Central Africa

Food 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.

Tapping into the potential: Connecting Cameroon’s farmers to chefs

In Cameroon, chefs and farmers have little direct contact, so they fail to tap into the potential benefits that closer ties could bring. Hotels and restaurants often have to rely on imported food, or turn to other service providers and suppliers because chefs struggle to find a reliable source of local high-quality produce. In addition, authorities have seemed so far unwilling to do much about it.

GMO and food security: a dangerous illusion

Hunger is wreaking havoc both in the North and in the South, in the USA and in India, which both devote significant areas to the cultivation of genetically modified plants (GMO). In 2012 a quarter of India’s population (217 million people) were suffering from malnutrition, nevertheless the country has a surplus agri-food trade balance.

Will young people be attracted to the agricultural sector if access to finance is made possible?

Will young people be attracted to the agricultural sector if access to finance is made possible? Will they be willing to involve themselves in agriculture? According to Mike Njau, the answer is yes.

Can blockchain plug Africa’s agri-finance gap?

A group of partners are developing a blockchain-powered ecosystem across Africa that they say will boost investment into agricultural infrastructure, allow smallholder farmers to borrow more cheaply and stimulate consumer activity in rural economies.

Making the most of cassava

Financing agribusiness for sustainable development

Enterprise challenge funds in Africa are matching grant funding with agribusinesses that have the potential to grow and create impact for rural populations. By mitigating against market risk, challenge funds are boosting the development of investable and sustainable businesses.

Broadening the appeal of mobile money

Mobile network providers are helping to create simple payments channels, for example between big processors and producers, that act as core infrastructure around which other products like microfinance can be structured. At the same time, some private sector players are helping to ensure that farmers buy into the concept of mobile money by investing in education, trust-building and developing ways for them to spend it.

Increasing farm productivity in Cameroon

Increased availability of quality seed in Cameroon is enabling smallholder farmers to boost their yields and incomes, and increase the food self-sufficiency of the country.

Climate-proofing communities in Mozambique and Rwanda

In drought and flood-prone communities in Mozambique and Rwanda, low carbon initiatives are introducing renewable solar-powered irrigation systems to reduce the use of fossil fuels and increase climate resilience.

Pepper certification secures farmer incomes in Cameroon

A geographical indication label for a unique variety of pepper in Cameroon is improving the incomes of local farmers and ensuring the long-term future of the product. Recognition of the pepper’s quality and economic importance means it is one of only three African commodities with such a label.

Improved malt for Ethiopia’s beer industry

Ethiopian researchers are collaborating with local breweries to produce improved barley varieties, reduce malt imports, and increase farmers’ incomes.

Creating shared values for companies, society and the environment

Richard McNally highlights the role to be played by private sector investment in the growth of climate-smart value chain

Agricultural finance for sustainable systems

Betty Wampfler advocates a systemic funding approach tailored to the family farming environment in ACP countries, which she feels is currently the only effective way to address agricultural finance issues.

Farming is a business, not just a way of life

Nana Adjoa Sifa Amponsah is the initiator of Guzakuza, a social enterprise empowering young women to create jobs, wealth and food security. As a graduate and agripreneur herself, Amponsah is on a mission to transform the mind set of young women to start considering agriculture as a business.

Jean Marie Kameni / Cameroon: Sound investment brings good returns

As a young man growing up in rural Cameroon, Jean Marie Kameni knew that his future lay in launching some form of agribusiness. But his plans lacked one basic ingredient – the technical knowledge to ensure that his crops thrived.

Boosting pineapple cultivation in Cameroon

Mukete Estates Limited, an agri-food company in Cameroon, produces a range of products from cocoa to rubber, and more recently, with the help of an agricultural support programme, pineapples.

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.

An entrepreneurial approach to dairy transformation

The Tadu Dairy Cooperative business model supports traditional women dairy farmers in Cameroon, and provides not only milk but processed dairy products. Increased milk production has not only helped to reduce imports of dairy products but has led to the establishment of many new shops selling feed for cattle.

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.

A smart farming approach to agriculture

Precision agriculture promises better returns to investment and improved livelihoods for farmers around the world. One of the biggest changes in agriculture in our lifetimes, it is spreading to developing countries, where smart farming technologies, including data collected from satellites and drones, are set to fine tune the way farmers grow their crops.

Gender and open data: Is there an app for that?

Wouldn’t it be handy if you could just switch on that app and see the agricultural (or any other) sector through a gender lens? And what if everyone else also working in the agricultural sector just magically started to use it? Would it make us do things differently, collect different data, push for the release and visualisation of other types of datasets, or would we make sure the data were more equally accessed and used?