World Food Day – digital solutions allow higher crop yields in Africa
How can science help to improve food security? The COINS research project provides practical approaches for increasing agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa in a sustainable and resource-efficient manner.
Every year on October 16th, World Food Day raises awareness that combating hunger and malnutrition still remains an urgent global task. This year's motto is “Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future.” The latest UN World Hunger Report 2025 shows that the number of undernourished people is rising in Africa and the Middle East. In Africa, for example, long droughts and increased flooding as a result of climate change are causing crop failures.
The Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) is focusing on research and scientific solutions to make an effective contribution to ameliorate the situation - including the funding announcement "Sustainable land management in sub-Saharan Africa: Improving livelihoods through local research (SURE)".
The overarching goal is to use local research to improve the livelihoods of people in sub-Saharan Africa in a sustainable manner. In the framework of the SURE-measure, the BMFTR is funding five projects in the period from 2022 to 2027.
Science strengthens agriculture in West Africa: Same agricultural area – higher yields
One of the projects being funded by the BMFTR is COINS. The acronym stands for “Co-developing innovations for sustainable land management in West African smallholder farming systems.” The aim of this project is to identify solutions that will enable these farms to increase productivity on their cultivated land:
- Until now, local farmers have mostly pursued the approach of simply expanding their cultivated areas in order to obtain higher yields. However, this approach has its limits. The solution of the research project COINS is to sustainably increase yields on the same cultivated area.
- To this end, the German-African project team is working on the joint development of digital tools that integrate socio-economic factors, regional plant growth modeling, and Earth observation data.
Dr. Jonas Meier, head of the COINS project and research associate at the German Aerospace
Center, explains: "The digital tools to support sustainable agriculture in West Africa are currently in the test phase. During a research trip to northern Ghana, existing tools were tested and their usability in the field was evaluated with local farmers. These tools enable farmers, for example, to map the area of their fields using smartphones in order to plan seed, fertilizer, and labor requirements more precisely. To give local farmers access to the tools we create tutorials in local languages such as Wolof in Senegal.
In addition, the project team is developing another tool specifically for political decision-makers, such as local authorities and administrations: The “Decision Support System” combines satellite data with biophysical and socio-economic models to show, which farming methods work particularly well in which regions, depending on climate, soil, and social conditions.
This should enable decision-makers to develop targeted, tailor-made agricultural support programs for specific regions in the future, thereby creating incentives for sustainable farming practices. This will optimize planning, minimize the risks of low yields or crop failures, and improve food security.
Hand in hand – German-African cooperation as key to practical solutions
As the motto of this year's World Food Day shows, cooperation – on both a small and large scale – is essential to combating hunger in the world. Project manager Dr. Jonas Meier emphasizes: "The COINS project shows how German-African cooperation can develop innovative solutions for sustainable agriculture. Together, we combine scientific knowledge, digital technologies, and local expertise to develop practical solutions for sustainable agriculture in West Africa."