Machine Learning to Illuminate Smallholder Farmers’ Problems
As any social scientist who has worked in rural areas of developing countries, including our founder, can tell you, data that inform policy decisions affecting smallholder farmers are anything but […]
A Union of African Universities Supporting Smallholder Farmers
Smallholder farms dominate African agriculture but have long been relatively neglected in international development circles. Global interest in Africa is increasing, and African universities possess an enormous well of talent. […]
Bringing Advice to the Smallholder Farm with Online Maps
Smallholder farmers often face harsh or idiosyncratic growing conditions, and techniques developed for optimal conditions often don’t work. But information technology is starting to help. Geomapping tools have convinced banks […]
Rodent Control – The Natural Way
Most efforts to support smallholder farmers focus on initiatives and innovations deployable in the daytime. Few innovators think up interventions that work mainly at night, when farmers are asleep. Luwieke […]
Keeping Ethiopia’s Wheat from “Rusting”
Of all the natural threats to the world’s food supply, few are more dreaded than wheat rust, a category of fungal infections that can ruin a harvest. In the US, […]
New Seed Banks Launched in Morocco and Lebanon
Seed banking is an old idea that’s quickly gaining popularity as agricultural scientists fret about the impacts of climate change on future food supplies. Kept in the right conditions, seeds […]
Protecting Livestock from Lions: New Clues from South Africa
Many years ago, this author traveled to Amboseli National Park in southern Kenya to meet with Maasai village elders and residents. The trip wasn’t for tourism, although this particular Maasai […]
Dry But Important: Climate-Smart Agriculture in the Middle East and North Africa
The Middle East and North Africa has a long history of drought and climate vulnerability, but also of innovations in agriculture. Today, the region is particularly dependent on food imports, […]
Simple but Effective Soil and Water Conservation in Ethiopia’s Highlands
Farmers face an array of threats to their crops and livelihood. Arguably the greatest threat of all is soil degradation and dessication. Nothing will grow in soil that’s too thin, […]