LAIKIPIA, Kenya (PAMACC News) - The Romantic Village is a camp in Dimcom Eden Villa Farm in Sipili, Ng’arua area, Laikipia County. “Making Agriculture and Environmental Conservation Romantic,” is the farm’s vision.At this small park, Charles Mureithi, a secondary school teacher, receives scores of farmers. He offers free lectures on how to transform a semi-arid parcel of land into an arable piece to enhance food security.“I try to make agriculture attractive to young people,” Mureithi explains. “If I don’t, our children will hate farming.”Mureithi envisions his farm turning out the most beautiful in the world. “I know I can make it,” he exudes confidence. “People will come from very far to visit my farm. They’ll pay me a lot of money while I watch television over there,” he says, pointing at the cottage in which he receives visitors.“There is a very good future in farming. Some years from now, farmers will be among the richest people,” he predicts. “I’ll sell my pineapple at shillings 500 because the demand will be high.”Mureithi bought the seven-and-a-half-acre land in 2001 and started growing maize and wheat. He chanced on fruit farming after some embarrassment. “I came back one day from work only to find my two kids eating the peals of pineapples supplied by a certain vendor, “ he recalls. “These vendors were poorer and had smaller farms than mine.” The picture that confronted him was the turning point for him.When he planted his fruits in 2005, the 150 vines of passion he started with, “had given me so much money that all my input was recovered.” Since then, “I realized there is money in fruits and I have never looked back.”JICA funded a trip to Japan in 2011 for 19 participants from 11 African countries. Mureithi was among them. They attended a course on the Implementation and Promotion of Agri-business in African Countries. It’s while in Japan that he learned of the “one village one product” concept. This implies growing the right crop for the right region. “At times we force ourselves on what is not meant for our regions,” he laments. Mureithi is convinced that Ng’arua, is not a place for maize and wheat. “Fruits are our products. They can make us very rich.”Mureithi does grafting himself. A fruit-tree costs shillings 50 before grafting. After grafting, he makes shillings 100 more. When visitors come over, he imparts these grafting skills on them and even asks them to do it practically as he conducts them on a tour of his farm.He’s grafted his mangoes in a way that he reaps five or seven varieties from the same tree. “These trees are like my social security fund,” he says, gesturing towards the trees spanning his farm. “I’m teaching you hoping that you’ll share this knowledge with others. I believe we have the ability but we don’t want to fully exploit our potential.”He tells all to discard the impression that greenhouses are very expensive to construct. He spent sh. 25,000 on his, using local…

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (PAMACC News) – United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has designated Abdalla Hamdok of Sudan as Acting Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Mr. Hamdok takes the reigns effective 1 November 2016, following the departure of Carlos Lopes of Guinea-Bissau on 31 October. Mr. Lopes served the ECA for four years with commitment and dedication and leaves the United Nations after 28 years of service in various capacities. With over 30 years’ experience in the areas of public sector reforms, governance, regional integration and resource management, Mr. Hamdok has headed major portfolios, addressing diverse development challenges of the African policy landscape. Mr. Hamdok has served as Deputy Executive Secretary and Chief Economist of the ECA since 2011 prior to which, he successfully headed ECA’s portfolios of activities on development policy management, NEPAD and regional integration, and governance and public administration. From 2003-2008, he served the International IDEA as its Regional Director for Africa and the Middle East. His earlier career saw him move progressively into key senior positions in the Public and Private Sector. He held the positions of Chief Technical Advisor (1995-1997) at the International Labour Organization, Zimbabwe; Principal Policy Economist (1997-2001) at the African Development Bank, Cote d’Ivoire; Head of the Public Sector Group and Member of the management committee (1993-1995) at Deloitte & Touche Management Consultants, Zimbabwe; and Senior Official (1981-1987) at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning of Sudan. Abdalla Hamdok holds a PhD and MA in Economics from the School of Economic Studies, University of Manchester, UK and a BSc. (honours) from the University of Khartoum, Sudan.

BONDO, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Losing a husband to death among communities that still cling on cultural practices such as Luo community in Western Kenya can be a nasty experience and one of the worst feminine sorrows. The mourning process is a painful and a disturbing ritual that sometimes lands the widows into a secondhand sexual partner sometimes without consent, and without any element of love. But even worse, the husband’s property including land can sometimes be taken away by relatives, leaving the widow and her children in a destitute situation.That is exactly what happened to Rosalia Adhiambo from Pala village in Siaya County, when her husband died in 2004. But today, thanks to the Alternative Dispute Resolution method of settling domestic woes, Adhiambo is in full control of her husband’s estate of more than 50 acres of land, and she has constructed a house where she lives with her children.“It was the worst experience of my life,” said Adhiambo. “After losing both parents in law, the only brother to my husband, and now my husband, I knew it was the end of the road for me and my children,” Immediately her husband was laid to rest in Pala village, she was approached by a close relative to her husband seeking to inherit her, as required by the Luo traditions. But given the rituals performed as part of the inheritance process, which includes having unprotected sex with unknown mentally retarded person as a way of casting away demons of death, she turned down the offer.“That was the beginning of my tribulations,” she said. “I was banished from my matrimonial home later in 2007 by my husband’s cousin who was eying my husband’s property,” she narrated.She went back to her parents with her three kids, and three more kids belonging to her late brother-in-law, who were left behind after his youthful wife found another husband elsewhere.“This was a very heavy burden to my parents, but they were ready to help me shoulder it,” she said. But in 2009, Adhiambo returned to her matrimonial home, where she settled in a small house her husband had constructed for a shop.But all was not well. She could not freely cultivate the land her husband left behind, since it had been taken over by the cousin. The hell broke loose in 2014, ten years after the burial of her husband, when the cousin gave her a 24 hour ultimatum to leave for good.“He did not even care about the children. He had muzzled support of other relatives and before I know it, all belongings were thrown out of the house.Thank God, as she shared her tribulations with friends, she came to learn about what ActionAid International Kenya was doing in the area to protect rights of widows and destitute children through community based organisations.“I begged my husband’s cousin to give me a few more hours to look for a rental house at the nearby market centre,” she said. But in reality, she went to the…

Ethiopia’s agricultural transformation is the most promising in Africa despite recent land related conflicts, experts have said.Grow Africa, an investment company working in 12 African countries including Ethiopia, said the country’s policy is the most successful in Africa in terms of converting agriculture from just production to an agri-business model.According to Grow Africa’s executive director, William Asiko, the creation of the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) has placed Ethiopia ahead of other African countries in terms of providing extension services to farmers.“Despite the land conflict, I know the Ethiopian government is way ahead of other African countries in terms of supporting private investment in agricultural production and processing,” said Asiko.According to Asiko, the government’s creation of a commodities exchange has enabled farmers to sell their produce in bulk during an auction. This has attracted buyers because the prices are determined by the market, he said.“Policy makers insist that Agriculture is critical in Africa but this is not translating into greater investment into agriculture,” said Asiko. “This is because there is inconsistency in what policy makers say and what is actually happening on the ground. This lack of political will need to be solved.”The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CMMYT) said land conflict in Ethiopia is not likely to affect farmers much because there has been serious investment in the country’s agriculture. For instance, maize production has increased from just 1.5 tonnes per hectare 10 years ago to 3.4 tonnes per hectare presently, argued Tsedeke Abate, Leader, Stress Tolerant Maize for Africa (STMA) at CMMYT. “Ethiopia has the largest number of extension workers in Africa,” said Abate. “The government gives farmers inputs like fertilizers and seeds which have increased production.”Abate said land conflict is not only happening in Ethiopia, but it is an issue that is affecting the whole African continent. This can be resolved through good policies, he said.World Bank officials said farmers must be able to access land equitably if Africa is to achieve its agricultural transformation.Ademola Braimoh, the coordinator, climate smart agriculture, Africa Region, at the World Bank, said in cases where foreign investors are involved governments should make policy and tenure reforms to ensure small holder farmers can still access land.“Africa’s land tenure system should guarantee equal access to land for both locals and foreign investors,” said Braimoh.Khalid Bomba, chief executive officer, ATA, Ethiopia, said the country can solve land related conflicts by increasing small scale farmers’ incomes.According to him, ATA’s approach is not shifting away from small scale farming but making it more commercial and market oriented.“We think this can reduce the type of conflict that sometimes emerges in Ethiopia because the focus is not only in agricultural production but also in processing, value addition, transportation and logistics involving entire communities,” said Bomba.