News for today's 2018

AFRICA - SOON TO FEED THE WORLD?

<br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpB_6dGU3NCNPsWzgX6ci7-6hu449OEkGOulIdXTaa_y7PImFcPp6c63juBj8mm6f9NiWst7QpJ4VpYOmgtFXH9-fClJ3HWShFjddBnvNbgPY3CEBDmaz1MjHJCIg1WzKwzRNbT07iuEHs/s1600/phpThumb_generated_thumbnailjpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpB_6dGU3NCNPsWzgX6ci7-6hu449OEkGOulIdXTaa_y7PImFcPp6c63juBj8mm6f9NiWst7QpJ4VpYOmgtFXH9-fClJ3HWShFjddBnvNbgPY3CEBDmaz1MjHJCIg1WzKwzRNbT07iuEHs/s320/phpThumb_generated_thumbnailjpg.jpg" width="227" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b></span></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">DUPONT BETS ON AFRICA’S GLOBAL FOOD ROLE WITH PANNAR SEED DEAL</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">By Shannon Sherry via BDLive </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">MULTINATIONAL DuPont’s acquisition of a majority stake in SOUTH AFRICA’S Pannar Seed signals the increasing pace of the new race for AFRICA as the continent’s role in feeding a global population of more than 9-billion by 2050 becomes clear.</b></span></div><br /><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"><div style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;">Background Information: </span></b></div><div style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><b><span style="color: blue;">OUT OF AFRICA ……AND BACK IN</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: blue;"></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/africa-forgotten-and-underestimated.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2012/04/africa-forgotten-and-underestimated.html</span></a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><br /></div></div><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">AFRICA HAS BY FAR MOST OF THE WORLD’S UNUSED LAND AVAILABLE FOR AGRICULTURE</b>. </span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">In addition, as DuPont Pioneer president Paul Schickler put it: "AFRICA represents a significant opportunity for improved productivity. AFRICA is the new frontier, with 1-billion people to be added to its population by 2050, an expanding middle class and natural assets such as soil and climate."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">AFRICAN average grain yields are less than two tonnes a hectare, "about one third of what is achieved in other developing regions and only one fifth of yields in developed countries. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">With 35-million hectares available</b> for maize production, AFRICA represents a significant opportunity for improved productivity."</div><div style="text-align: justify;">DuPont Pioneer is a subsidiary of DuPont and the world’s leading developer and supplier of plant genetics. It provides agronomic support and services to farmers seeking to raise productivity and profitability.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdnrBY3J_FfmrMImRLAPIG1k6xn_ATFjhEGENNvS-C0Z0oeRlhKAm6W-77qap2Br_rxWn6Kv0nu2Dy1mML_ciBcArQr12C9yCF2pv4laQT7MsuFlukSdmt9I0IW99-hZ7JRR_NP3AX5Y-G/s1600/africa-photo_pannar3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdnrBY3J_FfmrMImRLAPIG1k6xn_ATFjhEGENNvS-C0Z0oeRlhKAm6W-77qap2Br_rxWn6Kv0nu2Dy1mML_ciBcArQr12C9yCF2pv4laQT7MsuFlukSdmt9I0IW99-hZ7JRR_NP3AX5Y-G/s400/africa-photo_pannar3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Greytown-based Pannar Seed is one of AFRICA’S largest seed breeders, producers and suppliers with operations in nine countries on the continent. The cost of the acquisition has not been disclosed but Mr Schickler said it was "one of the biggest transactions in DuPont’s history and the biggest" it has made in AFRICA.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The deal follows on a joint venture announced in September 2011 between leading SOUTH AFRICAN agribusiness Senwes and Bunge EUROPE, one of the world’s "big four" food companies, to develop grain and oilseed operations in SOUTH AFRICA for the domestic market and export to the rest of AFRICA.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In a joint statement Pioneer and Pannar said they "are partnering to increase the scope of research and innovation in the AFRICAN seed industry, bringing farmers in SOUTH AFRICA and throughout the continent more product choices and better products, faster and more efficiently than either … could do on its own."</div><br /><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTOR TO FOOD SECURITY IN AFRICA</b></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">To this end Mr Schickler announced Pioneer’s investment of R62m in a "world-class" technology hub to serve the region. It is similar to the company’s facilities in BRAZIL, INDIA and CHINA and will consist of a network of research and testing facilities across the continent, with its centre at Delmas.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is just the seventh centre of this kind in the world — three are in the US. Mr Schickler said he saw South Africa as a "significant contributor to food security in AFRICA and other export markets". He was excited about merging the "unique and distinct germplasms" and characteristics of "subtropical" SOUTH AFRICAN and "temperate" NORTH AMERICAN maize. "The two germplasm pools together can develop more than either on its own. The breeding systems are advanced and can only be brought to market with a global partner," Mr Schickler said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">NEW TECHNOLOGY WILL LEAD TO JOB LOSES ON FARMS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN</b></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;">Pannar’s small and unprofitable but important wheat-breeding programme will be continued. "Pioneer has a similar programme and we see this as a great opportunity to make a more successful business out of wheat," he said.SOUTH AFRICA is a net importer of wheat and local farmers struggle to make wheat growing profitable. Last year SOUTH AFRICAN farmers planted the smallest area of wheat in more than 100 years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Schickler said although the increasing use of technology will lead to job losses on farms — SUB-SAHARAN AFRICAN countries employ vast numbers in agriculture, in contrast to modern agricultural economies such as the US and BRAZIL — he is confident that "a whole set of new employment opportunities" will be created in a plethora of related industries, including banks, transport and all sorts of agribusinesses.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYV8Vymd3EgN8O-DBjAjYWP7zdWN5TZgZvBhhBJWZcmYhlrkh7tmZIcDSMRYtOQ-E49WHxyqPhmHX_5CIvkr1GAHuj29A3M9zftt1tJMPUffxlAFnG36E83TnUpBd5F6mj7uSc8fA5zFY/s1600/agriculture-africa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBYV8Vymd3EgN8O-DBjAjYWP7zdWN5TZgZvBhhBJWZcmYhlrkh7tmZIcDSMRYtOQ-E49WHxyqPhmHX_5CIvkr1GAHuj29A3M9zftt1tJMPUffxlAFnG36E83TnUpBd5F6mj7uSc8fA5zFY/s1600/agriculture-africa.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"These jobs are admittedly not for unskilled labour, but we are also looking forward to playing a role in improving education through partnerships with NGOs, governments and academic institutions."</div><div style="text-align: justify;">He pointed to a $20m agreement with the Limpopo provincial agriculture department to improve smallholder maize productivity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We believe the SOUTH AFRICAN smallholder farmer will play an increasingly crucial role in the nation’s food security and we aim to give them the tools and skills to do that through this effort," DuPont Pioneer director for AFRICA Pamela Chitenhe said.</div><br />

AFRICA - SOON TO FEED THE WORLD?

DUPONT BETS ON AFRICA’S GLOBAL FOOD ROLE WITH PANNAR SEED DEAL By Shannon Sherry via BDLive MULTINATIONAL DuPont’s acquisition of a major...

AFRICA - SOON TO FEED THE WORLD?

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