Mapping the climate and agronomic digital advisory services landscape in West and Central Africa: A step towards making food systems productive and climate resilient

PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0338010 December 3, 2025 1 / 20 OPEN ACCESS Citation: Singh M, Ouedraogo M, Jimenez D, Talsma T, Ouedraogo A, Kagabo D, et al. (2025) Mapping the climate and agronomic digital advisory services landscape in West and Central Africa: A step towards making food systems productive and climate resilient. PLoS One 20(12): e0338010. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0338010 Editor: Timothy Omara, Makerere University College of Natural Sciences, UGANDA Received: April 13, 2025 Accepted: November 17, 2025 Published: December 3, 2025 Copyright: © 2025 Singh et al . This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Data availability statement: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files. RESEARCH ARTICLE Mapping the climate and agronomic digital advisory services landscape in West and Central Africa: A step towards making food systems productive and climate resilient Manjari Singh 1*, Mathieu Ouedraogo1, Daniel Jimenez 2, Tiffany Talsma 3, Adama Ouedraogo4, Desire Kagabo5, Julian Ramirez6, Peter Laderach7 1 Climate action, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Dakar, Senegal, 2 Digital Inclusion, Bioversity International, Versailles, France, 3 Digital Inclusion, Bioversity International, Accra, Ghana, 4 Institut de l’Environnement et de Recherches Agricoles (INERA), Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso,

5 Climate action, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Nairobi, Kenya, 6 Climate action, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Pretoria, South Africa, 7 Climate action, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Rome, Italy * manjari07.07@gmail.com Abstract This study explores and examines the availability of digital agricultural solutions (DAGs) to enhance agricultural resilience in the face of climate change. The coun- tries under study—Burundi, Ivory coast, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana, Nigeria, and Rwanda—display varying levels of vulnerability, suffering from low adaptive capacity to address climate impacts. The study examines available DAGs to support farmers, including mobile-based platforms providing weather and agronomic advice, market information, and financial services. We highlight the diverse needs and challenges faced by three key user groups of digital agro-climatic services: farmers, service providers, and policymakers. All stakeholders require tailored approaches to improve adoption and impact. We employed a mixed-method approach that combined literature review with semi-structured interviews to identify existing digital solutions in agriculture. Next, we produced country-specific reports to assess the current state of agronomic digital advisory services, their users, and challenges. Ghana, Nigeria, and Rwanda have made notable strides in delivering these services, though challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, high internet

costs, and gender disparities hinder their wider adoption. Additionally, data fragmen- tation and lack of harmonization across platforms pose significant barriers to opti- mizing these digital solutions. We discuss the role of public extension services and policy frameworks in fostering digital transformation in agriculture, with an emphasis on the need for better data harmonization to improve decision-making. The study underscores the importance of integrating digital technologies with stronger policies, improved infrastructure, and greater inclusivity to support climate-resilient agricultural practices in the region.