New Agriculturist

Rural youth shatter the myth of farming as a poor man's profession

Among Kenyan youths, who comprise over 75 percent of the country's population, farming is seldom considered an attractive option. However, the tide is beginning to turn. The lure of profitable farming is prompting even urbanites to ditch white collar jobs and trade their designer suits and shoes for overalls and gumboots.

Date published: April 2012

Ghanaian women gain from roots and tubers

With a special emphasis on women, IFAD's Root and Tuber Improvement and Marketing Programme is working to improve the food security and incomes of poor rural households in Ghana by enhancing production of roots and tubers through improved technologies and by developing skills in processing and marketing.

Date published: April 2012

Fodder innovations to help Indian dairy farmers

India is the world's largest dairy producer, but in recent years milk prices have increased dramatically as farmers struggle with rapid inflation in the cost of animal feed. In response, a coalition of national and international researchers is developing dual-purpose varieties of sorghum, millet, pigeonpea and groundnut that produce high quality fodder from their crop residues without reducing grain yields.

Date published: March 2012

Wind energy development booming in Kenya

Electricity prices in Kenya are among the highest in East Africa. Yet despite the high cost, power cuts and power rationing are all too frequent. No wonder then that the Government is prioritising the exploitation of more reliable sources of power. And with international finance available for renewable energy technologies, wind power is high on their list.

Date published: March 2012

Conserving Kakamega

To address the rapid depletion of Kenya's Kakamega Forest, the Muliru Farmers Conservation Group is promoting alternative, sustainable income-generating activities, including cultivation and value addition of a plant use in traditional medicine.

Date published: March 2012

Fighting poverty with heifers in Rwanda

Send a Cow Rwanda's approach of providing families with quality livestock to supply milk, meat and manure has proved so successful that it has been adopted by the Rwandan Government. The aim of their 'One Cow Per Poor Family' policy is to provide good quality and suitable livestock to every poor family in the country by 2015.

Date published: February 2012

Betting on llamas in Bolivia

In Bolivia, llama prices are up and demand for shawls and scarves made from alpaca fibre is increasing. But how do smallholder farmers capitalise on these optimal market conditions? One answer comes from the government's Camelid Valorisation Programme, through which ranchers are increasing their incomes, protecting the environment and transforming their lives.

Date published: February 2012

Breadbasket initiative begins bearing fruits in northern Ghana

In northern Ghana, a three year government initiative supported by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, aims to increase food security and income of around 250,000 smallholder farmers, while creating 15,000 jobs in agriculture-related sectors.

Date published: January 2012

Green light for yellow cassava

In December 2011, Nigeria's National Variety Release Committee formally approved three varieties of yellow-fleshed cassava, containing sufficient pro-Vitamin A to provide up to a quarter of daily requirements. Further varieties with much higher levels are also in the final stages of testing, in research funded by the HarvestPlus programme.

Date published: January 2012