Greater investment in sustainable production, including healthier soils and climate-resilient seed systems, is key to strengthening Africa's food systems, while finance and markets are important in helping farmers adopt new practices and withstand shocks, African agricultural experts say.
The call came at a webinar ahead of the Africa Food Systems Forum 2026, to be held in Kigali, Rwanda, from Aug 31 to Sept 4, as Africa's push to close its agricultural productivity gap is increasingly turning to how food is produced on the farm.
Bongani Nkhabindze, a program officer at the African Union Development Agency, said Africa's agricultural transformation would require moving from commitments to investment and implementation.
He said investment in soil health should extend beyond fertilizer supply. "When we talk of soil health, the investment architecture is basically around knowing the soil, restoring the soil, equipping the farmer, financing the transition, building markets, and then measuring progress and scaling up," he said.
But the experts stressed that investment in agricultural technologies and inputs alone will not necessarily translate into higher productivity if farmers cannot access or afford them.
