FAO is inviting agricultural research and information communities to help identify which African languages should be prioritized for future development in AGROVOC, FAO’s multilingual thesaurus. The open call also invites institutions and professionals to express their interest in contributing to the translation and editorial development of new language content. 

Take part in the poll to share which languages you believe should be prioritized and whether you, your institution or your network could contribute to their development. Your input will help  understand language priorities, identify potential collaborators and guide the next stage of multilingual development in AGROVOC. 

Language matters when it comes to who can find, understand and use scientific and technical information. In agriculture, providing terminology in the languages used by researchers, students, extension professionals, policymakers, information specialists and agricultural practitioners can make agricultural knowledge more accessible and help connect locally generated research with regional and global information systems. 

Take the poll now, open it in a new window to share your views.

Learning from the Swahili experience

The development of Swahili in AGROVOC provides a valuable example of what multilingual agricultural terminology can support. AGROVOC represents agricultural concepts consistently across languages, helping information systems improve indexing, retrieval, interoperability and knowledge exchange. As of August 2026, more than 41,000 preferred terms were available in Swahili. 

The growth of Swahili content has also been supported by engagement with the agricultural research and information community. In April 2025, FAO organized a Swahili-language webinar on increasing the global visibility of agricultural research, bringing together more than 230 participants from universities, research institutions, publishers, libraries and other organizations.

This followed an earlier webinar in 2022, which focused on AGROVOC and the value of Swahili content. The event attracted more than 60 participants and generated further interest in Swahili AGROVOC content.

These experiences demonstrate the importance of combining language development with community engagement and collaboration. They also highlight the potential for AGROVOC to provide the language infrastructure needed to describe agricultural knowledge, while FAO AGRIS helps make that knowledge discoverable and accessible through a global information platform.

Help shape what comes next

The next phase of AGROVOC language development will benefit from the knowledge of the communities who produce, manage and use agricultural information across Africa.

Take the poll and share your views on which African languages should be prioritized, who would benefit from their development, and whether you or your institution could contribute.

Your input can help identify future language priorities and potential collaborators for the continued development of multilingual agricultural knowledge.