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Ethiopian enset is being lauded for its drought-resistant qualities and potential for feeding many. Photo: Wikicommons/Supplied

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    Nestlé East and Southern Africa (ESAR) has created the Nestlé Needs Youth (NNY) Agri Competition where participants stand the chance of winning mentorship opportunities and a cash prize of US$30 000. Photo: Pixabay

    Young agripreneurs have a chance to win big with Nestlé

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    Technology uptake remains low in upper parts of Africa

    Technology uptake remains low in upper parts of Africa

    Let’s keep our food local, says farmer and agri trainer

    Within the next ten years, AFEX intends to grow beyond Kenya to Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Zambia. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Kenyan farmers take quantum leap with help from AFEX

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    World Bank has launched an insurance for Kenyan farmers that starts coverage at KES 50 per month. Photo: Supplied/World Bank

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    Within the next ten years, AFEX intends to grow beyond Kenya to Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Zambia. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

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  • Home
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    Nestlé East and Southern Africa (ESAR) has created the Nestlé Needs Youth (NNY) Agri Competition where participants stand the chance of winning mentorship opportunities and a cash prize of US$30 000. Photo: Pixabay

    Young agripreneurs have a chance to win big with Nestlé

    Catherine Kamanu believes that "farming smart" is the way to go, and prioritises working with nature instead of against it. Photo: Supplied/Catherine Kamanu

    Kenyan farmer proudly soldiers on, gumboots and all

    Many are moving away from West Africa because they relied on the small-scale fishing industry to survive. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Three factors driving West Africa’s migration crisis

    The full 100% of the Gorongosa-grown coffee's profits are ploughed back into the National Park and those who live in the surrounds. Photo: Gorgonosa Project/Supplied

    How coffee is bringing life back to Mozambican forests

    Nile co-founder Louis de Kock said the start-up is delighted to have Naspers Foundry support its mission to make fresh produce more accessible to people across the African continent. Photo: Supplied/Ventureburn

    Naspers Foundry pumps R40 million into fresh produce start-up

    Previous studies have shown that rodents and shrews are two large mammalian orders with widespread distribution and are reservoirs of many viruses. Photo: Pixabay/Supplied

    Scientists find new DNA viruses in rodents in Kenyan agri hubs

    Annita Mutoni is a young poultry farmer in Rwanda, and is finding her stride within the industry. Photo: Supplied/FoodForAfrika.com

    Rwandan poultry farmer sets her sights far beyond chicken coops

    AB InBev Africa has implemented five different agriculture projects in the countries where it makes beer. This includes project Imifino in South Africa where water, heat, and anaerobic sludge waste streams produced by the brewery is converted into agricultural inputs which sustain wetlands and spinach beds. Photo: Supplied/FoodForAfrika.com

    Five farming projects that enhance food security across Africa

    Raj Patel is an award-winning author, film-maker and academic. Photo: New Frame/ANDYMKOSI

    Wake-up call: Our food system is broken, U-turn needed

  • Changemakers
    • All
    • Agribusiness
    • Agripreneurs
    • Farmers
    • Innovation
    Technology uptake remains low in upper parts of Africa

    Technology uptake remains low in upper parts of Africa

    Let’s keep our food local, says farmer and agri trainer

    Within the next ten years, AFEX intends to grow beyond Kenya to Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Zambia. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Kenyan farmers take quantum leap with help from AFEX

    FAO counts on 55 implementing partners for community distributions across the country. Photo: ©FAO/Mayak Akuot

    FAO in a race against time to plant in South Sudan

    The course is a 6-week intense program given in three 2-week sessions at IITA in Nairobi, Kenya, hosted by B4A/ILRI hub and World Agroforestry, over the course of a year, with a maximum of 20 participants per course offering. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Crop scientists invited to have a crack at gene editing

    Uganda has a high literacy rate of 76.53% and is one of the world's youngest populations, which bodes well for the AYuTe Africa Challenge's success. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Young Ugandans vie for agritech challenge honours

    World Bank has launched an insurance for Kenyan farmers that starts coverage at KES 50 per month. Photo: Supplied/World Bank

    Kenyan farmers embrace new weather insurance product

    Mantombi Madona proudly follows in the footsteps of her father. Photo: Supplied/Food For Mzansi

    It’s all in your hands, says dynamo farmer and agri trainer

    Ghana's government is working together with AGRA on its SeedSAT initiative to improve the regulation of the country's informal seed sector. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    AGRA launches project to boost Ghana’s seed quality

  • Food Security
    • All
    • Crops
    • Food Trends
    • Logistics
    • Markets
    Within the next ten years, AFEX intends to grow beyond Kenya to Benin, Togo, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, and Zambia. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Kenyan farmers take quantum leap with help from AFEX

    African avocados are growing in European export volume, and is one of the fastest-growing markets beside Latin America. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    East African avocado exports growing despite challenges

    The course is a 6-week intense program given in three 2-week sessions at IITA in Nairobi, Kenya, hosted by B4A/ILRI hub and World Agroforestry, over the course of a year, with a maximum of 20 participants per course offering. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Crop scientists invited to have a crack at gene editing

    Governments across East Africa are fighting against the impact of mold in food products. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Uganda fights to eliminate harmful aflatoxins in food

    East Africa's 2022 cereal harvest is in danger as the price of fertiliser has double since the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    East Africa’s cereal harvest at risk as fertiliser prices soar

    Ghana's government is working together with AGRA on its SeedSAT initiative to improve the regulation of the country's informal seed sector. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    AGRA launches project to boost Ghana’s seed quality

    Rain, and lots of it, is needed in Somalia to relieve the famine. Photo: Supplied/FoodforAfrika.com

    Drought-stricken Somalia on the brink of catastrophe

    Zimbabwean government is using a new financial incentive to lock more grain producers and entice them to sell to the country's sole grain purchasing board. Photo: Pixabay/Supplied

    Zimbabwean government introduces maize incentive to entice farmers

    Tanzania has aims to be able to provide enough rice for itself and the rest of East Africa before moving on to the continent in 2030. Photo: Supplied/Pixabay

    Tanzania sets sights on being Africa’s top rice producer

  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Food Health
    • Trends
    A picture featuring George Chiwedzerero, who left Zimbabwe for South Africa and was not heard from for two decades.

    Missing migrants project helps families find peace

    The general impression of Zanzibar when approached from the mainland is of a long, low island with small ridges along its central north–south axis. Coconut palms and other vegetation cover the land surface. Photo: Supplied/FoodForAfrika.com

    Here’s how farming transformed Zanzibar’s coastline

    Saponins also work against bacteria and fungi. Some bacteria have an external membrane that protects their genetic material. Photo: Supplied/FoodForAfrika.com

    Southern Africa’s soapy plants can improve hand hygiene

    There are a number of flowering plants that we do not often recognise the holistic health benefits of, such as okra, kalanchoe and periwinkle flowers. Photo: Supplied/FoodForAfrika.com

    Healing with the help of Africa’s indigenous plants

    Cassava is one of the continent's food staples. Here is a history on the root veg and its humble beginnings. Photo: Supplied/FoodForAfrika.com

    Cassava, a staple crop that sustains a continent

    Herbal remedies are commonplace in Uganda; testing these scientifically is a good way to ensure they’re safe and effective. Photo: Supplied/FoodForAfrika.com

    Herbal skin treatments in Uganda get a scientific boost

    Researchers believe that Rwanda's soft drink tax can be better used to boost public health by targeting sugar content. Photo: Supplied/FoodForAfrika.com

    Sugar tax might curb rise in obesity, diabetes in Rwanda

    Lebanese farmers have shirked using chemicals during the goring process and are realising their produce is healthy regardless. Photo: Supplied/FoodForAfrika.com

    Lebanese potato farmers find that less is more

    In January 2015, a three-day rain displaced nearly quarter of a million people, devastated 64,000 hectares of land, and killed several hundred people in Malawi. Photo: Ashley Cooper/Getty Images

    What African countries got out of COP26

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Ethiopian ‘false banana’ ideal as reliable food source

by Lucinda Dordley
26 Jan 2022
in Crops, Food Security
Reading Time: 2 mins read
A A
Ethiopian enset is being lauded for its drought-resistant qualities and potential for feeding many. Photo: Wikicommons/Supplied

Ethiopian enset is being lauded for its drought-resistant qualities and potential for feeding many. Photo: Wikicommons/Supplied

How has Ethiopian enset, sometimes called “false banana”, rocked the climate conversation steadily over the course of the past decade? Scientists have been raving about its climate change potential, and a new report backs this up as well.

According to a new study, the banana-like crop has the potential to feed more than 100 million people on a warming planet. Outside of Ethiopia, where it is used to produce porridge and bread, the plant is hardly unknown. According to research, the crop can be produced across a considerably broader area in Africa.

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“This is a crop that can play a really important role in addressing food security and sustainable development,” said Dr Wendawek Abebe, an employee of Hawassa University in Awasa, Ethiopia, as reported by the BBC.

“Enset (Ensete ventricosum) is a perennial banana relative with cultivation restricted to southwestern Ethiopia, where high productivity and harvest flexibility enables it to provide a starch staple for 20 million people. An extensive wild distribution suggests that a much larger region may be climatically suitable for cultivation,” according to the study, titled “Modelling potential range expansion of an underutilised food security crop in Sub-Saharan Africa”.

Benefits against climate change

In addition to producing a high-calorie pulp that feeds millions of Ethiopians, enset has several unique qualities that make it a promising crop for addressing food insecurity and long-term farming issues. Despite being a plant, enset’s unusual characteristics have earned it the nickname “tree against hunger”.

Unlike other crops, enset may be planted and harvested at any time of year, making it a reliable food source that can be easily renewed. “Hundreds of fresh shoots” can be harvested from one plant to develop new crops if treated correctly. It is considered to be a hardy plant and it is somewhat drought resistant.

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“We find contemporary bioclimatic suitability for a 12-fold range expansion, equating to 21.9% of crop land and 28.4% of the population in the region. Integration of crop wild relative diversity, which has broader climate tolerance, could enable a 19-fold expansion, particularly to dryer and warmer regions. Whilst climate change may cause a 37% – 52% reduction in potential range by 2070, large centres of suitability remain in the Ethiopian Highlands, Lake Victoria region and the Drakensberg Range,” the study reads.

ALSO READ: Project to analyse East Africa’s soil will dig deep to improve quality

Tags: Climate ChangeEast Africafood insecurity
Lucinda Dordley

Lucinda Dordley

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Technology uptake remains low in upper parts of Africa
Farmers

Technology uptake remains low in upper parts of Africa

by Lucinda Dordley
27 Jun 2022
0

Research has revealed that less than three in 10 farmers in the upper parts of Africa use technology. To engage...

Read more

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24 Jun 2022
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Kenyan farmers take quantum leap with help from AFEX

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Technology uptake remains low in upper parts of Africa

Let’s keep our food local, says farmer and agri trainer

Kenyan farmers take quantum leap with help from AFEX

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East African avocado exports growing despite challenges

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