agriculture

The United Nations (UN) says that an exceptional harvest after good rains and food deliveries by aid agencies have ended famine in Somalia although conditions remain fragile and could worsen.

UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, warns that the gains are fragile and will be reversed without continued support.

In a press statement, he says that there are 1.7 million people in Southern Somalia still in crisis. He further states that millions of people still need food, clean water, shelter and other assistance to survive and the situation is expected to deteriorate in May.

To read the article titled, “Famine is over in Somalia, says UN,” click here.

Rural Development and Land Reform Minister, Gugile Nkwinti, has warned officials responsible for identifying land reform beneficiaries that the government will not tolerate nepotism and the exclusion of poor rural communities in favour of influential city dwellers.

Nkwinti points out that, "My department will fight this scourge of creating weekend farmers who only come during weekends to braai and often do little or no farming, which exacerbates the problem of agricultural land lying fallow.”

He was responding to complaints from rural communities that smallholder farms are being distributed to people who have no farming interest, live in the city and have political connections.

To read the article titled, “Land grants ‘not meant for weekend farmers’,” click here.

The new director general of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), José Graziano da Silva, has indicated that Africa will be his priority at a time of limited resources.

Graziano da Silva, who played an important role in Brazil's successful ‘zero hunger’ initiative, argued the key to improving food security in Africa is the political will to eradicate hunger, which could in turn be translated into action through financial resources, research and good practice.

Graziano da Silva stated that many of the poor countries in Africa have no facility of going to the donors, adding that, “The FAO will be there to support those countries to achieve the desired results."

To read the article titled, "New FAO Chief moves on global eradication of hunger," click here.

The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network says that African governments should put their money where their mouths are when it comes to farming.

The Network CEO, Lindiwe Sibanda, told reporters at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that in the 2003 Maputo Declaration, countries on the continent agreed to devote 10 percent of their national budgets to agriculture.

Sibanda argues that, "Eight years later, only 10 African countries have done this. We are not investing where our mouth is."

To read t he article titled, “Africa 'must support small farmers',” click here.