A Kaleidoscopic Voyage into Self-discovery!
United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) today announced a donation of over 5 billion Naira (USD14 million), through the UBA Foundation, to catalyse a comprehensive pan-African response to the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic.
The donation will provide significant and much needed support to Nigeria and 19 other African countries, by supplying relief materials, critical care facilities, and financial support to Governments. The UBA support programme will be allocated as follows:
All roads led to the Southern Africa Research and Administration Hub of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Lusaka, Zambia, as stakeholders from across the sub-region converged on the campus to assess the relative performances of different Fall Armyworm (FAW) management technologies under validation.
Organised by the Fall Armyworm Management Compact of Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) on the 10th of March 2020, the technologies demonstration day created a platform for frank discussions on the progress made in coming up with sustainable and cost-effective Integrated Pest Management (IPM) technology toolkits for FAW management at the smallholder level.
The one-day meeting also provided an opportunity to distill participants views on how the technologies on display as well as others which are in use on-farm or have been recommended by various players are performing; and to proffer common position on the sustainable management of FAW in Zambia.
Sorghum is the fifth most produced grain globally.
This two-meter tall plant from the grass family is often grown in regions that have high temperatures and lower rainfall.
In wetter regions, its production is lower than that of more lucrative crops such as rice and maize.
Sorghum is a particularly essential crop in Africa, second to maize, as the staple grain for millions of people.
Although it is mainly consumed as a grain, sorghum is also prepared into a wide variety of other food products such as porridge, bread, lactic and alcoholic beverages, and weaning meals.
Africa’s third top producer of sorghum
Sorghum is the main cereal crop grown in Burkina Faso, with more than 1.5 million hectares. Along with pearl millet, it is the staple diet of rural populations in the Sub-Sahelian regions.
Burkina Faso is the continent’s third top producer of sorghum (after Nigeria and Sudan)
In spite of various interventions, its productivity remains low, with an average yield of approximately one tonne per hectare.
Many factors have contributed to the decreased productivity, including demographic pressure, ecological degradation, loss of soil fertility, and water erosion.
Other factors include negative effect of dry spells on crop growth and yield, negative effect of end of season drought, scarcity of organic amendment, improved seed and other farm inputs and output.
