The communicator

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What do electrical engineering, telecommunications and agriculture have in common? They arouse the passion of Strive Masiyiwa: Thirty years ago, he started an electrical installation company with $75, later riding the telecommunications wave as a pioneer. Today he is committed to transforming African agriculture.

Ich bin ein Alternativtext
Strive Masiyiwa is committed to AGRA and the transformation of African agriculture. © Frank Schultze/ GIZ

By Jan Rübel

Jan Rübel is author at Zeitenspiegel Reportagen, a columnist at Yahoo and writes for national newspapers and magazines. He studied History and Middle Eastern Studies.

All contributions

Dozens of mobile phones light up softly like fireflies when a small man in a black shirt and dark corduroy trousers enters the room. As he walks to the front row and sits down, the small devices send messages. #StriveInBerlin is the hashtag on Twitter, where they are all united again.

 

Then a show begins. The man walks up to a desk on the stage and exclaims: ‘Africa is on the move; the signs are everywhere. The future can only be bright!’ Sitting in the Senate Hall of the Berlin Humboldt University, where the paintings of Nobel laureates hang and scientists like Albert Einstein once lectured, the mobile phones and their owners seem to absorb every word.

 

Today, a cardboard at the entrance proclaims: ‘Youth Town Hall with Strive Masiyiwa’. The man is here to answer questions. Many arms are raised, but he says to a student who asks him for advice: ‘Don’t sit down. How come you ask so many questions? You are the best we have. Instead of asking questions, you should answer them yourself!’

 

 

Agrobusiness is the next big thing.

 

Strive Masiyiwa, 57, is not a preacher or a guru. He is an entrepreneur. And yet he captivates his audience as if he wanted to provide every single person with everything it needs to revolutionise African agriculture: ‘I don’t want you all to become farmers, but we'll see each other back in Africa.’ The audience: Mostly doctoral candidates from Africa doing research at German universities. And Masiyiwa: Billionaire, philanthropist and chairman of AGRA, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. Masiyiwa made his money in telecommunications. But this evening he is talking about agriculture. 

‘As an entrepreneur, I want to know the customer’, he says. ‘This time it's the smallholder.’ Agriculture in Africa is strongly influenced by them. ‘Agrobusiness is the next big thing’, he exclaims. AGRA is an organisation that wants to advance the transformation of African agriculture. Founded in 2006, it advocates for greater productivity and entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector, with the goal of: The continent needs to be able to feed itself, reduce expensive food imports and create jobs; the latter is urgently needed for a rapidly growing population. No wonder AGRA and Masiyiwa fit so well together – they both think big. ‘When farmers work the soil with a hoe, that's not romantic – it's tragic’, he says angrily. ‘Hoes belong in the museum!’

 

The audience is typing along. Masiyiwa is not a random rich man who now wants to give something back to the world. According to Facebook, he is the business leader with the most followers worldwide. How does he do that? ‘When I step on the platform, I don’t talk about my business in a top-down fashion – I just tell stories.’

 

 

With a start-up capital of just 75 Dollar the story begins

Ich bin ein Alternativtext
Lots of questions: the audience at Berlin's Humbold University. © Frank Schultze/ GIZ

His own story sounds like that of an impatient and visionary boy. Born in Zimbabwe, he got a job at the state-owned telephone company in his mid-twenties, but left soon thereafter. ‘I never got answers to the simplest questions’, he will say later during a coffee break between two appointments, ‘the bureaucracy was inflexible’. Masiyiwa was young, single and free. He borrowed money from his family and friends, and with a start-up capital of just $75, the graduate electrical engineer opened his own company. ‘I already knew how to think like an entrepreneur; my mother ran a furniture shop.’ This was at a time when a construction boom began in Zimbabwe, and Masiyiwa's company with its electrical installation work grew with it. He says: He never intended to grow a big business but simply pursued the two questions: ‘What is possible? And what do the people need?’

 

He quickly realised: In the nineties of the last century, just one per cent of Africans had a telephone. In Zimbabwe, back then people had to wait 20 years for a connection. Masiyiwa applied for licenses, filed complaints for years against monopolies and recognised the potential of mobile technology for the rural African countries early on. The rest is history. Today, he runs companies that invest in telecommunications, but also in financial services, renewable energies, television and other media in 20 countries.

 

40,000 children receive educational scholarships from his foundation, and in 1998 the World Junior Chamber of Commerce named him one of ‘10 most outstanding young leaders of the world’. In 2014, Fortune Magazine named him one of the 50 most influential business leaders in the world. And now AGRA. Its co-founder, the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, convinced him to join; he often talks about him here in Berlin.

 

 

Ich bin ein Alternativtext
Strive Masiyiwa during a press conference in Berlin

It's late in the evening; the speech and the question and Q&A session are over. But young people still surround Masiyiwa; students stand in front of him and ask questions, while other students stand behind him in awe, and nobody wants to step aside. They wait for an opportunity to snap a selfie. But the next appointment is due. He says once again: ‘I'll see you at home!’

 

The next day, a press conference is on the agenda at noon. He will be joined by the Parliamentary Secretary of State Maria Flachsbarth from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Everyone is waiting for – Masiyiwa. He rushes in, but with a face that does not show any signs of stress. ‘There are many fertile soils in Africa’, Flachsbarth begins, ‘and Africa exports jobs.’ She enjoys working with AGRA, she adds. Then Masiyiwa opens up with one of his anecdotes involving Kofi Annan.

 

‘In 2007, I was travelling with him in Mali. The local farmers showed us their harvest, which was actually good, but they also said: ‘The weather is changing.’ They did not know the word climate change, but they were aware of its consequences. Furthermore, we saw only the women working in the fields while the young men were hanging around the village. Then Kofi said to me: ‘If we don’t do something for the young men, there will be problems.’ Six months later, serious riots broke out in Mali.’

 

AGRA is an accelerator, not a displacer.

 

Therefore, AGRA supports a transformation of the agricultural sector. ‘The study of old crops like cassava, sorghum and millet, which are more resilient in the wake of climate change’, he says. Flachsbarth reminisces about how crop yields in Germany looked 100 years ago, ‘20 tonnes of wheat per hectare; today it's only 80 tonnes’. Masiyiwa picks up the ball, and for the first time his otherwise quiet, calm and confident voice gets a bit louder here in Berlin. ‘There are a few myths about AGRA’, he grumbles. ‘However, in reality we don’t work with any big companies in the seed sector, but only with small producers. AGRA is an accelerator, not a displacer.’

 

Flachsbarth and Masiyiwa run each other for a second time in the evening. The BMZ presents a discussion forum, and the Secretary of State speaks in front of about 200 guests in the hall about the common goals and about the need for innovations in agriculture: ‘Africa shares two per cent of the global trade’. When Masiyiwa starts his lecture, he captures the attention of everyone in the hall with the first sentence. ‘Did you take my speech?’, he asks Flachsbarth. And again he tells the anecdote with Annan in Mali; it captives him. ‘If water ceases because of the weather, and the men stop working – that’s when the extremists show up’, the businessman says to summarise the political situations.

 

 

A sort of cult figure for many young Africans

Ich bin ein Alternativtext
Hashtag #StriveInBerlin: Businessmen Strive Masiyiwa thrilled the audience. © Frank Schultze/ GIZ

Masiyiwa makes a move and is already on this way to the airport. He has fallen out with the rulers of Zimbabwe and now lives in London. Or rather everywhere. And strangely he remains relaxed. For him, his efforts over the last few years is more than just payback.

For years, he has been a sort of cult figure for many young Africans. He reaches them through digital media with his calls to action and to self-empowerment. His charisma, his wealth, his political influence – all of it arouses desires and attempts to draw his attention to various projects. But he prefers working with AGRA due to the relevance to the continent, necessity and opportunities. It’s as if it drags him, the communications service provider, into the fields instead: All that’s happening with agriculture in Africa, he says, ‘reminds me of the beginning of the mobile boom.’

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“More of the same is not enough - we need to rethink”

An interview with Dirk Meyer

Four interviews kick off the relaunch under the new name „Food4Transformation“, asking the same questions from different perspectives. Dirk Meyer, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, thinks: less individual solutions are needed, but more systemic approaches. Because in addition to the goals for food security, the issues of climate and biodiversity must also be taken into account.

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Unlocking the potential of agrivoltaics

A contribution by Fraunhofer Institute

Agrivoltaics is a concept that combines photovoltaic electricity generation and agricultural production, providing the opportunity for a more efficient land use and contributing overall to the integration of food, energy and water systems. This can be particularly interesting for countries in the Global South, where rural electrification rates are often low and food security needs to be improved.

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Partners for change - Network meeting on transforming agricultural and food systems

A Contribution by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

At the network meeting "Partners for change - Transformation to a food secure, resilient and sustainable future", almost 250 participants from over 20 countries came together to exchange experiences and ideas on the transformation of agricultural and food systems. The final product, joint recommendations to transform agricultural and food systems, can now be read online.

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Just change starts with listening

A Contribution by Jan Rübel

Halfway through the 2030 Agenda, the BMZ invited participants to a network meeting entitled "Partners for change - Transformation to a food secure, resilient and sustainable future". Experts from around the world developed recommendations in a consultation process and then consolidated them in Berlin. A site visit.

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What is needed for a long-term fertiliser strategy?

A contribution by Michael Brüntrup

The world is currently experiencing a historic food crisis. High fertiliser prices are part of the problem. In addition to the necessary short-term aid measures, the crisis ought to be made use of to develop and implement longer-term fertiliser strategies for sustainable, in particular smallholder increases in production in the Global South.

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Think20 Policy Brief centres on Agroecology

Insights from the T20 Policy Brief

Given the urgency of transforming agricultural and food systems, GIZ India's Food Systems and Agroecology Working Group is exploring the potential of agroecology in collaboration with Think20 partners. A policy brief has now been published.

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Ideas on the ground: Local solutions for global challenges

Interview with Sebastian Lesch (BMZ)

A world without hunger and with sufficient healthy food as well as climate-friendly agriculture can only be achieved if ideas are transformed into innovations and ultimately also applied - a conversation with BMZ Head of Division Sebastian Lesch on the Innovation Challenge programme of the new Agricultural Innovation Fund.

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(c) Thomas Trutschel/BMEL/photothek

Rethinking funding

By Anna Sophia Rainer

Peasant farmers tend to fail due to bank credit limits. But investment could help them generate a sustainable income. This has given rise to an intense discussion about potential digital solutions.

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Answers from the youth: "Leave or stay? That depends on it!"

GIZ study; conducted by Geopoll

Does Africa's youth want to live in the city or in the country? Which career path seems particularly attractive? And how optimistic are the young people about the future? Young adults from rural areas answered these questions by SMS.

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(c) Welthungerhilfe

5 questions to S. Fan: Where are the new roads?

Interview with Shenggen Fan

Shortly before ending his position as Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPR) Dr. Shenggen Fan talks about the reforms and new modes of operation needed to achieve global food security in the coming decade.

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(c) Privat

How much private investment is the agricultural sector able to bear?

By Pedro Morazán

Small farmers in developing countries must modernise their farming methods, but poorly understood reforms could exacerbate poverty instead of alleviating it.

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Uli Reinhardt/Zeitenspiegel

Enough of being poor

By Marcellin Boguy

In western Africa a new middle class is emerging. Their consumer behaviour is determining the demand for products – home-produced and imported goods, on the internet or at the village market. The people of Ivory Coast in particular are looking to the future with optimism.

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Video: 4 Questions to Claudia Makdristo

A video clip by Seedstars

Startups are booming in African agriculture. What are the current trend and challenges – and can other regions benefit from innovative approaches? A Video-Interview with Claudia Makadristo, Regional Manager of Seedstars  

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Turning many into one: CGIAR network restructures

A contribution by Jan Rübel

International agricultural research is responding to new challenges: Their advisory group is undergoing a fundamental reform process and unites knowledge, partnerships and physical assets into OneCGIAR.

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(c) Joerg Boethling/GIZ

What it takes now

A contribution by Heike Baumüller

Artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain are the hottest topics of our time. The digital transformation of the African agricultural sector is ready for take-off. What will it take for the future of technology to hit the ground running?

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(c) Katapult/GIZ

The digitised farmyard

An interactive graphic Jan Rübel

Lots of apps are entering the market, but what really makes sense? For African agriculture, some of it seems like a gimmick, some like a real step forward. So this is what a smallholder farm in Africa could look like today - with the help of smartphones, internet and electricity. 

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(c) Foto Privat

Story: In Blocked Chains We Trust

A contribution by Solomon King Benge

It is 2080. We are on a farm somewhere in Africa. Everything is digital. The blockchain is an omnipotent point of reference, and the farm is flourishing. But then, everything goes wrong. A dystopian short story, written exclusively for SEWOH.

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(c) Joerg Boethling/GIZ

"We are not Uber for tractors"

Interview with Jehiel Oliver

Jehiel Oliver was a successful consultant. One day, he quit his job in investment banking to become a social entrepreneur. His mission: tractors for Africa. Rental tractors. What gave him that idea? Find out in his interview with Jan Rübel.

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Video diaries in the days of Corona: Voices from the ground

A contribution by Sarah D´haen & Alexander Müller, Louisa Nelle, Bruno St. Jaques, Sarah Kirangu-Wissler and Matteo Lattanzi (TMG)

Young farmers’ insights on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa @CovidFoodFuture and video diaries from Nairobi’s informal settlements.

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(c) Christoph Pueschner/Zeitenspiegel

From start to finish: a vision of interconnectivity

A contribution by Tanja Reith

At the moment, the agricultural industries of African countries exist in relative isolation. Imagine peasant farmers digitally connected to the value chains of the global food industry. How could this happen? A guidebook.

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(c) Klara Palatova/WFP

A global signpost: What way is the market, please?

A contribution by the World Food Programme

There is a clear global task: We need to feed nine billion people by 2050. We, the people of Earth, must produce more food and waste less. That is the top priority of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), too - the description of a challenge.

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Silicon Valley for Africa’s agricultural start-ups

A contribution by Michel Bernhardt (GIZ)

The project “Scaling digital agriculture innovations through start-ups” (SAIS) supports Africans going into business in the agricultural and food sector in scaling their digital innovations and thus reaching out to a larger number of users.

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(c) Christoph Pueschner/Zeitenspiegel

Can this end world hunger?

A report by Stig Tanzmann

Time to dig deeper: We can only benefit from technical progress if we have a solid legal framework for everybody. But so far, none is in sight - in many countries. Instead, international corporations grow ever more powerful.

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A new attempt at Africa's industrialization?

A contribution by Helmut Asche

Afrika is about ready. There are promising approaches for a sustainable industrialization. However, the path poses challenges to the continent.

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(c) Christoph Mohr/GIZ

Microinsurance against climate change

A contribution by Claudia Voß

Climate change is destroying development progress in many places. The clever interaction of digitalisation and the insurance industry protects affected small farmers.

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Empowering farmers to control their own data

A contribution by GIZ

A new study on the digitalisation of agriculture puts farmers back at the centre of their own sector, identifies market gaps and gives recommendations on how to support relevant actors.

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(c) Simon Veith

The Big Bang is possible

Interview with Joachim von Braun

Happy youngsters in rural areas, green development and the connection to the digital age – professor Joachim von Braun believes in this future sceneraio for Africa. For three decades the agricultural scienties has been researching how politics can create prosperty on the continent. 

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Reference values: A building block on the road to social equality

A contribution by Friederieke Martin (GIZ)

A quick and cost-effective method calculates living wages and incomes for many different countries. The GIZ together with Fairtrade International and Richard and Martha Anker have developed a tool that companies can use to easily analyse income and wage gaps.

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"Without peace, there will be no development"

Interview with Karina Mroß (DIE)

What contribution does development cooperation make to conflict prevention? What can it do for sustainable peace? Political scientist Karina Mroß talks to Raphael Thelen about post-conflict societies and their chances for peaceful development.

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The 'Grey Gold'

A contribution by Maria Schmidt (GIZ)

The Cashew Council is the first international organisation for a raw material stemming from Africa. The industry promises to make progress in processing and refining cashew nuts - and answers to climate change

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No rainforest for our consumption

A contribution by Jenny Walther-Thoß (WWF)

In the tropics rainforests are still being felled for the production of palm oil, meat and furniture. It is high time to act. Proposals are on the table.

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(c) GIZ

Sustainable Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture in Rural Areas

Fish is important for combating malnutrition and undernourishment. But it is not only notable for its nutritional value, but also secures the livelihoods and employment for 600 million people worldwide.

A Project of GIZ

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(c) GIZ

Youth Employment in Rural Areas

The world’s population keeps on growing; with this rise comes an increased need for food as well as productive employment opportunities. Offering young people in rural areas better employment prospects is one of the objectives of the sector project. The young population is the key to a modern and efficient agricultural economy.

A project of GIZ

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Youth as key actors for a transformation of agri-food systems

Five Questions for Anke Oppermann

In October, the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) adopted policy recommendations ‘Promoting Youth Engagement and Employment in Agriculture and Food Systems’. Anke Oppermann answers five questions on youth employment in the agricultural sector.

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Priscilla Impraim and her chocolate business

A contribution by Jan Rübel

Priscilla Impraim is one of the first women in Ghana to enter the chocolate business. Despite some hurdles, she founded the company Ab Ovo Confectionery Limited in 2006 with currently six permanent employees and 25 seasonal employees.

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Achieving more together – New forms of cooperation for sustainability in the cotton sector

A Contribution by Saskia Widenhorn

Saskia Widenhorn, Head of the Cotton Component in Cameroon and the Sub-Saharan Cotton Initiative at GIZ, reports on the Bremer Cotton Week, which brought together international industry experts. The agenda included supply chain transparency, sustainability and new forms of cooperation between the private sector and partner countries.

 

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Why organic is a „blessed” method

An Interview by Claudia Jordan

Three female entrepreneurs from Mozambique, Sri Lanka and Uganda tell their stories about starting organic businesses from scratch, now selling Baobab Oil, Gotukola powder and Shea butter in international markets. And they explain why their business is almost 100 percent female.

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Mozambique: How informal workers find jobs through an app

A Contribution by Leonie March

There are only about 1 million jobs in the East African country. The majority of the population works in the informal sector, and it can be difficult for them to find customers. Biscate offers a digital solution - without the need for internet, data or smartphones.

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Stepping into the future: How youth organisations are driving change

A contribution by Felix Chiyenda

Together they are stronger: In many African countries, young men and women are coming together to form youth organisations. These organisations help young people in rural areas to earn a living in the agricultural and food sector, creating prospects for the future in rural areas.

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The Principle of Sharing

A contribution by gebana

gebana, a Swiss fair trade company, follows the principle of "sharing" with its corporate philosophy: farming families in the Global South participate directly in the sales of their online shop. Caroline Schaar, Marketing at gebana, explains the company's approach.

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(c) Christoph Püschner/Zeitenspiegel

Slaves do not produce quality

By Tilman Wörtz

Every child in Germany knows Ritter Sport – but most of the children harvesting cocoa on western African plantations have never even eaten chocolate. Can a chocolate manufacturer change the world? Conversation with Alfred Ritter about the power and powerlessness of a businessman.

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Quinoa could have a huge potential in Central Asia, where the Aral Sea Basin has been especially hard-hit by salinisation.

Supermarket Scorecard on Human Rights

A contribution by Dr. Franziska Humbert (Oxfam)

Oxfam’s supermarket scorecard, which is in its third year, shows one thing in particular - it works! Supermarkets can change their business policies and focus more on the rights of those people around the world who plant and harvest food. However, this does not happen without pressure. 

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Ms Rudloff, what are the benefits of a supply chain law?

By Jan Rübel

The Federal Government is fine-tuning a law that would require companies to ensure human rights – a supply chain law. What are the consequences for the agricultural sector? Dr Bettina Rudloff from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) discusses linking policy fields with added value.

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Uli Reinhardt/Zeitenspiegel

Bitter fruit

A contribution by Frank Brunner

Why aren’t bars of chocolate made where cocoa is grown? Author Frank Brunner analyses the industry’s fragile value chain from the plantation to the supermarket

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Freed from trade? Towards a fairer EU Trade Agenda

A contribution by Dr. Jan Orbie (University Gent)

‘Fair’ and ‘sustainable’ are key words in Germany’s EU Council Presidency. At the same time, Germany pursues ‘modernization’ of the WTO and ‘rapid progress’ on free trade agreements. Are these goals really compatible? Can we be concerned about fairness and sustainability while continuing with ‘business as usual’?

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Developing countries hit doubly hard by coronavirus

A contribution by Gunter Beger (BMZ)

In most African countries, the infection COVID-19 is likely to trigger a combined health and food crisis. This means: In order to cope with this unprecedented crisis, consistently aligning our policies to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is more important than ever, our author maintains.

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Hier steht eine Bildbeschreibung

Statement from GAFSP Co-Chairs: GAFSP and COVID-19 Pandemic

A contribution by GAFSP

COVID-19 has unprecedented effects on the world. As always, the most vulnerable are the hardest hit, both at home and - especially - abroad. A joint appeal by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) and the Department for International Development (DFID).

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Borderless food security

A contribution by Christine Wieck

Enabling smallholders to trade across regions and borders promotes food security and economic growth. Although everyone is calling for exactly that, implementation is still difficult

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“They said: You can do it”

A contribution by Bread for the World

As President of the IABM cooperative in Muhanga, Alphonsine Mukankusi is not simply focused on the figures. She has learned how to deal with people and how to take on responsibility. At the same time, her work helps her to come to terms with the past

 

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Actual Analysis: The locusts came with the crises

A report by Bettina Rudloff and Annette Weber (SWP)

The Corona-Virus exacerbates existing crises through conflict, climate, hunger and locusts in East Africa and the Horn of Africa. What needs to be done in these regions? To face these challenges for many countries, all of these crises need to be captured in their regional context.

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Successful Blueprints for African Agriculture

A Contribution by GIZ

At the 8th German-African Agribusiness Forum (GAAF) representatives from business and politics discussed successful investment models to improve living conditions in Africa.

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David versus Goliath: Consequences of mainstream agricultural export commodities and niche products

An Artikel by the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains (INA)

A study published by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) examines the differences between globally traded agricultural commodities and domestic niche products in terms of economic, environmental and social impact on the region of origin. The results provide new evidence to make supply chains more sustainable.  

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COVID-19 and Rising Food Prices: What’s Really Happening?

A Contribution by IFPRI

Taking a look at the data (as of February 11th 2022) what the current price hike means for world hunger and what can be done to prevent from another food crisis.

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Côte d’Ivoire: Sweet Temptation without a Bitter Taste

A Story by GIZ

Until Easter 2022, GIZ publishes a new episode every fortnight introducing people who are committed to fair and sustainable cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire and Germany.

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Fair Trade and Climate Justice: Everything is Conntected

A Contribution of the 'Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains' (INA)

Fair Trade organisations and the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains (INA) have launched the #ichwillfair campaign during COP26 to highlight the link between global supply chains and climate change.

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The fight against illegal fishing

A Report

The oceans are important for our food supply, but they are overfished. To halt this trend the global community is now taking action against illegal fishing. Journalist Jan Rübel spoke with Francesco Marí, a specialist for world food, agricultural trade and maritime policy at "Brot für die Welt," and others.

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Agricultural prices and food security – a complex relationship

A Contribution by Dr. Fatima Olanike Kareem and Dr. Olayinka Idowu Kareem

High agricultural prices affect developed and developing countries alike, but the problem is aggravated for the latter through the lack of or inadequate resilience measures. Dr. Fatima Olanike Kareem, AKADEMIYA2063, and Dr. Olayinka Idowu Kareem, University of Hohenheim, explain what can be done to mitigate the negative effects on food security.

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Earth’s well, all’s well!

A Contribution by Fairtrade Germany

With the annual topic "Earth’s well, all’s well!", Fairtrade Germany is focusing on the concept of agroecology at all levels - and is thus taking the next step towards achieving greater global sustainability. At the Green Week trade fair, Fairtrade Germany will show how this can be achieved taking the cocoa supply chain as an example.

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