WHO fears complacency as progress against malaria stalls.

WHO fears complacency as progress against malaria stalls.Progress in the global fight against malaria has stalled amid signs of flat-lining funding and complacency that the mosquito-borne disease is less of a threat, the WHO said. WHO said in its annual World Malaria Report said malaria infected around 216 million people in 91 countries in 2016, an increase of five million cases over the previous year.

A Crocodile farmer’s success story from Kenya.

A Crocodile farmer’s success story from Kenya. Daniel Haller is one of Kenya’s most successful crocodile farmers. For the last 20 years, he has been farming Nile Crocodiles from eggs laid by wild crocodiles along the banks of the local Tana river where he engages local residents to collect the eggs between December and January. Haller keeps up to 40,000 crocodiles on his farm and slaughters between 4,000 and 5,000 reptiles each year. He sells the crocodile skins to a leather company in Singapore and sells the meat to tourist hotels and the local community. Last year, he sold nearly 20,000 kilograms of crocodile meat. A kilo of crocodile meat from his farm sells for $3.50, on average.Haller partnered with a local entrepreneur to start the crocodile farm business in 1996. They got a loan of $380,000 from the European Investment Bank, and his partner contributed the money to purchase the land. They later got a licence from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to practice crocodile farming in the country. Haller uses up to 6,000 kilograms of food daily to feed his 40,000 crocodiles. He feeds the reptiles on animal innards from slaughter houses, cooked maize mixed with blood, meat and fish.

How to start crocodile farming.

How to start crocodile farming.crocodile farming is open to anyone, the sale of crocodile skins on the international market is strictly regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Before commercial crocodile farming, crocodiles in the wild were almost hunted to extinction for their skins. Nowadays, due to the strict trade regulations and high quality demands in the crocodile skin market, rendered skins from wild crocodiles are worthless as they do not meet the high standards on the international market. This has helped to save the dwindling crocodile populations worldwide. Crocodiles are cold-blooded animals, which makes them extremely sensitive to temperature changes. Only a 3°C variance in their core body temperature can slow their metabolism by half, hampering their ability to absorb food and grow. This can be a challenge during the winter months in places like South Africa and Zimbabwe. Crocodiles reach maturity at 3 years old, when they can mate and produce offspring. Female Nile crocodiles can lay between 30 to 45 eggs, once a year around October or November. On crocodile farms, the eggs are removed and placed, for better control, in an incubator. When they’re about to hatch, baby crocodiles make a high pitched call and then crack the shell with a temporary “egg-tooth” on the tip of the snout. The temperature of incubation determines the sex of the crocodiles. Temperature between 26ºC and 30ºC produces mostly females and between 30ºC and 33ºC produces mostly males.

Crocodile as meat and medicine.

Crocodile as meat and medicine. Crocodile meat is considered an ‘exotic meat’ and is sold commercially to top-end restaurants abroad, most notably in Europe and the Far East. Over 400 tons of crocodile meat is consumed every year. China and Hong Kong are the main importers of crocodile meat. The Chinese attribute medicinal powers to crocodile meat and it is largely considered to be a cure for ailments like respiratory diseases. Crocodile meat is also becoming a popular exotic food in South Africa and it often features on the menu for tourists and adventurous foodies. However, there remains a strong upside potential for crocodile meat on the continent.

Crocodile farming in Africa.

Crocodile farming in Africa.Crocodile farming in Africa is a major contributor to the global luxury market for designer handbags, shoes, belts and other leather accessories. Currently, over one million crocodile skins are traded on the international market every year, exported legally from about 30 countries across the world. In Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa are the largest operators of crocodile farms and producers of crocodile skins.

The Nile Crocodile, which is the dominant crocodile species in Africa, is highly valued for its boneless underbelly and soft leather. It’s no surprise that the European market orders over 100,000 crocodile skins from Africa every year. Asia is another big market for African crocodile skins, where it is used to produce non-branded leather products. Southern Africa dominates the crocodile farming business on the continent. South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and a few other countries in East Africa (especially Kenya) are home to the biggest crocodile farms in Africa. The region exports over 250,000 crocodile skins every year. Crocodile farms in Africa predominantly breed Nile crocodiles, which can grow to a length of 20 feet and weigh as much as 400 kilograms. Nile crocodiles are the second-largest crocodile breed in the world, after the saltwater crocodile. In South Africa, there are about 50 registered crocodile farms with over 500,000 crocodiles. Every year, the country exports over 80,000 crocodile skins, worth $12-16 million. Zimbabwe is another major producer of crocodile skins. In Zimbabwe, crocodile skin exports are worth close to $30m, as they are sent – mainly to Europe – to be crafted into handbags, boots and other accessories. The short video below about crocodile farming in Zimbabwe profiles the country’s $100 million per year crocodile farming industry.

Tomato Millionaires In The Making: How These 4 Smart Entrepreneurs Are Making Money from Africa’s Tomato Problems.

Tomato Millionaires In The Making: How These 4 Smart Entrepreneurs Are Making Money from Africa’s Tomato Problems. Tomatoes are Africa’s most consumed fruit (or vegetable); eaten by millions of people across our continent’s diverse religious, ethnic and social groups. Both in its raw and processed forms, tomatoes are central to most African diets and remain a regular ingredient in many soups, stews, sauces and dishes across the continent. Sadly, despite the ‘celebrity’ status of tomatoes in Africa, our continent does not provide enough tomatoes to meet its own needs. Almost every country in Africa consumes more tomatoes than it produces. The rest is imported from outside the continent, especially from China – which is now the world’s biggest exporter of tomato products. More than 50 percent of tomatoes harvested every year in Nigeria never make it to the market. Due to poor storage and a lack of processing options, a lot of tomatoes harvested in Nigeria is wasted. Another reason is, in most parts of Africa, tomatoes are mainly grown by small-scale rural farmers who have limited access to good seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. They also depend on natural rainfall to grow their tomatoes which makes the harvests unpredictable and inconsistent. Nigeria is not alone in this. This same ugly tomato situation is at play across the continent; from West and East Africa to Southern Africa.There are already a few smart entrepreneurs on the continent who have observed the huge and lucrative gaps in Africa’s tomato market and are already making some good progress.

AGRIBUSINESS: How cassava beer in Mozambique transformed a poor man’s crop into a cash crop.

AGRIBUSINESS: How cassava beer in Mozambique transformed a poor man’s crop into a cash crop.Mozambique is among the key players at the forefront of the growing buzz around cassava, having found a way to farm and process the plant on a large scale.

AGRIBUSINESS: How cassava beer in Mozambique transformed a poor man’s crop into a cash crop. Mozambique’s Impala Beer is made from cassava, a root vegetable that grows in tropical areas.There’s a quiet cassava revolution in Africa as organisations and governments realise the plant’s impact on empowering smallholder farmers and developing rural communities. AGRIBUSINESS: How cassava beer in Mozambique transformed a poor man’s crop into a cash crop. At the heart of this development is the Dutch Agriculture Development and Trading Company (DADTCO). The company has developed a mobile processing factory that is able to process the crop into cake and starch flour. AGRIBUSINESS: How cassava beer in Mozambique transformed a poor man’s crop into a cash crop.Not only has DADTCO’s invention changed the perception around cassava and the way the crop is grown and processed, it has helped empower smallholder farmers, whom the company buys cassava from. This breakthrough technology, they say, “bridges the gap between smallholder farmers and large food companies.” At the beginning of the initiative, farmers used to sell an average of 1.5 tonnes of cassava roots per year, but now the number has more than tripled. This indicates the benefits of a steady market for those who grow the tropical plant.