Cape Town — When a food crisis hits the continent, African countries tend to look to the international donor community to mobilise aid. But a fast-growing, drought- resistant tree with extremely nutritious leaves could help poor, arid nations to fight food insecurity and malnutrition on their own.

A 15-hectare plantation of the “miracle tree” with the botanical name Moringa oleifera has already started to make a positive change in the rural village of Tooseng, which is located in one of South Africa’s poorest provinces, Limpopo.

Moringa leaves are dubbed a “super food” because scientists found that they contain the calcium equivalent of four glasses of milk, the vitamin C content of seven oranges, the potassium of three bananas, three times the amount of iron found in spinach, four times the amount of vitamin A found in a carrot and twice the amount of protein in milk. It is like a supermarket on a tree.

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ZAMBIA Sugar Plc last year paid out K210 billion to small-scale outgrowers in Mazabuka District who account for almost 40 per cent of the raw materials the company uses to produce the commodity.

Company managing director John Moult said the K210 billion was in addition to the various forms of direct and indirect taxes the company paid to Government as well as the money it paid to local contractors from the Mazabuka District Business Association.

He said the money the company paid out to farmers was an indication of a 56 per cent turnover from the previous season in terms of supplied cane.

He said the outgrowers were playing a key role in record production and profits for the Illovo Group owned Sugar firm which would keep on promoting their activities.

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AFRICA – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is urging swift action to tackle a cassava virus that is affecting large parts of East Africa and threatening a staple food crop for much of the region.

From the first reports of cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) in 1936 in East Africa, it took 65 years before the causal agent was identified as Cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) in 2001. The discovery, by researchers in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Bristol, in collaboration with the Natural Resources Institute in Kent, was led by Professor Gary Foster and was one of a number of themes carried out within his group during his time as a BBSRC Advanced Research Fellow.

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Rome/Bonn — As pressure on the world’s water resources reaches unsustainable levels in an increasing number of regions, a “business-as-usual” approach to economic development and natural resource management will no longer be possible, FAO said today.

Agriculture will be key to the implementation of sustainable water management, the Organization told attendees at an international meeting on water, energy and food security being held in Bonn.

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The 32nd edition of Platter’s Guide, launched 8 November 2011, features more than 900 South African wine producers, merchants and brands, including 58 new ones and over 7000 locally produced wines.

The theme for this edition is Thinking Out Of The Box, with (among others) the full-colour photo gallery and many of the entries in the A-Z Directory focusing on organisations and individuals who innovatively employ ideas, techniques and technologies in viticulture, winemaking, packaging, wine tourism, social media, conservation, sustainability, matching wine and food and creating new wine styles.