Insurance is helping farmers recover from droughts and floods before crises deepen – as climate shocks intensify and the shadow of El Niño threatens. Farmers Aminata Tambedou and Hafia Salim have watched extreme weather rolling across their homelands, crippling harvests and killing dreams. Both have braced for business setbacks and growing hunger. But both Tambedou…
Globally, agriculture faces mounting pressures. These are driven by climate change, land degradation, labour shortages, supply chain disruptions and the demand for food from a growing population. At the same time, productivity is uneven. For example, maize yields in the US often exceed 10 tons per hectare. These high yields are driven by mechanisation, improved…
Agricultural experts, lenders and corporate executives are calling for increased investment in rural logistics and transport systems across Africa, warning that weak infrastructure is preventing millions of smallholder farmers from accessing profitable markets despite gains in farm productivity. Speaking during the 2026 Africa CEO Forum 2026 in Kigali, panelists said post-harvest losses, inadequate cold storage,…
Across Rwanda, women farmers are quietly building some of the most resilient cooperative businesses in African agriculture. What began as small savings groups in rural districts is evolving into something much more significant: locally owned agricultural economies that move milk, meat, eggs, crops, and capital communities every day. Having worked in agricultural development across Africa…
In rural Ethiopia, smallholder farmer Ayelech Tarekegn Mekebo transformed a single local cow into a productive dairy enterprise with support from the World Bank-financed Livestock and Fisheries Sector Development Project. Through improved breeding, cooperative membership, and union-level processing, she now earns steady income and dividends. Her journey shows how targeted investments unlock rural jobs and…
The SASSAM platform provides soil analysis, field event logging, pest and disease identification, weather forecasting, and AI-driven forecasting. The Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) has unveiled an initiative to drive modernisation in the agriculture sector in the Eastern Cape. Named the South African System of Systems for Agricultural Modernisation (SASSAM), the initiative looks…
Angry French farmers are calling for more protests over the government-backed slaughter of cattle herds affected by so-called Lumpy Skin Disease (LSD). On Thursday there were clashes between riot police and demonstrators in the southern Ariège department, after vets were called in to destroy potentially contaminated cattle at a farm. Elsewhere in the south, farmers…
Corn and soybean farmer Don Swanson prepares to harvest his corn crop as he and other Iowa farmers struggle with the effects of weather and ongoing tariffs resulting from the trade war between the U.S. and China that continue to affect agricultural business, in Eldon, Iowa, on Oct. 4, 2019. Kia Johnson | Reuters President…
Genebanks and global cooperation deliver versatile, climate-resilient solutions for farmers Lima, Peru (06 November 2025) – The same disease that caused the Irish Potato Famine nearly two centuries ago still devastates potato crops worldwide, inflicting up to USD 10 billion in annual losses. Now, climate change is driving the disease higher into the Andes and…
Nairobi — Low insurance penetration and high premiums are leaving millions of Kenyan and other African farmers exposed to climate shocks, industry players have warned, highlighting a growing disconnect between agriculture’s contribution to GDP and its insurance coverage across the continent. Speaking during the Africa Reinsurance Climate and Insurance Workshop, Phocas Nyandwi, Regional Director at…
