Southern African Countries Record Reduced Cereal Production in 2019

Namibia, Malawi and South Africa saw a decline in cereal production of about 65,000 metric tonnes compared to 2018, a report has shown.

These are preliminary findings under the crop production and vulnerability assessment report for Southern Africa, which was presented at the joint meeting of Southern African Development Community (SADC) ministers responsible for agriculture, food security and fisheries and aquaculture taking place in Windhoek, Namibia, on June 3rd 2019.

According to the report, the three countries recorded a total of 153,000 metric tonnes of cereal for the 2018 season and only 88,000 metric tonnes for 2019 crop season.

Xinhua

Tunisia Forecasts 42% Rise in Grain Harvest in 2019

by Tarek Amara

Tunisia expects its grain harvest to jump by about 42% to more than 2 million tonnes this year, up from about 1.4 million tonnes in 2018, the state news agency said on 9 June.

Tunisia devotes most of its fertile irrigated farmland to durum wheat and imports mainly soft wheat and barley. Farming represents about 13 percent of gross domestic product.


A total of 1.2 million hectares were planted with grain this year.

ZAWYA

Good Rains Result In Good Harvests In Tunisia

Tunisia’s grain harvest is expected to reach 2 million tonnes this year (2019), the country’s Agriculture Ministry said, nearly 50% higher than last year and 40% above the past decade’s average.

The positive assessment, due to above-average rainfall in the main cereal growing regions of northern and central Tunisia, came as welcome news in a country struggling with a lingering economic crisis.

Precipitation was higher and well-distributed during important periods last year, prompting farmers to plant more acreage and creating better crop conditions than in previous years. Seed and fertiliser were also more readily accessible, farmers said.

“We got the most wonderful period of precipitations perhaps in 30 years,” said Abdessalem Hammami, 54, a farmer in the northern Beja province. “Rainfall came when we needed it, not rapid and violent but smooth and continuously. “It is all good for the harvest and the earnings from it for us and for livestock. We will also not be worrying about drinking water as the dams are filled to their capacities,” he added.

Hammami’s neighbour Salah Harrabi smiled when asked about his harvest. “I planted the same acreage as last year but I collected three times more wheat bags,” he said. “I got more chaff from the harvest as well. I paid the cost of the combine harvester from the sale of the chaff to livestock breeders from the south of the country.”

Official figures showed that some 700,000 hectares of wheat were harvested in 2019, up from 620,000 last year. A total of 620,000 hectares of barley were harvested this year, up from 525,000 last season.

While the higher projected grain harvest will not end Tunisia’s reliance on cereal imports, it will help decrease its trade and current account deficits, which have been widening over the past eight years because of economic stagnation.

Grain traders and experts said the cereals’ domestic output would help trim Tunisia’s imports by approximately 20% compared to last year. That means Tunisia would import some 2.9 million tonnes of crops from July 2019-June 2020, including 800,000 tonnes of soft wheat.

Tunisia’s domestic grain production varies sharply depending on the weather. Irrigated wheat acreage accounts for 13% of the area in which wheat is planted. Most irrigated land is used for durum wheat as part of the country’s strategy to reduce dependence on imported durum, which is more expensive and in limited offer on the international market.

However, farmers expressed concern about losing some of their harvest to fires, which flared up in the first week of June when grain was being collected from fields. Authorities are investigating whether the fires that burned some 500 hectares were “economic sabotage” or due to neglectful behaviour and soaring temperatures.

There is suspicion that arsonists connected to unscrupulous real estate speculators or wheat importers were behind the blazes but no evidence has been put forward to support the accusations.

Civil Protection spokesman Moez Triaa said June 12 that fires in early June destroyed 681 hectares of forested land and agricultural fields, compared to 242 hectares during the same period last year. He said 96% of the fires were “man-caused.” Investigations will determine whether the human factor means neglect or criminal behaviour, he said.

Hot weather exacerbated the fires, with temperatures soaring to 44 degrees Celsius, up to 10 degrees higher than maximum temperatures the same period last year. Experts say the heatwave is part of a general climate trend that is exacerbated by rising concentrations of greenhouse gases.

Full article...

Biological Control Of Fall Armyworm Shows Promise

An egg parasitoid, Telenomus remus, could prove an important biological weapon in the fight against the devastating fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) that threatens the food security of more than 200 million people.

Dr Marc Kenis, Head of Risk Analysis and Invasion Ecology at the CABI Centre in Switzerland, led an international team of researchers from seven countries, who suggest Telenomus remus provides a 'great opportunity for the rapid deployment of a biological control agent' for fall armyworm in Africa.


Full Article...

Original Research Paper...

Drought causes massive reductions in Namibia cereal production

A large swathe of southern Africa experienced below-average rainfall in the 2014/15 summer cropping season, causing big drops in the yields of many staple and other crops.

A report released by the Namibian government indicates that communal areas of mostly small scale subsistence farming experienced maize production reductions of as much as 80% below average, and 73% below harvests for the 2013/2014 season. Even in areas of large scale commercial farming, the maize harvest showed a drop of 46% less than last season’s harvest and 12% below the average production.

The national coarse aggregate production (maize, millet, sorghum and wheat) is estimated at 67 800 tonnes, reflecting a substantial decrease in the harvest of about 46% below the average production and 49% lower than last season’s harvest. (...more)

 Even in normal times a large coastal desert and a generally hot, dry climate contribute to Namibia having among the world's lowest maize yields of less than half a tonne a hectare.

African Agriculture

Unrest in Egypt may be spurred by greater dependence on grain imports from US, reduced farmer viability

Why does there appear to be so much widespread pent up rage against the US in the Arab world, even in country considered a long time friend like Egypt?

Political analysts of all shades are groping for answers to this question, with the range of answers as varied as the people who give them. Unfortunately and typically of 'the international media,' not many think to simply ask the Egyptians and other Arabs themselves!

Thomas Kostigen has an interesting take on the issue.  In his article 'Behind Arab riots lie U.S. agricultural policies, he argues part of the antipathy is due to "U.S. policies that disrupt people’s lives and darken rays of hope."

Writes Kostigen,  "The backlash by the Muslim segment of the Arab world goes deeper than one recent, hateful film; it goes back to 1992 when small farmers in Egypt lost their land rights under a reform scheme implemented by former President Hosni Mubarak."

Kostigen cites an article he wrote at the start of Egypt's 2011 anti-Mubarak upheavals, and long before the present protests initially attributed by some to anger over a crude anti-Islamic film.

In the earlier article, Why U.S. farm policy caused Egypt crisis,
Kostigen said under U.S. and International Monetary Fund pressure, "the country’s small farmers who were ‘registered tenants’ became subject to rent increases, in many cases triple what they had been paying. As expected, these small farmers couldn’t afford the steep rent increases and were forced off their land. More than half of all Egyptians live in the countryside, and millions were forced into poverty. Moreover, Egypt itself became more reliant on imports."

Kostigen points out a great deal of those imports that have made many farmers destitute come from the United States. The fact that U.S. wheat and other grain farmers enjoy subsidies that make it that much harder for Egyptian and other world farmers to survive, let alone compete, may have just fueled resentments, suggests Kostigen.

Quips Kostigen, "It’s a great thing to provide food at cheap prices to people. But once a population is hooked on cheap food and then prices rise, as they have to their all-time highs, a shift in mood should be expected."

Some will find it easy to reject Kostigen's contentions as a rant against his country, but he provides the kind perspectives on real-world issues affecting people in country's like Egypt that more prominent political talking heads are completely oblivious of.

U.S. president Barack Obama recently announced a grand initiative to help kick-start agriculture in several African countries. It will be significantly private sector driven.

The Egyptian example given by Kostigen is just one of many reasons some agriculturally-engaged people in Africa are suspicious and worried about the 'help' the U.S. proposes to give for African agriculture. Will it be 'help' to African farmers become more productive and competitive, or will it be actually help to American agricultural corporations to create and find new markets at the expense of African farmers, as Kostigen claims has been the case in Egypt?

In agrarian societies, issues like those pointed out by Kostigen are matters of life and death for millions of people. The damage to livelihoods and resentment over them cannot be compensated by then donating military or other aid to the ruling classes.    

Kostigen provides deep, well written and very readable perspectives on some little known but important contributors to Egyptian's love-hate relationship with the U.S. Too bad it is almost entirely predictable that politicians and government bureaucrats in Washington D.C. will pay little or no heed of the warnings of people like Kostigen that the issues and feelings go far deeper than anger over an anti-Islam film.

African Agriculture

Study highlights potential of African grains for bread production

by Nathan Gray

Non-conventional African grains show promise in producing breads with good nutritional and sensory properties, and “deserve an increasing interest in bakery industry,” according to new research.

The study, published in Journal of Food Science, evaluated the technological and nutritional properties of the African cereals Acha (Digitaria exiliis) and Iburu (Digitaria iburua) in making sourdough bread. The results of the study are said to increase knowledge of the bread making properties of the two flours, and show the suitability of both Acha and Iburu flour to be used for bread making.

The authors, from the department of microbiology at the University of Agriculture, Nigeria, reported that sourdough fermentation of the African grains “increased the nutritional and sensory qualities and the potential application for bakery industry.”

The researchers, led by Raffaella Di Cagno said that interest is starting to focus on ancient and Ethnic grains, which are attracting the interest in both Western and African countries. They noted that increased use of such grains would decrease the costs related to imported wheat flour, whilst adding that many of the grains have healthier and more natural features when compared to modern wheat.

Non-conventional and ancient grains and cereals have enjoyed a revival of interest in recent years, as they fit with the desire for less processed ingredients and attention to the nutritional value of foods. Acha, also known as white fonio and Iburu, also known as black fonio, are reported to be some of the oldest African cereals.

“It is well positioned for improved production, it is still widely cultivated, and is well known and esteemed for its sensory properties,” said Di Cagno and his colleagues. However, the bread making process based on Acha and Iburu flours is not well standardised “with consequent negative effects on rheological, nutritional and sensory properties”, they added.

The new study explored the suitability of flour made from Acha and Iburu for sourdough bread making.

Study details:

Sourdough breads made of Acha or Iburu flours were manufactured using and were compared to wheat. During sourdough fermentations, starter lactic acid bacteria was reported to reach similar cell densities in the non-conventional grain sourdoughs as in the wheat.

The values of in vitro protein digestibility did not differ between Acha sourdough and wheat sourdough breads, however Iburu sourdough bread showed a slightly lower value, said Di Cagno and his co-workers.

The authors found that Acha and Iburu sourdough breads were preferred for hardness and resilience, and were also appreciated for colour, acid taste and flavour, and overall acceptability.

Compared to wheat sourdoughs, Acha and Iburu sourdoughs also contained higher levels of free amino acids

The researchers added that the small size of the grains means have the advantage of being minimally processed, thus limiting the loss of nutrients during milling.

Bakery and Snacks

Kenya: Amaranth ‘key to ending food shortage’

by Lillian Ochieng and Daniel Otieno

The Poverty Eradication Commission (Kenya) is fronting Amaranth as a suitable alternative to maize farming in Kenya, following the staple’s unreliable supply that has aggravated food insecurity in rural areas.

Starting this week farmers in Rarieda, Bondo, Gem and Kisumu West will be sensitised on the benefits of growing amaranth - also known as terere - which can be consumed as a grain and ground into flour, besides a wide range of health benefits. The awareness will be done at market centers.

PEC director Leonard Obadha said the promotion would be taken to other parts of the country where erratic rainfall has compromised maize harvests, increasing food poverty.

“With adequate rain, maize takes 3 months to mature while amaranth takes around two months and requires very little rain,” said Obadha.

Amaranth flour is also used in making chapati, doughnuts, uji, and ugali and has a higher nutritional value. Farmers will also be taught how to prepare different meals from Amaranth seed.

Planting the amaranth seed costs only Sh500 per acre, which can yield up to Sh20,000 in income. Amaranth flour goes for Sh200 compared to maize flour that is now sold at Sh120, for a packet of two kilogrammes. In ample supply, a packet of maize meal sells at Sh75.

Nutritionists recommend the grain for women who are breastfeeding and for management of diseases such as diabetes, tuberculosis, marasmus, and liver complications.


A Parliamentary Select Committee going round the country seeking public views on the high prices of basic commodities, has been told that the shortage of maize is one of the main causes of high food prices.


“We are aware that most Kenyans cannot afford to buy a packet of flour,” said Mr Ababu Namwamba who chairs the committee whose findings will be released next week.


Meanwhile, cassava is emerging as a solution to food shortages in Ugunja district where farmers have traditionally grown sugar cane as a cash crop, leaving them with nothing to eat when millers delay payments.


An initiative by the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) through the National Farmers Union and Farm Africa has seen more farmers adopt the tuber, cushioning them from the rising cost of maize flour and vegetables.


“Farmers here grow sugar cane and are deep in debt. That affects food security significantly,” said James Onyango, a standard four drop out who is now acclaimed as the Cassava ambassador.


Mr Onyango educates farmers on the crop, extending the knowledge he has acquired from attending presentations by research institutions on the new cassava varieties that produce up to 17 tubers from one stem, compared to 3 tubers on average for traditional varieties.

Cassava varieties such as Mijera, MH95 and MM96 are recommended by Kari due to their high yield, faster maturity and drought resistance. The crop also does not need fertiliser. Cassava, however, is prone to the Cassva mosaic disease (CMD) and Cassava Brown Streak Virus (CBSV) which affects about 10 per cent of the crop in the area.

Rosalinda Adikinyi, 39 has devoted her land to the crop, abandoning the popular maize and beans. “Between April and August people face starvation because the grain has run out. At harvest prices tumble and soon there is starvation”, she says, adding a key benefit of cassava is that it can be harvested piece meal.

Harrison Okello, Nyando district crops officer, said the frequent food shortages could be alleviated by a shift in favour of meals derived from cassava and millet, which have traditionally been viewed as a poor man’s diet.

“We are living in an era where feeding on brown ugali for example are is seen as backward,” said Mr Okello.

Business Daily Africa

Morocco sees higher grains harvest

Morocco expects its cereals harvest to reach 8.8 million tonnes this year, Agriculture Minister Aziz Akhennouch said, exceeding its level last year and the current budget's crop forecast.

In remarks carried by the official MAP news agency, Akhennouch said the forecast was valid "as of today" unless "exceptional" developments occur. He did not give a breakdown per cereal variety for the harvest forecast.

The current cereal-growing campaign was spared the damaging floods of 2010 and farmers are hoping for dry weather in the weeks that precede the start of the harvest in June.

Morocco's cereal harvest stood at 7.46 million tonnes last year, recording a 27 percent fall compared with a year earlier, due mainly to the impact of floods.

The 2011 budget, predicting an economic growth of 5 percent, was based on a cereals harvest of 7 million tonnes.

The state's High Planning Commission (HCP) last month said Morocco's economy would grow by 4.6 percent in 2011 based on what it described then as a "realistic" forecast of a cereals harvest of 7 million tonnes.

A harvest of 9 million tonnes will be needed to enable the North African country to post economic growth of 5.1 percent, it added. HCP estimated the $90 billion economy to have gained 3.3 percent in 2010 versus 4.9 percent in 2009.

Agriculture is the country's biggest employer, at nearly 35 percent its workforce, but the majority of cereal-planted areas are small properties owned by subsistence farmers.

Reuters

Quinoa's popularity boon to Bolivians

by Carlos Valdez and Frank Bajak

It's as inhospitable as climates come for crop cultivation, the dry and rocky soils of Bolivia's semiarid altiplain. Miguel Choque can see his breath as surveys his fields of quinoa, the Andean "supergrain."

In late March or April, the flowering plants will paint the rugged landscape yellow, green and red. Their diminutive seed, which powered Inca armies only to be elbowed aside by the wheat preferred by colonizing Spaniards, is unmatched in nutritional value.

Quinoa's rising popularity among First World foodies — the wholesale price has jumped sevenfold since 2000 as global demand climbed — has been a boon to the poor farmers here in the semiarid highlands where most of it grows.

And that boom has transformed the lives of the largely subsistence farmers who grow it, though it remains unclear whether the large-scale commercial cultivation sought by Bolivia's government is environmentally sustainable in the altiplain-or even welcome by growers.

President Evo Morales' government has deemed quinoa a "strategic" foodstuff, essential to this poverty-afflicted nation's food security. It is promoting the grain and has included quinoa in a subsidized food parcel for pregnant women.

Yet the higher prices quinoa is fetching have had an unanticipated impact where the grain is grown. Some local children are showing signs of malnutrition because their parents have substituted rice and noodles for quinoa in the family diet, said Walter Severo, president of a quinoa producer's group in southwest Bolivia.

"Only 10 percent of it stays in Bolivia. The other 90 percent gets exported," says Rural Development Minister Nemecia Achacollo.

Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah) provides 10 essential amino acids, is loaded with minerals and has a high protein content — between 14 and 18 percent. The FAO (U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization) says it is so nutritious it can be substituted for mother's milk.

"This food is about the most perfect you can find for human diets," said Duane Johnson, a 61-year-old former Colorado State agronomist who helped introduce it to the United States three decades ago.

Quinoa isn't a cereal. It's a seed that is eaten like a grain, but is gluten-free and more easily digestible than corn, wheat, rye, millet and sorghum. And it can be substituted for rice in just about anything — from soup to salad to pudding to bread.

"I've got high-performance athletes that swear by it," said David Schnorr, president of Quinoa Corp., the largest U.S. importer. It's also being embraced by the increasing number of Americans with food allergies or celiac disease, an immunological rejection of gluten, a wheat protein. NASA researchers consider it ideal for inclusion in possible future long-term space missions when crops would need to be grown on spacecraft.

Quinoa has been cultivated in the Andean highlands since 3,000 B.C., and grows natively from Chile north to Colombia, mostly in Peru and Bolivia. The varieties of this region of southwestern Bolivia — at 3,700 meters (over 12,000 feet) — are resistant to the freezes and droughts that periodically afflict it.

The crop — "chisiya mama" or mother grain in the native Quechua language — also grows in the San Luis Valley of Colorado at about 8,000 feet (2,400 meters) as well as in a growing number of countries including China and Mongolia, said Johnson.

"It's very specific in the environments where it will grow," he said. "It requires very cool days and even cooler evenings."

He says Peru and Bolivia account for as much as 97 percent of global production.

And demand is booming.

"We've easily doubled our business in the last couple of years during the worst economic recession we've had in a long time," said Schnoor.

In 2000, Bolivia exported 1,439 metric tons valued at $1.8 million. In 2009, exports totaled 14,500 tons worth more than $25 million, principally to the U.S., Japan and Europe. The goal for this harvest is 30,000 tons, said Bolivia's deputy minister of rural development, Victor Hugo Vasquez.

Schnoor said prices soared threefold in early 2008. A decade ago, a 12-ounce box of his quinoa, marketed under the Ancient Harvest brand, retailed for 99 cents in the United States. Now it costs about $4.50. It's also available in bulk at natural food markets — and even Costco warehouse stores now carry it.

The indigenous Bolivians who cultivate quinoa are among Bolivia's poorest and many lived until the late 20th century by barter. It was the discovery of quinoa by the health conscious in wealthier countries that introduced these people to the life of the market, says Brigido Martinez, president of the National Association of Quinoa producers, ANAPQUI.

Martinez traces the boom in quinoa's popularity to a visit by the king and queen of Spain in 1987, when the royals sampled it, and the news media and the world took note. Food exporters in the coastal Peruvian capital of Lima, where it had been considered "poor people's food" by the European-descended elite, took note and began buying it up.

It's not by chance that most of the world's quinoa comes from Bolivia.

In the 1990s, Johnson and fellow Colorado State University crop scientist Sarah Ward patented a high-yielding hybrid with the intention of spurring large-scale cultivation in the U.S. But they were challenged by ANAPQUI in an international court and abandoned the effort.

There are those in Bolivia who believe this scrappy grain could lift its altiplain out of poverty just as soy has become the economic motor of the country's wealthier eastern lowlands. After all, quinoa fetches up to five times the price of soy beans in the U.S. and European markets.

Martinez doesn't believe that can or will happen. For one, quinoa growers farm on a smaller scale (the country's soy growers are mostly agribusinessmen with huge plantations).

But for a government that proudly declares itself "decolonizing" Bolivia in favor of its long downtrodden indigenous majority, the promotion of quinoa is a linchpin of an agricultural policy that favors the small holder over agribusiness.

Officials are working on details of a plan to boost quinoa production, including credits for farmers that never before had access to financing. Many producers are suspicious, however, that the government could turn into a competitor.

"Its support is fine, but we'd like it to help with irrigation and research to improve the quality of the seed and soil performance," said Martinez.

Meanwhile, some quinoa farmers have put their increased income to work raising more llamas and alpacas, whose waste is used as fertilizer and which also produce wool. And while most harvesting is still done manually, some have abandoned the ox-pulled plow for tractors.

Some farmers believe current cultivation methods  are inadequate.

"The soils are tired and need nutrition. Production is dropping," said Francisco Quisbert, an indigenous leader in the region where Quinoa Real is grown.

But other quinoa boosters caution that traditional, organic farming methods must be maintained to preserve the purity of the crop. Consumers in the developed world don't want quinoa grown with chemical fertilizers or pest controllers, said Schnorr.

However it plays out, Martinez, the producer's association president, is not complaining.

"Quinoa isn't lifting us out of poverty," he says. "But we are living better."

Yahoo

Agriterra update of Mozambique grain processing and cattle ranching operations

Agriterra Ltd, an AIM-listed company focussed on the agricultural sector in central and southern Africa, is pleased to announce a positive update on its grain processing and cattle ranching operations in Mozambique.

Operations at the main DECA facility at Chimoio continue to perform strongly with demand for product above average historical levels

Sales of processed maize meal for October and November totalled US$2.5 million

Demand for bran, the milling by-product used primarily for animal feed, is increasing weekly, both from local consumers and for export to Zimbabwe

At the Compagri facility in the Tete Province, both buying and processing operations continue to be ramped up.

The export market for maize meal produced at Compagri is increasing and it is currently processing an order for 3,000 tonnes of grain and 1,000 tonnes of maize meal for Zimbabwe. Maize meal deliveries to Zimbabwe are now being made and local sales are also increasing.

The Vanduzi feedlot has commenced limited production with the first animals delivered for slaughter to the Beira abattoir in early December. Slaughter dress out weight percentages were between 58% and 63% which is approximately 10% above expected rates. Average sale price achieved per animal was more than US$900.

Demand for quality beef on the local market continues to significantly exceed supply and the Company is aggressively expanding its feedlot operation to help meet this demand.

Maize planting is underway on 200 hectares of recently cleared land to supply feed to the feedlot.

Negotiations with abattoir suppliers based in Holland are underway in order to secure the Company’s own slaughtering facilities. Further feed pens are under construction and bush clearing programmes are progressing well.

The Dombe and Mavonde ranches have recorded 238 calves born in recent months with more expected and all cattle are regarded as being in exceptionally good condition. Scaling up buying operations of Beefmaster cattle with a target herd size of 10,000 head

Agriterra Executive Director Euan Kay said, “We remain extremely upbeat about our operations in Mozambique, in particular with the progress made at Mozbife. The sale of our first cattle at in excess of US$900 per carcass emphasises the financial returns possible for an established beef ranching operation in Mozambique and the huge potential of Mozbife. Birth rates are strong and with development in all areas of the business progressing at pace, including securing our own feed and negotiating the establishment of an abattoir, we believe these early successes will continue and that we will fulfil our aim of becoming one of the country’s largest producers of beef. This will greatly complement our maize processing operations which are performing well ahead of our expectations both in the domestic supply and export areas.”

Striga weed needs more spirited efforts against it

by C. Bukenya

In 2008, a looming crisis was reported in Western Kenya and parts of eastern Uganda. This crisis was about the prevalence of striga weed, which was increasingly threatening the production of cereals, particularly maize. Since then, striga has continued to spread to new areas with devastating effects on crop yields and serious consequences for household food and income security.

Reports show that striga is infesting between 20 million to 40 million hectares of farm land in sub-Saharan Africa. It leads to drastic decline in the yield of crops like maize, millet, sorghum and rice. Believed to be a parasitic plant, striga competes for water and nutrients from the roots of the crop thereby reducing its growth. For example, the weed reduces the yield of maize by more than a half and leads to complete crop failure in severe cases.

In Uganda, striga infestation has been reported in the eastern districts of Busia, Budaka, Tororo, Namutamba and Iganga.

Because it has very small seeds and attractive flowers, striga can easily be spread by farm tools and equipment, wind, water plus animals and human beings.

There is ongoing research aimed at addressing the striga problem, both in Uganda and elsewhere. The research has focused on augmenting the conventional agronomic field management practices, such as crop rotation with the application of nitrogen fertilisers and herbicides in addition to the use of crop varieties that are resistant to the weed.

Unfortunately, these efforts have not yet yielded effective and practical solutions for controlling striga. As a recent visit to Bulamagi sub-county in Iganga district revealed, both traditional methods of weed management and individual farmer innovation do not seem to offer much success.

The striga weed problem has also not received much attention from government agencies like NAADS and the district production departments. I believe that the striga weed problem calls for urgent strategic intervention and concerted efforts involving sensitisation and mobilisation of communities in the same way the water hyacinth problem was addressed.

The writer is a lecturer at Makerere University

New Vision

Small grains being promoted in Zimbabwe

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched a project in Zimbabwe recently to promote the use of small grains such as millet and sorghum to boost food security in three drought-prone provinces - Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South and Masvingo.

Small grains are considered drought tolerant and have better nutritional value than maize, which is viewed as an unsuitable crop in these provinces.

The US$399,000 project - Promoting Production, Processing and Marketing of Small Grains in the Marginal Areas in Zimbabwe - which envisages the provision of improved seed varieties, will target small farmers, and aims to be up and running by the rainy season starting in the next few weeks.

It will provide small grain inputs sufficient for the cultivation of half a hectare, and this will also enable farmers to produce seeds for the next planting season.

Gaoju Han, FAO's sub-regional director for Southern Africa and Zimbabwe's country representative, said: "The project will also build the capacity of community based smallholder seed producers so as to ensure sustainable availability of high quality small grains seed."

Ministry of Agriculture extension workers will provide assistance and training on the production of small grains, and inform communal farmers of their benefits.


Han said production of small grains over the years had faced several obstacles, including the limited access to seed, poor prices, low yields and the huge flocks of voracious red-billed quelea birds.

"These challenges have contributed towards the reduction in the area allocated to small grains on the one hand, and an expansion of the maize area on the other. FAO’s aim is to assist the Ministry of Agriculture to address these and other challenges that have limited the production of small grains by smallholder farmers," he said.

"What is now required is for the key players to exploit the unique attributes of small grains such as drought tolerance and their better nutritional value compared to other cereal crops," said Ngoni Masoka, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture.

Food security expert and the former Zimbabwe Commercial Farmers Union president Davidson Mugabe said the launch was welcome and if properly conducted, would go a long way towards ensuring food security.


"We need as a country to come up with policies that ensure that we grow crops which are suitable to the different regions, and the three provinces for the programme are ideal for small grains because they record low annual rainfall," he said.

Zimbabwe's rapid decline from food security has been blamed on a combination of events - including droughts and the disruption of agriculture in 2000, when President Robert Mugabe launched the fast-track land reform programme, which redistributed more than 4,000 white commercial farms to landless blacks.

In the first quarter of 2009 about seven million people - more than half the population - depended on food assistance. The government estimates about 1.3 million people will require food assistance in the first quarter of 2011.


Davidson Mugabe said it was also important to popularize the consumption of small grains and there was a "need for innovation when processing food from small grains. Only recently I ate a cake made from millet."

Dumisani Nyoni, the provincial agricultural officer for Matabeleland North, said farmers’ yields in the province had in recent years been declining.

"The farmers would save some [small] grain [seed] from their harvest which they continued to use as seed and over the years yields had gone down. When we introduce new seed varieties to the farmers, their produce will be higher. One challenge though that needs to be tackled urgently will be the threat posed by quelea birds which are a problem in the province. The department of national parks [needs] to be capacitated in order to eliminate that menace."

Quelea birds, which roam in flocks that can grow to millions, prefer the seeds of wild grasses to those of cultivated crops, but their numbers make them a constant threat to fields of sorghum, wheat, barley, millet and rice.


IRIN

Senegal rice production goes up

Senegal's Food Security Commission (CSA) has said rice production reached 502,104 tonnes in Senegal during the 2009/2010 farming season.

According to CSA, the total volume of imported rice in the country over the same period amounted to 900,000 tonnes while the consumption volume for this commodity is estimated at 874,300 tonnes.

Rice is Senegal’s main staple food. In general, the CSA believes that food consumption in Senegal is guaranteed up to 70% from cereals.

The country’s needs over the last two years, all grains combined, were put at just over 2.098 million tonnes and 2.148 million tonnes respectively.

In comparison, the CSA indicates that production in the country during this period stood at between 712,364 tonnes and 1,510,710 tonnes respectively.

There is mainly imported rice that fills the gap between needs and Senegal’s cereal production, CSA officials said.

APA

Grain silos to be constructed in South Africa's Eastern Cape province

Seven-million rand has been set aside to construct silos at strategic sites in the former Transkei area, in the Eastern Cape. The investment will also be linked to mills to produce maize meal and crushed maize, says government initiative for transforming farming Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa Eastern Cape (Asgisa EC) agriculture project manager Thukela Mashologu.

The mills will produce the maize products as part of Asgisa EC’s integrated dry-land (nonirrigated) cropping programme. The silos will be ready for the second maize harvest in 2010.

The first harvest overseen by Asgisa EC totalled 18 000 t of maize harvested in Butterworth, Matatiele, Mount Frere and Qumbu. 
The 2010 harvest is 
expected to exceed 42 000 t 
because the amount of land being cropped is double that of the first harvest.

Silos and milling plants are important to the economy and will lead to diversification for communities that are looking to the programme to help alleviate poverty and improve food security. The jobs to be created and the development of small business are also significant benefits of the integrated cropping programme, he explains.

A report by commercial silo owners association the Grain Silo Industry shows that most silo storage facilities are located in the Free State, Mpumalanga and the North West provinces, the leading maize producers in the country. Crop monitoring organisation the South African Grain Information Services says that there are more than 190 maize millers in the country with the Sasko mill, in Port Elizabeth, being the only large-scale milling plant in the Eastern Cape.

Mashologu explains that Asgisa EC has embarked on a request for proposals for grain milling and silo management, after which a community and a public–private partnership 
arrangement is likely to be formed for managing the grain silos and milling plants.


He says that the organisation was forced to sell the last season’s maize yield shortly after the harvest. This was a direct 
result of the lack of storage 
facilities in the area.
 “As a result, we sold our harvest at a time when there was 
adequate supply to the market, and, hence, we were unable to 
attract higher prices, which would have been the case if we could have sold the crop at a time when there was high demand and low supply. 
Obviously, this has impacted on the pricing and 
profit of the first harvest,” he says.

The current market conditions, particularly with maize production, create an opportunity to improve the competitiveness of the produce. Storage facilities will also help Asgisa EC to sell its produce in intervals and thereby ensure a fair price.

The processing of our produce will boost the province’s market share in this area and will create jobs for participating communities,” adds Mashologu.

The building of the silos is the first part of a plan to bring 
investment into the Eastern Cape. Maize is the staple food of the province’s rural communities and accounts for nearly 95% of the crops planted as part of Asgisa EC’s dry-land cropping programme. Other crops grown on a small-scale include: beans, soya beans and sunflowers. Also of interest is animal feed production that is a viable downstream investment. This will add value to the organisation’s livestock project.

Villagers from the four communities in Zingqayi, which participated in the 2008/9 planting and whose project is to expand by more than one-third in the current planting season, have 
responded by independently fixing the fencing on 114 ha of dormant land earmarked for planting for the next season.

The selection of areas for the Asgisa EC integrated cropping programme is based on adequate fencing, technical information (soil potential, climate conditions and slope), as well as community readiness (existing community cooperatives/organised structures).

An elder of the Zingqayi community, Donald Kwanele Ntshwanti, says: “We took it upon ourselves to fix the fencing to 
expand our plantations. We have faith in the Asgisa EC maize programme because our lands produced a decent yield in the last season. We are now eager to see all our lands being used in the upcoming season.”

Fires remain the biggest threat to the crops and destroyed some of the crops in the previous season, he says. “We trust that in time, our community will be given a tractor to assist in the planting process,” he adds.

Asgisa EC’s investment promotion and stakeholder relations executive manager Chuma Sangqu adds that existing community structures, such as the Chithindlala Committee, make working with villages more 
efficient.

“With the help of the Chithi-ndlala Committee, the Zingqayi community is a positive example of how rural communities are taking ownership of our projects. The Zingqayi community has taken the maize project seriously 
and is meeting us halfway with 
issues like fencing, where progress is slow,” Sangqu says.

Eastern Cape MEC for Agricul-ture and Rural Development Mbulelo Sogoni says that it is 
to see local municipalities providing funding towards the 
expansion. The Alfred Nzo district and the Mzimvubu local municipalities together donated R11-million to support the 
expansion of the project.

“The funding from the municipalities, together with the R96-million committed by Asgisa EC for this season’s dry-land cropping programme, allows us to ramp up production on arid land. Last year, more than 2 500 households benefited from the 6 700-ha planting,” Sogoni says.

Communities receive between 200 kg and 500 kg of maize for personal use. The remaining portion is sold to producers, such as bread suppliers Sasko and animal feed manufacturers. Food security is a key priority of provincial government. It enables poor 
people to earn more and to invest in themselves and their communities, explains Sogoni.

Maize farming on the Ongeluksnek farms, in Matatiele, has been very successful, with farmers in the area producing 6,5 t/ha, close to a 25 % improvement on the provincial average for small-scale plantations outside the former Transkei.

Accordingly, Asgisa EC has increased plantings in this area threefold, from 900 ha to
3 000 ha. 
The Ongeluksnek’s yield is also greater than the yield at other AsgiSA EC maize sites, such as Butterworth, Mount Frere and Qumbu.

However, Asgisa EC CEO Simpiwe Somdyala explains that silos are essential to the programme’s future sustainability and Asgisa EC has committed R7-million for establishing silos. Other challenges remain, including insufficient rain and inadequate fencing.

Asgisa EC, which initially aimed to put 500 000 ha under dry-land planting over 25 years, is reviewing its original plans. With its 12 000-ha planting, Asgisa EC expects to achieve 12% of its original 2014 dry-land cropping target, which was set at 100 000 ha.

Engineering News

Morocco's grain harvest ' to slump 30%' this year

Morocco's run of declining grain imports looks likely to end in 2010-11 after inclement weather set back crop plantings, putting a 30% slide in production on the cards.

Rainfall in the North African country, a major wheat importer, fell to 75mm in the first three months of the planting season last year, 60% lower than a year before, when ample moisture put the country on the way to a record 10.2m-tonne grain crop.

Morocco grain plantings for 2010 harvest (year-on-year change)

Non-durum wheat: 1.91 million hect (-4.9%)

Barley: 1.91m hectares (-12.5%)

Durum wheat: 918,200 hectares (-5.2%)


Source: USDA attache report

"Morocco's grain plantings started under unfavourable weather conditions," a report from the US Department of Agriculture's Rabat bureau said.

While rains at the end of last year "significantly improved" crops' prospects, and raised water levels in irrigation reservoirs about that a year ago, flooding damaged 50,000 hectares of grain crops in the north western Gharb region.

Official data showed grain plantings down 8.2% at 4.74m hectares, with barley suffering worst with a 12.5% decline, leaving its area behind that of wheat, excluding durum, the type used in making pasta.


Morocco grain production, 2009-10

Non-durum wheat: 4.3m tonnes

Barley: 3.8m tonnes

Durum wheat: 2.1m tonnes

Total: 10.2m tonnes

Source: USDA attache report

However, analysts are forecasting a slide of 3.0m tonnes in grain production from last year, the report said, a decline reflecting both a return near average yields as well as the reduction in plantings.

A fall of that size appears likely, on Agrimoney.com calculations, to foster a revival in imports which, for wheat, including durum, have been estimated at 2.1m tonnes for 2009-10, half the level two seasons before.

While the extra production has been expected to allow Morocco to rebuild its all-wheat stocks to 1.6bn tonnes this year, this figure falls significantly short of the 7.5bn tonnes the country consumes a year.

Morocco's bumper durum harvest last year has been cited as a major factor in the slide in global imports which have seen the grain's price underperform that of conventional wheat varieties.

Agrimoney

Zimbabwe increases grain hectarage, but fertilizer hard to get

Over 900 000 hectares countrywide have been put under maize during the 2009/10 summer cropping season compared to 600 000 hectares last season as Government intensifies the importation of top dressing fertilizers. Local companies have failed to produce enough fertilizer. Some farmers argue that this hectarage might go to waste if top dressing fertilizer is not made available on the market with immediate effect.


So far, over 284 000 hectares were put under small grains this season, an increase from last season's 203 000 hectares.

The increase in hectarage has seen an increase in demand for the scarce top dressing fertilizers.

Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Minister Dr Joseph Made said there was need for top dressing fertilizers to be made available promptly to save the crop that is at a critical stage of growth. "Continued improved delivery of fertilizers to farmers is critical as well as continued improvement in rainfall. We still anticipate rainfall will improve and farmers should have the fertilizers with them so that they can apply when the conditions are conducive.

"Farmers' efforts should be rewarded and this will be achieved by making sure the crop that is there is saved. Thus top dressing should be made available to farmers quickly," he said.

There has been a critical shortage of top dressing fertilizers for the past three weeks, but the Government recently awarded tenders to seven companies to supply the commodity.

Government contracted Nyiombo from Zambia, Simama from Malawi, ASP from South Africa, Omnia, WestBay, ZFC and Windmill to supply top dressing fertilizers.

Although they were being assisted by the State to mobilise money to produce fertilizer, ZFC and Windmill were still facing production challenges.

"The initial contract will see Nyiombo providing 3 000 tonnes of urea, Simama 4 250 tonnes and South Africa's ASP will provide 11 500 tonnes of Urea, while Omnia will provide 1 000 tonnes of the same commodity. ZFC and Windmill could not give the quantity they will provide since they are facing problems with raw materials and constant power cuts that are also damaging machinery," Made said.

He said the Government would continue importing fertilizers for the next 24 months to meet the increasing demand. "Our emphasis is now on delivering the fertilizers to Grain Marketing Board depots and making sure farmers access them. We have now asked the contracted companies to give a full schedule seven days ahead to GMB in terms of areas where fertilizers will be delivered to," he said.

Most of the imported top dressing fertilizers are in the form of Urea, Limestome Ammonium Nitrate and Calcium Ammonium Nitrate.

Minister Made encouraged Agritex extension officers to work closely with the farmers to ensure that they use the fertilizers accurately.

"Farmers in the provinces of the country that are dry, the southern parts of Manicaland, Matabeleland South, some parts of Masvingo and Midlands should take note that urea should be applied and covered as it causes damage to crops if left uncovered," Minister Made said.

He urged the responsible authorities to quickly distribute the fertilizer.
"Let the little fertilizer that is there be made available to farmers on an equity basis," he said.

The Herald

Burkina Faso has bumper grain harvest, but marketing decisions cause shortages, high prices

by Brahima Ouédraogo

Looking worried, Hadja Mamounata Belegda, commercial grain farmer, rubs the beads of her rosary between her fingers and ponders the consequences of grain shortages on the market in Burkina Faso.

"In previous years I would have had 4,000 - 5,000 tonnes of grain in my warehouses but this year (2008-2009), I did not even have 1,000 tonnes in my four warehouses," she laments. Belegda explains that as soon as the bumper harvest of the 2008-2009 agricultural season was announced, traders from neighbouring countries rushed to Burkina Faso to purchase grain.

Thanks to good rainfall and a grant input from the Burkina Faso government, cereal production for 2008-2009 reached more than 4.2 million tonnes - a surplus of 717,000 tonnes.

"We expected prices would go down, but we were caught off guard and now see that prices will continue to rise," laments Belegda. According to her, rather than cereals being imported from elsewhere as usual, this year they are being exported to Ghana, Mali and the Ivory Coast.

The trend is confirmed by Green Africa, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) specialising in information on grain prices in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The Ouagadougou-based NGO said in its January report that the scarcity of grain on the market led to a price increase of 14 percent for millet and 20 percent for sorghum and maize.

"The bag of maize which cost 7,500 CFA francs (about $15) on our markets in November, has quickly risen to 12,000 CFA francs in December and 15,000 CFA francs in January, following strong demand for the cereal from Ghana." This is according to Joseph Dagano Moussa, President of the Federation of Agricultural Professional Producers of Sissili (FEPACI), in the mid-west of the Sahelian West African country.

According to Green Africa, the scarcity of grain, despite an exceptional harvest, is mainly linked to the renewing of stocks by producers and traders in deficit areas. Furthermore, traders are already busy stockpiling. The NGO adds that this heavy demand impacts on grain prices and availability.

The NGO says the situation remains worrying, even though some observers predict a drop in prices, given that much of the grain producers' stock is not yet on the market - especially in surplus areas. Green Africa adds that as an additional measure, farmers in production areas are for now selling peanuts, sesame and beans; all of which were also produced in abundance this year.

To encourage farmers to put their produce on the market, members of the Burkinabé government met with producers and traders in the second week of January in the capital Ouagadougou.

The Minister of Agriculture, Water and Fisheries, Laurent Sédogo, who attended the meeting, says, "There are urgent measures to be taken and awareness needs to be raised because this meeting with the traders and producers helped us understand that there is some reluctance from producers, who need to feel trusted."

According to Sédogo, the government will renew production subsidies granted to producers for the past season.

"We will go to producers and reassure them, put our trust in them and encourage them so that they make their grain available to retailers," says Sédogo. He stresses that, amongst other things, the grants will be renewed this year (2009-2010) so as to produce sufficient grain, as was the case in the previous season.

"I feel reassured because this year I must collect 30,000 tonnes of cereals (maize and sorghum) and I think there will be a surge of patriotism that will see us supplying our people with this stock before we bring out other cereals," says Charles Sawadogo, director-general of the National Agency for the Management of Food Security Reserves, a public company.

Last year, to help the most needy populations cope with soaring prices, the government took 30,000 tonnes of grain from its security stocks, which it sold at a discounted price of about $18 for a 100 kg bag.

However, Sawadogo remains concerned about the market price: "We buy at a certain price to be able to resell at a discounted price, hence when we buy too expensively, not only does this give us insufficient stock, but we then sell at a significant loss."

According to Soumaila Cissé, president of the Interprofessional Committee for the Cereal Sector, an interface between producers and traders, the government should have undertaken consultations with stakeholders at the end of the agricultural season to prevent the export of several thousand tons of cereals.

"This dialogue is good because it's not about pointing fingers at each other; it's about everyone being aware of their responsibilities," says Cisse, whose organisation has less than 200 tonnes in its warehouses yet usually has 3,000 - 6,000 tonnes of collected grain at this time of year.

Mamadou Sanou, the Burkinabé Minister for Trade, Entrepreneurship, Arts and Crafts, says, "We will maintain contact at all times, we will work with them in a spirit of mutual understanding, consensus and problem-solving. But as for robust solutions, we are not there yet. If prices continue to rise, we could have a repeat of last year's violence, when we instead want peace in the country iif we are to develop as a people," Sanou stresses to producers.

According to Bassiaka Dao, president of the Farmers Federation of Burkina Faso (CPF), it is particularly important to subsidise agriculture for several years to ensure food self-sufficiency and the wellbeing of producers.

He explains, "To avoid problems, the government should agree to buy the surplus and sell it at an acceptable price on the market so that producers can, at the end of each season, look after themselves and put their children in school - through their work."

The increase in grain prices has already led to similar meetings being held between the different stakeholders in the cities of Bobo-Dioulasso and Koudougou, in the west and midwestern parts of Burkina Faso.

IPS

SADC to set up regional grain reserve

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has announced plans to set up a regional grain reserve, while urging member states not to impose export restrictions on maize as the region grapples with high food prices.

"The recently held Integrated Committee of Ministers Meeting in Swaziland urged member states to remove restrictions. In fact, we have urged countries with surplus maize to sell their produce within the region," said Margaret Nyirenda, head of the SADC's Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Directorate. "But at the end of the day it is a commercial decision - we can only advise member states to prioritise the region."

Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia all have imposed export restrictions and many other countries still have high import tariffs on maize. "These measures impede grain flowing from surplus to deficit areas within the region," said Thom Jayne, who teaches agricultural economics at Michigan State University (MSU) in the US.

"It is a travesty that 95 percent of all the grain imported by countries in sub-Saharan Africa is grown by farmers on other continents; only five percent of this grain comes from exports by neighbouring countries. This unfortunate situation is reinforced by a "beggar thy neighbour" approach to trade within the region," he said.

As an example of what regional trade can achieve, Jayne pointed out that in January 2005, "Kenya dropped its import tariff on maize from Uganda and Tanzania as part of the East African Commission trade agreement. There has been a notable improvement in maize price stability since that time."

Unrestricted cross-border movement of goods is on the cards: the SADC launched its free trade area on 17 August, in which 85 percent of goods produced and sold within the region will be exempt from customs duties.

This would apply to agricultural goods as well, said Boitumelo Gofhamodimo, acting head of the SADC's Trade, Industry and Finance Investment Directorate.

In a significant move, the SADC has revived plans to launch a strategic grain reserve to help bail out countries experiencing food shortages, as part of a pre-emptive strategy to minimise the impact of natural disasters on food security. Various models of the proposed facility are being negotiated; the strongest contender is based on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Emergency Rice Reserve, established in the late 1970s.

In the Southern African model a 500,000 metric tonne facility, including a cash component for countries that do not have any surplus to contribute, would be set up. About 75 percent of the reserve will comprise food in kind, while the remaining 25 percent will be in the form of cash.

"The reserve, which will include a combination of cereals, will be kept in several selected countries to provide easy access around the region," said Nyirenda. The reserve is to be run by a board, and officials hope to get the facility operational by mid-2009.

Three SADC countries - Mauritius, Madagascar and Mozambique - have established a regional food company funded by the World Bank's Global Food Crisis Response Facility. Under this initiative, Mauritius and Madagascar, which have limited agricultural land, plan to grow food in Mozambique.

"We support such bilateral initiatives to boost food security, but we are concerned in instances where land is being leased or purchased for biofuel production at the expense of food production," said Nyirenda. "We are busy formulating a regional policy on biofuel."

IRIN

Poor 2008 cereals harvest feared in East Africa

An expected poor 2008 cereal crop yield in several East African countries is set to exacerbate food insecurity for millions of people affected by high food prices, a UN agency warned July 15.

With harvesting underway or due soon to start, the Rome-based Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda and Kenya all faced low crop production for the 2008 main season.

While the important March-May rains improved towards the end of the period, cumulative totals remain below normal in large areas of Ethiopia, Somalia, parts of western Kenya and in the Karamoja region of Uganda, FAO said.

The situation is particularly dire in Somalia, where the main cereal crop, due for harvest from August, is largely anticipated to be a failure as a result of a late start and poor performance of the rains in most parts of the country.

Crops in many southern areas had already wilted and dried by the end of May and although light rains in early June led to a replenishment of water resources, they arrived too late to benefit the crop, FAO said.

The failure of the 2008 main crop, which follows two below-average seasons, has resulted in a 'critical food supply position,' FAO said.

'The humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating due to a combination of increasing food prices, a significant devaluation of the Somali shilling, disruption of internal markets and internal trade, and mounting civil insecurity,' the UN agency said.

FAO estimates that currently 2.6 million people are in need of assistance, or about one-third of Somalia's total population - an increase of more than 40 per cent since January 2008.

M & C