AGFAX - Recent highlights

For vegetable growers in the developing world, selling produce to lucrative European markets can sound like a dream. Buyers demand very high standards of production and large volumes are needed on a regular basis for international trade. Could small-scale farmers ever hope to get involved in the export business? Yes they can, says Joseph Tontoh of the Vegetable Producers and Exporters Association of Ghana. The Association of 200 farmers, including 130 small scale outgrowers, exports chillies, aubergines and other vegetables to wholesale vegetable markets in Europe. Many of the outgrowers are school leavers just starting their farming businesses. Hear their story in Stronger together - Ghana's vegetable exporters.

Mabira forest in Uganda receives rainfall that supplies five major rivers, and helps maintain water levels in Lake Victoria and the Nile basin. Recently, the Ugandan government has been hoping to use up to a third of the forest area for sugarcane production, threatening both the environmental services the forest provides as well as the resources it offers to local people. However, the National Forestry Authority, which has been encouraging forest protection and replanting by local communities, has opposed the plan. In Protecting forests - local voices a parish chief and a farmer give their views on the importance of forest protection.

In Accra, Ghana, 80 per cent of salad vegetables served in market restaurants and roadside stalls are grown within the city. They are typically irrigated using wastewater - a mixture of rainwater and sewage, containing high levels of human waste and some industrial effluent. This creates health risks, both for those who grow the vegetables and those who eat them. Given water scarcity, use of wastewater for irrigation will continue, and may become even more important in the future. So how can it be made safer, for farmers and consumers? In Urban horticulture - reducing health risks Accra-based water expert, Pay Drechsel, offers some practical answers.

Agriculture and agro-industry form the backbone of the African economy in terms of GDP, employment, food security and trade. And, as African business conditions become more favourable, producers, processors and traders are increasingly making an impact in exporting to Europe. At the Agribusiness Forum 2008, Mamadou Djite received the EMRC Agribusiness Award for his success in exporting fresh fruit and vegetables from Senegal to Europe. In Senegal's award-winning agribusiness Mamadou talks about the secrets of his export success, and Idit Miller, Vice President of the European Marketing Research Centre, explains why he was given the award.

Global food price rises have made governments think seriously about boosting agricultural production. But what kind of agriculture offers the best way forward for developing countries? The industrialised model, which depends heavily on fossil fuels for chemical fertilisers and powered machinery? Genetically modified crops that can thrive in harsh conditions? Or should farmers be adopting organic agriculture, to restore degraded soils and reduce their dependence on external inputs? In Organic agriculture - a mainstream option? Jordan Gama, Executive Secretary of the Tanzania Organic Agriculture Movement, makes the case for an organic agricultural future.

How can rural people get their needs heard by those in power? They need a loud voice, and one way to get one is by joining together. The United Peasants of Tanzania, whose members are largely cashew nut farmers from the south of the country, has been working for eight years to get its voice heard. Recognised by the government and with its members included in local decision-making committees, the results have been impressive. They include a marked rise in the price paid for the cashew nut crop, a new marketing system which protects farmers from seasonal price fluctuations and a subsidy programme on farm inputs. In Tanzanian farmers find their voice, Makaburi Phiri, Managing Director of the United Peasants of Tanzania, tells their story, and their plans for a national business council for farmers.