The European Union (EU), the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Government of Zimbabwe have launched a huge programme intended to help small farmers to boost production and productivity and to engage in commercial agriculture through a range of integrated approaches. The four-year programme, funded to the tune of 19 million dollars (13.78 million euros), will be administered by the FAO and will target in particular smallholder irrigation and livestock production support activities.

Four enterprises from the Pacific have been supported by the European Union to showcase their products to international buyers at Trade Pasifika 2014. The four enterprises are Liman TL and Maubere Mountain Coffee, both from Timor-Leste; Women in Business Development Inc. from Samoa; and the Crab Company (Fiji) Ltd from Fiji. They are exhibiting at this year’s trade show, which  is currently held at the Vodafone Arena, Suva, Fiji. The trade show exhibits the best of agriculture, aquaculture and tourism.

Climate change and its consequences are a challenge for small-scale farmers in Chingale, Malawi. To adapt to climate change, farmers are integrating fish farming and crop irrigation to their farming practices in order to provide extra food and income.

The American company Chiquita and Irish company Fyffes merge in a highly competitive market. The cheapest of all fruits, the banana, is at the heart of large-scale financial manoeuvres. On March 10, the American group, Chiquita Brands International and the Irish trading house, Fyffes, both founded in the late 19th century, announced their merger. The two companies, ranked number one and number four worldwide respectively, strengthen their place with a turnover of US$4.6 billion, i.e 3.3 billion Euros.

Creating growth and job opportunity in Africa is crucial as this continent, as well as other developing regions lack employment and income generation opportunities, combined with a fast-growing, young population. In many developing countries, the expansion of the private sector, notably micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is a powerful engine of economic growth and the main source of job creation. The private sector provides some 90 percent of jobs in developing countries, making it an essential partner in the fight against poverty.

Under the Hellenic Presidency, the Council and the European Parliament reached today a tentative agreement ad referendum on the draft regulation on information provision and promotion measures for agricultural products on the internal market and in third countries (16591/13), at an informal trilogue meeting which took place this afternoon.

Tanzania has signed a grant agreement. Japan will lend Sh6 Billion through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The agreement aims to develop the agricultural sector in the country.

The EU should 'think big' and face tomorrow’s challenge to feed the world sustainably, argue the presidents of the Dutch and Danish farm organisations. To do so, an EU business policy for the agro-food sector and common European standards for sustainable foods are very much needed, they write.

Rich countries switch focus to funding businesses to help farmers and improve food security under the New Alliance.  Investors have increasingly targeted African farmland since the 2008 food, fuel and financial crises. Grow Africa, a "partnership platform" which helped to gather companies' commitments under the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition, said there had been a "historic shift" in the level of investment on the continent in 2012. In January, the Department for International Development (DfID) said it is overhauling how it engages with businesses. It will conduct roundtables and ministerial visits to developing countries with business representatives and create special contact points, "strategic relationship review meetings", and memoranda of co-operation with priority companies, it said.

After three-years of ban on red meat, South Africa can now export again beef to European markets. This is the consequence of a decision by the International Animal Health Organisation (OIE) to declare South Africa free of foot-and-mouth disease.