Agribusiness is the hidden jobs engine of Africa! With youth unemployment rising and cities unable to absorb the growing labor force, agriculture—still the region’s largest employer—must be transformed into a more productive, appealing, and innovative sector.
The time to act is now. Agriculture must be elevated from its traditionally overlooked status to its rightful role as a central pillar of sustainable development and inclusive job creation in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The world has to feed a growing population with the same area of land and less water. Irrigation is key to managing this problem. A 10-year project called Transforming Irrigation in Southern Africa focused on capacity constraints on schemes in Mozambique, Tanzania and Zimbabwe and how to solve them. This led to a new project which uses small-scale irrigation schemes as learning sites for circular food systems.
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South Africa’s municipal market system is unlike any other in the world and expressly set up to integrate a broad range of farmers, ranging from new ones to those fully established, into formal food distribution networks, and has the ability to feed millions of people!
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aBi Development has unveiled an ambitious strategic framework aimed at fostering climate-resilient, green, and inclusive agro-industrial growth in Uganda by 2028.
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The African greenhouse industry is experiencing significant growth, yet it faces mounting pressures that demand strategic decision-making from growers. Dr. Estelle Kempen of Stellenbosch University highlights the importance of optimizing production systems by integrating modern technologies.
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If we are serious about Africa’s agricultural development and the broad political statements of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and others, African regional countries can benefit from looking at the South African agricultural success story of private sector-led growth!
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In a historic move to enhance Ghana’s food security and reduce the country’s dependency on wheat imports, the CSIR-Crops Research Institute (CSIR-CRI) and Arima Farms have launched a novel wheat initiative aimed at introducing high-yielding, climate-resilient wheat varieties suited to Ghana’s agricultural conditions.
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Vanilla Vida – an Israeli startup addressing the vast mismatch between supply and demand in the natural vanilla market – has announced its first scaled harvest of vanilla plants grown via an indoor farming system that halves the time from planting to bloom and delivers higher yields of vanillin.
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AGI Frost Fans provide efficient and reliable frost protection against damage caused by frost in a variety of environments and temperatures. The company is expanding its presence in North America, marked by recent installations in Washington state and increased interest at the World Ag Expo. The AGI Frost Fan is an attractive and affordable solution for both smaller horticultural crop growers and bigger players.
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Avocado production in South Africa has expanded markedly since the industry’s humble beginnings over 80 years ago. From a small grove planted in 1938 in what was then Nelspruit, the industry has blossomed to the current seven million trees planted on around 20,000ha. Dr Guy Witney, project manager at Great Brak Avos shares his insights.
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