Agriculture

Under both programmes, USDA purchases US-grown commodities and provides them to implementing organisations, including the United Nations World Food Programme. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

In an attempt to strengthen global food security, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) would be investing US$466.5mn through its two premier international development programmes

The announcement which was made at the Clinton Global Initiative 2024 annual meeting, Vilsack explained about the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition Programme which would be allocated US$248mn in fiscal year 2024 to support projects in nine countries that will provide critical school meals and boost literacy and primary education, especially for girls. On the other hand, the Food for Progress programme would be provided with US$218.5mn to help seven countries strengthen their agricultural systems, adopt climate smart technologies, sustainably increase productivity and expand international trade.

Under both programmes, USDA purchases US-grown commodities and provides them to implementing organisations, including the United Nations World Food Programme. Food for Progress implementing partners sell the commodities locally and use the proceeds to support local development projects. McGovern-Dole partners use the commodities directly in school feeding programmes. 

This year, USDA will provide more than 37,000 mt of US commodities to support projects in Angola, Bangladesh, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea-Bissau, Laos, Malawi and Rwanda, benefitting approximately 1.2 million children and their family members in more than 2,800 pre-primary and primary schools. 

The Food for Progress projects funded this year will utilize 315,000 mt of US commodities and ultimately benefit nearly 200,000 farmers in Benin, Cambodia, Madagascar, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Tunisia and will focus on priority topics including climate-smart agriculture, food security, sanitary and phytosanitary standards, access to capital and trade facilitation.

“The McGovern-Dole and Food for Progress programmes are the embodiment of USDA’s multi-faceted approach to combatting hunger and poverty and addressing the effects of the climate crisis worldwide,” Vilsack said. “Teaming up with both private- and public-sector partners, we’re not only providing direct food assistance, but also fostering sustainable agricultural productivity growth, promoting climate-smart agriculture and enhancing developing countries’ ability to engage in trade, which is critical to food security.”

For sub-Saharan African countries, SPACE will once again be a unique event and a valuable driver of growth. (Image source: SPACE)

The 38th edition of SPACE will take place from 17-19 September at the Rennes Exhibition Centre in France

This year, SPACE 2024 promises to be a premier event for the agricultural sector, attracting more than 1,200 exhibitors, 100,000 visitors from 120 countries, more than 100 conferences, a platform for innovations, special events for young professionals, an Espace for the Future to explore forward-thinking tools, job dating events and top buyers from around the world.

One key theme at SPACE this year is attracting a new generation of farmers, essential to sustaining this key industry in France. SPACE 2024 aims to provide farmers with a comprehensive range of ideas and solutions to improve succession planning, farm sales and acquisitions and enhance the overall attractiveness of agricultural careers, ensuring that livestock farmers can thrive. Energy transition, food sovereignty and generational renewal will be the main themes at SPACE this week. 

For sub-Saharan African countries, SPACE will once again be a unique event and a valuable driver of growth. Delegations from Benin, Togo, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Senegal and others will attend to explore solutions for developing their food independence.

The Tech’Agri Challenge by INNOV’SPACE also returns for its second edition. This year’s challenge includes both a demonstrator category and an ideation category. Five solutions will be presented at the Expo in Hall 3, with teams showcasing their projects. A panel of professionals will judge the projects and select the winners of the 2024 competition. A number of animal presentations and conferences will also take place, giving a unique opportunity for the agricultural community to gain insight about important issues.

Thanks to the diverse range of suppliers showcasing equipment and services for all aspects of animal farming, SPACE is a global meeting point for livestock farmers from around the world.

Farmer Safiyo Mohamud Said picks maize on her Puntland farm. (Image source: WFP)

Helping to power the change – and the resilience of hundreds of smallholder farmers like Warsame – is a World Food Programme (WFP)-supported project aimed at boosting agriculture and incomes

Known as Kobciye, the initiative provides 3,000 farmers in three Somali states – Puntland, Jubaland, Galmudug – equipment such as tractors, solar-powered water pump systems and fencing. In partnership with the Government of Somalia, it gives them the tools to better cope with climate challenges, opens up new livelihood opportunities such as food processing and improves their access to markets.

Agriculture is gaining ground even in the driest parts of the country – like semi-arid Puntland, which faces other nature-based threats, from locust infestations to flash floods. In the central Somali region of Galmudug, with the same dry conditions as Puntland, the Kobciye project gives communities access to water through a broad approach that includes drip irrigation and boreholes, and factors in land use, vegetation and other environmental concerns.

“Through the project, we are not just providing tools and training – we are empowering communities to believe in the potential of their land and their ability to produce food sustainably,” said WFP country director, El-Khidir Daloum. “This shift in mindsets is key to securing a food-secure future for Somalia.”

The conference expects to attract 150 participants of which 125 will be local and 25 foreign. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Nawa Mutumweno provides insights into the Zambia National Organic Conference (ZNOC) scheduled for the In-Service Training Trust in Lusaka this October

Organised by the Organic Producers and Processors Association of Zambia (OPPAZ) along with other actors in organic agriculture, ZNOC will be held from 1-3 October under the theme ‘Actualising resilient food systems and the right to food through organic farming.’  

This is premised on the need to generate widespread interest in organic food systems and to enhance practical stakeholder collaborations for production, marketing and enhancement of just food systems. Further, it will raise the visibility of smallholder organic farmers, giving them an opportunity to interact with suppliers, buyers, processors, financiers, researchers, and policy makers, thus in the process influencing policy reform and forging partnerships for production, financing, full value chain supply, value addition and marketing.

The conference expects to attract 150 participants of which 125 will be local and 25 foreign. Anchored on readily available local resources, indigenous knowledge and environmentally friendly and socially-acceptable scientifically proven technologies, organic farming is the key to increased output of a diverse range of quality products, assuring continuous availability of food and balanced nutrition. 

Positive stakeholder involvement, especially by finance institutions and various government initiatives are necessary for financing smallholder farmers through loans, grants and donations to enable full supply chain development from farm to fork in which farmer-managed organisations have real stakes.

The primary objective of the Conference is to identify and document salient features for use in designing a commercial organic programme focused on production of food and medicinal plants for local and external markets. Specific objectives include:

- to support establishment of a commercial organic programme for joint ventures in production, value addition and marketing referenced on strengthened farmer organisations in light of changing climate documented and profiled attributes of sustainable partnerships.

- to showcase available organic products, inputs and support technologies for ecological organic agriculture in Zambia.

- to identify, document and strategise mechanisms for awareness and dissemination of ecological organic agriculture benefits and facts to stakeholders and communities in Zambia.

- to identify and document Zambian signature organic value chains encompassing agriculture and non-timber forest products for enhancing food security, nutrition and income needs.

- to identify, document and profile the attributes of sustainable partnerships and joint ventures for production, value addition and marketing of organic products with reference to strengthened farmer organisation in light of changing climate. 

It needs to be emphasised that an ever increasing, usually insatiable demand for organic products underpins the economic vibrancy of organic farming with potential to increase income earnings through low-cost inputs and price premiums on certified organic products. Needless to say, its’ scaling up and out would migrate Zambian smallholder farmers to profitable commercial farming. Many smallholder farmers are structurally excluded from profitable commercial engagements mainly on account of being poorly resourced.

OPPAZ, as Official Host, will also use the event as a launch platform for the Sixth African Organic Conference (6AOC) to be held in Lusaka in 2026. Zambia, through OPPAZ, has been authorised to host this continental organic showpiece on behalf of the African Organic Network (AfroNet) and the African Union (AU) led coalition on ecological organic agriculture actors. 

The convocation shall exchange knowledge, information, practices and experiences through paper presentations, exhibitions and organic farm field visits.