Africa’s agricultural transformation is gaining momentum, but the focus is shifting from merely deploying digital tools to empowering the farmers who will use them. At the heart of this transformation are the continent’s farmers, many of whom still rely on indigenous knowledge passed down through generations. While these traditional practices hold immense value, they must be harmonized with modern agricultural technologies to create a sustainable and productive farming future.
To unlock the full potential of AgTech in Africa, there is a need to prioritize farmer education, access to extension services, and effective knowledge transfer systems that blend science with local wisdom. Efforts to strengthen agricultural education are growing. Programs like the Africa Agribusiness Qualification (AAQ) have helped farmers and agripreneurs develop critical skills in enterprise management, value addition, and farm business planning. Backed by the AGCO Agriculture Foundation, such initiatives offer practical training that aids farmers in seeing themselves not just as growers, but as entrepreneurs.
This shift in mindset is essential. For too long, farming has been viewed merely as a subsistence activity, rather than a viable, growth-oriented enterprise. However, with rising market demands, fluctuating input prices, and opportunities in value chains, today’s farmer must think like a businessperson. This means understanding profit margins, supply and demand, risk management, and investment strategies. Treating the farm as a business allows farmers to plan strategically, access credit, form cooperatives, and scale operations sustainably.
Formal education, while essential, is not always accessible to farmers in remote communities. This is where digital literacy initiatives play a transformative role. Platforms pioneering localized content available in indigenous languages and tailored to local agricultural systems are proving useful. Through mobile phones, radio broadcasts, WhatsApp groups, and video tutorials, farmers are learning how to optimize irrigation, apply integrated pest management, or use weather apps to plan planting schedules.
In Uganda, the Ministry of Agriculture has partnered with the private sector to deliver SMS-based guidance to cassava farmers facing pest outbreaks. Similarly, in Kenya, programs by Digital Green use videos featuring local farmers to teach best practices, reinforcing the power of relatable, visual, and culturally embedded learning.
Agricultural extension systems remain a critical mechanism for knowledge transfer. These services bring the latest research, practices, and tools directly to the farm gate. Extension officers act as a bridge between scientific communities and local farmers, customizing advice based on location-specific challenges.
In Ethiopia, the Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA) has digitized its extension network, equipping agents with tablets to deliver geo-referenced advice. In a few years, this program has improved fertilizer recommendations, reduced input waste, and led to significant yield improvements across multiple regions.
However, in many countries, the extension workforce is still under-resourced. Increasing investment in training, salaries, and mobility for extension agents is essential to scale their impact.
It’s equally important to recognize that farmers are not passive recipients of knowledge; they are innovators. Indigenous knowledge systems such as traditional weather forecasting, intercropping techniques, or organic pest deterrents offer time-tested solutions to local challenges. For example, in Burkina Faso, Zai pits (traditional planting holes that trap water) are still used to restore degraded land and boost yields in dry zones.
Blending these insights with scientific methods creates more resilient and sustainable solutions. Farmer Field Schools (FFS) have become a popular platform for this exchange, enabling groups of farmers to experiment with new techniques, share feedback, and adapt practices to their specific context. In Tanzania, FFS have helped rice growers transition to the System of Rice Intensification (SRI), resulting in 30–50% yield increases.
While working as an extension agent with cocoa farmers, I saw this knowledge firsthand. In one village, farmers were struggling with black pod disease, which threatened to ruin an entire harvest. The community experimented with pruning schedules, local ash application, and banana leaf mulching to reduce humidity around the pods. My role at certain points was to listen, document, and bring in complementary insights such as spacing techniques, downsides of mulching having the capacity to increase relative humidity and by effect create favorable environment for the disease and biofungicides so that their homegrown solutions could be enhanced rather than replaced. What emerged wasn’t a one-size-fits-all recommendation, but a localized, farmer-driven strategy rooted in both tradition and science.
These moments reinforce a simple truth: empowering farmers means acknowledging them as researchers, problem-solvers, and co-creators of knowledge. By valuing and integrating what they already know, we don’t just transfer technology, we build trust, relevance, and long-term success in agricultural transformation.
Technology is amplifying these education and extension efforts. Mobile advisory services like iCow in Kenya allow livestock farmers to track gestation cycles, receive feeding tips, and access veterinary advice, all via SMS. In Ghana,