Digital agriculture in FAO projects in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper provides an analysis of digital agriculture interventions implemented by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in sub-Saharan Africa between 2020 and 2022. It examines the key characteristics, impacts, and challenges of these projects, offering recommendations for better leveraging digital technologies for food security and agricultural transformation. The study aims to inform strategies for policy interventions and improve the adoption of digital solutions by stakeholders in the region. This document will be valuable to program managers, policymakers, and field implementers.

Key Insights

Key Finding: Importance of Digital Activities

Based on the classification adopted for the analysis, most of the projects identified (41.67 percent) were “mid-level” digital projects, with a couple of digital activities implemented in much larger agrifood projects. Furthermore, 16.67 percent were “low-level” digital projects, with a primarily symbolic role for the digital component. And 23.61 percent were “largely digital” projects while 18.05 percent were “predominantly digital”.

Key Finding: Prominent Agriculture Subsector

The most prominent agriculture subsector in which digital tools have been applied is crop production (57 projects), followed by livestock (38 projects), fisheries and aquaculture (28 projects) and forestry and natural resource management (20 projects). It is important to note here that several projects are connected to two or more subsectors. This distribution highlights the importance of crop production and livestock in the region as a whole.

Key Finding: Subregional Coverage

Regarding subregional coverage, digital agriculture activities have been implemented the most across Eastern Africa, followed by Western Africa. Central Africa and Southern Africa are much less represented. This distribution corresponds largely to the intensity of digital agriculture at the regional level as observed in the literature.

Key Finding: Beneficiaries Involved

The most represented group of beneficiaries is government agricultural institutions such as ministries, extension and agricultural research entities. Policymakers and subregional/regional intergovernmental organizations may be added to that group. This reflects the fact that FAO’s institutional mandate puts the relationship with governments and public organizations in the foreground. Other well-represented beneficiaries include youth, farmers, farmers’ organizations and cooperatives, and women.

Key Finding: Promoted Digital Technologies

The most represented ones are the relatively simpler ones such as mobile applications or SMS/USSD or interactive voice response (IVR) services, together with the use of computers. The weak digital literacy of farmers and the increasingly important penetration of mobile phone-based services in Africa may explain why these technologies seem to be preferred in FAO’s projects.

Key Finding: Integration of Gender Equality

Regarding women and youth, a deeper analysis carried out shows that, while women were cited as beneficiaries in 56 percent of the projects, only 16 percent of respondents acknowledged that their projects was related to the cross-cutting theme of gender equality. Similarly, while 61 percent of projects cited youth as beneficiary, only 8 percent of respondents linked their digital activities to the priority programme on decent employment in agrifood systems (largely focused on youth). These findings may illustrate that women and youth are actually not benefiting enough from digital activities implemented in projects.

Key Statistics & Data

• In 2021, agriculture accounted for 18.9% of total GDP in Africa.
• Agriculture employs 54% of the continent’s population.
• Africa has 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land (AUC, 2015).
• By the end of 2022, Africa is projected to have more than 1.2 billion mobile connections.
• By the end of this decade, there will be more than 340 million 5G connections in Africa.
• 63% of all projects related to improving crop production and protection systems.

Methodology

The research methodology primarily consisted of an online survey conducted by the FAO Regional Office for Africa, targeting projects implemented in the region with a digital agriculture component. Out of 72 valid project entries, descriptive statistics were used to analyze survey questions related to agriculture subsectors, geographic focus, linkage with FAO programme priorities, beneficiaries, digital technologies promoted, use cases addressed, types of digital activities carried out, the implementing and funding partners, the challenges met, key results, the contribution to project outcomes, and respondents’ view on the adequacy of FAO response to stakeholders’ digital needs. Two deep dives were conducted on how FAO projects have addressed the use of digital tools for crop production and protection, and value chain competitiveness in the region.

Implications and Conclusions

The study emphasizes the importance of improving data collection, analysis, and sharing. Digital activities help increase production and productivity, build climate resilience, address climate hazards, provide more opportunities for youth, improve market integration, transparency, and reduction of transaction costs and financial inclusion. It estimates that FAO has so far been “somehow” effective in responding to countries’ needs, but the figures also indicate that FAO can improve its support. The study recommends foster digital awareness, advocate for improved digital access, promote data-driven agriculture, data ethics and improved data interoperability, support the scale-up of effective and sustainable digital agriculture solutions, enhance digital policies and governance, promote institutional coordination and partnerships, and enhance digital agriculture inclusion.