Bridging the genomic data gap in Africa

By Isaac OGANGA

AgriFin (Mercy Corps AgriFin) and Briter will jointly expand the curated genomic database to deliver deeper, real-time investment intelligence to help investors, governments, and entrepreneurs make smarter, faster decisions to strengthen Africa’s food systems.

This was the message during the just-ended 9th Annual Learning Event (ALE 2025), which brought together investors, innovators, policymakers, development partners, and agri-food entrepreneurs from across 20 countries to explore how Africa and Asia’s agri-food systems can evolve into more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable ecosystems, driven by smarter investment data.

Held under the theme “Data-Driven Innovations and Investments: Harnessing Intelligence to Build Sustainable, Investable Agri-Food Systems”, the one-day forum pre-launched key findings from the AgTech Investment and Innovation in Emerging Markets Report by the AgBase platform, which is a curated genomic database containing functional annotations of agriculturally important animals, plants, microbes, and parasites.

The forum spotlighted investment trends, technology adoption, and inclusive models reshaping the sector. Sessions such as Bridging the Investment Gap, Harnessing Emerging Technologies to Unlock Opportunities, and Strengthening Ecosystems and Partnerships for Resilient Agri-SMEs gave participants concrete pathways for action.

Sieka Gatabaki, Program Director at Mercy Corps AgriFin, underscored the importance of evidence-backed investments: “Africa’s agri-food systems are standing at a tipping point. In 2023, USD 1.56 billion was invested in AgTech across the continent, with 60% going into agriculture.

But unless these funds are guided by sharp, localized intelligence, we risk pouring money into solutions that don’t move the needle.

ALE 2025 is about ensuring that every dollar and shilling invested has purpose, direction, and measurable impact for smallholder farmers and ecosystems around them.”

From an investor’s perspective, reliable, real-time data is critical for de-risking deals and guiding capital toward the most impactful solutions. AgBase data presented at ALE 2025 identified clusters of innovation in precision agriculture, AI-enabled farm management, and climate-smart technologies.

These insights are expected to shape cross-border investment flows and policy formulation in the coming year.

Melaku Yirga, Mercy Corps Vice President, Africa, emphasized the organization’s commitment to long-term transformation: “We’re focused on meeting urgent food needs while building food systems that are resilient, inclusive, and future-ready.

Our goal is to prevent food crises from destabilizing communities, mitigate the impact of climate shocks, and ensure that food systems work better for everyone – from producers to consumers.”

Dario Giuliani, Managing Director and Founder of Briter, highlighted how the insights presented at ALE 2025 are shaping the continent’s investment landscape: “AgBase is closing one of the biggest gaps in Africa’s agricultural economy – access to reliable, comparable investment intelligence.

By tracking where innovation is happening and where capital is flowing, we’re helping investors, governments, and entrepreneurs make smarter decisions, faster.

This kind of data-driven visibility is what will move the sector from potential to performance.”