The NDFR seeks to establish a precise, real-time, geo-referenced, and disaggregated database of farmers across Nigeria. (Image credit: AgroNigeria)

Sen. Abubakar Kyari, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, has officially inaugurated the National Digital Farmers Registry (NDFR) Multi-Stakeholder Collaborative Knowledge Sharing Platform, a strategic initiative designed to enhance technical understanding of NDFR best practices and validate recommendations for engagement, learning, and coordination across Nigeria’s agricultural ecosystem.

The NDFR seeks to establish a precise, real-time, geo-referenced, and disaggregated database of farmers across Nigeria, capturing key details such as location, commodities, production scale, gender, and age. Positioned as a cornerstone of the Agriculture Digital Public Infrastructure (AgDPI), the NDFR will facilitate farmer verification, targeted input delivery, financial inclusion, geospatial mapping, value chain integration, and data-driven agricultural planning.

Addressing participants at the National Stakeholder Workshop on Best Practices for NDFR, organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) in partnership with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Heifer International, Kyari highlighted Nigeria’s fragmented farmer databases built over years through federal, state, and partner programmes. He stated, “While these efforts have contributed useful insights, the absence of a unified, verifiable, and interoperable system has resulted in duplication, inconsistencies, resource leakages, and persistent challenges in accurately identifying genuine farmers.”

Kyari described the NDFR as a strategic pillar of the Renewed Hope Agenda and a critical step toward securing Nigeria’s food future. “His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has made it clear that the era of fragmented farmer databases and uncoordinated agricultural data must give way to a new era of harmonization and digital efficiency. To strengthen agricultural planning, deliver targeted interventions, and deepen accountability, Nigeria must operate a credible and unified farmer identification system. The National Digital Farmers Registry is therefore a strategic pillar of the Renewed Hope Agenda and a critical step toward securing our nation’s food future.”

Expanding on the registry’s capabilities, Kyari explained that it goes beyond verification by creating a single trusted system, unifying accurate information on farmers nationwide. “With one unified database across the 36 states and the FCT, the government can deliver inputs, mechanisation, extension services, credit, insurance, and other forms of support with the precision required to reach the right beneficiaries and promote true inclusion across the farming population.”

Kyari further noted that the NDFR will strengthen transparency, reduce duplication, prevent fraud, and support accurate planning. It is designed for interoperability with other national systems and digital agriculture platforms, enabling access to financial services, climate advisory tools, market information, mechanisation, and early warning systems. The initiative aligns with Nigeria’s commitment to the Kampala Declaration on Strengthening Digital and Data Systems for Agricultural Transformation under the CAADP Agenda.

He lauded IFAD’s partnership, saying, “Your leadership in advancing digital innovation in agriculture continues to strengthen our collective drive toward resilience, efficiency, and transparency across Nigeria’s food systems.” IFAD Country Director, Mrs Dede Ekoue, praised the government for prioritising the development of a NIN-empowered digital farmers registry, which promotes inclusivity and strengthens service delivery.

Lekan Tobe, Heifer International Country Director, emphasised that NDFR is guided by global best practices, capacity building, and a multi-stakeholder platform that consolidates farmer data nationwide. “Imagine being able to google farmers in Kano and they all come out, or farmers growing tomatoes in Katsina that helps all of us and that coordination is lacking to a large extent in the country now.”

Similarly, Brenda Mulele Gunde, IFAD ICT4D Global Lead, highlighted the NDFR as a coordinated national effort, consolidating datasets into a single source of truth for farmers’ information. She acknowledged potential challenges but expressed confidence in the initiative due to strong political will and shared stakeholder commitment.

Launched on 28 May 2025 under Nigeria’s Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy (NATIP) and the IFAD/Nigeria Digital Innovation Action Plan (DIAP), the NDFR Policy Dialogue Initiative continues to build stakeholder capacity, guide a unified registry rollout, and connect government institutions, private sector actors, farmers’ organisations, civil society, research institutions, and development partners.

MoFA intends to formally recognise schools that successfully operate school farms during the National Farmers’ Day celebration on 5 December 2025 in Ho. (Image credit: MoFA)

Eric Opoku, Ghana’s Minister of Food and Agriculture, has called on educational institutions across the country to adopt school farms as a central part of learning.

He believes that encouraging pupils and students to grow their own food will not only support nutrition in schools but also ignite a deeper interest in agriculture as a modern, profitable and respected profession.

Speaking at the Food, Agriculture, Technology, and Sustainability Conference in Ho  held under the theme “Rethinking the Future of Food and its Allied Systems in an Era of Sustainability and Circularity” — Opoku urged schools at all levels, from basic to tertiary, to embrace the concept. Introducing young people to agriculture early, he argued, is essential for helping them view the sector as one of the most promising career paths.

To further motivate institutions, the Minister announced that MoFA intends to formally recognise schools that successfully operate school farms during the National Farmers’ Day celebration on 5 December 2025 in Ho. He pointed out that many distinguished Ghanaians, including President John Dramani Mahama, the Asantehene and several Members of Parliament, are engaged in agriculture, demonstrating the sector’s potential to generate wealth and contribute to national development.

Mr Opoku also stressed the need to reshape young people’s perceptions of agriculture, noting that negative associations formed through punitive school activities such as compulsory weeding must be replaced with a more inspiring and accurate narrative. “Agriculture remains one of the richest professions globally, and our youth must embrace it to help reduce unemployment,” he said.

Supporting his call to action, Eric Danquah, international researcher emphasised the role of research and hands-on learning in driving agricultural advancement. He commended government efforts to establish a research fund that connects scientific findings to practical farming, particularly through extension officers working directly with communities.

Adding her perspective, Prof. Ibok N. Oduro of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology highlighted the importance of developing local and traditional food varieties, noting that doing so would significantly improve nutrition and public health among Ghanaians.

Understanding the impact of US tariff retreat on South African Farmers.

The recent decision by the United States to scale back some of its steep Liberation Day tariffs has offered a modest but welcome reprieve to a portion of South Africa’s agricultural sector.

Yet despite this development, many producers remain exposed to tariff pressures that continue to threaten market access and competitiveness in one of South Africa’s most important export destinations.

As Wandile Sihlobo, chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa and senior fellow in Stellenbosch University’s Department of Agricultural Economics, has observed, the latest move does little to address the broader vulnerability of the sector. “However, concern remains, since the recent modification only benefits a few agricultural industries and does not address the overall exposure of the sector to the US.”

Higher tariffs are effectively a tax on consumers in the importing country, and American households have been feeling the consequences through increased food prices since the tariffs were introduced earlier this year. Responding to these pressures, Washington has revised its policy by exempting a range of food items an acknowledgement that the original measures have had unintended and inflationary effects.

Among the products now exempt are coffee, tea, fruit juices, cocoa, spices, and a wide selection of fruit including avocados, bananas, coconuts, guavas, limes, oranges, mangoes, plantains, pineapples, tomatoes, various peppers, as well as beef and additional fertiliser products. For South Africa, this adjustment will particularly benefit exporters of oranges, macadamia nuts and fruit juice.

However, other key exports such as table grapes, wine, ostrich products and ice cream are excluded from the tariff relief and must still contend with elevated duties. This remains a concern for producers in regions such as the Western Cape, which depend heavily on the US market despite the relatively modest national share of agricultural exports heading to America. In 2024, the US accounted for around 4% of South Africa’s agricultural exports, valued at US$13.7bn.

South African exporters took advantage of a temporary pause in tariff increases in the second quarter of 2025, accelerating shipments and achieving a 26% year-on-year rise in agricultural exports to the US, reaching $161-million. But uncertainties remain as the country enters the table grape export season, where South Africa already faces a 30% import tariff significantly higher than the rates paid by competitors such as Chile and Peru, who face duties of roughly 10%.

If the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) is not renewed, South Africa’s tariff burden could grow further, climbing to around 33% when taking into account the Most Favoured Nation tariff levels that applied before the Liberation Day duties were imposed.

Negotiations with the US continue, but progress is slow. Other major economies, including EU member states and Japan, are still subject to tariff rates of between 15% and 20% even after recent agreements, highlighting the global difficulty of securing meaningful tariff concessions. Complicating matters further are strained diplomatic relations between South Africa and the US, particularly as Washington continues to “spread misinformation about the lies of genocide in South Africa”.

For now, the tariff adjustments introduce only limited relief. Many agricultural industries remain exposed, but the sector continues to diversify exports elsewhere around the world. Improved access to the US market would complement South Africa’s broader ambition to expand global export opportunities and sustain agricultural growth.

Bananas remain central to the Roselands community, forming both a cultural identity and a core source of income.

Banana growers along KwaZulu-Natal’s coast are facing a devastating crisis as Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV) tears through plantations, wiping out crops and threatening the livelihoods of rural communities.

The KwaNyuswa Agricultural Farm in Ramsgate has been hit especially hard, losing 3,000 banana plants since February 2025. The farm, which is community-owned, estimates its financial losses at around R500,000 – a blow that places 103 indirect beneficiaries at risk.

KwaZulu-Natal has long been fondly regarded as “kwelikabhanana”, a reflection of the province’s long-standing relationship with banana production. Bananas remain central to the Roselands community, forming both a cultural identity and a core source of income. At KwaNyuswa Agricultural Farm, a 25-hectare operation reclaimed in 2008, bananas have consistently been the flagship crop and the main revenue driver for the Roselands community trust.

That success, however, is now under severe threat. The highly destructive BBTV, which affects both banana and plantain plants, has rapidly spread across the region. The virus causes stunting and a characteristic “bunched” arrangement of newer leaves, which appear narrower and more upright than normal. Infected plants seldom produce fruit, making the disease catastrophic for farmers. Spread by the banana aphid or contaminated planting material, BBTV demands intensive labour for scouting and control—driving production costs sharply upward.

The severity of the outbreak prompted the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Nokuzola Capa, to meet banana growers from the Ugu District Municipality on 26 September 2025. On 12 November, she delivered agrochemicals to commercial, smallholder, and subsistence farmers battling the virus. Capa stressed that “the threat of BBTV in the Ugu District Municipality of KZN has been a persistent issue since 2015” and noted that the department had invested substantial resources in chemical support, adviser training, and community awareness.

These interventions have been welcomed by growers, but many say chemicals alone will not be enough. Sphephelo Ngubane, KwaNyuswa’s manager of farm operations and technical support, told Daily Maverick that replanting is essential for recovery. “We need items that are essential for the recovery of lost yields. This includes banana seedlings, MAP planting fertiliser, top dressing fertiliser, and irrigation input… [and a] packhouse revamp,” he said.

Ngubane emphasised that while the chemicals will help control aphids especially for small-scale farmers ongoing training, scouting, and record-keeping remain critical. “We continuously scout for new or primary symptoms… The most essential thing is to ensure field monitoring through scouting and record keeping… and to follow treatment protocols and recommendations by the research institutions such as ARC,” he said.

He added that more research is desperately needed, noting a lack of accessible information for farmers facing economically damaging diseases. Support from regional organisations such as the South Natal Banana Association has been invaluable, he said.

Ngubane concluded with a reminder of what is at stake for the South Coast: “Bananas are our community’s backbone. If we control BBTV now, we not only save a crop, but a whole rural community.”