"Halfway through my farming with a JEMBE, a good farm neighbor asked me to stop. She said she would bring in her modern tools to help me finish digging my plot. Her willingness to help me was highly welcomed. However, it made me think hard about the usage of Jembe. I asked myself out loud; When are the Innovators going to innovate for better and modernized farming tools for African Women Farmers? When is someone going to see the their plight and say STOP! That our MOTHERS, SISTERS, FATHERS and BROTHERS need a BREAK from old farming tools that are a Pain to work with?!
A JEMBE, otherwise commonly referred to as a Hoe, is an ancient versatile agricultural tool that is used to move small amounts of soil. It's most important role for many African farmers is land preparation and weed control. Through the agitation of soil surface around a plant, creating narrow furrows and shallow trenches for planting, and piling soil around plants, the Jembe has determined the growth of agricultural economies, development of agrarian empires, and the sustenance of large human populations. The Jembe has indeed shaped the lives of human life for millennia and deserves a place in the birthplace of ideas.
However, it is about time we innovate for a better farming tool. In her visit to Africa, Secretary Hillary Clinton once argued that agriculture is such an important backbone of the global economy that simple tools such as a JEMBE should not be used to ensure it's success. Furthermore, a young Kenyan innovator, striding through a Presidential award and an Africa Innovators award with a farming concept called m-shamba has demonstrated that we can use technology to find our next Jembe. The rise of technology has promoted inventions and innovations that have become part of our agricultural lifestyles in different ways. Nonetheless, we are yet to see innovation in the tools used by African small holder farmers.
Humanity, thinkers, and innovators have one challenge : the challenge of inventing a better farming tool for African smallholder farmers. I always find myself wandering out loud about what it would take to rise up to this challenge. Should we get a team of thinkers? Should we organize a convention? Should we have a grand challenge? Should we employ the genius of technological innovations to help find a new JEMBE? If we really care about WOMEN and African small holder farmers, then I believe, it is about time Africa innovates a better farming tool.
We call upon innovators, thinkers, and everyone else who agrees with us that IT IS ABOUT TIME AFRICA innovates a better farming tool to rise up to the challenge of developing the next modernized JEMBE. I believe, we can! Our Time is NOW!
Blog written by Simeon Ogonda and Dr. Esther Ngumbi
A JEMBE, otherwise commonly referred to as a Hoe, is an ancient versatile agricultural tool that is used to move small amounts of soil. It's most important role for many African farmers is land preparation and weed control. Through the agitation of soil surface around a plant, creating narrow furrows and shallow trenches for planting, and piling soil around plants, the Jembe has determined the growth of agricultural economies, development of agrarian empires, and the sustenance of large human populations. The Jembe has indeed shaped the lives of human life for millennia and deserves a place in the birthplace of ideas.
However, it is about time we innovate for a better farming tool. In her visit to Africa, Secretary Hillary Clinton once argued that agriculture is such an important backbone of the global economy that simple tools such as a JEMBE should not be used to ensure it's success. Furthermore, a young Kenyan innovator, striding through a Presidential award and an Africa Innovators award with a farming concept called m-shamba has demonstrated that we can use technology to find our next Jembe. The rise of technology has promoted inventions and innovations that have become part of our agricultural lifestyles in different ways. Nonetheless, we are yet to see innovation in the tools used by African small holder farmers.
Humanity, thinkers, and innovators have one challenge : the challenge of inventing a better farming tool for African smallholder farmers. I always find myself wandering out loud about what it would take to rise up to this challenge. Should we get a team of thinkers? Should we organize a convention? Should we have a grand challenge? Should we employ the genius of technological innovations to help find a new JEMBE? If we really care about WOMEN and African small holder farmers, then I believe, it is about time Africa innovates a better farming tool.
We call upon innovators, thinkers, and everyone else who agrees with us that IT IS ABOUT TIME AFRICA innovates a better farming tool to rise up to the challenge of developing the next modernized JEMBE. I believe, we can! Our Time is NOW!
Blog written by Simeon Ogonda and Dr. Esther Ngumbi
