Advocating for digital agriculture to transform African food systems in Foresight Africa report

IITA Director General and CGIAR Regional Director for Africa, Dr Simeon Ehui, has co-authored a pivotal article in the Brookings Institution’s Foresight Africa 2025–2030 report with Dr Khuloud Odeh, CGIAR Global Director for Digital and Data. The article spotlights the transformative potential of digital agricultural innovations for smallholder farmers across the continent.

In the article “Digital solutions in agriculture drive meaningful livelihood improvements for African smallholder farmers,” Dr Ehui and Dr Odeh stress that digital transformation is no longer optional and is essential for building resilient, productive, and climate-smart agricultural systems in Africa.

Amid rising food insecurity (282 million Africans go hungry daily), the authors argue that climate change, degraded soils, and population pressures necessitate urgent innovation in the agriculture sector. However, agriculture remains one of the least digitized sectors on the continent. Bridging this digital gap could unlock new opportunities for millions of smallholder farmers.

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