From automated tractors, temperature and moisture sensors, all the way to aerial imagery and drones, farmers in most advanced agricultural systems are in an increasingly digital world, with a range of vital data available at the touch of a button.<\/p>\n
Yet, despite increasing threats such as climate change and the spread of new pests and diseases, farmers in Africa continue to have limited access to data. Often they still rely on information passed down from the previous generation or fellow farmers to inform what to grow and how.<\/p>\n
While it is valuable, this word-of-mouth knowledge sharing cannot keep up with the accelerating world of threats that farmers face today \u2013 from the supply chain shocks that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine to the many invasive alien species that cost Africa\u2019s agricultural sector an estimated $65 billion a year.<\/p>\n
In the face of these challenges, Africa\u2019s farmers need greater access to vital information and tools to help them respond to these threats promptly and effectively, while taking advantage of new opportunities that may emerge from ever-changing market conditions.<\/p>\n
Thankfully, a data revolution is underway on the continent, driven by emerging technologies that promise to democratise access to data by removing the burdens of gathering and processing large datasets.<\/p>\n
This major technological shift would ensure that those with the greatest need \u2013 namely, the smallholder farmers who make up at least 60% of Africa\u2019s total population \u2013 are first in line to access and benefit from them.<\/p>\n
For example, the Africa Agriculture Watch (AAgWa) web-based platform processes remotely-sensed data through satellite images and applies machine learning techniques to predict agricultural production. Based on its Africa Crop Production (AfCP) model, AAgWa provides regular crop production forecasts for nine crops across 47 African countries, mainly those essential for smallholder livelihoods. AAgWa forecasts cover beans, cassava, maize, millet, rice, groundnut, sorghum, wheat, and yam.<\/p>\n
Cutting-edge agri-tech
\nUsing a combination of remotely-sensed biophysical parameters retrieved from satellite images, historical production maps, and machine learning techniques, AAgWa\u2019s ambition is to help farmers and policymakers track crop growing conditions and make better decisions for improved outcomes.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, advances in machine learning techniques are also supporting Africa\u2019s farmers in more effectively identifying and addressing harmful crop pests and diseases, which are becoming more frequent with the acceleration of climate change.<\/p>\n
For instance, the Fall Armyworm (FAW) pest, first detected in Africa in 2016, is reported to cause yield losses for African farmers in excess of $9 billion a year. An app developed using Google\u2019s open-source machine learning platform TensorFlow equips farmers with unprecedented access to real-time diagnoses of FAW infestation and guidance on preventing its spread through pesticides and other treatments.<\/p>\n
Efforts are underway to train AI to diagnose various other crop diseases, ultimately providing more democratic access to important data on crop maladies.<\/p>\n
Scientists from the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, for example, have developed an AI-powered smartphone app called Tumaini, which can identify and differentiate symptoms of six banana diseases.<\/p>\n
The app also provides early warnings of ongoing disease spread directly into farmers\u2019 hands, sourcing information from a range of high-tech drone and satellite image analysis.<\/p>\n
Tested across countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America, the app is reported to have demonstrated a 90% success rate in detecting pests and diseases and is now used by more than 3000 banana farmers in the field, building the resilience of their harvest and the income this provides.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, in a discipline like agriculture, where innumerable threats to production and yields can arise at any moment, data is a farmer\u2019s best friend.<\/p>\n
Widening access to cutting-edge technologies is particularly timely for Africa\u2019s farmers, given that countries across the continent count among the most vulnerable to climate change, with many smallholder farmers on the frontlines of this global crisis.<\/p>\n
Now, harnessing the power of emerging predictive tools promises to not only build unprecedented access to agricultural data on the continent \u2013 from production levels to the identification of pests and diseases \u2013 but will also help farmers get ahead of potential shocks.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a famous saying, \u201cYou can\u2019t manage what you can\u2019t measure.\u201d Even further, \u201cYou can\u2019t be prepared for what you can\u2019t foresee.\u201d As Africa\u2019s farmers tackle the challenge of climate change, a solid bedrock of data \u2013 powered by innovative technologies \u2013 will prove a most invaluable ally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Harnessing the power of emerging technologies and data in African agriculture will be an invaluable ally for farmers as they tackle the challenges and potential shocks ahead, writes Ousmane Badiane, Executive Chairperson of AKADEMIYA2063.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":29158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,21],"tags":[7,26,22],"class_list":{"0":"post-29161","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"category-technology","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-technology"},"yoast_head":"\n