Madagascar is currently the 5th worldwide among countries most exposed to risks due to climate change and the first country in Africa exposed. For 30 years since 1980, natural hazards including droughts, earthquakes, epidemics, floods, cyclones and extreme temperatures, caused economic damage of more than $ 1 billion in Madagascar...

"Ending hunger and malnutrition, addressing humanitarian and protracted crises, preventing and resolving conflicts, and building peace are not separate tasks, but simply different facets of the same challenge," Graziano da Silva said at a side-event on ‘Peace and Food Security', hosted by FAO, at the sixth Tokyo International Conference on...

Compost is more powerful than manure. What is less known is that the micro-organisms in compost attack striga seeds in the soil. Compost also decreases the amount of striga that will sprout, and reduces its negative effect on cereal crops. Let us look at how farmers in northeast Mali make...

Inades-Formation believes that family farming is the basis for security and food sovereignty of people in Africa. Therefore, the indispensable solution to eradicate hunger and food insecurity in Africa is the support (political, economic, technical and institutional) and the promotion of family farming. By improving its productivity, family farming can...

Farmers in northern Nigeria are changing the way they intercrop their sorghum and millet with cowpea. By planting both crops at higher densities and in separate rows, and by applying some organic fertilizer, they harvest more and reduce damage by the parasitic weed striga. It is one of the strategies...

This study examines the impact of the Wheat Initiative technology package promoted by the research and extension systems in Ethiopia on wheat growers in the highlands of the country. The package includes improved wheat seed, a lower seeding density, row planting, fertilizer recommendations, and marketing assistance. A sample of 490...

“Agroecology is a process. You cannot expect a process to be perfect immediately. But once you make a step, you are moving.” With these words, Ugandan family farmer Jowelia Mukiibi captured both the essence of the agroecological transition and the attention of her audience: over 70 people representing 30 organisations doing...

The parasitic weed striga causes more damage to cereal crops in poor soils, so both problems have to be tackled together. In this video we will learn why it is important to combine at least three control methods to reduce striga and obtain a good yield of sorghum, millet, maize...

20,000 families in 13 districts of Uganda are now imagining their lives differently. . By creating a shared vision, husbands and wives are not only finding ways to break out of their poverty, but they are discovering the value of equality in their homes.Explore the findings of the Rural Development...

With this year's main planting season winding down in Ethiopia, there is still a small window of opportunity in September for farmers to plant the last set of crops this year and grow food for millions facing hunger, provided the necessary support arrives on time. The newly released Mid-Year Review...

La nosemosis es una enfermedad de las abejas adultas causada por hongos unicelulares pertenecientes a la Clase: Microsporidia, Familia: Nosimatidi, Género: Nosema. Existen dos subespecies diferentes de Nosema que afectan a Apis mellifera con diferente prevalencia dependiendo de la zona: Nosema apis y Nosema ceranae, responsables de dos formas diferentes de la enfermedad. Ambos...

Intercropping or rotating cereal crops with legume crops are two of the strategies of integrated striga and soil fertility management. But keeping quality legume seed has two major challenges. First, the seed easily loses its ability to germinate. And second, we are not the only ones who love legumes. Let’s...

 “Just the thought of a drought and its effects made me shudder as the one we experienced during the 2014-2015 season left a trail of destruction among farmers. How were we expected to cope with another drought, made worse by the El Niño, as we were still reeling from the...

L’Organisation des Nations Unies pour l’alimentation et l’agriculture (FAO) appui le renforcement des capacités sur l’organisation et le fonctionnement de l’unité post-capture. Une formation a été organisée à Kinshasa à l’endroit de trente agents de l’administration nationale des pêches et aquaculture, des entités décentralisées des provinces de Kongo Central et de...

One of the major parasites is striga, a weed that sucks the juice and nutrients from cereal crops such as millet, sorghum and maize and causes great yield losses. A single striga plant can produce hundreds of thousands of seeds. The seeds are so tiny that most farmers do not...

The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has outlined a roadmap towards the transformation of agriculture in Africa. The President laid emphasis on combating malnutrition in children, turning African farmlands into major suppliers of food for export and putting funds at the disposal of local banks to...

In the coastal savanna of West Africa, farmers explain how a mucuna cover crop helped to revive their highly degraded soil, and suppress the noxious weeds Striga and Imperata. They show how to grow it to benefit your maize and cassava, and why discussing land tenure in your community really...

This research was designed to understand better the patterns of agricultural intensification and transformation occurring in Africa South of the Sahara using the Ghanaian case. The paper examines changes in farming systems and the role of various endogenous and exogenous factors in driving the conversion of arable lands to agricultural...

In the semi-arid savannas where rainfall is limited and highly unpredictable, retaining more water in the soil can make the difference between a poor and a good harvest. You can slow down the runoff water by establishing contour bunds. Contour bunds are permanent ridges of earth that follow positions located...

 Encouraging smallholder farmers to grow pulses and teaching them how to conserve the nutritious seeds is the best approach to promoting pluses. According to Elizabeth Mpofu, one of the six special ambassadors appointed by FAO to strengthen the campaign for this year’s International Year of Pulses (IYP), smallholderfarmers and family farmers should be...