New Report Offers Digital Agriculture Solution to Sub-Saharan Africa
Digital technologies offer enormous potential for agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa. Photo: FAO/Mutesi Teopista
As Sub-Saharan Africa becomes increasingly concerned about food insecurity due to threats from climate change, the pandemic, and political uncertainty, a growing digital agriculture sector offers new possible solutions. According to a recent study published by the Global Challenges Research Fund Programme (GCRF), a comprehensive approach of digital technology and policy reform could “increase crop production by more than 500 percent in some countries across the region, with positive results for food security and livelihoods.”
In the report, GCRF’s cross-disciplinary research in Malawi, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia predicts that maize crop failure rates could increase by more than 50 percent by 2050, and average maize yields could fall by as much as a quarter under some scenarios. Furthermore, future climate conditions could worsen crop production and food safety while population and demand increases.
According to their analysis, it is urgent that the region take actions such as policy reforms and connect their local and global trade markets. In the case of Tanzania, by strengthening technology innovation and adaptation, land use and crop variety could significantly improve. Under these changes, the researchers see crop production increasing by 685 percent and livestock production more than doubling.
To produce these findings, the collaborative research team from local and UK institutes combined their field research and an assessment framework developed in the process called iFeed. The assessment tool integrates models that quantify factors such as crop-yields, land and water use, emissions, and diet nutritions under potential climate conditions and policy decisions.
Pula operations manager Daniel Mbuvi assists a farmer in harvesting maize, in Kitui county, Kenya. Photo: Monicah Mwangi/ Reuters
Besides the ongoing impact of climate change, the pandemic has led to government restrictions and measures which have also created significant obstacles to the agricultural industry in African countries. Factors such as lock-downs, restrictions on exports and imports, and border closures disrupted the food supply chains and exposed the vulnerability of the region and its dependence on imports.
A recent report by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UNHABITAT) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have shown that the socio-economic situation of the urban poor in Sub-Saharan Africa has worsened following the pandemic, with millions of people facing acute food insecurity and malnutrition.
According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization, “the pandemic has demonstrated the urgent need for digitalization and accelerated the shift toward innovation and digital transformation to harness more digital economies.” Similar digital agriculture solutions like that of the GCRF have been surfacing in recent years that aim to transform the industry by utilizing digital technology in agriculture to collect, analyze, store and share electronic data related to agriculture. For example, about 13 percent of sub-Saharan farmers have already registered for services like weather updates and market linkages. Kenya, the leader in digitization in Africa, aims to adopt the 10-year Agricultural Sector Transformation and Growth Strategy to develop a modern agricultural sector that will support 100 percent food security.
Regardless, the vision of digital agriculture in the region also faces clear obstacles. The FAO report highlights that while the region has the advantage of a large youth demographic, due to a lack of finance and knowledge, digital penetration remains low. The research further states that young people are willing to go into agriculture but feel that they lack access to funds and training which would enable them to do so.