insert_link Africa Nigerian farmers lack insurance: payouts triggered by weather data offer a solution By Ifedotun Aina, University of Cape Town and Opeyemi Ayinde, University of Ilorin Agriculture is hugely important to Nigeria. It makes up about a quarter of the country’s economy, and almost half of the population are smallholder farmers. Most farm on less than 10 hectares of land. It can be a tough way to make a living. Smallholder farmers in Nigeria regularly lose crops and livestock to floods […] todaySeptember 17, 2024 11
insert_link Africa Fossil algae show a lake once existed on Lesotho’s Mafadi summit but it vanished about 150 years ago By Jennifer Fitchett, University of the Witwatersrand and Anson Mackay, UCL Lesotho is a small, land-locked, mountainous country located in the middle of South Africa. Its Eastern Lesotho Highlands are often referred to as the region’s “water tower” because they receive some of the highest rainfall amounts in southern Africa, providing water to South Africa and electricity to Lesotho through the Lesotho Highlands Water […] todayJuly 29, 2024 13
insert_link Environment The importance of keeping rainfall records By Hanks Saisai, Technical Advisor: Crops & Poultry Namibia’s Central, North Central, Eastern, Southern, and North-Eastern regions received some rain showers marking the beginning of the 2023/2024 rainy season. Oftentimes, farmers get excited and carried away by the occurrence of rainfall as it is an essential resource that enables farmers to cultivate cereal grains like maize, pearl millet (mahangu) and sorghum. Additionally, rainfall replenishes vegetation (grasses, shrubs, forbs, and bushes) […] todayDecember 4, 2023 11
insert_link Africa Climate change and farming: economists warn more needs to be done to adapt in sub-Saharan Africa Abeeb Babatunde Omotoso, North-West University and Abiodun Olusola Omotayo, North-West University Sub-Saharan African countries strongly rely on the agricultural and forestry sectors. Agriculture contributes up to 60% of some countries’ gross domestic product. But the sector is highly vulnerable to climate change because it relies heavily on climatic factors. This vulnerability is particularly marked in the region because of its slow rate of technological advancement. As agricultural economists we carried […] todayNovember 17, 2023 17
