Category: Agricultural Intelligence

Using market evidence to protect smallholder farmers from price variability

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That most African smallholder farmers can produce enough commodities for household consumption and surplus for the market is now beyond question. The majority of committed farmers have mastered the art of producing almost any commodity.  What remains outside their control are market dynamics such as prices as well as supply and demand trends. The situation Read more about Using market evidence to protect smallholder farmers from price variability[…]

The power of knowledge retention in farming and rural communities

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In addition absence of appropriate information at the right time, lack of knowledge retention mechanisms is a big challenge for African farming and rural communities. Unfortunately most resources continue to be directed at the dissemination of ideas from policy makers and development actors.  As a result many development interventions remain projects at the end of Read more about The power of knowledge retention in farming and rural communities[…]

Knowledge-driven ways to assess the socio-economic impact of agricultural interventions

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Measuring the authentic impact of development interventions remains a big challenge for many development organizations and governments, mainly in developing countries. Terms like Value for Money (VfM) and Social Return on Investment (SROI) are being mentioned repeatedly as organizations try to ascertain the value of millions of dollars that continue to go towards development. While Read more about Knowledge-driven ways to assess the socio-economic impact of agricultural interventions[…]

When old knowledge prevent adoption of new socio-economic practices

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One of the dominant facets of colonization is visible in the structure of African formal food industries. Many African countries are stuck with infrastructure designed for supporting manufacturing of a few agricultural commodities, mainly for the export market. Such commodities include maize, beef, coffee, tea, cocoa, soya bean, tobacco and wheat. The biggest mistake by Read more about When old knowledge prevent adoption of new socio-economic practices[…]

Making sense of differences between communicating evidence and facilitating its use

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Besides promoting linear ways of communicating information, most efforts by policy makers and development agencies in Africa continue to confuse dissemination of evidence with facilitating its use. Instead of speeding up the adoption of new knowledge, social media is also generating noise which gets in the way of adoption. If they were facilitating adoption and Read more about Making sense of differences between communicating evidence and facilitating its use[…]

Key elements of market – informed agribusiness Models

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Like all businesses, agribusinesses should be built around a product/service and a niche market. Ideally, more products and services spawn more business models with some models eventually becoming separate business units.  When that happens, it becomes easy to assess the viability of each business model. Contrary to some beliefs, in a business model, money is Read more about Key elements of market – informed agribusiness Models[…]

If acronyms were a solution, poverty would be history in many African communities

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Almost all development interventions into Africa are framed into acronyms. eMKambo will not give examples because there are far too many acronyms to mention and you know what we mean. Although they are designed to make programmes easy to remember, most acronyms turn development interventions into slogans. As if that is not enough, acronyms have Read more about If acronyms were a solution, poverty would be history in many African communities[…]

Domestic animals as sources of Knowledge and Social Intelligence

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In African agrarian communities where livestock are part of people’s livelihoods, farmers have forged symbiotic relationships with their cattle, goats, sheep, camels, pigs and poultry, among others.  While the world is elevating the role of ICTs in mediating knowledge, domestic animals have, for generations, distinguished themselves in mediating knowledge between people, the environment and the Read more about Domestic animals as sources of Knowledge and Social Intelligence[…]

How informal economies harness and institutionalize customer experience

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While a supermarket chain can have a customer care department responsible for answering queries and harvesting feedback from diverse customers, informal agricultural markets in major African cities have different ways of gathering customer experience. They use their collective knowledge to maintain customer service for diverse commodities. Each market can have more than 100 years’ worth Read more about How informal economies harness and institutionalize customer experience[…]

Are ICTs improving African agriculture or just smearing digital ‘lipstick’?

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While ICTs have been part of African agriculture and rural communities for many years, benefits associated with these technologies have eluded the majority of farmers, traders and value chain actors. There is now a strong feeling that most ICT initiatives constitute smearing of digital ‘lipstick’ on African agriculture and rural development. The proliferation of mobile Read more about Are ICTs improving African agriculture or just smearing digital ‘lipstick’?[…]