Month: February 2018

People’s food markets as sources of multiple knowledges

Posted on by eMKambo

One of the benefits of continuously observing and learning from informal African food markets is an opportunity to update knowledge and see inevitable trends before everyone sees them. In a recent interaction with informal markets in Zambia and Zimbabwe, eMKambo discovered that these markets do not just classify agricultural commodities into luxuries and necessities. There Read more about People’s food markets as sources of multiple knowledges[…]

Carving and sustaining economic identities in evolving agricultural ecosystems

Posted on by eMKambo

While billions of dollars have gone into African agriculture, smallholder farmers and other food producers are yet to be characterized and structured in ways that give them a recognizable economic identity. Unless value chain actors have a clear economic identity, it will remain difficult for them to participate in a fast-moving global agricultural market where Read more about Carving and sustaining economic identities in evolving agricultural ecosystems[…]

Revisiting and reconciling differences between literacy and knowledge

Posted on by eMKambo

It is now known that African graduates are not able to exploit abundant natural resources because the academic education system focuses too much on literacy at the expense of capacity to absorb and apply knowledge. In fact, education policy makers continue to confuse knowledge acquisition and transfer with literacy, which is basically the ability to Read more about Revisiting and reconciling differences between literacy and knowledge[…]

The hidden cost of the time lag between marketing and consumption of commodities

Posted on by eMKambo

One of the most misunderstood aspects of agricultural value chains in most developing countries is the time lag between marketing and consumption of agricultural commodities. While for farmers, supplying commodities and getting paid immediately is the most important thing, a lot happens between marketing and consumption. The way middlemen are blamed as if they stand Read more about The hidden cost of the time lag between marketing and consumption of commodities[…]