Articles
Blog articles
Transforming cassava wastes to wealth as a climate-change mitigation strategy in Nigeria
Cassava production and processing in Nigeria generates large quantities of hazardous wastes and residues. Aside from the environmental hazards, such wastes contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. An innovative climate-smart intervention in Nigeria is to re-use the cassava peels in animal feeds. This reduces the demand for maize for feed, creates new business opportunities from waste, reduces the hazards of the waste and reduces GHG emissions.
Read MoreGuarantee funds unlock finance for agri-entrepreneurship in West Africa
Timely completion of field preparation and grain harvesting is a major challenge for rice farmers across sub-Saharan Africa. A new business model led by young people is providing mechanised services to farmers for activities such as soil preparation and harvesting, helping them to intensify production and improve their income as a result.
Read MoreWhy expanding value chain access is important for young agripreneurs
When engaging with youth agripreneurs in Africa on the challenges they face, access to finance emerges as a key concern. Closer scrutiny of their business models generally reveals that young entrepreneurs are often not deemed creditworthy, or suitable for investment, primarily because they lack consistent and deep access to their perceived target markets. In short, their order books are lean and their access to markets is limited.
Read MoreDrones could become one of the main drivers of agricultural growth in Senegal
Malick Diagne is the head of GeoRisk Afric, a company founded in March 2016. He attended training sessions on drone usage for precision agriculture organised by CTA and the French company, Parrot, as part of the “Eyes in the Sky” project. In this blog, using his 12 years’ experience in environmental and natural resource management, the Senegalese head of the company explains the fascinating and critical innovation opportunities that drones provide for the gathering of geospatial data.
Read MoreUsing drones to boost agriculture in Burkina Faso
The ambitious objective of the “Eyes in the Sky, Smart Techs on the Ground” project, initiated by the Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), is to transform agriculture in African countries through the promotion of drone usage. I took part in the project as Director General of Cargitech Sarl, alongside several other African entrepreneurs.
Read MoreImpact Stories
Championing women and organic coffee farming in Jamaica
Vibrant reggae music, athletic prowess, flavoursome food and white sandy beaches are perhaps what Jamaica is best known for. Also coffee – but not so much the organic version. For over 20 years, Dorienne Rowan-Campbell has been working hard to change that.
Read MoreFarming by Phone to keep up with the Climate
A project known as MUIIS (Market-led, User-owned ICT4Ag-enabled Information Services), led by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), links farmers to satellite-based services that help them to increase crop yields. Tips and instructions sent to mobile devices get as specific as ‘spread fertilizer between 5 pm and 7 pm’ or ‘winds expected at 3 pm’. Something farmers say have increased crop yields and contributed to food security.
Read MoreAll Eyes on the Sky
Smallholders in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific are seeing their horizons broaden, as access to technology brings digital applications to agriculture. In Uganda, a project supported by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), has forged a partnership with Igara Tea Factory (IGTF) to transform cultivation through digital innovation.
Read MoreMarthe Montcho: Blogging for social change
Marthe Montcho started her blog, L’Agriculture au féminin or Women in Farming, in October 2013. Despite initially knowing very little about blogging, she quickly became a success as the blog grew in popularity. Montcho’s desire to fill what she saw as an information gap and empower female farmers, particularly in her home country of Benin, led to her winning the Youth in Agriculture Blog Competition (YoBloCo), organised by CTA in 2014.
Read MorePress release
CTA awards grants to support blockchain use in agriculture across ACP
CTA has awarded four grants to support the use of blockchain in agriculture across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP).
Read MoreProject increases Ugandan smallholder yields and incomes by 70%
Kampala, Uganda February 13. Leveraging big data, a CTA-led project has significantly increased crop yields and incomes for thousands of Ugandan smallholder farmers.
Read More20,000 Ethiopian Smallholders Targeted with Climate Smart Technology
CTA together with Farm Africa has launched a new project to promote the resilience of smallholder farmers against climate change in Ethiopia’s Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR). The launch is the third and final of a CTA initiative that supports the scaling of proven climate smart agriculture technologies in Jamaica, Mali and now Ethiopia.
Read MoreNew index to tackle food safety scourge and threat to African health and trade
Dakar, Senegal, October 2. The African Food Safety Index (AFSI) launched today will help to tackle the burden of foodborne diseases that a recent global assessment found to be comparable to that of malaria, HIV/AIDs or tuberculosis.
Read MoreNew report highlights promising signs of export diversification in African agricultural trade
KIGALI, 6 September 2018 – A new report highlights the role agricultural trade plays in Africa and draws out important policy measures that African governments will need to take to benefit fully from intra-African trade as well as global trade in agricultural products.
Read MoreICT Update
IT solutions are disruptive: they change the way things are working

Interview with Martin Njeru, the Account Director for Cojengo in the East Africa region.
Read MoreDeveloping sustainable ICT driven solutions and agroecology
Ezinne Merianchris Emeana a researcher at Coventry University discussed how the SmartAgroecology app is promoting the sharing of agro-ecological knowledge and skills amongst women farmers and extension personnel in Nigeria in order to help them achieve sustainable production and livelihood.
Read MoreCan access to data really transform agriculture for smallholders?
by Yanick Bakker , Jasmien Bronckaers , Fatma Ben Rejeb and Chris Addison
In order to feed 9 billion people by 2050, sustainable agricultural growth in needed, supporting an agricultural sector which produces enough food, which is inclusive and resilient, and which makes optimal use of innovation and digital solutions. Smallholder and family farmers must play a key role in achieving this. A 80% of the world’s food supply is produced by small-scale and family farmers, yet their full production potential is hardly reached.
Read MoreAggregating farmers for markets and agricultural support services
Agriculture is back at the top of Africa’s development agenda, enjoying the support of governments and attracting heavy investments from private sectors. Many of smallholder farmers across Africa that are central to the agricultural transformation taking shape on the continent, however, struggle to benefit from these developments due to their dispersed, small-scale and unorganised nature. Aggregation of smallholder farmers’ needs may provide the solution, says Norbert Tuyishime of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF).
Read MoreSatellite data for agricultural index insurance
How can we ensure that drought is no longer an outright disaster to smallholder farmers in Africa, but instead a manageable risk? With low-cost satellite-based index insurance products that monitor climatic conditions in near real-time and automatically trigger a pay-out when conditions are below normal. This helps farmers secure necessary credit for inputs, recover faster from bad seasons and sustainably improve their livelihoods.
Read MoreSpore
Nigeria increases tomato paste production with good practices
Nigerian tomato farmers are overcoming production challenges to increase the quality and quantity of their yields, and access a ready market for their produce.
Read MoreCycling for organic cocoa in Côte d’Ivoire
by Sophie Reeve and Cléophas Mosala
Innovative technologies in West Africa are reducing the environmental impacts of cocoa processing, and increasing farmer resilience to climate change.
Read MoreHow good urban farming can combat bad eating
Unhealthy diets pose a massive and growing health threat across the world. In Africa, traditional foods and inner-city farms could be the answer.
Read MorePublications
The next generation of farmers: successes and new opportunities

The global population is on track to surpass 9 billion by 2050 and exceed 11 billion by the end of the century. The world’s 500 million smallholder farms produce around 80% of our food and it is they who will have to carry the burden of increasing food production by over 70%. The information in this document was compiled as background reading material for the 53rd Brussels Briefing on The next generation of farmers: successes and opportunities.
Read MoreFood safety: a critical part of the food system in Africa
by Lebo Mofolo and Isolina Boto
Food safety is linked, directly or indirectly, to the achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially those pertaining to ending hunger and poverty, and promoting good health and well-being. Food and nutritional security is realised only when essential elements of a healthy diet are safe to eat. The information in this document was compiled as background reading material for the 52nd Brussels Briefing on Food safety: a critical part of the food system in Africa.
Read MoreGrowing food in the cities: Successes and new opportunities
by Lebo Mofolo and Isolina Boto
Towns and cities in the world’s developing countries are growing on an unprecedented scale. In 1960, the global urban population was 34% of the total; by 2014 54% of the total and growing. By 2050, the proportion living in urban areas is expected to reach 66% (UNDESA). Sub-Saharan Africa’s annual urban growth rate is 3.6%, almost double the world average. The information in this document was compiled as background reading material for the 50th Brussels Development Briefing on Growing food in the cities: Successes and new opportunities.
Read MoreAdoption de variétés de sorgho résilientes aux changements climatiques au Bénin
by Adéchoal Pierre Polycarpe Kayodé
Le présent document expose les résultats d’une expérience de diffusion et d’adoption au Bénin, de variétés de sorgho résilientes aux changements climatiques.Les principaux bénéficiaires de ces actions sont en priorité des agriculteurs vivant dans des zones du Bénin où les effets des changements climatiques sur la sécurité alimentaire sont effectifs. Pendant la période d’exécution des projets, un total de 399 producteurs avait adopté les variétés.
Read MoreAn ICT agripreneurship guide
This Handbook provides a step-by-step roadmap designed to equip aspiring ICT entrepreneurs, with the information and knowledge they need to start an ICT-based business in the agricultural sector, outlining key opportunities and challenges that will be encountered along the way. Using real-life examples, it provides strategies and pathways for averting common mistakes faced by early-stage entrepreneurs.
Read MoreEvents
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Jun 25
IBLI policy workshop for the Horn of Africa
ILRI, in collaboration with CTA, is organising a workshop on "IBLI sustainable scaling", targeting IGAD countries' policy makers, private industry actors and representatives of international organisations involved in disaster risk financing initiatives.
Location:Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
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May 9
Policy workshop: Climate finance to support agriculture in Mali
The level of climate finance in the agricultural sector is very small compared with other sectors. Less than 5% of global climate finance is targeted to agricultural sector and, even much less to smallholder farmers. This is in contrast to the responsibility placed on agricultural sector to produce more food by 2050 under climatic uncertainties.
Location:Bamako, Mali
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May 6
National workshop: Climate finance for agriculture in Nigeria
Agriculture is central to any debate on climate change given the enormous responsibility placed on the sector to produce 60% more food by 2050 despite changing climatic uncertainties. The case for increased investment in climate-smart agriculture has been articulated in different forums as a way to promote agricultural transformation and chart a path to scale up climate actions in agr…Location:Abuja, Nigeria
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Feb 12
General assembly meeting of the ICON project
The General assembly meeting of the Innovative Cooperative on Nutrition (ICON) gathers all its 16 Ashoka fellows members, in Dakar, Senegal to review all the activities carried out since its last meeting in March 2018 in Ouagadougou, Burkina and validate the action plan for the next 12 months.
Location:Dakar, Senegal
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Dec 18
High-level forum Africa-Europe: “Taking cooperation to the digital age”
The President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, as the current chairperson of the African Union, and the Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria, Sebastian Kurz, as Austria holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU, cordially invite African and European heads of state or government, CEOs of major global companies as well as innovative…Location:Bruno-Kreisky-Platz 1, 1220 Wien, Austria