Author: eMKambo

Informal food markets as platforms for sharing aspirations and frustrations

Posted on by eMKambo

An under-appreciated advantage of African informal food markets is how they allow farmers, traders, consumers and other actors to emotionally participate in business and change processes through sharing their aspirations and frustrations. The same cannot happen in formal markets like supermarkets and formal manufacturing industries where farmers just deliver commodities and wait to be paid Read more about Informal food markets as platforms for sharing aspirations and frustrations[…]

African informal food markets as better expressions of democracy

Posted on by eMKambo

African countries are full of human rights interventions that focus mostly on partisan political rights ignoring the rights of local people to produce their own diverse foods in ways they want.  Human rights should not just be enabling local people to access donated food. Evidence from African informal food markets show the extent to which Read more about African informal food markets as better expressions of democracy[…]

The sum of community knowledge is greater than the sum of individual expert knowledge

Posted on by eMKambo

While it is true that community knowledge is broader and deeper, most African farming communities hesitate to make decisions without consulting an extension officer. The need to cross-check and verify facts through an extension officer can be counter-productive if it causes farmers to stop experimenting and learning from their innovations. Surveys by eMKambo over the Read more about The sum of community knowledge is greater than the sum of individual expert knowledge[…]

Revisiting the role of informal markets in distributing income

Posted on by eMKambo

Informal markets have existed for centuries, as contexts where communities make sense of their resources and exchange value. However, urbanization has given these markets a more pronounced role particularly in meeting the needs of different classes of consumers and farmers. In many African countries, informal markets are the fastest ways for transferring income from buyers Read more about Revisiting the role of informal markets in distributing income[…]

Building a case for decolonizing Agricultural Value chains

Posted on by eMKambo

Identifying and explaining each agricultural value chain’s nodes is a better way of revealing the extent to which a value chain can lift people out of poverty and contribute to broader development aspirations. The longer the value chain, the more contribution to socio-economic development. Most agricultural commodities produced by smallholder farmers are characterized by very Read more about Building a case for decolonizing Agricultural Value chains[…]

Opportunities to enrich your agricultural decisions with data

Posted on by eMKambo

With the importance of data and evidence in African agriculture gaining momentum, eMKambo has historical data that can enable diverse value chain actors to understand their agribusiness planning, budgeting and decision-making. Over the past five years, eMKambo (www.emkambo.co.zw) has been collecting data from more than 20 agricultural markets in Zimbabwe. Major parameters of the data Read more about Opportunities to enrich your agricultural decisions with data[…]

Making marginalized farmers ready for the impact of globalization

Posted on by eMKambo

Although digital technology is beginning to show potential for increasing the impact of individual knowledge, in most African marginalized communities, community knowledge will remain important for a long time. Unfortunately, many development interventions are meddling with African communities’ capacity to make sense of knowledge. Development actors sincerely want to help marginalized communities but their strategies Read more about Making marginalized farmers ready for the impact of globalization[…]

Global business principles – local nuances

Posted on by eMKambo

Somebody said a Chinese student who goes to study business in the West will return home and do business the Chinese way. An Indian student will do the same. It is not yet clear whether an African business student will also come back home and conduct business the African way. While business principles may remain Read more about Global business principles – local nuances[…]

Cultivating the power of real-time awareness

Posted on by eMKambo

As agricultural value chains in developing countries become over-crowded and hyper-competitive, real-time awareness has never been so important. While digital technology is being presented as a solution,  more efforts have to go into ensuring information satisfies the needs of farmers, traders and other value chain actors who want to engage in evidence-informed decision making. Many Read more about Cultivating the power of real-time awareness[…]

Empowering communities to evaluate their knowledge

Posted on by eMKambo

eMKambo is increasingly meeting rural communities that have been schooled into valuing tangible assets like dams and tractors at the expense of intangible assets like knowledge on how to earn more value from those assets. In agricultural communities where assets like irrigation schemes and roads have been built or rehabilitated, people are still unsure how Read more about Empowering communities to evaluate their knowledge[…]