The ongoing research on the TELA maize project, a new maize variety which is water-efficient, drought-tolerant and also fights insects and pest such as fall armyworm, has progressed significantly at the research farms of the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Samaru, Zaria. JULIANA AGBO writes on the success recorded so far from the Confined Field Trials (CFT). […]
Read MoreBy Dr. Denis Kyetere. It is often said that “If you want to go fast, go alone, and if you want to go far, go together.” This old African proverb underpins the need for people and organisations to work together to achieve goals that could have been otherwise an uphill task working alone. Since its inception […]
Read MoreAfrik 21: NIGERIA: Consortium to transform cassava peels into energy Several companies and organisations have recently joined forces to recycle cassava waste in rural Nigeria. They will transform the peels of the tuber into electricity to supply farmers in rural areas. With an estimated annual production of close to 40 million tonnes, Nigeria is unquestionably […]
Read MoreBy George Achia. The African Union Commission (AUC) has nominated the AATF to lead the Commission’s Working Group on Research, Variety Development and Seed Production of the African Seed and Biotechnology Platform (ASB Platform). The Platform is a strategic tool to coordinate the African Seed and Biotechnology Programme (ASBP) geared towards establishment of effective and […]
Read MoreBy George Achia African governments, regional economic communities, and development agencies have been urged to strengthen and harmonize biotechnology policies and biosafety regulations to create an enabling environment for biotechnology development in Africa. It was revealed that less than 30 per cent of African countries have functional biosafety frameworks and the number of biotech products […]
Read MoreBy Alex Abutu The AATF and Tanager announced a two-year partnership agreement (2020 – 2022) aimed at integrating nutrition and mainstreaming gender into the Foundation’s Nutrition, Food Quality and Post-Harvest Management Impact Area. The partnership will help AATF integrate strategies towards gender equality and nutrition integration in its operations. Tanager, through the Impacting Gender and […]
Read MoreBy Alex Abutu Smallholder rice farmers in Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria are still faced with a number of challenges including relying on rain-fed farming; use of farmer-saved seeds for subsequent production; lack of machinery to support commercialisation of rice production; and low use of fertilizers, a survey reveals. The study further shows that with climate […]
Read MoreNigeria’s quest to introduce maize varieties resistant to insects/pests such as Stem Borer and Fall Army Worm (FAW) and drought recorded promising result at the confined field trials (CFT) currently being conducted at the research farms of the Institute for Agricultural Research (IAR), Samaru, Zaria. The trial carried out in partnership with the African Agricultural Technology […]
Read MoreBy George Achia Transforming African agriculture into an engine of economic growth that will have benefits far beyond the farm sector lies in investing in and making accessible new farming technologies for Africa—from better seeds to machinery to digital tools, says Dr. Denis Kyetere, the Executive Director, AATF. The remarks were made by Dr. Kyetere […]
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