Articles
Impact Stories
Marthe Montcho: Blogging for social change
Marthe Montcho started her blog, L’Agriculture au féminin or Women in Farming, in October 2013. Despite initially knowing very little about blogging, she quickly became a success as the blog grew in popularity. Montcho’s desire to fill what she saw as an information gap and empower female farmers, particularly in her home country of Benin, led to her winning the Youth in Agriculture Blog Competition (YoBloCo), organised by CTA in 2014.
Read MoreBlog articles
Drones could become one of the main drivers of agricultural growth in Senegal
Malick Diagne is the head of GeoRisk Afric, a company founded in March 2016. He attended training sessions on drone usage for precision agriculture organised by CTA and the French company, Parrot, as part of the “Eyes in the Sky” project. In this blog, using his 12 years’ experience in environmental and natural resource management, the Senegalese head of the company explains the fascinating and critical innovation opportunities that drones provide for the gathering of geospatial data.
Read MoreUsing drones to boost agriculture in Burkina Faso
The ambitious objective of the “Eyes in the Sky, Smart Techs on the Ground” project, initiated by the Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), is to transform agriculture in African countries through the promotion of drone usage. I took part in the project as Director General of Cargitech Sarl, alongside several other African entrepreneurs.
Read More
Accelerating youth agri-incubators in Africa - Lessons from Nigeria
Since business incubation/acceleration initiatives, especially in agriculture, are new to Africa, the adoption and the consistent recording and analysis of their impact is still work in progress. Prompted by youth employment or under-unemployment, incubator/accelerators chiefly support youth entrepreneurship development - from the ideation/innovation phase to assisting more seasoned enterprises seeking support for faster expansion.
Read More
Agribusiness market information via mobile phone – one tool, many impacts
A market information service delivered by mobile phone is helping to promote transparency in Senegal, enabling farmers to obtain fairer prices for their products – including producers who have not signed up for the service.
Read More
Opinion articles
Farmers must be involved in the solutions offered by data sharing
Many governments and donor agencies, as well as the private sector work to solve the myriad of challenges smallholder farmers in Africa face every day, including, but not limited to, access to markets and agronomic support. More progress could be made, however, if the farmers themselves were invited to play a role in tackling their own problems – and mobile technology could be a way to make this happen.
Read MoreFood sovereignty helps to redistribute power dynamics in the food chain
Food sovereignty is a political project that aims to improve local people’s decision-making power and control over their food systems.
Read MoreHow might the CFTA benefit West Africa?
Accounting for more than a third of Africa’s total population, West Africa is home to over 360 million people – 60% of whom are employed in the agricultural sector. The region has huge potential for both the intra-regional and global trade that are so crucial for economic growth and food security; yet intra-regional trade among West African countries lies well below that of other regions of the world, despite the presence of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), which aims to promote trade between regions.
Read MoreTechnology is key to strengthening plant health systems
An estimated 40% of crops grown annually are lost to pests. Due to increased trade, swift international travel, tourism and climate change, pests spread more rapidly. This results in damage that reduces productivity and income, whilst also causing adverse effects on biodiversity, increasing farmers’ reliance on pesticides and vulnerability to climate damage.
Read MoreWomen entrepreneurs are key to Africa’s economic growth
Over the past 30 years, significant efforts have been made to compensate the gender gap on the African continent. Some initiatives have been successful, others less so. One initiative that has made progress is the promotion of women’s right to economic freedom, particularly in terms of advocacy and awareness raising.
Read MoreBackground articles
A promising new continent-wide trade agreement for Africa
The new African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) is expected to be a game changer, boosting inter-African trade, spurring manufacturing, and creating economic opportunities. But for its benefits to be realised, the details need to be negotiated; and Africa's leaders need to commit to AfCFTA for the long haul.
Read MoreStrategies for scaling agricultural innovations
Agricultural innovations must have a more substantial impact to meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 – which call for a concerted effort from the public and private sectors, as well as farmers and processors. To meet the SDGs, impacts at all levels of the agricultural value chain will need to be increased, with the involvement of all stakeholders in the sector.
Read More
Aligning Africa’s regulations with global markets
Poor food safety regulations hamper Africa’s ability to engage in international food markets. But harmonised regulations, tailored infrastructure and increased public and private sector investment have been identified as interventions that could bolster the continent’s food safety capacity, and ignite its food export market.
Read More
New opportunities for agribusiness in e-commerce
As the popularity of online shopping continues to rise, local e-commerce and trade platforms provide increased visibility for smallholder producers in global markets.
Read More
Linking farmers to markets with just a click
A winner of CTA’s Pitch AgriHack competition, Farmart – an online farmers market – enables farmers to sell their produce for more money and reduce post-harvest losses.
Read More
News articles
Mali ramps up mango export capacity
To help reduce significant mango post-harvest losses in Mali, fresh fruit packing and cold storage facilities have been established in the country.
Read MoreDried fruits: Tapping into the snack market in Lagos
To address unhealthy snacking in Nigeria, award-winning entrepreneur, Affiong Williams, is providing a healthy alternative with her range of nutritious dried fruit and nut products.
Read More
Helping farmers win their battle against climate change
Real-time weather updates are cushioning small-scale farmers in Burkina Faso and Zambia from the impacts of prolonged dry spells, greater flooding and erratic rainfall.
Read More
Our priority is to empower women in the value chain
Fayelle Ouane – managing director of SUGUBA, which is working to boost entrepreneurship in Francophone West Africa – explains why her company aims to unleash the entrepreneurial talent of youth and women.
Read More
Using drones to improve efficiency
An agri-tech start up in Côte d’Ivoire is using drones to help farmers increase production by intelligently managing their plots.
Read More
Interviews
"Using digital technologies to catalyse development"
Ibrahima Guimba-Saïdou, CEO of Niger’s National Agency of Information Society, explains why the country is harnessing digital technologies to spur development.
Read MoreThere is no blueprint for development
Program Leader for Agriculture and Food Security at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Renaud De Plaen, describes some of the requisite factors to design scalable development interventions.
Read More
Levelling Africa’s trade imbalance
Dr Ousmane Badiane, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Director for Africa, highlights opportunities to boost Africa’s intra-regional trade as IFPRI and CTA launch the African Agriculture Trade Monitor 2018.
Read More
Online platform improves the livelihood of small farmers in Ghana
Michael Ocansey, a computer science specialist, and Francis Obirikorang, a chemical engineer, developed the online platform, AgroCenta, won CTA’s 2017 Pitch AgriHack initiative, which gives youth entrepreneurs an opportunity to develop their business services and accelerate the adoption of their services. In an interview with CTA, Ocansey talks about AgroCenta – which links small-scale farmers and farmer organisations in Ghana with a big online market to improve the prices they receive for their commodities.
Read More
Building a strong brand makes a business successful
Kasope Ladipo-Ajai co-founded OmoAlata, a Nigerian food packaging business, in 2012. With plans to export products internationally, her company has already redefined the fresh foodstuff business in Nigeria.
Read More
Data Reports
Stimulating production through public-private partnerships
By creating stronger value chains around ‘champions’ in agribusiness, the incubator programme, 2SCALE, is helping small-scale farmers enter local and regional markets and enabling an increase in the scale of production.
Read MoreNiche value chains: Profiting from neglected crops
Private sector investment in the cultivation of fonio, a type of millet grown in the semi-arid zones of West Africa, has opened an export route between Africa’s fonio-producing regions – including Guinea, Mali and Senegal – and the US.
Read More
Improving farmers’ productivity and incomes year-round
Over the last 5 years, Beninese farming communities have been benefitting from innovations in climate-smart agriculture, including new farming practices, diversification of income sources and the introduction of short-cycle crops.
Read More
Premium cashew nuts from Benin
Launched in northern Benin in 2010, Tolaro Global could become the top West African business exporting entirely African-produced roasted and seasoned cashews.
Read More
Supporting entrepreneurship in Africa
With a vision to economically empower Africa’s youth, the Tony Elumelu Enterprise Programme (TEEP) was set up in 2012. Beneficiaries are developing innovative agri-products and services and building more solid business structures with the knowledge acquired through the programme.
Read More
Scientific Articles
Fighting food insecurity with indigenous plants
In Niger, a social enterprise is using local plants that are resistant to the arid climate of the Sahel to produce nutritious food. The result is better incomes for farmers and a preserved environment.
Read MoreLoan guarantee funds: How to get them right
Loan guarantee funds can be a powerful tool in helping smallholders access finance, but getting the model right is vital.
Read More
Young agripreneurs create markets for farmers in the Congo
To encourage value addition of cassava and provide employment opportunities for local farmers, women and youths in the Democratic Republic of Congo, young entrepreneurs have established eight processing centres across the country.
Read More
With Sooretul local products are just a click away
An e-commerce platform in Senegal offers agribusinesses and smallholder farmers access to urban clients looking to buy quality local products.
Read More
Ismaël Tanko turning tomato into red gold
Ismaël Tanko, a 33-year-old entrepreneur, has created a fast-growing company whose tomato purees are already on sale in several West African countries. The next step is a more industrialised production line and an increased number of sales channels.
Read More
