Maize farmers get storage bags that help check post-harvest losses.

Maize farmers get storage bags that help check post-harvest losses. A new technology has been introduced in the region to help reduce maize farmers’ losses due to poor storage, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Ministry officials said maize farmers last year lost up to Sh15 billion post-harvest due to poor storage. The technology, Purdue Improved Crop Storage (Pics), is expected to allow farmers to store grain for up to five years without having to use any preservatives.Once tied properly, no pests can penetrate it. If any pests are inside the maize after packing it in Pics bags, they will be suffocated. Maize farmers get storage bags that help check post-harvest losses. .

How a form 2 drop-out is making money from banana flour.

How a form 2 drop-out is making money from banana flour. Afros Ochieng Otieno dropped out of school in form two at Nyamusi Boys school due to lack of school fees in 2001 and was forced to do casual jobs such as weeding people’s farms for thirteen years. In July 2014, however, he and nine other friends started a self-help group to add value to bananas, a venture that is earning him Sh3,000 in profits daily. The group converts banana fingers into flour for baking bread, cakes and dough nuts. Besides, Ochieng converts banana peels which are usually dumped as waste into a fine medicinal powder that can be used to treat ulcers. How a form 2 drop-out is making money from banana flour.

FAO sets benchmark to guide Public, Private Partnership (PPP) .

FAO sets benchmark to guide Public, Private Partnership (PPP) .The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) says it would set benchmark that would serve as guidelines for the African agricultural sector to bridge the gap between the public and private sector. 

 FAO Agribusiness Officer, Stephanie Gallatova, made this known at an agribusiness workshop attended by eight African countries in Nairobi. Gallatova said the Public, Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives have the potential to help transform the production-oriented agricultural sector of African countries into a dynamic market-oriented Agri-Food sector.

 FAO sets benchmark to guide Public, Private Partnership (PPP).

AfDB partners FG on irrigation facilities in rural areas.

AfDB partners FG on irrigation facilities in rural areas. As part of efforts geared towards the development of the agricultural sector, the Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Programme Phase 1 (ATASP-1) of the African Development Bank has partnered with the Federal Government to provide irrigation facilities, farm inputs and feeder roads in rural areas. AfDB partners FG on irrigation facilities in rural areas.

FG to procure 10,000 tractors for agric mechanisation.

FG to procure 10,000 tractors for agric mechanisation. Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh has disclosed Federal Government’s intention to purchase 10,000 tractors from U.S.-based John Deere Agriculture and Farming Equipment Company within the next five years. FG to procure 10,000 tractors for agric mechanisation to promote food security.

Antibiotic-resistant genes are being spread all over the world in animal feed.

Antibiotic-resistant genes are being spread all over the world in animal feed, scientists discover.Ten million people could die every year by 2050 if the rise of superbugs is not checked, experts have warned. Antibiotic-resistant genes are being spread around the world in animal feed, according to new research that adds to fears humanity could lose one of our most important medicines.

Nigeria can make billions from cassava export .

Nigeria can make billions from cassava export. Nigeria could earn billions in foreign currency from its 47 million tonnes of cassava tubers produced annually, according to a university don, Prof. Aloy Ezirim . Ezirim, a lecturer in the Faculty of Management Sciences, University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port Harcourt .Ezirim said that Nigeria rather than producing cassava for food consumption alone should produce it for both industrial purpose and for consumption. Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava tubers in the world but cassava produced in the country is processed and consumed locally in various forms with little set aside for export.“Today, cassava has over 2,000 uses in the world that can easily replace or support crude oil as a foreign exchange earner and provide employment for many, if well harnessed". Nigeria can make billions from cassava export .