Modernizing technologies for African Agricultural Transformation: A call to action and partnerships
Creators: name: TAAT Program
Publisher: name: Gates Open Research
Year: 2023

description: This is a brief developed for the Virtual High-Level Dialogue on Feeding Africa: Leadership to Scale Up Successful Innovations, 29–30 April 2021. In the backdrop is the recognition of the shortcomings of Agriculture in Africa, and the need for Africa’s food systems to transform to achieve food security, deliver better nutrition, reduce poverty, and address the environmental challenges of the 21st century. The picture is not, however, all doom and gloom. Numerous successes demonstrate successful movement toward agricultural and food system transformation in Africa. These successes result from a complementary convergence of science and technology, favorable policies, strong support institutions and services, and access to finance and markets. A concerted commitment at the highest level to make the necessary investments and complement them with technical backstopping and policy regimes that support sustainable scaling of needed innovations and technologies is seen as a key pathway in transforming African Agriculture. <br> <br> One effort that seeks to advance agriculture through this paradigm is the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation Program (TAAT). Following TAAT's achievements in the last three years on intervention in Africa, a strong case may be made for technology-driven approaches within agricultural transformation efforts. The TAAT model is based upon bundled solutions that may be adjusted for different conditions and clients but with a proven capacity to be taken to scale through innovative partnerships and finance mechanisms.<br> <br> At the same time, it is recognized that modernizing technologies alone are not able to evoke transformation unless the human and institutional capacity bottlenecks as well as policy and market weaknesses are addressed because their adoption is dependent on a “demand pull” and capacities to utilize them. Within the same projects that mobilize technologies, there must also be institutional and market innovations that anticipate and utilize increased production. TAAT provides an enabler Compact dedicated to addressing capacity needs for scaling technologies, focusing on priority commodities that are specifically intended to replace food import imbalances or that substitute for those imports is one means to ensure this market. In addition, the suite of technologies includes value addition to the resulting food surpluses that process them into products suited to higher-end markets and export. When these advantages are combined with household-level benefits of increased food supply and better nutrition, a winning combination is achieved. The targeting of these technologies is also critical. Evidence suggests that women have lower access to technologies and extension services and are thus unfairly disadvantaged. The technology-based model must therefore consider the different constraints and opportunities that exist to engage, reach, benefit, and empower women.<br> For more information, email taat-africa@cgiar.org