Fostering collaboration and knowledge sharing in digital agriculture

Stronger institutional partnerships and knowledge co-creation will accelerate the digital agricultural revolution towards global food security, according to speakers at a side event on digital agriculture during the inaugural CGIAR Science Week that took place in Nairobi, Kenya from 7–11 April 2025.

Digital agriculture is the use of digital tools to collect, analyze, and share data and information in agriculture to increase food production efficiently and sustainably.

Discussions at the side event focused on how CGIAR centres and partners from the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme ex-Pillar 4 (CAADP-XP4) consortium are using digital platforms for knowledge sharing, learning, and engagement, and how best to leverage these platforms in the CGIAR Research Portfolio 2025–2030.

Poko Alida Nadinga from the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development (CORAF) and Michael Victor from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) co-facilitated the session.

Opening remarks

In his opening remarks, Ram Dhulipala, interim director of the CGIAR Digital Transformation Accelerator, stated that in this age of digital innovation, it is only through partnership can we co-create knowledge.

On his part, Silim Nahdy Mohammed, executive director of the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS), lauded the shared commitment to harness the power of knowledge co-creation and collaborative partnership for digital empowerment and cultural revolution in Africa.

In a series of short presentations, partners from the Forum for Agricultural Research In Africa (FARA) and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) highlighted digital innovations in agricultural knowledge management and learning.

Knowledge co-creation

Benjamin Abugri, Knowledge Management, Digitalization, and Learning Specialist at FARA, presented on the knowledge management partnership of CGIAR and CAADP-XP4 that led to the development of the African Agricultural Research Innovation and Education Space (ARIESpace) repository, a DSpace-based knowledge management system for African agricultural knowledge, based on best practice from CGIAR’s CGSpace repository.

“The power of co-creation and collaboration is at the centre of this digital innovation. We are focused on enhancing local ownership, facilitating adaptive learning, and building sustainable systems.”

— Benjamin Abugri

He called for investment in interoperable systems, scaling up capacity for evidence and informed decision making, and institutionalizing communities of practice.

ICTforAg Learning Network

Andrea Gardeazábal Monsalve, who leads digital monitoring and innovation at CIMMYT, presented on collaborative innovation in digital agrifood systems through a learning network that is providing farmers with access to knowledge.

The ICTforAg Learning Network is a collaborative platform developed by CIMMYT under the CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation to strengthen stakeholder engagement and knowledge exchange in digital agrifood systems.

“We have learnt that mentorship works but it needs incentives like recognition and visibility.”

— Andrea Gardeazábal Monsalve

The next steps are to onboard more communities of practice and innovations, launch multilingual onboarding kits, expand mentorship to national partners, track knowledge flows with better analytics and pilot flexible engagement formats.

AgroTutor Academy

Satish Nagaraji, ICT for Development Specialist at CIMMYT, shared on AgroTutor Academy, a WhatsApp-based learning management system that delivers bite-size courses to farmers, taking advantage of a mobile phone app that many farmers and extension workers use daily.

The innovative platform is a component of the ICTforAg Learning Network that enables extension services, local organizations and projects to create and host courses to engage with target audiences and build their capacities, using WhatsApp as a delivery channel.

“It’s not a WhatsApp group but it’s a learning management system. It can be used in any language, which means language is not a barrier.”

— Satish Nagaraji

The network provides support on onboarding of knowledge partners, course ideation and structuring, course dissemination and tracking of the learners’ progress through analytics.

Panel discussion

A brief panel discussion to reflect on the presentations brought in additional perspectives.

‘At the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation, one of the apps we have is the Fisher Friend Mobile App. It has gone through 54 iterations over the last 10 years or so, all based on the needs of the fishermen, state governments and other stakeholders. I think the reason for its success has been that element of co-creation, feedback and continuous improvement. So, any of these learning modules cannot be static.’
— Soumya Swaminathan, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation

‘If you want to get these things to the farmers and to the next generation, you’ve got to have the farmers here in the room.’
—Matt Manning, DevGlobal

‘KM [knowledge management] is not just about creating. It’s about the learning, the loops, the interaction… The value of knowledge does not decrease when it is shared or consumed; we want “tariff-free” knowledge sharing. We should remember that knowledge is not power; sharing is power.’
—Peter Ballantyne, ILRI and CGIAR

‘FARA is an enabler for national institutions to make sure that knowledge is available because national institutions have been struggling with three problems: availability, accessibility and useability of knowledge. Funding for research is reducing so focus on scaling for impact.’
—Boniface Akuku, World Bank consultant

Watch the side event recording on YouTube

Header photo: A feed calculator app can help feed producers to formulate products tailored to the size, age and weight of an animal. (photo credit: ILRI/K. Dhanji)

Written by Tezira Lore, Communication Officer, ILRI.