AF Jan Feb 2019 Cover_Cover.qxd 08/02/2019 16:30 Page 1 www.africanfarming.net January/February 2019 Europe m14.50 - Ghana C1.3 - Kenya KSH150 - Nigeria N200 - South Africa R18 - UK £9 - USA $15 Food security Open Data for agriculture Journey of tea From harvest to market Agroinvestment summit Leading dialogue in Africa Serving AGRICULTURE for 39 YEARS Better livelihoods in f isheries. p12 Annual Agricultural Buyers’ Guide S01 AF Jan Feb 2019 Start_Layout 1 08/02/2019 12:08 Page 2 S01 AF Jan Feb 2019 Start_Layout 1 08/02/2019 16:33 Page 3 CONTENTS Contents NEWS AND EVENTS 04 A topical digest of news, views and events including the Farmers’ Calendar POULTRY 10 Transforming Africa’s small-holder poultry production LIVESTOCK 12 Paving the way for better livelihoods in the fisheries sector Image Credit: Adobe Stock CROPS 14 Journey of tea from harvest to market PROFILING 20 An interview with CEO of Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition initiative EVENTS 22 Agroinvestment summit Agrofood Nigeria Foodagro Ethiopia Hybrid seeds for agricultural development. HortiFlora Expo EQUIPMENT 26 Breaking new ground in farm tractor design Case IH’s axial-flow 250 combines Pottinger unveils new mowers ArmaTrac licensed Africa’s GIAD to produce tractors Cooper Pegler knapsack sprayers The new models of Case IH help maximise performance. Editor: Fyna Ashwath E-mail: [email protected] Head Office: Middle East Regional Office: Alain Charles Publishing Ltd Alain Charles Middle East FZ-LLC Prashant AP, Miriam Brtkova, Praveen CP Editorial and Design team: University House Office L2-112, Loft Office 2, Manojkumar. K, Nonalynka Nongrum, Rahul Puthenveedu, Rhonita Patnaik, Samantha Payne, 11-13 Lower Grosvenor Place Entrance B, PO Box 502207 Deblina Roy and Louise Waters London SW1W 0EX, United Kingdom Dubai Media City, UAE Managing Editor: Georgia Lewis Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7834 7676 Telephone: +971 4 448 9260 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7973 0076 Fax: +971 4 448 9261 Publisher: Nick Fordham E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Michael Ferridge Sales Director: Production: Srinidhi Chikkars, Nelly Mendes and Infant Prakash Magazine Manager: Richard Rozelaar Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 207 834 7676 Subscriptions: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Chairman: Derek Fordham Country Representative Telephone Fax Email Printed by: Buxton Press India Satyanarayan Naidu +91 98 33055655 [email protected] US Mailing Agent: African Farming & Food Processing USPS. 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ISSN: 0266 8017 USA Michael Tomashefsky +1 203 226 2882 +1 203 226 7447 [email protected] Serving the world of business www.africanfarming.net African Farming - January/February 2019 3 S01 AF Jan Feb 2019 Start_Layout 1 08/02/2019 05:46 Page 4 EVENTS Farming Calendar 2019 Smaller African nations should embrace AfCFTA MARCH SMALLER AFRICAN ECONOMIES should not fear the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) but rather embrace the 26-28 Agrofood Nigeria NIGERIA accord for the benefits it will bring to the continent through expanded www.agrofood-nigeria.com intra-African trade, says Economic Commission for Africa’s (ECA) 13-15 HortiFlora Expo ETHIOPIA Executive Secretary, Vera Songwe.I www.hppexhibitions.com “Beyond central technical considerations in relation to the design of 12-15 Propak Africa www.propakafrica.co.za NASREC AfCFTA modalities, ECA’s assessment reveals that smaller economies should certainly not fear the AfCFTA reforms but rather embrace it; partic- 28-29 NAT Fair NAIVASHA ularly, as African LDCs would be those getting the largest increase in www.natfair.co.ke intra-African exports of industrial products,” she said. “And of course, it must be underscored that such benefits will only APRIL materialize if the AfCFTA reforms are properly designed and effectively implemented.” 03-05 NIPOLI Expo NIGERIA www.nipoliexpo.com.ng 11-13 Agritech Expo Zambia ZAMBIA Cassava plant in Tanzania nears completion www.agritech-expo.com THE LINDI BASED Cassava Starch of Tanzania Corporation (CSTC) MAY is close to completion, with 90 per cent work being done, said the government of Tanzania. 13-17 Panafrican Poultry Conference(PPC) TOGO As reported in the Daily News, the CSTC has a capacity to www.cersa-togo.org process 60 tonnes of cassava per day. Stella Manyanya, deputy minister of trade, industries and invest- JUNE ment, said that the factory had started pilot production of cassava flour in January 2019, while responding to a question by Newala 05-07 Fresh Produce Africa NAIROBI Rural Lawmaker Rashid Akbar (CCM). www.hppexhibitions.com Quoting the minister, the source further noted that Tanzanian 19-21 Agritech Africa 2019 NAIROBI farmers need to receive professional advice from Small Industries www.agritechafrica.com Development Organisation (SIDO) and Tanzania Industrial Research and Development Organisation (TIRDO) on how to Readers should verify dates and location with sponsoring organisations, as this process cassava. information is sometimes subject to change. This will help them to sell in other international marketplaces including China where cassava demand is high, added the source. ExxonMobil, REG and Clariant advance research on producing biofuel from agricultural residues EXXONMOBIL AND RENEWABLE Energy REG has led to important advances in geneti- Christian Kohlpaintner, member of Clariant's Group (REG) have signed a joint research cally improving REG’s proprietary microbes executive committee. agreement with Clariant to evaluate the for beneficial use in facilitating the conversion Through its partnership with ExxonMobil, potential use of cellulosic sugars from sources of cellulosic sugars into biodiesel,” said Vijay REG has developed proprietary technology such as agricultural waste and residues to Swarup, vice president of research and that utilises industrial microbes to convert produce biofuel, which has the potential to play development at ExxonMobil Research and complex cellulosic sugars into low-carbon a role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Engineering Company.“Applying Clariant’s biodiesel in a one-step fermentation process. The new partnership expands a previously expertise and knowledge will help us better “ExxonMobil has been an exceptional announced agreement for joint research understand and advance a key stage in the partner in developing this promising between ExxonMobil and REG, in which the overall cellulosic conversion process, and technology,” said Eric Bowen, vice president companies successfully validated the ability hopefully lead to the development of scalable of REG Life Sciences. “We are delighted to of REG Life Sciences bio-conversion biodiesel technology.” be able to add Clariant to the team with its technology to convert sugars from cellulosic Clariant is one of the leading companies in market leading sunliquid® technology. biomass into biodiesel through a single-step Switzerland which provides integrated The partners will also work on a conceptual process. technologies and solutions for converting engineering study to validate the feasibility of The new agreement with Clariant allows agricultural residues such as wheat straw, rice the integrated process comprising the technolo- ExxonMobil and REG to further optimise straw, corn stover and sugar cane bagasse. gies of all parties. REG’s bio-conversion process using Clariant’s sunliquid® process features ExxonMobil uses technology and innovation previously tested and benchmarked chemical-free pretreatment, the integrated to help meet the world’s growing energy needs. cellulosic sugars created through Clariant’s production of feedstock and process-specific Renewable Energy Group, Inc.is a leading sunliquid® process. The companies’ ultimate enzymes and thus high yields of fermentable provider of cleaner, lower carbon intensity objective is to combine Clariant’s and REG’s C5 and C6 sugars. products and services. processes into a seamless cellulosic biomass- We are committed to innovation and R&D, Clariant’s corporate strategy is based on to-biodiesel technology. together with a focus on sustainability, as the focus on innovation and R&D and adding value “Over the past three years, our work with main pillars of Clariant’s strategy,” said with sustainability. 4 African Farming - January/February 2019 www.africanfarming.net S02 AF Jan Feb 2019 News_Layout 1 08/02/2019 05:48 Page 5 NEWS Chinese companies explore agricul- Ghana and Hungary join Forces to boost water management ture investment in Ethiopia THE ETHIOPIAN EMBASSY in Beijing has organised an “Ethiopia-China Pulses, Oilseeds and Spices Sellers- Buyers Matchmaking Seminar” on 11 Image Credit: Adobe Stock Credit: Image January 2019 and a few days later in Hohhot, capital of the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, to promote opportunities in agriculture and livestock processing in Ethiopia. Bian Zhenhu, president of CFNA, The meeting emphasised a commitment emphasised