Due to an increasing demand for the citrus fruit, Immature lemons are flooding Gulu markets in Uganda. This is happening as the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is providing funding to assist 6,240 small-scale farmers in rural Tanzania who were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Lemons and other fruits are selling extremely well during the pandemic because they, together with other items, boost immunity. This demand has led to skyrocketing prices. One lemon fruit that used to be sold at Shs200 in Gulu City now goes for Shs1,000 or Shs2,000 depending on the size. One trader, who has been vending…
Author: Akpan Akata
Avocado will become the most commercialised tropical fruit by 2030, Agricultural Outlook 2021-2030 report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), says. 2030 is the year which production is projected to reach 12 metric tonnes, up to 3.9 metric tonnes of which will be exported, exceeding both pineapples and mangoes in volume. Given the high average unit prices of avocado, the total value of world avocado exports will reach an estimated $8.3 billion, thus positioning the avocado as one of the most valuable fruits on the market. Broad world demand and lucrative…
In Kenya, the construction of the $183 million Mwache Dam project is set to begin before the end of this year. Managing Director of Coast Development Authority (CDA), Dr. Mohamed Keinan, says the Authority has finished rehabilitation works ahead of the project launch. CDA is however a state corporation established by an Act of Parliament No. 20 of 1990 (Cap 449), revised in 1992 with the mandate to provide integrated development planning, coordination and implementation of projects and programmes within the whole of Coast Region, including the southern part of Garissa County (Ijara and Fafi) and the Kenya’s Exclusive Economic…
Ethiopia has pledged to ensure humanitarian workers get access to the war-ravaged Tigray region. United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has welcomed the commitment. His Spokesperson said in a statement at the weekend. The development is coming a day after Guterres and Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, discussed the extremely concerning humanitarian situation in the northern province. Eight months of brutal fighting between federal forces and regional troops have displaced nearly two million people, while 400,000 are in famine, with another 1.8 million not far behind. “The Secretary-General welcomed the Prime Minister’s assurances that the Government of Ethiopia will facilitate immediate…
Schweppes, a beverage brand that originated in the Republic of Geneva and is being sold around the world, is currently bracing to invest $35 million in its subsidiary in Zimbabwe. Schweppes Zimbabwe Limited says the amount will be invested in the next 10 years into a 2 700 hectare citrus plantation as it seeks to increase production and valued addition at its Beitbridge Juice Processing Plant. The company’s Managing Director, Charles Msipa, in a recent interview said currently they are processing around 20 000 tonnes of fruit annually against a target of at least 40 000. He said the local…
Last weekend, the historic Generation Equality Forum in Paris concluded with new commitments designed to address inequality, and other injustices. Despite decades of progress in closing the gender equality gap, close to nine out of 10 men and women around the world, still hold some sort of bias against women, going by 2020 findings by UN Development Programmme (UNDP). The first UNDP Gender Social Norms Index analysed data from 75 countries, which are collectively home to more than 80 per cent of the global population, and found new clues to the invisible barriers women face in achieving equality – potentially forging a path forward to breaking through the so-called “glass…
During the next 19 months, countries ”must” take critical steps on the road out of the COVID-19 pandemic, going by a new flagship UN report. The world was not on track to meet the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) before the pandemic struck, and now the challenge has been magnified many times over. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021, launched on Tuesday at UN Headquarters in New York, shows the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on the 2030 Agenda. In addition to the almost four million deaths due to the coronavirus, between 119-124 million people were pushed back into poverty…
Ahead of South Sudan’s milestone anniversary on Friday, July 9, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has found a record 4.5 million youngsters, or two-thirds of children in the country, are in desperate need of support. Ten years after South Sudan achieved independence, more children there are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance than ever before, UNICEF says in a new report. The child mortality rate is among the highest in the world, the agency added, with one in 10 children not expected to reach their fifth birthday. Malnutrition and limited access to education are among other top concerns. “The hope and…
During the next 19 months, countries ”must” take critical steps on the road out of the COVID-19 pandemic, going by a new flagship UN report. The world was not on track to meet the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) before the pandemic struck, and now the challenge has been magnified many times over. The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2021, launched on Tuesday at UN Headquarters in New York, shows the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on the 2030 Agenda. In addition to the almost four million deaths due to the coronavirus, between 119-124 million people were pushed back into poverty…
Zimbabwe’s agriculture sector has the potential to contribute more towards the growth of national exports. The National Export Strategy, launched by President Mnangagwa in 2019, identifies the horticulture sector as a priority for export development and promotion. That is why the Second Republic has since launched the Horticulture Recovery and Growth Plan, whose priority is to stimulate “export growth to trigger foreign exchange earnings and employment creation taking advantage of the available more lucrative markets for Zimbabwean products”. To ensure that the Recovery and Growth Plan achieves its intended goal of stimulating domestic production and exports, there is a need…
Some public-spirited players around the world are currently moving to turn the deadly COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity for a major shift towards a more sustainable global economy. Leading figures from government, business and civil society are taking part in this year’s High Level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF), where they are discussing ways to recover from the impact of the pandemic. The hybrid (online and in-person) conference, is taking place between July 6 and 15. It is focusing on the lessons, successes, shortcomings and plans to emerge from the unprecedented health crisis, and advocate for achievement of the…
Recent heatwaves in many grape-producing countries have had knock-on effects on the global market. The hot weather has caused an early start to the Egyptian grape season but has also delayed and damaged the production in Italy, delaying this season and leaving a gap between this usually overlapping production, which is not necessarily an issue for the export countries such as the Netherlands and the UK, who are experiencing good prices on the market. In South Africa, the rains experienced here severely affected the grape production, with some saying the past season was the most difficult in decades. The ongoing…
The Spanish table grape is expecting a good quality production. The campaign has already started in the early areas of the Region of Murcia. The harvest has kicked off a week late this year, and despite some losses affecting the early varieties. “We are facing an interesting start to the season,” says Gracia Fernández, who recently joined Grupo El Ciruelo’s sales team. “Our harvest is starting a week late, while our biggest competitor at this time of the year, Egypt, is finishing its campaign early. Normally, the first Spanish table grapes overlap with the end of the Egyptian campaign.” “This…
Extremadura’s plums are starting to arrive in the markets, which had already been receiving the other stone fruit species from this region. Extremadura is Spain’s largest plum producer and one of the few in which the stone fruit production has escaped the impact of the weather, which has caused devastation in many parts of Europe. Despite the fact that this led the sector to forecast a good year for the marketing of these fruits, the campaign is not developing as expected. “The behavior of the market has been unpredictable,” says Emiliano Andrade, partner of the Extremadura-based company Landfruit. “It was…
The Spanish Verna lemon campaign is now coming to an end with prices at origin ranging from €0.20 to €0.40 per kilo, depending on quality and size. The demand remains calm, just like that of grapefruit, according to Ailimpo. The southern hemisphere lemon season is already underway in Europe and the supply is now starting to become noticeable. For now, Argentinian lemon volumes in the EU markets continue to below. As a result of the increase in the number of black spot interceptions in European ports last year, Argentinian exporters are being more cautious. Moreover, this year’s weather conditions have…
South Africa has sent out its first commercial shipment of medical cannabis. The shipment of Dry Cannabis Flower left for Switzerland last week from Cape Town International Airport. It is the first of several shipments to their Swiss client, following a historic first shipment of cannabis in-vitro tissue culture to a licensed producer in North Macedonia. The cannabis was produced and exported by Felbridge, a leading South African cannabis cultivator and supplier. The company is owned by the Zetler family, who are better known for their strawberry farms. They opened a cannabis division in 2019, after getting permission for a 14,000m²…
The Seyi Makinde administration in Oyo State, Western Nigeria, has approved the construction of an aviation fuel facility at the Ibadan airport at N1.2 billion. Taiwo Adisa, Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, made this public in a statement in Ibadan, the state capital. The facility, according to him, will enable airline operators to use Ibadan as their operational base. The facility, when constructed, will also ensure that the airport serves as an immediate alternative to the Lagos airport in case of weather or other challenges. The approval for the aviation fuel project was one of the last assignments undertaken…
Chairman of Akwa Ibom Council of Chiefs, and Oku Ibom Ibibio, Dr. Solomon Daniel Etuk, will be a special guest at the 17th Virtual National Convention of Ubium Development Association in USA (UDA) on Saturday, July 24.The theme of this year’s Convention is Promoting Diaspora-Ubium People Partnerships for purposeful and sustainable community development, with a sub-theme, Everyone Has a Role to Play. The theme is consciously designed to underscore the role of the Akwa Ibom traditional institution as a catalyst for promoting individual and group participation in community development. The monarch who is also a member of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria…
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has shared its recommendations on migration and mobility with the Slovenian government, which on Thursday assumed the Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) for the second half of 2021 as the world continues to adjust and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. In three key recommendations, IOM encourages the Slovenian Presidency to promote the safe resumption of human mobility for economic and social recovery, advance holistic and coordinated responses to return migration and reintegration, and to factor safe and orderly migration into the EU’s green transition to a climate-neutral economy. “The Slovenian government…
For those who know better, beyond supermarkets, barcodes can be employed across a whole spectrum of settings, including by scientists in their research. The accelerated breeding better banana project has therefore, developed and deployed a fully operational Banana breeding Tracking Tool (BTracT), using barcodes. Researchers now use BTracT to routinely track each step of the breeding process of the breeding pipeline. Each plant in each location receives a specific barcode identity. Apart from parental pedigree and taste details, BTracT records agronomic performance, pest resistance, plant stature, colour and feel of bananas. All this data is then stored on the global…
In many countries, the cherry production has been hampered by poor weather conditions, with Spain being battered by heavy rains and pollination being affected by winds in North America. Interestingly, other countries, have seen record productions, with South Africa experiencing its largest production of cherries ever. In Australia, Tasmanian cherry exports have risen by 40% this season. South Africa The total production for 2020/2021 was approximately 900 tonnes and exports around 440 tonnes, the biggest cherry crop South Africa has ever had. 73% of that went to the United Kingdom, 8% to Europe and 8% to the Middle East, 5%…
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) says its scientists have identified the defense mechanisms for Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) in resistant and susceptible cultivars with or without biological control agent (BCA) inoculation as part of efforts to identify effective ways to control Fusarium wilt of banana. Fusarium wilt is a disease caused by the soilborne fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc). It persists in soil for long periods as chlamydospores (thick-walled resting spores), even in the absence of its host. Once bananas have been infected, the fungus can easily spread through infected planting materials, soil run-off, and farm activities. Fusarium wilt is currently the most prominent disease that…
Chairperson of South Africa Avocado Growers Association, Clive Garrett, says the country’s avocado season has been disappointing. This is coming as the Egyptian Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade – in cooperation with French produce logistics company, Rungis International, is intent on establishing a specialised zone to manage the circulation of vegetables, fruits and all other such commodities in Alexandria’s Borg El Arab. The zone will be 50 ha large; the investments needed will be around €100 million. The cooperation will include procedures for digital transformation in Egypt’s internal trade system and streamline globalisation across fields, linking merchants and outlets…
Chinese ports are being raided by a renewed wave of the rampaging COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, global shipping is being interrupted for months due to the epidemic. Demand for Asian goods from western countries has exceeded exporters’ ability to ship containers overseas. But at Yantian Port in Shenzhen, one of the world’s major container ports, the recent COVID outbreak has made the situation worse. At the beginning of this month, the capacity to handle containers at Yantian Port dropped sharply. The port announced that as of June 24, the overall operation of the Yantian International Container Terminal has been…
In Mozambique, food safety is taking a step forward as International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) signs a Technology Transfer and Licensing Agreement (TTLA) with AflaLivre Moçambique S.A. (AflaLivre) to manufacture and distribute Aflasafe in the country. The renewable agreement defines the framework of operations and responsibilities of each party. IITA’s Aflasafe team is already providing technical assistance with the design of the Aflasafe factory and procurement of the equipment. This Aflasafe manufacturing facility in Nampula, the fifth in sub-Saharan Africa, should be operational by June 2022. Mozambique has the potential to contribute significantly to food security in Africa. However, only…
Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) forbearance that allows loan restructure is billed to end in the year in line with global practice. As a result, the country’s deposit money banks non-performing loans has been projected to jump double-digit in the financial year 2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic-induced economic stress, the apex bank allowed leeway for banks to restructure customers loans in order not to overrun their books. Banks with higher exposures to oil and gas and other vulnerable segments including commerce and retail restructure large asset. Standard & Poor’s global credit ratings (S&P) analysts in an industry report say…
European countries are willing to pay a premium on Nigeria’s crude grades. But the country records a low oil supply for August. Oil report indicates that crude loading programmes for August started was issued on Tuesday, while the latest official selling prices for July were still awaited. However, oil market data shows that the August Qua Iboe loading programme issued Tuesday shows lower supplies. Nigerian grades have risen recently due to higher European demand as lock-downs are eased. “Qua Iboe was last offered at dated Brent plus $1.50 to $1.60 a barrel, depending on loading dates”, oil market data shows. However,…
Executive Director of World Food Programme (WFP), David Beasley, is urging the world to step-up and take action after bearing witness to the invisible crisis enveloping Southern Madagascar, where whole communities are teetering on the edge of starvation. “I met women and children who were holding on for dear life, they’d walked for hours to get to our food distribution points. These were the ones who were healthy enough to make it”, said Beasley from a nutrition centre in the region. “There have been back-to-back droughts in Madagascar which have pushed communities right to the very edge of starvation. Families…
For East Idaho area farmers in the US, a spring that was dryer than normal is spelling trouble for them, especially potato farmers. Tony Olenichak, the water master for Water District 1 in Idaho Falls said that due to a lower than average snow pack this year, he may have to cut the natural flowing water from the Snake River into area channels early, which farmers use to irrigate their crops. ”We’re talking about all the people who depend on farming and diverting surface water from the Snake River, Henry’s Fork or some of those other tributarie”,” Olenichak said. Once…
Smaller sizes of mandarins are under pressure globally on both import and export markets, as good growing conditions early in the season have lead to an abundance of these sizes in production countries such as South Africa. The outside influence of transport issues and labour shortages continue to hamper the production of mandarins as they do other fruits, particularly in Australia, which has not opened its borders to those foreign workers who usually harvest the fruit, meaning part of the yield has been left unharvested in this country. The Netherlands “The market for overseas mandarins started well with the Satsumas…
