Rubanda, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Myths and misconception surrounding burying of carcasses is impending the fight against the African swine fever outbreak in Rubanda district. In September this year, veterinary authorities in Rubanda and Kabale districts banned the movement and sell of pigs and their products following a confirmed outbreak …
Read More »Bunyoro farmers demand oil opportunities
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Farmers in the oil-rich Bunyoro region have demanded for exposure to commercial opportunities in oil and gas sector. According to the farmers they have all the goods and services to supply in the oil and gas sector but do not know the quality and the …
Read More »Jihadist “ghosts” wreak havoc in northern Mozambique
Macomia, Mozambique | AFP | Aldeia da Paz was once a sleepy place. Farmers went about their daily lives, tending to meagre crops along the road linking Mozambique to its northern border with Tanzania. Everything changed after nightfall on August 1st. “They arrived around seven o’clock in the evening,” said Lucas …
Read More »Renewable energy alternatives can tame deforestation
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Ugandan farmers are demanding that the government addresses deforestation through a deliberate investment in alternative sources of energy. They say that the approach should be integrated with the operationalization of the tree fund stipulated under the Environment and the National Tree Planting Act and implemented …
Read More »Glimmer of hope as Italy battles ‘olive tree leprosy’
GAGLIANO DEL CAPO, Italy | AFP | Working in an arid Italian field of crumbly soil, agronomists are battling a rampant bacterium that has already infected millions of olive trees and could threaten the entire Mediterranean basin. Xylella fastidiosa, which has no known cure, has devastated ancient olive trees in Italy’s …
Read More »From Bethlehem basement, Palestinian distiller toasts global acclaim
Bethlehem, Palestinian Territories | AFP | In his Bethlehem cellar, distiller Nader Muaddi made fewer than 500 bottles of his liquor last year but has won international accolades and now aims to help revive interest at home in the traditional drink. On the outskirts of the city famed for Jesus’s …
Read More »Let us look beyond financing if we are to understand agriculture problems
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | In debating just access to loans to farmers alone, the country is missing key ingredients that make the agriculture sector unattractive to financiers. This was the key message at the annual bankers’ conference at Serena hotel on Tuesday where banking executives discussed how they can …
Read More »Ghana farmers sweet on cocoa minimum price drive
Accra, Ghana | AFP | Kwame Boadu was forced to abandon his cocoa plantation to work in Ghana’s capital Accra, but when the government announced plans for a price floor he began dreaming of a return to his fields. A higher guaranteed price for the crop means a cocoa farmer “can afford …
Read More »BOU defends performance of Agriculture Credit Facility
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Bank of Uganda Deputy Governor Dr Louis Kasekende has dispelled claims that the Agriculture Credit Facility (ACF) administered by the central bank was nonfunctional, saying there are success stories to speak for it. Kasekende was speaking at the ten-year anniversary of the facility …
Read More »Ugandan farmers set to benefit from Dutch funded ICT project
Kampala, Uganda | Julius Businge | A total of 250, 000 smallholder farmers have been digitally profiled by a development organisation – The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) – in a bid to support their use of information communication technology tools to trade. The profiling was done under …
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