News digest: Agri-food markets and production
- 18/03/2021
- Posted by: Gaetan Dermien
- Category: Africa, Bananas, Benin, Burkina Faso, Caribbean, China, Ethiopia, France, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, News, Pacific, Spain, Tanzania, Zimbabwe
No CommentsGlobal Organic farming is still gaining ground Global organic agriculture is progressing in small steps again in 2019, with a 1.6% increase in the global surface area – an additional 1.1 million hectares (ha) – to 72.3 million ha (including land under conversion), with Oceania in the lead, in fact Australia (nearly 50%), followed by Europe (23%) and Latin America (11%) (Commodafrica, 3 March). But compared to the world’s agricultural surface area, the result is still modest (1.5%). The countries… +Team Europe partners with Equity Bank to support Kenyan business and agriculture amid Covid-19
- 10/03/2021
- Posted by: Sandra Borma
- Category: Kenya, News
The European Union (EU) and the European Investment Bank (EIB), working together as Team Europe, are providing €120 million (KES 15.8 billion) of new support for Equity Bank to enhance financing for Kenyan companies most impacted by the Covid-19 crisis (European Commission press release, 3 March). The financing package will support access to finance under appropriate conditions for Kenyan SMEs, including in the agriculture sector, through €100 million loans from the EIB to Equity Bank and €20 million of EU… +COLEACP signs MoU with East African Community
- 11/12/2020
- Posted by: Emmanuel Bourcelet
- Category: Africa, Burundi, Kenya, News, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda
COLEACP has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the East African Community (EAC) to support a competitive and sustainable horticultural sector in the East African Region. The agreement identifies synergies in four key areas of SPS systems: strengthening governance; improving operational processes; managing skills and competencies; and strengthening communication dynamics between relevant stakeholders, particularly to ensure communication between National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPOs) and professional organisations, especially focusing on active involvement of the private sector in the process of strengthening… +New: PAFO-COLEACP Innovation Series
- 28/10/2020
- Posted by: Emmanuel Bourcelet
- Category: Africa, News
Innovations and successes of African farmer-led businesses and SMEs PAFO-COLEACP Innovation Series – First online meeting: took place the 19th November 2020. To improve production, processing and trade, it is critical to assess, showcase and upscale existing innovations created or adopted by farmers’ organisations and SMEs. This first session of the Innovation Series has presented successful African cooperatives, SMEs and enterprises on value-added and branded products that can increase opportunities in more lucrative markets. They discussed successful chain models and… +