Why modern farmers and scientists are keen on growing more crops for cows and cars, not food for humans
To see the yield gap in action, compare two important corn producers: the US and Kenya. In the US, the average yield is around 10.8 tonnes per hectare, while in Kenya it’s 1.5 tonnes. While the US is very close to its maximum theoretical corn yields, Kenya – taking into account its different climate – is way below its theoretical maximum. In other words, the US barely has a corn yield gap at all, while Kenya has a yield gap of about 2.7 tonnes per hectare below its theoretical maximum.
Plan by Kenya to buy back $1.4 billion of international bond eases investor jitters it might default
The pressure on the Kenyan government’s finances has forced it to try to squeeze every shilling it can from taxpayers, angering voters who had supported the current government on the premise it would lower the cost of living.
Death of Nigerian businessman, six others in California helicopter crash blamed on bad weather
Herbert Wigwe, chief executive of Access Bank, and his wife and 29-year-old son were among those aboard the helicopter when it crashed shortly after 10pm near Interstate 15. Bamofin Abimbola Ogunbanjo, former chair of the Nigerian stock exchange, was also killed. Their deaths shocked many in Nigeria and in the banking sector.
Election jitters for PM Sunak: UK economy slides into recession, but it is forecast to be short-lived
British households are due to see their first drop in living standards between one national election and the next since the Second World War, analysts have said. Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said the GDP figures had more political significance than economic, with voters due to elect lawmakers in two constituencies on Thursday.
Central Bank of Kenya buys dollars to slow down strengthening of the shilling against hard currencies
The government also sold a 70 billion shilling infrastructure bond, receiving over 288 billion shillings of bids, a 412 per cent subscription rate, with strong offshore investor participation. The Kenyan shilling extended gains on Wednesday, hitting its strongest in more than three months as confidence the government would pay off a Eurobond maturing in June buoyed investor appetite.
Japan’s unexpected slip into recession elevates Germany to world’s third biggest economy
While many analysts still expect the Bank of Japan to phase out its massive monetary stimulus this year, the weak data may cast doubt on its forecast that rising wages will underpin consumption and keep inflation durably around its 2 per cent target.
Long orphaned, sorghum farming makes grand return to western Kenya as indigenous crops reclaim niche
Sorghum is Africa’s second most important cereal because it is the primary source of daily calories for approximately 300 million people. However, the crop had vanished from Kenyan farms as a result of large-scale maize farming in areas that traditionally grew sorghum and its ‘sister’ crop, millet.
Commecial fish farming becomes key investment area as blue economy takes root in rural Kenya
County industrialisation and trade executive Kassim Were says successful implementation of the programme that targets 7,000 fish ponds that will supply five tonnes of fish per day will further diversify the local economy that hitherto depends on sugarcane, maize and dairy farming. However, continued subdivision of agricultural land into smallholdings has rendered available land for farming uneconomical for commercial production of the two crops and livestock keeping, hence the steep decline in output.
Mission possible: Prince Harry upbraids British media as he lays bare ‘Mirror’ unethical news gathering
Britain’s Prince Harry said on Friday his mission to purge the press would continue “through to the end” after he accepted substantial damages to settle his case against Mirror Group Newspapers. He also delivered another broadside against former editor Piers Morgan. In December, the High Court in London ruled that...
Withdrawal of membership by four West African states makes ECOWAS bloc a house of cards
The juntas appear to be donning the mantle of Thomas Sankara. The revered former president of Burkina Faso, who seized power himself, is seen as a hero for his opposition to corrupt elites and French influence, his modesty and principles, and his concern for the ordinary Burkinabe.
