One of the most persistent myths in African agriculture is that commodity prices are set by traders, negatively referred to as ‘middlemen’. Paying lip service to understanding market dynamics has seen most interventions designed to get rid of ‘middlemen’ failing dismally. Working with agriculture markets
Knowledge generation and sharing has been happening in every community since time immemorial. However, there has not been enough recognition of the way knowledge is structured from individual knowledge to household knowledge to community knowledge and to inter-community knowledge sharing. The way most African communities
A fine-grained view of agricultural opportunities in most developing countries can result from better characterization of value chain actors such as farmers. In addition to revealing interdependencies between value chain actors, a nuanced understanding of African agriculture can foster dynamic resource allocation. However, accurate farmer
Like other arrangements that make sense on the surface, African agriculture and rural development efforts are characterized by membership-based organizations. These range from farmer unions and diverse sizes of cooperatives to chambers of commerce. While coming together for collective bargaining purposes makes a lot of
While a lot of resources continue to go into African agriculture, those supporting the sector are still to figure out at what point they will be sure to have made a difference through agriculture. To what extent can increasing yield per hectare or kilogrammes of
The fact that African agriculture is beset by narrow margins and slow growth elevates the need to invest in data and evidence. People who get into agriculture expecting quick returns are often disappointed because African agriculture is no longer a one-step dance. Obsession with quick
As containers of knowledge, African agricultural markets continue to inspire, clarify and reorient our awareness. Latest evidence gathered by eMKambo shows how and why the movement of food from farming communities to urban markets is based mostly on relationships as opposed to money. Agricultural markets
For a very long time, each country has had what it considered a staple food for its citizens. However, climate change, globalization and changes in consumption patterns are disrupting traditional staple foods. My word web describes staple food as a necessary commodity for which demand
How market price is not a major determinant of profit in agribusiness A keen interest by African farmers to know the price of commodities on the market is understandable. However, tracking activities in informal agricultural markets by eMKambo over the past few years has proved
When African agricultural economies limit themselves to raw commodities, they undervalue and underestimate their potential GDP. The revenue base cannot be meaningfully increased when commodities move a shorter route from the farmer to the trader. Value added tax (VAT) is generated through value that is
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