CNBC Africa’s ‘Regional Roundup’ programme looks at the issues, trends, and events that are shaping the investment landscape across Africa — politically, socially, and economically.
Dr. Lindiwe Sibanda discussed how the Farming First principles can be applied to boost the agricultural sector and to support the wider economy. She highlighted the need for more secure access
A creative project by the BBC World Service is tracking how food prices have been changing since the autumn of last year.
BBC journalists in 8 world cities — Brussels, Washington DC, Skopje, Moscow, Buenos Aries, Jakarta, Delhi, and Nairobi — have identified 5 staple foods for the area where they are based. On a
At a recent side event at the UN Commission for Sustainable Development’s Intergovernmental Preparatory Session (IPM), over 85 people gathered together to brainstorm key challenges to achieving the Farming First plan.
Here are some of the top issues, organised according to each of the Farming First principles:
1. Safeguard natural resources
Key challenges:
- Lack of education/awareness – The
To overcome low literacy rates and limited connectivity, some projects provide “mediated access” through kiosks.
For instance, through its e-Choupal kiosks, agri-exporter ITC Limited in India works with independent small farmers.
Village internet kiosks managed by farmers themselves, enable the agricultural community access to information in their local language on the weather & market prices, disseminate knowledge
Sylvain Charlebois, a Canadian academic at the University of Regina, recently published a commentary piece in the Globe and Mail newspaper discussing how the developing world, especially Africa, needs to put in place a new agricultural system in order to work toward greater food security.
Charlebois argues that the current system for agricultural production needs to
Poor infrastructure impedes access to resources and markets.
For example, in Africa, less than 50% of the rural population lives close to a four-seasons road. Transport can cost often constitute 50-60% of marketing costs in these situations.
The World Bank estimates that in India, fruit and vegetable post harvest losses amount to 40% of total production, or
