The African Orphan Crops Consortium has initiated plans to research and develop over 100 more nutritious African crop species which were formerly neglected in a move aimed at improving the nutrition of African farm families, especially children. The list of the 100 species, developed by African scientists and their colleagues elsewhere, is being released so …
Over 300 students from Father Makewa High School located in the arid Machakos district have never known hunger even as the school stands in an area that has experienced incessant hunger since time immemorial. It has distinguished itself as an oasis in a baked and dusty region where crops never grow beyond knee length. This, …
School fights drought with low cost water harvesting model Read More »
A group of fourty farmers have found solace and market guarantee with passion farming in the wake of dwindling coffee and tea prices which has now seen them attract foreign investors who have been wowed by their commitment over the years. Ngethu village Farmers’ Association has become a highly respected enterprise that – with hard …
Passion opens international markets for farmer association Read More »
Traditionally reduced to just carrying luggage and thus christened the beast of the desert, camel is emerging as an important animal among Kenyans and East Africans, with its meat and milk enjoying impressive uptake among especially health conscious customers. 60 percent of world camel population is found in Africa with the camel products moving from …
Health conscious middle class drives fanatical uptake of camel products Read More »
Kenya’s banana is now primed among leading commodities in returns to farmers both in the local and international markets overtaking traditional commodities, but the journey to this success has been a trial and error with efforts by farmer organizations, researchers and government bearing impressive returns. Kenya has over 400,000 small holder banana farmers with 1.7 …
Martin Wanjala has reared cattle all his life. But it was only recently that he started to make any money. The retired teacher has benefited from the recent introduction of a communal feedlot. Housing his cattle in a feedlot for a few weeks before slaughter has doubled the cattle’s selling price. Before the feedlot opened, …
Communal feeding pen increases cattle body weight, fetching higher market prices Read More »
A group of researchers have been burning the midnight oil are using data collected over more than fifty years to determine the factors that result in positive and negative land use change through understanding how soil, water and biodiversity are maintained in some areas thus managing ecosystems. East African landscape has been changing with agricultural …
Scientists use satellite images to understand land use among farmers over time Read More »
A unique palm tree located in one of Tanzania’s endangered forests is providing people living in the forests with alternative source of income and assisting them spare felling of trees which have been important in maintaining rainfall in the area. Weaving lengths of fibrous palm leaves, the women of Tanzania’s Nou forest are busier than …
Tanzanian farmers cut overreliance on forests with multipurpose palm tree Read More »
As small scale farmers struggle to meet the stringent export markets which are locking them from the lucrative business, new innovations are now being developed to position the farmers to give farmers direct access to these markets. Kenya is currently trialling a traceability system based on computer chips, which are swallowed by the animal and …
Tracing technology helps farmers beat stringent export requirements Read More »
Laban Talam is not your ordinary farmer. With a herd of cattle producing tens of litres of milk and large swathes of lushy green fields, he has become an icon in his village and even internationally for producing more with little, a venture that has won the eyes of Bill Gates, one of the richest …
Rift farmer creates empire with low cost cattle feed Read More »
