By Sharon Atieno
Agriculture contributes significantly to Africa’s economy, accounting for almost 40 percent of gross domestic product and supporting two in three people across the continent. Despite this, the sector has been performing poorly with countries relying heavily on food imports.
Speaking at the 8th Africa Agri Expo in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, on 19th and 20th February, experts called for rapid transformation of Africa’s agriculture for the realization of the sector’s potential.
“As a continent, we need to change our type of agriculture. We need to start making it large scale and profitable for our farmers,” said Dr. Juma Mukhwana, Kenya’s Permanent Secretary (PS) State Department of Industry, adding that it is only by making agriculture profitable that farmers can be able to access new technologies such as irrigation to improve their production.
A World Bank report found that one reason for Africa’s agricultural productivity lagging is unexploited irrigation potential. On the whole continent, only about 13 million hectares of arable land are under irrigation, equal to six percent of the total cultivated area (compared to 37 percent in Asia and 14 percent in Latin America). Of these, more than two-thirds are concentrated in Egypt, Madagascar, Morocco, South Africa and Sudan. In Sub-saharan Africa, only 3.5 percent of the area cultivated is equipped for irrigation.
Observing that Africa’s share of manufacturing globally is low, Dr. Mukhwana called for value addition of agricultural products. Most raw materials used in industry come from the agriculture sector.
In Kenya, for instance, the government has invested in County Aggregation and Industrial Parks (CAIPS) in all 47 counties to promote value addition on agricultural products through receiving, sorting, grading, cleaning cold-room storage, and other related services.
“It is high time, we do value addition in all our products before we export so that our farmers get value for their produce,” Dr. Paul Rono, PS State Department of Agriculture reiterated, adding that technology can be leveraged to develop different technologies which can value add different products which can be positioned in the market to get better value.
Additionally, Dr. Rono noted there is need to position agriculture in a way that appeals to the youth. “For far too long, farming has been seen as a labour-intensive and unprofitable activity, especially by our young people. There is need to position agriculture as an exciting, innovative, profitable sector,” he said.
In this regard, Dr. Rono called on agricultural stakeholders to prioritize youth environmental training and access to modern technology and financing.
George Kubai, Managing Director, Agricultural Finance Corporation of Kenya, said the financing systems should be more accessible to farmers to enable them to acquire inputs and modern technology and implement climate-resilient strategies.
Kubai noted that in Kenya, like many other African countries, agriculture receives only a small fraction of bank lending, leaving many smallholder farmers to rely on costly informal credit sources. “Bridging this gap is crucial for unlocking Africa’s full agricultural potential and fostering food security and economic growth,” he said.
The 8th Africa Agri Expo 2025 is the premier agribusiness gathering in Africa, bringing together the most influential stakeholders in the agricultural, food production and livestock industries. Supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, this strategic event underscores the continent’s growing prominence in the global agricultural landscape.
