Sub-Saharan Africa is witnessing a digital revolution in the agricultural finance landscape. The digitalisation of agricultural financing is seen as a pivotal strategy to enhance financial inclusion. This initiative is particularly targeting rural smallholder farmers who are entrapped in extreme poverty. However, the process has been hindered by the limited capability of financial institutions (FIs) ...

A number of young people from southern Africa will be given training in the role of technology in the development of agricultural practices. The virtual training course opens on 27 September in the South African city of Johannesburg. There is no longer any doubt about the urgent need for climate-smart agriculture in southern Africa. Recognising ...

Agriculture – [Google Images] SA’s agricultural exports to the rest of Africa have been decreasing African Continental Free Trade Area offers opportunity to increase exports We must diversify our agricultural exports into new previously ‘closed-off’ markets Does the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) present an opportunity for South Africa (SA) to further expand its ...

The importance of the crop sector in the regional economic development is well articulated in the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP 2020-2030) which outlines SADC Member States aspirations to attain a common future. As part of enhancing agricultural sector performance, the SADC developed the Regional Agricultural Policy (RAP 2014) aimed at providing a ...

Rwanda farmer (Photo by: Hugh Rutherford for CIP via A Cambridge-led consortium has secured a $35m grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Agricultural Innovations (Gates Ag One) to engineer plants for better nutrient uptake through micro-organisms, fungi, and bacteria. With Sub-Saharan Africa’s agriculture at risk due to depleted nutrients and a changing climate, the Engineering ...

Strengthened by a new grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Zoetis is launching the AfricanLivestockProductivity and Health Promotion (A.L.P.H.A.) initiative to improve livestock health and productivityin sub-SaharanAfrica. Zoom in. His first ALPHA initiative started in Uganda and Nigeria in 2017, andfollowing its success expanded toEthiopia in 2018 and Tanzania in 2019. This $15.3 ...

Switching to hotter conditions is a new challenge for the agricultural sector in the South African region. One expert expressed concern about this shift from favorable rainfall to drier conditions amid the deepening energy crisis that continues to plague various parts of the agricultural sector. South Africa, a net grain exporter in the South African ...