Tag Archives: African Agriculture

Caribou Digital Launches New Book, The Platform Livelihoods Project: Research Exploring the Workplaces of the Digital Age in Africa & Indonesia

This pioneering research, conducted in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation and with the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation explores the pervasive digital workplace landscape in Africa and Indonesia. The research reveals the scale of dependency millions of Africans have on digital marketplaces for their livelihoods, where 27% of Kenyan farmers claim to use Meta (Facebook) to sell information and buy produce. In examining marginalised groups, people with disabilities shared in-depth accounts of challenges faced with their user experience, such as a lack of screen-reading technology for the visually impaired, inhibiting full participation. Caribou Digital calls for better governance and inclusivity for Africa’s digital marketplace to ensure it unlocks its projected reach of $72 billion by 2026.

AFEX launches $100m Food Security Fund

Financing will strengthen Africa’s food security and optimise climate smart innovations across seven countries AFEX, Nigeria’s leading commodities market player, has today announced a new $100m 10-year bond called The Food Security Fund (FSF). The financing will strengthen Africa’s food security and produce three million MT of food annually on the continent. AFEX’s fund will […]

Vote for Stellenbosch’s Smartest City Solutions: Finalists announced in Stellenbosch Network’s second annual #IdeasForChange Challenge

For the past few weeks, Stellenbosch’s best and brightest minds have been pitching their novel ideas to turn Stellenbosch into a ‘Smarter City’ as part of the second annual #IdeasForChange Challenge. After much deliberation, the judges have announced their top three finalists who will now be entered into a poll on social media and vie […]

GMOs have lessened pesticide poisoning and improved yields in Africa, says report

A report by a top caucus of experts in the United Kingdom shows that many countries have benefited from improved economies and healthier populations by farming genetically modified (GM) crops. Most significantly, the low pesticide use associated with GM farming is linked to fewer incidences of pesticide poisoning among farmworkers—particularly for small-scale farmers, observes the […]

Fairtrade Farmers Increasingly Threatened by Climate Change, Warns ‘Alarming’ New Study

BONN, Germany – The intensifying impacts of climate change pose a serious risk to global agricultural production and directly threaten the livelihoods of millions of Fairtrade farmers around the world, a new Fairtrade study has revealed, adding that increased investment in climate adaptation and resilience measures are critical if plummeting incomes for Fairtrade farmers are […]

Avanti Communications and Clear Blue Technologies partner to deploy rural connectivity across sub-Saharan Africa

Expected to deliver rural network coverage for up to 400 million of the unconnected over the next 3-5 years    London, July 15, 2021 – Avanti Communications (“Avanti”), the leading provider of high throughput satellite capacity across EMEA, today announces a partnership with Clear Blue Technologies International Inc. (“Clear Blue”) (TSXV: CBLU) (FRA:0YA) (OTCQB: CBUTF), the Smart Off-Grid™ […]

EnDev and the IKEA Foundation launch renewables project at Vienna Energy Forum to support smallholder farmers

EnDev is launching a renewables project in partnership with the IKEA Foundation on 6 July at the Vienna Energy Forum. This three-year project aims to empower the agricultural sector by working closely with smallholder farmers, agri-businesses and solar enterprises in Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. The IKEA Foundation has provided an €8 million grant to support EnDev’s efforts to demonstrate the […]

South Africa has reaped significant gains through genetically modified white maize

By Joseph Maina  South Africa has reaped significant gains through genetically modified (GM) white maize in the past two decades, with significant gains recorded in the welfare of smallholder farmers who depend on the crop. The successful cultivation of the crop has led to improved food security and pits South Africa as a continental success […]

Focus on agriculture at WEF’s virtual Davos event reflects growing criticality of food security, says sustainability champion Dake Rechsand

The great reset, following the unprecedented crisis of a global pandemic, lends a window of opportunity to accelerate the response to climate change and hunger. Dake Rechsand lauds the shift in global agenda, towards sustainable growth. The World Economic Forum’s Davos event – the annual meeting of global political leaders and business elite, which shapes […]