Agriculture, Food System and Agribusiness

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Africa’s agriculture and food economy is entering a decisive transformation phase: the strategic question is shifting from how to increase agricultural production to how to build competitive, integrated and investable food systems that convert Africa’s land, labour, consumer growth and natural resources into higher-value domestic and regional industries. Agriculture accounted for approximately 17% of Africa’s GDP in 2025, yet cereal yields remained only 1.68 tonnes per hectare in 2024, versus a global average of around 4.2 tonnes. Africa possesses nearly 65% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, but still imports an estimated $70 billion of food annually. This productivity–demand imbalance represents both a structural development challenge and one of the continent’s largest commercial opportunities. 

The market is therefore moving from a fragmented farm-to-market model towards an integrated farm-to-food-to-market-to-export ecosystem encompassing inputs, irrigation, mechanisation, production, aggregation, storage, cold chains, processing, packaging, logistics, digital platforms, finance, insurance, retail and export markets. The opportunity is reinforced by rapid urbanisation, population growth, changing diets, rising demand for protein and processed foods, and AfCFTA-led regional integration. Yet the investment gap remains substantial: FAO, ECA, WFP and AUC report that bank credit to agriculture represents less than 4% of total credit, while annual FDI into food and agriculture is often below $2 billion. The World Bank estimates that closing Africa’s major agricultural infrastructure, productivity, finance and digital gaps will require approximately $180 billion of investment.

The 2026–2035 outlook is fundamentally positive but execution-dependent. Africa has the land, labour, entrepreneurial base and expanding consumer market to become a significantly more important global agricultural and food-production platform. However, the continent will not realise this potential by expanding primary agricultural output alone. The strategic prize is the creation of competitive food-system ecosystems that integrate production, processing, logistics, finance, technology and regional trade. 

The next decade is likely to see greater investment in agro-processing zones, regional production hubs, irrigation, mechanisation, cold-chain infrastructure, digital agriculture, agricultural finance, climate-smart technologies and food manufacturing. Regional initiatives are already moving in this direction: the EAC adopted its Regional Agri-Food Systems Investment Plan 2026–2035, prioritising infrastructure, climate resilience, digital technologies, agricultural finance and cross-border trade.