Over the years, Africa’s agriculture has faced significant challenges leaving it vulnerable within the global food system. However, modern agriculture is currently undergoing a revolution fueled by advancements in digital technology and biotechnology solutions that can effectively address global food and nutrition security challenges. Africa therefore must swiftly embrace and adapt to these emerging opportunities and innovations that are rapidly shaping global trends to ensure food security and sustainable development.

With a fast-aging farming population, the future of Africa’s agriculture lies in the hands of its youth. AATF recognises this fundamental demand for a paradigm shift that prioritises the role of youth in catalysing agricultural transformation in Africa. In one of its KIKAO Series (which means seating or gathering in Kiswahili) that focuses on facilitating deep insightful conversations on agricultural transformation, AATF conducted a special session on youth engagement in agriculture.

As the host of KIKAO Series, I had the opportunity to interview two smart young people – a Kenyan female, Lucy Wangari and a Rwandese male Pacifique Nshimiyimana. Both are agri-preneurs who founded and are successfully managing their agribusiness enterprise in their respective countries.Wangari’s startup “Onion Doctor” sells onion and garlic seedlings including drip irrigation and soil testing kits to smallholder farmers in Kenya. The enterprise mostly uses digital platforms to market its products. Real Green Gold Ltd, the social enterprise founded by Nshimiyimana, is also leveraging digital technologies to link fruit farmers in Rwanda to the global market.

Both agri-preneurs represent the new interest areas of youth engagements in agriculture that exemplifies the strong affinity this gender group has for technologies, and by significance, commercial modern farming.

Despite agriculture contributing 23 percent to the continent’s gross domestic product and employing 65-70 percent of its workforce, it has been for far too long, a preserve of aging farmers bringing with it a hopeless outlook of despair with little dignity especially considering that smallholder farmers are still deeply steeped in the use of rudimentary implements and drudgery that impact on health.

Studies put the average age of a farmer in Africa at 60, whereas that of the youth is 19 years making Africa not just a continent with the youngest population, but one at crossroads on the journey towards food security. Low integration of technologies is largely responsible for the youths’ poor attraction to agriculture and for the decline in farmers productivity.

Introduction of digital agricultural technologies like drones, climate apps, and internet of things, makes farming look ‘cool’ and lucrative, and could expeditiously change the narrative, attract more young people to the sector and transform the continent’s agriculture.

Kenya’s leading telecoms operator Safaricom, for example, targets tech-savvy youth with its DigiFarm app that offers smallholder farmers a convenient, one-stop access to quality farm inputs at discounted prices, input loans, and farming and market information services. Hello Tractor, with a presence in 15 African countries, is enabling affordable mechanisation access and provision by connecting tractor owners to smallholder farmers through its app.  

Increasing investment adoption and cultivation of biotech crops is rapidly changing the agriculture landscape in Africa. Ongoing testing and approval of genetic engineering and gene editing technologies in several African countries is expected to yield crop varieties with better tolerance against drought and pests.

Besides facilitating access and adoption of mechanisation, digital agriculture and agricultural biotechnology in Africa, AATF is exploring new niches in agribusiness and stewardship to drive and support sustainability of these technologies on a long-term basis to build a food and nutrition-secure Africa.

AATF is diversifying its investment portfolio, while adopting an ecosystem approach by focusing on initiatives related to nutrition, post-harvest solutions, reducing food losses, and promoting the conversion of crop residues into bio-based products. These initiatives aim to generate additional income for farmers while reducing the environmental impact of agricultural production. In a span of 20 years, AATF has facilitated and accessed 24 innovative and cutting-edge agricultural technologies worth over US$650 million, spread across 24 countries in Africa. AATF’s approach for technology delivery explores a Public-Private Partnerships model that encompasses Africa-based institutions, governments, national agricultural research systems, multinationals, SMEs, and donors, enabling farmers to rapidly adopt improved technologies.

In the past five years (2018 -2022), some 4.8 million smallholder farmers have been reached with the foundation’s interventions. During the last 10 years, AATF has enhanced the capacity of 150 seed companies, resulting in the production of 70,000 metric tonnes of new improved seed, accessed by about 178,000 farmers. By implication, some three million hectares of land were cultivated using smart technologies from AATF partnership projects, with two to threefold increase in productivity, contributing to an average 30 percent increase in farmers’ incomes.

Under its 2023-2027 strategic plan, AATF is committed to deploying and upscaling Next Generation (NextGen) products of our seed-based technologies among African farmers. These are innovations which have been further refined for more superior traits to improve their resilience in crop production systems. Over the next five years, AATF aims to reach 8 million farmers directly with agricultural technologies – with 45 percent being women and 15 percent youth.

Indeed, Africa can transform its agricultural landscape by embracing technology and innovation including involving the youth in agricultural production to ensure food, nutrition security and sustainable development in Africa.

Dr. Canisius Kanangire is the Executive Director at the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF). Founded in 2003 to address Africa’s food security prospects through agricultural technology, AATF believes that the agricultural sector is a key foundational pillar as Africa consolidates its economic growth and carves out its new position as a major global economic powerhouse and the next growth market in the world.