FCI4Africa aims to enhance sustainable, fair, and healthy food systems within Africa, focusing on free and fair trade, Non-Tariff Measures harmonisation, and digitisation in food systems. Through a holistic approach to African agriculture, FCI4Africa promotes fair, sustainable, climate-neutral, and health-promoting trading practices, while ensuring economic prosperity at all levels and respecting human rights. By evaluating the impact of certification criteria like deforestation-free, organic, and fair trade, FCI4Africa fosters a just transition for African farmers, processors and traders, expanding their intra-African, and EU trading opportunities. Learn more on their website.

 

Thank you for joining us for Synergy Days 2025. Is this your first time participating? If yes, what are your expectations of the event? 

 

Being our first time participating in Synergy Days, we look forward to exchanging insights, forging cross-sector collaborations, and identifying complementarities that could support our mission in digitalising and transforming African food systems. We expect Synergy Days to offer exposure to innovative digital solutions and best practices that can further empower smallholder farmers, SMEs, and policymakers across Africa.

 

What inspired the creation of your project? 

 

FCI4Africa was inspired by the urgent need for a just, fair, climate-neutral, and sustainable transformation of agri-food systems in Africa. The project emerged from recognising gaps in the ability of Africa’s agri-food products to meet the sustainability, justness, and fairness requirements under the EU’s  renewed trade policy, involving  economic partnership agreements (EPAs) with African countries , thus limiting  access to global trade. By bridging these gaps through Food Convergence Innovation which fosters collaboration among different sectors, including agriculture, nutrition, health and environment, FCI4Africa aims to empower African stakeholders and promote sustainable, just and equitable trade with the EU and within Africa.

 

What are some of the biggest challenges your project is currently addressing in terms of scaling digital innovation within the agri-food sector? 

 

FCI4Africa faces several significant challenges in scaling digital innovation across the agri-food sector. A primary issue is the lack of robust digital infrastructure in rural areas, which limits connectivity and access to digital tools for smallholder farmers and local enterprises. Navigating the complex regulatory landscapes across African and EU markets also presents difficulties, especially in ensuring compliance with evolving standards. Another major challenge is the limited availability of traceability systems, which are crucial for the certification of African products, demonstrating fair, sustainable trade practices. In addition, achieving interoperability among diverse actors and digital platforms within the agri-food ecosystem remains a technical and organisational hurdle. Lastly, aligning certification processes and non-tariff measure (NTM) requirements with digital traceability systems is essential to unlocking wider market access and building trust in African agri-food exports.

 

Can you share some key lessons you have learned so far? 

 

Throughout the implementation of FCI4Africa, some key lessons have emerged. First, multi-actor collaboration has proven to be essential, bringing together farmers, researchers, policymakers, and private sector partners has greatly enhanced the relevance and effectiveness of solutions. Second, we’ve learned that digital tools alone are not sufficient; successful innovation also depends on alignment with local cultural, social, and policy contexts. Third, the creation of inclusive and localised knowledge-sharing platforms has been instrumental in accelerating the adoption of new practices. Finally, engaging stakeholders through participatory design and co-creation processes has led to greater buy-in, stronger engagement, and more impactful and adaptable innovations on the ground.

 

How do you see emerging trends like AI, IoT, and blockchain shaping the future of the agri-food sector, and how is your project exploring or implementing these technologies? 

 

FCI4Africa embraces Food Convergence Innovation (FCI), which merges human creativity, empathy, and trust with digital technologies to drive systemic transformation. One of the expected outcomes of the project is digital solutions for a cross-border food trade. These solutions should leverage emerging technologies such as AI and machine learning, IoT and block chain, which play a pivotal role:

 

• AI and machine learning are used to analyse large datasets from value chains, enabling predictive insights for food safety, trade compliance, and sustainability metrics.

• IoT facilitates real-time monitoring of agri-food operations, ensuring better traceability and efficiency in production and logistics.

• Blockchain enhances trust through transparent, secure transaction records, especially valuable for verifying fair trade, sustainability, and product authenticity.

 

These technologies support cross-sectoral integration, optimised resource use, and data-driven decision-making, ultimately enabling informed policy-making, more resilient food systems, and inclusive trade across Africa and Europe.

 

What are the key factors that will drive or hinder the widespread adoption of digital technologies in the agri-food sector in the coming years? 

 

Several factors will influence the adoption of digital technologies in the agri-food sector. On the driver side, stronger public-private partnerships can accelerate innovation and scale. Investment in digital literacy programs for farmers and SMEs is crucial to ensure they can effectively engage with new tools and platforms. Additionally, regulatory alignment between Africa and the EU will be key to simplifying cross-border trade and encouraging the uptake of digital compliance systems. However, barriers remain, with the most critical among them being the fragmented digital infrastructure, especially in remote and rural areas. The high cost of accessing technology further limits participation by smaller actors. Moreover, the lack of harmonised standards for certification and compliance across regions continues to pose a significant challenge to widespread digital transformation.

 

How do you ensure that the solutions you develop are adaptable to the diverse needs and capabilities of farmers, food producers, and other stakeholders across Europe? 

 

FCI4Africa’s approach is firmly rooted in multi-actor use cases involving the co-creation and co-implementation with local actors across diverse African regions, recognising that transforming agri-food systems requires solutions that are culturally grounded, economically inclusive, and technically viable. Through engagement with smallholder farmers, SMEs, community organisations, policymakers, and certification bodies, the project ensures that local knowledge and priorities directly shape the development of digital tools and systems. By leveraging modular digital platforms, such as traceability systems and decision-support tools co-developed in the project, we create flexible, user-friendly solutions tailored to local realities, including varying infrastructure and digital literacy levels.

 

Moreover, FCI4Africa emphasises regulatory alignment, particularly between African Union and EU regulations on non-tariff measures (technical regulations, sanitary and phytosanitary) and sustainability standards, and promotes open innovation by integrating outputs from multiple disciplines and actors. This enables the resulting tools and frameworks to be not only highly context-specific but also scalable and interoperable, making them suitable for adaptation in other geographies, including European agri-food systems facing parallel challenges in sustainability, fairness, and traceability. Ultimately, this inclusive, cross-sectoral approach contributes to building resilient, equitable, and climate-conscious food systems across Africa and beyond.

 

What opportunities do you foresee for further collaboration between research, policy and private sector actors to drive forward digital transformation in agri-food? 

 

There is an immense opportunity for deeper collaboration between research institutions, policymakers, and private sector actors to accelerate digital transformation in the agri-food sector. One critical area is the co-creation of data governance frameworks that supports FAIR data principles and ensures data is used ethically, transparently, and in ways that benefit all stakeholders, particularly smallholder farmers and SMEs. These frameworks can help build trust and promote equitable access to data-driven innovations.

 

Another opportunity lies in regulatory alignment with emerging innovation ecosystems, especially in areas such as certification schemes and non-tariff measures (NTMs). Harmonising regulatory approaches across countries and regions can reduce compliance burdens and open up new markets for agri-food products that meet sustainability and safety standards.

 

Furthermore, there is strong potential to foster joint partnerships between African and EU-based technology firms, research institutions, and agri-food stakeholders. Such collaborations can help bridge digital divides, support technology transfer, and co-develop locally relevant solutions that are both scalable and inclusive. By combining technological expertise with contextual knowledge, these partnerships can catalyse sustainable and digitally empowered food systems across Africa and beyond.

 

And lastly, what is for you the potential of communities such as Synergy Days to contribute to that? If so, would you encourage others to join it?

 

Synergy Days offers a powerful platform for networking, visibility, and meaningful collaboration across diverse sectors and regions. It serves as a catalyst for cross-border initiatives, enabling projects to align digital agendas, share knowledge, and scale impact collectively. The event also provides a valuable space to showcase success stories and innovative approaches from initiatives like FCI4Africa, fostering peer learning and inspiration. We would absolutely encourage others, especially those committed to inclusive, fair, and sustainable digital transformation in agri-food and beyond, to join and contribute to this vibrant, forward-thinking community.

 

Want to meet them and learn more about the project? Join FCI4Africa at Synergy Days 2025! Register here.