Given the fragmented nature of the agriculture sector, ensuring efficient, trusted and human-centric data capture is critical to enable the potential of the sector. Data can help us develop more agile and appropriate wraparound support services to help farmers, at all levels, make more informed decisions and promote equitable financial inclusion and risk management throughout the food value chain. Leesa Schrader, Director, AgriFin Accelerate Program, Mercy Corps, Kenya

Unlocking data is critical to increasing access to and reducing the cost of capital to African farmers and unlocking the power of SMEs in agri-food value chains to drive growth on the continent. Currently, different organizations hold different pieces of data, creating cost distortion and inefficiency in the system. If we are to de-risk finance and better serve those most in need of finance, we need to promote an aligned and trusted multistakeholder approach to the collating of data, giving us a 360-degree view of the farmer. Lauren Hendricks, Chief Executive Officer, Equity Group Foundation, Kenya

Through an integrated data ecosystem, we have an opportunity to link services directly to the pain points farmers are experiencing, enabling much more targeted and effective nationwide support. Phillip Thigo, Senior Adviser, Data, Innovation and Open Government, Office of the Deputy President of Kenya

COVID-19 has highlighted the need to take bold collective action in developing common robust and easy to use mobileenabled communications platforms that can provide hundreds of millions of users with trusted and relevant data and information. At the same time, these platforms, through data collection and aggregation, can provide public and private institutions with better analysis on key challenges, allowing them to implement appropriate responses. The Africa Communication and Information Platform (ACIP) aims to do exactly that. Tunde Fafunwa, Lead Adviser, Digital Centre for Excellence, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Addis Ababa