Modern Technology to Improve Farmers' Yields

[…] For more than 25 years, Everest Kambuda a resident of Ruhiira Village, Kabuyanda had never realised bumper harvest from his maize gardens because of lack of information on how to increase crop yield production. But having heeded the advice and adaptation of modern farming methods, things have taken a new twist. […] Kambuda is not alone, very many farmers have taken up maize and bean growing in the sub county. This has increased the yields that call for intervention of strategic marketing so that farmers can benefit from their produce without being cheated by middlemen. [Science project coordinator David Siriri] says: “Arrangements are being made with Uganda Commodities Exchange and World Food Programme to see how the farmers can benefit from good prices."

Green growth is essential to any stimulus

Economic stimulus is the order of the day. This is as it must be, as governments around the world struggle to jump-start the global economy. But even as leaders address the immediate need to stimulate the economy, so too must they act jointly to ensure that the new de facto economic model being developed is sustainable for the planet and our future on it. [...] Last year, food riots and unrest swept more than 30 countries. Ominously, this was even before September’s financial implosion, which sparked the global recession that has driven a further 100m people deeper into poverty. We must act now to prevent further suffering and potential widespread political instability. This means increasing overseas development assistance this year. It means strengthening social safety nets. It means investing in agriculture in developing countries by getting seeds, tools, sustainable agricultural practices and credit to smallholder farmers so they can produce more food and get it to local and regional markets.

Rice Growers Seek to Halt Falling Prices

A delegation from Thailand, the world's biggest rice exporter, is asking Vietnam to help it stabilize the tumbling price of rice -- the latest indication of how agricultural markets have changed in the months since riots over food costs gripped parts of the developing world. Industry experts aren't expecting any major price-fixing accords between the two countries, which together control about 45% of global rice exports. A Thai participant in this week's meetings in Vietnam, held with representatives of its rice industry, emphasized that the two countries are speaking only in general terms about how to keep prices from falling from current levels.

Business big shot: Peter Bakker, Chief executive, TNT

Peter Bakker, the chief executive of the TNT postal group, issued a bleak forecast for his industry yesterday, warning, effectively, that things may never be the same again. “I do not look at this economic crisis as a temporary blip,” Mr Bakker, 47, said, as he announced a 37 per cent fall in fourth-quarter profits and declined to give an outlook for the year. [...] Mr Bakker joined the group in 1991, when it was called PTT Post, and was promoted to finance director of its parcels unit in 1993. He also served a stint as group finance director before being promoted to the top job in November 2001. He famously rubbed shoulders with Bono, whom he persuaded to address his colleagues in 2004, after striking a deal with the World Food Programme, in which TNT delivered food donations to starving people for free.