Sustainability White Paper, by Bjorn Thumas, TOMRA Food´s VP Business Development, Product Management Food Sorting and Marcom Food
While you may think you know what the word ‘sustainability’ means for your business, in reality it isn’t just about introducing environmental initiatives nor is it about standalone Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes.

The world is off-track to meet most of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets linked to hunger, food security and nutrition, according to a FAO report released today.

Case IH has launched three new Axial-Flow® 4000 Series combines, the 4077, 4088 and 4099. Meeting the specific requirements of customers in Africa and the Middle East, they make affordable, high technology harvesting available to professional farmers, contractors and machinery syndicates.

Africa may in recent years have seen a growth in the number of agritech services that offer things such as farmer advisory services or access to finance via smart phone.

African nations will need to boost output of goods and services and integrate payment systems if they are to take advantage of a new $3.4-trillion economic initiative, according to the head of the African Development Bank.

Developing South Africa’s capacity to predict and adapt to the global climate crisis is critical, and local scientists have an ambitious plan to develop the country’s first ‘home-grown’ weather and climate change modelling system.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently flagged a set of climate hazards that debilitated southern Africa. The United Nation agency’s report marked out poor and erratic seasonal rainfall, mid-season dry spells and early cessation of rain, coupled with devastating cyclones.

China’s literacy level was below 40 per cent in 1949 when the revolution started; it rose to 65.1 per cent in 1982 when the fruits of the efforts started showing and by 2015, it was 96.36, growing at an average of 10.39 per cent.

African governments should enact policies that facilitate adoption of technologies and innovations required to transform small-holder farming, international scientists said.

By Tony Esmeraldo, business director at Corteva Agriscience, Southern Africa

A spectre of cannabis is hovering above Africa. The boom is on the horizon and for some countries, it will be a slow burn.

The Agriculture sector is arguably the most important section of any economy as this chunk of the economy is involved in the cultivation of crops and the rearing of livestock for both commercial and domestic purposes.

The bizarre fruit of the sausage tree-

Steeped in myths and legends regarding magical powers, hermaphroditism and black magic, and more recently cast as villains by Disney, the hyena family undoubtedly suffers from a bad reputation.

The South African agricultural sector, and specifically the expansion in the sector over the recent past, is heavily reliant on exports. In fact, South Africa exports roughly 49% of its agricultural products in value terms.

Report on Landreform- 

Groundwater reserves in Africa are estimated to be 20 times larger than the water stored in lakes and reservoirs above ground. These are the freshwater stores that flow in rocks and sediment beneath the Earth’s surface.

Colonialism brought large-scale farming to Africa, promising modernisation and jobs – but often dispossessing people and exploiting workers. Now, after several decades of independence, and with investor interest growing, African governments are once again promoting large plantations and estates. But the new corporate interest in African agriculture has been criticised as a “land grab(link is external)”.

The recent havoc caused by tropical cyclone Idai which struck the southern African countries of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi is a grim reminder that Africa remains the most vulnerable continent as far as climate change mitigation is concerned.

The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) was recently ratified.