Africa

New Holland Agriculture, a division of CNH Industrial, will open a new branch office in Johannesburg at the beginning of May, to provide support to farmers in South Africa, as well as Swaziland, Lesotho, Botswana and Namibia.

Food prices in Kenya have increased by 12,54% when compared to 2016, which has led to a 7% increase in inflation, according to Fresh Plaza.

President Nana Akufo-Addo has pledged to boost the agriculture sector and create jobs as nearly 50% of 18- to 24-year-olds were unemployed.

Case IH and its distributor AGRICON donated the first prize, a JX75T 4WD tractor and plough, to the 2016 Zimbabwe Farmer of the Year, Gracious Patricious Makoti from the Sanyati District.

Members of South Africa’s fresh produce production and marketing industry have expressed suspicion that Botswana is unfairly protecting its fresh produce farmers in contravention of the arrangements of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) free trade area.

Global agricultural equipment company, AGCO, recently announced plans to restructure its Asia-Pacific region to include Africa and increase its operations in Africa. Gary Collar, senior vice-president and general manager (GM) for Asia-Pacific and Africa and Nuradin Osman, GM for AGCO Africa, spoke to Denene Erasmus about AGCO’s plans for expansion in Africa that will be driven from the company’s new regional headquarters in Johannesburg.

The outbreak of the virulent H5 strain of avian flu in Uganda, has led to Kenya and Rwanda banning the importation of all poultry and poultry products from that country, Willy Bett, Kenya's agriculture cabinet secretary said at a news conference in Nairobi, Kenya.

Mastercard recently launched its 2KUZE project, a digital platform that connects smallholder farmers, agents, buyers and banks in East Africa. This was according to a Mastercard press release.

Widespread rainfall in Zimbabwe has increased the national dam level average, which had dropped to as low as 42% in 2016.

The European Union (EU) has announced funding of €35 million (about R507 million) for agricultural development in Liberia, as well as support for the country’s General Auditing Commission (GAC).

Zimbabwe is currently battling an outbreak of armyworm that has affected seven of the country’s eight rural provinces.

The shortage of a variety of fresh produce, much of it usually imported from South Africa, is due to a self-imposed import ban.