• Home
  • Radio
  • TV
  • Advertisement
  • Disclaimer
  • Public Notice
    • Opinion
  • New Africa Business News
  • Contact
  • Log In
facebook
    • News
    • Business
    • Video
    • Entertainment
    • Sport
    • Jobs
    • Government
    • Immigrants
    • Investment
    • Gallery
      • Animal
      • Africa Map
    • NGO
    BREAKING NEWS
    African Development Bank and Google Signs Agreement on Digital Transformation
    Contemporary Leadership in Nigeria’s Central Bank will enable to revive Confidence in Nigeria’s Banknotes Tony Elumelu disclosed
    Afreximbank exhorted African Nations to give Premium to Export Trading Companies to strengthen Small Medium Enterprises in International Marketing
    Malawi’s Financial Market Dealers Association has advised the Reserve Bank of Malawi to latch Fissures in the Forex Market
    $5 Billion has been committed by the African Petroleum Producers Organization for the Establishment of the African Energy Bank
    $20 Million has been endorsed by the AfFB to enhance the business to strengthen investments for Climate-Smart Agriculture in Mozambique AfDB Divulged
    Nigeria’s Telecom Contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) Hits 16 per cent in the Second Quarter of 2023- report
    Philip Mpango Vice President of Tanzania called for a Global Partnership to address the existing Demographic Emergency
    Dr. Akinwumi Adesina President of the AfDB raised an eyebrow at the Improvement to Failing Global Financial Architecture
    N125 billion hoisted by MTN Nigeria through Commercial Paper Issuance by way to improve its Financing Alternatives

    Africa’s Agricultural Sector set for Exponential Growth with a Projected Value of $trillion in a Decade, Research Reveals

    Posted On 30 Jun 2021
    By : New Africa Business News, Staff Correspondent
    Comments: 10

    By Richard Adorsu-

    Photo Credit: National Geographic Society

    NEW AFRICA BUSINESS NEWS (NABN) Accra, Ghana- Africa’s agricultural sector is set for exponential growth in the coming decade, research commissioned by Microsoft and compiled by Africa Practice reveals. With a projected value of $trillion by 2030, the continent is poised to become the global Centre of agritech solutions and has also seen rapid growth in e-agriculture solutions.

    With agriculture sustaining 70 percent of Africa’s livelihoods, Microsoft believes that agriculture is a key sector in Africa. Developing agritech solutions to enable data-driven, precise and connected farming will help farmers across Africa optimize yields, boost farm productivity and increase their profitability. Leveraging our extensive partnerships and initiatives network, Microsoft, through its 4Afrika initiative, is committed to ensuring that all farming communities are equipped with the latest tools like AI, IoT and edge computing to improve productivity and sustainability across the sector.

    Africa is fast becoming a global leader in the agritech space – between 2016 and 2019 the agritech sector grew by 44 percent year-on-year, and the continent has registered the highest number of agritech services in the developing world, reaching over 33 million smallholder farmers to date.

    Agriculture already accounts for 14 percent of GDP in Africa and for 52 percent of the continent’s workforce. It’s expected that as the continent’s middle class rapidly grows, they will drive increased demand for fresh produce, while the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) could boost intra-African trade by 49 percent. Through increased investments in inputs, storage facilities and irrigation infrastructure, Africa is expected to increase its agricultural output by up to three times by 2030.

    Smallholder farmers account for 80% of the farming community, and it’s predicted that up to 200 million smallholders will be registered for agritech solutions by 2030. Mobile connectivity is predicted to reach over 55 percent by 2030, compared with 45 percent currently, meaning that over 85 percent of smallholder farmers could have access to feature or smartphones and mobile solutions. This is critical, as many smallholder farmers live in remote areas, are hard to reach, and lack purchasing power on their own.

    Agribusinesses provide tech services to these farmers, using digital tools to reach smallholders with extension services. With ongoing Covid-19 restrictions on movement, interacting with farmers digitally has become critical. Last year saw considerable growth across the continent in mobile money usage, e-commerce platforms, big data and e-extension services, all of which promise to drive further progress in agritech. Movement restrictions have seen more farmers and agribusinesses turning to e-commerce platforms, bolstering distribution chains.

    Agritech solutions have a direct impact on the farmers they engage with. Twiga Foods links smallholder farmers in rural Kenya to informal retail vendors in cities. With Twiga’s mobile based business-to-business food supply platform, vendors can order fresh produce from farmers across Kenya at competitive prices.

    Another 4Afrika partner, NFrnds, brings the power of digital to subsistence and smallholder farmers in Africa and other emerging markets, via mobile. The platform provides vital information to users, and has nurtured a community of farmers who network with and support each other. It also provides access to financial services for market segments that are traditionally underserved by formal banking and insurance.

    The adverse impacts of climate change have highlighted the need to adopt climate-friendly, sustainable agricultural practices, including effective tools to manage climate-related information, and ensuring that sustainable practices trickle down to smallholder farmers.

    There is a need for more robust and sustainable farming practices, which requires innovative technology solutions. Extension services for smallholder farmers is one way of providing relevant information and implementation strategies. The development of big data platforms is a means of informing farmers about agricultural best practices.

    SunCulture identified access to water as the biggest challenge for most farmers, so the first product they developed was a solar-powered pump combined with micro irrigation. Through precision agriculture, Microsoft is supporting SunCulture with an IoT platform and Azure machine learning tools for their solar-based system, which allows them to offer farmers personalized recommendations and solutions through their mobile phones. This helps them to be better, more productive farmers.

    Richard Kiplagat, Group Director and MD East Africa for Africa Practice comments that, “Across Africa, agricultural transformation is well and truly underway. The opportunity for the sector to address some of the continent’s most pressing challenges – including food security, income inequality and livelihoods for our fast growing and youthful population – is immense.

    The big question is how to catalyze this momentum especially given the urgent need for a rapid post-Covid recovery. Our findings clearly show that agritech holds great promise as an effective tool to improve productivity, decision-making and access to markets. Africa Practice is excited about the results of the study and its potential to inform the growth of the agricultural sector on the continent.”

    “Technology has the potential to change the face of farming, using smart tools and platforms for precision farming, predicting weather patterns, maximizing the use of scarce water resources. By harnessing agri-tech, we can help solve the pressing issues around food security to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #2 of Zero Hunger, and enhance economic development in the process. We’re excited to work with our partners in building locally-relevant technology solutions that are mindful of the challenges local farmers face, offering solutions to farmers to deliver meaningful impact,” says Amrote Abdella, Regional Director, Microsoft
    4Afrika.

     

    For New Africa Business News Richard Adorsu Reports,  Africa Correspondent

    Email: Info@newafricabusinessnews.com

    AFRICA’S MOST READ AND FASTEST GROWING GLOBAL NEWSPAPER – www.newafricabusinessnews.com

    About the Author
    New Africa Business News Staff Correspondent
    • google-share
    Previous Story

    $2 Billion to be expended by the African Development Bank (AfDB) on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)

    Next Story

    Nigeria’s Sterling Bank Plc, in alliance with StearsData published an in-depth manuscript for the Agriculture Sector in Nigeria

    10 Comments

    1. Nile June 30, 2021 at 4:18 am Reply

      Agritech solutions to enable data driven, precise and connected farming will help farmers across Africa optimize yields, boost farm productivity and increase profitability very good. Let’s do it. Nile in Windhoek NAMIBIA

      • New Africa Business News, Staff Correspondent June 30, 2021 at 4:32 am Reply

        Thanks for reading, Africa’s fastest growing online newspaper. Please forward http://www.newafricabusinessnews.com

    2. Randy June 30, 2021 at 4:22 am Reply

      Lovely a trillion dollar market, in Africa’s agriculture sector within the next 10 years. Gaborone in Botswana. Randy

      • New Africa Business News, Staff Correspondent June 30, 2021 at 4:33 am Reply

        Thanks for reading, Africa’s fastest growing online newspaper. Please forward http://www.newafricabusinessnews.com

    3. Henry June 30, 2021 at 4:25 am Reply

      Thank you Journalist Richard for this detail report. Henry in Nairobi KENYA

      • New Africa Business News, Staff Correspondent June 30, 2021 at 4:33 am Reply

        Thanks for reading, Africa’s fastest growing online newspaper. Please forward http://www.newafricabusinessnews.com

    4. Freeman June 30, 2021 at 4:29 am Reply

      Agriculture is Africa. Yes farming sector in Africa is going to be multi trillion dollar in the Continent. Nairobi in Kenya. Freeman

      • New Africa Business News, Staff Correspondent June 30, 2021 at 4:33 am Reply

        Thanks for reading, Africa’s fastest growing online newspaper. Please forward http://www.newafricabusinessnews.com

    5. Francis June 30, 2021 at 4:31 am Reply

      Great and educative newsletters, thank you. Francis in Luanda ANGOLA

      • New Africa Business News, Staff Correspondent June 30, 2021 at 4:34 am Reply

        Thanks for reading, Africa’s fastest growing online newspaper. Please forward http://www.newafricabusinessnews.com

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    *
    *

    Members Area

    • Members Log In

    RECENT

    POPULAR

    COMMENTS

    African Development Bank and Google Signs Agreement on Digital Transformation

    Posted On 28 Sep 2023

    Contemporary Leadership in Nigeria’s Central Bank will enable to revive Confidence in Nigeria’s Banknotes Tony Elumelu disclosed

    Posted On 27 Sep 2023

    Afreximbank exhorted African Nations to give Premium to Export Trading Companies to strengthen Small Medium Enterprises in International Marketing

    Posted On 26 Sep 2023

    New Africa Business News, Africa Leader of the Year 2022-2023 Goes to Ethiopia's Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed

    Posted On 24 Feb 2023

    New Africa Business News 2022-2023 Person of The Year Goes to Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba (PLO Lumumba)

    Posted On 05 Jan 2023

    New Africa Business News, Person of the Year 2021-2022, Goes to African Women

    Posted On 29 Jan 2022

    Thanks for reading, Africa’s fastest...

    Posted On 26 Feb 2023

    Thanks for reading, Africa’s fastest...

    Posted On 26 Feb 2023

    Thanks for reading, Africa’s fastest...

    Posted On 26 Feb 2023

    Facebook

    Latest Posts

    African Development Bank and Google Signs Agreement on Digital Transformation

    Contemporary Leadership in Nigeria’s Central Bank will enable to revive Confidence in Nigeria’s Banknotes Tony Elumelu disclosed

    Afreximbank exhorted African Nations to give Premium to Export Trading Companies to strengthen Small Medium Enterprises in International Marketing

    Recent Posts

    • African Development Bank and Google Signs Agreement on Digital Transformation
    • Contemporary Leadership in Nigeria’s Central Bank will enable to revive Confidence in Nigeria’s Banknotes Tony Elumelu disclosed
    • Afreximbank exhorted African Nations to give Premium to Export Trading Companies to strengthen Small Medium Enterprises in International Marketing
    • Malawi’s Financial Market Dealers Association has advised the Reserve Bank of Malawi to latch Fissures in the Forex Market
    • $5 Billion has been committed by the African Petroleum Producers Organization for the Establishment of the African Energy Bank

    Categories

    • Business
    • Education
    • Entertainment
    • Featured
    • Government
    • Immigrants
    • Investment
    • News
    • NGO
    • Obituary
    • Opinion
    • Public Notice
    • Sport
    • Video

    Tag Cloud

    african economy business africa

    Contact Form

    1. Name *
      * Please enter your name
    2. Email *
      * Please enter a valid email address
    3. Message *
      * Please enter message
    Copyright 2019 New Africa Business News, Inc. A Global International Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.