Home to 60% of the world’s arable land, Africa has the potential to meet not only its own food needs, but also those of the rest of the world. Agriculture remains one of the most important economic sectors for the continent, employing the majority of the population and accounting for 14% of GDP in sub-Saharan Africa. The Agriculture in Africa 2021: Focus Report outlines the region’s export…
Kenya’s farmers are currently facing two distinct crises: coronavirus and alocustinvasion. However, the ongoing uptake of digital solutions is helping to strengthen resilience in theagriculture sector and ensure that fresh produce can still reach consumers. The broader impacts of the crises are already being felt: in a report published in mid-April, pan-African credit…
Join American, Kenyan and East African business executives, investors, senior government officials and multilateral stakeholders at the Annual AmCham Business Summit, taking place in Nairobi, Kenya on November 4th and 5th, 2019. Featuring six sectors of focus – Agribusiness, Technology/Digital Economy, Health, Infrastructure, Energy and Manufacturing –the summit presents a great…
Against a backdrop of increasingly severe and financially straining climate events and natural disasters, technology is poised to play an important role in maintaining and improving global agricultural output. The adoption of digital and precision farming practices has been shown to improve crop resiliency, and boost productivity and incomes, particularly in emerging markets where small-scale…
Agriculture remains a significant part of the Kenya economy, however, growth was slowed by several hurdles, most prominently a drought that the state declared to be a national disaster. The drought restrained domestic production of staple crops such as maize, leading to food scarcity and steep rises consumer inflation. Despite the lower grain output, production of horticultural crops marked an all-time…
Interview:Agnes Kalibata How can Africa’s agriculture industry be improved? AGNES KALIBATA: It is important that governments prioritise investment in infrastructure to drive agricultural productivity, open up markets and increase private investment in the sector. Without infrastructure, the sector cannot grow. A lack of infrastructure is a particular issue in rural areas, which are the centre…
As the largest economy in the EAC and COMESA in terms of GDP, Kenya has positioned itself as a major economic power in sub-Saharan Africa. Traditionally a largely agrarian economy, Kenya has quickly entrenched its position as a manufacturing, logistics and technology hub in the region, and this diversification forms a solid platform from which the government can generate economic growth over the c
Amid strong growth in other sectors, agriculture remained a significant, if smaller, part of the Kenyan economy in 2017, accounting directly for 31.5% of the nation’s GDP. Farms also employed 38% of the formal workforce, while authorities estimated real sector participation to be higher, owing to informal farming. In 2017 growth was slowed by several hurdles, most prominently a drought that the state…
In recent years the accelerating uptake of new means of crop production and distribution have begun to change Kenyan smallholder farming. Between 2015 and 2017 Kenyan start-ups involved in agricultural technologies and innovations – also referred to as agri-tech – raised KSh1.37bn ($13.4m). In the wake of this explosive growth, Kenya, which was an early leader on start-up investment in…
Kenya’s cut flower segment is growing steadily on the back of strong exports, with new market prospects opening further opportunities, though the sector must contend with challenges that make it especially vulnerable to adverse weather. Cut flower exports earned KSh42.6bn ($423m) in the first four months of 2018, a 40.4% increase over the same period last year, according to data issued by the…
