Doctoral dissertation: Women’s empowerment key to improved farming efficiency in Africa

Innovation capacity and empowerment of women are crucial for enabling small-scale farmers in Africa to meet global challenges, according to a doctoral dissertation completed at the University of Helsinki. Climate change, biodiversity loss and population growth are major threats to food security in Africa. Most of the food consumed in Africa is grown by small-scale farmers. However, farming efficiency is not even close to what it could be. “This is …

”FoodAfrica made me a farmer” – a snapshot from our field trip to Machakos

During Nairobi Innovation Week, we had an opportunity to meet some of the Kenyan farmers that FoodAfrica has trained. So, the direction toward the county of Machakos, and off we went! Alex Mutuku Munyao has a small farm on a hillside close to Machakos town. Among other things, he farms maize and avocado, which flourish in a warm and humid environment. Rains in the area come in cycles, so Alex …

Improving food security through shared value and innovation – FoodAfrica and Embassy of Finland joined forces in Nairobi

In the beginning of March, the FoodAfrica team packed their bags and headed to Kenya to attend Nairobi Innovation week. In addition to continuing the dissemination work of our research results, the team wanted to create a forum where new business opportunities between international companies, research institutes, and the public sector could be born. For that, the programme joined forces with the Embassy of Finland in Nairobi to organise an …

Meet us in Nairobi Innovation Week, 5–9 March for new business opportunities!

FoodAfrica team will participate in the Nairobi Innovation Week in early March to showcase the key results of the programme. As part of the dissemination work of the results, the programme aims to create new business opportunities for local and international companies. Since 2012, FoodAfrica has worked hard to increase food security in six African countries. Now it’s time to see what we, together with numerous local farmers and other …

FoodAfrica trained Ghanaian students on methods to analyse agricultural markets

What is a value chain? How to analyse market data or how to conduct an experiment in agricultural markets? These and many other questions were pondered in a training course offered by FoodAfrica WP6 team. Analysis of agricultural markets is a timely topic. A well-conducted analysis can help stakeholders to make informed decisions. “However, obtaining robust information on how, for instance, market shocks or interventions influence the value chain is …