Lessons from how informal markets keep agricultural knowledge fresh
Just as agriculture markets prefer fresh fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs and other commodities, knowledge on all these commodities should also be kept fresh. It is…
Some of the reasons why small grains continue to resist winner take all commercialization
From Mali to Zimbabwe and South Africa to Southern Sudan, small grains remain an integral part of mainstream local food systems. There are many reasons…
Silent and health competition in African fresh food markets
A few years ago, it appeared supermarkets were the only place where consumers would find fresh fruits and vegetables in African cities. The situation has…
How much should farmers and consumers know about something?
The formal education system in many developing countries is organised in such a way that the depth and breadth of knowledge imparted determines grades and…
How to move from ordinary to best agricultural practices
‘Best practice’ is not even a mouthful but what it means in practice remains unclear to many people who use the phrase. In African agriculture,…
From farmers and traders to knowledge artisans
Many developing countries are witnessing trends where indigenous knowledge systems are transforming to a commercial stage. This is exposing the myth that indigenous knowledge can…
How can we build equilibrium knowledge ecosystems in developing countries?
There are many reasons why developing countries suffer from a severe mismatch between knowledge supply and demand. Less than 20% of knowledge in African countries…
Why we must assess knowledge uptake in agriculture and rural development
While a lot of resources have gone into producing and pushing information to farmers and rural people, there has not been enough effort into understanding…
How can we measure the cost of lost knowledge in the agriculture sector?
One of the enduring challenges in African agriculture is defining effective metrics to measure the value of knowledge. In most agricultural value chains, knowledge is…
From individual rewards to community incentives
Socio-economic challenges facing many developing countries are revealing the shortcomings of rewarding individual performance. Most problems have become so complex that individual people or organisations…