Even as economists predicted that Africa will be the leading destination for foreign investors in the coming years, reports indicated that 2011 saw the continent take less that 4% of the total global capital.

Most of this miserable share was mainly in form of oil exploration in areas like east Africa where Uganda and Kenya have made some signifi­cant finds and in Tanzania where prospects are high.

That effectively means that with­out oil, the continent known to have immense opportunities and resourc­es, would not have attracted even a single dollar from foreign investors.

Even as political stability in Africa has improved significantly during the past couple of years, therefore making the continent more attractive to business, we are yet to see huge in­vestments in agriculture—the main economic activity in most in Africa.

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His Excellency Dr Ernest Bai Koroma has assured the people of Bo in the Southern Region of Sierra Leone that his government will continue to prioritize agriculture in the Agenda for Prosperity.

He made this declaration on the occasion of the formal opening ceremony of the Industrial Growth Centre as well as the handing over of Agricultural Development Assets to District Councils in the Southern Province.

The president said that government will work hard to increase the production of our staple food beyond self-sufficiency, with emphasis on sustainable land and water management to improve yields, promote export crops, promote commercial agriculture along the value chain, link farmers to markets, as well as provide effective rural and agribusiness financing systems that will increase the access of smallholder farmers to finance.

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The Kano state government has trained 10,000 butchers on beef handling and sanitation, as well empowering each of them with N20, 000 through its empowerment scheme aimed at creating jobs for the teeming youths in the state.

At the graduation ceremony held at the Open Theatre, Government House, Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, said that the one week training was to furnish individual butchers with the new techniques of meat handling and inculcate in them the spirit of cleanness.

Governor Kwankwaso decried the present practice of selling beef in an unhygienic manner and at places of serious sanitary concern, which could pose danger to the health of the consumers, saying the recently signed consumer protection law, will safeguard people from purchasing contaminated meat among other goods.

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YOU look as good as you eat”, researchers at the University of Nottingham UK revealed in a recent study. The scientists established that eating vegetables makes you appear better looking to others.

Despite the many advantages to eating fruits and vegetables, including living longer, being smarter, avoiding chemical exposure (with organic foods), results from the university’s study claim that eating carrots, tomatoes and mangoes improves your skin and makes your face glow naturally.

But when it comes to war against poverty it is no longer a matter of having a glowing face but rather struggle for survival. Nutritionists may preach about the advantages associated with proper vegetable diet but the supply might be out of reach.

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Ghana needs a vibrant, thriving and growing agricultural sector to ensure food security, reduce poverty and develop its economy.

Can improving the management practices in agribusinesses that provide the needed inputs and services for the sector and add value to its outputs vitalize the sector?

The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) think so, and are partnering together to launch a four-week Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Programme, from April 15-May 10, 2013.

The four-week long programme will use conventional learning techniques for principles of good business practice and case studies as problem-solving tool. The curriculum comprises 11 modules covering all aspects of modern management techniques and practices.

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