Kenyans’ rising demand for now 38m cubic meters of timber a year, coupled with the low levels of local supply and soaring import prices, is now causing an acute timber shortage. Statistics now indicate that Kenya spends over Sh3billion yearly on timber imports compared with Sh5million in 1999, to meet rising demand that now stands …
A 70-year-old farmer from Kitale has lifted his earnings from Sh1,000 a month to Sh50,000 by selling his only dairy cow to buy a water pump. Maurice owns a small piece of land in Eldoret. Upon the demise of his father Maurice inherited the family land together with a loan his father had taken. Unable …
Kenyan farmers are among thousands in Africa set to resume export of banana, avocado and citrus to Europe and South Africa after the countries lifted bans blamed on an invasive fruit fly and which has cost Kenya millions in export bans. Several researchers from Africa and across the globe which conducted studies on the presence …
Kenya reclaims banana export markets after ban lift Read More »
Traditionally used for pooling resources for social support, chama savings groups in western Kenya have now moved to pooling labour on farms, cutting labour costs by up to 40 per cent. Various savings groups mostly led by women have now moved to the farms assisting fellow members in the entire food production process from land …
World Bank has released a manual that assists governments and institutions coordinate and communicate activities on disaster and climate change as the effects of change in weather hits home. Dubbed Open Data for Resilience Initiative (OpenDRI) Field Guide, and developed by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR)—a World Bank managed partnership—the Guide …
World Bank launches manual to coordinate climate change interventions Read More »
ICIPE scientists have made a breakthrough in understanding the life cycle of the tsetse fly, raising hopes of biologically eliminating a fly that kills cattle worth $4bn a year in Sub Saharan Africa. The discovery is good news to Kenya which has areas like the Coast chocking under tsetse fly attack. The Ministry of Agriculture …
Scientists close in on eliminating deadly tsetse fly Read More »
Eating less beef and reducing food waste can reduce greenhouse gases responsible for climate change by as much as 50- 90 percent by 2030, the equivalent of removing all cars in the world, while maintaining food security a new study says. The news resonate well particularly with Sub-Saharan African countries where science estimates the average …
Scientists are sounding the alarm on a tiny, fast breeding insect that wipes cassava in minutes which they say could threaten millions of Africa, with cassava being the third most important source of calories after maize and rice. The Bemisia tabaci also known as ‘super fly’ and one of several whitefly species, According to the …
‘Superfly’ threatens future of millions relying on cassava Read More »
An electronic resource center is providing thousands of farmers with timely agricultural information thanks to the impressive internet penetration with upto 15,000 farmers accessing it daily. Launched in 2009, The National Farmers Information Service (Nafis) e-resource centre by the Kenya National Library Services (KNLS) has seen a rising number of hits from the initial 1,000 …
Online resource center quenches farmers’ thirst for information Read More »
A rising number of flower companies are now embracing use of solar energy in their daily operations as they move to insulate themselves from erratic electricity supply. The move has been hailed as a step in the right direction especially in taming the rising cost of producing flowers for exports with the cost of fertilisers, …
Flower companies court solar energy to stem rising production cost Read More »
