Challenge index · Evidence reviewed 6 September 2026
Evidence overview
56.6%
Of Africa’s population experienced moderate or severe food insecurity in 2025, according to FAO’s SOFI 2026 figures.
FAO · Hunger and food insecurity, SOFI 2026 figures ↗Data scope: Africa-wide estimate on FAO’s live page, accessed 6 September 2026. Food insecurity is distinct from undernourishment and does not identify a single crop-level cause.
What the evidence tells us
FAO distinguishes food insecurity from hunger and describes overlapping drivers, including poverty and inequality. The continental estimate motivates investigation but cannot tell a researcher whether a particular farmer’s binding constraint is disease, planting material or access to a market.
Read the underlying source ↗Axum’s research and commercialisation agenda
Axum’s discovery programme examines specific crop and ecological settings, including cassava disease and Striga. Product development should test performance over relevant growing seasons, with farmer income and adoption as outcomes. Commercialisation must account for affordable access to inputs and the rights attached to biological material.
These are proposed research directions. Patentability and commercial viability remain to be established for each invention.
Research directions
Cassava planting-material diagnostics →
East African cassava multiplication systems
Can infected cuttings be identified reliably before distribution?
Cassava RT-RPA study · 2024 ↗Striga treatment delivery →
Kenyan cereal-growing systems
Can a treatment remain effective through realistic storage and planting conditions?
Striga seed-coating study · 2024 ↗Aflatoxin management →
Nigerian maize and groundnut supply chains
Can a value chain meet buyer contamination requirements at lower total cost?
Aflatoxin field and commercial study · 2022 ↗Sahel livelihood adaptation →
Selected farming and pastoral communities in the Lake Chad Basin
Which locally usable information helps households adapt livelihood decisions to weather uncertainty?
Lake Chad Basin loss-and-damage case study · Climate Refugees ↗Selected literature
A starting library of published studies and institutional evidence. Source types and dates are identified below; inclusion does not imply endorsement of an Axum product.