Sustainable Development Perspectives

Most of Africa's youth are unemployed. Reportedly, 60% of the Africa’s unemployed are aged 15-24 years, and underemployment is pervasive among rural youth and growing among urban youth.  "Young Academics Mutating into Farmers"... Smiling over a small garden I share with a friend in the town on Norton, Zimbabwe. In background, is a small portion of potatoes growing in sacks, an Israeli technology that is growing fast as a form of urban farming in Zimbabwe. The technology allows for a larger number of plants per unit area and improved management and efficiency of input use. Earning a University Degree, is really an envied achievement in Africa, but recently, in some African countries like Zimbabwe, the rate of unemployed graduates has soared and young people are desperate for jobs even if they do not understand the job description! What some youth are looking for, is just... a job. In the midst of the crisis a remnant of the resilient are mutating into en

Volume 1, Post 1 "Qouted from Prof Mandi Rukuni" As we are knocking on the door of 2014 which will be the Year of Family Farming at the FAO and the Year of Agriculture and Nutrition/Food Security at the Africa Union, I have decided to dedicate this blog to celebrating Agriculture. By the way, I have also changed the sub-domain name of the blog from beatzw.blogspot.com to barefootagri.blogspot.com, "so don't get lost".   This post also unveils the first Post, under the title of "The Barefoot E-ssue Vol. 1." So let's enjoy the ride and see how far we go with this Volume. Specifically, as we discuss and deliberate on agricultural issues on this e-ssue, it is my hope that we will in 2014, bring to light the type of agriculture that will create a pathway out of poverty for hundreds of millions of Africans. After learning of so many farming and agriculture models as a young African student; I have received, during my time working with th

The greatest thing that has ever happened to Young People, Agriculture and Entrepreneurship in Zimbabwe... The Agripreneurship Summit 2013! I was sitting in a building called The Engineering Workshop at Zimbabwe’s Harare Institute of Technology. However, at the same time, I was surrounded by the aura of a Grandeur Arena similar to that of a place of great authority such as a Kings Palace; where every word spoken seems powerful beyond measure; where one can actually touch and feel the power that resonates in words of confidence and words of great vision. Yes it sounds irregular and unconventional, being in an Engineer's Workshop and feeling the proud and electric energy of young agricultural leaders and entrepreneurs resonating in the background. Sitting in that environment I knew and I felt that the future belongs to the youth of Africa. Believe me, there is nothing conventional about what I am talking about; nothing is, nothing has been, and nothing ever will be convent

"The Barefoot Education for Afrika Trust (BEAT) was established in 2009 for the purpose of promoting ‘barefoot’ education—referring to community and family education.  Formal education in Africa has failed to transform people’s lives directly. In rural communities, families invest in ‘educating’ their children so that they can leave the community and go elsewhere and find a job—working for government and so on, as a way of escaping their own community and family who are bound to be trapped in poverty for the fore-seeable future. The idea is to build the capacity of rural and poor people to learn for themselves—as a way of life.  Development in the end is about people- equipping people to fulfill their own potential and their on dreams.  As BEAT we have been interested in the challenge that the agricultural extension system in most African countries is not effective and has struggled with issues of science and technological change, as well as in assisting fa

Watch this great and inspiring video from CTA!!! The @gricultural revolution Go Mobile, Go Social, Go Barefoot... and... Way to Go CTA!!!

Partnerships lead to measurable impacts for Drought Tolerant Maize for Africa

"Go where the need is greatest and the help is smallest... EcoFarmer will transform agriculture... We must use technology to address every day challenges of ordinary people... This is what I mean, when I say, 'just add a little innovation, to what you do best.' "- Mr Strive Masiyiwa, Executive Chairman and Founder of Econet Wireless Group and Board Member of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) I am a strong Social Media follower of some of Afrika's most iconic leaders and transformers. But I must say as I read the words of Mr Masiyiwa on his Faceboook page recently, the spectre of highly risky smallholder characterized by low private investment is slowly coming to an end through ground breaking innovation, sustainable relationships and strategic partnerships.  The Econet Wireless Zimbabwe website on the 26th of September revealed news of a "weather-indexed drought insurance service" developed by Econet Wireless. The product,

Hello Team! The Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is holding learning opportunities on Web 2.0 and Social Media for Development across ACP countries. They are just completing one in Zimbabwe at the Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE) and I have been privileged to be part of this one, the first in Zimbabwe and a really exciting opportunity. Probably two or more will run in Zimbabwe so keep watching this space  for more information on Web 2.0 for development in your country! From my participation in the course I have just learned that the web is gradually "Going Barefoot." Great News!!! So closer are we to saying "bye-bye" to the technical jargon and complexities of "sailing in the digital sea of the internet." Through Web 2.0 and Social Media, not only the "webmasters" or "expert programmers" can publish content on the internet. Even a young black, barefoot boy sitting un

In my own Words, Barefoot means,  "simplifying  every complex and  exclusive  system to  solicit  and  harness  the contributable  value  from a rich and  broad  range of stakeholders (for Afrika particularly the  vast rural )… It is breaking the walls of class, language, race and even geographical location and creating new platforms of freedom, rebuilding confidence even in societies’ ‘least’ sophisticated groups. It is reengaging, collaborating, rebuilding capacity of rural Afrika to challenge contemporary knowledge based on the rich Afrikan experience and wisdom.”   The basis of the Barefoot Principle is: "Knowledge Exists only at the Point of Action and Decision Making" Now, about BEAT In 2009, a long conceived idea of pursuing a “Holistic Afrikan Education Model” took its first step to life by the establishment of the Barefoot Education for Afrika Trust (BEAT). This was the beginning of a journey; a journey starting from a confluence of peo

While the use of the internet is spreading like a virus across the globe and the digital space is growing larger and larger by the day statistics released by Google a couple of years ago revealed that about 5% of information on Google is from Africa. Of the 5%, half is only from South Africa. The remaining 2.5% is dominantly from Francophone countries while the remaining 1% is shared among the rest of Africa. While, it may be 5 or so years since this was spoken, I know the situation has not changed much. There may be a lot of information on the internet about Africa, but very little of this information is from Afrika. Even the spelling of "Africa" is not "Afrikan" according to my good old Professor, Prof Mandi Rukuni. So who will tell AFRIKA'S OWN STORY? The little amount if information about Afrika that we will find on the internet is not even in vernacular languages. If technological advancement especially through the web is a source of information; i