“Good nutrition is the foundation for sustainable development, play your part” was the call made to all present during the launch of presidential call to action on nutrition on 16th May, 2013. His Excellency, Dr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the United Republic of Tanzania was the guest of honor in the well-attended event held at Mnazi Mmoja grounds in Dar es Salaam.

A new three-year grant from Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) has just been approved and will enable the Danish Refugee Council to continue its advocacy and policy work in the Great Lakes region of Africa until 2016. The new funding will serve to strengthen the efforts of DRC and its partner organisations and to consolidate the results reached in the region since 2010.

The President of the United Republic of Tanzania, His Excellency, Dr Mrisho Jakaya Kikwete, will, on 13 May, inaugurate the IITA Science Building in Dar es Salaam.

President Kikwete will be the Guest of Honor. Other dignitaries at the event include the President of Zanzibar, His Excellency, Dr Ali Mohamed Shein; and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former President of Nigeria and IITA Goodwill Ambassador. The event will also be graced by members of the diplomatic and donor community, the public and private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and the farming community.

Fund will Spur Investment in African Agriculture Infrastructure
For Immediate Release
Thursday, May 9, 2013
USAID Press Office
202-712-4320

05/07/2013 11:13 GMT

Par Anne CHAON

PARIS, 07 mai 2013 (AFP) - Le manioc, qui nourrit 500 millions de personnes dans le monde, est attaqué en Afrique par un virus en expansion d'Est en ouest à travers le continent. Un congrès de scientifiques et de donateurs réuni cette semaine en Italie va tenter de leur déclarer une guerre totale.

SADC Executive Secretary Dr. Tomaz Augusto Salomão, and the German Ambassador to Botswana & SADC, H.E Mrs Annett Günther, signed, on April 10, 2013, four agreements formalising support from the Federal Republic of Germany to the SADC Region. The agreements, totaling €44.2 million, cover commitments made in 2010 and 2011 under SADC-Germany Cooperation on the agreed focal areas of cooperation which include:

• Transboundary water management;

• Transboundary management and protection of natural resources;

• and Regional economic cooperation.

05/04/2013 12:21 GMT

ARUSHA, Tanzania, May 04, 2013 (AFP) - Tanzania on Saturday said Democratic Republic of Congo's M23 rebels must end threats over the country's planned sending of troops as part of a UN force to tackle the insurgents.

"This is intimidation, they must stop it," Tanzanian foreign minister Bernard Membe told parliament. "If they provoke us, we will retaliate."

Last month the M23 rebels, who operate in eastern DR Congo, warned they would retaliate if attacked by a new United Nations peacekeeping force, in which Tanzania are due to take a key role.

MOROGORO, Tanzania, May 3 2013 (IPS) - Smallholder farmer Peter Mcharo, from Morogoro Region in eastern Tanzania, has a reason to smile. His fields are full of green, healthy maize plants, he has richer soil and he spends less time farming now than he did two years ago.

Viewed as one of the major solutions to food insecurity and as a mechanism to adapt to climate change in Africa, conservation agriculture (CA) is giving Tanzanian smallholder farmers like Mcharo better harvests as the country faces an acute food shortage.

Last month, Feed the Future rolled out a new, at-home fortification product in Tanzania called Virutubishi, a micronutrient powder with the potential to significantly reduce anemia and other micronutrient deficiency in children.

The product is packaged in a sachet and can be purchased at local shops and through health workers in Feed the Future focus districts, where it is quickly becoming well-known.

A one-month supply for a child is being sold for the equivalent of approximately one U.S. dollar.