B4FA http://theb4fa.org Biosciences For Farming in Africa Tue, 17 Dec 2019 16:57:04 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 Focusing on smart agriculture across Africa http://theb4fa.org/focusing-on-smart-agriculture-across-africa/ http://theb4fa.org/focusing-on-smart-agriculture-across-africa/#respond Tue, 17 Dec 2019 16:57:01 +0000 http://theb4fa.org/?p=18370 The world is changing and one of the factors driving this change is climate change, which continues to affect the weather and the elements, such as rainfall and storms, among others. These changes affect basically everything that concerns man and his environment.

The impact of these changes is gradually being felt ...

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]]> http://theb4fa.org/focusing-on-smart-agriculture-across-africa/feed/ 0 Agriculture is part of the climate problem, and the solution http://theb4fa.org/agriculture-is-part-of-the-climate-problem-and-the-solution/ http://theb4fa.org/agriculture-is-part-of-the-climate-problem-and-the-solution/#respond Tue, 17 Dec 2019 16:50:38 +0000 http://theb4fa.org/?p=18367 Recently, scientists from the Stockholm Resilience Centre and colleagues have suggested that we have already exceeded the boundaries for climate change, biodiversity loss, and the nitrogen cycle. These limits all share a common factor: agriculture.

 In short, agriculture is part of the problem. We have the responsibility to harness our natural ...

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]]> http://theb4fa.org/agriculture-is-part-of-the-climate-problem-and-the-solution/feed/ 0 A disappointing end to the COP25 climate talks http://theb4fa.org/a-disappointing-end-to-the-cop25-climate-talks/ http://theb4fa.org/a-disappointing-end-to-the-cop25-climate-talks/#respond Tue, 17 Dec 2019 16:45:10 +0000 http://theb4fa.org/?p=18364 The outcome of the two-week-long COP25 conference in Madrid with delegates from almost 200 nations was a partial agreement that asks countries to come up with more ambitious targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Despite some progress, world leaders failed to agree on more ambitious emissions cuts to meet the ...

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]]> http://theb4fa.org/a-disappointing-end-to-the-cop25-climate-talks/feed/ 0 B4FA Month in Review – November 2019 http://theb4fa.org/b4fa-month-in-review-november-2019/ http://theb4fa.org/b4fa-month-in-review-november-2019/#respond Thu, 12 Dec 2019 12:29:25 +0000 http://theb4fa.org/?p=18354 After eight years, we fear that B4FA will have to suspend its activities at the end of December 2019 due to a lack of funding. 

Over the years we have run training courses on biosciences for agriculture in Africa in four African countries – Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda – working ...

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]]> http://theb4fa.org/b4fa-month-in-review-november-2019/feed/ 0 World food prices jump in November 2019 http://theb4fa.org/world-food-prices-jump-in-november-2019/ http://theb4fa.org/world-food-prices-jump-in-november-2019/#respond Thu, 12 Dec 2019 12:17:19 +0000 http://theb4fa.org/?p=18350 World food prices rose significantly in November, reaching their highest point in more than two years, driven by jumps in the international prices of meat products and vegetable oils.

The FAO Food Price Index, which tracks monthly changes in the international prices of commonly-traded food commodities, averaged 177.2 points over the ...

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]]> http://theb4fa.org/world-food-prices-jump-in-november-2019/feed/ 0 Can African smallholders farm themselves out of poverty? http://theb4fa.org/can-african-smallholders-farm-themselves-out-of-poverty/ http://theb4fa.org/can-african-smallholders-farm-themselves-out-of-poverty/#respond Thu, 12 Dec 2019 12:07:01 +0000 http://theb4fa.org/?p=18347 A great deal of research on agriculture in Africa is organised around the premise that intensification can take smallholder farmers out of poverty. The emphasis in programming often focuses on technologies that increase farm productivity and management practices that go along with them. 

Yet the returns of such technologies are not ...

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]]> http://theb4fa.org/can-african-smallholders-farm-themselves-out-of-poverty/feed/ 0 Podcast: How nitrogen-fixing bacteria can cut fertilizer use 30-50% http://theb4fa.org/podcast-how-nitrogen-fixing-bacteria-can-cut-fertilizer-use-30-50/ http://theb4fa.org/podcast-how-nitrogen-fixing-bacteria-can-cut-fertilizer-use-30-50/#respond Thu, 12 Dec 2019 12:01:57 +0000 http://theb4fa.org/?p=18342 In the early 20th century, Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch revolutionized agriculture. The two German chemists developed a technique, now known as the Haber-Bosch process, that converts nitrogen from the air into ammonia, which can be used to fertilize the crops we all rely on for sustenance.  The discovery led to ...

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]]> http://theb4fa.org/podcast-how-nitrogen-fixing-bacteria-can-cut-fertilizer-use-30-50/feed/ 0 WMO’s first state of climate services report focuses on agriculture and food security http://theb4fa.org/wmos-first-state-of-climate-services-report-focuses-on-agriculture-and-food-security/ http://theb4fa.org/wmos-first-state-of-climate-services-report-focuses-on-agriculture-and-food-security/#respond Wed, 11 Dec 2019 19:15:40 +0000 http://theb4fa.org/?p=18339 With an estimated 80% of the world’s food insecure living in degraded environments exposed to recurrent extreme events, the 2019 ‘State of Climate Services: Food and Agriculture’ report explores how to support agriculture in the face of climate variability and change. Produced by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and partners, ...

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]]> http://theb4fa.org/wmos-first-state-of-climate-services-report-focuses-on-agriculture-and-food-security/feed/ 0 Building resilient agriculture through farmers’ education http://theb4fa.org/building-resilient-agriculture-through-farmers-education/ http://theb4fa.org/building-resilient-agriculture-through-farmers-education/#respond Wed, 11 Dec 2019 19:12:07 +0000 http://theb4fa.org/?p=18336 Agricultural experts and academia drawn from Eastern and Southern African nations called on governments to increase the reach, impact, and institutionalisation of Farmer Field Schools (FFS) through adaptive approaches to ensure that farmers in Africa are fully engaged in sustainable agricultural production and farming as a business.

At FAO’s Subregional Workshop ...

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]]> http://theb4fa.org/building-resilient-agriculture-through-farmers-education/feed/ 0 Crops Research Institute Releases stress tolerant maize to address food insecurity in Africa http://theb4fa.org/crops-research-institute-releases-stress-tolerant-maize-to-address-food-insecurity-in-africa/ http://theb4fa.org/crops-research-institute-releases-stress-tolerant-maize-to-address-food-insecurity-in-africa/#respond Wed, 11 Dec 2019 19:08:33 +0000 http://theb4fa.org/?p=18333 The Crops Research Institute (CRI) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and its international partners have developed a Stress Tolerant Maize variety for farmers in in parts of Africa where climate change threatens food security.

The Stress Tolerant maize variety was introduced to smallholder maize farmers at Ejura ...

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