African Agri Magazine October-December issue 2020

African Agri Magazine

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Standard Bank leverages specialised knowledge to assist local agribusinesses Pg.6

Pg.12 PIX Combine Harvester Belts

Pg.20 RainFine Introduces Just-Fine Pipe

Pg.36 Meyn’s new deboning solution offers full flexibility

Contects

C O N T E N T S 4

Agribusiness Pg.6 Standard Bank leverages specialised knowledge to assist local agribusinesses Pg.8 Young farmers need finance, know-how Pg.10 GhaffaP incubation service to address challenges of smallholder farmers Pg.11 Co-operative Development Foundation supports 10,000 farmers in Upper West Region Machinery Pg.12 PIX Combine Harvester Belts Pg.14 The Case IH JXE-Series: A tractor for every application Pg.15 Cargill, Ecolab help advance digital innovation with Farm-to-Fork accelerator class Pg.16 AGCO unveils Massey Ferguson 1800M and 2800M series compact tractors Pg.17 Ethiopia’s CPWE boosts coffee processing efficiency with Sortex solutions Irrigation Pg.18 Ethiopia’s CPWE boosts coffee processing efficiency with Sortex solutions Pg.20 RainFine Introduces Just-Fine Pipe Crops Pg.22 Ammonium Sulphate Fertilizer not suitable for soils in UWR Pg.24 IFC partners with OCP Africa to strengthen the rice sectors in Côte d’Ivoire and millet in Senegal Pg.25 Cameroon and IFAD join forces to boost food security and support smallscale farmers Pg.26 Start-up company Crover unveils robotic grain monitoring solution Pg.27 Grant us access to credit, seed inputs to avert possible rice shortage – PFAG to govt Livestock Pg.28 Diversey directs dairy hygiene challenges in South Africa Pg.29 Study reveals valuable disease-fighting qualities in African indigenous cattle Pg.30 Starting a Livestock Feed Mill Pg.32 Small-scale pig farmer implements commercial practices Poultry Pg.34 The local poultry sector could generate 150,000 jobs by 2025 Pg.35 Passion Farm: Striving to Grow Liberia’s Poultry Industry Pg.36 Meyn’s new deboning solution offers full flexibility Pg.37 The move to automatic evisceration: Marel poultry processing Pg.38 Evonik introduces GAA-product GuanAMINO Pg.39 DuPont Animal Nutrition, Proteon Pharmaceuticals partner on bacteriophage technology Technology Pg.40 Next decade to see tech-driven disruptions in food and agriculture Pg.42 Valio’s Carbo farm calculator set to cut the carbon footprint of milk Pg.44 Addfield introduces poultry incineration solution Pg.45 Innovative post-harvest treatment, digital agriculture can help tackle food loss and waste

www.afriagrimagazine.com | July - September Issue 2020

Editor’s Note

From the Editor

October - December 2020 Editor Raymond Rusere editor@afriagrimagazine.com Editorial Assistant David Brunn David.brunn@afriagrimagazine.com Sales sales@afriagrimagazine.com Accounts & Admin admin@afriagrimagazine.com Design and layout Black Heart Worx info@blackheartworx.co.za

This summer, most of us haven’t been able to rely on convections for planning activities. School, for example, would students attend in person, virtually or part in person and part virtually? Would your college-aged children be able to live in dorms or stay at home for some added time this year?

Furthermore, would any of these plans stay in place for more than few weeks before the game plan changed again? Nobody knew.

At work, summer is normally when we would normally be beginning to make travel arrangements for the African Afri Investment Indaba around the corner. But this year we, - like most of you, are waiting a bit due to uncertainty whether in-person events will take place in 2020 or even in the first quarter of 2021. As much as we would like to see our colleagues again and do business face to face, right now its hard to say if it is worth the risk.

In a year when almost nothing is going “same as usual”, at least we can count on one thing , the summer rains which translate to planting season.

The crop farmers plant through the year but mostly during summer, despite what is going on the world.

And with that comes with the last quarter Edition of the African Agri Magazine Issue. we are calling on our readers to indulge and get the sense and the understanding of the African agricultural landscape as we go uncertain times, but with understanding that we will emerge through this period stronger and better.

The summer is here, the planting season is here , lets get out to the fields and make every hectare , seed and most importantly hour count.

Editor Kevin Rusere

On the cover: Standard Bank leverages specialised knowledge to assist local agribusiness

Disclaimer: All Material is strictly copyright. The magazine or any part thereof may not be reproduced or adapted without written permission from the Publisher. African Agri Magazine welcomes material submitted for publication but retains the right to edit copy. The views expressed in the publication are not considered those of the Publisher, which accepts no liability of any nature arising out of or in connection with the contents of this magazine. While every effort has been taken in compiling this publication, the publisher does not give warranty as to the completeness or accuracy of its content. The publisher and the editor cannot accept responsibility for any loss inconvenience & damage that may occur there from.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | July - September Issue 2020

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Agribusiness

Standard Bank leverages specialised knowledge to assist local agribusinesses

COVID-19 has caused many disruptions to the agriculture sector, despite the sector being declared an essential service. It is because of events like these that Standard Bank employs a team of agricultural experts to better meet the needs of its agribusiness clients.

The outbreak of COVID-19 across the globe, and efforts to curb the spread, has created an unprecedented event that is causing severe disruption to industries and global value chains.

This is especially true with respect to agriculture, and there are questions and concerns around how the locking down of countries worldwide is impacting farmers and food supply.

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South Africa’s agriculture and food sector value chain, which has been declared an essential during the national lockdown, remains in operation.

But the far-reaching impact of the novel coronavirus is bringing challenges to farmers as certain subsectors are restricted from trading, commodity prices have become volatile and imports and exports are constrained.

While the value of South Africa’s exportable agricultural commodities to countries around the world declined 8,8% in 2019 to $9,8 billion (about R165,7 billion), the picture was expected to improve somewhat in 2020.

“The favourable rains and weather conditions have helped farmers increase summer crop plantings, and this has bettered prospects for higher outputs,” explains Nico Groenewald, head of Agribusiness PBBSA Standard Bank.

“The lifting of the ban on meat products following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease has now also allowed South African meat products to move freely.”

The effect on exports In South Africa, the agriculture sector is heavily dependent on global markets, and most of what is produced here goes to markets in Asia and Europe.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Agribusiness

These markets, as indicated by Agbiz, account for 50% of South Africa’s agricultural exports in 2019, and this translates to a value of close to R142 billion.

That said, these are areas of the globe that have been particularly hard hit by the virus, and this is contributing to slowing demand as a result of impacting people’s ability to spend and disrupting supply chains as governments restrict movement.

“A potential slowdown in export demand would hurt an already pressed sector,” says Groenewald.

“The situation will then be exacerbated by a decline in the prices of exportable commodities. This could threaten the cash flow of farmers.”

Certain subsectors of the sector, such as the wine and alcoholic beverages and floriculture industries, have had restrictions placed on their trade. This has impacted the cash flow of these producers in the short term.

“The financial impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on farmers will differ across subsectors of the agricultural industry,” explains Groenewald.

“Some are battling to cope as a result of their debt overhang and stage of production.

Farmers can generate enough revenue from exports to service their debt, but this depends on the ability of trading partners to maintain commerce amid the health pandemic.”

Groenewald adds that some agricultural product producers will find that their cash flow structure has been disrupted.

“These farmers will need to prepare soil and purchase inputs for the next production season, without necessarily receiving all income from the previous season.”

Agricultural productivity is inherently unpredictable. The industry is sensitive to the likes of weather patterns or biological processes, which, if unfavourable, can impact growing conditions and crop production.

This structure allows Standard Bank to take an integrated and holistic approach to facilitate and develop innovative and customised solutions to optimally address the client’s individual requirements.

“As a leading provider of financial services to the agriculture sector for more than 150 years, no one understands these challenges better than Standard Bank,” says Groenewald.

This team proactively helps meet the needs of clients by facilitating access to a broad range of product and services, such as cash-flow planning and profit management.

He adds that further uncertainties now exist around how the COVID-19 outbreak will impact supply and value chains.

“It is critical to produce crops of the right quality and quantity to achieve successful farming. While many of these factors are out of control of the sector value chain, continuous planning will be essential to mitigate risks and minimise disruptions, and to ensure operations are running at efficient levels.”

Since agriculture is characterised by strong cyclical trends, Standard Bank offers structured advances and loans, which take the effects of these cycles into account. Interest rates and fees will be negotiated for the product/s required.

“These solutions allow for us to help farmers with managing currency risk and to continue to drive the growth of agribusiness in South Africa and throughout the rest of the continent,” Groenewald concludes.

Managing a dynamic sector Groenewald explains that Standard Bank’s Agribusiness teams are not only bankers, but “agricultural experts of this dynamic sector”.

“Behind every client’s relationship manager, who works to gain an understanding of the business’s needs, sits an entire team of agricultural advisors and economists.

Their job is to prepare clients for tomorrow.”

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

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Agribusiness

Young farmers need finance, know-how

Over the past 20 years, subSaharan Africa has registered the highest rate of agricultural production in the world.

There have been knock-on effects with the region seeing the fastest growth in off-farm employment and non-farm labour productivity.

There is a widely held view that Africa’s agricultural growth trajectory could be jeopardised by an ageing farm population because young people are fleeing farming. Several sources indicate that the average

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age of Africans in farming has risen to 60 years or more.

But we are unaware of any empirical evidence to support this claim.

To understand what is really going on, we used nationally representative survey data collected by the government statistical offices of six African countries — Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Nigeria and Tanzania.

Because these surveys were replicated multiple times in each country between 2000

and 2018, we can compute how much time people spent annually in farming and offfarm jobs.

We can examine trends in the age distribution of the labour force in farm and off-farm employment since 2000.

This was done as part of our research into young people’s access to land as well as their migration decisions and employment opportunities.

Breaking the myth Our findings debunk the myth that most farmers in sub-

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Agribusiness

Saharan Africa are over 60 years of age — far from it in fact.

According to the national government-administered data in the six countries, the average age of the agricultural workforce ranges from about 32 years to 39 years.

Even when not counting young adults in the 15 to 24 years age range, the average age of the agricultural workforce ranges from 38 to 45 years of age.

And even going beyond the generally accepted labour force age range of 15 to 64 years to include all elderly people of any age working in farming, the mean age of farmers barely changes.

This is explained by the fact that only 3 percent of subSaharan Africa’s population is 65 years and over.

And less than half of this group is economically active and engaged in farming.

countries (Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia).

The mean farmer age remained unchanged in Nigeria and declined slightly in Tanzania.

In other words, the age of Africans in farming is barely rising, if at all. Considering that roughly seven million to 10 million young people are entering the labour force in sub-Saharan Africa each year, it is easy to understand why the average age of the farming population is not rising, even with large numbers of young people partially or fully moving out of farming. Based on these nationally representative surveys, it is clear that of the region’s many agricultural challenges, an ageing workforce in farming is fortunately not one of them.

Third, our study found that individuals in off-farm jobs are on average one to three years younger than those in farming, especially when the sample excludes the 15-24 year-old age group.

But farming still accounts for a significant proportion of the jobs held by working-age individuals and remains the single largest employer of rural youth. Most of the jobs, however, are, part time.

It is true that many young people from rural areas are leaving farming as off-farm opportunities continue to expand. Nevertheless, most young people who are economically active remain engaged in farming.

What is missing, however, is a critical mass of skilled young Africans with access to finance and know-how to drive productivity growth in farming and related value chains.

The idea of keeping young people in farming for fear of African agriculture becoming the preserve of the elderly is misplaced. A more effective strategy would prioritise resourcing the millions of rural youth already engaged in farming to make farming more profitable. Making agriculture “sexy” is not nearly as important as making it profitable.

How to make farming profitable for young people Secondly, the average age of the agricultural workforce in the six African countries examined has either increased by one or two years or remained constant over the past decade. Between the first and latest survey periods, which spanned from seven to 12 years, the average age of the labour force in farming increased by less than two years in four of the six study

As highlighted in previous studies, the share of employment in farming has been declining over time as opportunities for off-farm employment expand in Africa’s rapidly transforming economies.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Young people will flock to agriculture if and when it becomes clear that it can make good money. A related priority is to encourage skilled young Africans to apply their expertise to address the many policy, regulatory, and financing barriers that inhibit them from starting and expanding agribusiness firms that provide important services to African farmers.

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Agribusiness

GhaffaP incubation service to address challenges of smallholder farmers Charles Nyaaba, Head of Programmes and Advocacy, Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana has encouraged smallholder farmers to take advantage of the Ghana Federation of Forest and Farm Producers (GhaffaP) incubation service to expand their businesses.

He said the incubation programme would enable them to collaborate with financial institutions like the Agricultural Development Bank and the Exim Bank for a credit facility to purchase fertilizers, seeds, storage facilities and help package their produce to meet the demand of the market.

Mr Nyaaba said the initiative would address the financial challenges, collateral issues and bureaucracy farmers faced when soliciting for credit facilities from financial institutions in the country.

Speaking at the maiden national dialogue on GhaffaP in Accra, he said the programme would help the farmers to develop their produce, add value and be competitive in the emerging market.

The Programme Manager commended government for introducing the Ghana Agriculture Sector Investment Programme to support poor smallholder farmers with farm inputs and urged it to restructure the programme to avoid delays in accessing products.

Mr Nyaaba also lauded government’s stimulus package for Ghanaians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic but appealed to authorities to consider the plight of the poor farmers who were unable to access the fund because they did not have Tax Identification Numbers and proper records.

He expressed concerns over the effects of flooding and drought on farming activities and said

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when not handled well, could affect food security in the country.

Mr Nyaaba said the spillage of the Bagre Dam had affected food production, properties and lives in the Northern Region and called for a consensus to amicably address the situation.

He urged government to implement the 50-meter buffer zones plan to prevent settlers coming close to the dam and construct adjacent dams to address the perennial problems.

Mr Mark Kebo Akparibo, a member of GhaFFaP said the Federation was made up of forest and farm producer organisations from the three ecological zones of Savannah, Transition and Forest Zones.

He said the Federation sought to ensure a collective voice for forest and farm producers in addressing policy issues, access to finance and markets for smallholder farmers in the country.

Mr Fidelis Issah Ayipe, Consultant, Forest and Farm Facility Project funded by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of UN

said the agricultural sector was dominated by smallholder forest and farm producers but faced with challenges despite the several programmes outlined to accelerate growth in the sector.

He urged the farmers to make good use of Government’s interventions such as Planting for Food and Jobs, Planting for Export and Rural Development, One District one Warehouse, One Village One Dam to maximize their operations for optimum outcome.

Mr Charles Abani, the UN Resident Coordinator called on government to support rural farmers to expand their production and make them viable entity because 80 per cent of the foodstuff comes from the rural areas.

He urged farmers to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area and add value to their produce and market them across the continent.

Mr Abani admonished the Federation to explore the use of ICT and assured them of UN support to improve the sector and ensure sustained development.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Agribusiness

Co-operative Development Foundation supports 10,000 farmers in Upper West Region The Co-operative Development Foundation of Canada (CDF-Canada) is supporting about 10,000 smallholder farmers in the Wa West District to counter the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on their livelihoods.

The beneficiary farmers were supported to plough an acre of farm land, supplied with an improved variety of maize seeds and fertilizer for the cultivation.

Country Manager for CDFCanada, Christiana Yakubu

the Upper West and Savannah Regions.

The CDF-Canada was implementing the Access Project with funding from the Global Affairs Canada as a complement to the “4RNutrition Stewardship Project”, implemented by CDF-Canada in partnership with Fertilizer Canada, SEND-Ghana, African Plant Nutrition Institute and Savannah Agricultural Research Institute in the East Gonja, Kpandai, Nanumba North and Nanumba South Districts in the Northern region to support smallholder farmers

“The project will support smallholder farmers, particularly women, with critical inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizes, production, harvesting and post-harvest technologies through a voucher system,” she said.

She said it would also train smallholder farmers on good agronomic and sustainable climate-smart agricultural practices for the vulnerable groups including physically challenged.

The Paramount Chief of the Dorimon Traditional Area, Naa Sohimwiniye Danaa Gori II commended CDF-Canada for its support to the district to improve livelihoods of the people.

He said the residents in the district were predominantly farmers and needed support to improve their farming activities to better their lives.

announced this at a short ceremony at Dorimon on Thursday to distribute fertilizer to the beneficiaries.

She said the intervention was expected to enhance food security among the beneficiaries in 20 selected communities in the district.

The initiative dubbed “Access Project” is an emergency response intervention to mitigate the impact of Covid19 on smallholder farmers, particularly women, in the Wa West and Kpandai Districts in

to increase production.

Madam Yakubu said due to the restriction as a result of the COVID-19, smallholder farmers were at risk of food insecurity due to lack of resources to farm.

She said the one year project, spanning from June 2020 to February 2021, would increase access to agricultural inputs such as fertilizer and improved seeds and gender-equitable access to markets for smallholder farmers in the beneficiary districts.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Some of the beneficiaries who spoke to the Ghana News Agency commended CDF-Canada for the support to alleviate their plight amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

They said access to tractor services and farm inputs was a major challenge impeding their farming activities and described the intervention as timely.

Present at the programme were representatives from the Upper West Regional Coordinating Council and the Wa West District Assembly.

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Machinery

PIX Combine Harvester Belts

PIX Combine Harvester Belts are designed as per Interna�onal Standard norms and are widely used in the market for long-life, low-maintenance opera�on while providing a compelling performance to price ra�o.

PIX

PIX Combine Harvester Belts are designed as per International Standard norms and are widely used in the market for long-life, lowmaintenance operation while providing a compelling performance to price ratio.

PIX is amongst the most reliable manufacturers in the global Mechanical Power Transmission industry with an extensive range of highperformance V-Belts, Timing Belts, and Poly-V Belts to suit a wide array of Industrial,

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Agricultural, Automotive, and Recreational applications.

PIX-Harvester®-XS (Agricultural Wrap Belts) High tensile strength and high wear resistance outer cover.

Specially designed for reverse idler applications.

PIX-Harvester®-HXS (Heavy-duty, High-power, Banded Wrap Belts) Special construction, highly durable, Banded Wrap Belts designed for high tensile strength, high power transmission and compatible with reverse idler.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Machinery

PIX-Enforcer®-XS (High-power, High-strength, Inversely Flexible Wrap Belts) Best of class Aramid corded Belts specially designed for superior resistance to shock loads and special-woven outer cover fabric for high wear-resistance, flexibility and acute reverse bending drives.

PIX-Harvester®-XV (Agricultural Moulded Raw Edge Cogged Belts) Special fibre loaded compression compound and cog design for superior power transmission, excellent flexibility and quicker heat dissipation rate in the high-speed variator-drives.

Duo®-XS (Hexagonal Wrap Belts) Double-sided V-belts designed for multi-pulley, twin-power frictional drives.

INFRASTRUCTURE The Company features stateof-the-art Belt manufacturing units as well as an ultra-

sophisticated, automated Rubber Mixing facility. The culmination of continual investment, rich and diverse experience, technology, state of the art facilities which include a design centre, fabrication workshop, and elaborate testing facilities have positioned PIX as a highly-prolific and reliable manufacturer.

GLOBAL PRESENCE The global credentials of the Company are evident by its operations in India, Europe and the Middle-East, in addition to over 250 committed Channel Partners in over 100 countries worldwide.

the market leaders in key application verticals among its many OEM customers.

PIX is best known for Customised Solution and Quality Assurance. Choosing PIX is not just buying Belts, but also, be assured of the power of an internationally accredited brand having state-of-the-art technology & product development backed up with 24×7 customer support.

For more information on the products & Channel Partners please write to us at info@pixtrans.com or visit our website www.pixtrans.com

Considering its global customer base, PIX has backed its products by building an impressive support infrastructure in several key markets across the globe including the UK, Germany, and UAE. Each of these locations houses a Distribution Centre and is equipped to provide technical, commercial, and logistical support. PIX is perhaps among a few global companies in its Industry to feature a high level of infrastructure outside the home country.

The key strength of PIX is its growing network of independent, committed, and loyal Channel Partners over 100 countries worldwide.

Relationships based on performance and trust have been the hallmark of PIX’s strength in this regard. PIX is also proud to count some of

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

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Machinery

The Case IH JXE-Series: A tractor for every application

Case IH introduced its brandnew, multipurpose JXE-Series tractors, suited for work in orchards and fields.

The models on display on Case IH’s stand at the Izmir AgroExpo 2020, which took place in Turkey in February, included a wide product range developed to fulfil the different needs and expectations of farmers and help them manage their operations efficiently as well as significantly increase their yields.

JXE-Series Case IH said in a statement that its JXE-Series tractors, which were introduced for the first time at the event, represented the manufacturer’s medium segment offering as a combination of high performance and high quality.

Case IH, “are ready to fulfil all the expectations of farmers”.

The tractors have powerful yet efficient 41kW or 48kW engines, an eight forwardeight reverse transmission, a strong and reliable hydraulic system, ideal dimensions, and ergonomic controls to deliver an exceptional driving experience.

Proguide series Another product attracting attention on the Case IH stand this year was the Case IH ProGuide, the first tractor series available in Turkey to feature a local automatic steering system.

With satellite-supported automatic steering systems, these tractors are offered to farmers in 67kW and 82kW versions.

The automatic steering system is offered as a factory-fitted feature, enabling operation with 2,5cm accuracy to reduce operating costs by eliminating waste of agricultural inputs such as seeds, pesticides, fertilisers and fuel.

The Case IH ProGuide also has benefits in terms of spare parts financing and maintenance opportunities, as its technology is produced in Turkey and is fitted to the tractor during factory production.

The new series comprises two models, the JX55E and JX65E. These tractors, according to

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www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Machinery

Cargill, Ecolab help advance digital innovation with Farm-toFork accelerator class

Cargill and Ecolab have announced the latest class of entrepreneurs to join the Techstars Farm-to-Fork Accelerator to help advance the critical role of digital innovation in agriculture and food safety Due to the pandemic, the programme’s first ‘virtual’ class will see the 2020 participants engage with mentors through an entirely digital experience.

The pandemic has accelerated digitalisation acr oss many sectors, including food and agriculture, said Techstars Farm-to-Fork Accelerator managing director Brett Brohl.

“The food system has changed more in the last six months than it has over the entire five years I have been investing in the space. The demands of the pandemic have shed light on the tremendous opportunity that exists in the food system for entrepreneurs, and we are

excited about the opportunities in front of this year’s class,” said Brohl.

“Technology and digital innovation play a critical role in nourishing the world safely and responsibly,” said Justin Kershaw, Cargill CIO. “Through our partnership with Techstars and Ecolab, Car gill remains committed to helping foster breakthrough innovation to transform the food supply chain from farm to fork fundamentally.”

Now in its third year, Techstars Farm-to-Fork Accelerator is involving early-stage entrepreneurs seeking to make positive changes across the food system, including food security and safety, ag tech and supply chain management.

Participants receive mentoring support from Cargill and Ecolab execu tives and access to market expertise and global business connections.

The Techstars network of successful entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and other partners also works with selected start-ups throughout the accelerator

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

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Machinery

AGCO unveils Massey Ferguson 1800M and 2800M series compact tractors

AGCO Corporation, a manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment, has introduced the Massey Ferguson 1800M and 2800M Series, with five models ranging from 35-60 engine horsepower The 1800M and 2800M Series replace the 1700M Series compact tractors and are offered in both factory-installed cab and open-station ROPS models.

Featuring 1.83-litre, threecylinder Iseki diesel engines, the 1800M Series tractors are available in two models with 36.2 or 39.4 engine horsepower.

The 2800M Series offers three 2.43-litre, four-cylinder Isekipowered models, from 48.8 to 60.3 engine horsepower.

These engines are turbocharged for responsive power, liquid-cooled for increased durability and standard-equipped with glow plugs for fast, reliable starting in frigid temperatures. Cleanburning Iseki engines meet Tier IV emissions standards and can be found in specialised equipment used worldwide in

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a broad range of demanding ag, turf and commercial applications.

The M Series compact tractors also come with an updated hood, headlights and new decals, reflecting the look of larger Massey Ferguson utility and row-crop tractors. It is ideal for jobs such as mowing or rotary tilling, where consistent working speeds must be maintained.

An optional three-range hydrostatic transmission is also available. Dual foot-pedal controls make for quick and easy forward/reverse direction changes. Cruise control allows operators to set and maintain their preferred working or transport speed.

The tractors are available in both cab and open-station configurations. The standard cab models feature dual lockable, entry/exit doors, tilt steering and heating/air conditioning. The tractors offer up to 12.6 gpm hydraulic output, providing more responsive power at low engine speeds, allowing operators to throttle-back to

reduce noise, while maintaining full steering and implement function.

The 1835M, 1840M and 2850M models offer a Cat. I rear threepoint hitch, while the 2855M and 2860M models are equipped with Cat. I and II three-point hitch with 3,086-lb. lift capacity, providing compatibility with a wider range of attachments. M Series compact tractors can be equipped with dozens of implements and attachments, including the new Massey Ferguson FL Series loaders, CB backhoes and front-mounted snow blowers.

Jeffrey Ratliff, AGCO tactical marketing manager, said, “The M Series offers new developments and enhancements which meet the expanding needs of the compact tractor market.

Whether you’re a landscape contractor, municipality, hobby farmer with a few heads of cattle or a property owner with big acres to work and even bigger plans, the new M Series offers a powerful, proven dependable choice.”

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Machinery

Ethiopia’s CPWE boosts coffee processing efficiency with Sortex solutions Coffee plays a crucial role in generating foreign currency for the national economy of Ethiopia With an annual market share of 26% of all processed coffee for national export, Coffee Processing and Warehouse Enterprise (CPWE) is said to be Ethiopia’s largest coffee processing plant, facilitating over 100 exporters each year.

The company maintains a thriving relationship with the food processing specialist Bühler, where it has used Sortex sorters exclusively in all of its coffee processing operations.

The company was subsequently able to overcome its four most significant hurdles in coffee processing: product quality, export standards, operational efficiency and stability.

The CPWE was established in 1994, and processes and stores export-standard, washed, and natural Arabica coffee beans are grown all around Ethiopia. The enterprise operates from a 50,683 sq m coffee processing plant located in Addis Ababa, the nation’s capital, with around

400 permanent and contract staff.

Three export coffee processing lines can collectively process 15 metric tonnes of coffee per hour. The company also boasts up to 30,000 tonnes of storage capacity and processes about 50,000 tonnes of Arabica coffee annually.

Improving product quality and operational efficiency Most processing plants across Ethiopia use handpicking as a primary means of sorting coffee beans.

Getaw Yalew, general manager at CPWE, said, “Before investing in the Sortex machines, we relied heavily on handpicking, and the quality control of our coffee was not great. The efficiency was poor, output per hour was low, and costs were high.”

The company turned to Bühler to ensure a superior and more consistent quality of the coffee. Bühler was able to meet CPWE’s sorting requirements with a portfolio of solutions responsible for processing around 75% of all Arabica beans exported from Ethiopia each year.

“Since investing in the Sortex machines, we have reduced our dependency on

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

handpicking,” Yalew stated. As a result, the company has noticed a vast improvement in the quality of their coffee beans, with easier removal of sour, vinegar, immature and discoloured beans, in addition to insect-damaged and broca beans.

Satisfying export standards Export requirements for coffee beans in Ethiopia are among the highest criteria, with a 99.9% accept quality as standard. If the input quality is poor, a second pass in the sorting process is often required. “Thanks to the simultaneous re-sorting functionality, we can count on our Sortex sorters to ensure that we continue to meet the toughest export requirements,” Yalew noted.

Providing stability By exclusively using Sortex machines in all of its coffee processing operations, Yalew said, “CPWE has seen the market constantly growing in terms of volume. We have been able to supply our products at a consistent quality standard, with markets now perceiving us as a reliable supplier of high-quality coffee.”

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Irrigation

Nyandarua Resident Urged To Fully Exploit New Irrigation Network

Nyandarua County Commissioner Benson Leparmorijo has called on the residents to take advantage of the envisaged expansion of the irrigation network to grow high value crops.

Speaking at Mumbi dam Friday when he led a team of officers from the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) in handing over the site to a contractor for desilting, Leparmorijo announced that the national government had pumped in Sh184million to expand the county’s land under irrigation to an additional 1000 acres.

Through de-silting of water pans, pumping and laying distribution pipes to farms, the County Commissioner said the five cluster projects included Mumbi dam in Ol Kalau, Gwa Kiongo dam in Mirangine, Gathima and Gatirima in Ndaragwa as well as Upper Gitwe irrigation project in Kinangop.

“The community around Mumbi dam will also benefit from five green houses in

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addition to desilting. Desilting of the big Gwa Kiongo dam will see its capacity increased to 270, 000 cubic meters for irrigation and will also comprise distribution of water to homes for domestic use while Gathimaki and Gathima will distribute water to farms about 12 kilometres away from rivers,” added Mt. Kenya West Regional Coordinator Eng. Risper Okumbe.

At the same time, Leparmorijo encouraged the residents to concentrate on business farming to boost their earnings.

modern farming skills for more money.

The legal officer urged the residents to desist from growing the traditional crops that have flooded the market thus bringing in meagre returns.

On his part, NIA’s Corporate Communication Officer Daniel Nzonzo while acknowledging the need for public participation said the farmers would benefit from TechnicalKnow-how, while allowing them to own up the projects for posterity.

Ministry of Water and Irrigation Legal Officer Nderi Ndiani assured the residents of technical support from NIA to ensure the residents maximized their yields through irrigation.

Mumbi dam Chairman Charles Munyeki noted that the expansion of the dam was long overdue saying a lot of farmers would benefit from the anticipated green houses.

“NIA will deploy agronomists to educate the farmers on high value crops that will translate to increased income at household level,” said Ndiani, while urging young people to take advantage of the expanded irrigation to gain

“None of us will be seeking white color jobs with more farms under irrigation. We have tried fish farming and we will employ more modern farming skills to ensure we succeed in business,” added Munyeki.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Irrigation

RainFine Introduces Just-Fine Pipe Corrosive water, caused by a number of factors ranging from high or low pH to variable mineral content to waste water applications, can weaken and deteriorate standard galvanized pipe, leading to premature failure.

RainFine Just-Fine irrigation uPVC lined pipes protect your irrigation pipelines from any corrosive components in your water, ensuring a long life for your machine.

“Farmers drive everything we do at RainFine – and water quality issues continue to be an increasingly prevalent challenge for growers around the world.

While several different options to handle corrosive water have existed in the market for years, farmers told us there was a real need to have a better solution,” said Wang Zhi, director of global sales at RainFine. “We looked at this issue with a new approach and redesigned an entirely different solution about which we are extremely proud and, even more importantly, that our farmer clients are telling us is an absolute gamechanger for them.”

Other poly pipe type offerings in the market rely on polyethylene pipes and flanges for structural integrity, but the poly flanges create a gap between the steel flanges at the joint and can compress and crack over time, resulting in leaks.

The new Just-Fine pipe features a manufactured insert uv-stabilised plastic flange that allows for positive flange contact and eliminates the potential for a gap between flanges at joints, resulting in improved strength and span consistency.

It is the same span joint design used for existing RainFine galvanized pipe, but with the

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added protection of the Just-Fine PVC liner through the span pipe to provide an unmatched level of quality and rigidity.

To address the pipe expansion and contraction challenges that cause the liner to move within the pipe, potentially leading to cracks and leaks, RainFine introduced two additional new design innovations.

1. Rigid uPVC provides the solid base for the pipe, and does not expand or contract like the poly pipes do and will not crack after time at any deviation like at flanges or pipe ends; 2. Stainless steel fittings (304) are used at the pipe ends for rigidity and keeping with the corrosion free goals. The Riser Pipes and Elbows are also supplied with 304 stainless steel; 3. The pipe uses an insert type flange with double rubber seals which allow for any expansion and contraction in the pipes, it provides a perfect fit and seal, eliminating any leakage; and 4. 4he pipe sprinkler outlet uses a ¾” 304 stainless steel outlets fitting with ideal unrestricted flow characteristics; with a strong nut that will not break off over time as poly ones are inclined to do.

Re-piping your older Lindsay or IrriFrance pivots with Just-Fine pipes and fittings can extend their life significantly, providing a longer-term solution to the conservative farm operator.

Benefits • Just-Fine pipe is a comprehensive protection against corrosion made from an inert PVC material, making it ideal for chemigation, fertigation and resisting corrosive water.

• No leaking – wide self-seating pipe flange, stainless steel

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self-locking sprinkler outlet couplers ensure a water-tight seal.

Long lasting – the first machine with Just-Fine, installed in Australia is still operating with no leaks.

All structural components – from pivot pipe to last pipe – are lined and uPVC protected.

The joints are made of stainless steel maintaining structural integrity, while Overhangs are short and of minimum 6-5/8”.

Pipes available are 8” and 65/8”.

Not affected by abrasion from sand or sediment in irrigation water.

Highly resistant to sunlight and humidity as the pipe is completely away from any UV. No substantial extra machine weight.

Features • Warranty: A 20 years pipeline corrosion warranty includes unconditional replacement due to corrosion for 20 years.

This is the longest and most substantial warranty in the industry.

• Robust design: Designed for agricultural, industrial and municipal water applications • Greater profit and productivity: Allows you to take advantage of corrosive water, and allows chemigation and fertigation with aggressive chemicals.

• Minimizes pressure loss: Sprinkler outlets: Full size ¾” stainless steel self-locking couplings for minimal pressure loss and no leaks offering optimal flow characteristics.

For more information about protecting your pipes with JustFine pipes, contact your local RainFine dealer today.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

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Crops

Ammonium Sulphate Fertilizer not suitable for soils in UWR The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has declared the ammonium sulphate fertilizer unsuitable for use on soils and crops in the Upper West Region.

Programme, Agricultural Officers were tasked to visit the communities to collect information from farmers on the efficacy of fertilizers on soil and crops.

It explained that the fertilizer helps to increase the acidity level of the soils, diminishes the fertility potency and decreases crops yields.

Such information would be forwarded to the government to communicate to the fertilizer manufacturing companies and scientists to improve quality.

As a result of its negative impacts, the government had removed it from its subsidised package of fertilizers to farmers this year.

Mr Saeed Ismail, the Livestock Officer at the Wa Municipal Office of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) made this known at a Social Auditing Engagement forum with residents of Kpongu community in the Wa Municipality on Friday.

The Wa Municipal Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) organised the forum to campaign, advocate and lobby for increased accountability and a reduction in corruption in Ghana.

Mr Ismail said the Wa Municipal Directorate of MOFA received 530,000 bags of NPK fertilizer as at June this year, which were purchased by beneficiary farmers under the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme.

The farmers used their Voter Identity Cards as qualification requirements to buy the fertilizers, making access easier for the farmers.

Mr Ismail said under the Planting for Food and Jobs

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Mr Ismail said the Wa Municipal Directorate of MOFA had established 10 demonstration farms and cropped three acres of maize, two acres of cowpea, three acres for conservation agriculture to experiment the performance production

communities free of charge this year.

Mr Ismail said the Directorate had also established 25 acres each of cashew plantations at Busa and Nakori and Safety Net, a non-governmental organisation providing financial assistance to local farmworkers to take proper care of the cashew.

Six dams were constructed and two others awarded in the Wa Municipality under the One Village, One Dam Programme.

Mr Ismail said the Directorate was using radio discussions to educate farmers on the COVID-19 Pandemic and the promotion of modern farming practices.

Mr Ismail appealed to government to address the inadequacies of personnel, means of transport and logistics and funding to the Ministry to enhance its operations.

levels of new crop varieties and efficacy of fertilizers.

The Livestock Officer said 400 sheep and 500 fowls were provided to the Wa Municipal Directorate of MOFA under the Rearing for Food and Jobs Programme.

The animals were distributed to farmers to improve the breeding of local stocks.

Sixty thousand cashew seedlings were also distributed to farmers last year but because of the growing interest among farmers, 100,000 seedlings were supplied to farmers in 44

The Social Auditing Programme is part of many joint initiatives between the government of Ghana and the European Union (EU) to help deepening Public Accountability, as well as promote good governance in Ghana.

The Social Auditing Engagement is a product of the Accountability, Rule of Law and Anti-corruption Programme (ARAP) initiative to promote community ownership of development projects and policies, raise awareness of the operations of the local government and empower the citizenry to demand accountability from duty bearers.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Crops

IFC partners with OCP Africa to strengthen the rice sectors in Côte d’Ivoire and millet in Senegal

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has partnered with OCP Africa, a subsidiary of the OCP Group, to strengthen the rice sector in Côte d’Ivoire and millet in Senegal According to the IFC statement, the corporation will provide advisory services to farmers and farmer groups that are members of OCP Africa’s Agribooster programme with the aim of benefiting nearly 12,000 Ivorian and Senegalese farmers by 2022.

improve farmers’ access to finance.

“We are very happy with this partnership with OCP Africa, a fervent contributor to the development of agriculture in Africa, which aims to promote more responsible and environmentally friendly agriculture,” said Xavier Reille,

director of IFC for the Maghreb.

“This partnership concretises our vision of releasing the potential of African agriculture in a sustainable way through a holistic approach, involving major players in the value chain, for the benefit of small farmers,” indicated Mohamed

The objective of this project is to strengthen the technical, financial and managerial skills of cooperatives and to improve agricultural practices by integrating smart climate change solutions for water and soil management.

It also aims to accelerate the digitisation of payment systems in the two value chains and to develop a credit rating tool to

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www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Crops

Cameroon and IFAD join forces to boost food security and support small-scale farmers

The United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) announced a US$59.9mn investment to fund the second phase of the Commodity Value Chain Development Support Project (PADFA II), which will ensure the availability of quality climateresilient seeds and other inputs, modernisation of irrigation infrastructure, minimise post-harvest losses as well empower women and youth Around 32,000 poor rural households will benefit from the new project, which will help small-scale farmers as well as boost rice and onion production in the country. The project’s overarching goal is to strengthen rural livelihoods for greater income, improve food security and nutrition, and integrate approaches to mitigate the impact of climate change.

IFAD has financed the project with a loan of US$47mn. US$10.8mn is provided through domestic

co-financing, including US$8.7mn from the government of Cameroon and US$2.1mn from the beneficiaries themselves.

Additional co-financing of approximately US$2.1mn from other development partners is currently being finalised. The project will reach 15 departments in the country – North, Far North, Northwest and West - an increase from the eleven districts reached through PADFA. “This new financing agreement comes at the right time, as we face the cascading negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Abdelhaq Hanafi, country director for Cameroon. “Smallscale producers are at the centre of IFAD’s work and investing in them is a prerequisite for ensuring food security.”

PADFA II will work with 111 farmers’ cooperatives to boost the production and productivity of small-scale farmers, develop an improved seeds programme for rice and onion, and facilitate access to rural finance and markets

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

where farmers can sell their products.

It will address food loss by building 26 rice warehouses, 28 bioclimatic houses for onion storage and five collection and packaging centres for onions and by rehabilitating 25km of rural roads for access of products to markets.

Installation of two riceparboiling units will add value to rice processing.

Participants in this project will benefit from training on nutrition, food preparation and better hygiene. And young people can look forward to the creation of decent jobs to support the transportation of products and maintenance of infrastructure.

Since 1981, IFAD has invested $201.6mn in 11 rural development programmes and projects in Cameroon worth a total of almost US$421.3 mn. These projects have directly benefited 610,302 rural households.

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Crops

Start-up company Crover unveils robotic grain monitoring solution

C

rover has developed a robot that can ‘swim’ through cereals and grains to monitor their condition while they are still in storage This is a first-of-its-kind robotic grain monitoring solution and enables a greater understanding of the condition of stored grains.

The company is developing its technology as part of the European Space Agency Business Incubation Centre United Kingdom (ESA BIC UK – part of ESA Space Solutions), the world’s largest business incubation programme for space tech start-ups who are using space technology to develop gamechanging new products and services.

Managed by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), part of UK Research and Innovation, in collaboration with ESA, and partly funded by STFC, the University of Leicester and the UK Space Agency, the ESA BIC UK programme helps businesses boost their competitiveness in an increasingly fierce and global marketplace.

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Based at STFC’s Higgs Centre for Innovation at the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh, Crover has been developing the robot that can take accurate temperature and m oisture measurements as it travels through the grain. This data is then transmitted, via satellite communication, to the grain store manager.

Through the ESA BIC UK programme, Crover has also gained access to the advanced 3D printing expertise and capabilities, enabling them to identify and develop the

bespoke components required for their design.

The company said that this technology was also put to the test at the TechCrunch Start-up Battlefield 2020.

Dr Lorenzo Conti, the founder of Crover, said, “The opportunity to work alongside astronomers, engineers, as well as 3D printing and prototyping experts has been invaluable to our business and our mission to invent something that could help change the world for the better.”

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Crops

Grant us access to credit, seed inputs to avert possible rice shortage – PFAG to govt

The Head of Programs and Advocacy for the Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG) has called on government to direct banks to ensure full compliance in their provision of credit facilities for rice farmers.

According to Charles Nyaaba, government must urgently also furnish them with rice inputs like seeds and fertilizers to aid them in their produce towards averting a possible shortage of rice due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“It will be useful if government could get us inputs like fertilizer or seeds to produce and payback. Even if they can connect us with the banks to access credit at a reasonable interest, that will also help us greatly. We’re pleading with government to direct the banks to ensure full compliance from them too,”

Mr Nyaaba told GhanaWeb in an interview.

farmers who lost their farms and produce for the year.

Meanwhile, coronavirus lockdowns in countries that Ghana imports rice from, coupled with disruptions in the global supply chains, could pose some vulnerability to food insecurity in Ghana.

However, some farmers claimed they have since been neglected after engagements with the Ministry. They were concerned about how other farmers took advantage to exploit buyers by demanding that extra big bags of their choice be used to measure their produce.

Already, Ghana imports about US$1 billion worth of rice annually to meet a monthly rice demand of 940,000 tonnes.

Earlier this year, some producers of rice from the Northern Region were affected by wild fires fueled by the Harmattan winds which destroyed over 300 hectares of rice fields in the region.

Following the disaster, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture made assurances of a compensation to the

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

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Livestock

Diversey directs dairy hygiene challenges in South Africa Diversey, dairy farming hygiene solutions provider, has addressed dairy hygiene challenges in South Africa and effective solutions to be implemented in the herd In the Western Cape, the average herd size has reached an average of 750900 and the number of individual herds has reduced, as the challenge to operate efficiently remains. Holsteins and Jerseys are the most common breeds. Many Diversey customers are keeping Jerseys for the butterfat content for cheeseproduction.

Andries Engelbrecht, a Diversey product distributor in South Africa covering the Western Cape area, keeps a Jersey stud of his own. He competes in several local shows and is a trusted reputation in the South African dairy industry.

Facing the challenges Keeping a herd of his own also means that Andries can resonate with other milk producers, facing the same environmental challenges as his customers. The Western Cape region receives an average annual rainfall of 500600mm but can reach 800mm.

“The Western Cape weather has two extremes - good rain, or drought. When it rains, it rains, which can bring many problems. It never snows and only ever drops to two, three or four degrees. We never reach minus figures and the highest temperature reaches 40 degrees,” said Andries.

unpredictable weather can bring, but housing cows is a whole different type of work.

As many customers have found, as soon as you build housing for cows, the transitional period can be difficult and provide all sorts of growing pains, but once that is sorted, bacteria is much more manageable,” said Andries.

“The biggest challenge for us is lowering sematic cell count – when rainfall is higher in the winter, cell count also increases.”

Economic improvements bring additional benefits to milk producers; as milking herds increase in size, the cost of circulation and parlour wash routines does not, so it is beneficial for Andries to work with customers to provide a complete tailored hygiene routine.

Embracing change “Having visited dairy farms in many different parts of the world, I would say that South Africa’s farmers are some of the best – in the top three,” continued Andries.

“The way they can adapt and adjust to the weather, through sheer hard work and attention to detail is phenomenal, especially in the political unpredictability. Two years ago, the area faced a huge drought and the way that livestock farmers went about feeding their stock and

making decisions just to survive was inspirational.”

“Hindsight is a great thing.

Twenty years ago, this innovative way of thinking would have been groundbreaking and I think that today’s methods of farming would have been completely different. You can learn a lot in times of austerity,” added Andries.

Hygiene solutions Due to the extreme climates, hygiene solutions must provide protection to the herd and reliable cleaning to the parlour in a competitive market – sematic cell count control is paramount.

“Many of my customers use two main teat dips – Deosan Mastocide which is designed to meet the challenges of all seasons and provide daily care to teats and works specifically well as a high-care treatment for high-yielding or vulnerable animals. This helps tremendously with teat health and bacteria levels, particularly in the challenging climates. Disinfecting chemicals, such as Deosan Liquid Circulate and acidbased de-scalers remain the same for most of the year – we can rely on them to work effectively.”

Western Cape doesn’t provide pastures for grazing – outside cattle are fenced in and fed on oats and barley silage, with farmers buying in Lucerne and dairy meal from a supplier.

“Outside cattle can bring mud-related issues when it rains. Most dairy herds are now housed to provide a consistently dry environment and avoid the challenges that

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www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Livestock

Study reveals valuable diseasefighting qualities in African

Scientists have revealed a new set of detailed genetic markers and information for African cattle that provide heat and drought tolerance, control of inflammation and tick infestation, and resistance to devastating livestock diseases such as trypanosomiasis The findings, published in Nature Genetics, emerged from a collaborative effort to sequence the genomes of 172 indigenous cattle.

The scientist wanted to learn how, after spending thousands of years confined to a shifting patchwork of sub-regions in Africa, cattle rapidly evolved during the last millennia with traits that allowed them to thrive across the continent.

“We believe these insights can be used to breed a new generation of African cattle that have some of the qualities of European and American livestock, which produce more milk and meat per animal, but with the rich mosaic of traits that make African cattle more resilient and sustainable,” said Olivier Hanotte, principal scientist at ILRI, professor of genetics at the University of Nottingham and programme leader at CTLGH, who led the work at ILRI.

Hanotte and his colleagues were engaged in a kind of “genomic time travel” that, for the first time, allowed scientists to retrace the genetic journey that made African cattle so adaptable. They discovered what co-author Steve Kemp, head of ILRI’s LiveGene programme and deputy director of CTLGH described as an “evolutionary jolt” that occurred between 750 and 1050 years ago: the arrival of Asian cattle breeds in East Africa with genetic traits that would make cattle production possible in diverse and demanding African environments.

The genome-sequencing work has shown that indigenous pastoralist herders have begun breeding Asian cattle, known as Zebu, with local cattle breeds known as Taurine. In particular, Zebu offered traits that would allow livestock to survive in hot, dry climates typical of the Horn of Africa. But by crossing the two, the new animals that emerged also retained the ability of the Taurines to cope with humid climates where vector-borne diseases such as trypanosomiasis are common.

“Livestock, especially cattle, can be controversial, but without them, millions of people in Africa would have been forced to hunt wildlife for protein,” said co-author Ally Okeyo Mwai, a principal scientist at ILRI who leads its

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

African Dairy Genetic Gains programme. “That would have been devastating for the African environment and its incredible diversity of wildlife.”

It is now important to use the full range of natural genetic resources that have made African cattle so resilient to meet Africa’s growing demand for milk and meat while minimising the negative impact of increased livestock production. For many households in Africa, and especially the poorest, livestock in general and cattle, in particular, continue to be the most valuable asset of the family.

They provide a critical source of protein and micronutrients alongside income to pay for things like school fees. They also provide manure for crops, and some African cattle breeds can survive under conditions that can not support food crops, offering farmers a potential climate change adaptation strategy.

“You can see from studying the genomes of indigenous cattle that breeding for environmental adaptation has been the key to successful livestock production in Africa,” said Kemp. “And that has to be the factored in our future efforts to develop more productive, more sustainable animals. If the goal is pure productivity, you’re doomed to fail.”

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Livestock

Feed milling business is a growth enterprise in Nigeria.

The Country feed mills produce feed for mostly poultry (chicken, turkey, ducks, guinea fouls, and quails, among other birds).

Other classes of livestock that rely on the feeds produced by feed milling enterprise are pigs, fishes, rabbits, goats, cattle, sheep, etc.

Starting a Livestock Feed Mill

Market Prospects Feed mill business is one of the currently booming businesses in Nigeria. The rate at which poultry and other livestock products are being consumed can be linked to the geometric growth in population. With the increase in population comes a high demand in production of poultry and other livestock products.

Raw Materials The most commonly used ingredients used for feeds in Nigeria are: maize, soya beans, groundnut cake, wheat offal, fish meal, and bone meal.

Equipment Needed Automated machines are the principal forces in feed mill production in Nigeria or anywhere around the world.

The two types of equipment are semi-automated and fullyautomated injection mills machines. Some mills are produced in Nigeria, while the rest are imported.

Some equipment for feed mill production in Nigeria are; Mixer (could be either a vertical or horizontal mixer) Crusher and grinder (Hammer mill, burr mill, attrition mill, jet mill, roller mill for particle size reduction). You may have one or more of the crushers or grinders.

Pelletizer Warehouse and/or Storage Bins Transportation and Conveying Facilities

(for bagging) Ear muffs and goggles and respirators Protective Clothing (helmet, overall and protective boots) Production Process Feed manufacturing involves mixing all the feed ingredients in the formulation together.

The nutritionist formulates the feed using available ingredients. Nutrient compositions of feed ingredients are available in NRC tables. A good understanding of feed formulation guarantees that during periods of shortage of one ingredient, a substitute or a non-regular ingredient that is cheap and readily available can be incorporated into the feed.

Other important processes involved in feed production include: Weighing: Particle Size Reduction: Mixing: Bagging: Distribution/Marketing Options The envisaged plant can set up its own sales/marketing team to engage in a sustained one-on-one sales drive. Advertising options could be based on usage of flyers and referrals.

Manpower Requirement A total of 10-25 staff is required in the short-term operations of the plant. They include, Skilled Worker – 2; Semi-skilled Workers – 6; Salesmen – 1; Driver-cumsalesman – 1; and Security Operative – 1 Estimated Start-Up Cost (Small Scale): N8,500,000 – N11,500,000.00 Potential Profit: N12,500,000 – N16,000,000.00 per annum Estimated Start-Up Cost (Medium – Large Scale): N25,500,000 – N75,500,000.00 Potential Profit (Medium – Large Scale): N35,000,000 – N60,000,000.00 per annum

Generator Scales; which will include the dial beam scales Hand-held sewing machine

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www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Livestock

Small-scale pig farmer implements commercial practices Buti Malinga, together with his sister, Cathy, started Vukani Piggery in 2008 with nine sows after they acquired the 154ha farm, Bronkhorstfontein, near Vanderbijlpark through the state’s land reform programme.

The pair had, in fact, grown up on the same farm.

Today, thanks to their hard work and persistence, as well as assistance from government, Vukani Piggery is well on its way to becoming a fully fledged commercial piggery.

In order to do this, the pair already run the small-scale operation using commercial practices. They currently have 75 sows, but have capacity for 100.

“We have a plan to expand the operation to 97 sows. After this, we want to apply for a loan through the Land Bank,” Malinga explains.

But he has aspirations for far greater things; he hopes to one day expand the farm’s infrastructure to accommodate 500 sows.

Some of this was used to demolish the existing piggery structures on the farm and build the current 100-sow unit, which includes breeding, farrowing and weaning houses.

When he first started farming, Malinga had to sell his weaners to improve cash flow. As a result, he was at first unable to expand his operation. In addition, he faced his first major challenges: the listeriosis and foot-andmouth disease (FMD) outbreaks.

Land reform farm Malinga received the farm in 2008 through the then Department of Agriculture’s land reform programme. While he admits that he had no desire to farm as a child, he developed a great enthusiasm for it later on in life.

“It hasn’t been an easy road; listeriosis and FMD had a serious impact on the [pork industry].

Many emerging farmers received a much lower price for their produce,” he recalls.

Even so, he never dreamt that he would one day have access to a farm.

In addition to that, he has faced the usual challenges of high input costs and cash flow difficulties. His current herd size of 75, for example, is somewhat smaller than before.

“When we received the farm, it wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be. We weren’t able to just jump into farming; the starting costs were very high. It took a few years to receive the funding, and we started the farming operation itself in 2017.”

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Other government programmes, such as the Comprehensive Agriculture Support Programme, provided Malinga with additional funding.

affect the cash flow of his operation. Not only do feed prices increase, but other inputs and services, such as veterinary services, also go up. Creep and grower feed have become particularly expensive.

Despite these high costs, he has continued to buy the best feed available as part of his efforts to deliver the best-quality pork.

He also follows commercial grower methods in terms of artificial insemination (AI), biosecurity and good farming practice.

Breeding Malinga uses only AI on his sows, but keeps two boars to aid stimulation. There are about 650 pigs, including boars, sows, weaners and piglets, on the farm at any one time.

He breeds Large Whites and Landrace pigs, as they “produce a lot of meat, and are very hardy and suited to our farming conditions”.

“We had 89 sows, but due to various reasons, we had to cull some of them.”

Malinga prefers to use AI, instead of having to raise and maintain numerous boars. He divides the year into 15 cycles, which include AI, farrowing and weaning periods.

Malinga explains that, as with other farmers, price changes

These periods are repeated throughout the year. The

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Livestock

breeding cycle is 114 to 116 days.

The sows usually deliver a litter of at least 12 live piglets per cycle, and sows and piglets are kept in the farrowing house until weaning.

The sows are given Farrowsure, a medication to enhance their immune response, for 18 days. All piglets receive eartattoos for record-keeping purposes.

After weaning at 28 days, the sows are stimulated to go back on heat, and are flushed (provided with extra feed) to assist with this. They receive around 4kg of feed per feeding session and a glucose supplement during this period.

Once the sows are on heat, they are artificially inseminated.

Malinga sources genetics from PIC in Middelburg, which assists him with technical aspects of breeding. He also receives advice on pig production from the South African Pork Producers’ Organisation (SAPPO), of which he is a member.

In addition, SAPPO supports Malinga by paying a portion of his veterinary bills. The amount is worked out on a sliding scale, which is adjusted as his operation grows and improves.

Some of the greatest challenges he has faced have been in the selection of genetics. In the beginning, he kept using the same genetics, and failed to select correctly.

“The genetics should produce [pigs that deliver] sufficient milk, farrow a high number of live piglets, and have strong back feet. These are the features we want to see in breeding sows,” he says.

The average weaning weight of Vukani pigs is between 8kg and 10kg, and they are sold at a live weight of between 70kg and 100kg.

Biosecurity Malinga implements a strict biosecurity programme, which he says is crucial to the success of the piggery.

Dreamland Piggery, and is in the process of finalising arrangements to supply Lynca Meats once the piggery increases its capacity.

The pig houses are fenced off in an enclosure, and every person who enters and exits the enclosure must dip his or her shoes in a solution of GPC8, a powerful disinfectant, and thereafter don a pair of gumboots and a jacket.

“The problem is that because the operation is small, I can’t always meet the demands of the abattoirs,” he admits.

In addition, each pig house has its own foot bath to prevent cross-contamination between the houses, and hence the spread of disease.

The houses are cleaned daily.

When moving between pens in the same house, visitors or workers must step in the foot bath again. Malinga is particularly proud of his biosecurity programme.

“No one is allowed access to the piggery without a valid reason, and the less foot traffic in the houses, the better,” he says.

He also implements a strict disease and pest management programme. He vaccinates against porcine parvovirus, E. coli, coccidiosis and mycoplasma, and deworms the boars every six months and the sows after every cycle.

Malinga delivers between 60 and 80 pigs a week, and initially found the logistics of this problematic.

“In the beginning, I used to make several trips with a trailer to deliver the pigs. Later, I realised it would make more sense to contract a truck to collect the pigs and take them to the abattoir for me.”

The future As mentioned, he is keen to ultimately expand his 75-sow unit to 500 sows. He also wants to start a small crop enterprise, growing lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, spinach and cauliflower, on 5ha under irrigation.

While he runs 10 sheep and 30 cattle in addition to his pig operation, his main focus is on expanding the piggery.

“My mission is to contribute to food security, provide the best possible quality animals, and create employment,” he says.

To improve his operation, he uses a computerised pig management system that draws up reports of the trends on his farm, such as mortality, fertility and farrowing rates.

He adds that the best decisions he has made so far are implementing biosecurity and never compromising on feed.

The software analyses the efficacy of the operation, which assists him with performance testing.

Malinga was named the winner of the National Carcass Competition in the Emerging Farmer Category for Pork in 2018, and one of the winners of the Best Group of Five Baconers in 2018.

He also uses the system to track the performance of each sow, and uses reports from previous years to compare the weaning weights and birthweights of the various litters.

Delivery to the market Vukani Piggery supplies

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

33

Poultry

The local poultry sector could generate 150,000 jobs by 2025

BREEDING FOR 1ST QUALITY EGGS

In Togo, the poultry industry could create around 150,000 new jobs by 2025. The estimate released by the ministry of animal production is ten times more than the jobs the sector currently accounts for.

Nonetheless, the projection is likely to become a reality only if “local poultry is sold more” across the country. Also, importers should purchase more local products.

Indeed, while the sector has recorded some improvements in recent years (output soared from 8 million to 25 million heads between 2011 and 2017), there is more room for progress, both in terms of output and job creation.

In this framework, the ministry of animal production banned last month, imports of poultry to the country.

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Institut de Sélection Animale B.V. Villa ‘de Körver’, Spoorstraat 69, 5831 CK Boxmeer, The Netherlands-EU. +31 485 319 111 layers@hendrix-genetics.com hendrix-genetics.com www.afriagrimagazine.com isa-export.com | October - December Issue 2020

Poultry

Passion Farm: Striving to Grow Liberia’s Poultry Industry The inability of Liberian commercial poultry farmers to increase production has made Liberia to depend largely on imported alternatives since the end of the civil war. According to stakeholders, the country spends nearly 1 million United States dollars annually to import poultry and meat products to ensure food security.

Passion Farm, a local poultry enterprise located on the outskirts of Gbarnga City, Bong County, is working to change this trend. The facility currently produces 5,000 affordable eggs for the Gbarnga market on a daily basis, to afford rural residents to improve nutrition and help reduce Liberia’s dependence on food import.

Established in 2019, the enterprise provides employment for several vulnerable youth and women.

There are five permanent staff and several daily hires.

According to Tornola Varpilah, owner of the poultry farm, he plans to expand on the facility within the next few weeks as the supply of eggs is expected to increase to 20,000 daily, which will extend the market to Ganta, Totota, and major surrounding towns.

Mr. Varpilah, former Transport Minister during the administration of former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, spoke to the Daily Observer recently on his farm in an exclusive interview.

The significance of the farm Varpilah stated that he has established the farm to enhance food security and create employment for the residents as well as support social programs within the community.

“With the existence of the farm, many residents and businesses in Gbarnga are no longer depending on imported eggs. Passion Farm eggs are now dominating the market,” he said.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

According to him, since the farm was established, students have obtained contracts to generate money to further their education. The farm has also provided employment for women to generate incomes to avoid dependence on husbands or boyfriends who most of the time use domestic violence against them.

“The issue of gender-based violence was high in the communities. But this farm is now helping to reduce the effect of the menace as the women are working to raise monies. Many rural men use women to do most of the farm work which makes the women tired, and the men beat on them when they cannot fulfil their sexual desires,” Mr. Varplah said.

Varpilah added that he is also using income from the farm to provide scholarship for less fortunate children and support recreational activities for kids.

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Poultry

Meyn’s new deboning solution offers full flexibility

The global supplier of poultry processing services solutions Meyn Food Processing Technology’s new optional module, the semi-automatic loading carousel, saves labour and leads to higher poultry processing.

The effects of COVID-19 forced various processors to take measures like implementing social distancing and partly shift to other output products. The pressure on poultry processors to be flexible with both their input and output has never been so apparent.

Together with decreased dependency on labour and increased requirements on health and safety, processors are facing demanding times Meyn, specialist in poultry processing solutions, answers these challenges with the release of the Rapid Plus Deboner M4.2, featuring the new semi-automatic loading carousel. This upgraded modular, configurable deboning solution takes the next step to meet the need for flexibility and for saving labour.

Better health and safety, reduced skilled labour The Meyn Rapid Plus M4.2 with improved ergonomics enables processors to save up to 34 fte (full-time equivalent) per shift.

As the loading performance is less dependent on the experience and skills of operators, it leads to a more consistent input resulting in a higher quality output.

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Throughout the Rapid Plus solution, all required operators are standing on separate platforms, that can be adjusted in height individually to ensure an ergonomic work position.

"The secret of the Meyn Rapid Plus is the heart and passion of the dozens of experts that worked on making this deboning solution the icon it is today. From engineers to manufacturing, service technicians, sales, everybody within Meyn has gone above and beyond into perfecting the entire Rapid Plus. You can really see that craftmanship when working with the Rapid.

From the SAL, till the gear belt to the tiniest screw,” Marcel Verhagen, field support engineer said.

Better flexibility Meyn's well-known Rapid series offers full flexibility. As the only solution that can harvest all fillet and tender products automatically from both breast caps and front halves at a high speed of 7,000 bph.

Both input and output can be adapted to changes in market demands. Three preset touchbuttons enable to adjust critical settings during production when product weight ranges change.

Additionally, the modular design of the Rapid Plus M4.2 provides poultry processors great flexibility to

customise to the available floor space, with individual processing sections each having their own drive and gear belt to move the product carriers. The product carrier can be rotated in the best position for each individual processing step. Further, the speed of the product carriers is varied across the system, slower at the place of manual operation and fast in automatic operation.

"Quality products produced at high speeds was our requirement. The Rapid Plus M4.2 perfectly caters to our needs,” Varun Reddy, CEO Sneha Farms, commented.

Training Meyn offers default training to achieve the best result with processing solutions. The Meyn Rapid Plus M4.2 training programme ensures that technicians understand the relation between input product characteristics, adjustments and the required end product quality, for both production and maintenance.

The Rapid breast deboning concept has been globally praised by processors and their customers and proven to be successful. All customers truly see the benefits of Meyn’s unrivaled deboning solution. Its flexibility, significant reduction of labour costs and a minimised dependency on labour skills and input variety make it a true deboning gamechanger.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Poultry

The move to automatic evisceration: Marel poultry processing Any African poultry processor whose business is growing will one day face the decision to move from manual to automatic evisceration. When this day comes, what are the options?

Once a poultry processor has started processing industrially, he will have installed a scalder, plucker and overhead conveyor systems for the killing, defeathering and evisceration processes.

Hand tools Capacity increases will affect the evisceration department the most. At low hourly throughputs, most evisceration operations will be done manually using specialised hand tools. At a given moment, however, processing plant management will have to think about automating the evisceration process. This will depend on a number of factors such as the cost of labour and space available.

As capacities increase, more people will be needed for each manual process, and these people will need space in which to work.

Automatic evisceration At this stage, the installation of an automatic eviscerator will save people and space by eviscerating all carcasses cleanly and accurately to a consistent standard. Marel’s Nuova CoreTech eviscerator has been designed for poultry processors making the switch from manual to automatic evisceration. CoreTech deposits the drawn viscera pack over the back of the carcass. The pack is then suitably presented for efficient veterinary inspection, after which edible giblets can be conveniently harvested by hand.

Grow with needs CoreTech will handle up to 6,000 broilers per hour. Should users exceed this throughput, they have the option of upgrading. Having started using 10 units, they can easily double this to 20 units.

Furthermore, they have the ability to transfer the drawn viscera pack to a separate pack shackle. Giblets can then be harvested manually, or a start made with automatic giblet harvesting equipment.

Replacing other operations Thought can also be given to replacing hand-held vent and lung guns. Marel’s VOC combined venting and opening machine deposits each drilled vent neatly over the back of the carcass and opens carcasses without damaging the underlying viscera pack. Lung guns can be replaced by an automatic vacuum-assisted carrousel final inspection machine, whose units descend into the carcass cavity to suck out any loose debris.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

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Poultry

Evonik introduces GAAproduct GuanAMINO

Evonik has introduced its GAA product after the former supplier terminated its agreement to enhance energy metabolism in livestock production The end of the previous arrangement has opened up options for Evonik to further develop the use of GAA in animal nutrition and provide its GAA product to the global market.

GuanAMINO supplies farm animals with the natural creatine precursor GAA, which provides animals with creatine in the best possible way, improves their performance, ensures optimum nutrient use and therefore returns over feed costs.

“GuanAMINO is the best supplemental creatine source due to its outstanding stability in feed processing and high bioavailability to the animal.

Adding GuanAMINO to the feed closes the gap in creatine supply, thereby increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of nutrition and optimising production costs of

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farm animals,” said Dr Torben Madsen, head of product line sustainable healthy nutrition at Evonik Animal Nutrition.

“With GuanAMINO, we offer our customers the best creatine source and therefore another performanceenhancing solution in our portfolio for sustainable, animal protein-free diets,” added Madsen.

Creatine is vital for vertebrates as it helps ensure a sufficient supply of high-energy, demanding cells (especially muscles). Adding GuanAMINO to animal feed can significantly improve feed conversion in livestock production.

In the body, creatine is formed through GAA methylation, which itself is created by the amino acids glycine and arginine. In fast-growing animals, however, it is estimated that the synthesis of the body only covers around two-thirds of the daily creatine need required. The remainder must be supplied by adding to the feed.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Poultry

DuPont Animal Nutrition, Proteon Pharmaceuticals partner on bacteriophage technology

DuPont Animal Nutrition, a DuPont Nutrition & Biosciences (DuPont) business unit, has announced a partnership with Proteon Pharmaceutics The partnership will bring the emerging bacteriophage technology to poultry producers, helping to mitigate antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The antimicrobial resistance threat has spurred recent investments in bacteriophageal technologies. Modern analytics and omics technologies have enabled the bacteriophage candidates to be screened and identified for a specific bacterial challenge, with significant implications for feed and food safety. This new technology is already being used in the animal feed industry.

DuPont invited Proteon Pharmaceuticals to partner with them for their compatible work culture, solid scientific approach and leading position in the field of phage technology Poultry farmers in selected markets already benefit from

using Proteon’s technology to ensure biosecurity through the waterline and to improve the efficiency of the production.

Aart Mateboer, business leader, DuPont Animal Nutrition, said, “Proteon Pharmaceuticals is a pioneer in bacteriophage technology used in animal farming. They have been developing this technology for more than 10 years. It has been tested in Europe and Asia and proven in terms of efficacy and stability.

“This technology fits with our nutribiotic approach. We are pleased to add it to our range of solutions for poultry producers.”

Jarosław Dastych, CEO, Proteon Pharmaceuticals, commented, “We strongly believe that our technology might be considered as the future of animal health and nutrition and will help to reduce antibiotic use and anti microbial resistance.

“We are excited to take this next step with DuPont to bring the benefits of bacteriophage technology as a feed additive to poultry producers globally.”

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

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Technology

Next decade to see tech-driven disruptions in food and agriculture

Modern foods will be far more efficient than animal-derived products: up to 100 times more land-efficient, 10-25 times more feedstock-efficient, 20 times more time-efficient and 10 times more water-efficient than industrial livestock, according to a report by RethinkX Catherine Tubb, co-author of ‘Rethinking Food and Agriculture 2020-2030 -- The Second Domestication of Plants and Animals, the Disruption of the Cow, and the Collapse of Industrial Livestock Farming,’ said, “The industrial livestock industry is one of the oldest, largest and most inefficient food-production systems in the world. Modern ingredients and the foods are about 10 times more efficient across the board – from land and water use, to feedstock consumption and energy use.”

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Precision fermentation costs are dropping Precision fermentation (PF) is a process that enables the programming of microorganisms to produce almost any complex organic molecule. Its costs are dropping exponentially because of rapid improvements in underlying biological and information technologies. The cost to produce a single molecule using PF has fallen from US$1mn per kilogram in 2000, to about US$100 today.

The report projects that these costs will fall below US$10 per kilogram by 2025, and that these proteins will be five times cheaper than traditional animal proteins by 2030 and 10 times cheaper by 2035.

By 2030, modern food products will cost less than half as much to produce as the animal-derived products they replace. At the same time, this production system has the

potential to spur competition and fast iteration of products that are ever cheaper and ever better: more nutritious, healthier, better tasting, more convenient, and more varied, as long as open markets and nutritional standards are protected.

Technological innovation seen to decrease demand for cow products The report details the way different parts of the cow (collagen, milk, meat and leather) and the markets they serve will be disrupted separately and concurrently by different technologies and business-model innovations that overlap, reinforce and accelerate each other.

As cow products face competition from cheaper, higher quality modern foods, demand for cow products will decrease, triggering a death spiral of increasing prices for the industrial livestock industry,

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Technology

decreasing demand and reversing economies of scale.

critical decisions is to ensure an open market place.”

“The key to understanding the disruption of the cow is that PF only needs to disrupt 3.3 per cent of the milk bottle to bring about the collapse of the entire cow milk industry,” said Seba. “PF proteins are already being produced commercially. Costs are decreasing exponentially while quality and variety increase exponentially. Industrial cattle farming industry will collapse long before we see modern technologies produce the ‘perfect’ cellular steak at a competitive price.”

Food-as-Software model

“This disruption is inevitable,” said RethinkX co-founder Jamie Arbib. “The positive impacts – from food security to climate – are profound. But policymakers, investors, businesses and voters have some power over this disruption’s speed, scale, impacts, and who benefits.

One of the first and most

Instead of growing a whole cow to break it down into products, PF designs and customizes individual molecules to build products.

Development is done in a manner similar to the software industry: companies and individuals will build components within layers of the equivalent of a software stack that can be used according to individual needs.

The food developer is like an app developer, using the stack that is most appropriate according to market needs.

All aspects of the Food-asSoftware model are distributed: building biological parts databases (biobricks), designing molecules/ ingredients, designing microorganisms to produce these molecules via PF, and designing molecular cookbooks to integrate them

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into end-user products. Like craft breweries, food producers will produce food locally, using locally grown feedstock. However, with the Food-as-Software system, they will download microorganism designs, protein designs, and molecular cookbooks from global databases.

According to Arbib, “We are still early in the disruption cycle, and projections are just that, but we believe our framework, methodology and findings are more accurate than those produced by linear models, which risk locking in expensive, obsolete, and uncompetitive assets, technologies and skill sets.”

“To unlock the full potential of this and every other technological disruption, we need to embrace an approach that better reflects the complex, dynamic and rapidly-changing world we live in.”

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Technology

Valio’s Carbo farm calculator set to cut the carbon footprint

V

alio, Finnish manufacturer of dairy products, has unveiled a calculator for the farms to measure own carbon emissions and identify the most effective actions to lower them These actions are likely to result in dairy products with a lower carbon footprint. The methodology behind the tool is certified by global climate and sustainability experts, the Carbon Trust.

Emissions from milk production can be reduced in many ways. One of the most important methods is carbon farming that maximises the carbon sequestration capacity of fields. The carbon footprint decreases by increasing the per-hectare harvest of grass for feeding cows.

Cow welfare has a big climate impact. Emissions per litre of milk are reduced when cows

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live longer and produce milk well. The proper handling of manure reduces emissions: tilling manure into the soil rather than spraying it reduces nutrient runoff, and less industrial fertilizers are needed.

Some dairy farms are already using their own biogas plants.

The energy they produce from manure can be used to heat the farm and to power the milking equipment, for example.

Over the decades, Finnish dairy farms have done a lot of work to reduce their carbon footprint. The global average carbon footprint of raw milk is currently 2.5 CO2e per litre. In Finland, the figure is estimated around one CO2e per litre.

Using the calculator, emissions reductions can be measured and verified at the farm level.

Finnish cows’ methane emissions per litre of milk have halved in 50 years as a result of improved animal productivity, health, and nutrition. Cows today can produce more milk with the same amount of feed.

Despite this development, our climate impact is still significant. We are humble about the challenges and we are pursuing ways to lower the figures even further.

Actions reducing emissions are savings actions Rami Rauhala and his wife Johanna operate a 65-cow dairy farm in Sievi, western Finland. The carbon footprint of the Hilliaho dairy farm was calculated as part of the work to develop the calculator.

Climate-smart milk production is also resource-efficient, i.e. it makes good sense economically. Most of the fields on our farm are either grass silage or grazing pastures. We have also overseeded to make the vegetation as thick as possible. In our area, the significance of reparcelling is also big. Parcels that have over time become fragmented have been reparcelled into feasible parcels among landowners.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

Technology

When fields are closer to the farm centre, tractors use less fuel. It has been great to notice that we, milk producers, are part of the solution to climate change.

developed the calculation model.

Valio’s goal is that all its farms are using the tool within the next five years. So far, data has been collected from 100 farms.

“We have scheduled a training roadshow for dairy farms and we are providing them with online support, too.

The calculator is easy to use and the farmers already have most of the data at hand. I estimate that the average farm can lower its emissions by 30 percent by 2025. At the same time, we are of course working to reduce emissions from Valio’s factories, transportation and in packaging,” said Aleksi Astaptsev, Valio’s scientist who

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

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Technology

Addfield introduces poultry incineration solution Staffordshire agricultural incinerator manufacturer Addfield Environmental Systems has introduced a highly flexible solution for large broiler houses and poultry farms with the release and installation of the first A50L in the UK The manufacturer said that the A50L had taken agricultural incineration to new levels by being able to achieve almost continuous loading and operation. It is capable of managing more than one tonne a day or less than 100 kg. This gives farmers far more control over their falling stock than traditional solutions and increases their operational savings.

Addfield has now officially released the A50L Agricultural Incinerator in the UK, which Leedsway Farms was the first to receive in the UK. By enabling the waste to be loaded almost continuously via an automated hopper and bin tipper system, one of the many options available for this machine allows multiple throughputs during day operation compared to alternative similar size options.

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James Grant, business development director at Addfield, said, “It has been a very pleasant result taking off as it has in the UK. We work with farms of all sizes from micro small holdings through to some of the largest pig and poultry producers in the world. For which the A50L was initially developed for customers in the Middle East. “It happened to be a genuine coincidence that we had this machine in development at a time when we started seeing

inquiries from larger poultry farms based in the UK looking for a bigger machine with a greater capability, which this machine was perfect for. We are over the moon that it has been received so well closer to our home in the UK.�

The A50L is primarily designed for poultry markets and is not exclusive to birds, as it is also perfectly suited for pig and sheep farmers, due to its large loading chamber and increased capacity.

www.afriagrimagazine.com | October - December Issue 2020

technology

Innovative post-harvest treatment, digital agriculture can help tackle food loss and waste

Innovative post-harvest treatment, digital agriculture and food systems and remodelling market channels offer huge potential to tackle the challenges of food loss and waste, said FAO directorgeneral QU Dongyu “Food loss and waste is a major challenge of our time,” he added, urging stronger partnerships, more public and private investment in training for smallholder farmers, technology and innovation to step up the fight against food loss and waste as “our planet is a small ship in the universe” UNEP executive director Inger Andersen encouraged governments to make food loss and waste a part of national climate strategies.

“Only 11 countries have so far included food loss in their Nationally Determined Contributions. None of them included food waste. By including food loss and waste and sustainable diets in revised climate plans, policymakers can improve their mitigation and adaptation from food systems by as much as 25%,” said Andersen.

Calling food loss and waste ‘an ethical outrage’ given that so many people are hungry, António Guterres, secretarygeneral of the United Nations, called on everyone to play their part in tackling these issue-from countries setting a reduction target and measuring their food loss and waste and policy action in this area to be included in the Paris Agreement to businesses taking a similar approach and individuals shopping carefully, storing food correctly, and using leftovers.

Solutions to reduce food loss and waste Solutions to stem food loss and waste include good data to know where in the value chain the major hot spots of food loss and waste are; applying innovation - for example, ecommerce platforms for marketing or retractable mobile food processing systems; government incentives to bolster private-sector food loss and waste action and collaboration across supply chains; investments in training, technology and innovation, including for small-scale producers; better food packaging and relaxing on regulations and standards on aesthetic requirements for fruit and vegetables; behaviours that value and make the most of food at home; redistributing

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safe surplus food to those in need through food banks; facilitating farmer’s access to consumers and shorter value chains through farmers markets and rural-urban linkages; and investing more to strengthen infrastructure and logistics, including sustainable cold chains and cooling technologies.

The new African Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Cooling and Cold Chain based in Rwanda is helping farmers to market their produce quickly and efficiently-reducing food waste, boosting profits and creating jobs.

Sesi and the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for the Reduction of Post-Harvest Loss at Kansas State University are providing farmers in Ghana – Isaac’s home country - with an affordable moisture meter called GrainMate, which measures the moisture content of maise and other grains, helping farmers ensure the grains are sufficiently dried and tackle the main cause of postharvest loss in the grain insufficient drying before storage, which creates conditions for fungal growth, contamination and insect infestation.

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