During the past 16 months, I have been talking to farmers and people related to agriculture in 8 countries around the continent.  We have discussed maize, soybeans, cassava, tomatoes, cucumbers, and many other crops, still, I have never written about trees. But what do trees, other than fruit trees, have to do with agriculture?  The short answer is, everything!  The long answer, well, you must read about that in this post and future posts in this series. So, if trees have everything to do with agriculture, why have I not written about them before?  Well, simply I have not found a partner [...]

It is very common for farmers to divide their crops into two categories.  1. Cash crops, such as maize, soybeans, etc. 2. Vegetable garden, including cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, and alike.  They may talk about their farm on these terms, even when the vegetable garden is big and produces just as much as the cash crops.  So, I have learned to ask more before I jump to a conclusion about the composition of any farm. In the case of Ivan Bavuga, on his family farm, Ivan Balinda's Agriculture, Research, and Innovation farm, in the Western Region of Uganda, he cultivates three cash crops.  Maize, [...]

Over a month ago we met Emmaculate, a young student working on her diploma in Agricultural Science, and specializing in food Technology, from the Southwestern region of Cameroon.  I had planned to publish this second post earlier, but Emmaculate was engaged in her internship learning to make pastries.  Absolutely amazing!  Isn’t that what we call a driven personality?  A student, running her farm to help pay for her studies, but with clear future plans of having her own restaurant, and therefore taking an internship doing pastries.  This is what I would also call to be laser-focused on the future.    But we will [...]

When we start a project from zero, it is better to have a few important points in mind.  First, we need to understand where we are.  That is, for example, 10 hectares of land.  Second, we must understand what it will take to complete the project.  What resources are needed, time, and other variables?  Third, we must evaluate, and understand, all the resources we have available to us, and measure them against what is needed.  Once we are clear about the project we have in front of us, we must decide what outcome we would like it to give us.  For [...]

Why do we talk so much about challenges here?  Well, it’s simple.  It’s easy to steer a ship in calm waters, and it’s easy to run a business when everything is going fine.  But it’s when going gets tough when the tough gets going, as they say. Challenges, obstacles, problems, hindrances, or whatever else you may call them, require our best.  If challenges are not met and then overcome our plans go for naught.  The success of every business is not measured by how well you do on a good day, but how well you do when facing challenges.  In my conversation [...]

During the past few weeks, we have been learning about Ms. Belawu’s Diva Farms in the Northern region of Ghana, Tamale, more precisely.  We have learned about her current two farms.  The vegetable garden where she has lettuce, cabbage, spring onions, and more, and the fields of maize and soybeans.   Ms. Belawu left her job as a teacher to concentrate on agriculture and tend to her gardens full-time.  It has paid off so far, making it possible to stay as a full-time farmer.  But is this enough?  Does she feel having these two farms will provide for her and her family [...]

A few weeks ago, I met Henry Shilo from Zambia.  He had reached out to me with a comment regarding “To start with what you have”.   After a short conversation, Mr. Shilo explained to me about his own project, and that is what we will be exploring here.  I have long been looking for a project that is just starting, to be able to follow the progress from the beginning until it is up and running, and here is exactly such a project. Mr. Shilo has a ten-hectare farm in Solwezi town in the Northern province of Zambia.  The land was [...]

We are back in Uganda, the Western Region, at Ivan Balinda's Agriculture, Research, and Innovation farm, with Ivan Bavuga.  As we mentioned in our last post, Ivan has livestock, as well as a variety of crops.  And, as we have said before it is not common for young people to purposely select agriculture or farming in general as a vocation, so why did he do it?  When asked, Ivan told me the decision was easy. “I grew up on the farm, my parents had cash crops, bananas, and maize, and I always wanted to be a farmer.  Even before taking over the farm, [...]

As has been mentioned previously, Hope has cultivated 3 acres out of her 25 and is now planning with her team, to expand the cultivation to have the whole 25 acres under crop within the next two years.  She will have to clear the land and prepare it, but since it is flat, fertile, and with good access to water, that will not be too much for them. She is currently cultivating tomatoes, groundnuts (peanuts), and corn with her team, on the three acres.   Her plans are to expand the area under cultivation. She would like to add more space to [...]