Africa Agriculture

Ghana’s agricultural sector is dominated by small-scale farmers, who make up 80% of the farming population. The reliance on smallholders presents challenges for food distribution because crop output is geographically dispersed across the country’s different ecological zones and results in high levels of post-harvest loss as food is transported...

Against a backdrop of increasingly severe and financially straining climate events and natural disasters, technology is poised to play an important role in maintaining and improving global agricultural output. The adoption of digital and precision farming practices has been shown to improve crop resiliency, and boost productivity and incomes,...

Historically, agriculture has been the central driver of development since the nation gained independence in 1960. The country has an abundance of natural resources, and its fertile lands and favourable climate have allowed it to position itself as a key producer and exporter of some of the world’s premier soft commodities, ensuring a crucial...

A $200m loan from the World Bank is set to improve the efficiency and profitability of Côte d’Ivoire’s cashew industry, while the government is stepping up efforts to tackle the illegal smuggling of crops.

Beyond raw materials export, local processing is the key goal of the national authorities, with a target of having 50% of produce processed in-country by 2020. However, there are a number of challenges hindering the achievement of this goal.

Agriculture in Algeria is primarily rain-fed and often suffers from droughts, which have worsened in recent years due to climate change. The government, therefore, has plans to expand irrigation networks to cover 2m ha, or 25% of arable land, by 2021 – 700,000 ha more than the 1.3m ha irrigated in 2018. This need was recognised some years ago...