{"id":18101,"date":"2026-06-20T13:01:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-20T13:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev.iita.org\/news-item\/advocating-for-digital-agriculture-to-transform-african-food-systems-in-foresight-africa-report\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T16:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T16:54:08","slug":"advocating-for-digital-agriculture-to-transform-african-food-systems-in-foresight-africa-report","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/news-item\/advocating-for-digital-agriculture-to-transform-african-food-systems-in-foresight-africa-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Advocating for digital agriculture to transform African food systems in Foresight Africa report"},"content":{"rendered":"&nbsp;\n\n<figure id=\"attachment_32807\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32807\" style=\"width: 338px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-32807\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Dr-Simeon-Ehui.-300x300.jpeg\" alt=\"IITA Director General and CGIAR Regional Director for Africa, Dr Simeon Ehui.\" width=\"338\" height=\"338\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32807\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">IITA Director General and CGIAR Regional Director for Africa, Dr Simeon Ehui.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/\">IITA<\/a> Directeur g\u00e9n\u00e9ral et <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cgiar.org\/\">CGIAR<\/a> Regional Director for Africa, <a href=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/fr\/iita-staff\/simeon-ehui\/\">Dr Sim\u00e9on Ehui<\/a>, has co-authored a pivotal article in the Brookings Institution\u2019s Foresight Africa 2025\u20132030 report with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cgiar.org\/khuloud-odeh\/\">Dr Khuloud Odeh<\/a>, CGIAR Global Director for Digital and Data. The article spotlights the transformative potential of digital agricultural innovations for smallholder farmers across the continent.\n\nIn the article <em>\u201cDigital solutions in agriculture drive meaningful livelihood improvements for African smallholder farmers,\u201d<\/em> 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.\n\nAmid 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.\n\nThe article outlines how Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies\u2014including artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT)\u2014are already creating a significant impact. It highlights successful tools developed and deployed by CGIAR and its partners, such as:\n<ul>\n \t<li>IITA\u2019s Cassava Disease Surveillance platform and the <a href=\"https:\/\/seedtracker.org\/cassava\/\">Suivi des semences de manioc<\/a> in Nigeria<\/li>\n \t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/plantvillage.psu.edu\/\">PlantVillage<\/a> Nuru app for disease detection, developed by <a href=\"https:\/\/urfm.psu.edu\/\">Pennsylvania State University<\/a> and IITA<\/li>\n \t<li>RiceAdvice from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.africarice.org\/\">AfricaRice<\/a> and NextGen Agroadvisory for precision farming from <a href=\"https:\/\/alliancebioversityciat.org\/\">Alliance Bioversity International and CIAT<\/a><\/li>\n \t<li>Regional digital hubs for soil health and fertilizer access in West Africa and the Sahel<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nThese innovations have improved yields and livelihoods, enhanced market access, reduced losses, and supported more efficient resource use for millions of farmers.\n\n<figure id=\"attachment_32808\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-32808\" style=\"width: 820px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-32808 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/iita.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Dr-Khuloud-Odeh.jpeg\" alt=\"CGIAR Global Director of Digital and Data, Dr Khuloud Odeh.\" width=\"820\" height=\"411\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-32808\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">CGIAR Global Director of Digital and Data, Dr Khuloud Odeh.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\nStill, the article points out that digital transformation must be inclusive. Challenges such as limited internet connectivity, low digital literacy, data privacy risks, and lack of infrastructure must be addressed.\n\nEmphasizing the need for enabling policy environments, ethical technology use, robust data governance frameworks, and investments in digital literacy, the article highlighted how these can ensure equitable access for millions.\n\nAccording to the article, the future of African agriculture depends on how effectively digital tools can be harnessed to empower smallholders. With the available solutions, scaling these innovations responsibly, inclusively, and sustainably is essential.\n\nThis article\u2019s contribution to Foresight Africa solidifies CGIAR\u2019s role as a global leader in innovation-driven, farmer-centered agricultural transformation.\n\n<em>Contribu\u00e9 par \u2018Timilehin Osunde<\/em>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>IITA Director General and CGIAR Regional Director for Africa, Dr Simeon Ehui, has co-authored a pivotal article in the Brookings Institution\u2019s Foresight Africa 2025\u20132030 report with Dr Khuloud Odeh, CGIAR Global Director for Digital and Data.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":18102,"template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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