Organic Africa

201. Organic certification and marketing

Organic certification and marketing Although a large quantity of groundnut is produced for household consumption and domestic markets, there is growing interest in organic certified groundnut on expo

202. How to identify and take advantage of organic market opportunities?

How to identify and take advantage of organic market opportunities? This section provides the marketing techniques for starting an organic business. It explains how to plan a business, how to set up

203. Effective disease management

Effective disease management Most of the important coffee diseases are caused by fungus, for example, the coffee wilt disease, coffee leaf rust, coffee berry disease, coffee bark disease and the bro

204. Effective pest management

Effective pest management Coffee can be attacked by a range of pests, including beetles such as the coffee berry borer (Hypothenemus hampei) and the white coffee stem borer (Monochamus leuconotus),

205. Reducing postharvest losses

Reducing postharvest losses Postharvest losses in citrus can be important. The main causes for such losses are: Immaturity and overmaturity at harvest Mechanical damage during harvest, transpor

206. Marketing and organic certification of fonio

Marketing and organic certification of fonio Traditionally, fonio is grown for home consumption, especially to provide food during the period of the year before other crops are ready for harvest. So,

207. Effective pest and disease management

Effective pest and disease management Although pests and diseases can reduce the growth and performance of fonio, they are in most cases a minor problem. The most common diseases that affect fonio ar

208. Proper weed management

Proper weed management Fonio seeds germinate rapidly. But despite its quick establishment, fonio is sensitive to competition from other plants for light, water and nutrients, as it does not grow tall

209. Proper water management

Proper water management Fonio is well adapted to annual rainfall of 700 to 1000 mm. However, towards the Sahelian zone annual rainfall drops lower. Effective management of water is therefore essentia

210. Improving soil fertility

Improving soil fertility Fonio is seen as a very hardy crop that grows well on poor soils. Due to this claim farmers usually plant fonio on very poor soils without considering any efforts to improve