WRENmedia

Combining fertilisers for maximum yield

Recent field trials in central Malawi suggest that using a half-half combination of organic and chemical fertilisers in maize production gives higher yields than using entirely one or the other. This is potentially good news for farmers who only have limited quantities of organic manure and cannot afford to buy sufficient chemical fertiliser for their cropping area. Crop scientist Moses Munthali describes the trials and maize farmer Pansipowuma Ngoni talks about her experience of combined fertiliser use, with George Kalungwe.

published: March 2010

WRENmedia

Malawi's winning formula against hunger

Following three years of drought and food shortage, Malawi defied international advice and implemented a radical system of subsidies on seed and fertiliser. Harvests have increased dramatically, but poverty continues to blight millions of lives. Now the government has a new approach to agricultural extension, and is promoting belts of production by clusters of small farmers, in order to further boost production and introduce commercial farming.

published: February 2010

Georgina Smith

Top price for best quality vegetables

Small scale farmer groups from Livingstone in southern Zambia are using drip-irrigation to grow high quality vegetables on a year-round basis. The vegetables are supplied to two 5 star hotels at Victoria Falls, a major tourist attraction. A farmer, an extension officer and the hotels' executive chef describe how this has come about, and the benefits it has brought.

published: February 2010

Pius Sawa

Extending the reach of radio to farmers

In Apac district in northern Uganda, an information centre and a local radio station are working together to supply farming groups with advice and tips on how to grow, add value to, and market their produce. For those living beyond the reach of radio signals, the programmes are recorded onto audio cassette; when listeners' questions arise, the same cassettes are used to bring back answers from the experts. Pius Sawa meets the farmer groups, the information providers and the local agricultural authorities, to find out how and why it is so successful.

published: February 2010

CFU/Zambia

Plant your own fertiliser factory

The leaves of the Faidherbia albida tree are rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and other nutrients. Plants that grow beneath the trees benefit from their annual leaf fall, which fertilises the soil and counteracts soil acidity. In Zambia, the Conservation Farming Unit is encouraging farmers to plant 100 of the trees per hectare, at 10 metre intervals, as a long term means of boosting soil fertility. Over 160,000 farmers have already begun to do so.

published: January 2010

George Bazirake

Vacuum sealed banana - Uganda's latest export

Cooking banana, known in Uganda as matooke, has a relatively short shelf life - too short for fresh bananas to be easily exported and sold in Europe. But in a new initiative, a Ugandan company has begun to export peeled, vacuum-packed matooke, which can last for up to a month. This is an exciting way of adding value to a crop which occupies nearly 40 per cent of Uganda's arable land. Wambi Michael talks to banana experts, an exporter and a consumer about the new innovation.

published: January 2010

ILRI

Sleeping sickness - treating cattle to protect people

Every year, as many as 60,000 people in Africa die of sleeping sickness, a disease that passes between and among humans and animals through the bite of tsetse flies. Livestock such as cattle act as a reservoir for the disease, so treating cattle to cure them, and preventing re-infection through insecticide spraying, helps to reduce human cases. In Uganda, such a programme is now being carried out, with private vets heavily involved. This is a new approach for livestock disease control, which has previously been the responsibility of government veterinary services.

published: January 2010

WRENmedia

Raising food production depends on women

In many developing countries, 60-80 per cent of the food eaten by households is produced by women. Yet despite women's crucial role in preventing food insecurity, the needs and constraints of female farmers are little recognised in policy. As a result, farm productivity remains low and poverty and hunger continue to blight the lives of millions. The Unheard Voices campaign is seeking to change this, by giving women farmers such as Rosemary Mubita, from Zambia's western province, the chance to speak to policy makers, both at home and abroad. Rosemary, who recently returned from the UK where she spoke to MPs, shares her views with Sanday Kabange.

published: December 2009

Berlin Botanical Gardens

Cultivating a nutritious wild vine

Gnetum africanum, an evergreen vine which grows wild in the forests of Central Africa, is a popular and nutritious leafy vegetable. Cameroon is one of the biggest producers, but increasing export of leaves to markets in Nigeria and Gabon has put wild stocks of the vine under threat. Recently, researchers have developed a simple, low cost means for farmers to propagate the vine and grow large quantities for sale or home consumption. This has the potential to generate income and improve diets, while also protecting the wild resources.

published: December 2009

Neil Palmer (CIAT)

Farmers' handbook on climate change

How is the climate changing? How can farmers do their bit to slow down global warming, rather than add to it? And what can they do to make their farming systems more resistant to the changes taking place? These are the central questions that a new handbook on climate change seeks to answer. The handbook is being produced by the Zambian Conservation Farming Unit, to give Zambian farmers the information they need to cope with their increasingly unpredictable seasons.

published: December 2009