Latest Economy of Africa Stories

By Michael E. Kanell, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Jun. 19--In Alpharetta, fish come off the truck at the Whole Foods distribution center and the company's regional seafood buyer, John Bowler, worries that he won't be able to charge shoppers enough to make a profit. Up near Gainesville, Robert Howard tracks his 150 trucks as they carry and deliver food around the country and he worries whether he can boost his own prices enough to pay for diesel. Down in Panama City, Greg Abrams...

By Lindsay McIntosh; Brian Ferguson GLOBAL food prices will continue to soar for the next two years, producers and analysts warned yesterday, as the Scottish Government launched an inquiry into improving affordability. The nation's farmers and manufacturers, in Edinburgh for the Royal Highland Show, told The Scotsman they could see no chance of "agflation" easing in the near future. They spoke as Richard Lochhead, the environment secretary, unveiled plans for a major investigation into...

Text of report by respected Mexican business newspaper El Financiero website on 19 June [Report by Eduardo Ortega: Prices of Over 20 Products Frozen] With the aim of alleviating the effects of the world food crisis, the members of the Confederation of Industrial Associations (Concamin) reached an agreement with President Felipe Calderon to freeze the prices of over 20 products (in 150 presentations of 34 brand names). These products include fruit drinks, sweets, coffee, sardines, canned...

Philippines offers power subsidy to poor people MANILA, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government has given 40 million pesos (900,000 U.S. dollars) in cash over the past week to thousands of poor people in Metro Manila to help them pay power bills, said a senior official here on Saturday. At least 85,000 people have already availed of the one-time 500 peso (11 U.S. dollars) power subsidy cash from the state-run Land Bank of the Philippines, said Secretary of the Department of Social...

China's agricultural authority has expressed confidence in the summer harvest, as farmers around the country have put over half of the output into granary with the rest to be cropped before the end of the month. A Ministry of Agriculture official said that major grain production areas are poised to sustain a bumper summer crop for the fifth year in a row, maintaining the rising momentum in grain production. Summer crops, mainly cereals of rice and wheat, constitute 23 percent of the country's...

By LARRY DERFNER In front of the cowshed at Kibbutz Mizra, just north of Afula, sits 3,000 tons of cattle feed. It's piled two meters high in a concrete reservoir the size of half a soccer field, and covered with a tarpaulin. This feed, a mixture of corn, grain and clover, represents about nine months worth of food for Mizra's 600 cows - 450 heifers and 250 calves - which produce 6.5 million liters of milk a year. Like nearly all the feed used by dairy and chicken farmers here, this...

By Elizabeth John SPIRALLING food prices may be leaving many hungry and even more angry. But in every crisis, there's an opportunity, says agriculture and resource economist Professor Dr Mad Nasir Shamsudin. The dean of UPM's Faculty of Environmental Studies talks to ELIZABETH JOHN about how today's problems could open doors to a more bountiful future. Q: How would you describe the current situation with rising food prices? A crisis? A: I look at it as an opportunity, not a crisis. Q:...

By Makiko Yamazaki Osaka, June 14 (Jiji Press)--Finance ministers from the world's eight economic powers on Saturday confirmed that they will work together to tackle global inflation triggered by soaring oil and food prices. The global economy "now faces headwinds" and "continues to face uncertainty and downside risks persist," the finance ministers of the eight major industrial nations said in a statement to sum up their two-day talks in this western Japan city. "Elevated commodity prices,...

OSAKA, Japan _ The Group of Eight finance ministers meeting closed here Saturday with the adoption of a joint statement in which the nations agreed to make efforts to secure the stability and growth of the global economy amid increasing inflationary pressure caused by soaring oil and food prices. "Elevated commodity prices, especially of oil and food, pose a serious challenge to stable growth worldwide, have serious implications for the most vulnerable and may increase inflationary pressure,"...

Higher food prices are being felt in many places. In Chesapeake, Va., school board officials are thinking about raising the price of school lunches -- already the highest in the region -- for the second time in two years. Mexico's iconic corn tortillas are getting too expensive for some people in the country to afford. Near Wall Street, signs in pizzerias have popped up explaining the need to pass along soaring costs for cheese and dough, while Vietnam has banned the export of rice, to keep...