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How Cabo Verde indigenous beans could boost food security

How Cabo Verde indigenous beans could boost food security

WITH just over half a million inhabitants, Cabo Verde is heavily dependent on food imports. It spent $65 million importing food products in 2018. ANYSE SOFIA FERNANDES PEREIRA ESSOH, PhD Student Tropical Knowledge and Management at Nova SBE (specializes in genetics and agrobiotechnology), Nova School of Business and Economics This dependence on food imports puts the country in a vulnerable situation when it comes to food security. According to Food and Agricultural Organisation, Cabo Verde has not yet eradicated hunger, with about 5.3% of its population suffering from food insecurity. There are other challenges too. Cabo Verde is located in…
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How sub-Saharan Africa can rethink its approach to agriculture

How sub-Saharan Africa can rethink its approach to agriculture

In response to the economic devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, most sub-Saharan governments are developing economic recovery plans. These will require some different thinking, particularly when it comes to agriculture. Wandile Sihlobo, the chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa, explains to Michael Aliber, a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Fort Hare, what that new thinking might look like. MICHAEL ALIBER, Professor of Agricultural Economics, University of Fort Hare WANDILE SIHLOBO, Visiting Research Fellow, Wits School of Governance, University of the Witwatersrand You have argued that governments should use the post-COVID environment to…
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Nigeria’s battered farmers to get $20 million to aid crop output

Nigeria’s battered farmers to get $20 million to aid crop output

ABRAHAM ACHIRGA and LIBBY GEORGE MARY Daniel, a slight woman in her 40s, weeds by hand a field dotted with trees and scraggly sesame plants. A widow with seven children, she is among the 70% of all Nigerians employed in agriculture. She has grown sesame, maize and cassava her whole life, but coronavirus lockdowns forced her to abandon her three hectares. "We stayed at home, and everything came to a standstill," she said, speaking in her village of Bakin Kogi in Nasarawa state, east of the capital Abuja. Daniel is now among 65,000 Nigerian farmers who will access tractors, seeds,…
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