Strive Masiyiwa: If I started again I’d do agriculture, says telecoms tycoon.

Strive Masiyiwa: If I started again I’d do agriculture, says telecoms tycoon.Zimbabwean tycoon Strive Masiyiwa made his money in the mobile telecoms business, but if he were to start all over again, he would bet on agriculture. Speaking at the opening of this year’s African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) in Zambia’s capital Lusaka, Masiyiwa made a case for the opportunities in the agriculture industry. The Zimbabwean billionaire is chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), an organisation set up in 2006 to support smallholder farmers with the goal of reducing poverty and hunger. Masiyiwa noted Africa’s food market would be worth US$1tr in just 15 years, citing a 2013 report by the World Bank. According to a report launched at the forum, Africa currently spends more than $60bn on food imports each year thereby benefiting producers outside the continent.

How to cope with loss of a pet.

Animals bring so much joy to pet parents’ lives. This special bond makes the inevitable loss of a pet extremely painful to handle. The days and weeks surrounding a pet’s death are never easy, but caring professionals and fellow animal lovers can help ease the burden. Here’s what pet parents can expect as they navigate the healing process. Making the Decision to Euthanize Your Pet In many cases, pet parents must decide whether to euthanize an ill or aged pet. It is a difficult choice, even when an animal is suffering. Circumstances are typically fraught with uncertainty for the pet parent, says Dr. Lisa Moses, a palliative care and pain specialist at the Massachusetts Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston. “There really is no other decision we make in life that is similar,” Moses says. “People expect to feel clear about it and to know when it will feel right. But if you wait for that moment, you may prolong unnecessary suffering.” However difficult the decision, euthanasia may be the kindest option for an animal who is suffering, says Michele Pich, a veterinary grief counselor and instructor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Ryan Veterinary Hospital in Philadelphia

How a $100,000 Tortoise Keeps This Family Business a $4 Million Operation.

At a cost of more than $100,000, Joe Maierhauser's next capital investment is substantial. But sometimes you've got to refresh the tortoises. Giant tortoises have long been the most popular attraction at Reptile Gardens, the world's largest reptile zoo by number of species. In the 1950s and '60s, visitors rode the plodding beasts. Now they take selfies with them. The original stock, imported in the 1940s, has passed on after long, eventful lives that included both fire and flood. Their younger counterparts still laze around Methuselah's Playground, named for the largest of the dear departed. The two new tortoises will cost between $50,000 and $100,000 each, depending on size. "There is no guarantee that you get it here and it will not die tomorrow," says Maierhauser, Reptile Gardens' CEO and president. "That is the heartbreak of working with animals." Mostly though, the animals are a joy. They are the main reason Maierhauser returned to the family business 40 years ago, eventually succeeding his uncle Earl Brockelsby, who founded the attraction in 1937. Opportunity The business resides six miles south of Rapid City, in the Black Hills of South Dakota. It is a starkly beautiful land of mountains and meadows, creeks and canyons. Amid the abundant native wildlife, Reptile Gardens' international cast of critters stands out like a scaly Noah's Ark. "Not much of it is from South Dakota because there are not that many varieties of reptile around here," says Maierhauser.

AGRIBUSINESS: Farmers in India are using AI to increase crop yields.

AGRIBUSINESS: Farmers in India are using AI to increase crop yields. The fields had been freshly plowed. The furrows ran straight and deep. Yet, thousands of farmers across Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Karnataka waited to get a text message before they sowed the seeds.

The SMS, which was delivered in Telugu and Kannada, their native languages, told them when to sow their groundnut crops. 

 In a few dozen villages in Telengana, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, farmers are receiving automated voice calls that tell them whether their cotton crops are at risk of a pest attack, based on weather conditions and crop stage. Meanwhile in Karnataka, the state government can get price forecasts for essential commodities such as tur (split red gram) three months in advance for planning for the Minimum Support Price (MSP). 

Ways agriculture can benefit from artificial intelligence.

 Welcome to digital agriculture, where technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud Machine Learning, Satellite Imagery and advanced analytics are empowering small-holder farmers to increase their income through higher crop yield and greater price control. 

 AI-based sowing advisories lead to 30% higher yields.

Simple things you can do to add value to your produce.

                  Simple things you can do to add value to your produce.


Value addition is key to increased profits in agribusiness.This is true irrespective of any farm prroduce, as all farm produce can be processed into more than one product for the benefit of the consumers.

Tomatoes is a major produce with many potential for value addition. Adding value to tomatoes is not only profitable but it prevents wastes and promotes healthy living .

 Value addition not only helps farmers weather the storm of oversupply, it also helps them fetch better prices for the same produce. Value addition or processing will also help you make use of certain post-harvest things to create wealth. .

Digital Marketing secrets for your farm.

Digital Marketing secrets for your farm. Marketing has forever been a fluid concept. Ever changing, we are now in the age of digital marketing. What is surprising however, is how slowly farmers have been in taking up and exploiting the digital space. 

The thing is, in order for any business to succeed, you need customers. You need to interact with the people with whom you will be selling your product to. When you are a farmer, your product is your farm produce; your customer base is anyone you can get to see your produce. In this day of digital media that is virtually free, reaching your potential customer has literally never been easier; see how below .

 1) Social Media Ever since the invention of social media, it has been easier for farmers to put their produce out there. It is a lot easier to reach a larger number of potential customers than ever before. It is also easier to put a face to the produce; it stops being just another product of a nameless farmer. People get to associate you with a product, see how much dedication you put in it and identify with you. They feel like they are involved in the growth, especially if you can document the different steps to maturity. This way, when you use social media to market the harvested produce, they feel a certain loyalty to you.

 2) E-Commerce Website When you are a large enough enterprise, you can create your own e-commerce website, where you can sell your produce through. However, most of the farmers out there have not reached that level of production. Instead of wasting valuable resources creating an e-commerce website that you will rarely ever use, you can take advantage of already existing platforms to sell your products.

 Platforms like OLX , Jumia, Konga,and Mkulima Young’s MYSOKO can help you find market for your products. They are already established, with a relatively large following. This means that at any one time, you are exposed to a large potential market. 

 3) Paid Advertising When you decide to take your entire business online however, it is prudent to note that competition for search engine visibility is intense. One of the most measurable methods of raising your visibility is paid advertising. It also has the benefit of being targeted to a specific audience. This means that your chances of converting the paid digital advertising into sales, increases. 

The easiest methods of accessing paid advertising are Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Google Adwords. It is important however to make sure your ad content and your captions are tailored to speak to the customer.

Cows Will Grow Human Antibodies on New Facility in South Dakota.

Cows Will Grow Human Antibodies on New Facility in South Dakota. There’s a new kind of farm going up in southeastern South Dakota. Its barns will house cattle like many farms in the area, but these cattle won’t be raised for meat or milk . They’ll be producing antibodies that can treat human diseases. SAB Biotheraputics, based in Sioux Falls, uses cloned cattle with certain human DNA. The cows are injected with a vaccine and produce antibodies to fight disease. By taking the plasma from their blood and sterilizing it in a lab, the antibodies could be used in humans to battle some of the worst diseases, including Ebola and Zika. The company’s latest focus is treating the type of flu that puts people in the hospital. Some people don’t respond to flu shots, but an influenza therapeutic produced by SAB could help them. The company is working toward the first clinical trials on influenza, and if approved, SAB’s cattle are ready to produce the treatment. The new facility could make enough of the antibody to meet worldwide demand, using just 20% of its capacity. SAB just completed its first trial in humans for treating MERS or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. The results showed that the cow-made antibodies worked just like human antibodies to treat the disease. SAB will start by moving its 35 cows that now live at the Trans Ova Genetics facility across the border in Iowa. Those cows were implanted with embryos the day after the groundbreaking, preparing to create the next generation of antibody-producing bovines. The first biosecure barn, measuring 360’x50’, will hold up to 80 cows. At full capacity, the 80-acre site and facility could handle 400 head of cows and 40 employees, according to SAB.