This Week, on African Farms

A new UN report shows that global hunger fell for the third year in a row, but Africa still faces high food insecurity. Around 20% of people on the continent (about 309 million people) faced hunger in 2025.

Ghana's parliament has passed a bill to give cocoa farms protected status. The law sets harsh penalties for turning cocoa land into illegal gold mines. Once signed by the president, it will help protect future cocoa crops and require buyers to track where their cocoa is grown.

Kenya is lowering fertilizer and seed prices ahead of the late-year rains after dry weather hurt recent harvests. The government also plans to build dams to expand irrigation and protect farmers from future droughts.

In Nigeria, Agriculture Minister Abubakar Kyari has warned that poor seed quality, low research funding, and limited credit are causing food shortages. Many farmers are planting regular harvested grain instead of high-yielding certified seeds.

Wildfires in South Africa are damaging farm infrastructure, grazing land, and livestock. Local Fire Protection Associations are helping fight the fires, but farmers report having to rely mostly on their own resources to recover.

Namibia’s Environmental Investment Fund donated N$500,000 ($30,000) worth of animal feed to 3,000 livestock farmers in the Zambezi region after floods disrupted local supplies.

Kenya launched the Farmer Visibility (FaVi) digital initiative through the KCB Foundation, KCB Bank, and Heifer International. The program aims to create digital identities and improve access to loans and credit for 30,000 smallholder dairy farmers across 60 cooperatives.

EBID and Coris Holding signed a $92.3 million facility agreement to expand loans for agribusinesses, energy projects, and food value chains across West Africa.

The European Union signed a $46.16 million agreement with Rwanda to fund national agricultural development programs directly through the state budget.

Industrialist Simon Rudland commissioned a $25 million citrus processing factory in Beitbridge, Zimbabwe, to process local fruit into juice, essential oils, and animal feed.

The African Development Bank approved an $18.8 million grant for Ghana under the Regional West Africa Resilient Rice Value Chains project to boost local rice production and reduce imports.

The ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) approved a $10.04 million loan for G Farms Limited in The Gambia to expand its dairy and poultry processing facilities.

The World Bank GAFSP Grants has launched a new $163 million grant program. The funding is available to support climate-smart agriculture, food security, and smallholder innovation in vulnerable and low-income countries. The window closes on September 15.

The Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund (AATIF) is accepting funding applications from agribusinesses, cooperatives, and financial institutions. AATIF provides tailored debt and equity financing for projects that improve food security and strengthen agricultural value chains in Africa.