Kick Start International on CNBC Africa - East Africa Business Report

Transforming Africa from subsistence to commercial Agriculture

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Nonprofits & Activism

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• Kick
• Start
• International

[tigerone1970]

@CrowdPleeza

Well they look miserable to me. :) They should have solar driven pumps. People don't realize it, but there is a lot of money to be made in agriculture.

The real problem is that people need a) more land and b) financial services, that will give them low or no interest loans for farm equipment. People need some money to get started, and then they can build their own capital.

There is a continent wide market for anyone offering loans under 10% interest. It's not happenning now.

[CrowdPleeza]

@tigerone1970

Ok but until all those reforms happen these farmers seem to like the results that they are currently getting from these water pumps.

[tigerone1970]

Remember that Kenya, Rhodesia, South Africa, were officially designated 'white man's country' by the UK foreign office, and Africans were supposed to go the way of the Natives in the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Africans were even put on reservations (called Native Reserves, Bantu Reserves), in imitation of the US's policy in the Indians.

[tigerone1970]

3) Knowledge. Ginger sells for $2500 per tonne, and yield is 10 to 30 tonnes per year (that's $25000 to $75000 per hectare). Saffran (dried male flower stems of the saffran crokus) sells for $30,000 per pound.

4) Land reform. You can't have development without the people owning their own land, individually or communally. That was the point behind the land theft in South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and more.

[tigerone1970]

@CrowdPleeza

Sure.

1) Banking. Lending rates in Africa are usurious. Whether it is Zambia or Zimbabwe, bank lending rates are in the mid-twenty percent, savings rates are in single digits, well below the rate of inflation. In Zambia, you have 24% lending rates and 2% savings rates of return. No legitimate business can service those loans.

2) Sales chains. When people can sell their product at capital city or international levels, poverty is going to disappear.

[CrowdPleeza]

@tigerone1970

Do you have a better suggestion for people trying to increase their food production and their ability to earn extra money?

[tigerone1970]

This is nonsense.