Given their openness and competitive nature, informal agriculture markets enable farmers to see their knowledge gaps. This shows up in a comparative sense where farmers use consumer choices, quality and prices to compare their commodities with those from their peers. If a fellow farmer gets a better price, one who receives an inferior price strikes Read more about How informal markets are redefining agricultural extension[…]
In spite of promises surrounding mobile technology, African communities still face enormous barriers to accessing reliable, relevant and usable information and knowledge. Over the past decades, international organisations like the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) have generated and shared remarkable knowledge. While these institutions Read more about From acronyms and buzzwords to building local institutions[…]
Financial inclusion has become one of the buzzwords in many African countries including Zimbabwe. It is as if financial institutions, development agents and policy makers have suddenly discovered the need to bring marginal communities into formal financial systems. However, financial inclusion that does not fully take into account socio-economic circumstances of those to be financially Read more about How do we stop financial inclusion from becoming financial slavery[…]
While African countries seem to be encouraging their farmers to produce for exporting to developed countries, those countries are looking at African countries as their customers. Competition has become so real that it is very easy to find chickens from Brazil and Chinese noodles in remote corners of Africa. This means all producers, including smallholder Read more about Why producers should always get a clear view of the competitive landscape[…]
A significant portion of billions of dollars that have gone into agriculture in developing countries have been absorbed by supply-driven information systems. With each organisation beating its own drum, tons of publications, videos, manuals and websites continue to be produced. All these are directed at telling farmers what to do and how to do it. Read more about Principles of demand-driven agricultural practice[…]
Given the disparate nature of smallholder production in developing countries, it is often very difficult for buyers, development actors and policy makers to get an accurate sense of the scale and demand for agricultural services including inputs. Equally difficult is estimating the volume of commodities that can be consistently supplied to the market by a Read more about How digital technology purifies demand and experiences through agriculture markets[…]
In many developing countries, farmers who diversify their sources of information and knowledge are more successful than those who rely on fewer sources. These are some of the issues, eMKambo has uncovered through social listening and sentiment analysis in farming communities and agriculture markets. Another critical observation is that farmers and agricultural organisations struggle with Read more about Farmers and traders with diversified sources of information are more successful[…]
While the relationship between crop and livestock production seems obvious to some people, a lot of lessons are hidden in how these commodities are marketed in many African countries. In almost every African country, where there are people’s agriculture markets, the horticulture and field crops market is relatively more consistent and dynamic than the livestock Read more about Surfacing the shared identity of crop and livestock production in African agriculture[…]
One of the biggest challenges besetting African smallholder agriculture is the fact that agricultural knowledge is invisible. By looking at a farmer or a trader, you cannot tell what knowledge these people possess or need. Two farmers can pass each other in the market, one possessing the solution to a problem that is taxing the Read more about Making knowledge needs visible through agricultural markets[…]
Last week agricultural experts from across Africa and Western countries gathered in Harare, Zimbabwe to design strategies for reducing food losses affecting African smallholder Agriculture. The event was convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Participants heard that Sub-Saharan Africa loses grain valued at US$4 billion annually, enough to feed Read more about African countries grappling with practical aspects of food loss[…]