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[…]
Like any other innovation, the explosion of ICTs and social media has come with merits and demerits in most developing countries. Although it is always tempting to look at the advantages and ignore disadvantages, we can learn a lot from examining both sides. Africa now has millions of WhatsApp groups and other social media-driven platforms. Read more about How can Africans move from chatting to serious wealth creation?[…]
In a world increasingly driven by ICTs, farmers should not be satisfied with feedback from supermarkets and contract companies. Nothing stops them from speaking directly to consumers who are the final end users of what they produce. A majority of consumers particularly those in urban markets have more information than producers. That means farmers have Read more about Why farmers should understand consumers and the pains of knowledge sharing[…]
A close look at informal agriculture markets across Africa shows they thrive on implicit knowledge that cannot be manipulated through software or codified into a manual. Cooperation is the default behaviour rather than competition. Robust information is shared even between actors who are supposed to be furious competitors. Peers are more influential than experts. That Read more about How agriculture markets are more than just memorizing facts and figures[…]
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[…]
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[…]