This Week, on African Farms

Up to 1.3 million jobs across Africa are now at risk following the expiration of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), a 25-year-old trade deal with the United States. The deal had allowed many African countries to sell their products to the U.S. tax-free, but its end means key industries, like clothing in Kenya and cars in South Africa, will now face high taxes on their exports. This creates a major challenge for the continent and is forcing a complete rethink of its trade strategy.

The European Union has once again postponed its flagship anti-deforestation law (EUDR), leaving African producers in a state of anxiety. The law requires commodities like cocoa, coffee, and palm oil to be proven deforestation-free. For millions of smallholder farmers in countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Ethiopia, the delay prolongs the uncertainty around the costly compliance hurdles they will need to meet to maintain access to their largest export market.

To strengthen its livestock sector, Côte d’Ivoire is launching an animal traceability system. The government has partnered with French tech company Vet’Tronic on a pilot project to electronically identify and register livestock. The goal is to better manage animal health and curb disease outbreaks like African swine fever, which has cost the country’s pig industry an estimated $15 million in recent years.

Precision agriculture is gaining ground in South Africa as farmers adapt to an unstable electricity supply and climate pressures. Many producers are now turning to solar-powered irrigation to keep operations running during loadshedding. In response, new irrigation systems are being designed to run on lower pressure, helping farmers meet crop demands without excessive power use and building long-term resilience.

Morocco’s state-owned OCP Group reported a sharp 21% increase in sales for the first half of 2025, reaching $5.7 billion. As a global leader in phosphate-based fertilizers, the company attributed the strong performance to higher international demand from India and Europe, as well as a surge in export prices. The results highlight the company's key role in the global food supply chain.

In West Africa, a Solar Sister and Koolboks partnership has officially launched, committing to provide 1,000 women entrepreneurs with solar-powered technologies by 2028. The “Powered By” initiative will leverage Solar Sister’s distribution network and Koolboks’ off-grid refrigeration to provide income-generating tools across Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania. The goal is to address the continent's post-harvest losses by making cold storage accessible.

South Africa’s canned fruit industry is facing a perfect storm of rising costs, extreme weather, and shrinking global demand. With farmers already operating at break-even profit margins, the recent expiration of AGOA adds another layer of pressure. Producers now face a 40% tariff in the U.S. market, a major setback compared to the 17% tariff paid by their European competitors.

Africa's annual food import bill has hit an unsustainable $70 billion, a problem that regional leaders highlighted at a major farmers' congress in Kigali this week. They are calling for urgent investment in local farming to grow more food on the continent and reverse this trend. The biggest challenge, they said, is the lack of affordable loans for farmers, as banks lend very little to the agriculture sector and often charge extremely high interest rates of over 24%.

Côte d’Ivoire has signed a $156.8 million deal with Italian agribusiness firm Bonifiche Ferraresi to develop a massive 10,000-hectare pilot farm. The project aims to slash the country’s $2.9 billion annual food import bill by boosting local production of high-demand crops like maize, millet, and yams. The deal reflects a broader national strategy to enhance domestic food security and reduce commodity dependence.

Tunisia has rolled out a new $41.45 million program to strengthen farmer resilience in its northern regions amid a prolonged drought. The eight-year project, jointly funded by the government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), will focus on inclusive development for small-scale mountain agriculture, helping communities adapt to severe water shortages.

Namibia has launched a $1.5 million Potato Value Chain Development Scheme to boost local production and reduce imports. The plan, part of a broader $13.5 million agronomy strategy, will provide farmers with a 50% subsidy for certified seed potatoes and a 25% subsidy for fertilizers. The goal is to more than double potato production from 8,200 tons to 20,000 tons by 2030.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) have signed a $1.2 million agreement to support sustainable agriculture in Rwanda. The grant will fund a project in the Gatsibo District focused on rehabilitating 500 hectares of marshland, developing rural infrastructure, and creating green jobs for youth as part of a broader climate resilience program.