to give hope, and turn agriculture into a business all across Africa to create wealth for African economies. “The World Food Prize gives me an even greater global platform to make that future happens much faster for Africa,” he said.

Visit www.worldfoodprize.org for more information.

Adesina received the prize, which gives recognition to individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food, at a ceremony at the US Department of Agriculture in Washington on 26 June.

According to a statement by the WFP Foundation, Adesini had played a leading role in human development over the last two decades.

He had significantly expanded food production in Nigeria and introduced initiatives to give smallholder farmers across the continent access to credit, as well as “galvanizing the political will to transform African agriculture”.

Adesina, who served as Nigeria’s agriculture minister from 2011 to 2015, said his life mission was to uplift millions of people out of poverty, especially farmers in rural areas of Africa.

“As someone who grew out of poverty, I know that poverty is not pretty,” he said.

Adesina also previously served as associate director for food security at the Rockefeller Foundation and was later vice-president of Policy and Partnerships at the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

While minister of agriculture in Nigeria, Adesina introduced an e-wallet system that was instrumental in rooting out fertiliser distribution corruption.

The foundation said that his policies had expanded Nigeria’s food production by 21 million tons, and the country had attracted US$5,6 billion (R73 billion) in private sector investment in agriculture, earning Adesina the reputation of being “the farmer’s minister”.

WFP Foundation president Kenneth Quinn said that Adesina’s selection as 2017 winner reflected both his ministerial achievements and the role he had played in the development of AGRA.

“It also gives further impetus to his profound vision for enhancing nutrition, uplifting smallholder farmers, and inspiring the next generation of Africans as they confront the challenges of the 21st century,” he said.

According to the ADB, Adesina had also recently received the 2017 Gene White Lifetime Achievement Award for Child Nutrition, been one of 17  global leaders appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in 2010 to spearhead the Millennium Development Goals, and been named Person of the Year by Forbes Africa magazine in 2013.

In addition, he had featured among the 100 most reputable persons in the world in a list released by SA-based Reputation Poll early this month.

Adesina is scheduled to receive the $250 000 (R3,2 million) WFP award in a ceremony in the US in October.

He said it was important to give hope, and turn agriculture into a business all across Africa to create wealth for African economies. “The World Food Prize gives me an even greater global platform to make that future happens much faster for Africa,” he said.

Visit www.worldfoodprize.org for more information.

The programme – the Zimbabwe National Food Fortification Strategy (2014-2018) – had been launched in November 2015 and makes it compulsory to fortify sugar, cooking oil, maize meal and wheat flour.

David Parirenyatwa, Zimbabwe’s minister of health and child welfare, told Farmer’s Weekly: “We are firmly on course. From July 1, there would be mandatory food fortification in the country and those who must be consulted have been consulted.

Food fortification is a strategy to promote the health of our people, to guard against complications that may arise due to micro-nutrient deficiency.”

The World Health Organization defines food fortification as adding minute levels of vitamins and minerals to foods during processing. This is done even if the micro-nutrient is present in the food.

Food fortification helps prevent and control micronutrient deficiency diseases such as goitre, anaemia, impaired vision and mental retardation.

The government said the strategy would help address a micro-nutrient deficiency revealed after a micronutrient survey conducted in 2012.

The study established that 19% of children aged between six and 59 months were vitamin A-deficient, 72% had iron deficiency, while 31% were anaemic. It also reported that 1,5 million adults who are anaemic struggle to perform well at work.

Sugar suppliers Tongaat Hulett and Star Africa Corporation have also complied with the government directive and fortified their products with vitamin A.

The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) has opposed the programme’s timing and has been in talks with Parirenyatwa, to no effect. The organisation asked Mike Bimba, commerce and industry minister, to intervene.

In their letter, GMAZ explained that the costs to implement the programme are too high: some US$20 million (R300 million) to import food fortification equipment and machinery, and another US$7 million (R105 million) monthly to import fortificants. They also said the government had not consulted consumers.

According to the letter, written by Tafadzwa Musarara, GMAZ chairperson: “There are no local manufacturers of these fortificants and the dosing machinery and as such, mandatory fortification will worsen the milling industry’s nostro currency liabilities.”

The letter also pointed out that there is no meaningful awareness campaign to inform consumers about the fortified products, or to get their buy-in.

Musarara wrote: “The risks that arise, from a business perspective, is that consumers may resist these artificial additives resulting in significant slump of sales.”

The programme – the Zimbabwe National Food Fortification Strategy (2014-2018) – had been launched in November 2015 and makes it compulsory to fortify sugar, cooking oil, maize meal and wheat flour.

David Parirenyatwa, Zimbabwe’s minister of health and child welfare, told Farmer’s Weekly: “We are firmly on course. From July 1, there would be mandatory food fortification in the country and those who must be consulted have been consulted.

Food fortification is a strategy to promote the health of our people, to guard against complications that may arise due to micro-nutrient deficiency.”

The World Health Organization defines food fortification as adding minute levels of vitamins and minerals to foods during processing. This is done even if the micro-nutrient is present in the food.

Food fortification helps prevent and control micronutrient deficiency diseases such as goitre, anaemia, impaired vision and mental retardation.

The government said the strategy would help address a micro-nutrient deficiency revealed after a micronutrient survey conducted in 2012.

The study established that 19% of children aged between six and 59 months were vitamin A-deficient, 72% had iron deficiency, while 31% were anaemic. It also reported that 1,5 million adults who are anaemic struggle to perform well at work.

Sugar suppliers Tongaat Hulett and Star Africa Corporation have also complied with the government directive and fortified their products with vitamin A.

The Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) has opposed the programme’s timing and has been in talks with Parirenyatwa, to no effect. The organisation asked Mike Bimba, commerce and industry minister, to intervene.

In their letter, GMAZ explained that the costs to implement the programme are too high: some US$20 million (R300 million) to import food fortification equipment and machinery, and another US$7 million (R105 million) monthly to import fortificants. They also said the government had not consulted consumers.

According to the letter, written by Tafadzwa Musarara, GMAZ chairperson: “There are no local manufacturers of these fortificants and the dosing machinery and as such, mandatory fortification will worsen the milling industry’s nostro currency liabilities.”

The letter also pointed out that there is no meaningful awareness campaign to inform consumers about the fortified products, or to get their buy-in.

Musarara wrote: “The risks that arise, from a business perspective, is that consumers may resist these artificial additives resulting in significant slump of sales.”

According to the latest quarterly Crop Prospects and Food Shortages report released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) this month, people across 29 countries on the continent cannot access food, or are facing food shortages.

The FAO report says food prices have soared in recent months. Press agency Reuters reports that development banks are now stepping in, as some 26,5 million people in the Horn of Africa are facing food insecurity.

The FAO report states that in the Central African Republic, an estimated 30% of the total population is in need of urgent assistance due to conflict, displacements and food constraints.

Civil insecurity, unrest and conflict are also hampering access to food in Burundi, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Nigeria, among others.

In East Africa, erratic rainfall and pest infestations are affecting main season crops. A 14% decline in cereal production is forecast for Sudan, with an almost 8% drop in cereal production forecast for Tanzania.

In Somalia, some 3,2 million people – mainly Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and drought-affected agro-pastoral communities – need assistance.

According to the FAO report, there are uncertain crop production prospects for West Africa. This is in part due to low rainfall, but mostly due to conflict.

In Nigeria, where cereal output is estimated to be 13% higher than last year’s bumper crop, some 7,1 million people face acute food shortages.

The FAO report states: “Despite the above-average cereal harvest gathered in 2016, the weak Naira, coupled with persisting civil conflict in northern states has continued to disrupt market activities and keep food prices at high levels.”

Food supply in the Sahel region is ‘satisfactory in most countries’. This follows two consecutive bumper cereal harvests for Burkina Faso, Chad and Senegal, and above-average harvests in most countries along the Gulf of Guinea.

In Central Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo was estimated to have some 3,7 million IDPs as of March 2017 – 1,5 million more than was estimated last year.

Southern Africa’s grain and cereal production has rebounded, with especially maize production improving, and North Africa is also expected to reap good harvests.

“FAO forecasts a 10 percent increase in Africa’s cereal production, to 179-million tonnes, mainly as a result of strong production rebounds expected in North and Southern Africa.

But “record cereal outputs are forecast in South Africa and Zambia, mostly associated with significant yearly gains in maize production, while in North Africa, Morocco’s output is forecast to more than double in comparison to the poor harvest in 2016,” the report states.

According to the latest quarterly Crop Prospects and Food Shortages report released by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) this month, people across 29 countries on the continent cannot access food, or are facing food shortages.

The FAO report says food prices have soared in recent months. Press agency Reuters reports that development banks are now stepping in, as some 26,5 million people in the Horn of Africa are facing food insecurity.

The FAO report states that in the Central African Republic, an estimated 30% of the total population is in need of urgent assistance due to conflict, displacements and food constraints.

Civil insecurity, unrest and conflict are also hampering access to food in Burundi, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, and Nigeria, among others.

In East Africa, erratic rainfall and pest infestations are affecting main season crops. A 14% decline in cereal production is forecast for Sudan, with an almost 8% drop in cereal production forecast for Tanzania.

In Somalia, some 3,2 million people – mainly Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and drought-affected agro-pastoral communities – need assistance.

According to the FAO report, there are uncertain crop production prospects for West Africa. This is in part due to low rainfall, but mostly due to conflict.

In Nigeria, where cereal output is estimated to be 13% higher than last year’s bumper crop, some 7,1 million people face acute food shortages.

The FAO report states: “Despite the above-average cereal harvest gathered in 2016, the weak Naira, coupled with persisting civil conflict in northern states has continued to disrupt market activities and keep food prices at high levels.”

Food supply in the Sahel region is ‘satisfactory in most countries’. This follows two consecutive bumper cereal harvests for Burkina Faso, Chad and Senegal, and above-average harvests in most countries along the Gulf of Guinea.

In Central Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo was estimated to have some 3,7 million IDPs as of March 2017 – 1,5 million more than was estimated last year.

Southern Africa’s grain and cereal production has rebounded, with especially maize production improving, and North Africa is also expected to reap good harvests.

“FAO forecasts a 10 percent increase in Africa’s cereal production, to 179-million tonnes, mainly as a result of strong production rebounds expected in North and Southern Africa.

But “record cereal outputs are forecast in South Africa and Zambia, mostly associated with significant yearly gains in maize production, while in North Africa, Morocco’s output is forecast to more than double in comparison to the poor harvest in 2016,” the report states.