Hustle and Scribble

Imagine a continent where the journey of food from the fertile fields to our dining tables is efficient, transparent, and equitable. Africa , blessed with vast agricultural resources, has the potential to not only feed itself but also contribute significantly to global food security . However, realizing this potential requires addressing several challenges that hinder the seamless flow of produce along the food value chain . Challenges in the Current Food Value Chain Despite its abundant resources, Africa faces obstacles that disrupt the field-to-fork continuum: Fragmented Supply Chains : Smallholder farmers often operate in isolation, lacking the networks and infrastructure to reach broader markets. Inadequate Infrastructure : Poor transportation and storage facilities lead to significant post-harvest losses , with perishable goods spoiling before they reach consumers. Limited Market Access : Farmers frequently struggle to access both local and international markets due to...

Africa's agricultural sector stands at a pivotal crossroads, holding immense potential to drive economic growth and food security. Yet, two of its most valuable resources, youth and women , remain underutilized, leading to a paradox that hinders progress. The Paradox of Underutilized Potential Youth Unemployment : Despite a burgeoning youth population eager to contribute, many young Africans view agriculture as a last resort, associating it with their parents' struggles and seeking opportunities in urban centers. This mindset contributes to high youth unemployment rates across the continent.  Women's Unrecognized Contributions : Women are the backbone of African agriculture, responsible for a significant portion of food production. However, they often lack access to land rights , financing, and decision-making platforms, limiting their potential to enhance agricultural productivity.  The Cost of Inaction By overlooking the contributions of youth and women, Africa...

We’re all just waiting for the next thing to happen. It’s like we’re all sitting in some giant waiting room, checking our watches, tapping our feet, waiting for life to start. The next job, the next trip, the next relationship, the next milestone, there’s always something just ahead that we think will finally give us purpose, finally make us feel like we’ve “arrived.” But what if the next thing isn’t coming? What if we’re just meant to exist in this endless in-between , caught in the perpetual loop of “waiting for something”? We convince ourselves that the best is always just around the corner. But when we get there, it’s never as great as we imagined, and we find ourselves back in the same space, looking ahead again. This cycle of waiting for “the next thing” becomes our default setting, and suddenly, we're living for a future that might never actually materialize in the way we picture it. The most bizarre part? We often don’t even know why we’re waiting. We just do. We’re wait...

What if we’re all just avatars in someone else’s dream? A vast, cosmic dream , where each of us is nothing more than a character on a screen, created and controlled by a force far beyond our comprehension. It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, right? But let’s dig into it for a moment. Are we real, or are we just playing out scripted lives in a massive, intricate simulation? In this scenario, reality becomes a murky concept. If everything around us, the people, the places, the events, is part of a larger dream or a simulation, does that make us less real? Or maybe the better question is: Does it even matter? After all, if we’re not the ones pulling the strings, if we’re just the players in a cosmic video game or the fleeting figments of someone else’s imagination, does anything we do have any true weight? Think about how much effort we put into defining ourselves, our careers, our goals, our relationships. We chase meaning, trying to build legacies and live lives full of ...

Time doesn’t exist, but here we are completely enslaved by it. It’s this invisible force that governs every part of our lives, dictating when we wake up, when we work, when we rest, and when we even get to do the things we enjoy. But what if time isn’t actually real? What if it’s just a concept, a social construct we created to give our chaotic, unpredictable lives some sense of order? Think about it: clocks, calendars, schedules we’ve built an entire system around the idea that time is linear , that it moves forward in neat little increments. We’ve been taught to treat every minute like it matters, like every hour spent is a resource we need to manage carefully. Yet, we’re constantly chasing it, feeling like there’s never enough time, always rushing against an invisible force that we’ve convinced ourselves is inevitable. But what if it’s all an illusion? What if the only reason time feels like it’s slipping away from us is because we’ve created the framework to believe it’s slippin...

The fear of being forgotten of fading into the abyss of time, where our accomplishments, relationships, and memories are lost to history haunts many of us. We live in a world where the achievements of those who came before us are often reduced to footnotes in textbooks or just names on a tombstone . It's unsettling to think that, despite all the effort we put into carving out a legacy, one day, in the grand span of time, no one may even remember we existed. This fear can drive us in ways we don’t even realize. It pushes us to seek validation, to chase achievements, to accumulate wealth or accolades, all in the hope that our lives will have meaning and that someone, somewhere, will remember our name. We might try to create something that will outlive us an invention, a piece of art , a monumental achievement. But even that raises the question: Is it really worth it? Does immortality hold any true value if we can never experience it? The irony, of course, is that immortality itse...

In the realm of governance, the journey from policy formulation to tangible outcomes is often fraught with challenges. While well-crafted policies set the stage for progress, their successful implementation remains a persistent hurdle. This disconnect between policy and practice is not merely a bureaucratic inconvenience; it has profound implications for societal advancement. The Anatomy of the Implementation Gap The " implementation gap " refers to the disparity between the objectives outlined in policy documents and the realities observed on the ground. Several factors contribute to this divide: Resource Constraints : Ambitious policies frequently falter due to inadequate funding, limited human resources, or insufficient infrastructure. Without the necessary support, even the most well-intentioned initiatives struggle to take off. Political Dynamics : The political landscape can significantly influence policy execution. Shifts in leadership, competing interests, and lack of...

Valentine’s Day in a long-distance relationship is a lesson in patience, love, and the art of keeping your phone within arm’s reach at all times. While other couples are out for candlelit dinners , I’m here refreshing my messages like a stock trader watching the market. Because when your person is working two shifts in a whole different time zone , romance is measured in text bubbles . With our busy schedules, our conversations are a mix of my rambling audio messages and his short but solid texts, proof that love doesn’t need paragraphs, it just needs presence. He’ll be half-asleep between shifts, sending me a simple " Nakumiss " or "How are you gal" just to remind me he’s still there. And I? I overcompensate with a ten-minute voice note about how my day was mildly chaotic, how I saw a dead dog, or how I’ve decided we will go camping when we finally live in the same city.   Meanwhile, Nairobi is out here doing the most, couples holding hands, overpriced flowers...

I met my younger self for coffee this morning. She was already at the table when I arrived, impatiently stirring sugar into her cup like it owed her money. Typical. She looked up, eyes sharp, scanning me like a pop quiz I hadn’t studied for. “So… this is it?” she asked, gesturing vaguely at me. I sipped my coffee. “Wow, no hello? Just straight to judgment?” She smirked. “I’m you, remember?” Fair. Younger Me, let’s call her Mini-Me, leaned forward. “Okay, let’s get to it. Do I have my own house yet?” I coughed into my cup. “Haha, let’s circle back to that.” She frowned. “Okay, do we at least have money?” “Define ‘money.’” Mini-Me groaned, dragging her hands down her face. “Fine. Do we still live in chaos?” I shrugged. “Less chaos, more, project management . I track everything now, money, work, learning. It’s my version of adulting.” She blinked. “That is the saddest thing I’ve ever heard.” “Excuse you, it’s called being responsible.” “Sounds exhausting.” I sighed. “Yeah, ...

Have you ever had one of those days where everything feels fragile, like it’s all just slipping away? The constant ebb and flow of time, the passing moments that seem so full yet vanish into thin air, can sometimes make life feel utterly temporary. In a world where nothing seems to last forever, relationships, accomplishments, even our very existence, what’s the point of chasing dreams, building legacies, or working tirelessly for a future that might never come? It’s easy to get caught up in the idea that nothing truly matters because everything is fleeting. We’re born, we live, and eventually, we die. Our successes, failures, and relationships are all just brief blips in the vast expanse of time. When we zoom out and think about the grand scale of history , it can feel like what we do today will be forgotten tomorrow, just another piece of dust in the wind. That very transience is what gives life its meaning. The fact that life is temporary means it’s precious. If we had forever to...

Is free will just an illusion? The idea that we make independent choices deciding our actions, charting our paths has been a fundamental part of how we view ourselves for centuries. But if you peel back the layers, a darker question looms: Are we truly in control of our decisions, or are we simply the sum of our biology , environment, and random chance ? Consider the argument that everything about us from our thoughts to our actions is influenced by things beyond our conscious control. Genetics shape our tendencies, upbringing molds our beliefs, and societal pressures steer us in certain directions. If all of these forces are pushing us in specific ways, can we really say we're making free choices, or are we just reacting to external stimuli ? Even our thoughts, beliefs, and desires can be traced back to past experiences and genetic predispositions. In that light, our sense of autonomy seems fragile, if not entirely manufactured. Then there's the randomness of life the ...

The moment you realize that nothing actually matters is both liberating and terrifying. It hits you like a wave, and for a moment, everything feels weightless. All those late nights, the stress over deadlines, the constant striving to prove ourselves suddenly, it all seems so trivial. What if our worries, our fears, our endless plans are just distractions, noise that we fill our days with to avoid confronting a brutal, yet freeing truth: nothing we do, in the grand scheme of time and space, is truly significant? Think about it. In the context of the universe this vast, chaotic expanse of stars , galaxies , and infinity our lives are but tiny blips. Blink, and we’re gone. Our accomplishments, the things we’ve worked our entire lives for, the things we think will make us "important" or "successful" in the eyes of the world fade into nothingness in a fraction of a second. The planet won’t remember your name. History won’t record your every achievement. The cosmic clo...

Climate change is no longer a distant problem, it’s here, urgent, and demands action from every corner of the globe. Two landmark agreements, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement , have sought to address this crisis by setting global frameworks for reducing greenhouse gas emissions . The Kyoto Protocol, signed in 1997, required only developed countries to reduce emissions, reflecting that industrialized nations bore the brunt of the historic emissions. However, the Paris Agreement , adopted in 2015, shifted the narrative, calling on all nations—developed and developing alike—to contribute to the fight against climate change by setting their own emissions targets. Both are significant strides forward, but are they enough to ensure a successful global energy transition? To answer this question, let’s break down the strengths and weaknesses of these agreements and explore what’s missing. The Kyoto Protocol: A One-sided Approach The Kyoto Protocol had its heart in the right plac...

We live in a world that loves options. From the hundreds of flavors of ice cream at the store to the endless streaming choices at our fingertips, it feels like the more choices we have, the better. And yet, in a world full of possibilities, why do we feel so... stuck? The paradox of choice suggests that having more options actually makes us less satisfied. Sure, it seems like a dream to have infinite paths before us, but the truth is, the more we have to choose from, the more overwhelmed and indecisive we become. We might start out excited by the options, but then end up second-guessing every decision, wondering if we missed a better choice. The result? We’re paralyzed by the abundance, unsure of whether we made the right decision, or if something better is out there waiting for us. It’s not just about big decisions, like which career to pursue or which person to marry, but even the small choices. Choosing a movie to watch can feel like a chore, with so many options on streaming ...

Africa is caught in a precarious position, a continent grappling with the devastating impacts of climate change, yet home to vast, untapped resources that could help the world shift to a greener future. From the scorching sun perfect for solar energy to wind and geothermal resources ripe for harnessing, Africa is an energy goldmine. These resources are not just lying around waiting to be tapped for local use; they’re being heavily exploited by international companies and foreign investors. And while Africa stands to benefit economically, the irony is hard to miss: The global North , which has long been the biggest culprit in emitting the greenhouse gases that fuel climate change, is also behind much of the exploitation of these renewable resources . How do we reconcile these two realities? How do we ensure that Africa’s abundant renewable resources don’t end up fueling the very activities that exacerbate the climate crisis ? And most importantly, what measures are in place to prote...

We all know what loneliness feels like, the empty space that opens up when we’re physically alone, or the nagging sensation that lingers even when we’re surrounded by people. But there’s another kind of loneliness, deeper and more unsettling, that often goes unnoticed, the existential loneliness . It’s the awareness that, no matter how connected we are to others, we’re still fundamentally alone in our own minds. In a world obsessed with connection, where social media encourages constant sharing, and our phones buzz with messages and notifications, it’s easy to forget that this type of loneliness exists. After all, we’re told that technology has made the world a smaller place and that we can be "closer" than ever before. We can talk to anyone, anywhere, and yet, the isolation still lingers. No matter how many people we interact with, and how many stories we share, we are ultimately trapped within the walls of our own consciousness , experiencing the world through our own s...

Life hacks , those little nuggets of wisdom designed to make life easier, have become so ubiquitous that it's hard to scroll through social media without tripping over some new “genius” trick. But let’s be honest for a second: How many of these hacks actually work? The answer, if we're being real, is... not many. It all started innocently enough. We were introduced to life hacks by the likes of Pinterest and YouTube , and for a while, it felt like a revolution. A more efficient way to fold a shirt . A faster method to peel a potato . These were simple solutions to everyday problems, making us all feel like we were stepping into the realm of genius. But somewhere along the way, things got out of hand. Suddenly, we had hacks for everything. Making ice cubes in muffin trays (for what, exactly?). Using a spoon to open a soda can ? Sure, that’s going to save us, one awkward sip at a time. And don’t even get me started on the endless parade of "life-saving" kitchen hack...