Every community has elders with vivid memories of how they ended up consuming colonial food. They use these memories to tell stories around their indigenous food and indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) in which traditional structures and totems are also part of the story. The elders have also witnessed the impact of external inputs on their Read more about Making sense of how some African communities define indigenous food[…]
Across Africa, uncoordinated agricultural programs by government and development organizations have continue to increase food losses and undermine efforts to build strong business cases. At national level, there is often no connection between government and donor-driven programs that focus on the same value chains. Commodities from diverse similar interventions often converge in the same market Read more about Uncoordinated agricultural programs undermine efforts to build business[…]
In African territorial markets, every commodity is controlled by specialists Among several characteristics that make African territorial markets different from markets in other parts of the world is that most food commodities are controlled by specialists. These specialists are passionate traders who stick with a commodity through thick and thin. While opportunists may switch from Read more about In African territorial markets, every commodity is controlled by specialists[…]
What would a funding model ideal for African mass markets look like? African territorial mass markets have been quietly evolving into unique institutions for decades. However, one of the big gaps has remained the absence of relevant formal financial models dedicated to these important socio-economic institutions. For instance, Zimbabwe produces more than 100 agricultural commodities Read more about What would a funding model ideal for African mass markets look like?[…]
The way agricultural commodities and natural food products move through African territorial markets demonstrate how food distribution is largely driven by undocumented knowledge and distribution systems. Key questions include: How do territorial markets reach a price when there is no business analyst? How do they use marketing strategies like discounts without a credit controller? Why Read more about African food markets thrive on undocumented knowledge and systems[…]
Why crop and livestock assessments should not just end at production level For several years, many African countries have become obsessed with conducting crop and livestock assessments during the rainfall-driven summer cropping season. However, such assessments have only ended at production with no systems for tracking what happens to crops after they are harvested. A Read more about Why crop and livestock assessments should not just end at production level[…]
Most of the products and innovations currently used in the world originated from schools, colleges and universities in the Global North, China and Japan. These countries have demonstrated how learning institutions can be fertile grounds for generating totally new solutions for society through cultivating attention to detail within learners. Why has it remained difficult for Read more about What prevents formal education systems from cultivating attention to detail[…]
The role of indigenous food in celebrating heroes and ancestral wisdom In addition to a national flag and a national anthem, almost all countries have heroes and founding ancestors who are celebrated religiously as part of rooting current generations to their source and sense of identity. Indigenous food may not be mentioned in the same Read more about The role of indigenous food in celebrating heroes and ancestral wisdom[…]
In most African countries that depend on agriculture, policies are often blamed for poor economic performance and failure to improve the lives of ordinary people. While policy documents may make a lot of sense, the devil is in the implementation details. What breaks or makes a policy is disciplined documentation of implementation steps including assumptions Read more about Why policies should be anchored on disciplined documentation[…]
One of the questions that have not received adequate answers for decades is: Who really sets prices in self-organized African mass markets? Formal markets like supermarkets may have a board that seats down to determine prices after examining costs and other factors. What happens in open mass markets? Every open market has an invisible cartel Read more about Understanding pricing models is more important than the capacity to produce[…]