Western Kenyan farmers eye increased yields with training

Over 40,000 smallholder farmers from western Kenya are set to train on new age farming, in a move meant to spur more yields and incomes at a time when the climate change and poor soils have taken a toll on the area’s production capacity. The training initiative is being fostered by One acre Fund, a not for profit organization that has positively changed farmers livelihoods since its inception in the area. The new initiative has been made possible with the [...]

Horticultural farmers double yields with crop energizer

A new crop energizer and yield booster is proving popular among horticultural farmers who are recording more than doubling of their yields with the supplement being hailed for its ability to assist crops take in as much nutrients from the soil as possible. When 27 years old John Wamweru Wambugu from Kiamikuyu village in Mwea Division of Kirinyaga County decided to use Boom flower a new generation plant energizer and yield booster on one acre of his six acre farm [...]

Solar energy for the farm?

High up-front costs have steered many farmers away from investing in their own solar or wind energy plant.  But that scenario is changing with the rise in energy prices and a concurrent drop in material costs for installing a solar or wind plant. “In the last four or five years, the cost of solar systems has actually been cut in half,” says Mark Olinyk, president of Harvest Energy Solutions, a Midwest energy distributor specializing in the farm market. “The technology [...]

Producing renewable energy for the farm and for sale

Pork and Plants. It’s an interesting name for a company. In fact, Pork and Plants is interesting in a lot of ways — from selling half and whole hogs to be­ing a connoisseur of Red Wattle pork to raising poinsettias to burning biomass pellets for heating its 50,000 square feet of greenhouse space. Pork and Plants is among a small, but growing number of farms producing renewable energy. According to the 2012 Census of Ag­riculture, the number of farms produc­ing [...]

Profiles on climate-smart agriculture presented to standing-room-only World Bank audience

by Nathan Russell Building on prior experience to confront new challenges is a basic precept of ancient folk wisdom, which has informed actions in every sphere of human endeavor throughout history. Now, it also serves, logically, as the guiding principle for a novel effort aimed at getting a grip on climate change in the agriculture of Latin America and the Caribbean. With support from the World Bank, climate experts at CIAT and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) [...]

The First Ever Farmers Conservation Agriculture Communities of Practice Launched at Laikipia, Kenya

Launched in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, over one hundred and fifty farmers, county and ward officials, service providers and other private sector stakeholders from seven wards participated in this land mark event in the drive for the promotion of Conservation agriculture as a Climate Smart agricultural strategy. With the County government of Laikipia committing 1.6 million Kenya shillings of its budget to Conservation agriculture. Mr Arthur Maathai Representative of the County Chief Officer, Agriculture reiterated the County’s commitment to the [...]

Africa’s agriculture system,need for new approaches

The transformation of Africa’s agriculture system will require new approaches, new methodologies, new efficiencies, and the accompanying political focus needed to effect change. This is according to Judith A. Chambers, Patricia Zambrano, José Falck-Zepeda, Guillaume Gruère, Debdatta Sengupta, and Karen Hokanson of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in a report commissioned by the African Development Bank. These researchers highlight the fact that Africa is faced with a variety of current pressures such as population growth, poverty, food insecurity, [...]

Farmerline to use mobile technology to boost harvest in West Africa

Ghana-based technology provider Farmerline has announced its plan to provide 500,000 small-scale farmers access to mobile technology to help improve their harvest in West Africa by 2019 Farmerline is a technology and content company that builds supply-chain and value-chain solutions targeting smallholder farmers and their stakeholders. (Image source: Farmerline) Farmerline has joined the Business Call to Action to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers of West Africa. Business Call to Action is a global platform, which motivates companies to develop business [...]

Nigeria: Agriculture, Consumer Goods to Earn Nigeria, S’africa U.S.$2.6 Trillion By 2020

BY year 2020, Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and other sub-Saharan African countries are expected to earn about $2.6 Trillion from resources including agriculture, consumer goods and infrastructure growth. Although the continent faces significant challenges; opportunities are said to also abound, going by the fact that 60 per cent of the world's unused agricultural land is in Africa. Besides, the continent is adjudged to be very rich in a broad range of resources and has large market with increasing disposable income. Accordingly, [...]

The Secrets for Cutting Energy and Fuel Costs in Farming

The Secrets for Cutting Energy and Fuel Costs in Farming Around the world energy costs have continued to climb both because of supply and demand constraints, as well as increasing government regulation. Energy costs constitute one of a farmers largest expenditures both in the form of direct fuel for tractors and heating and cooling structures, as well as the tandem effect of rising fertilizer costs because they are dependent on fuel costs. World wide energy cost table When farm profits are high [...]

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