Digital Agriculture Africa
Ready for green agriculture: a digital platform helps farms in Africa to generate better incomes
The challenge
The agricultural sector is the driving force behind Africa’s economic development. Smallholders account for at least 80% of food production for African consumption, but remain the largest group living in poverty across the continent. Insufficient access to information, markets and investment, degraded soils and poor water management are just some of the pressing challenges which face many smallholders and may have a negative impact on productivity.
Innovative applications are needed right along the value chain, particularly in rural areas, to increase agricultural yields and keep value creation local.
Our approach
Providing the expertise and services required to meet these challenges often fails at the last hurdle, because many smallholders have no access to knowledge providers. That’s why we support the Digital Agriculture Africa project with technical development and the regional expansion of a freely accessible open-source platform for digital applications in East Africa.
The platform provides a wealth of knowledge on issues such as climate-smart agriculture, digital tools (including early warning systems) and free applications on the use of digital data covering all aspects of the crop cycle – from cultivation to harvest. In this way, we are also reducing pandemic-related supply shortages and price increases across the value chain.
Our project goals
Early figures look promising: since the platform’s launch in July 2021, more than 98,000 African smallholders have benefited from its digital services.
Together with our local partners, we have set ambitious goals for the future. By the end of 2023, we hope to increase the yield and income of one million smallholders in Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda by introducing climate-smart innovations – for a fairer and greener world.
The agricultural sector is the driving force behind Africa’s economic development.
The increasing development of open-source technologies in Africa is creating new approaches to building local capacity.
Impact
Increased income for one million smallholders
Partner countries
Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda
Implementation partners
GIZ, Mercy Corps, FSPN Africa, CoAmana
