Smallholder farmers in Ethiopia’s Jimma Zone are helping test a new model for African agriculture backed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Japan.
The project, Evidence-based Regenerative Agriculture to Address Climate Change in Africa, is supported by the Policy and Human Resource Development Grant (PHRDG), a Japan-financed bilateral trust fund managed by AfDB.
Established in 1994, PHRDG is AfDB’s longest-standing bilateral trust fund and supports technical assistance, human capital development and knowledge exchange in agriculture, food and nutrition security, climate change, debt management and health.
Japan has contributed more than $50 million to the trust fund.
The project is being implemented in Ethiopia by the Sasakawa Africa Association and combines farmer training, climate-resilient crop varieties, soil restoration techniques and Japanese digital agriculture technology.
On demonstration plots in Seka Chekorsa Woreda, farmers are using improved maize and wheat varieties with liming, vermicomposting, biochar-based fertilisers, reduced tillage and digital advisory tools.
Early data shows strong productivity gains. Wheat yields increased by 89%, from 1 293 kg per hectare to 2 443.7 kg per hectare, while maize yields rose by 272%, from 1 222 kg per hectare to 4 541.8 kg per hectare.
The project has reached more than 91 000 farmers in Ethiopia, including nearly 30 000 women.
AfDB Executive Director Tomoki Nakai said Japan’s partnership through PHRDG shows how innovation can help farmers respond to major agricultural challenges. “Japan’s partnership through PHRDG demonstrates how innovation can help farmers address some of the most pressing challenges facing African agriculture,” Nakai said.
“The value of this project lies not only in the results it delivers today, but also in the significant opportunities and lessons it offers for strengthening food security and resilient agricultural value chains through farmer-led approaches,” Nakai said.
Nakai led a June delegation to project sites to review progress and meet farmers, extension workers, researchers and partners.
The initiative is being carried out with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture and SoftBank Corp, now Greenin. It uses e-kakashi, an artificial intelligence-powered digital agriculture tool developed by SoftBank.
E-kakashi collects and analyses field and environmental data to help farmers and extension workers make better crop-management decisions.
AfDB Project Task Manager Innocent Musabyimana said field-level evidence will help identify which practices work best. “This project is helping us move from assumptions to evidence,” Musabyimana said.
“By measuring what happens in the field, from yield performance to soil conditions and emissions, we can better understand which practices are most effective and what farmers need to adopt them at scale,” Musabyimana said.
The project responds to challenges including soil acidity, declining fertility, low productivity, input shortages, drought, flooding and pests.
AfDB said the model could help smallholder farmers achieve higher productivity, healthier soils and more resilient farming systems.
–AfDB/ChannelAfrica–
