NIGERIA - The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the Anchor Borrowers' Programme (ABP) has unveiled US$2.75 million loan to local farmers in efforts to enhance the production of rice, maize, soybeans and cassava, according to an article on This Day. The first phase of the program seeks to benefit a total of 1,250 local…
TANZANIA - The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in collaboration with the Pennsylvania State University of the United States has launched a new tool called Nuru to fight cassava diseases using an artificially intelligent machine, according to the Citizen. The device comes in time when the cassava production in Africa is said to have…
TANZANIA - Tanzania has signed an agreement with a Chinese firm, Kanton Investment Company to construct a new cassava processing factory, estimated to cost US$10 million in one of the eight districts of Tanga region, Handeni. The deal, signed by Handeni district council was facilitated by the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) mandated to promote, co-ordinate…
GHANA - Ghana has established a new plant, Aspuna Flour Mill and Processing Factory in Duwasu, Kombo, West Coast region that will process cassava into flour and starch, reported a Ghana Newspaper, Foroyaa. While the cassava flour produced will be sold in the local market and surplus exported, the starch will be exported to attract…
NIGERIA - The African Development Bank Group has revealed plans to invest US$120 million over the next two to three years in the production and transformation of cassava among other important commodities. As part of a strategy to achieve agricultural diversity, the funding will also boost production of maize, sorghum/millet, wheat, livestock, aquaculture, high iron…
NIGERIA - The Federal Government of Nigeria is considering levies on imported starch sweeteners, flour and ethanol to encourage local production and reduce its food import bill on those products estimated at US$654 million. The government also aims to enhance cassava processing, the raw material for the products while attracting investments in that area. Although…
KENYA - Cassava farmers are about five years away from accessing disease-resistant genetically modified varieties, currently being tested in specific locations around the country. Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) scientists are developing a transgenic variety that is resistant to the Cassava Mosaic Virus and the Cassava Brown Streak Disease the two diseases that…
AFRICA - A large portion of Africa's people relies on several indigenous plant species for subsistence. These plants are often primary food sources for people and animals and are also used for other non-food purposes. Most are farmed as food crops and are preferred by indigenous people and farmers. They are often hardy and tolerant,…
GHANA - Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL) has held a stakeholder’s workshop to showcase and assess the socio-economic impact of their Local Raw Material (LRM) sourcing on the Ghanaian economy. A statement issued in Accra and copied to the Ghana News Agency said the workshop was held bi-annually to review the impact of the company’s…
NIGERIA – Psaltry International Company Limited, one of the investors in the Nigerian cassava industry, has said that the country has started benefiting from its investment as the import substitution policy of the Federal Government in cassava starch has earned it $4 million (about N1.22 billion) in the financial year ended 2016.
