Director, Communications & Outreach @AKADEMIYA2063 | Strategic Communications | Storyteller | Editorial Leadership | Policy Influence | Opinions are mine.
Dakar, Senegal
Joined November 2016
- Tweets678
- Following715
- Followers589
- Likes4.6K
Layih Butake retweeted
Digital technologies are becoming increasingly visible across Africa’s agricultural landscape. However, unlocking sustained productivity growth and food security will require coordinated interventions to strengthen system-wide application of existing technologies and enable their widespread, efficient use.
The @ReSAKSS ATOR looks abroad, examining how global AgTech ecosystems have evolved and identifying governance models, financing infrastructure, and public-private coordination mechanisms that have enabled sustained growth and systemic impact, distilling lessons for Africa’s agrifood transformation.
Full piece @AfriAgriBiz: africanagribusiness.com/what…
Layih Butake retweeted
Achieving Africa’s agrifood transformation goals requires timely, granular agricultural data to guide policy and investment. Satellite imagery and artificial intelligence (AI) can help fill critical data gaps by generating crop-type maps that strengthen agricultural monitoring, early warning systems, and climate change adaptation.
@AKADEMIYA2063’s latest Kampala Policy Brief highlights how high-resolution crop-type maps can support these efforts through three priorities:
- Investing in national-scale data collection systems that integrate field data, satellite imagery, and AI to develop robust crop-mapping systems.
- Integrating crop maps into agricultural monitoring and early warning systems to advance climate resilience and technological innovation under CAADP.
- Strengthening national capacity in geospatial analysis to inform sustainable intensification, climate-smart agricultural practices, and progress toward productivity and food security targets.
By providing detailed insights into crop distribution and changing cropping patterns, these maps can improve production forecasting, inform agricultural insurance, and help policymakers target investments and adaptation strategies more effectively.
Policy insights: akademiya2063.org/publicatio…
Bad news travels fast. But in an information ecosystem flooded with disinformation, getting to the truth takes work.
Add the pressure of a 24/7 news cycle, agenda-setting, disinformation campaigns, and, let’s not forget, bot farming. It’s the perfect setup for confirmation bias to thrive.
Meanwhile, control over the airwaves and social media platforms is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few powerful players. In this environment, media and information literacy is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a survival skill for navigating the constant stream of information competing for our attention.
This Global Media and Information Literacy Week reminds us that cultivating these skills is a shared responsibility.
For decision-makers and development practitioners, research, evidence uptake, and knowledge sharing are essential to sound policy planning and implementation.
For digital natives, the ability to question what they see, verify sources, and distinguish fact from fiction is critical to making informed choices.
Media and information literacy won’t solve every problem in our information ecosystem, but it can help us navigate it more critically and responsibly. With a deeper understanding of how these dynamics intersect, we’d have a better shot at tackling global challenges sustainably.
#WeAllPlayAPart #GlobalMILWeek
📰 Journalism plays a part.
In a world of deepfakes and disinformation, how can we distinguish facts from fiction?
Journalist and @UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Freedom of Expression and Journalist Safety @Amanpour reflects on why independent journalism and reliable information matter.
unesco.org/en/weeks/media-in…
#GlobalMILWeek #WeAllPlayAPart
Layih Butake retweeted
How can science and innovation accelerate Africa’s agrifood systems transformation?
Oct 29: The Africa Forum on Harnessing Science and Innovation for Agrifood Systems Transformation will bring together regional and continental partners to strengthen the links between research, policy, investment, and implementation.
@AKADEMIYA2063’s flagship programs and initiatives are designed to strengthen evidence-based policymaking and support the implementation of the @_AfricanUnion Kampala CAADP Declaration under the broader umbrella of Agenda 2063.
Through its data, analytics, policy intelligence, outreach, stakeholder engagement, and knowledge-sharing initiatives, AKADEMIYA2063 contributes to translating evidence into actionable policy insights that inform policy planning and advance agrifood systems transformation and economic growth across Africa.
Kampala CAADP Series Portal: akademiya2063.org/Kampala-CA…
Agenda 2063 Portal: akademiya2063.org/agenda_206…
Layih Butake retweeted
Effective climate resilience requires more than identifying risks. African countries need geospatial intelligence and AI to pinpoint where climate impacts are concentrated, anticipate emerging threats, and guide targeted agrifood investments.
@AKADEMIYA2063’s Kampala Policy Brief, “A Continental GeoAI Architecture for Climate-Resilient Food Systems in Africa”, identifies four priorities:
-Investing in national analytical capacity, data sharing, and coordination with RECs.
-Establishing a coordinated continental GeoAI service with interoperable standards.
-Integrating subnational risk mapping and seasonal forecasts into CAADP implementation and agricultural planning.
-Developing shared adaptation metrics to monitor climate risks, track progress, and guide climate finance.
These measures can strengthen early warning, improve adaptation planning, and translate climate intelligence into action at national and local levels.
Policy insights: akademiya2063.org/publicatio…
We are in session! Join the conversation👇
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi…
Happening Tomorrow!
Join @AKADEMIYA2063 and @Welthungerhilfe (WHH), through the AgriBridge African-German Policy Network, for a webinar on Financing Africa's Agrifood Future. The session will explore the role of sovereign and nature-linked capital, and deepen the discussion on coalition-based approaches to financing agrifood systems.
Learn more: akademiya2063.org/event.php?…
@AKADEMIYA2063
@IFAD
@GAFSPfund
@_AfricanUnion
@Welthungerhilfe
@MakeNatureCount
@ASARECA
Acacia Climate Partners Limited
Layih Butake retweeted
Early warning systems are only as effective as our ability to see what’s happening on the ground.
Weather shocks can disrupt crop production, drive up staple food prices, and threaten food security. Near-real-time field monitoring can help African countries anticipate crop failures and prepare for food shortages.
Through their collaboration, #Udutech and @AKADEMIYA2063 are putting seven years of satellite data, thousands of real farms, and computing infrastructure hosted in Africa to work— a meaningful step toward sovereign agricultural intelligence.
Read the full story via @farmingfirst 👇
farmingfirst.org/2026/10/loc…
@xelatsads @DebisiAraba @dr_racinely Dr. Jean Paul Latyr Faye
Layih Butake retweeted
What if a failing field could be spotted before its harvest is lost?
@UduTech and @AKADEMIYA2063 experts tested satellite monitoring of 5,000+ fields in Senegal using an AI-powered system based in Africa.
Now they're scaling this tech to 1 million fields: bit.ly/4dVYNWn
Layih Butake retweeted
Creating jobs across Africa’s agrifood systems requires investment beyond agricultural production. Storage, processing, transport, irrigation, input distribution, and other services are essential to connecting farmers to markets and expanding employment opportunities across the value chain.
Policy Priority: Create an enabling environment in which public investment and private-sector capabilities reinforce one another, strengthening agrifood value chains, and expanding productive employment opportunities. The Panel recommends stronger partnerships that link smallholder farmers to processors and markets, improve rural infrastructure, and support the growth of agrifood enterprises.
#JOBHARVESTS: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…
Layih Butake retweeted
Happening Tomorrow!
Join @AKADEMIYA2063 and @Welthungerhilfe (WHH), through the AgriBridge African-German Policy Network, for a webinar on Financing Africa's Agrifood Future. The session will explore the role of sovereign and nature-linked capital, and deepen the discussion on coalition-based approaches to financing agrifood systems.
Learn more: akademiya2063.org/event.php?…
@AKADEMIYA2063
@IFAD
@GAFSPfund
@_AfricanUnion
@Welthungerhilfe
@MakeNatureCount
@ASARECA
Acacia Climate Partners Limited
Bad news travels fast. Disinformation, agenda-setting, bot farming & a 24/7 news cycle make it even easier for confirmation bias to thrive. Media & information literacy is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a survival skill.
We all play a part👉lnkd.in/p/deQSEUzu
#GlobalMILWeek
Layih Butake retweeted
Africa’s food security, energy access, and climate resilience priorities are closely connected. Agrivoltaics—the integration of solar photovoltaic systems with agricultural production on the same land—offers a potential approach to addressing these priorities together.
In this article, @DebisiAraba and @ChrisHegadorn examine the long-term potential of agrivoltaics in Africa: “Agrivoltaics reframes the equation. By co-locating solar generation and crop cultivation, it increases land productivity rather than dividing it.”
Well-designed systems can support agricultural production while generating solar power for activities such as irrigation, cold storage, and agro-processing. Realizing this potential will require coordinated policies, clear land-use regulations, innovative financing, and meaningful community engagement.
Full piece @pvmagazine: pv-magazine.com/2026/03/11/a…
@AKADEMIYA2063 Consortium for Sustainable Agrivoltaics (C4SA)
Layih Butake retweeted
A key outcome of recent #Bioeconomy workshops organized by AKADEMIYA2063 and partners was a call for a shared African perspective to inform discussions at the ongoing Global Bioeconomy Summit @GBS_Updates.
Building on growing momentum, @AKADEMIYA2063, @easteco1, @icipe, and @SEIresearch, through the Partnership for Bioeconomy Advancement in Africa (PABA), have endorsed the Global Bioeconomy Partnership’s Joint Charter to advance a bioeconomy that supports human well-being, planetary health, and inclusive development.
Learn more ⤵️
· Global Bioeconomy Partnership: bioeconomypartnership.com/
· Africa Bioeconomy Workshop Report: bioinnovate-africa.org/wp-co…
@DebisiAraba @katringlatzel @JuliusEcuru
Layih Butake retweeted
How can African countries translate the Kampala CAADP Declaration into national priorities, targeted investments, and measurable progress in agrifood systems transformation?
@AKADEMIYA2063’s Kampala CAADP Country Diagnostics provide evidence to support @_AfricanUnion Member States in integrating the Declaration’s goals into their National Agrifood Systems Investment Plans (NASIPs). Drawing on country-level analysis, the diagnostics assess progress, identify gaps and priorities, and help inform policy choices and investment planning.
Read more: akademiya2063.org/publicatio…
Layih Butake retweeted
The Global Bioeconomy Summit 2026 is underway in Dublin, Ireland, bringing together international experts and stakeholders under the theme “Bioeconomy for Socio-economic Transformation and Climate Action.” Participants will examine the policies, partnerships, and investments needed to advance sustainable bioeconomies.
We’re delighted to announce that Dr. @DebisiAraba will speak today during Plenary Session 3, themed “Supercharging the Bioeconomy: Policy, Markets, and Metrics to Scale Biobased Solutions.”
The session will address the gap between bioeconomy strategies and implementation, exploring how effective policies, financing mechanisms, and stronger markets can attract investment and help scale biobased solutions.
Insights from the Africa Bioeconomy Workshop: bioinnovate-africa.org/wp-co…
@GBS_Updates #GBS2026 #Bioeconomy
Layih Butake retweeted
Insights from Rome!
What is entrepreneurship, and how do we measure it? Does entrepreneurship count only when it succeeds, or is trying and failing part of the journey? And if failure is inevitable, can entrepreneurs fail well? How can we create the conditions that enable them to do so?
These were the questions posed by Dr. @Debisi Araba, Managing Director of @AKADEMIYA2063, as he opened his remarks at the @FAO Science and Innovation Forum session on the role of entrepreneurship in accelerating food security progress.
Key takeaway: Greater attention should be paid to the lessons learned throughout the entrepreneurial journey and to creating systems that enable entrepreneurs to fail well.
Watch the discussion in full here: webtv.un.org/en/asset/k1u/k1…
Layih Butake retweeted
Turning technological potential into impact requires stronger adoption, investment, and coordination across Africa’s agrifood systems.
From AI-enabled yield forecasting and digital advisory platforms to climate-resilient seeds and precision irrigation, promising technologies are available. However, limited adoption, inadequate infrastructure, and gaps in complementary investment continue to constrain their impact.
@DebisiAraba writes: “The continent does not need another wave of breakthrough inventions to transform its food systems; what it requires is a decisive shift from fragmented adoption to system-wide modernization.”
Read the full piece @ipsnews: ipsnews.net/2026/09/africa-h…
Layih Butake retweeted
👀 What does real impact look like?
🌱 This #WorldFoodDay discover @AKADEMIYA2063 Africa Agriculture Watch. African-built tech for food security, backed by our Scale-Up program.
➡️ urls.fr/j2AqTx
Layih Butake retweeted
Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow.
This World Food Day, we reflect on progress and pathways toward ending hunger and ensuring access to reliable, affordable, and nutritious food for all.
Research by @MaMoPanel highlights the effectiveness of school feeding schemes, dietary diversification incentives, stronger safety nets, and biofortified crops in improving dietary quality, reducing food insecurity, and building human capital.
Scaling up these interventions requires sustained political leadership, cross-sectoral coordination, and robust monitoring systems to track nutrition outcomes and strengthen food security.
With innovation, evidence, technology, research, and local knowledge, Africa can accelerate progress toward food systems that nourish its growing population.
Recipes for Success: mamopanel.org/media/uploads/…
Ensuring access to safe & nutritious food requires innovations that boost productivity, tackle hidden hunger, improve market access & strengthen early warning systems.
Explore the Food System Crisis Observatory & Response platform👇
fs-cor.org
#WorldFoodDay2026
This World Food Day reminds us of a critical point: ending hunger isn't just about producing enough food. It's also about ensuring access to nutritious, safe, and affordable diets. Across Africa, this means addressing the triple burden of malnutrition: undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and rising diet-related diseases.
@AKADEMIYA2063 contributes evidence-based policy research that draws lessons from country experiences across Africa and provides practical guidance to support implementation of the Kampala Declaration.
The #RecipesforSuccess2 report examines approaches to tackling these challenges, drawing on country case studies to highlight solutions ranging from promoting diverse, nutritious foods to strengthening food safety, animal health, and social protection systems.
As African countries pursue the @_AfricanUnion #KampalaDeclaration’s goal of achieving Zero Hunger by 2035, linking agricultural production to better nutrition and making healthy diets affordable will be essential.
Happy World Food Day!
Read Recipes for Success 2 (Ch. 5):
mamopanel.org/media/uploads/…
