Climate Edge

Did you know that the majority of the worlds farms are considered to be smallholder farms?

These farms are less than 5 hectares in size and are typically ran by families in rural locations across the globe.

Despite dominating the proportion of farms across the world, it is estimated smallholder farms only produce 1/3 of our global food supply.

We’re confident that once smallholders are provided with the tools needed to prosper, their produce will make up the majority of the food that we eat.

A $62.89 million investment is set to support over 50,000 Rwandan smallholder farms through an IFAD project - ‘Promoting Smallholder Agro-Export Competitiveness’.

Increasing rural farmer’s market access is high on IFAD’s agenda, which will in turn broaden their opportunities and increase their incomes.

Discover exactly how this project sets out to elevate thousands of Rwandan smallholder farmers here👇🏼

https://www.newtimes.co.rw/article/5553/news/agriculture/how-rwf70bn-project-will-boostsmallholder-farmers-agri-exports

How Rwf70bn project will boost smallholder farmer's agri-exports Nina Nyirampeta, a chilli farmer from Rulindo District, recounts how she lost at least Rwf4 million because of a lack of a ready market for her chilli produce back in 2019, leading...

The fight for food security must empower smallholder farmers.

Support can come in various methods.

We’re interested to hear what you believe is one of the most powerful approaches in aiding the 500+ million smallholder farms helping feed our world.

Let us know in the comments below👇🏼

When smallholder farmers produce a higher quality and quantity of food, they can earn more income, better feed their families and provide more food for the local marketplace — reducing prices and improving diets.

In turn this also increases their access to markets, meaning they can participate more equitably in local value chains, and bolster their bargaining power to earn more for their products.

Agriculture is the largest employer across the continent of Africa. Yet as highlighted in the graphic, the sector does not produce even close the amount of economic value as it could do.

When compared to other countries such as the USA, African countries fall significantly behind.

Why is this?

Unfortunately the innovation and investment that has been injected into many countries agriculture sectors’ over the last few decades has not been replicated across Africa.

The agriculture value added per worker gap between countries will only decrease once sufficient agtech investment and correct guidance has been given to smallholder farmers across Africa.

📸 Our World In Data

Communicating directly with your smallholders doesn’t have to be a challenging process.

After uncovering the power that SMS holds when reaching remote farmers, we decided to build a channel that allowed smallholders to interact back with their expert agri guiders.

Think this feature could work for you and your smallholder farmers across Kenya? Let’s chat.

Happy International Women's Day!👩‍🌾

Today we're celebrating the female smallholder farmers and all that they contribute to our food systems.

Women are the backbone of the global agriculture system, and it is estimated that they represent a whopping 70% of all African farmers!

However, like many industries, there is a huge gender gap within the farming sector.

Women often don't have access to the training and resources that their male counterparts do, and in many countries are prohibited from owning land.

It's time this changed.

We will continue to connect female farmers with the expert agribusinesses they deserve, that can help them navigate the farming sector and beyond.

Unfortunately we are only moving further away from the UN’s goal of ending hunger and malnutrition by 2030, as the number of people affected by hunger is increasing.

This is because our global supply systems are frequently being impacted by serious events such as extreme climate events, ongoing wars and economic shocks.

Fast and impactful intervention is needed from government bodies and various stakeholders to support our global food systems, starting at the bottom line with smallholder farmers.

Uganda is known for being a ‘food basket’ in its area. With two rainfall seasons, cultivable soil and a conductive climate, the yield potential for smallholders across the country is enormous.

Yet like many countries across Africa, Uganda
faces huge bottle necks from limited access to markets, to production being heavily affected by poor quality seed.

How can Uganda help their farmers overcome these blockers?

Embracing agtech innovations, provide better access to markets and connect them to the skills and knowledge required for value addition.

Delivering insights to your smallholder farmers can be difficult, but it doesn’t need to be.

Using our Farmer CRM platform your organisation can interact directly with your farmers.

Our platform utilises SMS to ensure that even the most remote smallholders can receive your expertise and insights.

Interested? Get in touch with us for more information on how we can support you and your smallholders.

The key to sustainable agriculture transformation that helps both farmers prosper and boost our global food supply lies in enabling smallholders to harness the power of data.

Agtech holds the potential to make a true difference to communities and farms around the world.

There are an abundance of tools from artificial intelligence, the internet of things to bulk SMS that can supply smallholders with insights needed to completely revolutionise the way they navigate their farms.

Are you familiar with any types of agriculture technology? Comment below!👇🏼

With the right support, investment and government intervention, Africa’s agriculture sector could reach a whopping value of 1 trillion US dollars.

As the largest employer across the continent, agriculture has the potential to significantly reduce poverty, create more jobs, feed the population and increase its GPD.

The importance of prioritising Africa’s agri sector cannot be emphasised enough.