AFS Summit: African farmers discuss impact of improved finances, technology on food systems

Agricultural experts from across Africa, last week, met in Rwanda for the annual Africa Food Systems (AFS) Summit to advance conversation on transformative agricultural practices and policies to achieve sustainable food systems across the continent.

The summit, themed “Innovate, Accelerate and Scale: Delivering Food Systems Transformation in a Digital and Climate Era” held between 2-6 September. It brought together diverse stakeholders, including world leaders, investors, academia, farmers’ organisations, among others.

The AFS Forum is the world’s premier forum for African agriculture and food systems organised annually to spotlight innovations, technologies, best practices, business models, policy delivery mechanisms, and investments to accelerate food systems transformation in Africa and beyond.

With youth and women at the helms of this year’s gathering, the organiser said it also seeks to encourage greater high-level commitment to addressing challenges facing Africa’s food systems.

Some of the experts and farmers who spoke at the different stages of the five-day summit, argued that improved finances and technology are potent ways to transform the challenging agricultural landscape in Africa.

Across the different corridors/pavilions at the summit, growers of different commodities also showcased producer-friendly insurance, tractor hire scheme and solar power project initiatives from Heifer International and its strategic partners to decision makers present.

From Nigeria, representatives of Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) and the Kano State government, during their side meetings, showcased how sustainable agricultural practices (climate-smart models) being implemented under the Kano State Agro Pastoral Development Project (KSADP), are helping to transform the face of agricultural practices and farmers livelihood in the state.

Consequently, farmers who participated at the conference shared their stories, highlighting how strategic investments in technology and financing can significantly boost agricultural productivity, improve food security, and enhance livelihoods for millions of farmers across Africa.

Heifer’s support

Some farmers explained to delegates at the summit how catalytic financing and technology have empowered them to increase productivity and incomes, marking out a clear path to accelerated food systems transformation.

Some of the farmers are partners of Heifer International, a global nonprofit organisation which leverages technology and innovation, and works with key government, development partners, and local communities to end hunger and poverty.

At various side events during the forum, smallholder farmers within Heifer’s ecosystem outlined the organisation’s impact on their incomes.

Agri-Insurance and Mechanisation

According to a statement shared with PREMIUM TIMES, Felicia Gbukka, a rice farmer from Nigeria, narrated how Heifer-led initiatives in agriculture insurance and mechanisation enabled her to build resilience against losses and improve productivity.

“A heavy flood came in 2021 and my one hectare of farm was wiped out.Then Heifer and its partners came to Benue State and compensated those of us who had signed up for the insurance scheme. That money helped me purchase inputs for the next farming season. In 2022, I progressed to 10 hectares,” the farmer was quoted to have said.

“Today, I have 15 hectares of rice farm. In two weeks, I’ll start harvesting. The tractors’ scheme helped me a lot to increase productivity, then the insurance scheme helped me avoid bankruptcy.”

Partnering with key stakeholders such as Leadway Insurance, Olam Agri, Pula Advisors, and ThriveAgric, in Nigeria, Heifer said it created and funded a system that automatically triggers insurance payouts to smallholder farmers when certain conditions are met.

The organisation said the compensation received via the Pay-at-Harvest Area Yield Index Insurance, a key vehicle of the initiative, enabled farmers like Ms Gbukka, and over 3000 others similarly affected smallholder farmers in Northern Nigeria, to refinance for the next farming season.

Existing concerns

In 2022, PREMIUM TIMES reported how the devastating flood that affected over 26 of Nigeria’s 36 states swept across expansive agricultural fields, destroying crops, businesses and infrastructures, leaving a dead toll of over 600 people according to authorities.

Like in 2022, several farmlands were also submerged last year. Farmers across major agricultural heartlands recorded significant losses, although the impact of the floods was not as severe as the previous year.

Nevertheless, the impact of the damage is evident in the state of food availability, accessibility and affordability across the country amidst significant surge in the prices of staple food largely orchestrated by government policies and changing weather conditions.

This year, several farmers have also incurred significant losses due to drought (delayed rainfall ) and excessive rainfall in some parts of the country so far.

Similarly, PREMIUM TIMES four-part investigation published recently revealed how lack of effective storage facilities, transportation systems and government negligence among others are aggravating post-harvest losses in Africa’s most populous country amidst lingering food scarcity.

In the face of these challenges, Heifer noted that the tractor scheme that helped Ms Gbukka to build resilience in 2022 after the flood is a key part of its mechanisation initiative in Africa.

In partnership with Hello Tractor, an Agritech company, a PAYG tractor financing service is facilitating affordable tractor rental services to smallholder farmers across Africa, Heifer said.

“Beneficiary farmers are recording increased incomes as high as 227%, equipment owners are seeing enhanced profitability, young people are getting jobs, and Hello Tractor is well positioned to attract investment that propels significant growth,” Heifer said.

Speaking to leaders at the event, Adesuwa Ifedi, Heifer International’s Senior Vice President, African Programs, gave insights into the role of digital solutions in revolutionising Africa’s agriculture.

She highlighted the importance of digital technologies in food processing, e-marketing, and food waste reduction.

“New data is emerging from the work done by innovators in the agtech space that can now be used to effectively assess the risk of investing in this sector and shift the way we price risk. Leveraging this new data can open the door to more investment into the sector,”she said.

Lekan Tobe, Heifer International’s Country Director, Nigeria, said: “Climate change can result in catastrophic losses for smallholder farmers, and we must work hard to close some of these gaps.

“For example, in Africa, we have seen cases where a whole village is wiped out by floods. This is why we, especially for smallholder farmers, prioritise removing some of these pain points. We can do more if we work together,” he said.

Solar-Powered Productivity

Members of the Dwaniro Dairy Farmers Cooperative Ltd., one of the farming cooperatives Heifer works with in Uganda, told the Kigali conference about the huge impact that renewable energy investments had had on their incomes.

“Since Heifer came in and supported us with the use of solar components,” said Charles Ibona, General Manager of the cooperative’s processing plant.

This, he said, “significantly reduced our diesel costs, giving us more income as the money for diesel has been saved.”

Kawooya Steven, Production Manager of the cooperative’s processing plant, said: “Solar as a source of energy is more reliable. Our coolers need a reliable source of energy, so when with solar, we are very sure that our milk will be well preserved compared to using other sources of energy. Also, with solar, our production costs have gone down.”

“Just by establishing a power station run by solar in a community,” said William Matovu, Heifer International’s Country Director, Uganda, “we are not just lighting up the area, but also stimulating production and productivity.

This is catalysing growth of other small businesses in the area, local schools are similarly affected, smallholder farmers are increasing their incomes and investing in the local economy. It is a game changer because the community has changed. For us, this is what impactful transformation looks like.”

Collaboration for Transformation

During the forum, Heifer said its mechanisation initiative in Rwanda was also launched. In partnership with Hello Tractor and the Rwandan Ministry of Agriculture, the organisation said it handed over the first batch of 15 smart tractors to farmer representatives from across the country to boost agricultural productivity.

On his part, Jehiel Oliver, Hello Tractor Founder , emphasised the initiative’s potential to revolutionise agricultural productivity.

“These tractors will not only enhance efficiency but also support farmers nationwide,” he stated.

The groups said the mechanisation initiative combines technology with generations of local farming expertise, ensuring that new tools complement traditional practices and are adapted to local crops and environmental conditions.

Sasakawa Intervention

In his remarks, Kano State Governor Abba Yusuf, who was represented by the state’s Agriculture Commissioner, Danjuma Mahmoud, explained the collaborative efforts of organisations, particularly the Sasakawa Africa Association, in advancing food security and promoting agricultural transformation in Kano and Nigeria at large.

He specifically highlighted the pivotal role of the KSADP—an initiative of the state government with funding support from the Islamic Development Bank and the Lives and Livelihoods Funds.

He said the KSADP initiative is driving the state’s agricultural development agenda while embracing climate-smart practices to ensure sustainability.

“The Kano State Agro Pastoral Development Project (KSADP) funded by the Islamic Development Bank and Lives and Livelihoods Funds has achieved massive gains,” a statement issued by SAA’s Communication Officer, Moses Nonegoatse, quoted the governor as saying.

He added that the KSADP initiative efforts align with the government’s agricultural development agenda and feed into their blueprint to reach smallholder farmers.

“We are opening new frontiers in agriculture and sustainability, and we are engaging the private sector,” the statement said.

Speaking during a side event themed “Food systems transformation: Emerging insights from mega initiatives,” Godwin Atser, SAA’s country director, lamented that the poor adoption of innovative technology among farmers has kept agricultural production significantly lower in Nigeria.

“Sadly, Nigerian farmers are back where Indian farmers were in the early 1970s. Low productivity is a major cause of rural poverty,” Mr Atser noted.

He explained that there is a need to grow the agricultural sector to have a transformational impact on tackling poverty.

While reiterating SAA’s commitment towards boosting agricultural productivity across Africa, Mr Atser explained that agriculture contributes 20—30 per cent of the Gross Domestic Products of several countries in Africa.

“So, if we achieve agricultural transformation as a country, 50% of our problems will be gone,” he said.

The official noted that they are leveraging funding support by the Nippon Foundation, to assist the government’s efforts in achieving food, nutrition, and income security for smallholder farmers in Nigeria by promoting climate-smart technologies and the adoption of regenerative, market-oriented and nutrition-sensitive agriculture practices.