AFRICA'S NO.1 FOOD, BEVERAGE & MILLING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE

Global ingredient manufacturer Kemin becomes majority shareholder in Egyptian animal vaccine company MEVAC

Mar 31, 2021Mar 31, 2021 Editor

EGYPT – Kemin Industries, a global ingredient manufacturer has expanded its presence in the global vaccine market by becoming a majority shareholder in MEVAC, an animal vaccine manufacturer based in Cairo, Egypt, and a shareholder in MEVAC’s sister company, UVAC. UVAC was established to produce foot-and-mouth disease and tissue-culture vaccines for animals, as well as human vaccines. As part of its investment in the two companies, Kemin will have access to a modern vaccine plant with production and R&D capabilities to support future growth. “We entered into a partnership with…

Heifer International, Rwandan government announce US$10m investment in livestock farmers

Mar 27, 2021Mar 29, 2021 Editor

RWANDA – International development organization, Heifer International and the Rwanda Ministry of Agriculture have partnered to invest more than US$10 million in livestock industry and training of 23,400 smallholder farming households, geared towards improving incomes, food and nutrition security in the country. In Rwanda, one fifth of the population is food insecure, and the average income per household is approximately US$3.11 per day in the 15 districts in Rwanda’s Northern, Southern, Western provinces where PRISM will be implemented. Through the partnership, Heifer International aims to support farmers to reach a…

EU invests US$5.9M in Zimbabwe’s climate-smart livestock production

Mar 25, 2021Mar 25, 2021 Editor

ZIMBABWE – The European Union (EU) in collaboration with the government of Zimbabwe has unveiled a US$5.9M project aimed at increasing the adoption of climate-smart innovations in livestock production systems in the country. The project dubbed, Livestock Production Systems in Zimbabwe (LIPS-Zim) has been launched in Buhera District, Zimbabwe and is designed to identify, pilot and upscale measures for improved productivity in livestock production. LIPS-Zim has the overall objective of increasing agricultural productivity in Zimbabwe’s semi-arid agro-ecological regions IV and V, contributing to the government’s agricultural transformation agenda. These areas…

Cameroonian Livestock Development Corporation becomes a full fledged public entity

Feb 20, 2021Feb 20, 2021 Editor

CAMEROON – The government of Cameroon has inked a decree transforming Livestock Development Corporation (SODEPA) into a state-owned company. This transformation, according to Business in Cameroon, gives SODEPA “legal personality and financial autonomy and also gives it room to create antennas, offices, or representations, if necessary, inside or outside the national territory by resolution of the board of directors. Prior to that decree, the corporation was a state-owned company but its operating powers were limited. The transformation of this company into a public corporation was a recommendation made by the…

Nigeria partners with international experts to develop its livestock industry

Feb 8, 2021Feb 8, 2021 Editor

NIGERIA – The Federal Government of Nigeria has appointed Cownexxion, an international dairy farming consultant to kick-start the National Livestock Transformation Plan. According to Klaas StruiksmaView Klaas Struiksma, CEO Cownexxion the focus of the 3-year project will be on feed production, development of knowledge and skills and the transformation of management in a bid to curb herd conflicts in the country. It will first be undertaken in the states of Nasarawa, Plateau, Gombe and Adamawa, with pilot farms established in each of the locations. The farms will act as a…

Djibouti partners with Ethiopia in opening livestock exclusive terminal at Doraleh Multipurpose Port

Jan 18, 2021Jan 18, 2021 Editor

DJIBOUTI – Djibouti in partnership with Ethiopia have inaugurated a livestock terminal at the Doraleh Multi-Purpose Port, an extension of the Port of Djibouti. The exclusive facility will have a capacity to handle 2.5 million heads of animal per annum i.e., 1,000 heads of camel, 500 heads of cattle and 4,270 heads of goat or sheep per day, reports Capital Ethiopia. Constructed at a cost of US$400,000, the terminal will receive all transit livestock and offer services like quarantine, water and resting area until loading into ships. The facility was…

IFAD pumps US$15m to develop Rwanda’s livestock value chain

Nov 3, 2020Nov 3, 2020 Editor

RWANDA – The IFAD through the Partnership for Resilient and Inclusive Small Livestock Markets (PRISM) programme has launched Rwf15-billion (US$15m) project in Rwanda, aimed to develop the country’s livestock value chain. The five-year project is co-funded by IFAD and Enabel, a Belgian Development Agency and will be is implemented by the Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB). It seeks to resolve the shortage of animal feed in the country by making available the key raw materials for producing the feeds i.e. maize and wheat, which are also in high demand by the…

Central Bank of Nigeria funds production of nine agricultural commodities with US$1.1bn

Jun 19, 2020Jun 19, 2020 Editor

NIGERIA – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has targeted to fund the value chains of nine agricultural commodities in the 2020 wet planting season to the tune of N432bn (US$1.1bn) to prevent the country from sliding into a recession, as is currently being experienced in some major economies of the world. The commodities to be funded include rice, cotton, oil palm, tomato, cassava, poultry, fish, maize, cocoa and livestock/diary. The funding would be sent through designated participating banks, targeting over 1.1 million farmers, cultivating over one million hectares of…

Kenyan government halts establishment of the US$3.4m Livestock Export Zone

Jun 5, 2020Jun 10, 2020 Editor

KENYA – The long awaited completion of the Bachuma Livestock Export Processing Zone (LEPZ) in the coastal region of Kenya seems to be a deeming reality following the termination of the Ksh. 362m (US$3.4m) contract by the government on account of failure of the contractor to meet the set deadline. Bachuma’s LEPZ, is one of Jubilee Government flagship projects expected to bolster Kenya’s strategic position as a player in global livestock market that has gobbled millions of shillings but remains incomplete to date. The Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries…

Prolonged drought devastates Namibia’s livestock sector as production declines

Jun 5, 2020Jun 7, 2020 Editor

NAMIBIA – According to the first quarter agricultural review of 2020 by the Namibia Agriculture Union (NAU), the amount of cattle and sheep marketed during the period reduced by 31.4% and 59.2% respectively. The reduction is attributed to the fact that livestock producers are rebuilding herds following the marketing of a large amount of breeding stock during the prolonged drought season aimed to prevent major livestock and financial losses. Data of the Meat Board of Namibia, indicate that the country exported 63, 417 live head of cattle in the first…