The digital divide in African agriculture is threatening to prevent millions of smallholder farmers from benefiting from advances in artificial intelligence and other agricultural technologies, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The FAO estimates that fewer than 10% of African farmers currently have access to digital agricultural services, despite the growing use of ...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is strengthening agricultural statistics across Africa to help governments make better-informed decisions on food security, agricultural development and sustainable agrifood systems. During the 2024–2025 biennium, the FAO Regional Office for Africa expanded its technical support across 47 countries, helping improve national data systems and build ...

Global hunger has continued to decline for the third consecutive year, yet Africa remains the region most affected by food insecurity, according to the latest State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report released by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The report estimates that approximately 7.8% of the world’s population ...

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in partnership with the Smart Africa Secretariat, has launched the third edition of the Innovate Africa Challenge, an initiative designed to accelerate the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that improve climate-smart agriculture across Africa. Under the theme “From Ideation to Deployment,” the 2026 challenge ...

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has urged governments, development partners and humanitarian organisations across Africa to strengthen preparedness measures as forecasts point to a significant intensification of the current El Niño weather pattern. Climate experts believe the phenomenon could become one of the strongest El Niño events recorded since 1950, bringing a heightened risk ...

By Desry Lesele, Senior Manager for Agribusiness Client Value Propositions at Nedbank Commercial Banking. For decades, farming has been built around physical things you can see and touch: land, machinery, storage systems, and long-standing relationships with suppliers and buyers. Those things still matter, but another layer is increasingly being added to the mix: digital platforms ...

Nigeria has begun validating its first National Agricultural Land and Soil Management Policy (NALSMP), a landmark initiative aimed at improving soil health, increasing agricultural productivity and strengthening climate resilience through data-driven farming practices. The Federal Government has commenced stakeholder consultations to validate the National Agricultural Land and Soil Management Policy (NALSMP), a framework designed to ...

On World Food Safety Day, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), join South Africa and the global community in recognising that safe food is essential for good health, good nutrition, decent livelihoods, fair trade and public trust in the food system. Every meal should nourish ...

Nigeria’s coffee industry stands at a crossroads. While global demand for coffee continues to rise and African producers such as Ethiopia and Uganda enjoy record export earnings, Nigeria’s coffee sector remains largely dormant, constrained by decades of underinvestment, weak policy support, aging plantations, and limited market access. Industry stakeholders now believe the country has an ...

Rwanda is brewing a new strategy for its tea sector, supported by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The strategy prioritizes premium-quality tea production, with the aim of boosting output and improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers facing growing challenges from the climate crisis, rising fertilizer costs, and competition from regional ...