Africa Archives - Page 5 of 7 - Manitoba Co-operator

A destructive crop pest with many different names

The finding is expected to help with international biosecurity and control

By Plant Biosecurity Cooperative Research Centre November 13, 2014

A global research effort has finally resolved a major biosecurity issue: four of the world’s most destructive agricultural pests are actually one and the same. For 20 years, some of the world’s most damaging pest fruit flies have been almost impossible to distinguish from each other. The ability to identify pests is central to quarantine,

Crops

Conservation not a hippie delusion

Small-scale farmers can implement conservation agriculture and improve soil health  in developing areas, often by using a mix of science and local knowledge

By Shannon VanRaes July 16, 2014

The damaging effects of tillage on soils is well documented on Europe and North American soils. So why is that approach still being exported to developing nations, proponents of conservation agriculture asked the recent World Conference on Conservation Agriculture. “We’re taking that paradigm to developing countries, so one has to ask, what is actually going

Mature man speaking into microphone at a conference.

Crops, News

Doubling of food needs tied to poverty reduction

Cargill’s Greg Page says a 100 per cent increase in food production is doable, but it requires work, including more scientific research

By Allan Dawson May 5, 2014

Projections that world food production must double by 2050 hinge on a very big assumption — billions of poor people getting richer, says Greg Page, Cargill’s executive chairman and former CEO. “The only way for the… 100 per cent increase in food production is if the population grows by two billion and the proportion of

News

IBM rolls out ‘Watson’ in Africa

By Tim Cocks February 14, 2014

IBM began rolling out its Watson supercomputer system across Africa on Feb. 5, saying it would help make agriculture smarter and address continental development obstacles as diverse as medical diagnoses, economic data collection and e-commerce research. The world’s biggest technology service provider said “Project Lucy” would take 10 years and cost $100 million. The undertaking

Crops, News, Weather

Half-moon holes produce crops in the sub-Saharan desert

By Ron Friesen April 18, 2013

An innovative water-trapping technique is making the desert bloom in one of the most inhospitable regions of sub-Saharan Africa. Demi-lunes — holes in the shape of a semi-circle — are used to capture and store run-off rainwater. It’s a simple low-tech water-harvesting method which enables crops to grow in a hostile climate. The water conservation

Crops, International news, News

Zimbabwe promises not to seize any more foreign-owned farms

February 15, 2013

Reuters / Zimbabwe’s government says it will not seize any more foreign-owned farms after losing multimillion-dollar compensation claims under a treaty aimed at protecting overseas investments. President Robert Mugabe started giving white-owned farms to landless blacks over a decade ago, a policy that had the unintended result of devastating food output in a country that

News

Somaliland hopes oil will replace goat dependence

By Ed Stoddard November 15, 2012

Reuters / Wanted: investors for small African nation with good oil and mineral potential — no seat at the United Nations but history of independence in rough neighbourhood. The breakaway nation of Somaliland is a tough sell but the recent announcement that serious hydrocarbon exploration is about to kick off there shows that oil talks,

Cereals, Crops, International news

Africa can easily grow wheat to ease hunger, price shocks

By Alister Doyle October 26, 2012

Reuters / Wheat production in sub-Saharan Africa is at only 10 to 25 per cent of its potential and nations can easily grow more to limit hunger, price shocks and political instability, says a new study. The report, examining environmental conditions of 12 nations from Ethiopia to Zimbabwe, said that farmers south of the Sahara

International news, Livestock, News

Villagers kill cattle thieves in Madagascar

September 17, 2012

antananarivo / reuters / Malagasy villagers killed at least 67 cattle thieves when they attacked a number of villages in early September, the gendarmarie of the Indian Ocean island said on Sept. 4. General Bruno Razafindrakoto said about 100 cattle rustlers simultaneously attacked three villages in the southern region of the world’s fourth-largest island, prompting

Crops, News

Urgent action needed as Sahel food emergency grows

By Stephanie Ebbs July 20, 2012

Reuters / As many as 18 million people are being hit by a growing food emergency in the Sahel region of Africa, international donors and campaigners said June 18, calling for urgent action to prevent mass hunger in the vast area south of the Sahara Desert. Leaders from Sahel countries and donors such as the

Daily Network News

U.S. livestock: CME cattle tick lower in thin pre-holiday trade

U.S. grains: Wheat extends gains on short covering, war risk

Prairie forecast: Plenty more chances for snow over Holidays

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