Digital farming platforms hold the key to success for SA’s emerging farmers
Successfully implemented in Kenya and in East Africa in general, these link smallholders throughout the supply and marketing chain
The limited reopening of restaurants and hospitality businesses announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa is good news for small-scale farmers, who have seen the lockdown measures decimate demand. While Covid-19 continues to compound the challenges they face, previously cited issues such as limited access to markets and finance and a lack of production, business and networking skills have not gone away.
Though the production, transportation and sale of agricultural goods and food remain essential services in SA, the decrease in or complete collapse of demand from hospitality, tourism and other key sectors in the value chain has also had an immediate negative effect on local farmers. With national borders across the continent closed to tourists, the negative effects have been even more pronounced on small-scale farmers, who often rely heavily on the tourism sector and related businesses. These farmers, mostly along the coastlines of African countries, have been disproportionately ...
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