By Ama Kudom-Agyemang
The Second African Conference on Agricultural Technologies (ACAT2025) has taken place in Kigali, Rwanda, reigniting a sense of purpose – that Africa’s smallholder farmers can lead the continent into a food-secure, technologically enabled future with the right alliances, resources and resolve.
The conference showcased cutting-edge innovations from Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered agronomic advisors, Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled irrigation systems to gene-edited crops and blockchain traceability platforms aimed at transforming smallholder farming across the continent.
Special sessional demonstrations answered the question of exactly how these innovations would improve and transform the lot of Africa’s smallholder farmers. From a lay man’s perspective, the AI and IoT agronomic innovations are supplementing the activities of Agricultural Extension Officers who are gradually becoming “endangered.”
The demonstrations featured AI and IoT agri-based technologies such as iSDA Africa’s Virtual Agronomist programmed to provide customized farming advice in the area of nutrient planning, pest/disease diagnostics and crop yield tracking via whatsapp, which some Ugandan and Tanzania farmers are already benefitting from. The Satellite and Sensor-based tools such as real time remote sensing platforms are used for field-level crop stress monitoring, water efficiency and planting optimization.
Others included the IoT-enabled irrigation systems that adjust watering based on real-time soil moisture and weather data, which has proven to improve efficiency in water-scarce regions. Zipline’s drone-assisted scouting and planting that is useful for pest detection, spraying and precision seeding. Then, Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)’s small scale aquaponic food production for integrated fish and plant farming.
The demonstrations clearly established not just the practicality of these virtual agric-tech innovations currently being piloted in very few African countries, but the urgent need to scale up their adoption continent wide.
The Opening Session
ACAT2025, was organised under the auspices of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and the Rwandan Government on the theme: “NextGen Ag-Tech Solutions for Africa’s Farmer.” It brought together over 800 African and international delegates from the public and private agriculture sectors and included high level policy makers, research institutions, academia, funding partners, private sector players, farmers and youth groups.
The four-day conference, held from Monday June 9 to Thursday June 12, 2025, served as a continental platform that discussed the development, adoption, and scaling of innovative technologies that can unlock sustainable productivity, empower Africa’s farmers to transform the continent’s food systems, ensure food security and make agriculture attractive to Africa’s youth.
Rwanda’s Prime Minister, His Excellence, Dr. Édouard Ngirente formerly opened ACT2025. He was hopeful that aside knowledge sharing, the ACAT platform would be used “to also forge practical partnerships that can scale proven innovations and bring real transformation to smallholder farmers who are the true custodians of Africa’s food systems.”
The Prime Minister urged governments and development partners to create supportive ecosystems for innovation, inclusive policies, infrastructure investment and active farmer participation.
Former Nigerian President and Africa’s Ambassador for Agricultural Technology, His Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, pointed out that transforming Africa’s agriculture can only happen through regional, institutional and sector cooperation. He stressed that such collaboration is required “… to birth and sustain a new era of farming and food production. It is a high-paced era that leaves no room for excuses. Africa must make progress and move forward.”
AgTech: Farmer-centered/farmer co-creator
In another session, Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, Dr. Mark Cyubahiro Bagabe, emphasized that enabling African farmers to adopt technology requires “a paradigm shift where farmers are placed at the center of innovation, decision-making, and investment.”
Echoing a similar sentiment, the Executive Director of the AATF, Dr. Canisius Kanangire, stated: “When farmer-centered technologies are implemented within a supportive and enabling environment, they significantly increase productivity, improve livelihoods, and drive economic empowerment.”
However, farmers who attended the conference were of the view that beyond technologies being farmer-centered, farmers should also be deeply involved in the development of these technologies. At the farmer’s dialogue session, they declared that “farmers must be co-creators of the technologies that affect their lives and livelihoods.”
But for African farmers to better benefit from innovative technologies, panelists at a session on digital infrastructure, agreed on the urgent need to address critical challenges including limited internet connectivity, digital illiteracy, affordability issues, and inadequate infrastructure maintenance that could obstruct farmers adoption of innovative technologies.
For the way forward, the panelists proposed co-designing technologies with farmers, simplifying digital tools, building trust through training, and shifting rural mindsets toward embracing modern agriculture.
Financing AgTech
Another set of panelists tackled the complex issue of financing AgTech innovations. They called for alignment between risk mitigation, private sector capital, and supportive policies, underscoring that innovation must scale through farmers, not around them. They identified increased agricultural lending, investment in crop innovation, and stronger collaboration on regulatory frameworks as major areas for commitment.
The Managing Director of Equity Bank Rwanda, Hannington Namara, who was on the panel, reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to allocate at least 30 per cent of its total loan portfolio to agriculture, with plans to scale further as risk factors are addressed. He urged other financial institutions across Africa to follow suit and prioritize agriculture in their lending strategies.
The session concluded with a strong message that “agriculture’s potential is not limited by opportunity but by alignment. Risks are real but solvable through shared responsibility, policy cohesion, and innovation that places the farmer at the center.”
Other major highlights
ACAT2025 also spotlighted the role of youth in shaping the future of agriculture. A dedicated session on mentorship and deal-matching for young agri-innovators provided a platform for emerging entrepreneurs to pitch ideas and explore partnerships.
The session concluded that for young people to fully tap into available financial resources for agri-innovation, they must also develop complementary skills like effective communication to strengthen their pitches to donors and play a central role in feeding the continent.
A key highlight of the conference was the formal announcement of a strategic partnership between AATF and AgriEdge, aimed at boosting the development and uptake of digital agricultural technologies across Sub-Saharan Africa. The partnership will foster the exchange of technology-driven innovations and knowledge that benefits smallholder farmers, researchers, and policymakers alike.
A high-level ministerial dialogue involving Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania recognized enhanced investment, integrating gender perspectives, and aligning national budgets with agricultural technology as areas requiring priority national attention. Dr. Goodluck Jonathan used the occasion to urge African governments to intensify their efforts, stating: “Africa has what it takes: talent, land, ingenuity and political will.”
He further called on governments to create a stable and transparent environment for investors by strengthening biosafety frameworks, investing in rural infrastructure, and ensuring agricultural priorities are reflected in national budgeting.
AATF’s Executive Director, Dr. Kanangire for his part, stressed the urgency of action, remarking, “It is not the seed in the field that feeds the nation; it is the seed in the soil.”
The closing sessions of ACAT2025 reinforced the need for continued multi-stakeholder collaboration, strong public-private partnerships, and sustained investment in agricultural research and technology.
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