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New WFP figures indicate additional 130 million lives and livelihoods will be at risk

A key objective of Kenya’s agriculture growth and transformation strategy and the Big Four Agenda is increasing smallholder productivity and incomes. The strategies also aim to enhance value-addition and agro-processing, which could create employment in agricultural value chains. The overall goal is to transform rural economies into commercially viable concerns.

The African continent, which is poised to see millions of workers enter the job market, is already experiencing massive youth unemployment and widespread reliance on precarious jobs, including those in agriculture.

This is the time for smallholder farmers to embrace a new mindset and recognize that what used to work in the past will not necessarily work anymore, especially as the world is ...

African experts are urging governments across the continent to give a “special focus” to agriculture in the post-COVID-19 recovery era.

The agriculture sector needs to make more investments in irrigation, dam construction and equipment acquisition, as well as embrace superior seeds, if food and health security risks are to be reduced, experts say. This support is even more urgent in the wake of ...

African countries need to urgently expand food reserves, keep food supply flowing and boost their agriculture budgets to avert a possible hunger pandemic, partly caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, delegates at a two-day webinar hosted by the African Development Institute (ADI) urged on Tuesday.

Africa must now, more than ever, develop and implement policies to enhance capacity to compete in the ...

Many fear that food supply disruptions caused by COVID-19 could lead to price spikes and erode people’s access to food in low- and middle-income countries. Price spikes can be early warning signals of tightness of food markets. Since the 2007-2008 food price crisis, IFPRI’s Food Security Portal has been monitoring global markets for staples including wheat, maize, rice, and soybeans. Prices in ...

The AfDB has unveiled a strategic roadmap of projects and programmes to assist African countries in tackling the nutrition and food security aspects of the COVID-19 crisis through a raft of immediate and longer-term measures. The Feed Africa Response to COVID-19 (FAREC) paves the way for a comprehensive intervention to build resilience, sustainability and regional self-sufficiency in Africa’s food ...

The coronavirus pandemic could cost Africa as much as $4.8 billion in lost agricultural exports and affect the livelihoods of 10 million farmers, McKinsey & Co. said. Disruptions ranging from canceled flights to the closure of chocolate factories in Europe have limited exports of crops ranging from nuts to roses, according to the consultancy firm. Livelihoods will be affected through “job loss or ...

Even before the global COVID-19 pandemic broke out, food insecurity was a serious concern throughout sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, 239 million people in the region were undernourished as of 2018. Since long before the COVID-19 pandemic, these chronic food crises have been driven by a variety of factors, including economic shocks, climate, and conflict

The AfDB-funded Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation initiative, or TAAT, disseminates ‘best bet’ crop seed varieties, agricultural inputs and farming practices to farmers by directing proven technologies across the African landscape. With tens of millions of smallholder farmers potentially benefiting from TAAT, the initiative is bringing a green revolution closer to home.