Solidaridad Southern Africa, has announced plans to use Rwanda’s model of collaboration between government and stakeholder in implementing agricultural policies especially digital programs that connect the farmer to buyers reducing replication of services.
The announcement comes following Solidaridad’s participation at the ongoing Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) 2024 in Kigali, where Rwanda showcased its agricultural practices such as the Agriculture Information and Communication Programme, attracting conference participants- especially Solidaridad Southern Africa.
Solidaridad Southern Africa is part of the global Solidaridad network, which is dedicated to promoting social justice and sustainability in supply chains to improve livelihoods, support gender equality, and promote environmentally sustainable practices.
In 2019, Rwanda’s Ministry for Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organization of United nations (FAO-Rwanda) launched the “agricultural digital services” developed for bringing agricultural services closer to rural farmers using the digital technologies.
Those digital platforms enable farmers easily access services regarding weather and crop calendar, cure and feed their livestock, agri-market place, e-nutrifood and Fall Armyworm monitoring and early warning system.
Shungu Kanyemba, Managing Director for Solidaridad Southern Africa while speaking to media at the forum said that the organization aims to demonstrate the potential of digital platforms to revolutionize agriculture across Africa and Rwanda is one place to learn from.
“What Rwanda has done is to set up an agriculture information steering committee where all the information that benefits the farmer and the …can be found in one place. This is what we want to replicate as we emphasis the importance of digital solutions in fostering agricultural resilience,” Kanyemba said.
Solidaridad manages programmes in Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe but intends to use this model to reach over 218 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa who live in extreme poverty, with the majority of the region’s populations living in rural areas and dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods.
One of these activities is the Solidaridad’s bundled services model that bring all agricultural services to a farmers using a single platform to enhance access, the productivity and resilience of smallholder farmers.
The bundled service model facilitates partnerships between farmers, businesses, and governments, fostering a supportive business ecosystem that drives progress in African agriculture.
Kanyemba said that they want to scale up this model to reach many African countries and one of the ways to do so is to copy the Rwandan model of collaboration between stakeholders.
“What we are learning from Rwanda is the collaboration between all stakeholders and that is the biggest secret that we have been lacking in order to scale up our model,” Kanyemba said.
This model provides a scalable and efficient approach to strengthening agricultural systems, making these services more affordable and accessible.
Kanyemba stated that it is time for Africa to unpack how bundled services, such as soil testing, weather data, insurance, and financial products, delivered through digital platforms, are improving access to essential services for smallholder farmers.
Candice Kroutz-Kabongo, Digital Innovations Lead for Solidaridad said that digital platforms can deliver affordable services to farmers and it is important to highlight the scalability and efficiency of bundled services for farmers and service providers.
“Data-driven digital tools can support better monitoring and decision-making. Digital tools not only streamline access to essential services but also enable better data collection and monitoring,” Kroutz-Kabongo said.
Solidaridad officials said that, if this happens, it will empower African countries to track agricultural progress and make informed decisions for policy development.
