African Agriculture and Food Systems
News, features and analysis on agriculture and food systems from across the African continent.
By Elizabeth Shumbusho In 2010, Tanzania launched an ambitious experiment. The Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor of Tanzania — SAGCOT — set out to bring…
By Kilimokwanza Mama Amina wakes before dawn to prepare breakfast for her family before the long walk to the shamba. She has never felt…
By Kilimokwanza There is a convenient assumption buried in conversations about vegetable production and nutrition in Africa: that more vegetables, grown by more farmers,…
By Kilimokwanza If Tanzania’s vegetable farming is dominated by a small number of crops, its fruit farming is dominated by a single one. The…
By Kilimokwanza Arusha and Kilimanjaro sit beside each other on the map, share a climate zone shaped by Mount Kilimanjaro, and are often grouped…
By Kilimokwanza Walk into a kitchen in Arusha or Kilimanjaro and you are likely to encounter African eggplant. Known locally as nyanya chungu, or…
By Kilimokwanza Amaranth, known in Kiswahili as mchicha, is one of the most nutritionally dense leafy vegetables grown in East Africa. Rich in iron,…
By Kilimokwanza On a typical vegetable farm in Arusha or Kilimanjaro, tomatoes occupy a special place. They are grown on nearly half the plot…
By Kilimokwanza Correspondent The question of why so few Tanzanians eat enough fruit and vegetables is often framed as a market problem, a behaviour…
Unlocking Economic Transformation through Strategic Cluster Development Positioning Tanzania’s Phased SAGCOT Clusters Within National Development Priorities and Flagship Programs Fourth Five-Year Development Plan (FYDP…
KILIMOKWANZA SPECIAL SERIES: ON AGCOT • WHAT TRANSFORMATION ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE Eighteen portraits from Tanzania’s agricultural corridor • Batch 4: The AGCOT Leadership • …
Kenya’s fresh vegetable exports to Europe fell from KSh 50.9 billion to KSh 23.4 billion in a year. Behind the rejections lies a gap…
Kilimokwanza.org 2026- R6 The history of Egerton University serves as a profound microcosm of the larger socio-economic and political shifts that characterized East Africa…
East African chefs are bypassing the import default, building direct supply lines from small farmers to luxury hotel kitchens, one plate at a time.
Under EU rules, the spices, cured meat and cheese a tourist buys in East Africa can be confiscated at the border. Here is how…
At the Njombe Regional Secretariat, 9 March 2026. AGCOT Board Chairman Dr Ally H. Laay and Board Member Laurean R. Bwanakunu join Regional Commissioner…
Kilimokwanza.org R7 The African digital narrative of the mid-2020s is dominated by a bipolar hegemony: the “Silicon Savannah” of Kenya and the “Yabacon Valley”…
Government opens three strategic planning tracks with February 2026 submission window Dar es Salaam – Tanzania’s National Planning Commission (NPC) has announced an extension…
Kilimokwanza.org 2026- R4 Tanzania is embarking on a landmark transformation of its agricultural sector, transitioning from a successful regional pilot to a comprehensive national…
Kilimokwanza.org 2026- R2 1. Introduction: The Global and Regional Imperative The final decade of the 20th century marked a pivotal transition in the global…
Kilimokwanza.org Paper No. 1 – January 2026 1. Macro-Economic Context and Sector Performance 1.1 Introduction: The Dual-Economy Transition The agricultural economy of Zanzibar is…
In Nkhondola village in Zambia, Royd Michelo and his wife have transformed their farm into a self-sustaining agroecological landscape, exemplifying how ecological farming techniques…
Kilimokwanza.org 2026- R1 1. Executive Summary The 2024-2025 period represents a pivotal juncture for the food systems of East Africa, characterized by a divergent…
1. Introduction: The Anatomy of a Market Failure The global spice trade, a complex nexus of botanical vulnerability, geopolitical shifting, and climatic volatility, is…