THE Zimbabwe Agricultural Society (ZAS) has admitted agricultural production in the country has been on a downward trend and on Tuesday announced it would introduce a new section aimed at encouraging farmers to improve their yields.

ZAS CEO, Anxious Masuka, told reporters at a press conference in Harare they would launch the Eleven Tonne Plus Club which will celebrate the cream of Zimbabwean farmers who have excelled in maize production.

NAGAPATTINAM, India (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Last year farmer Veeramani leased a modest plot of land from his village temple in southern India to grow rice. He borrowed 40,000 rupees ($625) to prepare the field before the rains.

Then the rains failed. Veeramani, 31, was so distressed he suffered a massive heart attack on his field and died, leaving behind his wife, Kavita, and two young daughters. He also left a sizeable debt that Kavita was not aware of.

Burned-out homes in this dry landscape have become a symbol of the tensions around Tuesday's presidential election as Kenyans prepare for the possibility of yet more deadly violence.

For more than a year now, farms and homes in Laikipia County have been under siege.

Land Portal Foundation launches country portfolio in effort to showcase local voices 

 

Land has played a critical role in Tanzania’s development as a nation. Current land tenure frameworks, issues and conflicts in the country have historical roots dating back to the pre-colonial period.

For years, thousands of acres of land in Kerio Valley have been washed away by rain water from the highlands, this trend is set to be reversed thanks to the adoption of vetipher grass. For years, thousands of acres of land in Kerio Valley have been washed away by rain water from the highlands, creating huge gullies that have rendered the once fertile farms in Elgeyo Marakwet County waste lands

Earlier this year, Transparency International Uganda partnered with the Daily Monitor newspaper and a local TV station to document the situation.

A embaixada dos EUA em Angola está a desafiar os estudantes angolanos, com diploma de licenciatura, a inscreverem-se no Programa de Bolsas de Estudo Fulbright, que anualmente oferece a mais de 1.800 cidadãos estrangeiros a possibilidade de estudarem nos EUA a custo zero.

De acordo com a mensagem, as vagas existentes referem-se ao ano lectivo 2018/19 e o prazo limite para submissão de candidaturas termina a 14 de Abril de 2017.

By: IAN SCOONES

Date: 30 January 2017

Source: The Zimbabwean

By: Moniroth Morm

Date: January 5th 2017

Source: Radio Free Asia

Cambodia’s environmental minister claimed this week that problems stemming from the country’s economic land concessions were solved, a notion that was called into question by a civil society organization that monitors land issues in the Southeast Asian country.

By: Isabel Malsang
Date: November 13th 2016
Source: AFP

Paris (AFP) - Diplomatic wrangling this week will make the headlines in the fight against climate change, but experts say a bigger but largely unseen battle is set to unfold on the world's farms.

Agriculture holds the double distinction of being highly vulnerable to climate change but also offering a solution to the problem, they say.

By: Michael Gray 

Date: November 11th 2016

Source: Common Space

Scottish Government proposes team to take forward land reform aims 

THE FIRST COMMISSIONERS to Scotland’s land agency to tackle centuries of land inequalities in the country have been proposed by the Scottish Government. 

By: Gabriella Mulligan
Date: September 23rd 2016
Source: BBC News

Farming can be a tough enough business at the best of times, but imagine not being able to prove that the land you farm is even yours.

In Ghana, for example, only 10% of smallholder farmers have any kind of certificate documenting their ownership rights.