Following its receipt of a $11.8 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations Development Programme announced today it will partner with the Ministry of Agriculture to support the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA). http://www.ezega.com/News/NewsDetails.aspx?Page=heads&NewsID=2961
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RSS feed for this sectionGates Foundation Grants $11.8 Million for Agricultural Development in Ethiopia
Innovation of the Week: Empowering Impoverished Communities with Compatible Technologies
Compatible Technology International (CIT) focuses on developing small-scale technology for rural farmers to process crops and produce efficiently. The McKnight Organization (with SUA and ICRASAT) has given them a grant of $673,000 for a 4-year R&D project focusing on Malawi and Tanzania, focusing on adding value and reducing postharvest loss. http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/empowering-impoverished-communities-with-compatible-technologies-post-harvest-loss-food-waste-storage-corn-hunger/
EAC Bloc in Talks Over Commodity Exchange Forum
The East African Community has kicked-off negotiations for the creation of a common commodity exchange to boost growers’ earnings and availability of food. The bloc is in talks with an independent international consultancy, Nicolas Berggruen Institute (NBI), that comprises a group of former heads of state and global entrepreneurs to help create the facility. The planned commodity […]
Malo Traders Win 2nd Place in Dell Social Innovation Competition
2011 Dell Social Innovation Competition – Second place winner was MaloTraders, a group dealing with using cutting-edge technology to help with postharvest loss in Mali. http://studentcompetitions.com/posts/winners-of-dell-social-innovation-competition-2011
2011 Grain Feed and Annual
Article analyzes factors contributing to wheat harvest losses in Afghanistan, as well as makes predictions for future harvest. Includes charts illustrating trends in prices of rice and other grains. http://gain.fas.usda.gov/Recent%20GAIN%20Publications/2011%20Grain%20and%20Feed%20Annual%20-%20May%202011_Kabul_Afghanistan_4-13-2011.pdf
Experts Call for Improved Technologies to Reduce Loss in Rice Harvesting
Pointing out that post-harvest loss in rice occurred to the extent of 15 per cent, K. Alagusundaram, Director, Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology, Thanjavur, suggested strategies for minimizing them. “Though paddy harvest is completely mechanized, there is still a need for developing mechanical harvesters that will not cause damage to either the grains or straw. […]
Sub-Saharan Africa Loses US$4bn to Postharvest Losses
Postharvest grain losses in sub-Saharan Africa are estimated at around US$4 billion a year, according to a World Bank and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) report. The lost food, according to the report, titled: ‘Missing Food: The Case of Post-Harvest Grain Losses in sub-Saharan Africa’, could meet the minimum annual food requirements of at least 48 […]
NESG: Nigeria Loses 1.2tr Yearly to Poor Agric Development
Nigeria has conducted a study to understand the monetary and physical losses in their agricultural sector. Focusing on government involvement in order to use agricultural as a means of rural development (and to facilitate social cohesion). http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nesg-nigeria-loses-n1-2tr-yearly-to-poor-agric-devt/93198/
PEF Calls for Commodity Exchange for Agric
The Private Enterprises Foundation (PEF) has proposed the establishment of an agricultural commodity exchange to bring producers, buyers and consumers together to trade on a common platform. This, PEF explained, would provide ready market for farm gate products from agricultural centers and thereby help to reduce post harvest losses. http://www.modernghana.com/news/330531/1/pef-calls-for-commodity-exchange-for-agric.html