Artificial Intelligence in Sub-Saharan Africa – Agriculture Report

Imagine a region in which agriculture employs 230 million people, more than 52% of its workforce. A region in which agriculture accounted for 22% of its GDP in 2022. And a region that, in spite of those metrics, saw 237 million of its residents chronically undernourished, and 20% of its population facing the threat of hunger.

This region is Sub-Saharan Africa, where the average cereal yield is less than half the global average and about 14% of the average yield of the world’s best agricultural producers.

Amid these challenges and a rapid population growth, AI has the potential to empower millions of smallholder farmers across Africa to improve their lives and the lives of others. With 60% of the world’s remaining arable land in Africa, improving agriculture through AI is an enormous opportunity to generate real impact in Africans’ health.ca

AI is already revolutionising farming practices in the region: enabling precision farming techniques that boost yields and efficiency, optimising supply chains to reduce waste, and detecting and diagnosing diseases and pests to prevent massive crop losses.