Formal institutions do not have the data required to build African economies The amount and quality of data required to transform African economies cannot be found in statistical agencies, universities, reserve banks or any government institution alone. For agriculture-driven economies, value chains, farmers and mass markets possess the data badly needed for reality checks. To Read more about Formal institutions do not have the data required to build African economies[…]

Mass markets offer new grounds for interpreting African economic realities It is only through working with mass markets that African policy makers and researchers can make informed decisions that support genuine collaboration and learning.  People who don’t understand mass markets assume these fluid institutions are all about buying and selling commodities.  Yet the diversity of Read more about Mass markets offer new grounds for interpreting African economic realities[…]

African leaders who really care about food systems transformation cannot ignore what is happening in the mass market. Ignoring these markets is ignoring more than 70 percent of actors who handle food after it has been produced. In most African countries, mass markets or territorial markets are the true centre of gravity for local food Read more about We cannot achieve food systems transformation by ignoring mass markets[…]

How can African countries hope to make the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) work when there are no systems to facilitate trade within countries and between neighboring countries? African countries cannot succeed on the regional and global market stage when local trading is fragmented due to absence of reliable systems. Without data and evidence Read more about African countries cannot build a strong African Continental Free Trade Area without investing in data first[…]

One of the major challenges in Africa’s digital agriculture space is that software developers try to develop digital solutions based on a lot of assumptions. Much of the food production knowledge including Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) around food are within the old generation. The digital space is dominated by the young generation, mostly the urban Read more about Closing gaps between indigenous knowledge systems and digital solutions[…]

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being touted as a solution to many data-related challenges, it cannot generate agricultural market intelligence without human involvement. The most important first step in building an agricultural platform is generating and processing data into information and knowledge. Sources of that data are farmers, traders, vendors, transporters, consumers, formal institutions and Read more about Artificial intelligence cannot generate market intelligence on its own[…]

With frequent reports El Nino weather phenomena across the world, signals from mass markets are becoming major sources of critical knowledge for adaptation to climate change. Increasing climate variability, shifting market dynamics, cross-border trade complexities, and the growing scale of informal markets demand a more advanced, integrated, and responsive early warning system. The rich intelligence Read more about Mass market signals are becoming more important in a changing climate[…]

By bringing diverse commodities and people together across boundaries, African mass markets create space for issues that are usually left unsaid.  While the formal mainstream media is more interested in what is happening right now, mass markets bring people together to discuss what and who is causing what is happening. For instance, mainstream media can Read more about What mass markets say about the political economy of African food systems[…]