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Agriculture in Africa: the emerging role of artificial intelligence.

Adebola, Titilayo; Ibeke, Ebuka

Authors

Titilayo Adebola



Contributors

C. Ncube
Editor

D. Oriakhogba
Editor

I. Rutenberg
Editor

T. Schonwetter
Editor

Abstract

This chapter critically considers the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to agriculture in Africa. It contends that, while African countries can utilise AI to address agricultural challenges, realising the full potential of AI in agriculture requires the judicious adaptation of pervasive AI technologies to serve African interests. Africa's young, vibrant population along with the movement of people, goods and services around the continent, promoted under the African Union's (AU) Agenda 2063 provide a fecund platform for AI-driven agricultural transformation. This is pivotal because of the multilayered agricultural paradoxes on the continent. For instance, Africa is endowed with an abundance of uncultivated arable land and diverse agro-ecological zones, from rain-forest vegetation to dry and arid vegetation, which engender the growth of wide-ranging food and cash crops, yet it suffers an alarming increase in food insecurity. An AU, United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN (FAO) Report on Food Security and Nutrition in Africa confirmed that 281.6 million people on the continent, comprising one-fifth of the population, faced hunger in 2020; 346.4 million Africans suffered from severe food insecurity while 452 million suffered from moderate food insecurity in the same year.

Citation

ADEBOLA, T. and IBEKE, E. 2023. Agriculture in Africa: the emerging role of artificial intelligence. In Ncube, C., Oriakhogba, D., Rutenberg, I. and Schonwetter, T. (eds.) Artificial intelligence and the law in Africa. Johannesburg: Lexis Nexis [online], Chapter 14. Available from: https://myacademic.co.za/product/artificial-intelligence-and-the-law-in-africa/

Online Publication Date Dec 31, 2023
Publication Date Dec 31, 2023
Deposit Date Feb 12, 2024
Publicly Available Date Feb 12, 2024
Publisher LexisNexis Butterworths
Book Title Artificial intelligence and the law in Africa
Chapter Number Chapter 14
ISBN 9781776174324
Keywords Artificial intelligence (AI); Agriculture; Africa; Food insecurity; Climate change
Public URL https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2211319
Publisher URL https://myacademic.co.za/product/artificial-intelligence-and-the-law-in-africa/

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