Ideas worth spreading

Got millet? How marketing could improve the lives of African farmers

1,814,854 views | Zoë Karl-Waithaka • TED@BCG

From "got milk?" to "avocados from Mexico," marketing influences what you eat more than you may realize. But despite the known power of food marketing, farmers in Africa are more likely to receive funding for seed and fertilizer than they are for advertising geniuses. Agricultural development expert Zoë Karl-Waithaka outlines three ways industry, governments, NGOs and others can help African farmers improve their livelihoods -- and positively impact society, the economy and the environment.

From "got milk?" to "avocados from Mexico," marketing influences what you eat more than you may realize. But despite the known power of food marketing, farmers in Africa are more likely to receive funding for seed and fertilizer than they are for advertising geniuses. Agricultural development expert Zoë Karl-Waithaka outlines three ways industry, governments, NGOs and others can help African farmers improve their livelihoods -- and positively impact society, the economy and the environment.

About the speaker

Zoë Karl-Waithaka

Zoë Karl-Waithaka

Development visionary

See speaker profile

Zoë Karl-Waithaka is a partner at BCG in Nairobi.

Chris Mitchell, Zoë Karl-Waithaka, Shalini Unnikrishnan, Tolu Oyekan | BCG, 2021 | Article

"Transforming Africa’s Food Systems from the Demand Side"

Efforts that focus on increasing subsistence farmers' yields have achieved scant success. It's time for a radical rethinking of food policies on the continent.

Shalini Unnikrishnan, Chris Mitchell, Torsten Kurth, Evelien Dupont | BCG, 2021 | Article

"The True Value of Food: A Powerful Aid to Business Decision-Making"

No agricultural system can be called truly sustainable if it doesn't address the detrimental environmental, economic and social effects for the benefit of all.

Chiara Cecchini | BCG, 2021 | Article

"Can you eat to save the climate?"

With the food system responsible for a third of overall global CO2 emissions, attention on climate-beneficial foods has been slowly but steadily increasing.

About TED Institute

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