The progress of the ‘green revolution’ intended to drive Africa’s agricultural revival was called into doubt even before the Covid-19 pandemic struck and the Russia-Ukraine war sent fertiliser prices soaring.
Founded in 2006, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) aimed to bring high-yield agricultural practices to 30 million smallholder farming households, double crop productivity and incomes, while halving food insecurity by 2020. However, the initiative’s efforts have been branded a failure and attracted widespread international criticism in 2021, with 200 organisations calling for donors to stop supporting AGRA’s industrial agriculture efforts.
At the heart of this critique was the business-as-usual approach to growth, which failed to take into account the need for a sustainable path that supports low-input farming systems and the impacts of climate change.
“It is imperative that ecosystem protection and climate change resilience are central priorities.”
It is imperative that ecosystem protection and climate change resilience are central priorities. The African continent is at the epicentre of the global climate crisis as it is more frequently and severely affected by extreme weather events than elsewhere in the world.
Even if average global temperature increases are maintained below 2°C, crops that form the foundation of African diets – wheat, maize, sorghum and millet – will see a decreased yield of 10% in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the UN’s Adaptation Gap Report 2022. One degree more and these crops will no longer be viable.
With the continent’s population anticipated to double in the next 25 years, some experts are leaning towards digital technology, particularly mobile-based tech, as an aid to solving the sector’s low productivity.
Satellite or drone aerial images and tech such as soil sensors can help farmers manage crop growth and health in real time, while mobile digital solutions could help smallholder farmers to increase efficiency, productivity and income, giving them access to real-time weather information that might serve as an early warning system in the face of extreme weather conditions.
“Low technology adoption is one of the primary issues hampering innovation and productivity growth in Africa’s agricultural sector.”
Heifer International’s 2021 report
Although these solutions are widely used in developed and emerging markets, they have seen little uptake by African farmers and where they have been implemented, mainly via mobile phone access, there has not been much advantage as yet.
Global non-profit Heifer International’s 2021 report identified low technology adoption as one of the primary issues hampering innovation and productivity growth in Africa’s agricultural sector. The report noted that, despite the availability of tech providing information on weather and climate, input supply, smart farming technology, digital finance, precision farming tools, storage technology and agricultural e-commerce, tech uptake remains low, even among young farmers.
Paving the way for digital tech uptake
A primary cause of this lack of uptake was found to be limited internet access. According to a recent report from the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), while sub-Saharan African countries vary in their levels of digital transformation, large populations in the region still lack access to the basics.
Given digitalisation’s potential to transform livelihoods, finding ways to increase smallholder farmers’ digital uptake could eventually have an impact on African agriculture. The report identifies the continent’s youthful population and improved mobile penetration as favourable factors, but a great deal more will be needed to enable Africa’s digital agricultural revolution.
“Governments, donors and NPOs need to continue supporting agricultural research and development efforts, encouraging greater deployment of affordable technology.”
Governments, donors and NPOs need to continue supporting agricultural research and development efforts, encouraging greater deployment of affordable technology that will speed up agricultural processes, develop high-yield, disease-resistant seeds and encourage agro-innovation.
Private sector and NPO-led programmes might support farmers on land and farm management, access to market, finance and value chains, while exploring more sustainable farming methods such as aquaponics, which is demonstrating strong potential for increasing Africa’s food security.
Given the supply chain disruptions caused by power shortages, investment in basic energy and transport infrastructure in rural areas remains a priority. Alternative energy innovations such as solar water pumps, solar cooling and solar irrigation are proving to be a key resource for rural communities, increasing crop yields and preserving produce.
“Investment in basic energy and transport infrastructure in rural areas remains a priority.”
Expanding the reach of information and communications technology (ICT) services to rural areas could have multiple benefits. Digital access, combined with customised digital skills development programmes to address low digital skills, particularly among women, youth and rural populations, has the potential to shift households towards more lucrative activities beyond farming, while supporting Africa’s digital agricultural transformation.
Read more about food security and agriculture:
- Read the Overview of CSI spend on food security and agriculture in 2023.
- Read the 2022 research findings: Overview of CSI spend on food security and agriculture 2022.
Source: The original version of this article was published in the Trialogue Business in Society Handbook 2023 (26th edition).
