The first ambition I remember as a child was to become a medical doctor—a goal that was anything but a passing childhood fancy. At eight, I published an article about this grand aspiration, and by ten, I was performing medical-themed recitals before audiences of thousands. I was focused and academically driven, all with this dream in sight. However, as I progressed through secondary school, my grades revealed a strong aptitude for the social sciences. With no immediate revelation of a fitting career, my father graciously guided me toward a new ambition: to become an economist.
Yet that wasn’t all. My early years, filled with voracious reading, ballet, poetry recitals, and keyboard lessons, had honed my creativity. By my teens, I was drawing fashion illustrations and set on a new path: becoming an economist and a fashion designer. I did achieve the former, and the little girl in me still rehearses her dreams of the latter. But nowhere in the spaces between these professions did I envision what is now at the very core of my work: sustainable agricultural development!
Why agriculture? How did an ambitious, girl go from wanting to juggle a career in financial economics and building a fashion empire to pursuing a formidable path in global development focused on sustainable agriculture and resilient agri-food systems? Why choose a so-called “low-value, low-tech, lackluster” sector – one that has long been dismissed as incapable of driving economic growth or industrialization in Africa? Why not channel my resources and skills into something more dynamic, cutting-edge, transformative… lucrative? Why agriculture for Africa? Why agriculture for anyone, any community or nation that truly takes their success seriously?
Well, the entire point of every word beyond this point is to show you how the right question, especially for Sub-Saharan Africa, is “Why not agriculture?”
Firstly, agriculture in Africa continues to bridge between a remarkable past and a formidable future, holding both continuity and transformation in a delicate balance. In this region, farming transcended food cultivation; it was a foundation for sophisticated civilizations, shaping land use, governance structures, trade, customs, science, and spirituality. Things that are far from simplistic. In Nigeria’s case, for instance, the sophisticated terracing in Jos Plateau and the pastoral systems in the north are testament to rich agricultural traditions that defined communities and economies. Sticking to the Nigerian example, environmental stewardship and agroecological principles have long emerged, becoming a legacy that African futurists can leverage to create more harmonious realities for our people. Nigerian communities had agricultural practices aligned with the natural rhythms of the land. Techniques like intercropping, shifting cultivation, and communal land management embodied principles of agroecology, balancing productivity with environmental stewardship. These methods sustained communities and preserved biodiversity, soil health, and water systems. Methods that today hold the key to solving today’s systemic challenges.
Secondly, agriculture for Africa is more than a legacy; it is at the fulcrum of an empowered, inclusive, nutritious, and sustainable future for Africa. This is neither an exaggeration nor an understatement. Agriculture’s central role across the economic, social, technological, and environmental domains of Africa’s future emerges from its deep interconnection with the region’s resources, human capital, and aspirations for sustainable development and cultural relevance (however intricate). Economically, agriculture holds the key to more diverse and resilient economies, balancing national economies such as Nigeria’s against global oil market volatility and unlocking value in multiple sectors across Africa like tourism, health, energy, etc. By 2030, Africa’s agribusiness could be a trillion-dollar industry, powered by export diversification, intra-African trade, and value-added processing if investments in infrastructure, access to finance, enabling policies and sustainability are prioritized today.
Fortunately, this remarkable agro-powered future is already at Africa’s doorstep. With about 60% of the continent’s population under 25, agriculture offers a unique opportunity to combat youth unemployment and foster socio-economic resilience. The future of agriculture in Africa will involve youth-led agripreneurship, supported by training programs, financing, and technology that makes farming more efficient, productive, and appealing. But, technology is more than bait for youth involvement.
Well-adapted technology will transform Africa’s agriculture into a sophisticated, data-driven sector that integrates precision farming, mobile technology, and digital marketplaces. Africa is already beginning to see the budding of agritech ecosystems, combining tools like drones, satellite imaging, artificial intelligence, and big data analytics to optimize farming practices, improve crop monitoring, and mitigate climate risks. This tech-enabled transformation, coupled with the sustenance of viable indigenous knowledge systems and effective social services, will help Africa transition from reactive to predictive and climate-smart agricultural practices. These will be key to unlocking increases in productivity and yield. We already see an emerging rich network of partnerships poised to deploy, at scale, solutions that combine market and technological capabilities with science-backed agronomic practices that are socio-culturally viable for Africa. For instance, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) – an African-led organization operating in 11 countries, works on improving seed systems, soil health, market access, and policy advocacy to double the yields and incomes of 30 million smallholder households. Other examples, including foreign coalitions like AICCRA and the African Agricultural Transformation Initiative (AATI), are also rapidly emerging, necessitating more intentional engagement from African stakeholders and the public.
In short, agriculture is more than an economic sector—it’s a multifaceted driver of Africa’s future, blending tradition with innovation to fulfill the continent’s vast potential in a uniquely sustainable and inclusive way. Agriculture can be Africa’s doorway into global leadership in climate-resilient, sustainable food systems. This is an open but critical call to all of us—scientists, policymakers, researchers, industry leaders, technologists, sociologists, investors, farmers themselves, and consumers—to rethink our perceptions of African agriculture and to reengage with its promise and renewed purpose at the heart of Africa’s future. A future that has already begun to unfold.
