Across ACP countries, women face serious challenges in establishing successful agribusinesses, including access to markets, market intelligence, finance and other business services. Women also often lack the technical, management and leadership skills needed to drive an enterprise forward. Empowering women to overcome these challenges, as well as promoting youth entrepreneurship and employment, are key to CTA’s work. And ICTs can be a game changer in creating an enabling environment for women and youth.
VALUE4HER--a new joint initiative between CTA, the Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) and the African Women in Agribusiness Network (AWAN) will establish an agribusiness intelligence network harnessing the power of ICTs to foster better links with markets, supply chains and other service providers, including financing partners.
VALUE4HER will help women to develop agribusinesses and to derive more income from agri-food markets. As Irene Ochem, founder and CEO of AWIEF put it at the launch of the project in Nairobi, Kenya, in July 2018, "We want to bring in more young women to be job creators and not just job seekers." To highlight the market practices and policies that will enable women to succeed in agribusiness, CTA and AWIEF will convene a high-level panel at the 4th Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum to be held in Cape Town, South Africa, in November 2018.
Transforming the agriculture sector through digitalisation and promoting young women’s entrepreneurship is also an integral part of CTA’s 2018 Pitch AgriHack competition. The contest has attracted over 300 applications from young e-agripreneurs. The 26 finalists, mostly women, will receive training during the 2018 African Green Revolution Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, where they will also have a unique opportunity to interact with business leaders and policymakers. The winners will receive prizes and follow up business coaching opportunities. For more information, see https://tinyurl.com/y9ncm45w.
Digitalisation is a strong theme in this edition of Spore, and I believe a critical opportunity that must also be harnessed at the policy level to truly transform agriculture. We are also pleased to feature interviews and articles that highlight women’s empowerment, including from Dr Maxime Houinato of UN Women who stresses that women cannot be ignored if agriculture is to be transformed. He emphasises that women play a vital role in adopting new climate-resilient farming practices, a theme that is also featured in our article on the role of agriculture in building resilience in fragile states.
In this issue
Data on all levels is very valuable to the value chain
The Executive Director of the Secretariat for Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) is André Laperrière. Here, he describes what GODAN have to do to raise awareness about the potential of agricultural data and how to get policymakers and donors on-board.
Les agriculteurs à l’ère du numérique
De plus en plus de données agricoles sont générées à vitesse rapide grâce aux innovations et aux nouvelles technologies. Mais quelle est la valeur réelle des informations partagées pour les petits agriculteurs et quels en sont les risques ?
Promoting climate resilience through policy
Three policies have been launched in Zimbabwe to increase awareness of climate-smart farming techniques, and promote climate-friendly practices among young people.
Leveraging agriculture to build resilience
With the global number of undernourished on the rise since 2014, the international community has identified agricultural development as an effective tool to boost the resilience of vulnerable communities in fragile states.
Modernising climate adaptation in the Caribbean
New climate-smart tools and structures are expected to increase crop production and diversity in the Caribbean, leading to a more sustainable regional food supply and greater food security.
Loan 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.
Responding to market demand with farmer data
A Samoan NGO has mapped small coconut farms to get a better understanding of farmers’ production capacity. It has also developed applications to provide farmers with local trading opportunities.
Bottling Mali’s wild plants for nutritious drinks
In 2016, Aïssata Diakité launched Zabbaan Holding – a company that makes juices from plants grown locally in central Mali by over 5,000 farmers.
Online auction floor links farmers with buyers in Zimbabwe
To resolve the ‘disconnect’ between smallholders and markets, and reduce transport costs and produce losses for farmers, an efficient and transparent online auction system has been established in Zimbabwe.
Innovations reshaping smallholders’ market access
Technical solutions to food tracking, traceability and distribution are enabling agribusinesses along the value chain to better manage and expand their operations. Such innovations also help farmers and farmer organisations to establish and strengthen links with buyers.
Rwandan farmers reduce losses with nutritious grains
A private processing company in Rwanda is working with thousands of farmers to train them in the production of fortified crops for processing into nutritious products. Their partnership is increasing profits for local smallholders as well as helping to combat Rwanda’s high levels of malnutrition.
An entrepreneur must be competitive and creative, but above all, open-minded
At the age of just 24, Madagascan Heritiaina Randriamananatahina heads up a cheese and syrup processing business that is growing fast. Lacking any formal qualifications, he discusses the barriers facing any aspiring young business man or woman in the agri-food industry.
Profiling presents opportunities for smallholders
by Sophie Reeve
Aggregating information about farm location and production in farmer profiles helps companies to tailor their support for smallholders, but how can this data be securely managed and transferred to rural farmers for their benefit?
Farm mapping increases incomes for tea farmers
To ensure improved operations of a smallholder tea company in Uganda, and boost yields for farmers, an innovative garden geo-referencing project is working to gather local data.
Revitalising seaweed farming in Zanzibar
The use of tubular nets in seaweed farming is enabling women farmers in Zanzibar to cultivate profitable varieties. Through training in seaweed processing, the farmers are also producing innovative products for the food and beauty industries.
Digital platform simplifies access to extension services
In sub-Saharan Africa, a new app is extending technical services to rural smallholder farmers, increasing their access to quality inputs and helping novice farmers to learn ‘on the job’.
Spicing up Rwanda’s exports
With innovative products such as chili pepper oil and plantain wine, a Rwandan agri-processing enterprise is gaining global attention.
Reigniting Kenya’s international trade
In 2013, stringent standards for exports into the EU caused a hike in rejected produce from Kenya – and a huge blow to its horticulture industry. Now, a digital traceability system is helping to rebuild the sector, providing precise accountability from field to export.
Increasing amounts of agricultural data are being produced at faster speeds, using a greater variety of technologies and innovations than ever before. But what is the value of information sharing for smallholders, and what are the risks?
