In their pursuit for survival, most value chain actors in developing countries do not clarify their contribution to a big purpose like economic growth. For instance, instead of seeing how their work contributes to national food and nutrition security, most farmers and manufacturers tend to be interested in the colour of the money. That is Read more about Using evidence to connect with a bigger purpose[…]
Changes in Consumption Patterns
African agriculture is one of the most misunderstood ecosystems, especially by investors and development organizations. There is a persistent tendency to force smallholder farmers into contract agreements when most of them have made up their mind about the pros and cons of such agreements. While informal markets continue to carry the day, investors, development actors Read more about Price as an outcome of negotiations between diverse market actors[…]
Very few actors in African agriculture can see the entire value chain and its nodes. As a result, production activities continue to be based on guesswork. In most cases, some traders who have been in the marketing game for a long time have more knowledge about the value chain than farmers. Many traders often pre-finance Read more about The power of an end to end view of agricultural value chains[…]
Most of the information disseminated to African smallholder farmers and rural marginalized entrepreneurs is barely enough for progressive decision making. In most cases where price information for a particular commodity is provided, critical details are missing and these include diverse sources of the commodity, levels of competition, demand cycles and the type of people who Read more about When data and evidence become currency[…]
From all the training, guidance and ideas directed at poor and marginalized farmers, it is often difficult for these actors to determine the most critical knowledge. As a result there is usually confusion between what is urgent and what is important. While the most important knowledge for smallholder farmers can be on how to enter Read more about Why value chain actors should identify their most critical knowledge[…]
Besides climate change and environmental degradation, a major challenge facing many African rural communities is migration of skills and talent to urban centres. There is no price for guessing who wins in the competition for talent between rural and urban communities. Building rural agricultural markets is one way of converting agricultural commodities and value chains Read more about How the market can convert agricultural commodities into career pipelines[…]
In most developing countries, decisions that affect farmers and rural communities are often made by policy makers and development agencies who do not reside in those communities. However, digital technologies are revealing the benefits and possibilities of improving the quality of services by moving decision-making to where impact is felt. For instance, using mobile phones Read more about Moving decision making closer to points of impact and knowledge[…]
Many rural communities in developing countries are now more familiar with external experts and consultants who visit them to ask questions about their situation and go away never to be seen again. Using consultants and external experts to gather information or conduct evaluations is not an entirely bad idea. Outsiders can sometimes better see what Read more about How external expertise can undermine local community knowledge[…]
If you did not know that knowledge has a life cycle you are not alone. However, that should not be a consolation. Effectively managing knowledge begins with realizing that knowledge has a life cycle. Just as each valuable commodity has a life cycle, knowledge has a life cycle especially in the current knowledge economy. To Read more about Why everyone should pay attention to knowledge life cycles[…]