Agriculture ministers from several African countries, including The Gambia, have called for the digitalisation of the sector over the next five years (2025-2030) to address problems of risk and the distribution faced by smallholder farmers in Africa.
The ministers presented the proposal at the Financing Smallholder Farmers in Africa conference held on March 17-18, 2025. The conference, on the theme, “Scaling Finance for Smallholder Farmers in Africa,” was organised by the African Development Bank in collaboration with the Pan-African Farmers organisation (PAFO).
The Gambian minister of Agriculture Demba Sabally emphasised the importance of organising smallholder farmers into associations to improve their access to finance. “The next task is to strengthen the digital sector, the digital platform and the system for registration of farmers, and to provide them with real assistance,” he said, adding that the digitalisation of agriculture will eliminate intermediaries, whose activities often increase financial costs for smallholder farmers.
