OPINION: Technology remains the key lever for empowering farmers and transforming agriculture in Africa

By Dr Canisius Kanangire, African agriculture is at a pivotal moment. Safeguarding food and nutrition security is critical for the continent to overcome hunger, malnutrition, and poverty in all its forms. Unlocking and scaling the right technologies can transform African agriculture into a powerful engine of economic growth, resilience, and food system transformation. Farmers across Africa have made great progress, but many still lack access to the tools, technologies, and knowledge needed to improve productivity and profitability, with productivity gains remaining uneven due to limited access to innovation. At the same time, risks are rising and threatening recent progress. The impacts of climate change, pests, and diseases are intensifying production challenges and undermining gains in productivity and resilience - with climate change projected to reduce crop yields by up to 10–20% by 2050 in parts of Africa, and pests and diseases causing 20–40% annual crop losses. These pressures are making progress increasingly fragile. Technology remains the key lever for transformation. Investing in agri-food technologies—from improved seed and digital tools to mechanisation—offers the best opportunity to reposition agriculture as a driver of economic growth, with benefits extending far beyond the farm sector. A significant opportunity for Africa lies in accelerating the deployment of both proven and next-generation technologies to drive productivity, resilience, and inclusive economic growth. Delays in technology access will continue to impose high costs on farmers and economies, limiting productivity gains and undermining food and nutrition security. Looking ahead, the opportunity is clear. With the right investments, partnerships, and enabling policies, agricultural innovation can become a powerful engine for economic growth, food security, and job creation. To achieve this and sustain progress, we must strengthen science-based regulatory systems, accelerate access to proven technologies, and invest in delivery systems that bring these solutions closer to farmers. Because when farmers have access to the right technologies—and the systems to support them—they can transform agriculture and drive Africa’s food and economic future. It is for this reason that the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) supports agri-food transformation by working with both public and private sectors including farmers to responsibly unlock and scale technologies that address priority production challenges while generating wealth, improving livelihoods, and enhancing well-being for farmers. Over the past two decades, AATF’s work has impacted more than 85 million people across the agri-food system, with over 10 million farmers directly accessing and adopting innovative technologies. The writer is the Executive Director, African Agricultural Technology Foundation ( AATF).