Africa

Namibia’s blueberry industry aims to emulate Peru, the world’s fastest-growing blueberry producer, in its quest to scale up its own production.

A new global analysis by the US's National Drought Mitigation Center and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), published in July 2025, reveals that Botswana is among the countries most vulnerable to extreme drought in the coming years.

Zimbabwe's economy expanded by 2,9 % in 2024, according to the latest figures released by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat).

Veterinarians and farmers in Namibia are grappling with a troubling surge in giraffe deaths that have occurred over a large part of the country north of Windhoek. The cause remains undetermined, but experts suspect an insect-borne viral disease.

The second annual Youth Livestock Farmer’s Day, held in May at Lethare Farm in Serowe, Botswana, drew a crowd of enthusiastic participants from across the country, perhaps signalling growing national interest in livestock farming among young people.

The Namibian government is planning to invest N$250 million into the country’s citrus industry over the next five years in order to reduce dependency on imports. The Namibian government, through the Namibia Agronomic Board (NAB), has announced a significant investment of N$250 million (R250 million) over the next five years to revitalise the country's citrus industry.

Tanzania recently banned agricultural products from South Africa and Malawi over trade restrictions enforced on Tanzanian agricultural imports.

While the process of initial compensation payments to farmers who had been dispossessed of land in Zimbabwe were reported to be proceeding smoothly by Zimbabwe’s government and Zimbabwe’s Valuation Consortium (Valcon), these claims have been branded as “misleading” and “inaccurate” by role players in the country.

Germany has extended funding for an environment protection project in Namibia for five years.

The government of Zimbabwe is targeting a 340% increase in major crop production for the 2024/25 summer season, which was a positive step towards national self-sufficiency, according to Positive Eye News.

South Africa's agricultural trade with its neighbouring countries has faced significant challenges over the past few years, particularly with import restrictions imposed on the country by Namibia and Botswana.

Zimbabwe is to conduct its first National Agricultural and Livestock Census (NALC) since the country’s independence in 1980, with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

High-ranking rhino horn trafficker, Francis Kipampa of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, recently received an 18-year prison sentence for money laundering offences related to rhino poaching.

At the beginning of January 2025, Zimbabweans faced worsening food shortages due to delayed rains and the ongoing effects of drought.

The United Nations World Food Programme welcomed a donation of R90 million from the government of Japan to support 37 000 smallholder farmers wrestling with the effects of climate challenges in five districts in Zimbabwe.

Investments in agrifoodtech in Africa is showing a slight recovery after crashing from a peak of over US$700 million (about R12,7 billion) in funding in 2022 to US$275 million (R5 billion) in 2023.

Zimbabwe has, since the beginning of November, harvested a record 518 502t of wheat from 106 230ha. A total of 119 594ha were planted to wheat this year compared with 91 000ha in the previous season, when a crop of 465 546t was achieved.

Calle Schlettwein, Namibia's Minister of Agriculture, Water, and Land Reform, recently called for agriculture to be recognised as a national priority and for resources to be allocated accordingly.

The Zimbabwean Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) recently announced a number of sustainability measures aimed at minimising the negative impact of tobacco production on the environment. This includes land clearing.

Zimbabwe recently confirmed its intension to cull 200 elephants to feed communities facing acute hunger following the worst drought that country had seen in four decades.