Agriculture

Ghana’s cocoa industry has enjoyed a bumper crop this year, on the back of favourable weather conditions. During the most recent primary harvest period, from September 2010 through May 2011, the sector produced just over 900,000 tonnes of cocoa, up substantially from 623,000 tonnes the previous year. An additional 80,000 tonnes of production is expected during the three-month light crop period that began in June 2011, which should bring the annual total to just below 1m tonnes.

La industria agrícola, tan vital para el sustento de los peruanos (representa aproximadamente un tercio del empleo total y el 9% de las exportaciones), contribuye en un 8% al PBI del país. El sector tiene el potencial de convertirse en el huerto de una población mundial en crecimiento, si se puede vencer obstáculos clave como la irrigación y el uso de la tierra.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced a new initiative that could boost private sector lending to the agriculture industry. The Nigerian Incentive-based Risk-sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) was formally unveiled at a conference in Abuja on July 5-6. The purpose of the CBN-organised event was for stakeholders to gather to discuss the new initiative.

The agricultural sector is playing an increasingly important role in Malaysia’s economy, not only helping the country to achieve food security for local consumption, but also generating strong levels of export earnings. The palm oil industry leading the way here, though lingering concerns over sustainable production and labour shortages could hamper growth.

Jordan’s farmers have been offered the chance to rebuild a long lost export market as Saudi Arabia gets set to resume imports of a range of the kingdom’s produce. However, with the role played by agriculture in the Jordanian economy dwindling over the past 50 years and competition for scarce water resources getting more intense, local growers may only be able to reap a limited harvest from Riyadh’s new open door policy.

While the Kingdom may be transitioning away from domestic wheat production, Saudi Arabia is stepping up efforts to ensure food security by increasing imports and investing in agricultural projects overseas.