IN CONCLUSION: WHAT PROSPECTS?
Past developments show that, on the whole, African food crops and supply chains have responded to the urban challenge. The agricultural system marketed by farmers has increased as has the ratio of non-farming population to farming population. Between 1930 and 2030, the urban environment will have absorbed 70 percent of the population growth. On the […]
AN INSTITUTIONALIST ANALYSIS OF AFRICAN AGRI-FOOD CHAINS
There are certainly agricultural production problems and economic policy distortions, but the agricultural crisis is largely outside of agriculture; it is upstream (fertilizers, seeds, techniques) and downstream (marketing, transport, storage, security of outlets, etc.). The integrated commodity chains are the ones that have been the most successful, even if producer prices have been adjusted downwards […]
The example of the cotton sector
The success of the cotton sector in French-speaking Africa shows the importance of an efficient organization of the sector in terms of price stabilization and rules that allow for predictability and spillover effects on food production and distributed income. French-speaking Africa, the world’s third largest exporter, has acquired market power (cf. Ministère de la coopération, […]
Urbanization and food crop dynamics
The apparent weak dynamics of food crops can be explained, for some, by an “urban bias” (Lipton, 1977). In order to feed the cities, the public marketing boards (e.g. ONCAD in Senegal) have become enormous bureaucracies. Thus, in the face of administered prices set at low levels, parallel markets have developed whose main beneficiaries are […]
Digitalization of agriculture: opportunities and challenges
Sensors, robots, connected objects, drones, software packages… today enable farmers to make better decisions and improve their practices. But this digitalization raises questions about the evolution of the farming profession and the interoperability of the various tools, technologies and applications of “AGTech”. What are the challenges, opportunities and obstacles to the digitalization of agriculture? How […]
Organic Agriculture
Organic agriculture is a method of agricultural production that aims to respect natural systems and cycles, maintain and improve the state of the soil, water and air, the health of plants and animals, and the balance between them. Fruits and Vegetables grown in organic agriculture. To this end, it excludes the use of most of […]
Organic agriculture, advantages and disadvantages
Organic agriculture is subject to some tensions. Some are for it and others are against it. We tell you more! Would we ever have thought to talk about organic farming in these terms? Well, no! It’s true, organic farming should be the norm.Products with inputs, chemical pesticides of all kinds should be stamped as soon […]