FG holds peace meeting to calm tension between farmers and herdsmen in Benue

French presidential candidates continue their charm offensive on the agricultural electorate. They hope to win the vote of farmers, who now make up only 1.5 percent of the active population but whose vote remains key. One contender has decided to skip the event, though: current frontrunner Emmanuel Macron. Plus, FRANCE 24's Florence Villeminot takes a deep dive into campaign finance laws in France.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday.⁣

In Madagascar's south crops regularly fail due to drought and land erosion. For farmers like Kazy Zanapijo pigeon peas, a staple crop in India, are an answer.

Zimbabwean farmers looking to cash in on a global boom in medical marijuana face a litany of costs and regulatory barriers, but growers like Munyaradzi Nyanungo are betting it will boost their fortunes after decades of economic decline.

In this edition, we're looking at one of the key consequences of climate change: drought. From parched fields, to burning forests, to houses cracking as the ground beneath them dries up, droughts are becoming more frequent in France and around the world. As scientists look for solutions, many are calling for changes to our agricultural model and the way we consume, in the hope of conserving Earth's most precious resource: water.

On the fertile clay plains of Sudan's Gezira Scheme, farmers would have normally started tilling the soil weeks ago and planting cash crops. Instead, swathes of the 3,400-square-mile agricultural project remain untouched.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.

Farmers in the Netherlands reacted angrily to a proposal by lawmakers, including a plan to shut down some cattle farms to tackle harmful nitrogen emissions.

While a ban on pesticides is being discussed in the Kenyan parliament, more and more farmers are already switching to organic farming. This is not only good news for the farmers themselves, but for their customers, too.

The African Union has called on farmers in Africa to boost agricultural production amid a worsening drought in the Horn of Africa, rising food insecurity and supply chain disruptions.

The Federal Government has disclosed that telecommunications subscribers would pay a five percent tax on calls, SMS, and data services. Meanwhile, stakeholders in the industry have expressed dissatisfaction over the government’s resolve to implement a five percent excise duty on all telecommunications services in Nigeria.

The war in Ukraine has made wheat farming and export difficult. So local farmers are turning to oil-producing plants instead. The government plans to build an innovative pipeline into Poland to help them.